I don't buy the prank conspiracy theory. Even if a teammate did that you would think once the player applied the strips under his eyes Yunel would have gone to a mirror to make sure they are positioned correctly and look good. I know when I used them we had a mirror in the equipment bag to make sure they were on properly plus to me Yunel is a pretty boy and cares more about his looks than his play.
Also how many players saw that and never questioned it or got him to remove it once they found out what it meant. That screams lack of leadership and that has been evident for the whole season. Sure Jose is a leader by default but you saw him earlier this season showing up umps and that is not leadership and you saw it replay in Brett Lawrie's display of helmet tossing.
Don't even get me started on Farrell about his leadership skills.
This team needed a couple of veterans like they did when Scott Rolen, Carlos Delgado was here an pro's pro.
I have said it before this fiasco. Yunel is all about style than substance and the fact a pro manager like Bobby Cox who is one of the greats could not stand him means he has a problem playing the game the right way. Cox had some style guys like Fernadez, Moseby but they all played the game the right way.
I hope his value has not been diminished as I hope AA would have moved him for a legit starter but now who knows now.
3 games is very weak. Just seems like a small pittance to put a racial slur out there. At least the NHL crackdown on Avery when he said something and that wasn't even that bad.
Farrel "Yunel applies messages often on his eye-black so nobody really paid any attention to it in the dugout" (not an exact quote, my summary)
Edit: Hard to decipher the reasoning behind using those words exactly. The translation is pretty rough, but he keeps replying "It was just a joke, I didn't mean to offend anyone in the gay community. I embarrassed myself and the BJ organization, and accept my suspension" Etc, etc.
I've heard from others that the word has a double, less offensive term (well, I guess it depends on your definition of offensive). I just don't know how much I buy it.
This press conference isn't helping at all. It portrays Yunel, teammates and latin american ball players in a poor light.
This really isn't surprising though. Pro baseball players, especially Latin Americans are generally poorly educated. When you get signed out of an academy at 16 or spend your whole life playing ball to try to escape Cuba there isn't a lot of time to learn social norms or be educated.
Some of them (like Jose) did go through the American university system and I mean there's a world of difference. The guy doesn't even know English yet and he's been in the majors for seven years...
I've heard from others that the word has a double, less offensive term (well, I guess it depends on your definition of offensive). I just don't know how much I buy it.
From what I gather, it's similar to the use of the word "gay" to refer to something that's undesirable. A lot of times the speaker legitimately doesn't see it as homophobic or questionable, but those understanding the context and the harm phrases like those can create can only see it as homophobic or questionable.
I would be wary because he's old and just had a season ending injury this year. No way I would sign him to a multi year deal. A 1 year discounted deal is an option.
I think everyone would be wary, including Anthopolous and the Jays. But assuming they'd do their due diligence with regard to his health, I think it's an offer worth extending.
Let's be clear: it's not like I'd expect him to play 162 games. Without doubt he'd miss some games. But to have that experience, and that bat, in this lineup for large parts of the season without taking up a defensive position would be well worth it. There's likely to be a bit of a drop-off in production (although we haven't really seen it yet), but even with a modest drop-off Ortiz would still project enormously well playing at Rogers Centre and batting in between Bautista and Encarnacion.
And signing him would not use any of the assets Anthopolous has at his disposal to acquire pitching help.
I get that the Jays would have serious competition to sign him, including the Red Sox themselves. I'm not in any way counting it as a done deal. We don't know for certain that Ortiz would want to come here, any more than we know that the Jays would be interested. Just saying that on paper there certainly appears to be good reason to explore it.
By the way, the comments from Yunel at the press conference so far are pretty lame. It's a word without a meaning? REALLY?
If I was advising Yunel, I'd have told him to voluntarily donate an additional 3 games' pay to those causes on his own initiative to underscore that he understands the seriousness of the issue, and that he wants to be part of the solution to discrimination and defamation in sports and in life.
This really isn't surprising though. Pro baseball players, especially Latin Americans are generally poorly educated. When you get signed out of an academy at 16 or spend your whole life playing ball to try to escape Cuba there isn't a lot of time to learn social norms or be educated.
Some of them (like Jose) did go through the American university system and I mean there's a world of difference. The guy doesn't even know English yet and he's been in the majors for seven years...
I agree that some players are poorly educated. I believe I saw a stat that said only 7% of MLB players have some type of post high school diploma or degree. Not that surprising I guess maybe I would have thought it might be around 15-20% but 7% is really low.
To have that on the field, in the bigs, in front of thousands live + television viewers is pretty bad. The majority of us have pretty much stated that it was probably a joke in the clubhouse or even a prank. However I've personally never seen this happen in the bigs and a suspension doesn't seem outlandish for such a thing.
Well the D-Backs called Kelly Johnson gay pretty much by making him walk out to Its Raining Men. Thats hardly anything innocent and no one outraged at it. Not saying its the same but you get the idea
People get bent out of shape at the word. Not defending him, its rather baffling that he put it on but I wouldn't call him stupid or anything like people are saying around here. Seems like straight people are taking more offence to it than gays lol
Also how many players saw that and never questioned it or got him to remove it once they found out what it meant. That screams lack of leadership and that has been evident for the whole season. Sure Jose is a leader by default but you saw him earlier this season showing up umps and that is not leadership and you saw it replay in Brett Lawrie's display of helmet tossing.
I have said it before this fiasco. Yunel is all about style than substance and the fact a pro manager like Bobby Cox who is one of the greats could not stand him means he has a problem playing the game the right way. Cox had some style guys like Fernadez, Moseby but they all played the game the right way.
I hope his value has not been diminished as I hope AA would have moved him for a legit starter but now who knows now.
3 games is very weak. Just seems like a small pittance to put a racial slur out there. At least the NHL crackdown on Avery when he said something and that wasn't even that bad.
Lack of leadership? You're reaching here. If someone told him to take it off and he didnt? Is that lack of leadership or a man choosing to do as he pleases? I'm sure it was a joke. You know, something that all the boys laughed about, creating you know, a friendly, joking environment rather than a strict, dismal one it could be with the situation the team is in right now. You're looking way too far into this. Because Escobar didn't get along with Cox he's now less of a player? I guess since Rasmus didn't get along with TLR so is he? And Lawrie...? That's a joke.
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Originally Posted by Leafsdude7
Weak.
What's weak about it? Oh no he said a bad word... ban him for life
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paris in Flames
I've heard from others that the word has a double, less offensive term (well, I guess it depends on your definition of offensive). I just don't know how much I buy it.
So you'd rather buy the media reports that try to sensationalize everything over the person who had it written on his face? Oh, Toronto.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leafsdude7
From what I gather, it's similar to the use of the word "gay" to refer to something that's undesirable. A lot of times the speaker legitimately doesn't see it as homophobic or questionable, but those understanding the context and the harm phrases like those can create can only see it as homophobic or questionable.
