If Anthopoulos makes a splash in the deadline, it will likely be on the mound.
Now that the Hall of Fame inductions are in the rear view mirror, the trade deadline looms on the horizon of baseball debate.
As the chasm starts to grow between the contenders and the rest, some names of note are making the rounds in the rumour mill - Carlos Beltran, Heath Bell, B.J. Upton, Ubaldo Jimenez -and the usual teams will be in the chase, prospects be damned!
The Blue Jays will not be one of those teams, unless Alex Anthopoulos is really playing his cards close to the vest. No, if the Jays are to make any move(s), it will likely involve relievers or, perhaps, Aaron Hill. Outside of that, I really can't see Toronto being in on any action.
Why would they move any of their young, below the majors, controllable assets when odds are they probably go 30-30 the rest of the way and finish with 81 wins?
I'm not saying that A.A. won't be burning up the phone lines, trying to improve his franchise; it's been his MO since he took over the reins 22 months ago. If another team is willing to take any of the players who won't be around a couple of years from now when the Jays start contending, he'll be listening.
The Jays are still taking stock of what they have and still need. That's why Brett Cecil's shutout on Sunday night was so important. Coming off a 15-win season, it was expected that the left-hander would play a key role in the evolution of the starting rotation moving forward. But he lost a few MPH off his heater this spring, it never really returned and he was sent on a Vegas junket just four starts into 2011. Then two innings into the fourth start following his recall, with the offensively-defective Mariners having scored five times, it took a one-sided conversation with John Farrell to make Cecil snap to it. In full view of Sportsnet's camera at high first, Farrell verbalized to Cecil to start pitching to the bottom of the strike zone. It probably wasn't that clean, but you get the drift, and apparently, so did Cecil.
Since then, Cecil earned 14 consecutive scoreless innings culminating with his first career major league shutout against a Rangers team that can flat out rake. All this after a side session with pitching coach Bruce Walton -- where he informed Cecil that bringing his hands over his head when pitching from a full windup seemingly gave his fastball a little more jump. He was still missing too much up, but at least the added speed made those pitches a little less hittable.
Now, Farrell and Walton must turn their attention to ace-by-default Ricky Romero, who is coming off four straight middling starts in which he's allowed 18 runs over 23 innings, allowing 26 hits. These came on the heels of his second career shutout on June 26th in St. Louis. The third-year left-hander, while the heart and soul of this young staff, has started pitching like it's the 'dog days' of the season -- something that normally doesn't kick in until August. Or maybe, he is what he is: not quite an ace, but no worse than a three. And maybe that's how he should be considered, especially until he can deliver success against the Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, Romero is a fine starting pitcher; he just lacks the size and stamina to be considered a true ace. That's not his fault; it's just the way it is.
That's certainly not the case with Brandon Morrow, who currently finds himself on the type of roll that has 'ace' written all over it. Since failing to make it out of the fifth inning of a June 11th start against the Red Sox, Morrow has strung together seven straight starts that the Jays have won -- he's 5-0 over that stretch. Averaging over a strikeout per inning, Morrow has held the opposition to a measly .195 average.
Maybe Anthopoulos can pull a fast one and bring another starter in to get the Jays through the final two months of the season. With the release of Jo-Jo Reyes, who made it well past his shelf life, and the fact that Carlos Villanueva is poised to blow past his career high for innings in a season and showing signs of fatigue, this team is in dire need of another starter or two. The obvious choice is Jesse Litsch but he's a case of 'been there, done that'.
Final thoughts on Cooperstown
What an excellent turnout by Canadian fans on Sunday to witness the induction of Roberto Alomar and Pat Gillick, finally giving the Blue Jays a presence in the Hall of Fame other than a few token pieces of memorabilia. I was able to watch the entire ceremony on Monday after returning from Texas thanks to my PVR. The acceptance speeches by Gillick and Alomar were heartfelt and gave us a glimpse into their souls. It was a great day and hopefully that will carry through to next Sunday when Robbie's number is retired and raised to the rafters in front of a full house at Rogers Centre.
Oh, and by the way, full marks to whoever fashioned the Canadian flag with the Blue Jays logo replacing the red Maple Leaf. Well done!
