Yes please. You can drive.
I want to gawk at the fiery 87 car pileup, that a tanker truck loaded with asphalt and a farm truck loaded with shit plowed into, just as the flames were dying down.
Blue Jays, 2013 edition
- Thread starter Perry Mason
- Start date
I want to gawk at the fiery 87 car pileup, that a tanker truck loaded with asphalt and a farm truck loaded with shit plowed into, just as the flames were dying down.
The last few series have shown that the Jays, even the B team from the Bisons, can play toe to toe with the top teams. Had even half of the hiccups had gone the other way and the injury bugs not raised their heads so much, it may have gone differently, but that's why they play out the 162 games. except for the catcher positions i suspect no major changes will come about except for any big trade you have to give to get.. The infield is good with depth and experience thanks to injuries, as is the outfield, Moninori and DeRosa give good bench strength and the pitching shows promise/depth but must stay health. Only AA has an idea what trades will come about.
No, they do not.
Much like spring training records mean absolutely nothing, September wins by a team out of contention mean just very slightly more. False signs of success.
I said nothin about spring training. Look at the last dozen or so series against top teams, beat the Yankees, beat the Red Sox, beat the Rays
Please try to follow along. September wins by a team not in contention are almost as meaningless as spring training results.
Last dozen series you say?
Jays Record, working backwards
2-? Tampa
1-2 Baltimore
1-2 Boston
2-1 New York (AL)
1-2 Baltimore
0-3 Los Angeles (AL)
3-0 Minnesota
2-1 Arizona
2-1 Kansas City
2-1 New York (AL)
1-2 Houston
0-4 New York (AL)
Overall Record 17-19, a solid winning percentage of .472
Want to know how many teams have ever made the playoffs in MLB with a .472 winning percentage? I'll give you a hint, it's less than 1.
Break it down a little further, of the past 12 series, let's look at the Blue Jays record against teams with winning records (teams either going to the playoffs, or within striking distance when Toronto played them): 10-13, that's a winning percentage of .435
The Toronto Blue Jays winning percentage for the season (so far) is .460. They have played worse against teams in contention recently, not better.
Oh yeah, the Toronto Blue Jays really went toe to toe with the better teams in the league recently.
Agreed. This is mainly due to much better pitching by the SPs. Record over the last few weeks would have been even better with the regulars in the line-up. Suggests a much better outlook for 2014 than looked possible at the all-star break.
Except that many of the teams, KC, Yankees, and Rays are/were in the running for the wild cards, not meaningless to them. I follow quite well thank you.
Here was me back in January, henceforth known as January-iv:
I'm very excited about their prospects for the 2013 season. Of course there are question marks as no professional team these days does not have a few holes. In my mind the main question marks would be closer and team chemistry. Other question marks could be: Can Jose come back strong from last season's wrist injury? Is JP good enough to keep up behind the plate and be your everyday catcher? How will the team deal if they start slow out of the gate? Will Cabrera be the same without the juice? Can EE handle the glove well enough at first base? Even with those question marks I am WAY hyped for this coming season! Go Jays Go!
Yes, January-iv, they did (and do) have a few holes, for instance half their starting pitchers and catcher. Closer was fine, (you idiot!), as was the relief pitching in general but I will give you kudos on your team chemistry call. In fact the only time the team was rolling was in the early-Kawasaki days. JP = not good enough to be an everyday catcher. How will the team deal if they come out slowly? Lousy! Jose had to be shut down early (good call), Cabrera (super-lousy), EE was fine. I was obviously drinking the kool-aid. As W once said:
I don't think it was kool-aid.
The oddsmakers in Vegas need to operate with clear heads, so you can be sure they didn't drink.
Your overall good analysis of the question marks just had too many answers that went the wrong way. It was a matter of legitimate potential going unfulfilled.
If they lose and Brewers win they will have 88 losses. Enough to get a protected 1st round pick. Makes it easier to sign free agents who decline a qualifying offer. If both the Jays and Brewers have 88 losses not sure who gets the protected 1st rounder.
Wow.
You claim the Blue Jays played the 'good' teams tough. They did not. Against Tampa, Baltimore, New York, Kansas City, & Baltimore, Toronto's record was 10-13, .435. The Blue Jays played slightly worse than their season winning percentage against those teams.
If you take the whole month in account, which I wasn't. I can cherry pick as well.
2-1 Tampa
1-2 Baltimore
1-2 Boston
2-1 New York (AL)
1-2 Baltimore
0-3 Los Angeles (AL)
3-0 Minnesota
2-1 Arizona
2-1 Kansas City
2-1 New York (AL)
That's 16-14, in the last ten series, not bad.
When you play teams that are 10 and 20 games and 60 -100 percentage points ahead of you you'd expect a worse result than your 10-13.
You stated: "Look at the last dozen or so series against top teams, beat the Yankees, beat the Red Sox, beat the Rays"
What did I cherry pick?
I listed Toronto's last dozen series, including the ones against who you referred to as "top teams".
The Blue Jays record in the 12 series was awful, and their record against the "top teams" even worse.
I'm curious as to why you name New York as a "top team" but not Baltimore or Kansas City, both squads with better records than the Yankees.
16-14, (using your number, from your cherry picked sample) would result in an 86-76 record, that and $1.75 will get you a coffee at Timmy's. It will not get you into the MLB playoffs, not even close.
They have certainly finished better than they started. That's also with mainly a B team line-up versus many teams battling for a spot in the post-season. A lot of the games they have lost have been close games where the SP has made a strong contribution. That's a far cry from the early days of the season. So I'm encouraged by the way the team finished.
Statistically, they did little better over the last 6 weeks. Aside from June, they have not been a .500 team in any month. That said, they were better to watch in late August and September, despite the closing down of Bautista, Cabrera and eventually EE. This is mainly because their SP situation stabilized and we had far fewer blow-out stinkers. For much of April, May and July, they simply did not resemble a major league baseball team. In August and September, they did - just not a very good one.
You chose 12, I chose 10, that's or so.
If you end with 86-76, someone lost those wins. If they're in your division, they become 4 point wins and mean more. Baltimore had 85 wins and was in the running near the end.
One of the Jays problems was their record in their division. They are without a doubt in the toughest division in MLB. By most stats they are in the middle of the pack, but last in their division.
If that makes you feel better, fill your boots.
They're a mediocre baseball team, they were downright dreadful to start the season, had a small spurt of competence in June, and they've been a terrible team since the all star break.
Toronto needs massive improvement from what they got the entire season behind the plate, vast improvement at 2nd base (Goins fine defensively, but not much stick).
Left field needs to improve to get to league average.
The bullpen has lots of depth, 1st base, 3rd base, SS, CF & RF are set. The Blue Jays have 2 starters under contract that they should be able to depend upon for 2014.
I would be surprised to see fewer than 8 new faces on the opening day roster (than on 2013's opening day roster) next spring.
That's just shy of 1/3 of the roster turning over.
They're short a #1, a #2 & a #5 starter. This team is a long way from contention, the way it is currently constituted.
Missed it by that much...
Wait 'til next year!
Well, it's a good thing I didn't put actual cash on my prediction. It's sad when my most accurate statement was, "But I could be wrong".
Wait 'til next year!
