Friday, September 16, 2011

Depth


I've been away for far too long to pretend I'm an authority on the Jays so this post is a much more interactive one.

Albert or Prince? Move Reyes to 2nd! TRADE FOR VOTTO!! Blue Jays fans love them some big name acquisitions. And hey, sometimes I do too. But when Rasmus went down with a wrist injury and AA had to (chose to?) re-acquire DeWayne Wise my mind wandered from ballplayers with a WAR of around 8 or 9 to those closer to 0. Can the We're Finally Going For It Blue Jays of 2012 handle the injuries that hit every team in a 162 game season? Or better yet, do they have the depth to replace a regular contributor putting up Aaron Hill type numbers throughout the season?

What I'm asking is this; who do you see as being the backup plans for the Jays next season (being realistic) when the inevitable happens?

First let's get this out of the way; we all love the Prime Minister of Standing Ovations. There. Now let's be a little more open.

Does the guy who comes in 2nd in the competition for Left Field automatically get a bench job? Is anyone interested in copying the Rays and only allowing Shortstops who can play every single position on their team?

Please. I need you to reassure me that if someone goes down with an injury that DeWayne Wise won't be flown in from Japan next season.

Asides:

- I want everyone who has watched Kyle Drabek come out of the bullpen at the end of this year and thought, even for a second, that the Jays should convert him to a reliever to put up their hand. Now, on behalf of Drew's new born baby I'd like to say you're an idiot. The Jays need to make sure he's not capable of being a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th starter before they even let that thought creep into their heads. But he will be a starter so don't worry about it.

- There are already multiple Brett Lawrie tribute videos on youtube. But somehow none of them have him mashing over an Eminem track. What's the point then, you know?

- Could Aaron Cibia be more excited about where this night is going to go?

- Finally, the fact that Colby Rasmus was able to answer this question without laughing out loud makes him a better person (liar?) than I'll ever be.

Dave Burrows is the West Coast contributor to GROF. He is able to bring a different angle to the site because he can stay up later. Follow him on twitter.

10 comments:

  1. The depth will come, give it time. The only reason they are playing Wise is because all of their farm leagues are in the playoffs. They don't want to call up the kids and sit them on the bench, give them some confidence going deep in the minor league playoffs as key contributors. We have a deep deep system. Give it a few years and we'll have some solid options riding the pine.

    I could very well be talking out my rear end, not sure which teams are still in the playoffs. I don't follow too much minor league happenings other than player development.

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  2. Good depth is probably the last thing to be added to a contending team- for a building team, you'd rather be giving ABs to young developing players than Eric Hinske or Andruw Jones (though both are great bench players).

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  3. I cant believe you actually wrote this garbage. GC you haven't contributed much all year, then you dont post for awhile and now THIS?!!

    Thames (who doesnt play a good left) Snider, obviously some questions there but hes young enough and talented enough so we'll see, Jose in right but what you didnt mention is that Rasmus and Davis (for atleast 1 more year) patrol center. Lowen has played well but is a FA at the end of the season so 4th OF on another team or brought back idk. However an outfield with Thames/Snider, Rasmus, Jose and Davis as the 4th is a pretty decent 4 that if some stars align can bring a few different looks to a lineup.

    Our minor league outfield / prospects are dynamic as well. So there is depth there.

    Now there goes half your article, pathetic GC, just Pathetic!! you should be ashamed of yourself.

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  4. Glad you enjoyed the 2nd half of the article so much!

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  5. I think the Jays could really benefit from a Rays-style multi-position free-for-all on the bench, and lately it kind of seems like they're thinking along those lines. See: EE getting time in LF, Loewen playing all 3 OF positions and getting extra practice at 1B.

    The one guy whose place I really question next year is Lind. He doesn't appear to be good enough to play every day, but using a bench spot for a guy who can only play first base seems awfully wasteful. And I can't imagine he has any trade value after two bad seasons in a row.

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  6. Hate to be a pissant, but Drew wrote a post from Spring Training where he took the projections of all systems for the Blue Jays 2011 rotation (Drabek/Cecil/Morrow/Romero) and everything came up roses. And then we went out and played a full season, and suddenly people are talking about Henderson Alvarez as our #2 starter.

    Between Loewen, Snider, Thames, Rasmus (and even throw in Lind, Edwin, and Cooper), there is plenty of outfield depth on this team for next year. Young pitching is the gigantic question mark that could take them the way of the Rays in 2012...or the way of the Orioles.

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  7. SP:Morrow, SP: Romero, SP: Cecil, SP: Alvarez, SP: Litsch, RPx6: I'm not sure I care. Whoever's on the cheap. C: Arencibia (that picture is amazing), 1B: Lind, 2B: Escobar, SS: If Reyes great, if not grab a Util SS, 3B: Lawrie, RF: Bautista, CF: Rasmus, LF: Thames, DH: Encarnacion, C2: Who's available? Kelly Schoppach if he is, 1B/DH: Teahan, OF: Davis, 1B/DH: Loewan, 2B/3B/SS: McCoy, 2B,3B,SS: Barmes? Kelly Johnson? I wouldn't want either starting but both would be excellent on the bench.

    Snider goes to LV and chills until they're ready to go to him full time. David Cooper is the standard midseason injury callup that shifts Teahan or Loewan into the needed spot.

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  8. The key to 2012 is starting pitching and a bat to hit clean up. The moves EE/Lind down in the order where their bats are productive for the position.

    We need to continue stocking up on talent. I'm less worried about outfield depth next year with sierra and Gose both having had decent years in AA. in a pinch one of them could come up for a few weeks. The gap is the complete lack of infield depth other than Hech.

    Plus some of the young stud pitchers should be in tough next year in AA. Keep stocking with pitchers.

    I like that they are using Drabek out of the pen this month. I remember a time that this was how a young starter broke into the bigs. Seemed to work fine for hentgen, key etc let him get his confidence back and figure out an approach that works. Could be interesting in spring training with Cecil, Drabek, Alvarez & McGowan competing for 3 spots.

    Lose Rauch and the pen is just fine next year: Francisco, Janssen, Perez, litsch, Villaneuva, Beck/ Carreno, and a Loogy to be signed and we are fine.

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  9. Keith72 lol is this GC's alter ego, cause you're just as lost.

    Can you please look up EE's numbers since the allstar break? That would be a great starting point of what should be "hi im an idiot" reply.

    Thames / Snider / Rasmus / Davis / Jose / Loewen (probably resigned on the cheap with a chance to earn a spot or AAA for more seasoning. E5 is also taking balls in left and Mccoy is awful but an above average fielder who Obviously can play out there.

    Now please tell me again why you're mentioning Sierra and Gose with a plethora of outfielders already? Mastroianni is on the 40 man, Gose isnt. Plz spend 5 minutes reading up on things before posting nonsense.

    Also Litsch will be in contention for a starters job and while the merits of that can be debated what cant is how good Charlie Vill is as a 25yr old starter.

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  10. Also incase we were talking infield dept that are ML ready, ok sure I can see that but its not like we dont have the players in the system there just at lower ranks. Year 2 of AA, you shouldnt expect possition players brimming but there are some good ones in the system. To that effect the system is overflowing with arms at every level and everybody knows you can trade young arms for possition players all day long.

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