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09-11-2008, 02:00 PM

Lick my balls

Future looks promising for Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays' 10-game winning streak came to an end, but Toronto remains in position to finish the season with something in the range of 86 to 90 victories. It's not too bad, considering the Jays are in the AL East and considering that they lost second baseman Aaron Hill for the last four months of the season to a freak injury.
And considering that Toronto did not get anything out of projected DH Frank Thomas before releasing him. And considering that Alex Rios really didn't start hitting until recent weeks, and that Vernon Wells missed a couple of months with injury. And Scott Rolen has three homers since June 26. The Jays almost certainly are not going to make the playoffs, but the big picture for the organization looks good.
Toronto's most notable offseason transaction might be a loss -- the expectation within the industry is that A.J. Burnett is going to opt out of his contract after having a strong season. But Roy Halladay and a sturdy posse of young pitching will remain, and Toronto can reasonably expect its offense to be better over a full season next year as 20-year-old masher Travis Snider and young slugger Adam Lind become entrenched and the Jays' lineup deepens.
"We've said all along -- we like our team," GM J.P. Ricciardi said earlier this week. "We've got a good team that did not get off to a good start, and we're starting to perform offensively."
The Jays were averaging 4.0 runs per game when Cito Gaston took over on June 20, with a .258 batting average, a .336 on-base percentage and a .377 slugging percentage. Since then, Toronto has averaged 4.9 runs per game, with a steady climb in power hitting, in particular; the Jays' average is up to .265, but the team slugging average has climbed to .400. "Cito has done a nice job," said Ricciardi. "Cito was the right move."
Rios has hit .321 since the All-Star break, and Lind, who never established himself in brief trials under former manager John Gibbons, is hitting .314 since July 10. Snider, a left-handed hitter who seems to lock in comfortably on every pitch, whether he's swinging or not, has been impressive since being promoted on Aug. 29.
Now the Jays can envision a lineup in 2009 with Snider in left field and Lind as the designated hitter, with Wells and Rios and, hopefully, a healthy Hill. Toronto will probably be in the market for a shortstop this winter, and sometime next year, the Jays will likely summon J.P. Arencibia, one of the game's better catching prospects, to the big leagues after his showing of .298, 27 homers and 105 RBIs in Double-A and high Class A this summer.
And Toronto should, again, have good pitching, after posting the best pitching in the majors this year, with a staff ERA of 3.32 since the All-Star break. Should Burnett walk away, Ricciardi feels as if he has enough talented young pitchers to build a strong rotation behind Halladay. Look, nobody knows how Dustin McGowan or Casey Janssen are going to progress as they come back from surgery, but between those two and Shaun Marcum (8-6, 3.42) and Jesse Litsch (11-8, 3.70) and David Purcey (3-5, 5.23 in his short time with the Jays), as well as rising minor leaguers Brett Cecil and Ricky Romero, Toronto should have options -- and once again, a strong bullpen.
"I'm excited about where we are going," said Ricciardi.
Gaston deserves credit for the win streak, writes Richard Griffin.
• Major League Baseball should step in and take its sport out of the path of Hurricane Ike, writes Phil Rogers.
• The D-backs had their guts ripped out again, and in 12 days, they've lost an incredible eight games in the standings. Dan Haren lasted just four innings and 96 pitches. At this rate, this race will be over in a week. Adam Dunn is a purer hitter than most folks think, says Bob Melvin.
Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez continues to kill the ball; he has 40 RBIs in 38 games for L.A..
From the Elias Sports Bureau: Ramirez leads the National League in batting average (.396), RBIs (40) and home runs (14) since Aug. 1, when he debuted for the Dodgers. He's the first midseason acquisition to collect 14 homers and 40 RBIs in his first 40 games with a new team since 1949, when Hank Sauer had 15 home runs and 47 RBIs in his first 40 games with the Cubs after coming over in a mid-June trade from the Reds.
• The Angels clinched the AL West, and Mark Teixeira says they are built for the postseason. This celebration means nothing unless there are more celebrations to come, writes Mark Whicker. Mike Scioscia put the right pieces in the right places, writes Mike DiGiovanna.
• The Astros never lose, ever; this time, Miguel Tejada lifted them, and Houston vaulted over St. Louis in the standings. Houston since the All-Star break: a major league-best 35-16. Roy Oswalt will stay on schedule.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched for the Rockies last season, as they went on their incredible run, and he's pitching for the Astros now, as they charge toward the front of the standings. He said over the phone that the two situations aren't comparable. The Rockies, he said, had to basically win every game remaining on their schedule, "and we had a lot of help from the outside, too. Without a hit from Tony Gwynn Jr., we wouldn't have made the playoffs."
The Astros, on the other hand, have been closing on the playoff leaders daily, he said, "but we're definitely not fighting for our lives. Not yet, anyway."
The most notable win during the Astros' recent streak, Hawkins feels, was their walk-off win over the Cardinals on Aug. 29. Before that game, Hawkins and Lance Berkman chatted about walk-off hits, and Berkman told him he had never done that in his lifetime -- not in Little League, not in high school, not in the minor leagues, not in the majors.
"I can't believe you've never had a walk-off," Hawkins said. "You've never done that?"
"Nope," said Berkman, and naturally, a few hours later, Berkman ended the victory with a home run.
• A judge ruled against a lawsuit that would've impeded the Marlins' effort to build a new stadium, write Charles Rabin and Larry Lebowitz. Jeffrey Loria was pleased with the ruling.
• It appears that the Pedro Alvarez case could take a very, very long time. Bud Selig testified in the first arbitration hearing, writes Dejan Kovacevic.
• Elijah Dukes was the center of attention at Shea Stadium on Wednesday night, and not for a good reason, writes Ben Goessling. The Nationals GM says he's a big supporter of manager Manny Acta.
• Carlos Pena was talking to himself when he got the pivotal hit against the Red Sox Wednesday night, writes Joe Henderson. It was an early taste of fall for the Rays, writes Marc Lancaster. The Rays are becoming timeless, writes John Romano.
• The Phillies continue to drift deeper in the standings, and they are looking for answers needed immediately.
Jamie Moyer is going from tour guide to starter, writes David Murphy. Within this notebook, there is word that Brett Myers -- like Myers -- might work on short rest this week.
• Dan Uggla got a big hit against a lefty, writes Juan Rodriguez.
• Speed, execution and a dash of Carlos Gomez spurs the Twins, writes Patrick Reusse. Kevin Slowey shut down the Royals, La Velle Neal writes. Alexi Casilla has been thriving of late.
Justin Morneau is again generating MVP chants in the Metrodome, writes Kelsie Smith.
• Mike Cameron delivered for the Brewers in a big way. A tirade is just not Ned Yost's style, he says.
• Ted Lilly followed his manager's orders and kicked some … well, you get the picture. Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano could give the Cubs what they need down the stretch, writes Chris De Luca.
• Brandon Webb had gracious and glowing words about Tim Lincecum, John Shea writes.
• The Mets survived their slugfest with the Nationals. The Mets have to decide when to drop the "interim" from Jerry Manuel's title. Aaron Heilman is battling a knee situation. There are still ways for the Mets to blow it, writes Shaun Powell.
• Mike Timlin feels like the home run he allowed Wednesday came on a good pitch, writes Adam Kilgore. Meanwhile, in Boston, there's a pennant race going on, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Once again, Josh Beckett's stuff showed bite and zip.
• Plan A for the White Sox is to get to the playoffs, writes Joe Cowley. Down the stretch, there is denial in Chicago, writes Greg Couch.
• The Mariners were right in the middle of the AL West clinching, but not in the way they envisioned back in spring training, writes Geoff Baker. Brandon Morrow understands he will not necessarily flirt with a no-hitter in every start, David Andriesen writes.
• What Dan O'Dowd said last week was part assessment, part message, writes Troy Renck. Todd Helton will take batting practice today.
• The Cardinals made mistakes, and lost catcher Yadier Molina, in their latest loss. Time is running out for St. Louis, and the Cardinals are banged up, writes Bernie Miklasz. Troy Glaus got his second cortisone shot in four days.
• George Sherrill could be back as Orioles' closer as soon as tomorrow.
• The Rangers were eliminated officially, Evan Grant writes.
• The Padres claimed a knuckleballer on waivers.
• Steve Pearce is starting to swing a hot bat for the Pirates, writes Rob Biertempfel.
• Fred Lewis will have bunion surgery.
• The Tigers' failure this season has undermined the organization's recent success, writes Tom Gage. Detroit will have a very tricky task of augmenting this team for the 2009 season because it doesn't appear as if the Tigers will spend freely on the free-agent market and they don't have a lot in the farm system to either promote or trade.
• Andy Pettitte hopes the Yankees at least play for pride.
• The Athletics ran out a lineup with seven rookies -- and won, Joe Stiglich writes.
• The Reds blew a lead and couldn't finish the deal against one of the game's best pitchers. Brandon Phillips will need surgery.
• Scott Lewis was The Man in his major league debut for the Indians, Sheldon Ocker writes. The Indians are easing Travis Hafner into their lineup.
• Bobby Cox is not ready to step away. John Smoltz had a good visit with a doctor.
FYI, no blog on Friday.