MVN - Most Valuable Network

Is AJ a Goner?

After taking over for the disaster that was John Gibbons, Cito Gastton set the very reasonable goal of a ten-game over .500 finish for the ‘08 Jays. While these guys hit that goal on the head exactly, the season was far from satisfying. This is probably because the Jays had arguably the best arms in the majors and nearly boasted two 20 game winners.

The ‘09 Jays pitching staff could lok drastically different, however. It has already been declared that Shaun Marcum will miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. While Marcum only posted 9 wins in an injury shortened year,he was perhaps Toronto’s most reliable arm in the first two months of the season as he led the AL in ERA.The Blue Birds’ third starter, Dustin McGowan is a long shot to make it to Spring Training with a torn rotator cuff and of course there is AJ Burnett.

AJ Burnett. The two year disappointment who came into ‘08 with something to prove and was mediocre once again up until the All-Star Break. He sarcastically doffed his cap to a chorus of boos in Toronto and made an idiotic comment about wanting to play in Chicago, and the Blue Jay faithful were calling for his head.

Since then, AJ has set the American League on fire with devastating curveballs and even more devastating fist pumps. His 18 wins set a career high and the fact that he made ZERO trips to the DL was probably the most shocking storyline for the Jays in 2008. Now, Jays fans are clamoring for JP to make a move to keep our tattoed friend in Blue and White.

Burnett’s breakout, and finally potential-realizing year could not have come at a worse time for the Jays. AJ has an opt-out clause in his contract that, if exercised, could net him an even more ridiculous payday than the one he received from Ted Rogers two offseasons ago.

The Jays would need to send a huge raise in AJ’s direction to keep his services, but would it even be the best choice? Reportedly, the Jays are willing to offer Burnett a $30 million extension for the years 2011 and 2012, but is that money best spent on finding a perhaps less spectacular arm that may actually earn his paycheck instead of collecting dust on the DL?

While AJ was not injured at all this season, he has hardly shook the “injury-prone” label and maybe his full 2008 campaign just means he is due for another prolonged DL stint, which would mean the Jays are stuck with 3 of their top 4 pitchers on the shelf. Is it in the Jays’ interest to let AJ opt out, take the draft pick in return and go after a second-tier free agent pitcher; not the C.C. Sabathias or the Ben Sheetses of the world, but the Jon Garlands.

JP has already stated that he wants to acquire another bat, and while frugal spending has never been his strong suit, it would be very difficult to hold on to the salaries of Burnett, BJ Ryan, Lyle Overbay and an acquired bat. Especially considering the fact that Overbay and Ryan did less than nothing to help the team this season.

Next year, BJ Ryan will not have the Tommy John excuse to fall back on and if he is shaky as he was this year, it will be impossible to move him. Overbay’s wrist injury from two seasons ago is apparently to blame for his no-longer existent power. But with an offensive dud/defensive whiz on the other side of the diamond, isn’t it about time the Jays’ power positions start producing some?

The Jays will, in all likelihood, not field as strong a pitching rotation as they did in ‘08. If the Jays are this committed to giving Burnett his raise, they must be able to showcase an offense than can produce a little better than a HR leader who hits only 20.

Blue Jays’ Mission: Thwart The Moose

*This article is taken directly from Bleacher Report from Sunday.*

The Toronto Blue Jays’ season was officially over with their 3-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox Sunday at Rogers Centre, as the Blue Birds were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.

However, if there’s anything to play for in the final week of the season, it’s to stop a former foe from reaching an elusive benchmark.

Mike Mussina of the Yankees needs two more wins to pick up his first ever 20-win season. The Moose will pitch against the Blue Jays and the Red Sox in his final two starts of 2008.

Yes, Roy Halladay (19-11) of the Jays is shooting for his own 20-win season. But he’s done it before, so it isn’t really a big deal. A.J. Burnett (18-10)? Well, he’s likely not going to return next season, so who cares.

No. More important is to stop the Moose in his quest to get to No. 20.

Yes, for much of the 2008 season, with the rest of the Yankees starters sidelined or otherwise unable to get any outs, Mussina has been the ace. The Moose has pitched very well for most of the year, and I’m sure most Yankees fans would want to see him get to that magical milestone.

But I say no.

I’m not sure if Cito Gaston still hates him (the Jays’ manager probably doesn’t), but Jays fans have got to remember the lack of class the former Orioles pitcher exhibited 15 summers ago.

It was in the 1993 All-Star Game where Mussina showed his character.

The mid-summer classic was played at Baltimore’s brand new ballpark, Oriole Park in Camden Yards. Supposedly, Gaston, the American League’s All-Star manager, had told Mussina he wouldn’t be pitching in the game.

With the AL leading 9-3 in the ninth inning, Gaston sent his own closer, Duane Ward, to finish things off. Mussina, however, started warming up in the bullpen, apparently showing Gaston up. 

The hometown fans, seeing Mussina in the bullpen but not in the game, started booing Gaston mercilessly.

Most Jays fans old enough to have witnessed Toronto’s back-to-back championship seasons in 1992-93 no doubt remember this Mussina-Gaston controversy.

So, as a final payback, I say the Jays should not allow Mussina to win in his next outing, at Rogers Centre.

The Yankees, who will be eliminated soon enough, will have nothing more to play for either, other than to see if Mussina can get two more victories to close out the team’s disappointing year.

(Isn’t it ironic the final regular season game ever at the House that Ruth Built, on Sunday night against the Baltimore Orioles, might turn out to be the contest that eliminates the pinstripers from the 2008 postseason? With the Red Sox’s magic number at 1–the Yankees are seven games back with only seven to play, prior to the Yankee Stadium finale–Boston could clinch the Wild Card with the final out of the Orioles-Yanks.)

However, you only hope Yankees skipper Joe Girardi doesn’t do what Seattle’s Lou Piniella did in 1997.

With the Mariners up 7-2 in their second-last game of the year, Piniella sent in Randy Johnson to relieve starter Omar Olivares (4 IP, 5 H, 2 R) to start the fifth inning.

Johnson, who had 19 victories, pitched two innings, and was credited with his first 20-win campaign. (It turned out to be The Big Unit’s only 20-win season in a Mariner uniform.)

Not the best way to give your starter his 20th win, but again, hopefully Girardi doesn’t try this should Mussina fail to get No. 19 this coming week.

So, Blue Jays, do your job and thwart Mike Mussina.

That’s even bigger than finishing ahead of the Yanks. (The Jays are 1 1/2 games back of the Yankees, pending the Bombers’ Sunday Night outcome.) I mean, what’s the difference between third and fourth place anyway?

**Not only does KP Wee writes for MVN.com, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales”, on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Blue Jays rout Red Sox 8-1 in doubleheader opener

The Toronto Blue Jays thumped the Boston Red Sox 8-1 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon.

While it was an easy victory for Toronto, it certainly didn’t seem that way early on.

In the 4th inning, the Blue Jays had two runners (Vernon Wells on a blooper to left, Adam Lind on his own drive off the Green Monster) thrown out at third base within moments of each other. Toronto still scored a run on Lind’s double to go up 2-0.

However, it wasn’t a good sign when a team that had been shut out the night before (7-0 by Boston’s Tim Wakefield for eight innings) squandered a potential big inning. Killers like the Red Sox or Angels would have put up at least a couple runs in that situation, but the Jays could tally only once in that 4th stanza. 

Not to worry, however, as rookie Travis Snider changed things the next two innings.

In the 5th, Snider drilled a three-run bomb, his second home run in the majors, into bullpen for a 5-0 lead. This came right after Boston pitching coach John Farrell had came out to chat with Red Sox starter Paul Byrd.

Interestingly, through five innings, Byrd had surrendered 9 hits–including his 31st HR given up, most in baseball–but had thrown fewer than 60 pitches (57). Byrd’s pitch count was actually less than his Toronto counterpart, A.J. Burnett, who was throwing a shutout pitching on three days’ rest.

Snider, though, continued to come through. With two runners in scoring position, the rookie outfielder almost hit another homer, but the ball hit the warning track before bouncing into the bullpen for a ground-rule double and Snider’s fourth and fifth RBIs of the game.

The Blue Jays were up 8-0, outhitting the BoSox 13-3 at the end of six innings.

With the win, Burnett (18-10) picked up his 18th victory of the campaign to tie Roy Halladay for the team lead.

Since June 19th, Burnett has gone 12-3 with a 3.21 ERA with 124 K’s in 115 innings.

Canadian George Kottaras, from Scarborough, Ontario, made his major-league debut for Boston behind the plate in the seventh inning. Kottaras later struck out in his first big-league at-bat, but still managed to reach base on the third-strike wild pitch.

**Not only does KP Wee writes for MVN, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales”, on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Jays Look For 11th Straight Win

At the risk of spoiling the Jays awesome win streak by discussing it, I will quickly say that the Jays look 100% legit right now. They have pulled off ten straight wins against a group of teams that are all within striking distance of a playoff spot.

The Jays have not lost since August and are looking to match their longest ever win streak tonight. Without imitating every Blue Jays commentator on the planet, they are fitting the bill as “this year’s Rockies.”

But even if the Jays do not make it to October, it is an unbelievable breath of fresh air to see this team competing until the very end while the guys we expected to be dependable are finally proving why.

Alex Rios won AL Player of the Week a week ago after posting a .414 average with three homers, not to mention a ten game hit streak and an threateningly aggressive approach at the plate. Vernon Wells has been a force offensively and has seen his average jump 5 points since August 29, and will likely finish the season with respectable numbers despite missing nearly 3 months.

During their streak, the Jays have found a rhythm with their lineup as Marco Scutaro has settled in as a reliable leadoff hitter and Lyle Overbay has found himself a role as a platoon first baseman. Until Overbay can figure out his offensive woes, the team is better off starting free-swinging Jose Bautista against lefties.

The winning streak by the Jays has allowed them to leapfrog the Yankees, and move into a tight race with Minnesota for the right to look directly up at Boston in the Wild Card race.

With ace, AL WHIP leader, should-be Cy Young Winner and all-around outstanding individual Roy Halladay on the mound tonight, the Jays should be the favorite to pull off their 11th straight W. With a serious uphill climb to make the Wild Card race close (the Jays are 7 back right now) it is improbable that we see the Jays playing next month. But hey, they’re making it interesting, giving us something to cheer for and giving the good people of Toronto some optimism for next year. Plus, the Rockies made the run, why can’t the Blue Birds?