Brett Cecil Blue Jays Closer!

It appears as though the murky water that is the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen is beginning to clear. Since the departure of homegrown closer Casey Jensen the off season has been all talks about who the next Blue Jays closer would be. It was not know wether this would be an internal promotion or outsourced candidate. In the end Brett Cecil is your next Blue Jays Closer.

All off season the Jays have been rumoured to acquire a variety of pitchers to fill their disastrous bullpen from last year. From the likes of K-ROD to Jonathen Papplebon these names were coming out of everywhere. However all Blue Jays fans no not to get into the hype of big names coming north to Toronto. After all Paul Beaston doesn't believe in mortgaging the farm to acquire big talent after all.

So it a sign of relief knowing that Gibbons has given the nod of approval to our next closer Brett Cecil. The left-hander was outstanding in 2014, pitching to a 2.70 ERA while registering five saves. Unfortunately Cecil is currently rehabbing from a shoulder issue, but tossed one inning in a minor-league game on Saturday and felt strong despite giving up a pair of doubles. But don't fret Blue Jays fans, he is excepted to be ok to go for the opening game of the season.

-Ace

Anthony Gose, The Man That Could Of Been?

It’s difficult to gauge whether strong play in spring training will translate to success throughout the MLB regular season. Detroit Tigers center fielder Anthony Gose appears to be poised for a breakout campaign given his current spring. After being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays for second baseman Devin Travis this off season, Gose will fare better as a hitter than he did in Toronto.

But lets be honest all you avid Blue Jays fans, haven't we all seen this rodeo about 1000 times now. Every time the Blue Jays trade away a struggling prospect from there farm system they always seem to become the next big thing for whichever team acquires them, causing all of us to be cursing management.

Having a hot spring is certainly not a bad thing. Either way, it can help a player carry momentum into April and therefore increases the likelihood of them swinging a hot stick. But hitter’s see such a variance of pitcher’s, everything from Double-A to Major League caliber arms on a regular basis in the month of March, making it tough to buy into a lot of the hype.

Not to wish any player bad luck or anything but since our current situation at center field is looking bleak, I hope Gose does not become another star in the making wasted away by the Blue Jays.

-Ace

Godspeed and bless you, good sir.

Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar will miss time after straining an oblique with a hard sneeze Saturday morning.

Now I know what your all thinking. A Sneeze really? this cant be at all true. But it is indeed. In fact its not that uncommon of an issue. The most popular instance was during the 2001 world series race. Chicago Cubs All-Star Sammy Sosa had the exact same type of injury. We have to remember that being out in the dry heats of some of these ballparks can truly mess up ones immune system and cause in-explainable injuries.

That's all you can do in these instances laugh at nature's cruel humor and get back in the game when the healing is done.

Pillar is batting .269 through 26 plate appearances, with one home run and five RBI. He's currently in contention for a starting job in the outfield, and if he can manage his sneezes more consistently, he could be a real asset to this Blue Jays team.

Godspeed and bless you, good sir.

Let's pick it up Max

Drafted in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft, Toronto Blue Jays catching prospect had a memorable fairly memorable debut season in professional baseball. Unfortunately, he’s now got a pair of shoulder surgeries to show for it.

 

This is a tremendous blow to a minor league catching depth chart that has seen its share of hits in recent seasons. After trading Travis d'Arnaud (which I’m still not pleased about) to the New York Mets prior to 2013, the Blue Jays have watched J.P. Arencibia devolve and then get non-tendered. Let’s be honest we all saw that one coming; the man was a strike out machine. Which is not a good thing if you are not a pitcher. Meanwhile, the heir-apparent A.J. Jimenez has struggled to stay healthy, recovering slowly from Tommy John surgery in 2012.

 

Needless to say, the Blue Jays were counting heavily on a quick ascension for Max, who the team drafted with the 11th pick of the 2014 draft (two picks after Jeff Hoffman). Pentecost rewarded that high-draft slot with a .324/.330/.419 slash-line across 25-games between the Gulf League Blue Jays and Short-A Vancouver.

 

Let’s give him a couple seasons to recover because we do have Russell Martin who is slotted to be freaking awesome. Max could be a Cinderella story but only time will tell.

-Ace

Bye Bye Dustin

Around these parts, there was some internal hope that the Toronto Blue Jays would find a way to bring back free agent reliever Dustin McGowan. Unfortunately, it appears the book has closed on that hope with news that McGowan appears to be close to signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 32-year-old McGowan has spent his entire career in a Blue Jays uniform before the team declined their option for the 2015 season. The right-hander is coming off of a career-high 53 appearances, including 8 starts, but put together a lackluster 4.16 ERA and 5.02 FIP while watching his strike-outs fall by nearly 3 per nine innings pitched (6.7 in 2014).

Needless to say, Dustin McGowan isn’t likely to slide into the closer role in Los Angeles, even if only for one month, and he certainly isn’t going to make the Dodgers forget about Kenley Jansen for that month (44 saves, 2.76 ERA, 1.61 FIP, 13.9 K/9 last season). However, McGowan did pitch much better when he shifted back to the bullpen last season, posting a 3.35 ERA and watching his strike-outs climb from a pedestrian 5.8 K/9 as a starter to 7.5 as a reliever. Additionally, McGowan held hitters to a mediocre .205/.276/.321 slash-line during high-leverage situations in 2014.

I’m hoping there will be more people upset to see McGee out of the blue and white of Toronto.

-Ace

Introducing The Most Awesome Prospect We Have Ever Had.

The Blue Jays pitching prospect is not homeless,  as he assuredly has a home. It’s a mustard, 1978 Westfalia Volkswagen van, and for the 21-year-old, it affords all the adventure an off-season can offer.

Norris chronicles much of his travels on Twitter, where followers are given equal doses of his passion for baseball and wanderlust.

On the field, Norris, who debuted in the big leagues in September, is competing to crack Toronto’s starting five. But off of it, he’s that high-schooler who reads Kerouac and decides to uproot his life but actually goes through with it

The luxuries that the van nicknamed Shaggy  confer are non-traditional. But for someone who’s toiled in the minors since 2012, the spartan lifestyle seems to match the job description. Minor leaguers constantly shuffle from system to system. So why wouldn't he live through this awesome van. As a love of the outdoors runs his family, the left-handed pitcher from Johnson City, Tennessee spends his time camping in mountains and driving on the open road when he is not playing baseball

This season its been confirmed that Daniel will crack the 40 man roster after his stunning performance last September. Whether he starts in the bullpen or in the Starting 5 , Daniel Norris will be a nice down to earth pitcher who can stabilize the team.

-Ace

The force will be strong with the Buffalo Bisons on July 18

A long time ago, in a upper New York city, far, far away….

Star Wars night has become a popular trend across sports, as many teams have a dedicated night to the Jedi and Sith. The latest team to have a Star Wars night is the Buffalo Bisons, the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate.

The minor leagues in baseball have been a place for teams to experiment with wacky uniforms and logos, such as having a chihuahua on hats or a bacon strips on hats and uniforms.

Now, the Bisons will be next in line with their “Jedi Robe Jerseys,” which will be worn on July 18.The jerseys look exactly like a Jedi robe with brown up the sides and the sleeve, making it appear as if there is a robe over the jersey.

The jerseys also have a lightsaber embroidered on to make it appear that jerseys come with one. On the top right portion of the jersey is a death star with the Bison swinging a lightsaber over it.

Star Wars night has already been done several times, but the Bisons are taking it to the next step with their jerseys for Star Wars night.

One of the greatest things about minor league baseball is their promotions, and this is one of the better ones.

James Shields??????

Besides Max Scherzer and Jon Lester this offseason there has been no other pitcher more talked about then that of James Shields.

The reason behind the hype for this guy is simple. He's a proven workhorse type of pitcher. Sure he's not the same quality ace pitcher like he was in Tampa Bay, but man this guy was solid in the regular season last year going 14-8 on a surprising team like the Royals.

The Blue Jays front office staff have been very quite on their stance on James. The reason he is not signed by any big team yet is quite simply his age. He is unfortunately on the wrong side of 30.

It was reported that James is seeking a 5 year deal north of the $100 million mark. This guy has to come back down to earth. Yes he is a good pitcher, However he isn't in his 20's anymore. No team is going to take that kind of financial risk on a player who may just have seen his best years behind him. Perfect example R.A Dickey......anyone see where I'm going with that.

Now it's unclear if the Blue Jays have any money left to spend this offseason, but if they do they should definitely offer this guy a deal. Putting Shields in the lineup not only gives the Blue Jays a solid rotation but it also provides us with bullpen relief. The Blue Jays have the issue where all starters not named Buehlre seem to only last 6 innings. Shields has had over 33 completed games in his career and could possibly do another 7.

One thing is for sure though if the Jays have any hope to compete this year they need more arms like this guy in there club.

-Ace

Jays loose out on another stud pitcher

Well its official Max Scherzer is officially off the market. And this marks another year where the Toronto Blue Jays have missed out on another stud pitcher. This morning he signed a 7 year 210 million dollar deal with the Washington Nationals.

Now as a Blue Jay fan this really irritates me, but did we dodge a bullet? Let’s look at the facts. He is a 30 year old fastball pitcher, He is a former CY Young winning pitcher, He has posted 4 straight seasons of .600 + winning percentages. All of these stats should sure enough have fans foaming at the mouth for him. And they absolutely should he is a beast.

However if we look at it from this standpoint it might help fans rest a little easier. Max Scherzer will be making 15.7 million a year over the next 14 years, because they did a deferred contract. So even though he is only committed to the team for 7 years. That contract will count against the cap for the next 14. Now as a Jays fan that is a lot to commit to an arm that may or may not have 5 years left on it. People have to remember fastball pitchers tend to go downhill in the north part of their 30s. Look at all time pitching great Randy Johnson his career started to dwindle down around 34. Max will still have 3 years left being paid as a number one guy and not putting up these numbers.

Hopefully next year they can spend their money wisely and grab a decent not outrageously priced ace pitcher to round out are pitching staff. But hey at least we aren’t stuck for 210 million for one guy.

-Ace

Stay With Us Munenori Kawasaki

          Muneori Kawasaki may be close to signing a minor league deal with the Blue Jays. After the Blue Jays’ saga with Takashi Toritani ended with the player staying in Japan, we’re getting word that there is interest in Kawasaki.We all know this fun loving japanesse short stop. Every thing from his comical antics to his game winning home run against the Baltimore Orioles on June 26, 2013.

Sources are suggesting the Blue Jays are the fan favourite short stop is looking for a 2 year deal with incentives to be added to the 40 man roster for the 2015 season.

At 33 years old, Kawasaki has a few more years of baseball left in him. In the fall it was thought that he would return to his native Japan to play ball if he didn’t get an acceptable MLB offer. It isn’t clear that a minor league offer is “acceptable” to the infielder, though. If we consider the past couple years, perhaps Kawasaki knows what we all know: a minor league deal doesn’t really mean he won’t see playing time at Rogers Centre. Let’s be honest. In the run of a season, it would be awesome if he sees plenty of playing time at perhaps the 2nd base role.  This signing, while minor, would certainly be welcome by Blue Jays fans. Kawasaki has played (and performed) his way into the hearts of many. It seems odd, but Blue Jays fans have a soft spot for guys who work hard but do not put up huge numbers. However, Kawasaki also provides quirky entertainment that may help to keep this clubhouse loose if that is a concern.

-Ace