Party Like It's 1993

When I heard the news that John Gibbons got fired I was relieved. But when The Score ticker continued to let the public know that CITO GASTON would take over as the manager, my jaw dropped. Out of all the people in the world, the guy who it seems baseball has forgotten about.

Mind you, Jays fans really won't party like its 1993. Let me reiterate, this season is over. I would say the turning point happened when BJ blew the save in Anaheim. Its weird because the past 2 years, I'd say the turning point in the Jays' seasons hinged on Ryan as well. In 2007, I really believed that once we lost BJ for the year we were done. In late July 2006, he blew a save in Oakland when Milton Bradley hit a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 9th.

I've heard a lot of analysts and media people say that this move was made so that fans will still come out to the ballgames in August and September. But JP and the Jays regime were never the kind to bring in people for marketing purposes. If they wanted butts in the seats, they would have signed Barry Bonds after Frank Thomas left. I think Cito was the replacement because really there was no one more qualified. How can you argue against Cito? He took this team to back to back World Series (even though many think just about any average joe could have).

More importantly, Cito is an offensive guy. And that is what the Jays need right now. The big problem has been the offense. Gibbons couldn't get the team going and he's had more than enough time. Even though the Jays have only scored 3 runs in 2 games with Cito I am ecstatic to see that he has put together a lineup that makes sense. Jays fans have had enough seeing Rios and Wells batting leadoff for some odd reason. I think even Matt Stairs saw time at the leadoff spot during Gibbons reign. Weird. I still believe that David Eckstein should leadoff but Marco Scutaro has proved himself this year. Overbay fits in the 2 hole nicely while the 6-9 spots cant really be argued with.

My only beef is with the 3,4 and 5 guys. First, let me say that Vernon needs to have a good bat protecting him in the lineup and Rolen makes the most sense to do so other than Stairs. Gibbons for some reason never realized this so kudos to Cito. But I liked what Gibbons did on Thursday. He bumped the slumping Rios all the way down to the 6 spot. I've never liked Rios and with his bat the way it is, the 6 spot is more than generous. I would have the lineup like this:

Eckstein SS
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rolen 3B
Stairs DH
Rios RF
Lind LF
Barajas C
Scutaro 2B

Obviously the Jays are playing by NL rules and also they have faced 2 lefties which is why Stairs hasn't seen much time in the lineup. I wouldn't mind swapping Stairs into the cleanup spot but then it exposes back to back slumping hitters. As for Lind, as long as he's up he should get at bats. Barajas really deserves to be higher in the order but keeping him at the 8 spot gives the lineup some balance. I also like to keep the right-left-right-left order in the lineup as it forces the opposing manager to use specialists for 1 batter at a time (eg. Righty comes in to face Rios but then a lefty has to come in to face Lind).

Another thing about Gibbons is that he would change the lineup too often. Changing the lineup every night seems a bit extreme and puts more pressure on the players because they know their manager isn't happy.

On the pitching front, Marcum will be out for 2 starts (since it is soreness in the elbow, I'm going to say he is out 4 weeks. If the Jays continue this tumble down the standings, I wouldn't be surprised if they shut him down altogether). Now the Jays won't need another starter until next week because they have an off-day Monday. Will they bring up Purcey? I think he'll do much better this time around because he'll get more than 1 start before getting sent down.

Having said that, I may be the only one who thinks that Ricky Romero should be called up instead. I doubt the Jays will do it because he really doesn't deserve to be promoted. But since this year is over, I would give him shot and see how he does. Yes, his ERA is in the 5's at Double A New Hampshire but look at Armando Gallaraga of the Tigers. He never had that much success in the minors and he is taking the majors by storm. Give Romero a shot and if he screws up, send him down. This may shatter his confidence even more but how much more can his ego be deflated? Every day he hears how the Jays should have taken Troy Tulowitzki. Give him a couple of starts and see how he does.

Also, the Jays really have to get rid of Burnett. They can get a good prospect in return because teams overpay for pitching (Carlos Silva getting 48 million?). Dumping Burnett now is ideal because its a foregone conclusion that he will opt out. With that vacant spot in the rotation, Purcey could come up and fill it permanently. I think he'll be even better once the Jays let him know he has a job for good and won't be sent down.

I may be a little crazy (we'll get to the World Cup next) but this season can still be promising for the Jays once they admit they're done. JP is too pigheaded though due to the fact he could be next to go if the Jays don't finish well. Either way, it is nice to see a shakeup in Jays land and hopefully they will let the prospects play sooner rather than later.


Predictions

I predict that I will no longer make predictions. But given my track record, I should probably predict the opposite. Turkey and Russia in the semi-finals??? This is just crazy. I honestly have no idea how it will turn out. Could another underdog country win the Euro Cup again?

Moving away from the Euro Cup, lets talk about the World Cup. Canada is now into the third round of qualifying after beating St Vincent and the Grenadines. There are 12 teams remaining split into 3 groups of 4. Canada's group consists of Mexico (or Belize), Honduras and Jamaica. Canada will have a tough time in the group but if they finish in the top 2 (probably with Mexico) then they will advance to the final round of qualifying. The matches will be played from August through November 2008. Canada looked very strong and some are touting this team to be the best yet.


DD


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