Perhaps I rhymed too much there but I felt it was necessary since I am proud to say I was right. Everyone and their dog told me that by this time Halladay would no longer be a blue bird, I from the beginning, said no.
What two things do we know about JP Riccardi's somewhat unproductive reign as Toronto's GM?
1) He never trades. Up until now the biggest trade in his tenure is likely the Overbay trade which while it stands up as a decent trade is not resume worthy when you are saying how good of a dealing GM you are.
2) He signs mediocre athletes to ridiculous contracts and ridiculously good athletes to mediocre contracts. See Vernon Wells for the former and Roy Halladay for the latter.
Upon review of these points it should come as no surprise that JP stood pat come his self-imposed trade deadline for Halladay. Look at it from JP's point of view he had four options;
1) Try and trade Halladay to a poor team who could come back with quality picks and young players. While it seems easy Halladay would only waive his no trade clause to a contending team removing all but say a dozen teams from the mix, few of which had the shopping list JP was desiring to pick from.
2) Try and trade Halladay to a team that is a contender. Again now you come accross the opposite problem, many suitors but no dowry. Except for Philadelphia, the Dodgers, and to a lesser extent the Angels any competitive team likely does not have the blue chip prospects warranting JP's attention. Throw salary restrictions into the mix and only Philadelphia could reasonably swing a trade, and trust me the folks in Philly know this and have likely been low-balling JP with JP high-balling creating no middle ground since both teams feel they have the advantage in the supply vs demand model.
3) Trade Halladay to either of the LA teams or to Philly for two crap shot draft picks and a proven major leaguer. Too me this is the option that has the least logic, why would you eat the salary of an everyday player who would have to be good enough to warrant a 10 million plus salary when you had the best pitcher in baseball to start off with. Except for Josh Hamilton in Texas I don't think there is a player in baseball that could provide a positive upside high enough to warrant such a move.
4) Don't trade Halladay. Let him play out the season and likely win the CY Young or come agonizingly close and still have a 20 win or close to it season. You then have the option to trade him in the off-season with his value just as, if not higher. Once you can assess the free-agent market and locate a suitable replacement for less money therefore justifying trading him for a bag of balls come next year's deadline. Also, this gives him the chance to see how things play out when you have the most experinced rotation and quite possibly the most talented in baseball under 32 come the 2010 season.
To me it's simple. Inaction is the norm for JP and this situation is no exception. There was no need to push the panic button as the best deal that came accross JP's desk likely had a high failure probability and would have been just another excuse to pin another bad trade on JP. I say the fans who were pushing for a Halladay trade aren't really Jays fans at all, just people who wanted to see JP fail yet again and were willing to negotiate the hostage that is the Blue Jays future.
I am glad cooler heads prevailed.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Dear Baseball: Please change your outdated and boring playoff system.--Alex
I have never understood something...why does baseball center itself around three-game series' throughout the year then come playoff time bust out the seven game variety. Very puzzling.
Furthermore why the heck do you have a thirty team league only to have eight make the playoffs? Especially when there is hardly any change in the teams participating each year save for the one or two who interchange.
The argument for the current system is parody. To the casual fan this is a good sell. Except for the Red Sox, no team has won the World Series more than once this decade. However, after some number crunching this stat trumps the former. Save for the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Athletics, Cardinals, and Angels, chances are your team did not make the playoffs more than twice in the last decade. In fact seven teams haven't made the playoffs in the last decade and as a Blue Jay fan this research only deepened my depression.
Upon my further research I noticed something even more interesting...what if MLB expanded it's current playoff format to eight teams in each league...similar to the NHL and NBA? Would the imbalance be as extraordinary? No. In a proposed eight-team per league playoff system which we will affectionately call "The Blue Jay System"... (you'll see why...), only two teams: Baltimore and Pittsburgh would not have been playing October baseball somewhere in the last decade, in fact we find that imbalance of teams even qualifying for the playoffs is absolved. In this scenario no less than two thirds of all teams would have seen post-season play fifty percent of the time in the last decade.
This system rewards consistency. "The Blue Jay System" refers to the fact that in this system the Blue Jays go from a mediocre team over the last decade to one of the most consistent playoff qualifiers making the post-season all but one year, and in baseball having a .500 team is nothing to sneeze it over a 162-game schedule. Injuries, road-trips, and the natural streaky nature of baseball take their toll; you should be rewarded and your fans should be rewarded if you are able to win one for every one you loose.
So, now that we have the reason for the playoff format out of the way...lets look at the make-up of the series' themselves.
All season long you have three game series'. Granted doubling your playoff qualifiers would in theory take up and extra week or two BUT what if you made the first series a "Wild Card Weekend" best of three series? Here is the easy format...
You have your basic playoff format typical in the NBA and NHL;
1vs8
2vs7
3vs6
4vs5
However, in the "Blue Jay System" the home team hosts all three games typical of a three game series. First team to take two of three wins. If an 8 seed can go into a 1 seeds' stadium and take two of three, that is all the proof needed to convince me that they are playoff ready. The baseball season is a marathon and the playoffs a sprint, give teams who are outside the traditional bubble a chance and invigorate new energy in sleeper markets such as Toronto, Kansas City, and Texas.
In a three game weekend tilt; attendance would be high, the excitement of upsets would be March Madness equivalent, and each team gets to load up...my best three pitchers versus your best three pitchers. The results would be true parody and the cream would rise to the top.
After "Wild Card Weekend", revert back to the best of five divisionals and the best of seven LCS and WS. The fans would be happy, the owners would be happy, and every player would relish the chance to be part of a magical weekend, since the MLBPA's dissolving of regular double-hitters baseball has not had one.
Time to give something back to the fans.
Furthermore why the heck do you have a thirty team league only to have eight make the playoffs? Especially when there is hardly any change in the teams participating each year save for the one or two who interchange.
The argument for the current system is parody. To the casual fan this is a good sell. Except for the Red Sox, no team has won the World Series more than once this decade. However, after some number crunching this stat trumps the former. Save for the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Athletics, Cardinals, and Angels, chances are your team did not make the playoffs more than twice in the last decade. In fact seven teams haven't made the playoffs in the last decade and as a Blue Jay fan this research only deepened my depression.
Upon my further research I noticed something even more interesting...what if MLB expanded it's current playoff format to eight teams in each league...similar to the NHL and NBA? Would the imbalance be as extraordinary? No. In a proposed eight-team per league playoff system which we will affectionately call "The Blue Jay System"... (you'll see why...), only two teams: Baltimore and Pittsburgh would not have been playing October baseball somewhere in the last decade, in fact we find that imbalance of teams even qualifying for the playoffs is absolved. In this scenario no less than two thirds of all teams would have seen post-season play fifty percent of the time in the last decade.
This system rewards consistency. "The Blue Jay System" refers to the fact that in this system the Blue Jays go from a mediocre team over the last decade to one of the most consistent playoff qualifiers making the post-season all but one year, and in baseball having a .500 team is nothing to sneeze it over a 162-game schedule. Injuries, road-trips, and the natural streaky nature of baseball take their toll; you should be rewarded and your fans should be rewarded if you are able to win one for every one you loose.
So, now that we have the reason for the playoff format out of the way...lets look at the make-up of the series' themselves.
All season long you have three game series'. Granted doubling your playoff qualifiers would in theory take up and extra week or two BUT what if you made the first series a "Wild Card Weekend" best of three series? Here is the easy format...
You have your basic playoff format typical in the NBA and NHL;
1vs8
2vs7
3vs6
4vs5
However, in the "Blue Jay System" the home team hosts all three games typical of a three game series. First team to take two of three wins. If an 8 seed can go into a 1 seeds' stadium and take two of three, that is all the proof needed to convince me that they are playoff ready. The baseball season is a marathon and the playoffs a sprint, give teams who are outside the traditional bubble a chance and invigorate new energy in sleeper markets such as Toronto, Kansas City, and Texas.
In a three game weekend tilt; attendance would be high, the excitement of upsets would be March Madness equivalent, and each team gets to load up...my best three pitchers versus your best three pitchers. The results would be true parody and the cream would rise to the top.
After "Wild Card Weekend", revert back to the best of five divisionals and the best of seven LCS and WS. The fans would be happy, the owners would be happy, and every player would relish the chance to be part of a magical weekend, since the MLBPA's dissolving of regular double-hitters baseball has not had one.
Time to give something back to the fans.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Raptors...here is a three year plan.
So...the once promising Raptors are now quickly becoming a joke.
Second last in the East. Their best two players are injured...again. Against teams like the Hornets, they look silly. Their basketball is not mistake riddled and quite often they shoot well enough to win...they just get outclassed.
The management is adequate. Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano are both very capable individuals, they have a strong pedigree, it just looks like they are junior in every aspect of the game right now.
Here is my plan for the next three seasons...it looks like at this pace the Raps will finish around 28-54. Before the deadline though O'Neal and Bargnagni need to be moved. The O'Neal trade with Miami looks like it will happen deadline day....so add Marion to the raps at the three spot and look for the Raps to sign him to a four year deal come the offseason...why would he do that you ask? You shall find your answer in the next paragraph or so....look for Barney to go to Miluakee who just lost Bogut. That nets the Raps a mid-range second round pick. Not bad results on these two and the cap room it will free up.
After the lottery that should be good for a top-5 draft pick.
More than ever now the Raps need to draft a big man. So fill your five spot with someone from the Big East...you know 6-11 240...a pure rebounder.
So now you have the makings of a decent team...Jamario Moon is a future sixth man of the year...Ukic is a decent back up to Calderon who will move to the no.2 guard spot in 2010-2011 because Steve Nash will occupy the 1 spot. Yeah that's right...Nash I think will finish his carrer in Toronto. He has eluded that he is interested in coming to TO...publically and for all the right reasons. Imagine the fanfare...it would save Colangelo's job who is up for re-negotiation in you guessed it 2010-2011.
It may not mean a championship but it will be a great team to watch.
Second last in the East. Their best two players are injured...again. Against teams like the Hornets, they look silly. Their basketball is not mistake riddled and quite often they shoot well enough to win...they just get outclassed.
The management is adequate. Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano are both very capable individuals, they have a strong pedigree, it just looks like they are junior in every aspect of the game right now.
Here is my plan for the next three seasons...it looks like at this pace the Raps will finish around 28-54. Before the deadline though O'Neal and Bargnagni need to be moved. The O'Neal trade with Miami looks like it will happen deadline day....so add Marion to the raps at the three spot and look for the Raps to sign him to a four year deal come the offseason...why would he do that you ask? You shall find your answer in the next paragraph or so....look for Barney to go to Miluakee who just lost Bogut. That nets the Raps a mid-range second round pick. Not bad results on these two and the cap room it will free up.
After the lottery that should be good for a top-5 draft pick.
More than ever now the Raps need to draft a big man. So fill your five spot with someone from the Big East...you know 6-11 240...a pure rebounder.
So now you have the makings of a decent team...Jamario Moon is a future sixth man of the year...Ukic is a decent back up to Calderon who will move to the no.2 guard spot in 2010-2011 because Steve Nash will occupy the 1 spot. Yeah that's right...Nash I think will finish his carrer in Toronto. He has eluded that he is interested in coming to TO...publically and for all the right reasons. Imagine the fanfare...it would save Colangelo's job who is up for re-negotiation in you guessed it 2010-2011.
It may not mean a championship but it will be a great team to watch.
Monday, February 9, 2009
A-Rod is still one of the best...ever.
So guess what? Another scapegoat...I mean player has been caught with his hand in the cookiejar. This time it is Alex Rodriguez. Is anyone surprised? How long was it going to take before MLB threw a current player to the wolves? Their way of saying, yes we are testing.
Rodriguez is likely going to break every batting record and most of the longevity records in baseball. He is ridiclously consistant and in my opinion overly scrutinized. Baseball has never seen a perpetual 40-40 threat...ever. He has never lashed out at the media, although he never gets a break or finds favour in the papers. He never complains, even though as soon as he has a .280-25 HR season the cries to ship him or bench him are deafening.
I don't think I need to say it but baseball's witch hunt to prove thier innocence is bullshit. I consider myself a true baseball fan and frankly I don't care about all these "tainted" records. I love the game. Records were made to be broken, there are arguments on both sides about the ease of competetition and difficulty of schedules...why should steroids be any different? The quality of product is amazing, whether they take steroids is of no consequence in my mind. Look at the last few teams to win the World Series...Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals, White Sox. All these teams have had the generic make-up of a baseball lineup...three power hitters sandwiched by speed at both ends of the line-up and an unbelievable pitching staff.
Until a team wins the championship with nine 25 HR guy sin the lineup and three guys in the rotation who can hit 98 mph well into the 8th...you will have a hard time convincing me that the product is unbalances or of inferior quality.
Who knows...if Mickey had laid off the sauce, had Babe not eaten himself to a premature retirement, and if Maris had not smoked three packs a day...all three might have done so much more with their carrers. These are the tragedy's...not guys who can play 22 year carrers with record breaking numbers.
And, don't give me that nonesense about the kids...baseball lost it's inncense witht he '94 strike. Anyone who decides to offer themselves up for any professional sport is knowingly sacrificing their bodies, and frankly as a paying fan I would expect as much for a better product.
Rodriguez is likely going to break every batting record and most of the longevity records in baseball. He is ridiclously consistant and in my opinion overly scrutinized. Baseball has never seen a perpetual 40-40 threat...ever. He has never lashed out at the media, although he never gets a break or finds favour in the papers. He never complains, even though as soon as he has a .280-25 HR season the cries to ship him or bench him are deafening.
I don't think I need to say it but baseball's witch hunt to prove thier innocence is bullshit. I consider myself a true baseball fan and frankly I don't care about all these "tainted" records. I love the game. Records were made to be broken, there are arguments on both sides about the ease of competetition and difficulty of schedules...why should steroids be any different? The quality of product is amazing, whether they take steroids is of no consequence in my mind. Look at the last few teams to win the World Series...Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals, White Sox. All these teams have had the generic make-up of a baseball lineup...three power hitters sandwiched by speed at both ends of the line-up and an unbelievable pitching staff.
Until a team wins the championship with nine 25 HR guy sin the lineup and three guys in the rotation who can hit 98 mph well into the 8th...you will have a hard time convincing me that the product is unbalances or of inferior quality.
Who knows...if Mickey had laid off the sauce, had Babe not eaten himself to a premature retirement, and if Maris had not smoked three packs a day...all three might have done so much more with their carrers. These are the tragedy's...not guys who can play 22 year carrers with record breaking numbers.
And, don't give me that nonesense about the kids...baseball lost it's inncense witht he '94 strike. Anyone who decides to offer themselves up for any professional sport is knowingly sacrificing their bodies, and frankly as a paying fan I would expect as much for a better product.
Friday, February 6, 2009
This is Hockey's Time to Shine
It's February 6th. NCAAB has three more weeks before it gets interesting. Golf is well...boring right now, and a bit of a tease at that. Baseball is just getting underway, football is beginning it's hibernation, and NBA is in it's horrible February where teams are either tired or resting their bigs...which results in terrible basketball games.
So we are left with hockey, oh hockey...our overrated underperforming "national" sport. Personally, I think Canadians invest too much time and effort thinking this "our"sport. Here are the facts/recipe for a hockey player:
part lumberjack
part gatherer
part fisherman
part prairie boy
part lacrosse player
and part irish/thug
If that is not the generic/quintessential make-up for any Candian then I don't know what is...and just by co-incidence it is also the make-up for any hockey player. We Canadians are soemwhat of a passive group...we hesitate to take credit and constantly want to give it so I think this is a situation where we get our asses kicked in every other sport on the international stage....except for curling and lacrosse so we have decided to make a claim on the sport that requires the least amount of preparation/skill by our people.
Again, hockey is great but we are doing our nation a great dis-service in crowning this game of physical violence which cornerstones itself (proudly may I add) on bullying and fighting as something warranting immortalization on our currency.
Many...many things have been done prior to hackey that I feel warrant much more consideration for such immortalization especially when almost half the country cannot correctly name all the provincial/territorial capitals...(p.s. there are 13, in the states who have 50...kids at the age of 10 can name them in alphabetical order)...this country has no passion for it's roots and would rather rally behind the cry of a game that epitimizes every sterotype about canadians out there...especially the playing of it on ice...picture a backyard with a pond..pretty iconic.
Maybe I am just bitter cause I never played or because any hockey player I ever went to school with was a moron but at the end of the day hockey culture represents something I don't want to be a part of.
But I will continue to be part of the problem...go Rangers.
So we are left with hockey, oh hockey...our overrated underperforming "national" sport. Personally, I think Canadians invest too much time and effort thinking this "our"sport. Here are the facts/recipe for a hockey player:
part lumberjack
part gatherer
part fisherman
part prairie boy
part lacrosse player
and part irish/thug
If that is not the generic/quintessential make-up for any Candian then I don't know what is...and just by co-incidence it is also the make-up for any hockey player. We Canadians are soemwhat of a passive group...we hesitate to take credit and constantly want to give it so I think this is a situation where we get our asses kicked in every other sport on the international stage....except for curling and lacrosse so we have decided to make a claim on the sport that requires the least amount of preparation/skill by our people.
Again, hockey is great but we are doing our nation a great dis-service in crowning this game of physical violence which cornerstones itself (proudly may I add) on bullying and fighting as something warranting immortalization on our currency.
Many...many things have been done prior to hackey that I feel warrant much more consideration for such immortalization especially when almost half the country cannot correctly name all the provincial/territorial capitals...(p.s. there are 13, in the states who have 50...kids at the age of 10 can name them in alphabetical order)...this country has no passion for it's roots and would rather rally behind the cry of a game that epitimizes every sterotype about canadians out there...especially the playing of it on ice...picture a backyard with a pond..pretty iconic.
Maybe I am just bitter cause I never played or because any hockey player I ever went to school with was a moron but at the end of the day hockey culture represents something I don't want to be a part of.
But I will continue to be part of the problem...go Rangers.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Are you ready for some football? No.
Okay, well the Superbowl is over. I will say this once...and once only, congrats to the Steelers. It was a great game, which I enjoyed.
Now, am i the only person who thinks that last play was a touch suspect? Along with the phantom 15-yard penalty NOT called on Santonio Holmes? I dunno.
Anyway I will leave it alone for now, as it appears to have been the correct call but when a team wins both their challenges on blown calls, maybe you should have another look...even if the rules say you don't have to. I think a rule permitting a challenge after the two minute warning would be a good idea, if a team has already won their previous two challenges...this to me is a get out of jail free card.
Okay so the probowl is this weekend...who cares...that is all. I just hope Brett Favre connects on a pass to Hines Ward so I can watch John Madden spontaneously combust.
I am officially now a fan of Tom Cable in Oakland. He came out and called the Raiders a winning football team going forward, sure it's easy to say but there is an endearing quality about this guy that makes me think he will put his money where his mouth is. The Raiders have a great young quaterback in Jamarcus Russell and in a draft loaded with WR potential, in three to five years the Raiders of old may be back. Al Davis...might...MIGHT see a playoff game before he dies.
Finally, big props to barbie for the killer wings...you were right, Red Rockets are amazing.
Now, am i the only person who thinks that last play was a touch suspect? Along with the phantom 15-yard penalty NOT called on Santonio Holmes? I dunno.
Anyway I will leave it alone for now, as it appears to have been the correct call but when a team wins both their challenges on blown calls, maybe you should have another look...even if the rules say you don't have to. I think a rule permitting a challenge after the two minute warning would be a good idea, if a team has already won their previous two challenges...this to me is a get out of jail free card.
Okay so the probowl is this weekend...who cares...that is all. I just hope Brett Favre connects on a pass to Hines Ward so I can watch John Madden spontaneously combust.
I am officially now a fan of Tom Cable in Oakland. He came out and called the Raiders a winning football team going forward, sure it's easy to say but there is an endearing quality about this guy that makes me think he will put his money where his mouth is. The Raiders have a great young quaterback in Jamarcus Russell and in a draft loaded with WR potential, in three to five years the Raiders of old may be back. Al Davis...might...MIGHT see a playoff game before he dies.
Finally, big props to barbie for the killer wings...you were right, Red Rockets are amazing.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wake me up when the west-coast swing ends...
You know there was a time when I ised to be a religious watcher of golf. I was younger, more naive, and felt like I was learning something.
Well, I'm older, more cynical, and I use the cliche "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". That being said i haven't had the time or the interest to consciously sit down and watch golf in years, so I decided, along with getting back into the sport period, that I should get in the habit of watching it as well.
If I ever needed rational why I didn't watch golf for the last four years, I got it watching about fifteen minutes of the final round of the FBR Open...formerly the Phoenix Open. Yes the tournament went into a playoff, yes Kenny Perry is somewhat a proven winner, and yes the top 10 is full of very ligitimate players but golf on TV has changed...even in the last few years.
I am a statistic freak but the technological garbage they use now to tell you every stat about everything is clearly just filler for a weak broadcasting team. There were times, when they would allow almost a comedy routine from Faherty, Faldo, or even Venturi...even though I doubt he was trying to be funny...the point was to give you the experince of golfing with your buddies cracking jokes toward each other, taking some of the stuffiness out of golf.
Instead, we are left with a tour that is trying to grab the attention of 12-year olds with flashy technology and little or no intelligent conversing. Obviously viewership is down without Tiger around but perhaps the tour needs to address what I think to be a huge issue...when Tiger retires, will that be the end of broadcasted golf? Will people just rely on pgatour.com for all their statistical info and if they ever want an opinion...golf blogs are readily available.
In the meantime, wake me up for the Masters, Tiger will be back.
Well, I'm older, more cynical, and I use the cliche "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". That being said i haven't had the time or the interest to consciously sit down and watch golf in years, so I decided, along with getting back into the sport period, that I should get in the habit of watching it as well.
If I ever needed rational why I didn't watch golf for the last four years, I got it watching about fifteen minutes of the final round of the FBR Open...formerly the Phoenix Open. Yes the tournament went into a playoff, yes Kenny Perry is somewhat a proven winner, and yes the top 10 is full of very ligitimate players but golf on TV has changed...even in the last few years.
I am a statistic freak but the technological garbage they use now to tell you every stat about everything is clearly just filler for a weak broadcasting team. There were times, when they would allow almost a comedy routine from Faherty, Faldo, or even Venturi...even though I doubt he was trying to be funny...the point was to give you the experince of golfing with your buddies cracking jokes toward each other, taking some of the stuffiness out of golf.
Instead, we are left with a tour that is trying to grab the attention of 12-year olds with flashy technology and little or no intelligent conversing. Obviously viewership is down without Tiger around but perhaps the tour needs to address what I think to be a huge issue...when Tiger retires, will that be the end of broadcasted golf? Will people just rely on pgatour.com for all their statistical info and if they ever want an opinion...golf blogs are readily available.
In the meantime, wake me up for the Masters, Tiger will be back.
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