Internal Affairs

There's been a lot of talk recently surrounding the issue of booing and hating on players. I feel like my position on this is quite clear, no need to rehash it again today. The other side of this coin is the blind faith and/or limitless rope phenomenon - player X is a "valued contributor" that merely needs time to get on track. I don't exactly subscribe to this school of thought either.

As I see it, building a team/contender/profitable on-field commodity is a never-ending process. Those in charge must constantly consider and reconsider if the man they're paying to do a job is the best choice at in that role. It started this winter, when the "Scott Rolen is overpaid" chorus grew loudest. After I made my impassioned case that Scott Rolen earned his paycheck and more, wundercommenter Torgen pointed out that not only is Scott Rolen great, there isn't an immediate option that would step in to that role even remotely as well.

Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans today brought up a very interesting point regarding Brian Tallet's tenuous spot in the rotation. (A point I was bouncing around my head on the subway ride to work. Damn you speedy Dutch bastards!) He may not last long there for two reasons: there is another role he can fill better than the current placeholder while there are plenty of people behind him that can do his job nearly as well.

Jesse Carlon's pitched exceptionally well for the Jays these last two seasons though he's run into a rough patch of late. For the season the defense has propped him up a little, shaving a full run off his ERA. Here in May however, his ERA and FIP are nearly identical, sitting right on 6.00. Carlson's a fly ball pitcher who's strikeouts are down, contact is up and whiffy swings are down. His BABIP is still too low though his strand rate is coming back to the norm. In other words, he's becoming a regular, run-of-the-mill bullpen arm rather than a Blue Jays penbot from beyond the moon.

I don't come to bury Jesse Carlson, but if the Jays are to continue their success; they must make tough decisions like this. We as fans--especially as it relates to joyless roles such as spot starter or lefty specialist--can only hope the organization makes the right one that will ensure continuous improvement. Keeping Scott Rolen made sense as he's a gift from god, one not easily replaced internally, externally, or galactically. Jesse Carlson is easily replaceable, as are Brian Tallet's starts. For the good of the club we should be willing to consider it.

Other Stuff Quickly

• The psychopaths at Fangraphs have done it again. Now freely available for your perusal: pitch type linear weights! What this tells us: basically how good many runs a given pitch provides compared to average. As usually, I have no idea where they derive these numbers but they're sure fun to look at! Roy Halladay saves 3 runs per 100 snaps of his mighty curveball for example. His fastball's been his worst pitch this year according to these findings. Same with Scott Richmond: excellent results with his slider are often given right back with his fastball. Wanna know why Brett Cecil's here to stay? Positive results with all four of his pitches, most notably his curveball. His sample size is tiny but I surely don't care.
  
• Lesley Visser hates fun and shrimp.
  
• Beyond the Box Score tracks UZR by age. Just a quick reminder that Alex Rios is 28 and Vernon Wells is 30. Their best defensive days are behind them. So much for moving Rios to centerfield. Dammit.
  
• On the Walkoff Walk Furious Five podcast this week we discussed Steve Phillips inane comments regarding Carlos Beltran. I may be of the opinion that Carlos Beltran is amazing. The playoff probability added post from the weekend featured THREE Mets in the top 5 in the NL. The Mets have an unbelievable core surrounded by shitty, replacement level players. That doesn't mean they aren't fun to watch though! In fact, I'll be live blogging their game against the mighty Dodgers tonight for the Score. Come by and say demeaning things about Juan Pierre. It's good for the soul.

Steve Phillips is a Little Slow on the Uptake

God bless the Four Letter. They've trotted out four of their baseball analysts in a vain attempt to accrue page views; the Fightin' Battle of the Killer Budgets! Each seamhead is saddled with a $40 million dollar budget for their team, which will compete in a simulated baseball tournament. The winner progresses to face the Yankees and their diamond encrusted twelve-sided die, which will once and for all settle the salary cap debate. The exercise ostensibly measures the writers' budgetary acumen and eye for talent, but really just serves as a platform to expose Steve Phillips as an idiot. Jayson Stark, Roy Neyer, Buster Olney and the aforementioned Phillips have been drafting away, wasting some time, and generating baseball discussion/ad revenue. Armed with Steve Phillips's lunacy, I'm going to play right into their hands.

Phillips is the somewhat reviled former Mets GM and latest addition to the Sunday Night Baseball booth. He's credited with drafting/signing Scott Kazmir, Jose Reyes, and David Wright and blamed with inking Mo Vaughn, the ghost of Roberto Alomar and Bobby Bonilla. Imagine Richard Griffin, only instead of being a PR flak, HE MADE ALL THE BASEBALL DECISIONS. I think Stoeten's head would explode. It would seem that his experience helming the Mets removed any consideration of budgetary constraints, because some of his selections have been ridiculous.

While the nerdy writer types key on the best and cheapest available players early, Stevo drafted Hanley Ramirez in the first round. Fair enough, though he does make a little bit too much money for this experiment. He continues picking up big(ger) contracts while the BBWAAs pluck the lower priced quality around him. In the late rounds, Jayson Stark plucks Jays back up LOOGY Jesse Carlson, a steal in the 14th round. This is about the time that Stevie loses his fucking mind.

Despite paying $13 million bucks for David Wright and Hanley Ramirez (32.5% of his budget), good ole Stevie thought shelling out another $6.25 million bucks for his closer was a good idea. Me thinks the SABR nerds have rattled his cage, gotten him off his game. After a bizarre statement that he'd prefer to serve hard time than vote Democrat, Steve settles in for a long winter nap. In need of a left handed bullpen guy, Phillips reaches out for Hideki Okajima, he of the $1.5 million dollar salary. For a left handed specialist. On a budget. Two picks later, Stephanos selects his third shortstop in 20 picks in the form of The Riot. Sigh.

It should be noted that Phillips only has $2.5 million dollars to spend on 5 players. There's hope for you yet, Litsch! The other, smarter writer's picks have been excellent and nicely budgeted, leaving plenty of money at the end to pick up a higher priced guy that could make an simulated impact. As I mentioned, the only Jay selected so far has been Jesse Carlson. I think I like Stark's team the best. Joey Votto, GROFavorite Brandon Morrow, Evan Longroia and Cole Hamels. The final round goes Friday, and the "games" are to be "played" next "week." Here's hoping Phillips gets a delicious taste of comeuppance.

Offense is overrated

Just ask him.

I'm going to continue to tell myself that so long as the Jays staff continues to shut opposing teams the hell out. Sure the Jays went 1-7 on their most recent road trip and managed a comedic .093 average with runners in scoring position.

The entire staff has been lights the fuck out recently, and there is no reason to believe that this won't continue. I'm not sure there are many left handed hitters in the league that could get a hit off Jesse Carlson outside of it being an accident.

Sure, there are still no bats and they are still relatively inept in the clutch but even when opposing teams put the ball in play, there are no guarantees. Scott Rolen is a brick wall at third, and I'm quite positive John McDonald gave many fans boners this evening with that play late in the game on the diving miss from Rolen.

A win is a win, whether it's 2-0 or 15-11. I could care less how they get them, and I think we may see more of the former, but as the cliche goes: "Great pitching wins championships." Am I getting ahead of myself? Absolutely, but isn't everyone?

Infectious Diseases

Considering the hard time I give/strong dislike I have for the theatrics of Joba Chamberlain and Jonathon Papelbon, watching Jesse Carlson lose his shit walking off the mound last night made ME lose MY shit. Perhaps the $10 pitchers (Toby's!) played a part in my excitement, but damned if his amplitude wasn't infectious. Pitching out of ridiculous jams will do that.

In the harsh light of day, I began to reflect on how truly antiquated many traditional stats have become. While the closer's job is difficult, these setup men end up losing their minds as the stomp off the field because they are in much more difficult situations. Either that or they know that if they are a serviceable in the 8th inning role for a while, somebody will throw them a bag of cash and a nu metal entrance theme.

The fuck is a save anyway? Waltzing in with a three run lead and nobody on in the ninth? Once the set up man has done all the heavy lifting, the whole Slipknot routine seems a little laboured.