Wednesday Notes

by jw

Gonna try to cover a few points quickly, hopefully stealing post ideas from J-Mac.

Divisional Realignment?

There has been talk from semi-influential sources about a sort of floating divisional realignment, where if, say, Cleveland wanted to join the AL East and Tampa wanted to join the AL Central for a season they could swap.  In this example Tampa would have a good chance of making the playoffs, while Cleveland, who have little shot at the playoffs anyways, could gain revenue from playing in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox.  Obviously this whole scheme was brought forth with Tampa, Baltimore, and Toronto in mind.

Better people than I (and also the Drunks) have discussed this, and Neyer pointed out some of the practical flaws of a system like this - notably the unlikelihood of two teams agreeing to switch divisions at the same time.  Regardless, at the very least some people around Major League Baseball are taking note of the competitive imbalance and are proposing solutions.

I think there are about three camps within Jays fans on the topic: that it would mean more to beat the Red Sox and Yankees in order to make the playoffs (see: Rays, 2008), that the divisions are fine they just need a balanced schedule between divisions, and 'screw it, just pick the option that gets us to the playoffs fastest.'  I think I lean more toward the second camp, but I will note that according to team WAR numbers the Jays have been a top five team these past four years and they would have likely made at least one playoff appearance had they played in the Central.  Also: they were 23-15 against AL Central teams last season.  Just saying.

Jason Frasor Trade Rumours

Jason Frasor's name has been mentioned a few times in connection with both the Cubs and now the Twins who have lost closer Joe Nathan to injury.  It seems like a no-brainer that if Alex Anthopoulos can get a decent prospect for Frasor he would pull the trigger - even if he has to eat Frasor's salary - and it's quickly becoming a seller's market on the once-castigated right hander.

On the other hand, Frasor seems to be a good bet to claim Type A free agent status this coming offseason - especially if he's traded and gets the closing job - so any team seeking a deal would have to send the Jays value at least equal to one year worth of a good reliever, a supplemental round pick, and a second round pick (I've given up the hope of netting first round picks with Blue Jays free agents).  That's a rather substantial package and the other teams may not be willing to meet Toronto's price, so we may not be at the end of the Jason Frasor era in Toronto yet.

It was only a year ago that fans were calling on the team to just non-tender Frasor, wasn't it?

Yo, Anthopoulos! Be More Like The...Leafs?

Alex Anthopoulos would do well to highlight a page of the book on Brian Burke today.

In one fell swoop the Leafs GM managed to recreate the culture of his hockey club. Obviously, blockbuster mid-season deals like this aren't very common in the sporting world any more, let alone in baseball. Burke brought in two big name players, and I'm sure we're all very excited about it, but more importantly he got rid of six players from his under-achieving and often complacent looking roster.

The criticism had been made that the Leafs were not hungry enough, and that they had become too accustomed to losing. So, Burke got rid of 30% of his roster, at least half of whom were having their best season in the NHL. None of them were irreplaceable, though, so Burke allowed himself to cut ties with them.

Burke also managed to dispense with what most people believed was an immovable contract in Jason Blake. The only contract that might be harder to move in the city of Toronto was Vernon Wells', and now I have a little bit more hope. (note: that still doesn't mean there's much hope, but a little optimism never hurt)

Although the Jays probably aren't going to be as embarassing as the Leafs in the upcoming season, I don't think that it's much of a stretch to say that they've probably become pretty accustomed to missing the play-offs. I don't presume to put all of the blame on the players, but eventually something's got to give. In my opinion, there are still too many players on the roster who've had their chance - and missed it - to help the Jays take it to the next level.

At this point I should probably point out that I am a huge fan of big trades, if you didn't realise that already.

The Blue Jays, and specifically AA, have made sweeping changes this off-season. There should be very good, healthy competition for positions in the outfield, bullpen, and starting rotation. I can't help but feel, though, that the team would be much further ahead if a few culture shock type trades took place. There are rumours that guys like Scott Downs and Jason Frasor might be on the trading block, and as much as I'd like to keep watching them pitch, I'd be just as happy to see the clubhouse reboot further.

I would also be overjoyed to see Wells and Lyle Overbay moved. Even if the Blue Jays have to eat half of Wells salary. You know, I'd even be curious to see what Aaron Hill or Adam Lind could fetch at the deadline.

It's going to be pretty hard to move this team towards the post season with a roster of players who don't expect to, or believe they can get there.