Wednesday links!
Minor Move: MLBTR passes along word that the Miami Marlins have picked up Sam “Best Stuff In The Organization” Dyson, who was D’d FA last week by the Jays to make room for Mark “Best Veteran Presents In The Organization” DeRosa. (I know, I know, the joke is getting old– I mean, John Farrell made it months ago.)
At Minor League Ball, Matt Garrioch ranks 2012′s international signings, with some Jays pickups making their way into his top 35: like Gustavo Perinan (35), Richard Urena (21), and Franklin Barreto at number nine, about whom he says, “Good bat with very good speed. Could be an impact player if he is a plus defender in CF.” Check out the post for his brief comments o the other two.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reported on the Vancouver Canadians’ annual Hot Stove Luncheon, which was attended by Alex Anthopoulos, Brandon Morrow, and a certain third baseman with questions about his reckless play: “Anyone that’s seen me play has loved the way that I play,” said Brett Lawrie, smoke likely visible in the room from having been blown so frequently up his ass. “Obviously, it was a scary situation when I fell over the rail. Obviously it turns a couple of heads and people say, ‘He could have really hurt himself,’ but hopefully I won’t be jumping over any rails anytime soon.” Weird. One could have been forgiven for having the impression that Lawrie was the type who might be real fond of rails. Guess not.
Speaking of, at Getting Blanked, Drew admonishes Topps for trying to kill Lawrie with a card lionizing his “crazy/suicidal catch from this past April” (though “not the catch attempt in New York that nearly killed him, the OTHER jumping into oblivion catch in which Lawrie risked life and limb to make a great play”).
Speaking of Topps, @James_in_TO points us to some impressive Photoshop work on the company’s 2013 Jose Reyes card.
Elsewhere at Getting Blanked, Drew gives an excellent rundown of many of the pieces– some more giddy about A-Rod’s possible end than others– to come out in the wake of the Miami New Times story.
Oh and there’s more Biogenesis, as Jonah Keri nails baseball as “a sport that’s gone from willful compliance to zealotry when it comes to PED suspicions” in his piece on the matter at Grantland. “We need to learn a lot more here before casting judgment, much less contemplating punishment for those who may or may not have been involved,” he says. “Anything less would violate every notion of due process.” Indeed, it would be nice of some of the righteousness in all this was channeled towards that.
Shi Davidi and Jeff Blair have pieces on the matter, too. As well as… well… everyone, probably.
This week’s Keeper Reaper post at Baseball Prospectus looks at, among others, Adam Lind– whose spot in the article is above the paywall fold, and who he wonders a little too much for what these eyes have seen about the possibility that BABIP has played a role in his last, horrific 1500 plate appearances… which isn’t to suggest that he’s crazy. “Last season’s poor .255/.314/.414 triple-slash can be partly blamed on a bad back, since Lind’s secondary stats show him returning to more patient ways, and his batting eye improved on nearly every pitch from the previous two seasons. Chris Lund at THT suggests that weak mechanics could be the culprit behind both Lind’s mediocrity and his back injuries, which have kept him off the field for about a month apiece in 2011 and 2012,” he explains. “While it’s heartening to see Lind improving his plate discipline, his recent injury history and inconsistency far outweigh any optimism created by these statistical improvements. And no matter how well he did, whether in 2009 or 2011, Lind has never figured out southpaws.”
Via the Toronto Sun comes news that Omar Vizquel has been hired by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as their roving infield instructor, which I believe is a promotion from last year’s stint as the Jays’ mascot.
And via the National Post, here’s the CP’s Lori Ewing on R.A. Dickey’s charity work in India, which… is really terrific and a cause worthy of more attention even if, y’know, you get the feeling the Jays’ new ace certainly wouldn’t shy away from the attention even if it wasn’t.
Gregor Chisholm has a new Inbox over at BlueJays.com, so… I guess I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon.
At theScore’s new sports video gaming blog, Franchise Mode, Scott Johnson tells us that, for some reason, folks in this country voted to have Jose Bautista wearing a red Canada Day Jays jersey on the cover of this year’s Canadian version of MLB The Show– which, FYI, drops on March 5th.
And at Fanatico, Parkes notices TSN’s SportsCentre is in mid-hockey-season form, showing an image of Miguel Cabrera, rather than Melky Cabrera during their report on the latest PED scandal. Or maybe they were just confused and thought that we were finally shaming ballplayers with DUIs in the same way we do guys facing PED allegations.
Lastly, I’m still loath to link scouting via internet that doesn’t give any indication where the information provided is coming from and whether or not the person is (or, let’s be honest, isn’t) having dialogue with scouts, other prospect gurus, or actually seeing guys in person over the course of many years and different stops across the continent, but since there’s so little else going on here’s… actually… nope, can’t do it. That shit’s some bullshit.
Obviously first.
Obviously second
first to say, “you’re a knobhead.” ffs, man, it’s 2013 – give it up…
Seriously.
Is it Fark.com that has that automatic script where if you type the word “first” in your post it gets changed to “boobies” and your post is automatically delayed for like 5 minutes?
I think it’s fark.com…
Good times…
Lol nice find
Shame about Dyson. Certainly overrated, but definitely not nothing. Could’ve been an alright depth piece. Not like DeRosa brings anything to the table. Curious.
Meh.
Dyson hasn’t been able to strike out anyone. It does not translate well to the major leagues when you’re already 24 and striking out 4.5/9 in A/AA, and most of that comes as a reliever! He never had good stuff, let alone best stuff.
Wouldn’t DFAing McGowan have been a better move instead of Dyson. It’s not like anyone would claim his injury riddled body.
Players on the 60-day DL do not count towards the 40-man roster.
Anthopoulous activated McGowan from the DL in October, which would appear to indicate Anthopoulous thinks McGowan is healthy and ready to pitch in Spring Training. Who knows?
“Weird. One could have been forgiven for having them impression that Lawrie was the type who might be real fond of rails. Guess not.” Nice.
It’s even nicer now that I’ve fixed the goddamn typo.
What like if the rail is made of brass?
Doing rails off a strippers ass at the Brass Rail.
FULLY.DIMED.RAILOSITY.BROHAM!
So “veteran presents” is an actual thing.
Huh.
Still don’t know what it’s about, don’t find it funny, but if mocks Farrell then +1
Suck it Farrell!
“One could have been forgiven for having them impression that Lawrie was the type who might be real fond of rails. Guess not.”
Amazing Line. That is exactly how I picture Brett Lawrie…
Vizquel was the mascot? Well no wonder he sucked, you can’t play good baseball in that giant bird suit.
Hey, what is with the veteran ‘presents’ grammar. Is it not veteran ‘presence’?
Someone set me straight.
I was going to mention it, but then I thought that I’d get bugged for being an anal-retentive, nit-picky SOB.
But now that you’ve led the way…by all means.
It’s a pun. “Presents” like he’s bringing all sorts of “veteran goodies” to the team, rather than “presence” meaning that he’s benefiting the team simply by being there.
Well one… It’s not a “grammar” issue.
and two… http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4tfycD4fR1r5au99.jpg
If I’m not mistaken, it was originally a Keith Law re-tweet from when DeRosa was first signed.
Yeah, I think I actually read it here on DJF prior to reading it on Law’s twitter account.
If I hadnt read it from Law, I wouldnt have asked. But seeing it in two different places, I thought maybe I was missing something.
According to IMW, I obviously was….’The Joke!’
Drew used it, as a joke, at GB about a week ago. Stoeten linked the article at DJF.Couple of people noted it.Some even joked back about it. Stoeten got pissy and now uses it at every opportunity.
Waiting for it to go the way of ‘planking”"tebowing” and ‘gangnam style”
https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/293805929974099968
Goddamn fucking Farrell!
I thought Vizquel was the second bench coach/infield coach. This “roving instructor” position sounds like a pretty big demotion from “future MLB manager.”
Didn’t he say he would only take an MLB managing position sometime last season? Can’t believe that didn’t work out for him…
i was pumped when we had a stud third baseman coming up, canadian kid, young, power hitter, great arm……. the more and more he opens his mouth the more i’m convinced he’s kind of an arrogant asshole. I hope it’s because he’s 22 and not because he’s just destined to be that way forever.
Wait you are just realizing this now? Were you not aware of his Edward-40 hands pictures? Or a picture of him giving the thumbs up to a fat guys ass crack at a hockey game? Get out from under your rock and just realize we have an amazing player. Who gives a shit if he’s Canadian.
that was a womans ass crack
Who fucking cares? You don’t know any of these guys.
That Topps card rocks.
I hate it though. Photoshop has it’s place, but that place is when things are obviously photoshopped. Like the photoshopped picks on this blog are awesome.
The idea that somebody is earning a profit by selling a photoshopped photo that seems legitimate, is deceitful and I think wrong.
Do they still make cards for managers? I’d revise my stance if they make a card for John Farrell, photoshopped with Jays fans holding signs around him that read “suck it Farrell”
You must never read magazines then…
Who’s this Farrell guy, and why didn’t Boston pick up dyson if he has the best stuff?
Ha ha