MLB does not observe marquis of queensbury rules

As anyone knows, the current state of affairs regarding the Biogenisis scandal is at the crossroads, and we should expect suspensions very soon.

No one in their right mind believes that MLB can do anything but slam 50 to 100 game suspensions on the likes of Ryan Braun and Arod, perhaps Bart Colon, Melky Cabrera and Gio Gonzalez. Depending on the level of evidence, the CSI crew would have sewn this caper up by May 1st, but major fact gathering continued, and we all expect the gloves to come off.

I really hope for the sake of the game that the commissioner's office have got all their facts right, because we know what happened to Braun's case last year. The denials, the botched evidence, and inuendos that Braun got off on a technicality, but was guilty of some wrong doing.

He was aquitted, if that is the correct term, but legal teams from the Players Association, as well as players personal lawyers are lined up ready to defend clients, and post pone whatever suspensions are levied.

But make no mistake, MLB, Bud, and his crew are no shrinking violets this time, no timid approach, they are coming all guns a blazing for this group.

This will be fought through the media, the court of public opinion, and will drag on after the season is long over.

When spring training opens next March, we may still be talking about this.

I strongly believe that before the July 31st non waiver deadline, we will hear from the league, no one would trade for any of the accused players without knowing where they stood.

Meanwhile the soap opera continues in Trenton, NJ, as Arod continues to make good strides, stroking 88 mph curve balls into orbit, and not showing up when can see rain from his downtown condo windows. The Yanks are 3 games out of the Wild card and after every poor performance are the scrutiny of the back pages of the dailes for not promoting him.

And of course the poster boy for righteousness re injured himself after 3 at bats. Derek Jeter gone for say 10 days at best, while a seemingly healthy Arod plods along trying not to get hurt.

My personal interest will be what MLB does to Melky Cabrera, who served his 50 games, had his batting title stripped, and forfeited a World Series ring.  Because he had a web site, his crime is trying to obstruct justice, I would let him off with a stiff fine, and time served. This is no second offense, it is the same related issue. 

Going after a web site is getting into grey areas of free speech, slander and libel, and do not serve any further purpose.  I don't think MLB wants to get mired in the muck over what someone says on a web site, especially if hardly anyone even bothered to look at it.

Oh yeah, we start the second half on Friday after a boring All Star Game, nice send off for Mo, but blah.  Jays begin to start the 2nd half seeking consistent rotation efforts, to which I say, " Good Luck ".  I do not see this team winning more than 77-78 games, they cannot beat the East, pure and simple.

See ya soon folks.

Marcus of Quisenberry , eat your heart out......

We hand out Jay grades, mid terms report cards

Some players I will grade, others , just amalgamate.

R.A. Dickey gets a C-, not what we thought we were getting, to date. Loads of excuses, reasons and diatribes. He is the Mao Tse Tung of pitchers, always the philosopher. We needed Cy Young.

Josh Jonson gets a D +, again he has tossed of late a few good games, but body of work has been shite. Expect grade to improve. He's been kept after school for remedial "fastball".

Casey Janssen grades out as an A, no problem kid, plays well with others. Odd stance, send him to the nurse.


Esmail Rogers gets a B +, an over achiever, and has made the jump part way through the year up to senior class level. 

Steve Delabar gets an A-, weird guy, has strange eating habits, rubs carrot juice on his face. Send to guidance counselor.

JP Arerencibia - B, his home runs are impressive, needs to work on catching the ball and helping his pitchers.  He is teaching others Spanish on the side. Watch him close in the second half.

Adam Lind - best pupil in the class, gets an A+, found his mojo after manager realised he was still on the team.

The Kawasaki Kid- an A for effort, a C + for results, kid has moxy, but might have to go back to remedial school if this Reyes kid pans out.

Brett Lawrie - D -. Oh this one is a project, bad attitudes, too much mouth, not enough hitting ( the books ) might need a few more weeks in state pen to sort some shit out.

Balance of infield, gets a C-, weak at times, great in spurts.

Joey Bats 19 - I give him a B-, the numbers will be there in the end, but not as consistent as we'd hope for.

Edwin - A , how could you not give him this grade, even his rare defensive start has been good.

The Rajah, B + , limited use, but acceptable numbers

The Melk Man - C -, sporadic, okay defense, injuries mounting, was a gamble after being to asked to take on lead off position.

Rasmus - B-, some power, some defense, never has made any other improvements. Too many holes in his swing

Gibbons, has to get a B, handles bullpen well, but is that clever managing, or a good collection, a bit of both.

Anthopolous - sorry Alex, cannot give you any more than a C-, this team is today 41-41. We expected better, we got an average team.

Incomplete grades for transfer students Wang, injured Morrow, and 30 % of the pen now here.

All in all, the team should have over 40 wins, and it does not. It cannot beat the AL East, and changes have to be made to be a contender.

Arod, and the beans, spilled again

In the here and the now, we ran across the story that Arod tweeted out his health status saying a doctor has proclaimed him " game ready".
Wow, that sure shook up the Yankees front office.
Brian Cashman actually dropped an "f" bomb on a Arod.

Later they apparently patched up their differences with VP Randy Levine during a conference call, sure they did. And Pee Wee Herman is a youth counselor.   Not lost in this story du jour is the $ 28 million the yanks could pocket if Arod does not play for them this year, from insurance guarantees.

It's all about the dineros right now for New York. If they can slow down this ascension to the major league club, or have him trip over a garden hose, well geez, $ 28 million is not pocket change, now is it.

His highness, Lord High and Mighty-ness.





This is an easy one, they don't want him, but need to convince the paying public they want to win, I said it was easy, didn't I ?  Well that may be a stretch.  Yanks are floundering, and could be headed for the dreaded second division finish.

 Jeter still making his come back attempt.  He's run the bases with his new walker, the Clipper 3000, while 1st baseman Texieria has to undergo season ending surgery. And where the hell is Curtis Granderson, and The Youk. Then there is Mike Pineda and the soon to be ending career of Mariano Rivera, a first ballot HOF lock.

Ladies and Gentleman, it has finally happened, the New York Yankees, of Ruth and Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio and Costanza have finally grown old.

I knew it was going to happen, they had not secured an "A" level free agent in the past 2 off seasons. No Albert, no Hamilton, no Cliff Lee, no Zach Grienke.  And the reduction of payroll to avoid huge luxury tax implications has spoken loudly.

Arod is just the latest in an effort by the Pinstripers to reduce the damage.  Get something out of this.

Last one out, dump the leftover caviar and cover the torches, these boys will not Survive the summer.

The Ridiculist

Okay now this is getting a bit ridiculous, I mean the last post was the 3rd of May, and here we are on the 4th of June posting again, praying the phone does not ring.

In the past month a lot has gone on, but why revisit the past 4 weeks, would rather focus on what is happening now, and what will happen in the next month.

By the way, I stole the headline from Anderson Cooper, my apologies Anderson, and happy birthday fella.

The Jays have nothing to look forward to until after the All Star break, when they can parlay some expendables into prospects.

Move # 1 - Josh Johnson.  the most obvious player dealt is he is in his walk year, has never truly fit in, and would opt for free agency despite what we offered him.

Target the Yankees, or Rangers, get some kids back


Move # 2 - Deal The Dick. - if you can move RA Dickey, please do it, get what you can from a National League contender. I would say Arizona, but they are budget wise. The Braves are a possibility, but I like the Giants of San Francisco.  They are going to be in "buy mode", have Barry Zito who is not dependable and will be willing to eat the last 2 years of his deal. That or the Reds, Cincy always goes in with spotty pitching, and Dickey - head might actually help them. The Reds score dozens of runs, and he does not have to pitch more than 6 innings.

Move # 3 - Since you cannot move Buerhle , why not Casey Jansen.
Young Stroman might  be the next closer in waiting so get something tangible. He has proven to be very dependable, but in my mind not an A level closer, but a good B level guy.  Again the Yanks might want insurance, the Rays as well, although Rodney could come around.  I even sense the Tigers might be candidates.

He is of no use IF you've dealt Johnson and or Dick Head. Morrow will still be iffy, and there are pictures of Rickey appearing on milk cartons. J. Happ wants to know what day it is, and is it time to milk the cows. Jury is out on Happy Happ.

The list of ridiculous things that may or may not happen are in no particular order.

1. Yunel Escobar comes out
2. Jays win 80 games
3. Orioles start winning games with secondary arms
4. Cardinals lose their magic elixir
5. Mattingly shaves his sideburns, but gets fired anyways
6. Mike Wilner apologizes for his apologies
7. Wil Myers comes to the majors and sets a rookie record for strike outs
8. The fans discover there is a baseball franchise right in Tampa, no seriously
9. We unearth yet another Upton brother who can hit better than BJ.
10. The Astros go on a tear.....

Well pretty unlikely, but baseball is not a game where predictions always come true.

Meanwhile the scribes here in Toronto see money spent going down the drain, and 2013 becoming a lost season.

My best guess is they don't fire the manager, they give him a mulligan because of numerous injuries, but 2014 had better start off like a house a fire or the management will be dealt a swift blow. Gibby won't be the only head gone, Alex will be on the chopping block.


I will have a post mortem on the June Baseball draft in a couple of weeks, keep those cards and letters coming in, and we shall  see what we shall see.

Cheers !

A month later....

Oh c'mon, a month later and this super talent laden team is 10-19, are you shitting me.  What the "f" is going on here.

If I listen to the folks on the street, all they talk about is the Leafs and opening their cottages next weekend. Sincerely folks, I did not see this coming.

I looked at last night's boxscore, and thought "where's the offense gone" , and when I read Happ's line with 7 free passes, I said "where is the damn pitching", and when I watch us botch easy ground balls and miss the cut off man, okay, well you get the point.

Who to blame, some say they'll gas the pitching coach, some the hitting coach, some want Gibbons head on a pike. Either way someone is going to blamed and thrown under the bus.

Blue Jay apologists are running out of excuses, even R.A. Dickey, who has started to look respectable, has run out of people or flying objects or rowdy fans, to throw under the bus.

After a winter of optimism, and a bit of disjointed spring, we had high hopes. I don't think that going into Game 30 against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez will make everyone feel we are truning the corner, but this can get real ugly.

I heard this morning on my drive in that we won 1 series so far this year, it may have been KC, but this train wreck is so bad, it is a blur. Oh but the boys have hit the long ball, yes, but the boys have given up the long ball. The bullpen has been average, they have coughed up leads, but have had to be used far too often and too long, they'll be spent by Canada Day.

News arrived yesterday that Rickey Romero will take the ball for Josh Johnson. Why, well Josh has a boo-boo, so what else is new. When hasn't been injured. Is that laughing I hear from the Marlin brain trust ? Shut up already.  So after pitching 7 innings against a group of 18 & 19 year olds, he is ready.

Panic in the streets ! Rickey's returning. Hey, he cannot possibly pitch any worse than Johnson, who is destined for a stay on the DL, a visit to Dr. James Andrews, and the Jays will not pick up his option. Why does he remind me of AJ Burnett so damn much ?

A reminder, a while back, 1989 to be excact, the Jays had a decent team, and started 10 - 20 and this was after George Bell decided he was not going to DH, kiss my purple butt routine. Sil Campusano was the CF of their future. Their future ended up being Moseby again, and eventually Devon White.

With that 10 - 20 start, they gave the gas pipe to Jimy One M, Williams.  GM Pat Gillick did not see a team, but a house divided, one group hated Williams, and the other half hadn't made their minds up yet.

Gaston was brought in, and the Jays made the post season, good things were on the horizon.

Not saying the Jays will do that if they have a flat weekend against our expansion cousins, but you know all it will take is plus 23 and sunny, andif the Leafs were to take a game against the Bruins, well the gang at the Big Giant Conglomerate will notice the walk up crowds dwindle, and the ratings take a dive. Not even hornet's nest contraversy about illegal pitches by messers Hayhurst & Morris will be enough to keep folks interest.

The buzz

Life in Toronto can be bitter, the winds are pretty cold up and down University, so like this guy, you better bundle up.
The buzz on the street is evident, folks are stoked about this season, the restaurants, the smoke shops, the subway all adorned with all things Blue Jays.

I see it every day, here it on the radio, see it on TV,  the hype is as high as I have seen in years.


We are 4 hours away from 1st pitch, and it will be a knuckle ball I 'm sure to Michael Bourn of the Indians, all 53,000 fans in the stands know it, and the million or so tuning in , know it. Question will be, can he hit it.

Back in 77, dressing up for Exorcism Stadium require multiple layers of clothing, and copious amounts of alcohol. That wind blowing off the lake was brutal in April, even early May. Now we have the concrete convertable and a steady 72 degrees F, so no excuses for blowing on your hands.  The fans have been waiting for an excuse to cheer since Anthopolous strode to the podium and announce the "Big Catch", the Marlins reeled onto the boat.  Imagine folks, 40 % of your rotation, a starting shortstop , and  platoon 2nd/Outfielder for a bag of shells, and a full wallet.

The picture above I think was the Marlins former GM, who Alex made a monkey of. I know it was a money deal, we had, and would spend it, Marlin's owner did not want to, and  a match made in heaven.

Less than 4 hours now, depending on how bloody long the introductions are, and hey does everyone know that Rush lead man Geddy Lee will toss out the 1st pitch ?  Yup, Geddy, which is really Garry, a huge fan will toss out the first ball to JP Arencibia, and it might be the easiest pitch he will get all night.

Oh and the entire Sportsnet crew is on hand for live updates, every 15 minutes.  If you don't feel the buzzz, come to my office. It started with Luke and Mike at 9 this morning, chest bumps, huge smiles, and nobody has had a beer yet.

I must dash off soon, the dog will need feeding and walking before the national anthems, and hours of endless predicitions. 

Remember that the game has to be played on the field, not on paper, or like the Strato Matic style, and 162 times they play, so folks, take it easy.

Opening Day

Despite ESPN's Sunday Night game with Astro's and Rangers, today is always Opening Day.

It is when at least half the teams get to expect packed stadium, have elaborate introductions, and all the fans renew their hope and faith in their home team.


So now I guess I must make some bold predictions. Rangers will not go undefeated. OK, that's cheeky.

Starting off where it matters, the Jays will tussle all year with Tampa, but deadline additions made by Toronto  will shore up the pen, and bench, and they will inch out the Rays for the East.
The Central should not be close, but lack of a cohesive bullpen will stalk the striped cats for part of the year, and allow the White Sox to stay in the conversation till August, but the Detroiters are simply too strong to stop.
There will be no wild card from the central division this year.
In the West, many expect the Angels to hold off the Rangers, but again, they will face stiff competition from Oakland. Angels will win, but they will expose holes in their rotation that may not be able to fix easily.
The Rangers and Devil Rays will play a one game sudden death to stay alive.

The National League I will discuss next time out.

Today let all fans bask in whatever sunshine they can muster, grab a dog and a beer and celebrate spring, and renewal.

2013 in Toronto promises to be a good one.