[...] in this post FAN590 – Blogs – Miked Up ” Blog Archive ” Merry New Year! discussing online trading classes, proposes a new way to look at online trading classes [...]

He’s been a World Champion multiple times, pitched well for a very long time, even has a perfect game. Look at his postseason records and accomplishments — they are very impressive. Pitched best when it counted most and came within a couple seasons of 3,000 Ks. There’s more, and y’all can go look it up for yourselves.

He seems somewhat hall-worthy based on his Black and Grey Ink tests at Baseball Reference or at least better than his 3.9% of ballots. That’s an insult to a very, very good career.

MW: Cone had a terrific 12-year run, but the drop-off was quick and brutal. He was actually a little worse in the post-season than the rest of the time (by 0.1 of a point of WHIP). He’s a guy who merits consideration, but probably isn’t a Hall of Famer. It seems as though lately, guys like that don’t even get the 5%.

Just hang on a second. In the late ’90s, Roger Clemens was pitching here, and I seem to recall that management was at least trying to field a contender. We even got into the wild card race once back then. I was going to those games. I don’t remember saying to myself at the beginning of the season ‘I am going to have so much fun watching pure unadulterated, non-playoff-bound baseball’. The teams didn’t work out and were fundamentally flawed, but the fan base, at least the fans that I sit beside, still had hopes that we might contend. The Yankees owned the game, but we still thought we might have a chance at a WC.

Speaking only for myself, I can watch the game on tv. I don’t need to spend $$$$$$$ to do that. The Rogers Centre isn’t the most exciting stadium to spend time in. So the team needs to give me some semblance of excitement in order to justify my expenditure.

That having been said, this is not meant as a comment on our 2009 Jays and their expectations. I think it’s a good thing not to put too much on this team’s shoulders, because, through constant turnover of management and players, the hallmark of the Jays is the choke. If we don’t expect too much, they might play fairly well.

MW: How is the hallmark of the Jays the choke? That’s such an overused, and incorrectly used, word. The only time one can reasonably make the argument that the Jays choked was in the 1985 ALCS. Maybe 1987, but they had lost Tony Fernandez and Ernie Whitt that last week.

In my opinion the Reed Johnson/Shannon Stewart Move was the worst move he made.
1. With Wells, Rios and Johnson the Jays would have the best defensive outfield in the league.
2. Who does not love a guy like reed johnson
3. If you say that it doesn’t mater because we have lind now, our line up could look like this…

1.Rf Rios
2.2b Hill
3.1b Lind
4.Cf Wells
5.DH Snider
6.3b Rolen
7.Lf Johnson
8.C Barajas
9.ss McDonald

MW: The Reed Johnson/Shannon Stewart move (and I know this is going to make a lot of people angry) was really insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Solid fourth outfielder for less-solid fourth outfielder who was supposed to be a better hitter. Championships are not won on your fourth outfielder, and championships are rarely won with a corner outfielder who neither hits home runs nor gets on base nor steals bases, which is what Reed Johnson is. I’m not sure what Ricciardi’s worst move has been – waiving Chad Gaudin and Scott Eyre are the ones that spring to mind immediately.

I have a growing suspicion that the days of the Jays spending upwards of 100 million on their payroll to compete in the AL East are over. I don’t think that these payroll cuts are just for the short-term. The reality is that the Blue Jays will probably have to return to small-market status until they make the playoffs (and if attendance increases, and the Jays’ chance of contending increases), only then will Rogers consent to increasing our payroll. That’s how I see it, at least. I hope I’m wrong.

If that’s the case, the Jays have to think about spending more on International talent (Latin America), which in my mind is one of the greatest flaws of the Ash and Ricciardi regimes. Do you think the Jays will up their budget for international scouting in the next few years?

I’m less convinced overspending on the MLB draft is a good idea, because it seems that the biggest steals continue to be in the Latin Americas.

I’d like to know your thoughts on these subjects. What do you see in the front office approach changing in the next few years?

Best regards.

MW: I don’t think that the biggest steals are in Latin America anymore. It’s costing more and more to sign kids down there. I think the worldwide draft is coming relatively soon, too. As for the payroll thing, it’s kind of perplexing. Beeston said on Prime Time last month that he didn’t think revenues could support a $100 million payroll, but if they cut and stay down, it’s tough to see revenues going up. I kind of thought that you had to spend money to make money.

MW: Good question. At the moment, there’s no answer.

Hall of Fame results came out today and I was wondering which of the two do you think is more shocking:

(i) 28 people did not think Rickey Henderson was Hall of Fame worthy

OR

(ii) 2 people thought Jay Bell was Hall of Fame worthy

MW: I can’t believe 28 voters left Rickey Henderson off their ballots. That’s ridiculous. As for Jay Bell and his two votes, there are always writers who have a certain shine to certain guys, and they throw them a bone like that. I’m waiting for a guy EVERYBODY loved to retire and for a whole big whack of writers to give him a one-vote “favour”. That is how Sean Casey will get into the Hall of Fame.

I’m looking at the Jackson-Joyce deal and thinking how nice of a fit he would have been in Toronto. Seems like it didn’t take a blockbuster to land him.

Your thoughts? And do you think the Jays have the creativity to pull something off in the trade market to improve this club?

MW: I’m sure they have the creativity, I just don’t know if they have either the willingness or the dance partner. I’m interested to find out who you think the Jays’ equivalent to Matt Joyce is.

MW: Not necessarily. But you’re right. Anyone who went to a Jays game from 1977-1982 or from 1995-2005 knew they weren’t going to see a contender. And why would anyone go to a minor-league game? None of those teams have a chance to win a World Series. I have great memories of going to see the Twins and Indians in Cleveland in September of 1993, and a Pirates-Cubs game at Three Rivers the next year (Denny Neagle hit a home run!), and neither of those games were “meaningful”. Bottom line is, you go to a game to have a good time.

MW: Hinske’s the only one you spelled right. I’d rather give Travis Snider a full-time shot than sign Hinske. I like the idea of Gomes as a lefty-crusher and platoon LF/DH, and I love Abreu, but his price would have to drop a ton.