2009 WAS an interesting season to say the least, as the Blue Jays "TRIED" to compete in the dangerous AL East.
Now in the offseason, the clock is ticking on the 2010 season.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Welcome Brandon Morrow!!

The Jays acquired the hard-throwing right-hander from Seattle on Wednesday in exchange for RP Brandon League and 20-year-old OF prospect Johermyn Chavez. The 25-year-old former 5th overall pick in the 2006 draft is expected to be developed as a starting pitcher by the Jays after splitting time both in the rotation and in the bullpen with the Mariners.

It's an exciting day to be a Jays fan! Roughly a week after losing Roy Halladay via trade to the Phillies, the Jays have added an electric young arm to their rotation. Morrow was selected 5th overall by the Mariners in the 2006 draft.

Here's the book on Morrow's stuff via prospectinsider.com's 12.19.08 Scouting Report:

Repertoire

Fastball:

In relief, Morrow often tagged 97 or 98 on the radar gun, even wowing the crowds, home and road, with a few triple-digit readings, though the stadium guns are generally 2-4 mph high.

He sat 92-96 as a starter, and his heater has always had impressive late life and good movement. With average command, Morrow's fastball would grade between a 70 and 80 on the scouting scale.

Curve Ball:
Having thrown so few of them, Morrow's curve was inconsistent, but showed good depth and late, two-plane break. It's generally clocked in the 84-86 mph range, an ideal dip in velocity from his fastball, and is often confused with a slider due to its downward spike.

At present, Morrow's curve grades out as a 50 on the scouting scale, due to the lack of consistency and command, but it's action and velocity are above-average. The pitch could max out as a 60 or 65 with more progress in 2009.

Changeup:
Morrow dabbled with a true change in college, but settled in with the splitter. The Mariners wanted to eliminate the split-finger pitch to avoid elbow and forearm problems, and Morrow's change has begun to take shape.

Sitting in the 82-85 mph range with occasional fade, Morrow does throw it with good arm speed and deception.

While his breaking ball is his most critical pitch to further develop for him to become a No. 3 starter, the same improvements to his changeup could flip Morrow into near-ace status.

Command/Control:
Morrow issued 78 walks in just over 150 innings at Cal, and issued 50 more during his rookie season in 2007. But last season the right-hander showed vast progress, attacking the strike zone with confidence and a better second pitch, usually the split-change.

He's never going to possess plus command, but his overall control has improved enough for a long career in either the starting rotation or the bullpen, or both.

Happy Trails... Brandon League, and Johermyn Chavez!!

The Toronto Blue Jays' made their deal with the Seattle Marines official on Wednesday afternoon. The Jays sent hard-throwing reliever Brandon League and 20-year-old Johermyn Chavez who swatted 21 HR for Low Class A Lansing in 2009 to the Mariners for 25-year-old pitcher Brandon Morrow, who was orignally selected 5th overall back in 2006.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Interesting Article From Nappa Valley Register Online

It's about the Jays new top prospect, Brett Wallace.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A Done Deal!


And how does Vernon Wells feel??

Sweet Video of Jays' Chad Jenkins!!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Baseball America Breakdown of Halladay Deal

Somehow managed to find this gem in their free content section..

Baseball America's Top 10 Jays Prospects

Here's BA's updated list as of December 15th, 2009.

Thankfully, with the trade of Halladay, the Jays will be able to bump a few names from this list and add a few new shiny pieces to the top.

Adam Lind Wins Edgar Martinez Award

According to RealGMBaseball.com, Lind has captured the 2009 Award, named after the great Designated Hitter. Martinez is a 2010 Hall of Fame candidate.

A big step for Lind, and another accolade on the heels of an oustanding breakout campaign in 2009.

M's The Clear-Cut Winners of Halladay Deal!

Not only did they pull a Cy-Young Winner of their own (Cliff Lee) from the mess, but they also participated in seeing Halladay move away from the American League and potential from their division rival LA Angels of Wherever.

M's lose: Phillipe Aumont and secondary prospects to get one year of Cliff Lee, who will presumably walk after 2010 to the highest bidder. The Mariners lay claim to the best 1-2 punch in baseball for a season and take the 2-high draft picks as compensation when Lee leaves, and use them to restock the system for the players they traded.

In The System: Darin Mastroianni


Darin Mastroianni, the little-known 24-year-old outfielder out of the University of Southern Indiana quietly tore up the basepaths in 2009. He swiped a mind-boggling 70 bases split between A-Dunedin and AA-New Hampshire, while combining for a not-too-shabby .297/.398/.364 slash line. Mastroianni, the Jays 16th round pick (505th overall) in 2007, also scored 94 runs and posted 76 BB against 83 K's.

In 294 games in the Jays' system since being drafted, Mastroianni has already swiped 120 bases. Expect the Mount Kisco, NY native to continue at AA-New Hampshire to begin the 2010 season. Here's hoping he can continue to achieve the two things he's most successful at: 1) getting on base and 2) stealing the next base and he could be on the fast track to Toronto!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Welcome!! (Joey Gathright and John Buck)

Welcome to the T-dot. You've gotta check out big slice!

Welcome Back!! (Jose Bautista and Raul Chavez)

Both players re-upped with the Jays on Sunday afternoon.

Friday, December 11, 2009

In The System: J.P. Arencibia


The 23-year-old backstop out of the University of Tennessee, Arencibia has posted the following lines over his first 3 years as a pro:

2009: AAA-LV 116 Games 500 PA .236/.284/.444,
21 HR, 75 RBI, 67 Runs, 32 Doubles, 26 BB/114 K

2008: AA-NH/A+Dun 126 Games 537 PA .298/.322/.527,
27 HR, 105 RBI, 70 Runs, 36 Doubles, 18 BB/101 K

2007: A-Aub 63 Games 249 PA .254/.309/.377,
3 HR, 25 RBI, 31 Runs, 17 Doubles, 14 BB/56 K

Arencibia was the Blue Jays 1st round pick (27th) overall in the 2007 Amateur Draft. He was actually the Jays second pick in the first round, after infielder Kevin Ahrens

Good article on J.P. Arencibia here fom the Las Vegas Sun.

Here's an incredible scouting report from MILB.com prior to the 2007 Draft.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Five rules for the Rule 5 Draft

#1 - Don't waste other teams time

By selecting a player and simply returning him before Spring Training even opens in February.

#2 - Don't try to sell the excitement to your fans

Yes, Dan Uggla and, more importantly to Jays fans, George Bell, Kelly Gruber and Willie Upshaw were all Rule 5 picks.

#3 - "If you're going to steal, make it worth it"

Although it's not really stealing due to the $50,000 fee that a team must pay for making a Major League selection, there's no point in selecting a player with mediocre talent and mediocre results... unless you are the Washington Nationals, cause hell they'll take almost anybody at this point.

Oh wait, the Jays' 2009 rule 5 pick CAME FROM the Nationals.. uh oh.

#4 - Like reacting to Jeopardy, act like a genious when you ACTUALLY recognize a player taken.

2009 - See John Raynor (selected 2nd overall)

#5 - Wake me when Spring Training starts

Monday, December 7, 2009

Winter Meetings

Holy fuck it's snowing outside!! Well, I guess it makes sense... it is December after all, but for a starved baseball fan things just got a lot worse.

UNLESS!

Baseball's Annual Winter Meetings have arrived and they usually create a reprive for fanatics like myself.

For great coverage, check out MLB Trade Rumors here.

What will Alex Anthopoulous have in store for Jays fans? I'm still waiting for the hype.

Will Halladay finally be on the move?? PLEASE.. enough is enough already.

Philadelphia. Give me Drabek, Brown and and Taylor. We'll throw in James Paxton and Jake Eliopoulous!!! Tough to give up those two amazingly talented young Canadians.. oh wait, what's that?

Fuck you're right. We signed Johnny Mac to a multi-year deal the day before signing another ho-hum SS to be our starter. USE THE CASH ON THE YOUNG PROSPECTS YOU IDIOTS!!!!!

Isn't that all part of the plan??

Wow, I got sidetracked.

In all seriousness, the Winter Meetings kick off today, and it should only be a matter of time before a few pieces start falling.

Whether the Roy Halladay trade will occur before they wrap up on Thursday, only time will tell.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Happy Trails... Joe Inglett!!


The Texas Rangers claimed Jays utility man Joe Inglett off waivers today, ending Inglett's 2+ year stay in Toronto. Inglett was acquired by the Jays when they claimed him off waivers from the Cleveland Indians back on September 15, 2007. Inglett has a career .293/.349/.745 slash line over 639 AB's with Cleveland and Toronto.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

2009 Draft Review

MLB.com has put out a nice organizational draft review for all Major League teams. Here's the Blue Jays review.

Leading the Jays' 09 Draftees, Chad Jenkins will likely be making the most interesting debut in 2010. Where he starts his pro career remains to be seen. Click here for a interview with Jenkins from MLB.com.

With the Jays inability to sign James Paxton, Jake Eliopoulous, and Jake Barrett the following players round up the Jays top 5 signees:

Jake Marisnick, OF (who we posted about yesterday)
Ryan Goins, SS
Ryan Schimpf, 2B
K.C. Hobson, OF

Jacob Marisnick - Baseball Factory TV - Under Armour All-America

Check out the Jays 3rd round draft pick (104th overall) Jacob Marisnick in action over at Baseball Factory.com:


Baseball Factory TV - Under Armour All-America Jacob Marisnick

O-Dog Shown The Door in LA LA Land


According to the L.A. Times, The Los Angeles Dodgers decided not to offer arbitration to potential Type-A free agent, and former Blue Jay, Orlando Hudson. Hudson was among the Dodgers' seven ranked free agents who were not offered arbitration on Tuesday, MLB's deadline day for teams to do so.

Quite the puzzling scenario obviously. As Jays fans we have all read about and understood the reasoning behind offer arbitration to ranked free agents (ie. Marco Scutaro, Rod Bajaras) and receiving potential draft pick compensation should they decide to decline arbitration and sign elsewhere.

Suddenly, Hudson appears a lot more attractive to potential suitors as a free agent who no longer would cost draft pick compensation to sign.

The Toronto Blue Jays should take a page out of the Red Sox book, and consider switching Aaron Hill back to his natural position of SS and bringing Hudson back to man 2B.

Oh wait, I forgot for a sec that we already solved our SS problem.

Oh wait, I thought for a sec we were a contender... well never mind, sorry A.A. it seemed like a good idea.

Way To Go Matty!!!


Read an awesome article on the achievements of Fredericton, New Brunswick's own Matt Stairs!

Stairs, 41, played 230 games for the Toronto Blue Jays over 2 seasons before he was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies where he would capture his first World Series ring. Stairs compiled 32 HR and 108 RBI for the Jays in 677 AB, which is just more than a hypothetical full season.

Well done Matty, from one proud Canuck to another!

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