Spin Cycle

A couple really quick thoughts on this week of nightmarish P.R. for the Jays. Firstly, the attendance is pisspoor and there is no argument to be made otherwise. Beeston can spin it however he likes, but the fact remains: people aren't lining up to be pummeled with advertising in an antiseptic environment while watching a bad baseball team. That said, the entire "Doc was pitching!" rationale is faulty.

Walk ups are such a small part of the ticket sales, the vast majority of ticket buyers (the customers Rogers needs most) buy their tickets well in advance and make a day of it. The number of "hey, Doc's pitching why don't we head to the park" sales are minimal and likely viewed as free money by the team. As the Tao said with an assist to Malcolm Gladwell: Halladay himself won't make people buy tickets but his absence could certainly preclude them from doing so.

The local media really picked up the "smallest crowd" factoid and ran with it, an unfortunate and not entirely fair but understandable move. Beeston or whomever he dumps this Cleveland Steamer on have a hell of a P.R. task in front of them. If Paul and friends thought the caretaker business plan of trotting out the old dogs and riding the Cito Nostalgia Fixed Gear Bicycle of Wellness until his skinny jeans tore in the chain would buy him indefinite grace; boy was he wrong. My indifference (bordering on hostility) towards the wise and benevolent Beeston and his free pass is well documented, no need to compound the shitty feelings now.

Cito V. The Rod

Again, I call spin and think people are looking for ways to tear this team down. Would a player's manager like Cito really go out of his way to make a player look that bad in public? Considering only get pieces of the exchange, I interpret Cito's comments to mean "he's played so well, we won't be able to afford him next year." That would jibe with Cito's desire for the players to love him and his apparent disdain for the front office. It reminds of the situation in San Francisco, where manager Bruce Bochy defiantly refuses to play wunderkind Buster Posey to stick it to a front office that (may have) leveraged Posey to chase noted handful Bengie Molina back to work.

Managers like Cito and Bochy love to prove to the players how "on their side' they are by passively telling management to fuck off. I know I used to manage my team at my previous job(s) that exact way. Stealing minutes at the cracker factory is one thing, stealing fans money and will to live by sticking with Kevin Millar/Bengie Molina is bad business and bad form. For Cito to have shown up Rod in this manner would be completely out of character. I call shenanigans. Sadly I doubt we'll get the whole story.

Overblown

Let's not climb all over ourselves in an mad dash to bury Lyle Overbay. Lyle Overbay is an amazing first baseman who made a difficult play look impossible. I'm a little uncomfortable with my apologist position here, but I think about it this way: isolated sucking is one thing, sustained sucking is another. Sustained sucking with no hope of improvement is where I draw the line and start casting aspersions. Like Jose Bautista! Remember when he walked all the time? That's kinda the only thing he offers, and even that is regressing. His on base is slowly making its way back to Earth, along with his bloated wOBA. The less said about Kevin Millar the better. Complaining about him is like complaining about Canadian winters or the GST.

Like Elliott Ness

Speaking of overblown, the most overused word this time of the year is "untouchable." Such and such a prospect is untouchable, he's on our untouchable list. This is the used car salesman coming out of every GM. He's only untouchable because it drives up his value. I recently acquired a list of "untouchable" prospects from baseball GMs, it looks like this:

• Self doubt
  
• Self awareness
  
• Style
  
• Humility

Those are the only things a baseball GM can't offer you for any price. Anything else that may save their job, improve their team, or make ownership money is fair game. Kyle Drabek is not untouchable, but labeling him so creates a lot of intrigue and perceived value. Stephen Strasburg, Matt Weiters, Tommy Hanson and David Price are the only guys that come close to being untouchable.

Overthrown

That said, if anyone came knocking for Brett Cecil, would you say yes? His future is as bright as his present is muddied by poor control. Playing with fire and generally pissing around against the god-awful Racist Nicknames is one thing, against a real time you'll be in trouble. But this too will pass and, as Mike Wilner said, he'll be a damn fine number 2 starter in this league.

Roy Halladay: Ace, Cornerstone, Player of Little Value

Hey look! The midget with the punchable face won the MVP! Good for him, debatable but not fire-bombable. The MVP is the most nebulous of all the post-season awards; alternately awarded for outstanding performance and contribution to a winning or playoff team. Warts and all, it's a pretty big deal. There are significant performance bonuses attached to the voting, so when it becomes a hilarious farce, I get upset.

Earlier this month, Roy Halladay placed second in the American League Cy Young voting. Disappointing as it may be, Cliff Lee had a great year. The back-and-forth over strength of schedule etc. makes for good reading and discussion, so I'm all for it. Francisco Rodriquez didn't receive a single first place Cy Young vote, I was glad to see. Maybe these writers have figured some stuff out.

INCORRECT. COMMENCE FAILING.

As I said, the criteria for MVP is sketchy at best, especially this year where no player hit 40 home runs and no one player is obviously head and shoulders above the common swine that dwell below. The votes were spread pretty evenly, with 5 players getting first place consideration. You could make a case for all of them. Pedroia, Morneau, Mauer, Youkillis, Rodriquez. Wow, even during an off year A-Rod still puts up big numb-I'm sorry? Not that Rodriquez? Do you mean to tell me that Fransisco Rodriquez received a first place vote for AL MPV????? Seriously?? Despite no voters deeming Frankie the best pitcher in the American League, one of these stunned cunts decided he was the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN THE VASTLY SUPERIOR AMERICAN LEAGUE.

Worse yet, Roy Halladay did not receive one single MVP vote. Not one. Despite having the second highest WPA/LI in the AL (just behind Lee but well ahead of any batter), despite ranking ahead of mulitple vote getters Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, Miguel Cabrera in Win Shares, despite his VORP of 70.6 (good for second in the AL behind Lee) he did not get one single MVP mention.

Franky Rodriquez amassed 62 wonderful saves and appeared on 23 seperate MVP ballots. His 12 win shares tied him with guy that missed two months Shaun Marcum, utility man Joe Inglett, and fellow Angels bullpen dweller Jose Arredondo. His WPA/LI was a whopping 0.98, behind other relievers that didn't garner MVP attention like Joe Nathan, Mo Rivera, the Mexecutioner, Shutter Downs, and the LOOGY twins Jesse Carlson and J.P. Howell.

Does this mean Roy Halladay should be the MVP? No, it doesn't. But if he can't get one single vote at a time when they're being given away like door prizes, the whole system is obviously flawed. Before anyone does anything else, why not clear up what the award stands for once and for all. If pitchers can't win; fine. Let's just get it out there.

Update: The goof that voted for K-Rod offers his specious at best reasoning here. via Walkoff Walk