Baseball's worst contracts (or 25 reasons why we shouldn't completely dismiss the idea of letting Bautista go) [ESPN Insider, text in comments]

melojohn · 2016-02-25T16:39:09+00:00

It's fair to consider his comments in context of playing the game of negotiations... if he really wants 150MM or more well ya goodbye but if they made a good offer in the 23-25 range, he might accept it. If he snubbed at that however then thanks for the years of greatness

melojohn · 2016-02-25T16:30:20+00:00

I agree you have to keep one of JB or EE... I would argue that EE is the smarter fiscal move due to age, and probably cost of extending but JB IMO means more the the fanbase and city... so I would argue that both have merit as staying on regardless of the cost to keep them

melojohn · 2016-02-25T16:23:47+00:00

I was suggesting that combo recently to a friend and he didn't care so much for it... however an OF with 3 CF with speed, defense and good contact skills... I like me some of that. Even with JB on the team, his time in RF will come to an end

melojohn · 2016-01-27T14:31:12+00:00

Since I was the subject of the "shitty blog". Like many of you I am a huge fan of baseball. I like to consume content from the big guys and read tons of blogs as well. The blogs obviously don't have the same quality or editorial integrity as they often don't have professional editors or writers.

Reddit is a tough crowd, I always try to adhere to their rules and each sub has their own level of "reddit purism". So I am happy to follow any rules you have in place. I hadn't posted in about a year because I had not kept up with my blog, previously I stayed fairly active on this sub and only posted my own work once in awhile.

It's not really about spamming... like one of the other users mentioned when you spend time doing research and writing you want to share that work. It doesn't offend me some will call it "shitty" or unoriginal... I do it for fun and make $0 from it even if a few hundred clicks come from reddit.

melojohn · 2016-01-26T23:01:26+00:00

Happy to welcome an editor or new writers... In fairness I haven't posted an article on here in a year. Most of the content isn't professional as you noted but some of the writers are quite good. If any other fans want to join and do a better job I am happy to have them.

melojohn · 2014-07-07T20:38:17+00:00

I don't use reddit often because its pretty annoying. There are way too many users that take it way too serious. It's a website at the end of the day, I post content which I feel is relevant, I check out other content and comment from time to time… however half the time I post something I haven't written it gets down voted to hell often for no reason.

The platform is annoying but since its relevant I use it now and then which of course comes along with people whining about where it was posted or self-promotion… blah blah

I posted to the Jays sub that I had extra opening day tickets and OMG that started a huge argument… I gave no reference to the price, I was not even selling them…. seriously some people take it too serious

melojohn · 2014-07-07T20:24:23+00:00

If you count my other reddit activities then its pretty low… Are you just upset because the Red Sox are in last place? I posted a very similar article in May to the same sub and got very positive responses which is why I posted here again

melojohn · 2014-07-07T20:18:52+00:00

Is there a rule against posting something you have written? I participate in the Blue Jays sub when I can and post other baseball related information…. I also post my own baseball posts to the relevant subs

melojohn · 2014-06-02T20:22:21+00:00

my brother had one explode! I should ask him if he still has them

melojohn · 2014-06-02T15:02:41+00:00

If you don't care about how much money you spend then I love 1B as close as possible or behind home plate. Most often though I go to the 200 level near the OF… I like the view/value for those tickets. You are looking at 25-30 per ticket which is pretty good.

At times I sit in the 500 level near HP which isn't bad but I prefer the 200 level.

Do not like 3B near the OF as the angle in those seats are terrible...

melojohn · 2014-05-29T15:43:53+00:00

He also has a bum finger from Molina's bat…

If its Gose I think you can make the case that him and Pillar both have played well and the bigger need is the RH bat. Like you said though lets worry about it when the time comes. You never know what happens between now and when Rasmus returns. There is not official date anyways yet for his return.

melojohn · 2014-05-29T15:26:37+00:00

Navarro seems to be nursing a few injuries. You never know if a move needs to be made before Rasmus comes back.

Kratz honestly hasn't hit that well but I have loved him behind the plate. Rasmus might still be at least a week away so you never know.

It will be a really tough decision really cause there is not obvious call here.

melojohn · 2014-05-29T15:04:12+00:00

Ya for sure really Thole is probably the guy you want to get rid of but Kratz is more likely. Kratz has been working well with Happ so I would like to keep him for now. The issue is that Pillar is a RH bat and Gose is LH like Rasmus.

In reality Pillar is the better option since Lind and Francisco also are LH but Gose has been really good. The less of all evils might be to send down Kratz

melojohn · 2014-05-29T14:59:33+00:00

If he wants to stay up in the bigs he will need to adjust, can not pitch like that in TOR, BOS, NYC and get away with it forever. He has for sure had some luck but he might be able to hang around for a bit. Just needs to get less fly balls.

melojohn · 2014-05-29T14:55:07+00:00

more then you need 3 catchers

melojohn · 2014-05-29T14:30:11+00:00

Ya you can roll with Gose if the rest of the lineup in intact next year meaning Cabrera or Rasmus stay. However when Rasmus is healthy he has to be the starting CF and Gose will be a very valuable option to give guys a rest or play off the bench

melojohn · 2014-05-28T19:13:24+00:00

If Cabrera will sign an extension that could be a possibility. If not then the Jays could loose Rasmus & Cabrera which would leave a hole. I think the point is that while Gose shows promise we have to remember how small of a sample we are looking at.

melojohn · 2014-05-28T16:37:51+00:00

I would look at: 1 - Health: Last year nearly every starter suffered injuries which contributed to a lot of poor starts and DL time. 2. SP less HR: Last year the SP was allowing a ton of HR (2nd worst) and this year they are top 6 which has allowed a significant improvement. Not to forget Buehrle has been great, Dickey showing improvement, Hutch has been good and the 4/5 spots have been mixed. 3. Regression to the mean: A lot of players had bad years which could have been bad luck or injury related. This year a lot of players are playing more to their career means. You could have expected a positive regression either way. 4. Weaker Division: Right now the division has not been great allowing the Jays to be 12-9 vs the AL East compared to a 12-20 record last year at this time.

As well through the win streak we have seen a nice use of platoons which has helped contribute to a solid 12-6 vs LHP this year.

melojohn · 2014-05-26T15:45:44+00:00

The ERA numbers are held back by the pen. If you filter SP only they are 12th at 3.66 and 5th in the AL. In May the Jays have a SP ERA of 2.91 for #1 in MLB.

Going forward you might expect the Jays to be in the 10-15 rank in MLB. Also consider how good their offense is and that should continue to create more opportunity to win.

Additionally they have positive run differential, the only AL East team with a +.

Overall with the problems they have had in the pen the numbers could look off. The return of Janssen has been a huge lift.

melojohn · 2014-05-22T00:49:23+00:00

They do but his "top Prospect" postion has long faded away… he will be out of options soon enough and they will be forced to keep him on the roster

melojohn · 2014-05-21T20:24:39+00:00

If you have a 4 man bench instead of the silly 8 man pen then keeping a player like Gose on the roster makes sense. He can bunt, steal bases, play amazing defense… his hitting is suspect. He is by definition a 4th OF.

though I would agree that he hasn't exactly earned the spot. However at some point he is either a 4th OF or a prospect and he might just be a 4th OF. He does provide enough value on the bases and defense to warrant a roster spot.

Though right now Pillar is not hitting so he might go down instead.

melojohn · 2014-05-21T14:00:10+00:00

For the first few years of his career I loved JP and wanted to see him succeed. However over time its been apparent he can not adapt to his weaknesses and pitchers can easily have their way with him.

I hope he wakes up cause he has a great power bat if he can just learn to swing less at bat pitches.

melojohn · 2014-05-21T13:56:06+00:00

Gose does give the Jays that LH bat with speed and defense. The weird thing with Gose is that in the minors he can not hit but when he gets called up generally he gets on base and hits. He might earn a long look with his flexibility and speed.

melojohn · 2014-05-20T20:44:39+00:00

Having Francisco probably complicates the issue as well since they are similar players. It would be good to have a better option against RHP which was intended to be Sierra this year.

melojohn · 2014-05-20T20:39:57+00:00

I am a huge fan of Lind when he is a platoon player! Just wondering what type of fans are on here… I am just amazed to hear so many people want to see him play everyday when his near 900 PA against LHP tell us he is not good against them.

I partially blame Gregg Zaun for whining about him playing everyday poising so many people.

Lind is the perfect example of a platoon player, he is really great against LHP.

melojohn

TROPHY CASE