Just Imagine A Carlos Delgado Return to Toronto

Carlos Delgado has won Roberto Clemente awards. Delgado has earned Silver Slugger awards. Delgado has nearly won a Most Valuable Player Award.

Throughout Delgado's eleven seasons as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1993-2004 he became the cornerstone of the franchise. Fans came to see Carlos Delgado hit another homerun. Like Roy Halladay after him, Delgado was a humanitarian off the field. A return to Toronto has to be in the cards. Delgado sits at 473 lifetime homeruns. If he could hit 27 as a Blue Jay, Delgado could have NUMBER 500 with the team it all began with. Delgado, alongside Jim Thome might be the only players in the steroid era that put up legitimate homerun totals and should have been somewhat lone superstars. That's not how it turned out though...

It was: HOMERUN SAMMY SOSA! HOMERUN MARK MCGWIRE! HOMERUN BARRY BONDS! HOMERUN MANNY RAMIREZ! HOMERUN RAFAEL PALMERIO!

And somewhere along the line, arguably one of the best clean players of his era for his greatness at the plate got overlooked and overshadowed.

Delgado could help bring a playoff berth to Toronto- something Delgado was never able to offer to Toronto fans in his storied eleven year tenure that saw the old greats like Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, John Olerud, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez, Roger Clemens, David Wells, and Pat Hengten be replaced by new greats like Roy Halladay, Shawn Green, Chris Carpenter, and Vernon Wells.

There just weren't as many new greats as old greats, and that's probably a good measure of the ticker tape when it comes to the difference between Toronto's old teams and Toronto's new teams. But Delgado's been offered a unique opportunity here- a chance to play for a team under a new vision, a new direction with tremendous upside. The old greats Cito Gaston and Paul Beeston are still around alongside energetic new general manager Alex Anthopolous are rebuilding a team to compete for years to come. If Delgado could be the Dave Winfield of 2010, that's all Toronto could ask for. The aging slugger that comes ready to play, ready to give a clutch performance and protect a slugger that desperately needs protecting in the lineup to succeed much like Roger Maris did, Vernon Wells. We saw a long line of players benefit from batting in front or behind of Carlos Delgado like Brad Fullmer, Shawn Green, Vernon Wells and even Jose Canseco to name a few.

Toronto does have a solid team for 2010- bashers Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Travis Snider, Vernon Wells, Bautista, Overbay, and Buck could all put up 20 homeruns or more. Delgado could bring 30 homeruns to the table.  Once Delgado and his agents realize the potential of power this Blue Jays squad has for hitting bombs all the time, he might as well take another shot on a town that fell in love with Delgado years ago and now yearns for him. It's one of those rare occurances where a comeback to an old team might just be the best thing for both parties. He would join the short list of Tony Fernandez and David Wells as the only Blue Jays to have come back to Toronto for all the right reasons.

And most of all: it's to fill the rows and rows of empty blue seats.

I can only imagine the standing ovation Delgado would recieve Opening Day.

A NEW STORYLINE FOR THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS....CLOSER BATTLE.

Reports are surfacing that the Blue Jays have indeed signed former Marlins and Cubs closer Kevin Gregg to a 1-year 2.75 million dollar contract with an option for next season.

This means that old reliables Scott Downs and Jason Frasor will have to fight Gregg for the starting closer job.

That doesn't mean that we can't not have a system of closers though:

Like the one that would do the one-two run ball games...
The one that would do the mop up saves...
And the other one that would do the two or three inning saves to save the bullpen.

THE TUESDAY CABINET ROLL...

TOM CHEEK DENIED AGAIN...

Longtime ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller was named the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award on Monday, beating out Tom Cheek, Dave Van Horne, Jacques Doucet and others for the prize. Cheek, along with Van Horne and Doucet, were among the 10 finalists for the prize.

I have a feeling Mike Wilner won't be too happy about that. That's at least the third time Cheek's been denied the award despite having been the most famous Jays' voice of all time. It's not just a fact, it's reality that Baseball North is not recognized very well by the United States General Public. Other facts that point to the latter might include that the Toronto Blue Jays were the 2nd least favourite team to watch in a survey of all 30 major league baseball markets a year ago. No wonder there's little to no respect for the men that play under a dazzling tower.

BLUE JAYS CLOSE TO SIGNING KEVIN GREGG

Kevin Gregg, a flame-throwing closer known for sometimes giving up the long-ball might be a great addition to the bullpen as either a setup man or the closer outright. He would add to a bullpen that already boasts one of the best shut-down staffs in the major leagues featuring Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Jeremy Accardo, Dick Hayhurst, Casey Janssen, Shawn Camp, and long-man Brian Tallet among others. Gregg has narrowed his choices to Colorado and Toronto.

WILL THE JAYS SIGN CARLOS DELGADO?

Why the hell not? There has been no player, not even Roy Halladay, who was the greatest pitcher in the game of baseball when he was with Toronto over the course of the last eight seasons, that filled as many bodies in the seats as the powerful and gentle Delgado did.

An incentive-laden contract would be how one might sign Delgado. Obviously AA is capable of that. Delgado is capable of hitting 30 homeruns if healthy.

BLAIR REPORTS THAT MCGOWAN HAD A PAIN-FREE THROWING SESSION...

Dustin McGowan raised hopes with a pain-free throwing session on Friday, and in the process conjured up memories of Chris Carpenter's injury-plagued departure from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Carpenter went on to win a Cy Young and a World Series with the Cardinals.

Anthopoulos knows there's no point in cutting the cord with McGowan unless his career is over.

FOR THOSE WHO STILL LIKE ERIK BEDARD..

Chien-Ming Wang and Érik Bédard are two other rehabbing pitchers who have piqued the Blue Jays' interest. Both are coming off shoulder surgery, and the Blue Jays have made contact with their agents as well as doing their medical due diligence. A native of Navan, Ont., Bedard is still five months away from being able to pitch, and in this tight market, he might fall into the Blue Jays hands.

Nevermind Wang. But Bedard? Five months away? That's July earliest. Maybe not even at all this year.

ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE, IT IS FEBRUARY- that means...spring training is near, and we'll have more on that soon.

MARK MCGWIRE IS SPELLING THE END OF THE STEROID ERA...

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

ST. LOUIS — The night Mark McGwire slugged his record-breaking 62nd home run, Bob Beumer was cheering from the upper reaches of the old Busch Stadium. That ticket stub is on display in his basement, where it joins some photographs, a few autographed baseballs and other McGwire mementos from the home run chase in 1998 that gripped the nation and revived the sport. Now, though, for Beumer and many other Cardinals fans, those days seem a bit less triumphant.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Shortly after he admitted steroid use, Mark McGwire drew a crowd at the Winter Warm-Up in St. Louis.

“It’s like when you find out your favorite grandfather didn’t turn in his income taxes,” Beumer said of McGwire, the Cardinals’ new hitting coach, who recently admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career. “You didn’t like him any less, but you squint at him and look at him a little funny because you wish he wouldn’t have done that.”

Beumer, 62, is the former owner of Hamilton Jewelers, which was a stalwart advertiser and sponsor of the Cardinals for more than three decades.

“The best way I can describe it,” Beumer said, “is that he’s brought a very big uneasiness to Cardinals baseball.”

That is a popular sentiment in this grand baseball town, where for the last three weeks they have gone crazy, folks, gone crazy trying to reconcile their feelings about the most divisive local baseball issue of their time. Should McGwire be forgotten or forgiven, jeered or cheered? Is he a villain or merely a product of his era? What is more relevant, the imprint his four and a half seasons in Cardinals red left on their lives, or the black mark it left on the record books?
Everyone and no one seems to know for sure.

The minute-long standing ovation McGwire received at the Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up event Jan. 17, his first public appearance since admitting to steroid use, less than a week earlier, represented only a small cross section of the fan base. Bernie Miklasz, a longtime sports columnist at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, likened it to the reception Sarah Palin or President Obama received at their parties’ nominating conventions.

“If you get away from the hardcore base, there’s been a legitimate and powerful debate whether this is a good thing or not,” said Miklasz, referring to McGwire’s taking over as the hitting coach. “People are talking about the past, they’re arguing about the past.”

Miklasz, who also hosts a weekday radio show on WXOS-FM, said that in 25 years working here, he had never seen or heard the community divided about anything involving the Cardinals. “Everyone just wants to know whether the family is ever going to get back together again,” he said.

St. Louisans are not accustomed to controversy swirling around their sports heroes. From Stan Musial to Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner to Marshall Faulk, iconic players have largely excelled on the field and lived clean lives off it. In a sense, fans here have been mentally preparing for McGwire’s admission since 2005, when he dodged questions about steroid use before Congress.

When McGwire ultimately confessed, during an orchestrated series of interviews Jan. 11, including one with The New York Times, many of those same fans were left with a hollow feeling. Despite several opportunities, McGwire repeatedly dismissed any link between performance-enhancing drugs and his remarkable power. If McGwire had acknowledged even receiving an inadvertent benefit from taking steroids, Miklasz said he thought a majority of local fans would forgive him.

“This is a very loyal town, but people are having a very hard time processing all of this,” said Tom Burke, 53, a lawyer from Town and Country, Mo. “For most people, that just isn’t complete enough of a story. It’s not realistic enough. To me, it seems like the Cardinals underestimated the fallout that was going to occur.”

First and foremost was the recent criticism of McGwire by several members of the Cardinals family. Adolphus Busch IV, scion of the family that once owned the team, said in a statement that McGwire “deliberately cheated the game,” “stole its most coveted records” and “was paid millions while perpetrating a fraud.” Jack Clark, a popular first baseman on two pennant-winning teams in the 1980s, said that seeing McGwire in uniform made him want to throw up and that McGwire, like all steroid users, should be barred from baseball forever.

Perhaps the most resonant criticism came from Whitey Herzog, a beloved former manager, who at a dinner in Appleton, Wis., said he could not fathom how McGwire received a standing ovation at the Winter Warm-Up and that Clark was roundly booed. “Now what the hell is the matter with society when that happens?” Herzog said.

Herzog, whose Hall of Fame plaque will depict him wearing a Cardinals cap, did not want to revisit that topic when he was approached last week in the driveway of his suburban St. Louis home. “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said, closing the garage door behind him.

“Their voices represent an important part of the Cardinals, which is their storied past,” said Tom Ackerman, the sports director and a morning anchor at KMOX-AM. “St. Louis people love this team, but they also love what it has represented, and there’s a lot of respect for the people who have put the team together and have helped build the franchise into what it is today. Whether people agree or disagree, they’re listening.”

BASEBALL WILL GET OVER THE STEROID SCANDAL- MARK MCGWIRE IS JUST THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN.

The Report Card's In

Oh, you know, I thought I'd comment on our recent ratings review over at Drunk Jays Fans. You know what they say, any publicity is positive publicity, especially from a review like the following. Looks like we have a market to cater to, a business student might know that, eh Stoeten?

John McDonald's Cabinet - D

Fratboy #1: Hey dude, let's get wasted and head to the game.

Fratboy #2: Totally dude, let me just finish this finish this blog post.

Fratboy #1: Fuck dude!

I couldn't agree more, except fratboys are gay, my roommate is one.

A quick glance at JMC's large roster of writers reminds me of university and living with five dudes in a huge house. One time we soaked a stack of bricks in lighter fluid and lit them on fire in the front lawn while others tossed bricks from the balcony trying to knock down the tower of flaming bricks.

Okay, well only two of us regularly contribute, but it's nice to have a larger staff, don't you think?

We thought we were hilariously original. Truth be told, any prank or crazy idea we could've possibly come up with had been done before . . . many, many times before.

We are hilariously original- and we will be launching a marketing campaign.

While reading JMC, I can't help but whisper to myself, "Been there, done that."

Yeah man, we're in university, but we'll be doing bigger things soon enough.

Thank You Very Much.

WE JUST CAN'T BE SO OPTIMISTIC ABOUT JESSE LITSCH AND DUSTIN MCGOWAN

Reliable sources have indicated that Jesse Litsch and Dustin McGowan despite having been injured for months and months are not really on schedule to break Spring Training with the team.

Even though the Jays have like 19 credible arms that they hope to catch lightning in a bottle with, it's never good when all of them are so young that the guys who lead the team with the most major league experience are the ones still in the infirminary ward!

Scott Richmond was profiled on TSN and spoke about how they would have to make up for the loss of the great Roy Halladay- and he said it would be tough but he's seen it done before in his many professional years of baseball, and if the pitching can keep Toronto in games, Toronto has a chance of winning the game every night. Halladay probably only contributed to an extra 5-10 wins a season, so a combined effort could certainly make up for that.

Toronto's rotation looks much like Tampa's in 2008- you've got sophomore Ricky Romero who could win 15 games, Ace Shaun Marcum who has proven he could win 15 games too, and if you had five guys who all won 10 games or more, I think you'd have a rotation that could compete in a very difficult American League East- Cecil, Richmond and Rez certainly seem capable of doing such.

If anything, maybe McGowan or Litsch can be great fill-ins when one of the fab five get injured.

SOMEONE BASHED THE ROGERS CENTRE, BUT NOT SKYDOME..

One COMPLAINS:

The worst thing about the place is the fans.

They do the wave in the 8th inning, with the tying run on base. People actually go just to do the fucking wave.

There's the 19 year old morons who are getting their first taste of alcohol and a crowd that turn it to shit, with ridiculous brawls or throwing shit at the Tigers.

There's the fratboy fucks in Red Sox hats to see a Jays vs. Royals game.

There's douchebags in suits on discount night who leave after 3 innings saying "maybe next time we can stay for 5"

There's the morons who get more excited over a free sample of nicotine gum, or a free lottery ticket, or a fucking bucket of wings then anything that happens on the field.

My favourite fantard in the place was a drunk gentleman at a day game a couple years ago. Lyle Overbay just stepped up to the plate and the guy's started screaming this:
"Lyle will get a hit because he's Lyle and he has a huge penis. He calls it little Lyle...."
After about 4 more minutes of going on about Lyle Overbay's dong at the top of his lungs someone from guest services magically appeared and whisked him away, while on his way up the ramp he turned to her and said:
 "What do you think about Lyle Overbay's penis?"

Jeff Blair, I don't like the tittle of your baseball article.

Yeah, let's introduce the Designated Hitter to the National League. Why don't we make American League Pitchers hit? Maybe that would lead to less brutal American League injuries. The American League has led the last ten seasons in injuries/players versus the National League. Could this be because the American League has the designated hitter who is usually old and crumbling down physically? The National League makes their pitchers, run, hit, and bunt and they play the game freely and as hard as possible. The National League as a result has wilder outcomes and generally wackier games while the American League reflects the steadfast beat of the Northeast, let's get 'er done and go home and get to sleep and do the traditional things that have been getting us through every year for decades.

I'm in Toronto becoming a Westerner. I just cannot believe that people from the central to east have become this way. I like the wide open west. Look at how teams like New Orleans and Arizona played in football. Just wide-open football. And everyone loved it.

So hey, let the American League Pitcher hit. Roy Halladay, the best pitcher in the major leagues the last seven seasons will now be forced to hit in the NL, what a dream. Santana now hits. Lowe now hits. It's not a big deal. It's good that baseball has variety because baseball has always been a very quirky game, and that's what keeps people interested: the quirks.

So hey, let's keep things the way they are which is an eastern way of doing things, but look at the predicted outcome, a wild wild wild west outcome. And that's something that'll keep satisfying the western-leaners in an eastern-leaning town like Toronto.

BUCK MARTINEZ and The Top Canadians In Baseball

Man, Buck Martinez is returning to do play-by-play for Jays games on Rogers Sportsnet! I realize this was announced a month ago, but man am I ever excited! I remember the good old days when Dan Schulman and Buck Martinez did the play by play in the few years after the World Series wins. Pat Tabler and Buck Martinez, certainly both not famous major leaguers during their careers have gone on to have very successful broadcasting careers. Tabler remains one of the most colorful announcers in baseball, and he basically had to teach a student of the game in Jamie Campbell for the last number of years. It should be no wonder or surprise that Tabler has done less and less games over the years considering who he had to sit beside on a regular basis.

Buck Martinez on the other hand went on to unsucessfully manage the Toronto Blue Jays for one season and was fired at the end of it. You would have thought that Buck might have made the perfect fit from an outside perspective considering that he understood what the fans wanted, what the players wanted having had played in the major leagues, and having been on the other side of the ropes in the media, too. Martinez went on to become a major baseball broadcaster with ESPN, and alongside his former co-broadcaster Dan Schulman.

While Tabler's contract is up, along with the brutal Rance Mulliniks, and former catcher Darrin Fletcher, I would strongly advise the Rogers consortium to re-hire Tabler as I think Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler might just make the Jays a hit on Sportsnet once again!

You should thank great baseball-minded Canadians like Paul Beeston for making this happen!

HERE'S A LIST OF THE TOP 100 CANADIANS IN BASEBALL RANKED BY INFLUENCE..
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/2010/01/07/12373406-qmi.html

The Top Ten is an Impressive List that features...
1) Paul Beeston, CEO, Toronto Blue Jays
2) Greg Hamilton,  Baseball Canada
3) Alex Anthopoulos, Jays GM
4) Doug Melvin, Brewers GM
5) Pat Gillick, Senior Advisor to the Phillies
6) Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins 1B
7) Tony Viner, President, Rogers Media
8) Dan Shulman, Broadcaster, ESPN
9) Keli McGregor, President, Colorado Rockies
10) The Great Jerry Howarth, Broadcaster, Toronto Blue Jays.

OH, YOU KNOW, IT'S SATURDAY...WE CAN DREAM...

With a new kid on the block running things, it looks like an old kid in Zack Johnson has returned, and a new kid in Aroldis Chapman may be choosing between just the Toronto Blue Jays and the Angels.....

Seriously, would you stop tantalizing the Cabinet? We're about to erupt in applause like they do in Parliament. I forgot though, Parliament is prorogued....it's not like AA ever takes a break, Harper...

"Rogers is willing to invest a lot of money into the future" 

INDEED!

Oh man, what a season it might be, eh?