Courtesy of the National Post, here are interview sessions with Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill, Scott Downs, Roy Halladay, Rod Barajas and Lyle Overbay. Doc predictably says absolutely nothing – the rest is worth a read.

And before you start, don’t miss this gem from Vernon:

Q: Would you say 50%, 80%, 100% [of players are upset with Gaston]?

A: (Laughs) One of those percents, yes.

Wow. More to come.

VERNON WELLS:

There are issues, obviously. If something obviously of that magnitude comes out, obviously there’s some truth behind what comes up. It’s tough for something like that to be stirred up and completely be fabricated. I think some of the issues that go on need to stay in here and be taken care of as a group. That’s something that will obviously play itself out over these next three days and over the course of the off-season.

Q: If there is a delegation appointed to speak to management, will you be one of the leaders?

Whatever goes on, obviously yeah, I’m going to be in the middle of it. Doc [Roy Halladay] and I have been here for the longest time and we’ve gone through our share of managers and coaches. Whatever situations need to go on, and whatever talks need to be made, obviously we’ll be at the forefront of those meetings and discussions.

Q: Has it been since Day 1 of this season, or has there been a moment in time during the course of the season that broke the camel’s back?

Over the course of eight months you’re going to have issues arise. You’re going to have problems and complications. You listen to guys around the clubhouse, and you listen to guys talk, and you listen to different people’s situations, and just different things have kind of gone in a downward spiral just throughout the whole year …

Q: What can you tell us about the issues that you refer to?

Those issues, I’m not in a position to go out and tell other people’s stories and go out and try to bash Cito. It’s not about bashing anybody. It’s about issues that we’re having as an organization, and issues that need to be taken care of as an organization.

Q: Have you attempted to talk to Cito about these issues?

I have not yet. I think that obviously the time is going to come. For some of these discussions I was going to wait until this weekend and kind of clear the air and get some things out there, probably from both sides. I’m sure he has things to say. I’m sure guys have things to say. It remains to be seen how that conversation’s going to go.

Q: Is it your personal intent to do that one on one, or to have a meeting? What was your plan?

This is all kind of happening kind of quickly, to be honest with you. I’ve talked with a couple guys and we’re trying to go about this as professionally as possible. Once we figure that out, obviously you guys will find out since you’ve already found out this much.

Q: Have these issues ever been as bad in this clubhouse during your time here?

No.

Q: Is that’s what driving you guys to act?

What course of action we’re going to take, we don’t know. We’re a family. We go through issues. We have to figure out how to do this in a family manner. Like I said, we’re not out to bash anyone in this situation. It’s a touchy situation. It’s something that obviously most of us, if not all of us in this clubhouse, have not gone through something like this …

Q: This could be interpreted as the players blaming the manager for a season that didn’t go too well. That’s not necessarily your point, is it?

Is it my point? I’ve sucked, period. It’s not his fault, it’s not anybody’s fault. It’s my fault. So as you look around a team full of guys and listen as things go on, this is not about winning and losing. This is about family issues. Obviously, if something comes out and we’ve won our last nine out of 10 games, it’s not about the winning and losing.

Q: Is it about communication?

I think there’s been communication issues with some guys. I think there’s been different issues with different guys. That’s one of them, yes.

Q: Are the problems in the relationship to the point where it would be difficult for this team to play under Cito next year?

I can’t answer that question. I don’t know who’s going to be here next year. I don’t know what moves are going to be made. It all boils down to us playing better on the field. It’s the 25 guys that are willing and committed to trying to get better, and kind of leaving the extracurricular activities to the side and try to concentrate on winning ball games.

Q: When you said earlier about clearing the air, do you see it as a large meeting or a smaller group getting together for that purpose?

I’m sure there’ll be a meeting and I’m sure there’ll be a large group. Like I said, this is a family. We’re all in this together, good or bad, and the discussions will probably be had with pretty much the entire group.

Q: Who will you meet with?

Don’t know yet. I’ve spent pretty much the day with Aaron [Hill] and Rod [Barajas], and we’ve all kind of just been like, ‘What are we going to do? What’s going to happen, especially once we get to the field, and how’s it going to be the next three days with all this coming up?’ The details I don’t know yet.

Q: Have you talked to general manager J.P. Ricciardi or interim president Paul Beeston about your concerns?

No.

Q: Have you talked to them at any point during season about these issues?

No, not really. It’s kind of just been talked about in here …

Q: Have a lot of the younger players been asking you questions to have you maybe guide them through what’s probably maybe a unique experience for them?

I’ve talked to a lot of people on this team, and they’ve all had a lot of questions. Obviously, a lot of those questions I can’t repeat. It’s something that we’re trying to deal with.

Q: Are you the go-to guy for players who have these issues? Are you about the first person to hear from everyone?

I don’t know. Maybe. Some guys, yes, I know. We’re going to have issues. That’s the bottom line. It’s just a matter of trying to keep those issues to a minimum and try to keep them from boiling over. Obviously, unfortunately it’s gotten to the point where things have kind of boiled over.

Q: Would you say 50%, 80%, 100% [of players are upset with Gaston]?

(Laughs) One of those percents, yes.

AARON HILL:

I don’t really have much to say.

Q: Are you part of a clear leadership group?

The guys who are going to be here the next couple years, I think everybody’s a part of it. This is our team. The guys that we’ve had the whole year, we’ve stuck together and we’ve done a great job with it, too. We’ve got a great group of guys and maybe we’ll get together and see how things work out.

Q: Get together with?

I don’t know. That’s something we’ll talk about.

Q: You said the players have done a great job with “it”? What do you mean by “it”?

Great job, just staying together. It really hasn’t even, no matter what has happened, it hasn’t separated any of the guys. We’ve got a tight-knit group of guys and I think it’s kept us pretty strong. It’s good to see, but you hate anything like this coming out. You have to deal with it.

Q: Is the story true?

I think there are some things that need to be addressed, yes.

Q: Is this something that needs to be addressed before next year?

Obviously, the story is out, so I’m sure there will be some things that will come up over the next month or so. I don’t think there’s any rush to get anything out. But, we’ll see.

Q: Are these different opinions, or is it one voice from clubhouse?

I think everybody pretty much feels the same, for the most part. Everything that’s gone on with the team, we’ve stayed together. It’s one of those things where as a whole I think they’ll stay together …

Q: Could this turn into a good thing in terms of veteran guys stepping up and showing leadership?

I guess, yes. It’s just something that I guess you don’t really like anything coming out like that, but in that sense, yeah, some guys will speak out and take control of the team. So it’s something we’ve been lacking, so I guess it would be a possible thing for guys to grab this team and go in the right direction.

Q: Do you expect a small meeting? A group meeting?

I think it’s up to everybody. I think the door will probably be open to whoever wants to be a part of it and we’ll see. Everything’s public now, so I’m sure you guys will know about it in the next couple days.

Q: Is the relationship salvageable between the manager and players?

I think any relationship is salvageable, but on both sides there’s got to be a little give and take. From that part of it, we’ll see what happens.

ROD BARAJAS:

Q: Were you talking with Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells after this came out?

We were. We didn’t come to a conclusion on how this should be approached and what should be said. It caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see anything written down. I’m just so surprised from reading that.

Q: What are the issues?

I’m not going to get into details on what the issues are. On any team, you’re always going to have issues and they’re going to come up, and as players and teammates you try to figure out ways to deal with them. I’m not going to sit here and say this is what’s wrong or that’s what’s wrong, or this needs to change. For me, I’m not in a situation to sit here and criticize people and give reasons for why things aren’t going the way we think they should.

Q: Is this the most upset a clubhouse has been in your experience?

No, I’ve been on teams where relationships with managers and players aren’t always the best and that easily makes for an unhappy clubhouse and usually you’re not going to have too much success on the field. It happens. Probably to a lot more teams than people think. Usually it doesn’t come out. It stays in house.

Q: Do certain things need to change for you to come back the Jays next year? (Barajas is a free agent after the season.)

Honestly, I haven’t thought about that. Like I’ve been saying before in the past, I love the guys in this clubhouse. I have a good time when I come to the field. I enjoy my teammates’ company and for me that’s the main thing — to be somewhere where the guys who I play with, the guys who I go out on the field with, I enjoy being around and are positive influences in the clubhouse.

Q: Do these issues need to be resolved before next year?

If there’s problems, absolutely. They always have to get figured out. You can’t sit there and let problems linger. A small problem starts growing into a bigger problem and all of a sudden if you let this go for another four months, who knows what could happen? So, if there are some issues, then absolutely you’d want to be able to talk to whoever you need to talk to to try to resolve them. You don’t want to go into a brand new season with a whole set of issues. It’s going to make for an unhappy season.

ROY HALLADAY:

I’ve got nothing for you guys on that. Any concerns or views I have will be expressed, but to the right people.

• • •

LYLE OVERBAY:

I can’t speak for everyone. I can speak for myself. You’re going to have to ask them. It’s been the same since the beginning for me. I wanted tio play every day. I don’t expect him to make 25 guys happy, so I don’t expect him to change just to make me happy. That’s my situation. It’s been evident since the beginning of the season.

Q: Is this something you have talked to the manager about, or tried to talk to him about?

I’ve contemplated about it. Just because at the beginning of the year we were winning, it’s got to be for the better of the team. That’s kind of the way I look at it. I didn’t want to be a distraction. I didn’t want that to be a distraction. I’m putting that on the side burner, but on the same token now, we’re not really winning, so I just might sit down and say I just want to more than anything just to try to figure out what to expect next year, ‘cause it kind of did hit me off guard a little bit when I wasn’t playing every day. It’s something that I need to go in the off-season and get myself prepared and hopefully next year will be different.

Q: And he didn’t talk to you about that?

No. I think [Gaston] has been quoted twice in I don’t know which newspaper but at the beginning of the season that it wasn’t a platoon role, but it didn’t happen that way.

Q: Do other players have maybe not the same kind of complaint you have but other types of issues with communication, his approach, that he’s a very old-school type of guy?

It is old-school. I think when you have a younger group in here, it kind of hit us a little harder. It kind of caught us off guard more than anything. Still, he’s the manager. He’s putting the lineup out there. We’ve still got to go out and do a job. That’s the thing. Not everyone is going to be happy. If you try to make 25 guys happy you’re going to make them even more miserable, I think.

Q: Is there a difference in his style, in his communication, between last year when you were winning, and this year?

No, it’s the same … He never really said a lot. We were winning. He was just kind of sitting on the back burner and watching us play good and watching us do the things we were doing. He’s doing the same thing now, so nothing’s different.

Q: Have the players lost respect for him?

I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them.

Q: How about you?

I haven’t lost respect for him. Like I said, I don’t want to be a distraction, just because this is a team thing and I don’t want for me to say something that might offend somebody that’s going to affect the team.

Q: There’s a group of players that wants to meet with [interim president] Paul Beeston to talk about the situation. Are you aware of that?

I heard that. I didn’t hear it from the players. I don’t know if it’s happening or not.

Q: When did you hear that?

A couple weeks ago, but I hadn’t heard anything since. I don’t know if it’s happened. I don’t know if I was reading it in the paper or something but Beeston was on vacation or something …

Q: It wasn’t from within the clubhouse that you heard that?

I’m trying to remember where I heard that. I don’t think I did. I’m trying to remember. I don’t know.

SCOTT DOWNS:

Q: Do you feel that the young guys in the bullpen need guidance?

Sometimes. That’s been hard. I’m not going to lie. I’ve never been in that leadership role because I’ve always looked up to (B.J. Ryan) and when all that went down [Ryan’s release} we talked about it. I told him I’m going to do everything that I can to keep it the same way you had it, which is hard because we have two different personalities. They do look to me, but I’m more laid-back when it comes to things like that. But if there’s somebody that wants to talk about anything, needs help with something then I’m always there.

It was apparent with the whole B.J. thing that something wasn’t right. I don’t exactly know between those two guys [Ryan and Gaston]. As a bullpen as a whole, we want to just give it the best shot we can. going out and pitching. But sometimes when you don’t know what you’re going to be asked to do, it’s kind of hard.”

-DL

Phoenix Coyotes, NHLPA, Toronto Blue Jays and now, Cito Gaston… Here my friends is around the globe on les Coup Cito:

“A Fox Sports report by Ken Rosenthal this morning claims that virtually the entire Jays’ clubhouse is in agreement that manager Cito Gaston needs to go. He has lost everyone, says the source. Since Rosenthal is not around the Jays’ clubhouse and has very rarely quoted any Jays’ players directly in recent years, this “clubhouse insider” information has to come from someone in the Jays’ front office.

Here’s a clue. Needing confirmation for the column, Rosenthal claims he was unable to reach GM J.P. Ricciardi for comment. If it’s true that he was unable to contact the GM that would be a first. This has the feel of a Ricciardi scud missile on his way out the door.”

We start things off with a bang as the Star’s Richard Griffin slams J.P. Ricciardi as the likely rat behind this story.

“Let’s see, if an entire team wants a manager out of the way, the usual strategy is that a team quits playing for him and virtually mails in the results. Unfortunately for the conspirators, the Jays have won six in a row and nine of 10 and have returned to the offensive juggernaut numbers of April and May – and even beyond that production. Way to deliver a message to management boys.

No, some significant discontent is definitely there towards Gaston, but it is far from as rampant as Rosenthal insists it is. When the New York Yankees visited Toronto September 3-6, they already knew about the clubhouse anger. The links are former Jays Josh Towers, A.J. Burnett and Eric Hinske, who heard about it from friends with the Jays. The knowledge of the discontent has certainly permeated the Jays’ clubhouse. They have all heard it, but for young players trying to establish themselves and fit in, stating that position and adopting it as their own would be professional suicide.”

It’s not necessarily whether the things are as bad as they may appear, its that they are TOTALLY public…

“The leadership of the revolt likely comes from the bullpen and likely started with the treatment of B.J. Ryan as he struggled to regain his form at spring training and was subsequently released.

At spring training Gaston threw Ryan under the bus during a trip to Orlando to play the Braves. He discussed the diminishing returns issue and scratched his head over Ryan’s loss of velocity, even though he was healthy. The baton of explanation was immediately passed to a distressed pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, who while trying to defend his friend B.J., inadvertently backed the bus up over Ryan and moved forward, crushing him again. That was the beginning of the end.”

I can’t believe that the answer here is letting the inmates run the asylum and with the 2009 Blue Jays the analogy couldn’t be any more appropriate.

“Gaston is not patient with pitchers. Scott Downs, a good friend of Ryan’s and another of Arnsberg’s disciples, has been the latest whipping boy for Gaston. He took over from Ryan as closer, then got hurt and was replaced by Jason Frasor, came back and got hurt again. The last time he was hurt it was in leaving the mound to cover first, and he strained a hamstring. The manager and trainer George Poulis went to the mound to check on Downs. When Cito found out his pitcher was hurt again, Gaston strode back to the dugout, leaving the trainer and injured reliever to hobble off the field. It seemed strange at the time, but seems to be part of the mutual discontent that has clearly developed.

It comes down to this. There are many villains and few heroes in this Jays’ piece. In hindsight, that’s exactly the way their disappointing season has gone. Many changes will be made.”

Classic stuff, what a way to end a season.

Over at the Canadian Press:

“There are issues, obviously,” clubhouse leader Vernon Wells said before Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. “We have to figure out how to do this in a family manner. We’re not out to bash anyone in this situation. It’s a touchy situation. It’s something that obviously most of us, if not all of us in this clubhouse, have not gone through something like this.”

It’s public already- it’s way beyond the “family” when us outsiders are reading about it!

“Wells indicated he and ace Roy Halladay are at the forefront of a group of players that also includes second baseman Aaron Hill and catcher Rod Barajas which intends to raise the clubhouse issues in a meeting with Beeston, and perhaps Gaston in a team-wide chat, this weekend.

While they were all uncomfortable airing their dirty laundry in public – Halladay offered nothing more than the terse “Any concerns I have will be expressed to the right people” – they confirmed what multiple sources at all levels of the clubs, including two players, told The Canadian Press earlier about the “friction” between players and Gaston.”

This whole things reeks of an intentional leak. Someone wanted to do true harm to this team. Why this is the least bit public is beyond comprehension.

” “I think there are some things that need to be addressed,” said Hill. “I think everybody pretty much feels the same for the most part. Everything that’s gone on with the team, we’ve stayed together. It’s one of those things where as a whole I think they’ll stay together.”

Gaston – the 65-year-old whose contract runs through the 2010 season, just like Ricciardi’s – questioned just how pervasive the insurrection was, and said bluntly, “I’ve treated everybody with respect, so I’m not sure what their bitch is.”

“I don’t think you can and just rely on the players that told you that,” he added later. “I think you need to talk to all of them to find out. If it comes out to 50 per cent, maybe we got a problem. And I’d like to know what the problem is because I can’t be any fairer than what I’ve been.”

If Hill or any of the younger guys have the same feeling, it’s a MAJOR problem….

” “You can’t sit there and let problems linger,” said Barajas. “A small problem starts growing into a bigger problem and all of a sudden if you let this go for another four months, who knows what could happen? … You don’t want to go into a brand new season with a whole set of issues. It’s going to make for an unhappy season.”

Added first baseman Lyle Overbay: “It’s something that we go through and we’ve got to figure it out because we’re not going to be a very good team if this is going to go on. We’ve got to get it straightened out, either way.”

Compounding matters is that there’s also a split in the coaching staff between bench coach Brian Butterfield, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and bullpen coach Bruce Walton, who were left over from the fired John Gibbons’ staff, and Gaston’s crew of hitting coach Gene Tenace, third base coach Nick Leyva and first base coach Dwayne Murphy.”

When, if ever have you read so many public comments about a teams “dirty laundry”? I mean for us fans it’s fascinating- but this shit doesn’t get aired in public.

“Added Scott Downs: “I don’t think anything really snuck up. I just think nobody paid attention to it. It was just one of those things where it was kind of `We have a job to do. Let’s go do our job and play the game, play hard and let everything else take care of itself.”‘ Whether or not that can happen under Gaston is now in question. “Whatever goes on, obviously yeah, I’m going to be in the middle of it,” said Wells. “Doc and I have been here for the longest time and we’ve gone through our share of managers and coaches a”

“I have not yet (spoken to Gaston). I think that obviously that the time is going to come. For some of these discussions I was going to wait until this weekend and kind of clear the air and get some things out there, probably from both sides. I’m sure he has things to say. I’m sure guys have things to say. It remains to be seen how that conversation’s going to go.”

Now this is odd. Consider if you will, why would a player leak this to the media? I mean look at what these guys are saying. Down’s basically says this has been going on for awhile. Well’s says he hasn’t talked to Cito about it. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THIS TEAM? Where is JP, Where is Beeston? This makes the NHLPA look like a well managed business!

Tim Wharnsby’s take:

““You hate for anything like this to come out, but we’ll have to deal with it,” said Aaron Hill, the all-star second baseman. “I think there are some things that need to be addressed, yes.

“I think everybody pretty much feels the same, for the most part.”

That’s a major fucking problem. For a guy as important as Hill to be saying that everyone feels the same way!!! Wholly shit- I mean how bad is this clubhouse?

““In the past I always knew what players thought of managers and all that stuff – their strengths, weaknesses and their ability to laugh at them and their ability to be upset with them,” he said. “But I haven’t heard any of that this year. And no one’s talked to [general manager] J.P. [Ricciardi] about it either.”

That from Beeston who has been away for a few days. If this is true then it just goes to show you just how out of touch Beeston and JP are. If the young phenoms are saying it’s true and everyone’s pissed then the guys running the team clearly aren’t paying attention.

““More than anything, I want to try to figure out what to expect for next year,” Overbay said. “It kind of caught me off-guard a little bit when I wasn’t playing. … [Gaston] never really said a lot. As we were winning, he was kind of sitting on the back burner, watching us play good.”

Gaston and his coaching staff are under contract until the end of 2010. Hill remarked that any relationship can be mended, but there needs to be “some give and take” from both sides. Wells wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t know who’s going to be here next year,” Wells said. “I don’t know what moves are going to be made. It all boils down to us playing better on the field. It’s the 25 guys that are willing and committed to trying to get better and kind of leaving the extracurricular activities to the side and try to concentrate on winning ball games.”

Fantastic attitudes- and this in a season when “they were supposed to be shitty!” Can you imagine if the were supposed to contend?

““As far as coaches, I have a couple of coaches who are loners,” Gaston said. “They go their own way. They are always invited to come out and have dinner. If they want to come, they can come. If they don’t want to come, that’s fine.

“I don’t think [anybody] wants to hang out with their boss, do they?”

Now that’s not only telling, it’s just not very smart. How the hell do you look your employees in the face after making such an asinine comment like that? If you are “hanging out” with some of your employees and not others- there is clearly a problem- calling them loaners….just not very smart.

Jeff Blair has a few gems too:

“In truth, the players wanted a meeting during the last homestand but Beeston was overseas for his 40th wedding anniversary until mid-week. Beeston rubbished the reports of mutiny Friday, saying he would have known if Gaston lost the clubhouse, because the players knew his door was open.

But, really, Beeston himself is here on an interim basis, as he keeps telling everyone. Couple that with a general manager, J.P. Ricciardi, who most in the game view as dead man walking, and a manager who is tight with the interim president in an environment where nobody trusts ownership? Good luck keeping lines of communication open with that.”

It’s a total disaster, that’s what it is. The reality is, they should all be gone, Beeston, JP and CITO- totally clean the house and start again!

“What to make of this mutiny? What does it mean for the future? The first thing to keep in mind – and not to be indelicate about this – is that the 2009 Blue Jays aren’t a very good team, so who the hell cares what some of these guys think? I know this: If Kevin Millar’s upset with Gaston, he’s dimmer than I think he is because no other manager would have given a player as pathetic as him as many at-bats.

As for Vernon Wells? My guess is there are worse things that could happen to the Blue Jays than have him so embittered that he decides to exercise his escape clause. In fact, the payroll relief that would provide might alone be worth another year of Gaston managing.”

Cito’s stubborn support for a horsehit player? NO really… There is no way Vernon will walk away from this deal- no one- not even Dominic Moore is THAT dumb.

“Gaston’s bullpen mismanagement is as poor as Buck Martinez’s was when he was here, so if the relief corps is a bubbling cauldron of discontent it’s understandable. Since it might be the most cost-effective part of the team and should be back almost in its entirety in 2010, that’s not good. You can debate Gaston’s so-called passive in-game managing all you want, I judge a manager first and foremost on how he handles a bullpen.

At the end of the day the only ones who matter in all this are Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Travis Snider and pitchers such as Ricky Romero and Marc Rzepczynski. It is their souls and well-being that ought to be first priority, and the young pitchers have done okay by Gaston, as has Lind. Hill becomes the most important person in the clubhouse the second Roy Halladay is traded, because he has the edge and the interpersonal skills to be this franchise’s go-to guy for years to come. He is close to Wells, too close, some of his veteran teammates will tell you, to the point of being deferential.

And when Hill told reporters Friday that there were issues that needed to be addressed, it spoke volumes.”

Damn straight. I could care less about 9/10’s of the guys in the clubhouse- Tell me what these guys are feeling…besides “get me the hell out of here”

Over in the National Post:

“Asked if he would be willing to change, Gaston replied: “Absolutely. I’d really like to know what I need to change. That would be interesting, I’d like to hear it myself.”

Gaston said he liked everyone on the team and has treated players and coaches fairly. He suggested the complaints may originate with a small number of players.

“I think you need to talk to all of them to find out,” he said. “If it comes out to 50%, maybe we’ve got a problem. And I’d like to know what the problem is because I can’t be any fairer than what I’ve been.”

You can hear the sarcasm in those answers.. The guy probably can’t wait for the season to end. Can you blame him?

So, the meeting is tomorrow. Truthfully I fully expect to hear all the right (wrong) things come out of it. The reality is all the these guys, those at the top should be gone. I have lost total faith in any of them to deliver a winning product.

Griffin is here
CP is here
Wharnsby is here
Jeff Blair is here
The National Post is here

TSM
@yyzsportsmedia

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

They rumbled last night in the Bronx as the Toronto Blue Jays took on the New York Yankees. Tempers flared in the eighth inning. Earlier in the game Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion and Aaron Hill were plunked by Yankees pitchers. Jesse Carlson sent a message of his own when he threw behind New York catcher Jorge Posada. The benches empty, but nothing happened. Then a couple of batters later Posada scored on a Brett Gardiner single and nudged Carlson while crossing home. That set things off and the two players went at it and this time the both teams spilled on the field for good reason. Posada was ejected and Carlson had a welt on his head. The fight may have been a draw, but the Jays put the bats to the Yanks, blasting them 10-4. Toronto tied a season high with five  home runs, two of which were launched by Travis Snider.

Round two, I mean game two goes tonight. Chad Gaudin (5-10) starts for New York, while Brain Tallet (7-9) gets the call for Toronto.

If you want to watch a game with playoff intentions you may want to check out Colorado Rockies in San Francisco to take on the Giants. San Fran took game one and two in convincing fashion and now only trail the Rockies by two and a half in the NL wild card race. Jorge De La Rosa (14-7) toes the mound for the Rox and San Fran counters with one of their aces Matt Cain (13-5).

At some point last winter, I was talking to my friend Ben about our hometown Toronto Blue Jays.

“Wow,” I said. “This year is going to be terrible.”

Of course it was. Half the starting rotation was gone before the year began, while ownership decided to hold back on spending. Management openly spoke about a “transition year,” trying to temper expectations before the inevitable poor season.

It actually made some sense. With A.J. Burnett in New York and with Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan both out for the season, competing in the AL East would be a tough assignment. Plus, most of the kids would need at least one year of seasoning, while mediocre veterans would be playing major roles.

“Yeah,” Ben agreed back then, as we decided it would be no surprise if the Blue Jays finished with the worst record in baseball this season. On the other hand, we were looking forward to seeing a core built around the kids, because it seemed like the best-case scenario. I was ok with this, I guess. I knew I wouldn’t like it, but I could deal with it.

So why does the season seem more excruciating? Blame the good start.

The Blue Jays jumped out to that nice lead in the first month, capped off by a 4-game sweep of the White Sox that made Toronto look like a team that just might be for real. It was a fun ride, but it couldn’t last. Everything has been downhill from there, with the drop even steeper than I’d imagined. The supposed “stars,” Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, have mostly stunk, while management clearly got into Roy Halladay’s head and derailed a Cy Young-type season.

The worst part is that a bunch of great storylines have been overshadowed:

1. Adam Lind becoming a real force at the plate. The guy had a huge season and will be a cornerstone for years to come.
2. Aaron Hill’s comeback. After dealing with a months of symptoms from last season’s concussion,  Hill is back with a vengeance. Fans in Toronto already loved the guy, but he has developed into a premiere second baseman, both in the field and at the plate.
3. Big years for the vets. Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas have been great since the spring, while Scott Rolen tore it up before his trade to the Reds.
4. The kids have been solid. Ricky Romero is a Rookie of the Year candidate, while the rest of the rotation was filled with rookies throughout plenty of the year. It was actually amazing to see the Jays in first place while starting Robert Ray as a regular starter.

That’s the saddest part about the year for me. The Toronto Blue Jays really had no expectations, but they created false hope with a surprising first month. Fans should be excited to have Hill locked up at great value, while looking forward to a year with Marcum back and Romero developed. Plus, Travis Snider will get it together, while Lind is quickly becoming a star. Yes,  the Blue Jays still play in the AL East, but at least there is young talent on the roster.

If the Jays had started out badly and won meaningless games later in the season, morale would be higher. Look at the Toronto Raptors, who won a whack of insignificant games to close out a dreadful 2008-2009 campaign, but left fans with a better memory for the offseason. It’s not even a great example, because the Raptors were incredibly disappointing all season.

Still, whether or not you think the Blue Jays will be contenders in the future, think back to your expectations for this season. They were supposed to be bad. They are bad. But try to catch a glimpse of the silver lining…again.

-DL

You have read LT’s argument on why he has photo’s of JP in his bedroom. Steve Simmons has a retort in today’s Toronto Sun:

” Gord Ash was fired after finishing third four consecutive times with the Blue Jays. And nobody argued it wasn’t the time.

J.P. Ricciardi, in his eighth season in Toronto, will finish no better than fourth out of five in the American League East for the second consecutive year.

And, should he be fired, no one will argue about that, either.

It does get old, all these seasons of spinning wheels, going nowhere.

Ash was on the job seven years, and left behind Roy Halladay and Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Orlando Hudson for his successor. Twice Ash finished fifth with the Jays, fourth once and four times in third place.

Ricciardi will leave behind Adam Lind and Aaron Hill and Ricky Romero for his successor.

In eight seasons, his Jays have finished fifth once, fourth twice (we’ll include this season), third four times and once in second place, and led the league in excuses just about every season.

The timing on Ash’s firing was appropriate and necessary.

The time to get rid of Ricciardi is now.

This and that

Ricciardi is outraged because somebody breached confidentiality in the Rios waivers scenario. And well he should be. Ricciardi, for example, would never breach confidentiality by going public with trade demands, or making certain large news agencies are aware of his every move, or hanging his most popular out to dry by revealing private conversations. Nope, he wouldn’t do that … ”

Me? I am with Simmons.

I had 2 interesting talks with what I will call Toronto Sports “experts” this week. The discussion was the Toronto Blue Jays. It seems that there is varied opinions on what Rogers will do with this team. One seemed to think that the current Rogers executive team has little interest in keeping the Jays. The other suggested that there is much intrinsic value in having the team and the dome that they are in a hold position. Further, this person said, very few teams actually make money in baseball and that the losses suffered by Rogers on the Jays are a drop in the bucket. Both agreed that irrespective of who the owner is, beyond luck (read Tampa Bay) it will be tough to compete with a 200 million payroll. One suggested, with admittedly no factual basis behind it, that perhaps interim President Paul Beeston could put together a group to buy the team. The other suggested that Beeston has made numerous attempts to hire his replacement but has thus far been unsuccessful. On Beeston, one source said, there is only 1 full time job that interests Beeston, and that is currently held by Richard Peddie! The most interesting dialogue was on the topic of JP Ricciardi. One expert said that in his experience with several teams in MLB, the role of GM is almost equal parts luck as it is skill. The amount of luck in drafting, trading and signing is unlike any other sport, the expert told me. Pat Gillick was viewed as a genius for making the Robbie Alomar, Joe Carter deal. The deal, he said was as close to not happening as it was to happening. Gillick’s management team was split on whether they should make the deal or not. Gillick finaly decided to make the deal and a genius was born. This isn’t a knock on Ricciardi. Ricciardi’s biggest problem one of the expert’s suggested (and I concur) is his ego. He comes across as an arrogant ass. It’s hard to sell the team with that.

More to come from these talks in the days ahead. I leave you with this question. Could you imagine a MLSE hierarchy that looks like this?

BOARD
I
Paul Beeston
II
Brian Burke Bryan Colangelo

Feast or famine in this city when it comes to reporters. In one corner, at least with Blue Jays we have Griffin, Blair, Elliott and Arthur in addition to a few others who can actually really write. On the other hand are the lazy Loewen’s of the world who can’t even be bothered to do any research before writing a column, or eek god, proof reading it. Before you shit on me for my shitty grammar or spelling, I don’t get paid to do this. I do it for fun. Get a load of this:

“Medicine jest

St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols doesn’t have any problem if drug-testers want to visit him during the off-season.

“They can come and check every place in my house, they can even come with me in my bathtub. I have nothing to hide,” Pujols told ESPN.com.

Hey, Albert, they’re not checking for rubber ducks.”

That is not, I repeat how Loewen’s article appeared in the print version of today’s paper nor the electronic version until one Greg Brady bashed the living shit out Loewen both on the radio and on twitter. Loewen had Albert as Louis, not once but twice.

Meanwhile, down the paperbox is Bruce Arthur:

“Sure, Aaron Hill started in the All-Star Game, and Halladay met Barack Obama, and … uh, OK, they’ve kind of lost 12 of 15. There’s not a lot else to be excited about. But this team has been headed for a fork in the road for a long time, and what happens with Halladay is going to send them down one road or the other. Right now, the Jays are neither an entirely young team, nor an entirely veteran team. They have a 33-year-old shortstop, a 33-year-old catcher, a 34-year-old third baseman, and a 33-year-old closer; they also have a 25-year-old DH, a 24-year-old rookie-of-the-year candidate pitcher, injured 27- and 24-year-old pitchers, and Alex Rios, who at 28, has all the maturity of a seventh grader. And in the middle, in his prime, they have Roy Halladay. He is what gives any hope of eventual contention any whiff of legitimacy. Without Roy, the rotation is just a bunch of guys who aren’t ready, who might get healthy, or who are scraping out better-than-expected results, most of the time. A bunch of arms, but no spine.”

Ding Ding Ding. Give the man a prize. This, is a completely accurate assessment of the Jays. People say Leaf nation looks at the world through blue and white colored glasses, have you ever heard a shitty thing said about any Jay prospect?????? Arthur hits more homeruns in this column than Alex Rios has hit all year.

“Last night on The Fan 590 radio, Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston mentioned to host Bob McCown and to this reporter that he had not discussed a potential contract extension with Halladay, but that he would within a week, and said money would not be an issue were Halladay amenable to such a deal. Which makes it feel like it might be Halladay, 32, who has nudged this process into motion. Before this season started, Halladay said some things that look a lot more ominous today.”

Anyone who suggests this is about money with Roy isn’t telling the whole story. The Jays would give Roy a blank check. The problem is that JP has so poorly managed his money by signing “albatross” contracts that they have no money for anyone other than Roy! Do you blame Roy for wanting to say I have given you enough chances, I no longer believe?

“If Roy goes, this team will have decided what it is, and had better damned well commit to it. No more fantasies of beating the Yankees or the Red Sox or the Tampa Bay Rays right now. No more qualified promises that maybe, if everything breaks just right, the games might mean something again, just over the next hill. Instead, go the way of the Orioles, who have young talent, and some thin strands of hope. Become the team of Adam Lind and Travis Snider and Romero, rather than of Halladay and Vernon Wells and Rios. Spend the money smarter. You can keep Halladay or move Halladay, but one way or the other, have a plan. The Toronto Blue Jays don’t have to become Kansas City or Pittsburgh or Washington, stranded and lost. They just have to find a way, one day, to avoid being counted among them.”

I agree, you can’t be half pregnant. The problem is the deals JP has signed has tied his and the next GM’s hands. It would be nice to have a faith in a GM and his plans for the team. Right now the team is stuck in neutral. Sounds like another team in Toronto used to be until they found the right GM.

TSM

Arthur is here.

He let Carlos Delgado leave as a free agent…unfortunate, but understandable.

He signed AJ Burnett to a ridiculous contract, including an opt out clause and Burnett opted out and signed with the Yankees…somewhat forgivable.

If J.P. Ricciardi even thinks of trading Roy Halladay he should be fired on the spot and never allowed to be a general manager of another team.

Let’s face it Doc Halladay is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. If he continues to throw the ball the way we are used to seeing he may be remembered as one of the all-time greats. When you have a pitcher that is as dominant as Halladay you do everything in your power to hold on to this player, because you never know when another one will come along.

Sure some people out there argue that trading Halladay at a time when he is still somewhat young and a valuable asset to pretty much every team in the league is the right thing to do. You hear them say that what Toronto would get in return would be too much to turn down. Well, I say these people are IDIOTS.

Yes, every GM in the league would salivate at the chance of getting their hands on a pitcher as talented as Halladay, but what would Toronto get in return, some young arms? Toronto has those. Young bats? Yes, they have some of those too. A true clean-up hitter? Okay, they are in dire need of one of those, but you can always pick one up through free agency. There is also the argument out there to get some prospects. Do you know what you get with prospects? Potential. What you have with Halladay is guaranteed.

So far this season Doc’s record is 10-1, the best in the majors. (It would be 12-1 if the bullpen didn’t blow the game against Baltimore and manager Cito Gaston had left him in versus the Braves.) He leads the league in innings pitched, is third in strikeouts and is in the top ten for ERA. He’s already thrown three complete games, including an unbelievable performance against former teammate Burnett and the hated Bronx Bombers. The only pitcher that you can say has had a better season so far is Zack Greinke, but lets face it for a guy with that much potential he’s still got a lot more to prove.

Halladay’s won a CY Young award. He consistently leads the league in complete games and innings pitched. He’s the king of the ground ball and barring any type of career ending injury should be the next pitcher to reach 300 games. (That’s right I said it.) So why in the world would you ever think of trading him? In the Sports Illustrated annual executive and scout poll asking who are top five players they would pick to start a franchise, Halladay was in the top ten.

Halladay is under contract with Toronto until the end of the 2010 season. If the Jays were smart they would hand the man a blank cheque and have him filled out the total and let him tell them how long he wants to sign for. Anyone who’s ever watched him pitch, know he’s worth every penny.

Sticking with the Jays:

• Wouldn’t it be absolutely disgraceful if Aaron Hill doesn’t make the All Star team? He’s batting over .300 with 14 homeruns and 43 RBIs. Kinsler and Pedroia may have a couple better stats, but overall Hills has them beat.
• Remember that deal that J.P. was working on? The one where Alex Rios would have been sent to the Giants in exchange for Tim Lincecum. That would have been awesome. Especially since Rios’ play in the field and at the plate has taken a nosedive and Lincecum won a CY Young. If you need any more evidence check out his latest collapse on YouTube.
• Is there anyone else out there who thinks Vernon Wells should be batting in the three spot? His best years at the plate were hitting in that spot. Keep Marco Scutaro and Hill in their spots, move up Wells and drop Rios to the ninth spot. Adam Lind has proven he can hit in the clean-up spot.
• What’s up with the pitching staff under Brad Arnsberg. First BJ Ryan, then Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and now Jesse Litsch; all of them missing huge chunks of playing time due to major surgery. Coincidence, I think not.

Hey everyone,

I just finished a full hour of baseball talk with London, Ontario’s Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTradeRumors.com. We touched on the Blue Jays, Cito Gaston, JP Ricciardi, Vernon Wells, Roy Halladay, Aaron Hill, Pedro Martinez, potential trades, the American League East, and whatever else came up.

Here is the audio, in a couple different formats – Comments are appreciated, along with any ideas for next time.

-DL

Listen to the Chat here

I think I pissed a few people off with my last Blue Jays article when I said J.P. should be fired and that the Jays will not make the playoffs. Hey, I write it how I see it. However, there is always another side to the story….or coin as they say. Here are five reasons the Jays can keep it going and make the playoffs.
1) Hitting:
This is an easy one of course. The Jays lead the league in runs, team average and wins. Aaron Hill leads the league with 54 hits as of today. Adam Lind is 3rd, and Vernon Wells is 11th. Everyone is getting in on the action. Even the enigmatic Alex Rios broke out of a 2 for 18 slump today. Even if the pitching struggles, this team is never out of a game. They haven’t shown any signs of slowing down
2) Pitching:
Most felt this would be their undoing this year. With the departure of A.J. Burnett and injuries to Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan, they were supposed to get lit up. In comes Ricky Romero and Scott Richmond, and the Jays were off and running. Even with injuries to Romero and Jessie Litsch things didn’t implode. Career reliever Brian Tallet and Brett Cecil pitch a couple of gems and the Jays take two of three against Oakland. The Jays have a solid bullpen as well. When everyone is back healthy, the Jays will have something that seemed unfathomable two months ago, too many good pitchers. That will only make the pen stronger. I never even mentioned Roy Halladay, but I don’t think I need to.
3) Coaching:
The trio of Cito Gaston, Brad Arnsberg and Gene Tenace have done wonders. I think they are making J.P. look very good. Whatever they’re doing is working. The players trust them and believe in their methods. When players and coaches are a cohesive unit, talent is maximized. The Jays are the perfect example.
4) Depth:
Besides the pitching, the Jays have decent depth in the field. DH Travis Snider can play the outfield if someone goes down. Jose Bautista plays right field, third and first. John McDonald is a great defensive fill in at short or second and they’ve got Kevin Millar at first base. Bautista and Millar are batting .328 and .327 respectively. They don’t stockpile talent like the Red Sox or Yankees, but they have enough if injuries occur.
5) The GM

Anyone who read my last Jays article thinks I’m nuts. Although his trade history is brutal, let’s look at the positives. J.P. has drafted very well. No one could have expected some of these draft picks to succeed how they have, but that’s how it goes. You often don’t know for a few years. I find this especially true in baseball. Travis Snider, Jessie Litsch, Ricky Romero, and Adam Lind are just a few. It seems there is more on the way. He has significantly improved the Jay farm system in his time here as well. For the first time in his tenure here, J.P. is looking, dare I say….smart.
So there it is. Five reasons I think they can keep this ride going. Weather they do or don’t, they’re definitely a fun team to watch…..so far.

Anthony

Back from Detroit. Fuuny, I didn’t get much of a feeling for how gung ho Red Wing mania is there this time. I spent almost the entire weekend in downtown Detroit and didn’t see anything Red Wing related at all. I actually heard a radio ad today for Red Wing playoff tickets..  If you ever go to Detroit, by the way, there is a great new hotel downtown.  Westin has redone the old Book Cadilac Hotel and I can tell you, the rates are very reasonable and the hotel AMAZING.  So if you want to go see the Wings, Lions or Tigers…check it out.

In any event… here is a review of the things I am seeing tonight:

Pierre LeBrun on the Hot Stove last night offered up his opinion that the Isles may be souring on John Tavares, and starting to think about not wanting JT as this years prize for finishing dead last.

“In the last couple of weeks there have been rumblings coming out of Long Island … and suddenly it’s not a sure bet, according to these rumbling, that Garth Snow will take John Tavares as we’ve been led to believe all along, I’m told the Lightning would immediately go to Toronto’s table and say ‘Alright, Brian, we’re open for business. We want Kaberle and Luke Schenn.”

Now, LeBrun did say, that in talking to a Leaf source he was nearly laughed off the phone, and this is only one person’s opinion. Let’s just say again, it is going to be very interesting leading up to the draft.

We here in the Great White North are fortunate enough to see all the Caps v Pens action. In the USA- not so much. At least not everywhere:

“According to sources, the NHL made approximately $3 million last year out of its profit-sharing arrangement with NBC. That’s $3 million, total, or $100,000 per team. Not even Phoenix needs that, not when the NHL’s signature series is all but shut out by the NBC, not when there’s no ESPN to showcase it. Do Bettman and the NBC people mean to say that there was no way a potential Game 5 of Ovechkin-Crosby — it’s only LeBron against Kobe, Magic against Bird, Tiger against Phil, Arnie against Jack, Brady against Manning — onto the network in prime time next Saturday night in place of all those “Law and Orders” that run ’round the clock? Does Bettman recognize what’s being lost here by not having the ESPN brand behind this dream matchup that will, in fact, be imaginary to scads of potential viewers. Here it is, Ovechkin vs. Crosby, the Caps vs. the Penguins, and it’s being played in the dark.”

Larry Brooks is 100 right on this one. Bettman Inc. has based his entire regime on 2 issues. Cost certainty and growth in the USA. Growth in the USA will never, never come with a television deal like the current one in place. With the economy in the shitter, I don’t see how the owners are willing to live with this television deal.

You know how much I love me them Sedins. I have said it repeatedly, and I know I may be alone, but I don’t want them on the Buds. Kevin Paul Dupont lists about 7.5 million reasons why I don’t:

“Their deal in Vancouver paid each of the Sedins $3.75 million this season. They easily will average upward of $6 million each on their next contract, and given that they won’t turn 29 until September, they might persuade someone to cough up, say, $90 million over six years, averaging out to $7.5 million per Sedin. A cap hit of $15 million is high, but as Detroit showed with deals for Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, a couple of “soft” years can be tacked on to the back end, possibly lowering the cap figure for each to slightly below $6.5 million. All of a sudden, someone has themselves a latter-day version of Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson (young readers, please consult “Total Hockey,” 1978 Rangers).”

God, please tell me Burke isn’t going to blow the cap on these 2 guys….

Steve Simmons had a couple of beauties in today’s Sun. The first is a rarity. The Leafs getting defended in the local media.:

“But the sequence of events needs to be re-examined: 1) The Leafs waived Wellwood in June of last year; 2) Vancouver claimed him and signed him in early July; 3) The Canucks placed Wellwood on waivers in mid-October and sent him to Manitoba; 4) Every team in the NHL passed on Wellwood, even though he was earning less than $1 million US per season; 5) After recalling Wellwood, the Canucks scratched him from a number of games this season, even though he was not injured. To recap: The Leafs didn’t want him. The Canucks didn’t believe in him. The rest of the National Hockey League wasn’t interested. Goes to show that sometimes everybody can be wrong, at least over the short term. The Canucks were willing to spend $20 million on Mats Sundin and wound up with a more effective player for a fraction of that cost.”

I just love the morons who try to shit on the Leafs for cutting Wellwood. Just because a guy shows some promise elsewhere doesn’t mean that the team that gave him up was wrong for doing so. Making such a claim is more pathetic then giving up the player in question, by a long shot.

“I’m starting to hate myself because I’m starting to like some of the things J.P. Ricciardi has done. Nobody drafted before Aaron Hill is better than him. Marco Scutaro is tearing it up. Ricky Romero, before going on the disabled list, looked legit. It doesn’t exactly make up for the contracts given to Frank Thomas, Vernon Wells and Eric Hinske but what looked to be the end for J.P. is starting to finally look like a beginning”

These Jays are interesting. They lose a series to Kansas City and lots of folks, my included think and say, here we go, the beginning of the end. Yet then the O’s come to town and the Jays take the broom to them. It says here that the Jays should go get an arm and reward the guys for the amazing start. Be prepared for those lean days ahead…

Good Sunday night- talk on Monday.

TSM