September 1, 2008

AS MUCH AS THEY SHOULD FIRE JP THE JAYS SHOULD KEEP CITO FOR NEXT YEAR

I believe that I have produced enough evidence to support the removal of JP Ricciardi as Jays GM this off-season…on the flip side I will produce enough evidence to support the return of Cito Gaston as jays manager next year.  I will use four names to support my claim and those names are Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, Rod Barajas and Adam Lind.  These four players have improved by leaps and bounds since Cito took over and are beginning to show signs of being a portion of a very formidable line-up.  Now all it will take is a shrewd and gutsy GM to add the necessary pieces to make this club a contender next year.

Let’s start with Vernon who is attacking mistakes and driving them out of the ballpark.  He is starting to look like a Joe Carter-type hitter for the Jays—a solid middle of the order right handed power force to drive in runs.  The issue with Vernon was that he needed a great hitter behind him so pitchers were forced to throw him strikes.  Vernon is so aggressive if pitchers don’t need to throw him strikes they won’t and he’ll get himself out. 

Rios--ever so slow to develop--is much more comfortable at the plate since Cito arrived and has absolutely proven that too much information is a major handicap for him.  Rios needs simplicity—and Cito has made the game much simpler for him.  Rios, though, looks like a lead-off hitter—he has more speed than power and if the jays really want to contend next year then that is the place for him.

Barajas is finally in a good situation.  He has been a solid catcher with the power to drive mistakes out of the ballpark and is now playing for a manager eager to give him regular duty.   After years of bad teams and missed opportunities Barajas is taking his best shot—and what may very likely be his last shot--at being a proven starter, and he is doing well.

I suppose Lind being on the list is self-explanatory.  Jay fans already realize how important Cito has been to Lind’s career.  Cito was the igniter for what could very well be a solid major league career.

Beyond these four there is a sense of calm that has enveloped the squad.  Now, that can be taken two ways.  First--the arrival of Cito, who is a calming presence and who has the background and the success to command, and second--this team has been on the periphery of contention and really has nothing to lose and can play without any pressure.

Look at it another way—there isn’t anyone involved with professional baseball that has as long a history with this organization.  Cito has been a member of this organization alone—a coaching career that began in 1987 and has taken him no place else but Toronto.  He, in fact, bleeds, Jay blue.

Cito sees similarities between this club and the championship clubs of the early nineties.  He, along with the rest of us, hopes that management will be successful in filling the proper holes this off-season. 

This is where the major problem exists.  JP always said it was easier to get good hitters and that good pitchers were rare.  His philosophy is sound—develop good young pitching and when the team is ready to contend add the offensive pieces necessary using that plethora of pitching talent.  But when that time arrives and it is necessary to trade that pitching for hitting JP freezes.  He is just too fond of his pitchers choices and asks for too much in return.  So nothing gets done and the team goes forward with the same mediocre offence it has been burdened with for some time. 

JP has proven to be excellent at judging good pitchers.  He has also proven to be rather skittish when it comes to evaluating hitters.  He likes the doubles kind of power hitter—Overbay—and the scrappy utility type—Scutaro, Inglett—and that’s not bad except that these guys are relied upon to provide much more production than is within their capabilities.   How can anyone assume that just because Overbay had a sensational season his first year in Toronto that it means he is going to repeat it annually?  That’s ludicrous.  Until a player proves that they will stay at that level fail-safe options have to be built in.  JP does not and then complains when injuries strike.  (As if injuries don’t hit any of the other teams.)

JP has an initial idea of how his team should look, but when the hurdles produced by the lengthy baseball season inevitably arrive he is unable to leap over them.  And the team flounders around with the other mediocre clubs.

The Jays need a change in vision—and so do we.

Preview my new fictional novel A Walking Parody at www.michaelghobson.com

Listen to my weekly radio appearance Fridays late night with Norm Rumack on the

Fan590.