Toronto Blue Jays Blog Posts

Cliff Lee Philly Fave

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:38:30 EDT

Cliff Lee was meant to pitch for the Phillies. How else do you explain his ridiculous string of starts since joining the team last month? In five games, Lee has a 5-0 record, a 0.75 WHIP, and a 0.68 E.R.A. In 40 innings, he has struck out 39 batters and walked just six, surrendered a grand total of zero home runs, and looked like a true ace while averaging eight innings per start. As if he weren’t contributing enough already, Lee is hitting .313, which, if it were over enough at-bats to qualify, would lead the team. The southpaw has truly made the most of his time in the City of Brotherly Love.

How ‘bout that?

How about Carlos Pe ña? Leading the American League in home runs but batting just .222, the Rays’ slugger actually has more homers (37) than singles (35). If he finishes the season with that dubious achievement, he’d become the third such player to do so, following Barry Bonds (2001) and Mark McGwire (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000).

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Championship Make It Happen

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:52:07 EDT

The MLB trade deadline came and went without the biggest name on the market being moved. Often times Mid-July festers numerous rumors within the Majors. The largest topic of discussion this year was Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Other notable players moved (most of them left Cleveland), but Halladay stayed.

The world series contenders before the deadline (Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals, Phillies) made a few moves to further separate them from the teams chasing them, but neither one separated themselves from the pack of championship contenders they merely stayed with the pace at best. The game is played to win championships! So why did none of these teams pay the price for Roy Halladay and put themselves in a prime position to win.

Right Now either of these teams could win it all, but if you add Halladay to any of these rosters that team immediately becomes the favorite. Hey Yankees give up Joba the Hut and Phill Hughes and get a guy that is more than a strong arm. Hey Boston give them Clay and Bowden and whoever else they want. Hey LaRussa give Toronto Colby Rasmus and Adam Wainwright. If any of these deals had happened I would go ahead and give that team a 75% chance to win the World Series. Heck even a team that is chasing these guys could gain Halladay and contend for championship.

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Believe in the Sox but not the Halladay rumors

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:36:10 EDT

I was filled with all sorts of emotions when I got a text a couple of hours ago saying that the Sox had offered Buchholz, Bowden, and Westmoreland for Roy Halladay. Now rotoworld.com is saying that’s not the case. For those of you that don’t know, rotoworld.com gives minute by minute updates on sports rumors and updates. I was all ready to blog about this trade when I read the latest posting saying that this trade offer never happened. What I want to know is how a rumor like that got started without having any validity to it…then again we’re in the world of sports, so I guess this happens. I dunno though, I’m not ruling out any trade ideas yet.

In any case, Gordon Edes of yahoo.com first reported the trade rumors around 2:30 PM today (7/28). http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AtvS2BliJHl5BYz85vUyDk85nYcB?slug=ys-tradebuzz072809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Although nothing has yet appeared on redsox.com, the story was also posted on Weei.com as well as rotoworld.com. However, at around 5:00 PM, Dan Roche from WBZ radio on his twitter account that “Source tells me sox have not offered buchholz, bowden and westmoreland for halladay.” http://twitter.com/RochieWBZ/status/2896255726. Well this sure is getting interesting...

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This Week in Baseball Notes

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:37:18 EDT

I know, I know. We’re all grieving over the way our boys have been playing. I hope everyone’s been keeping the faith though. Sure, it’s a cold streak. But they’ll be back. I know it.

In any case, here are some baseball tidbits from this week to take your mind off the Sox:

-Bartolo Colon will be pitching for the White Sox tonight. Remember this guy? How could you not. Who knows, if he pitches well enough we might see him pitch against the Red sox at the end of August. I’m sure he’ll get a warm welcome from the Fenway Fans – and by warm, I mean not warm at all.

-Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game on Wednesday July 23rd. That part you probably knew already. But did you know he got a phone call from White Sox fan Barack Obama?? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090723&conte

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I really dont even like this team anymore

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:47:47 EDT

But I haven’t wrote in awhile and I’m bored, so I figured why the hell not? Today is that 20% chance the Indians have at winning one out of every five games they play. That means Cliff Lee is on the hill. Tonight he opposes Blue Jays rookie lefthander Brett Cecil. I’m not sure what the Indians record is right now, but I can assure you I’m doing them a service by not mentioning it.

Some things that caught my script “I”:

-I had to catch the first inning in the car and thought it was interesting that Tom Hamilton said one thing that’s certain is Marco Scutaro will have a big series since he is a former Indian farmhand, referencing the big series had by Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan in the Seattle series. I thought it was a nice little jab at the Indians inept front office.

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Buchholz Gets First Win

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:24:51 EDT

Clay Buchholz Would get his First Start of the Year- and it would be a good one.

This being the first game since returning from the all-star break the Sox looked to stay in command in the East. Not knowing if Beckett and Wake would pitch in the all-star game(which they didn't and I personally thought they really should have got Wake in the game)so they made this move. The Sox brought up Clay Buchholz (7-2 in minors this year) for this one start knowing no matter how good he did, he would be sent back to the minors after the game. This did not matter to Clay Buchholz, he came out gunning, he threw 103 pitches, only allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run and had 3 strikeouts--Nasty!! He went into the 6th and was relieved by Bard who ended the inning and looked great also. Makes you think should we keep Clay up here and sit Smoltz, what does Sox Nation think??? Log in and let me know!!!

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Buchholz is Back

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:31:13 EDT

The Boston Red Sox announced on Sunday that Clay Buchholz will be returning to Boston to start Friday night’s game against the Toronot Blue Jays.

Buchholz has been waiting a while for this call, and who can blame him? The twenty five-year old has pitched phenomenal in Pawtucket, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.36 era. On May 25th, he nearly threw a perfect game, but had it broken up in the 9th with a hit. He finished the game recording a complete game shut-out. Who wouldn’t want out of Triple-A with a season like that?

Then again everyone playing in Triple-A wants out so that they can make it to the big leagues.

But now it’s Buchholz’s turn, and I wish him the best of luck. A roster move will be announced within the next day or so which means someone’s going back down to Pawtucket. I’d suspect it would be Bates, considering Lowell is coming off the DL.

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Take a Look at the Standings

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:10:37 EDT

I already knew that the Red Sox were in first, and that the Yanks were in second. I also knew that whenever I looked at the standings, Toronto was not far behind New York. What I didn’t know was that Tampa Bay is currently only a game behind Toronto.

Everyone once in a while I hear a player say on TV that their division is the toughest in baseball. I never really know who to believe because it seems to change every year. Right now in 2009, I’m picking AL East as the toughest division in baseball. Take a look:

AL East W L Games behind

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5 Trades that Need to Happen in Major League Baseball

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:32:55 EDT

These 5 deals need to be done by July 31st.

With the Nate McLouth trade still fresh on our minds, what other deals appear to be necessary, if not imminent? Atlanta was able to fill perhaps the single biggest hole of any team, in its lack of outfield production. Here are the five trades that need to be made sooner than later.

5.) Nick Johnson traded to the Boston Red Sox.

This doesn't seem like a blockbuster of a deal, but the Red Sox do not need any kind of overhaul, just a slight tinkering to really rev their engine. Ortiz appears to be in a funk that he may not get out of. At least not this year. In the American League you must get production out of your DH spot. Johnson would be a nice upgrade and could spell Kevin Youkilis occasionally at first base.

4.) Jose Valverde traded to the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Papi Power - What a Game

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:03:41 EDT

Did anyone else get the chills last night as Ortiz’s shot just cleared the center field fence in the fifth? I sure did. I kept smiling for the rest of the inning (which was hard not to with all the homers) and even laughed out loud as I realized the team was giving Papi the cold shoulder when he came back to the dugout. And Red Sox Nation topped it off by giving him one of the loudest ovations of the season, to which Papi answered with a curtain call. What a great moment at Fenway Park.

Then making the Fenway Faithful even more respondent, Jason Bay followed suit with a home run of his own (that’s 12 on the season – HR Derby??) which was then matched by a homer by Mike Lowell. But don’t forget about Varitek’s homer, second of the game, that was hit even before Papi came to the plate. I mentioned yesterday about how Varitek had an off year in 2008 and how now he seems to have got his groove back. I also said that Papi might do the same. Varitek is proving to us that you can have an off year but still come back.

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