http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/29 Recent articles about the Toronto Blue Jays en-us Fantasy writer Mike Harmon provides the latest fantasy baseball news in his latest installment, giving you the honor roll (Sabathia, Cano, McLouth), detention (Kinsler, Francoeur) and injury updates (Wood, Ortiz)... Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:31:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295832 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295832 Listen or read about a hilarious and entertaining brawl in a Minor League baseball game. [Video inc.] Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:25:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295500 I've been reluctant to admit that Kevin Youkilis is more than a poor man's Casey Blake for most of his career. Maybe it's because the boys at the World Wide Leader were always telling us how great he is. Maybe it's because he doesn't look the part of an everyday major leaguer. Maybe it's because the Red Sox shuffle him around from 3rd to 1st to the outfield. Maybe it's because at the plate, he's best known for his on-base percentage. In my head, he's always been an over-glorified utility player. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:04:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295476 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295476 That about sums things up the current status of the back-end of the Toronto Blue Jats pitching rotation, following the demotion of Jesse "Ginger" Litsch to Syracuse. Moving Litsch to the minors is now major surprise; over his last nine starts he has been entirely hittable, posting a 1-6 record to accompany his 6.12 ERA. July [...] Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:53:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295462 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295462 All you people out there telling me that the Phillies have one of the best offenses in the league and have no need for Matt Holliday (.343 AVG, 17 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 13 SB), I want you to look me in the eye (figuratively of course) and tell me you still think that. I agree with you that this is one of the best offenses in the league, on paper. A team composed of reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins (career* .277 AVG, 16HR, 62 RBI, 96 R, 35 SB), former MVP and Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard (.279 AVG, 42 HR, 97 RBI, 83 R)*, this year's MVP front runner Chase Utley (.299 AVG, 21 HR, 83 RBI, 85 R, 11 SB)*, and Pat Burrell (.260 AVG, 29 HR, 96 RBI, 75 R)* should be leading the league in offense, and somehow, this team still does. Despite having an awful almost two months of baseball, the Phillies are still second in the National League in runs scored, behind Chicago. To show you just how Jekyll and Hyde this offense has been this year, let's look at the numbers. Since June 1st, the Phillies have scored 181 runs. They have given up 182. Now let's take out the game against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 13th in which the Phillies won 20-2. With that game out, the Phillies have scored 161 runs and given up 180. That figure says a couple things. First off, they were really good in the beginning of this year. In April and May they scored 302 runs and only gave up 236. That is the run differential of a playoff team. Second, the fact that they are still the second highest run scoring team in the NL also shows just how weak the NL is this year. You can't say it's the pitching, because the Phillies have given up less runs in June and July then they did the first two months. Granted July isn't over yet, but even the Phils will be hard pressed to give up more than 50 runs in one week. This team just is not hitting. They aren't hitting with runners on base, with runners in scoring position, with no runners on. They aren't hitting. During the month of July, Utley has two home runs and five RBIs; Rollins hasn't had a home run since June 16th, and has seven RBIs this month; Geoff Jenkins has 16 hits since June 1st, with six of them coming in the first six days of that month; Jason Werth has six RBIs in July and Pedro Feliz has seven. The team's Jekyll and Hyde nature was never more evident then this past series with the Mets. The Phillies were the Kings of the Come From Behind Win last year and they showed that Never Say Die attitude on Tuesday when they scored six runs in the 9th inning to beat the Mets 8-6. After getting manhandled by Johan Santana through the first eight innings, this team showed an incredible amount of character (which they have lacked for the better part of the past two months) and grit and did not give up. Then they dropped the ball and let the momentum gained from that inning fade off and played like garbage the next two days. Despite a rocky outing by Brett Myers on Wednesday, the game was still tied at three coming into the sixth inning. The Phillies were very much in a position to win when the bullpen gave up three runs and you could just see the air go out of this team. They just laid down and conceded. Thursday the Phillies absolutely blew a beautiful gem thrown by Jamie Moyer and once again made the erratic Oliver Perez look like a Cy Young Award winner. Moyer went seven strong innings giving up only one run. J.C. Romero came into the 8th inning and gave up two runs. Romero has unequivocally been the Phillies best reliever this season aside from closer Brad Lidge. He has also pitched more innings than any other reliever and it is starting to show. Romero gave up a total of six runs in all of April, May and June. He has given up five so far in July, which is still remarkable and I am not dumping on him at all. But he needs some help; he needs another lefty in the bullpen that cane take on some of the situational responsibilities. This was the biggest series of the season and the Phillies blew it, despite having the biggest inning of the year. They had the momentum; they had first place; and I still believe they have a better team. The Phillies have just been way too inconsistent this season and the Mets have gelled together since the firing of manager Willie Randolph. This is going to be a very tough road over the remaining 60 or so games, but I still think the Phillies can pull it out. They have to start this weekend against the Atlanta Braves. * When calculating the career stats, I took out the player's first season and this season, as neither were full seasons. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:47:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295456 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295456 The St. Louis Cardinals' Low-A affiliate Quad-Cities River Bandits get crow-barred in Michigan. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:53:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295422 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295422 Okay, get ready to mark this one down in the "are you kidding me?" column. It wasn't all that long ago that we were the GM for Shin-Soo Choo, where more than 80 percent(!) of you said to either let him ride, or give him a contract extension. He's since started hitting the ball very well; getting on base and driving in runs. But with that said, would this force you to change your mind? Choo, a South Korean, must serve two years in the military. He says the deadline for entering the military is 2010. "I try not to think about it," he said before the Indians' 14-11 loss to the Angels on Wednesday. Two years. By 2010. Meaning that one of our young, run-producing outfielders may have to forgo his peak seasons as a professional baseball player? Unreal. Apparently, there is a clause that allows South Korean athletes to be excused from service if they win any Olympic medal. But hold the phone. Choo's problem is South Korea won't take baseball players for its Olympic team if they're on the 25-man roster of a big-league club. And assuming that isn't enough of a groin kick… "The Indians couldn't send me to the minors [to be on the Korean team] because I'm out of options," said Choo, who added "There's too much stress to worry about it now." This blurb has been out there for a few hours now, and I'm surprised it hasn't picked up more steam. You have to wonder how much consideration that the Tribe is giving this issue, as, let's face it, this is two whole years that we're talking about. Trying to "not think about it" can only last so long. At some point, this will need to be dealt with - and as a fan, I have to say that it is pretty irritating. Surprising? Not at all. Irritating? You bet. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:34:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295036 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295036 As the trade deadline looms, baseball writers everywhere have been consuming themselves with the seemingly endless list of players that could be on the move before it is all said and done. Since dealing CC Sabathia, the Indians have fallen out of the trade spotlight a bit, since names like Matt Holliday and Mark Teixeira have vaulted to the top. But while we do not have any power sources like the two aformentioned, we do have a few names that have apparently continued to stir interest among the MLB ranks. From Tim Brown's recent article at Yahoo!: After moving Sabathia, the Cleveland Indians remain in sell mode and are listening to offers for Blake, Paul Byrd and Jamey Carroll, and they could be convinced to discuss shortstop Jhonny Peralta. The Dodgers, who would prefer to acquire a true shortstop and move Nomar Garciaparra to third base, are in on Blake and McPherson, the former Angels prospect who is healthy again and has hit 32 home runs in Triple-A for the Florida Marlins. The Dodgers also need help in the bullpen but are not believed to be interested in Street. The Tampa Bay Rays would love to have Blake cover right field for them, but so far no one has met the Indians' price. Now given the recent play by Peralta (as well as his very, very friendly contract), I would assume that it would take one heck of an offer to pry the (gulp) shortstop from our fingers. But the one part of the above that caught me by surprise is that no one has "met our price" for Casey Blake thus far. What could our price be? Aside from the Rays, the Mets have reportedly expressed interest in the third baseman/right fielder/first baseman. We're obviously not asking for an Evan Longoria in return here, but if the demand for Blake's services continue to rise (read: Twins, Dodgers), we could be seeing a case of last-minute moves with this one even though he did not play in yesterday's game. But given the fact that Blake will be a 35-year old free agent at the end of the season, and would likely demand something more than his current deal of $6.1 million, what sort of market is there? If we hold him, and he walks, we get a first-round supplemental draft selection. But so would any team that would acquire him - increasing his value. He sees over four pitches per plate appearance - something teams love. He can play a bevy of positions - always a plus. Focusing on Tampa Bay, their rotation is going to be full of young, very good arms. Perhaps they would be willing to give up one of their minor league arms? I doubt we can nab Jeff Niemann for Blake, given the whole one-year thing. Other names that have been floated around message boards and rumor mills have been Reid Brignac (a 22-year old shortstop) and Justin Ruggiano (a 26-year old outfielder with speed). Ruggiano fits the "lower level prospect" mold that could garner someone like Blake. Brignac is typically considered a top-five prospect within the Rays' system, so that may be a bit tougher to pull off without adding a few more pieces on our side. What's good to see is that Shapiro isn't just shelling out chips to anyone who makes a phone call. While the Indians are definitely on the sell-side of things, we continue to look for the best offer out there. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:52:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294906 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294906 Why Shin-Soo Choo's military commitment could interrupt his career with the Cleveland Indians, plus more Casey Blake chatter and could Aaron Laffey be sent down come Saturday? And Paul Byrd's battle with the HGH controversy. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:05:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294872 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294872 Tidbits regarding the St. Louis Cardinals. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:23:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294821 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294821 This can be good news for fantasy owners if you have a hole in your lineup and are hoping for a stud rookie to go on a tear. Here are a few rookies who have recently been called up and are playing well. These are guys who can really help your fantasy team in the stretch run. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:20:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294820 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294820 Screaming Sports' Drew Thibodeau breaks out another Screaming Sports original. With so many valuable fantasy studs going down with injury, Drew decided it was time to take a look at several replacements. So if you're one of the many fantasy GM's who have been ravaged by injury, then this piece is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:40:26 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294793 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294793 When his confidence grew after four minor league starts, Brett Myers set an ambitious goal of - I wish I were making this up - winning 10 games for the Phillies in the second half of the season. His quest for double digit victories was made even less likely tonight when he struggled in his return to the big club. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:24:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294680 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294680 NOTE: IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT YET, YOU MAY WANT TO AVOID READING THIS DUE TO SPOILERS. With that being said, I've waited a few days to write this article to give as many of you as possible a chance to see the movie. After seeing this movie a weird thought popped in to my head at how this movie reminds me so much of the American League East. You've got a hero and a villain who are so evenly matched and understand each other so well. You've got a simple man who comes out of no where to become a very influential person in the city. And a slew of other characters that make the movie go. In all honesty, I could have made this article with all American League contenders there is just that many good compelling characters. But I decided to keep it simple so without further ado here is the cast for the The Dark Knight – American League East: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:39:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294642 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294642 My name is Spencer. I cover the Jays for Bugs and Cranks, this kick-ass baseball site. I've been meaning to write you for a while and just never got around to it. Until now. I wanted to congratulate you on the astute move of leaving Adam Lind in the minors to start the year while left [...] Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:58:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294513 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294513