Carson on Jays: A better view from the bench
Posted February 29, 2012 5:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Three-hundred sixty-five days ago, Blue Jays manager John Farrell was at the beginning of his first spring training at the helm of Canada’s only Major League Baseball team.
Everything was brand spanking new for the baseball veteran; the organization, players, front office personnel and various members of the multi-platform media. He took it all in style, giving thoughtful answers to the questions asked of him and was available when not busy.
One-hundred sixty-two games later and his first season was over.
His Blue Jays remained in neutral, 81 wins to go with 81 losses, and yet another – fourth-straight- fourth place finish. He got to take a first-hand look at a team record 53 different players– including a franchise record 30 pitchers.
He got to see just how great Jose Bautista is, both on the field and in the clubhouse, felt the disappointment of young players underperforming (Kyle Drabek, Travis Snider, Colby Rasmus and Brett Cecil) and got a glimpse into some bright futures (Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia and Henderson Alvarez).
When it was all said and done, Farrell gave himself a ‘C’ grade for his rookie season.
He knows mistakes were made, with the botched double-switch in St. Louis coming to mind, as well as his uneven handling of the bullpen. There was also his handling of the offence, where the team ran a lot in the first half (and was thrown out a lot as a result), but the level of aggressiveness was a welcomed surprise after the station-to-station years under Cito Gaston and John Gibbons.
Now entering spring number two with the only new thing being his closer and uniform, it appears to be a more relaxed John Farrell that the Blue Jays are getting.
He is vastly more familiar with his on-field personnel, which will allow him to concentrate on getting the most out of what he has on hand, and not wasting a lot of time to get to know the individuals.
And Farrell has made it clear that he is expecting a lot more out of his young starting rotation, basically expressing that the improvement in the teams’ fortunes will be tied directly these young arms, the quality of their starts and how deep they can go into games. That was sorely lacking a year ago leading to a gross overusing of the bullpen and a staggering 25 blown saves.
Basically, Farrell and general manager Alex Anthopoulos have very few decisions at hand.
There’s choosing a left fielder between Eric Thames and Travis Snider, a long man in the bullpen (clouded with the early spring health questions of Carlos Villanueva and Jesse Litsch), who will win the utility infielder job between Omar Vizquel, Luis Valbuena and Mike McCoy, and who will push Dustin McGowan for the last spot in the rotation.
Not a lot of decisions to be made on these fronts.
But he will also be able to get a first-hand look at the depth of pitching prospects that will see loads of action with the number of split-squad games on the Jays’ spring schedule, allowing him to form opinions of who might get the first calls from the minors should injury or poor performance hit the starters.
It was moments like these a year ago that brought in right-hander Drew Hutchison to make a surprise start against a veteran Phillies squad and looked like anything but a 20-year-old.
With a year under his belt, and a better understanding of the weapons at his disposal this season, I’m expecting more out of John Farrell in 2012– especially a higher grade than just ‘C’.
RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM ACROSS THE SUNBELT
With the retirements of long time catchers Jorge Posada and Jason Varitek, it is clear that age is pulling the Yankees and Red Sox closer to the pack in the top heavy A.L. East.
While it’s true that money for the rich teams can outspend any shortcomings, inexpensive controllable players and prospects are becoming the real currency in the game and both the Rays and Blue Jays find themselves rich in both…
Speaking of the Yankees and Red Sox, it’s been interesting reading new Boston manager Bobby Valentine, who never met a camera or microphone that he didn’t like, firing verbal salvos across the Yankees’ bow so far this spring.
The fact that Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have responded tells me that Bobby V is getting under their pinstripes already and could lead to a colourful summer whenever these two hated rivals meet…
If I were National League MVP Ryan Braun, I might stop answering all questions about the overturning of his 50-game failed drug test suspension. In the court of public opinion, everywhere expect Milwaukee, Braun got off on a weak technicality and his level of innocence is still murky at best.
The fact that none of Braun’s representatives argued that the test itself was faulty, yet concentrated on the protocol of the process leaves a lot of questions needing answers…
For the Blue Jays to even entertain thoughts of contending, it is imperative that they get off to fast start. And the schedule is certainly in their favour.
While they play only 15 home games in their first 35, only 13 of those games are against teams with a winning record a year ago. This could allow them to be in the thick of things come the trade deadline and they could find themselves being buyers, something that hasn’t been the case in many moons…
And finally, after falling off the sobriety wagon, it will interesting to see if the Texas Rangers and star outfielder Josh Hamilton can come together on a contract extension with free agency sitting on the horizon.
It sure seems that Hamilton’s inner demons are continuing to hold him back, and that’s not likely to change…
