The team is so loaded up with OF depth (Snider, Thames, Bautista, Rasmus, Davis, Francisco, and Moises Sierra on the 40-man, plus Gose waiting in the wings) that I can't see them opening an OF spot for Manny. If he were to come in, I have to believe it would be as a DH. But then who do you bump off the 40-man to make room for him? AA already showed that he sees enough value in depth pitchers like Farina, Farquhar, Magnuson, and Beck to axe Mastro over them. Would they do it again to bring in a 38-39 year old guy who can't play D, has to serve a lengthy suspension, and (to borrow a Shaqism) was pretty horriawful last time he stepped into a major league batters box.
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I have Lawrie on my keeper team.. I want to keep him but I don't want it to jynx him!
#33 is definitely a SUPER aggressive ranking.
Funston has him ahead of guys like Matt Holliday, Dan Uggla, Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels and Hunter Pence.
Other than getting run support, I don't think Cecil needs to have as much of a "bounceback" year as I've been hoping for.
2010
SO/9 - 6.1
SO/BB - 2.17
HR/9 - 0.9
2011
SO/9 - 6.3
SO/BB - 2.07
HR/9 - 1.6
The only part of his game that drastically changed was his velocity on his fastball which can correlate directly to the long ball. A bit more maturity, with better pitch selection, and I think he's due for a much better season than some of us are predicting.
Edit:
He also has the best Babip, in the rotation, against top-tier AL opponents like Texas, Boston, Tampa, and NY.
Other than getting run support, I don't think Cecil needs to have as much of a "bounceback" year as I've been hoping for.
2010
SO/9 - 6.1
SO/BB - 2.17
HR/9 - 0.9
2011
SO/9 - 6.3
SO/BB - 2.07
HR/9 - 1.6
The only part of his game that drastically changed was his velocity on his fastball which can correlate directly to the long ball. A bit more maturity, with better pitch selection, and I think he's due for a much better season than some of us are predicting.
Well one of Cecil or Alvarez need to put up a very strong season or our team is most likely ****ed.
Well one of Cecil or Alvarez need to put up a very strong season or our team is most likely ****ed.
Can't count out Dustin McGowan either. Hopefully the guy can put it together and become a great mid-rotation starter for us. If all goes well, maybe he can return to his 2007 form.
Can't count out Dustin McGowan either. Hopefully the guy can put it together and become a great mid-rotation starter for us. If all goes well, maybe he can return to his 2007 form.
Deep down inside I hope he pulls a "Chris Carpenter".
If he does, I'll **** a brick.
Would be the Jays story of the year, by a mile, no matter what else happened. He probably is anyway. How can you not be pulling for this guy?
I'm hoping there's a tandem starter in the pen for the days he goes. I'd take the four-five innings each time out.
#33 is definitely a SUPER aggressive ranking.
Funston has him ahead of guys like Matt Holliday, Dan Uggla, Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels and Hunter Pence.
Ambitious... I wouldn't keep him on that premise, but I just might anyways since it would be fun to cheer for him on my own team
#33 is definitely a SUPER aggressive ranking.
Funston has him ahead of guys like Matt Holliday, Dan Uggla, Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels and Hunter Pence.
I guess I could understand him putting him above guys like Pence and Uggla but there is no way he should be above Felix, Hamels and Holliday. These guys have been consistently great and Felix is an elite pitcher.
But who knows, maybe he could follow a similar path to David Wright. Both came up at 21 years old and hit very well. Wright at 22 OPS'ed .912 and if Lawrie could do that, it's possible he could be more valuable than those guys.
Deep down inside I hope he pulls a "Chris Carpenter".
If he does, I'll **** a brick.
Carpenter is the reason they've held onto him and Jansenn so long. Casey has been great since coming back so hopefully Dustin has the same luck. He's had one **** of a tough road back. He deserves at least a couple great season for the battle he's had to fight.
If. But I don't think so. What he did coming up last year was just unreal. I'd be happy if he can come close.
He's one guy I'm more than willing to watch struggle until he finds his groove again. I'm assuming his first half numbers aren't great but will be better in the 2nd half.
Lawrie had an unreal start. I don't think he'll get back there, but if he gets near it'l be good. He still isn't that good of a fielder though.
He was truly fantastic defensively IMO. Its not even the advanced stats I need to look at but just from what I saw from my eyes, showed me he can be great. It was a bit of a small sample size but he was excellent defensively. Great range + strong arm... he seemed to improve game by game too. Went from throwing slow weak arching throws to a laser cannon.
I guess you can still question his defense but mainly because of his body type concerns scouts have who seem to think he will out grow his position but if he maintains his conditioning, he should be just fine.
Even if he becomes below average, he will still stick if he hits like he is supposed to.
Don't forget Escobar, Enarnacion and potentially Johnson too.
Our lineup has potentially an all-star in every position except for maybe 1B. If everyone plays to their career averages (including Bautista if you include those pitiful years) I think we still have a top 3-5 offence.
Having Rasmus get back to 2010 form would do SO much for our team.
We would potentially have 3 legit star bats in Bautista, Lawrie and Rasmus.
I, for one, have not given up on Rasmus. He had a poor season, but you can clearly see that the potential is there. His batting stats left something to be desired, but his defensive play at CF was nice to watch.
I'm predicting 30 homers from him in 2012, and I think he'll bounce back to the .275 range.
