Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A Sinking Feeling

I'm surely not the only dispirited Jays' fan out there. I began the season full of optimism, looking at a roster whose major holes (SS and platoon catcher) were plugged in the off-season, and a division where the two best teams -- for the first time in recent memory -- made no significant moves to better themselves. Combined with the fact that the numbers had us better than our record last season, and that we suffered a devastating run of injuries (which surely could not repeat itself), I really felt that we had quietly assembled a contender.

But I'm losing faith. On the whole, I've supported J.P.'s moves as GM (not all of them, of course, but most), and enjoyed Gibby's work, aside from his too-frequent recourse to the pen. That's what troubles me so much about the team's recent shenanigans. Why hasn't J.P. called up Lind? He's over whatever minor injury he suffered on the weekend, and is currently hitting .379/.431/.621. Diaz might turn out to be a nice player (he was off to a hot start too, hitting .368/.390/.553 in AAA), but we don't need another catcher on the roster, unless the plan is to go forward with Barajas as a platoon DH. Suffice it to say, any plan which includes DHing a guy who can't get on base 30% of the time is no plan at all.

Gibby's lineups have been astonishing of late too. It's been commented on by others, but why, at this early stage of the season, with a depleted roster, are Wells and Rios getting off-days? Joe Inglett has done his part, but if Gibbons thinks he's making intelligent decisions by riding the hot hand, he's managing in a fog. Add in Gibbons' failure to properly use McDonald (how many innings does he have at short this year?) and his erratic handling of the pitching staff, and I'm at a loss.

Neither J.P. nor Gibbons is making the best use of the available resources, either on the roster, in the minors, or outside the team. If Adam Lind isn't up this week, and if Shannon Stewart and Joe Inglett are on the roster in mid-May, this ship is sunk.

3 comments:

Razzer said...

Lind needs to be in the starting line-up tonight. Period. It is just retarded that he is not, retarded!

Razzer said...

Do you think Gibby is doing one of those "I'm just using the shit I was given" routines?

Portnoy said...

Tonight's lineup has Stewart in left, Stairs in right, Barajas at first, Diaz at DH and Inglett at 3B. Doc better not let the ball get out of the infield, b/c everything to the corners is going for two. I can't imagine how Gibbons could put out a worse lineup with the guys he has on the roster, either offensively or defensively. What the fuck is he doing?