[Gord the cycler]

Ok, I have been following the Jays all my life. I remember the back to back World Series, I remember when the Jays were bankrupt and were about to go under. I remember the Jays breaking record after record in the nineties. I remember when Eric Hinske got the Rookie of the Year award and I watched the opening ceremonies this year when they hoisted Roberto Alomar's number up to the rafters. I still remember Joe Carter, Juan Guzman, Jimmy key, Kelly Gruber. I grew up with the Jays as my heroes and I cried when we traded away Roy Haliday. I have a feeling that if he would have stayed here, we would have done even better with Jose Bautista smashing all those homers. I love the Jays, even this season.

But do not get me wrong... I watched the game today (@Atlanta) and I watched my beloved Jays get swept by a team we played over 15 years ago to bring home our first championship. As I turned off the tv and began focusing on other things (like work), I began to wonder why John Farrel is messing up the team so much. I mean, he moved Travis Snider to the minors eventhough he had 9 RBIs and a homer with a batting average at .171 yet J. P. Arencibia who is not so hot right now gets to stay. There are a lot of good players on that team sitting down in the minors when I know for sure I could manage that team better. I could bore you with the details, but I won't, since we really are not a baseball country.

I guess that should be the end of this rant. But I will leave you with this... I wish Cito was still around.

Gord

[Joel52]

Ricciardi and Gibbons did a lot of damage, and it's going to take a while to "right" the ship. Over the course of his tenure as GM, the Jays finished on average 18.5 games back - their closest season, 2nd place 8.5 games out of first. We've had some dismal years, and Alex the kid deserves an honest shot at this. Farrell's in his first season with the Jays, and handling a whole new pitching staff - I don't think he's doing all that badly right now. They have had to deal with a few injuries - speaking of which Snider is being checked out for a concussion right now. Drabek's struggling with control but he'll be back from AAA... he was kind of young and inexperienced to bring up, and should probably stay in Las Vegas to work things out.
Snider had 1 dinger in 87 at bats. Arencibia has 10 in 208. Catcher is also a position we need to develop. I think I like the plan so far. I didn't expect them to win the east, and the fact they're able to compete in their division shows promise for the next couple of years. It is the toughest division in baseball - two disappointments for me so far this year... who was that team that was run over by the Bosox last series?! the Atlanta series is a little hard to take too, all of a sudden the bats are cold? Not much hitting against the Reds either...

[Gord the cycler]

Thank you very much for your insight on the Jays. I am happy to see a fellow fan out there still.

[reefrunner]

Another Jays fan here!

[Joel52]

Roy's back in town next week... unless someone schedules a G20.

[Gord the cycler]

I know! Let's invite all those rioters from Vancouver to riot for Roy! The man is one of the best pitchers - has been for years. I love to hate and hate to love that ball player, and hey, since I am at it I might as well admit that the Phillies are an alright team, even without Halladay. Mind you, I know he is the best pitcher on that team.

Gord

[Joel52]

I was reading stats, and the Jays this year lead the league in blown saves - 19 (ouch). Too bad Papelbon didn't fit in a Jays uniform this spring. If half of those were wins, we'd be in the hunt - these guys are that good! Go Jays!

[Jim]

The team is going with youth and developing from within. We have some very talented guys coming next couple of years. The 2 new young guys Rasmus and Lawrie will over time do well and grow in all Jay fans hearts. The future looks bright for our team and this young GM is really proving a diamond in the ruff and I'm starting to see his sight and starting to believe again. But even the best teams have failed so I hope my wait for another world series is 3-5 years away and hopefully a Dynasty. Jays fan 100% and screw the yankees they buy their standings.

[Neb]

Totally agree with you there ^^

I was so sad the day they traded Kelly Gruber. He was/is my all time favourite 'recent' player (ignoring the yankees from the 50's-60's). Ha! I remember, my dad sat me down; I would have been 12 at the time, and said, "son, I have some sad news for you. The blue Jays traded Kelly Gruber." I almost cried lol

[Jim]

Alomar, Molitor, Fernandez, Carter, Gruber (heart), White, Cito (class), Henke, Doc, and on and on all my favorites. This past May camped out in the Dome with my wife and kid. He loved meeting couple players and sleeping on the right field turf. right around were Batista patrols. I believe this team with some better pitching can and will compete - we have to wait some pieces are missing. I am starting to believe again. Gruber was a big loss they all were.

[Joel52]

Looks like they added a couple of nice "missing pieces" this week (Santos/Johnson). I like what I'm seeing. They finished tied for blown saves in the AL with 25 in 2011... if half of those were converted instead, they win the WC.

[FrankTheRabbit]

Glad we can still refer it to The Dome. I've not been following the Jays as closely as other years, but from what I have read, AA has been doing a great job with the team. Not being swept up with signing big names and being stuck with big contracts. Because of that, I have more respect for him and he seems to have really good intentions with the team.

Yea, it was disappointing to not have a proper closer last season and that does hurt...25 blown saves? lol

It is nice to see the Jays building up a competitive roster properly instead of short term fixes and long term disasters. Looking forward to the 2012 season.

[Jim]

Great team to watch never out of it - couple nice additions - now if we could only get doc back we would be dangerous - imagine Chris Carpenter, Doc and Henke (wish he was younger) or someone similar................ WC would be failure. Slept on The Dome floor last spring right were Joeybats plays.... sunflower seed shells on the ground. Had my son jump and catch a ball were White caught his (picture) pics in the dugout, what an experience camp out Canada with the Jays...... Batista is unbelievable to see his coverage in the field and his bat is just plain dangerous. Youth including the GM are growing a contender these guys within 3-4 years will be deadly to any team...... just missing a piece or 2 more, maturity, and playing time. Go Jays Go

[basshat22]

Got my season pass secured for the sixth season in a row. I can't remember the last time I was this stoked for April. Lots of exciting young talent and Bautista's long ball. Still plenty of work to be done with the rotation and bullpen so I'm curious to see what AA is going to do about that. Especially now that Yu Darvish is pretty much out of the picture. Digging the new throwback logo and uniforms too. They actually look like the Jays again.

[Jim]

Darvish would have been a cap disaster - good bye over priced guy. He may come and fall flat on his face not all imports from the east has been worthly of the hype or cost. The cost just to talk eas insane as he hasn't proven anything - the true test is the majors - yes the Japanese league is very good but is not the MLB either.

[Jim]

Darvish would have been a cap disaster - good bye over priced guy. He may come and fall flat on his face not all imports from the east has been worthly of the hype or cost. The cost just to talk eas insane as he hasn't proven anything - the true test is the majors - yes the Japanese league is very good but is not the MLB either.