TRIPLE THREAT CLE: Toronto Blue Jays

Showing posts with label Toronto Blue Jays. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Radio Show 10.12.16: On Browns/NFL Week 5, Indians/Postseason, NBA & More

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

MLB Playoff Preview 2016: The Beauty of October #PostSeason

By Alex Hale, @ThatCLESportGuy

At long last the 6 month marathon of Baseball’s Regular Season has finally come to a close and the Playoffs are about to start. In a season that was full of surprises, disappointments, close races and sadly tragedy, October Baseball has arrived. Already numerous writers have made their predictions and it would only be fitting that I chime in. Going back as early as 2001, I’ve been able to predict multiple World Series winners and surprise runs. The way I’ve always predicted is simple, which team is the closest unit and which team wants it more.

It’s never been about the talent for me, as we’ve seen that you can have all the talent you want, it won’t necessarily mean you will win a World Series. It’s not even about which team is hot down the stretch as we’ve seen the Yankees of 2000 have a horrible September, yet won the World Series and the 2013 Indians win their last 10 game to get in, only to lose 4-0 to the Rays in the Wild Card game. What’s great about the playoff teams we have now is that all of them are so different. From the nitty gritty teams like the Indians and Giants to the uber talented teams like the Red Sox and Cubs, we’ve got almost every kind of team in the playoffs this year. So with that said, let’s go into my predictions for the MLB Playoffs.

AL Wild Card Game- Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles

This is a phenomenal matchup of two divisional foes with fairly similar teams. Both are led by outstanding offensive lineups and very good bullpens. The big potential mismatch could be in the starting rotation. The Blue Jays went with their ace SP Aaron Sanchez in the Regular Season finale against Boston and will probably rely on veteran Francisco Liriano (who was brought over in a shrewd MLB Trade Deadline move). Baltimore is a different story. As noted from the beginning of the year, the Orioles have a boom or bust rotation. The question is who goes in this one game playoff? I think they’ll go with Ubaldo Jimenez or Chris Tillman. As long as Baltimore can shut down the Blue Jays bats into the 8th and 9th, Baltimore will go to Cy Young candidate closer Zach Britton to finish them off. But, the reality is a boom or bust rotation never works in a 1 game playoff. Toronto was forced to beat Boston in the last series to get here and will have the home field advantage. With Manager John Gibbons potentially fighting for his job, the Blue Jays will come out ready to go to a loud Toronto crowd. Jose Bautista comes through in the clutch in the middle innings to put Toronto over the top and advance.

Pick- Toronto Blue Jays

NL Wild Card Game- New York Mets vs. San Francisco Giants

This matchup was made for the NL Wild Card Game. As it stands, it looks like Madison Bumgarner vs. Noah Syndergaard…WOW. The Mets a month ago looked to be on the outside looking in, but have played their way into this game. As for the Giants…well it’s an even year, we all know what that means. If Bumgarner is going for the Giants, I would give a distinct advantage to the Giants for his previous big game performances. The Giants don’t have one big time bat like the Mets do with Yoenis Cespedes, but they have a balanced and efficient offensive attack that plays against the Mets. On top of that, the Giants have a very effective bullpen that seemingly always gets the job done. As tempting as it is to go with the defending NL Champions, their defense of their pennant ends against the Giants.

Pick- San Francisco Giants

AL Division Series

Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox

So everyone is just pegging the Red Sox and writing off Cleveland? Doesn’t this sound awfully familiar to Cleveland? To these “analysts” they forget the one most important thing about Playoff Baseball…THROW REGULAR SEASON STATS OUT THE WINDOW. All I’ve heard is Rick Porcello and David Price’s career records vs. Indians. I’m sorry was that in the Playoffs? The Indians are a team that has faced so much adversity and haters that they’ve become the one team everyone hates to face…the team that won’t die. When the Indians are on offensively, all the need to do is get into the 7th/8th inning and it’s over.

We can talk about the Carrasco and Salazar hurt, but we are missing that Josh Tomlin has returned to form ending the year strong, Kluber will be fine and most importantly the Indians Game One starter is Trevor Bauer, a man who lives for the moment. Do National analysts want to see David Ortiz’s fairytale ending? Do the Red Sox have more playoff experience and offensive “star power”? Probably, but the Indians are being overlooked by so many, they’re going to shock everyone. I’ll say it again, throw everything out the window from Regular Season, the most dangerous team is the overlooked team that doesn’t know when to quit.

Pick- Indians in 5

Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays

I’m gonna be honest here, I’m torn who I’d pick for this series. The offenses are almost evenly matched up and honestly, the Blue Jays may be a very bad matchup once again for the Rangers. While some may give the Rangers the bullpen edge, I’m giving it to the Blue Jays due to experience and the ability to move others like an Aaron Sanchez into the bullpen if needed. The main question for the Blue Jays would be if they can crack Cole Hamels or Yu Darvish early in the series. If they can beat one of them, or even both the Rangers will be in a very bad spot. The Blue Jays will have Liriano, Sanchez, J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada to choose from. The key will be whose rotation can go deep enough to let their back end of the bullpen shut the door. The Rangers would have revenge on their minds for last year, but there was a reason why the Blue Jays prevailed. If this was Baltimore, I’d give the Rangers a sweep, but the Blue Jays will be a battle, and one that I can see the Blue Jays winning.

Pick- Blue Jays in 4

NL Division Series

Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants

Can we please just have this as the NLCS instead? This could be a classic 7 game series, but instead will be in the division series. The Championship pedigree of the Giants really benefits them against what is the early World Series favorite for most. The rotation matchup would make for some extremely competitive and low scoring games. The difference would be in the bullpen and offense. This is where the Cubs talent jumps off the charts. With Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant clearly trumping the offensive talent that the Giants have, it gives them that advantage. When it comes to the bullpens, as efficient as the Giants have been over the years, their relievers aren’t guy who aren’t overly dominant. The Cubs have multiple relievers that can get batters out in a variety of ways. The Cubs clearly have the advantage in both offense and bullpen over the Giants. This should go 5 games with some great pitching performances and great moments along the way, but the Cubs survive and go to the NLCS.

Pick- Cubs in 5

Washington Nationals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

A week ago, this looked a potential war between two extremely talented teams and then the Nationals lost Wilson Ramos with a torn ACL. One of the worst injuries a team can get for the playoffs is losing your catcher. While Max Scherzer probably won’t need to worry, outside of Scherzer I worry about him. On top of that the Nationals really don’t have the bullpen to get the job done. The Dodgers have consistently been bounced out early from the playoffs, especially with Clayton Kershaw struggling. That ends this year as the offense has come alive and the team has really come together under Dave Roberts. The Dodgers might hit a roadblock in the series, but I see them moving on to face the Cubs.

Pick- Dodgers in 4

American League Championship Series

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians

After Terry Francona eliminated his good friend John Farrell in the ALDS, the Indians will face off against former President/GM Mark Shapiro’s Toronto Blue Jays. While once again, the Blue Jays will have the advantage on the offensive side, the Indians hold the big X-Factor in SP Danny Salazar. While the Indians are contemplating Salazar coming out of the bullpen in the ALDS, I don’t think they’re going to use him until the ALCS when they return him to the starting rotation. The Indians rotation will finally be back to it’s almost dominant form and will only need to get to the 7th inning until they hand it over to their outstanding bullpen. The Indians aggressiveness on the bases will be a major factor for their success scoring runs. This series will also mark the emergence on the National stage for Francisco Lindor becoming one of baseball’s brightest young stars as he takes home ALCS MVP honors as the Indians advance to the World Series for the first time since 1997.

Pick- Indians in 6

National League Championship Series

Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

As much as people may think this could be a potential sweep, I have my doubts on that. The Dodgers could be a potential threat for the Cubs, especially if Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw are healthy and on their game. The Dodgers may not have the depth in the rotation, but those two have stuff that baffles all hitters. The question would be whether or not the Dodgers have the bullpen to finish games? They got the offense, 2 dominant starters, but do they have the relievers? That’s where I’m having a problem taking them in a 7 game series. The Cubs are a complete team that will be battle tested and ready to go as they finally return to the World Series to set up the matchup that will end a Franchise’s World Series drought.

Pick- Cubs in 5

World Series

Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago Cubs

A drought will end…either the Indians end their 68 year drought or the Cubs will finally end their 108 year drought. Let’s be honest…WHO DOESN’T WANT THIS? I mean these are two of the most tortured Baseball fanbases and someone is going to end their misery. On paper, this isn’t a contest the Cubs are by far the superior team in terms of overall talent. But when it comes to heart and determination, the Indians have that beat. From the beginning of the playoffs, everyone wrote off the Tribe, yet they get to the World Series. That’s something that defines a great team. This World Series would remind me a little bit of the classic 1941 World Series between the Red Sox and Cardinals, one the Cardinals would shock the Baseball world and beat Ted Williams and the extremely talented Red Sox because of their mentality of refusing to die. This is the series where Francisco Lindor cements himself as one of the games most talented players as I see if he gets here, he’ll have a monster offensive series and win the World Series MVP. I’m trying extremely hard to not pick the Indians, but this team doesn’t quit. They’ve been scrapping and crawling all year long and that’s something as we’ve seen translate into the playoffs. All the Indians need is a couple of players offensively to step up and have their starters go 7 innings and they got a chance. A lot like how the Royals won the World Series last year, against all odds the Indians will be celebrating its first World Championship since 1948.

Pick- Indians in 6

Understand my pick is not one of personal bias, it’s one of the belief of the Indians will want it more than anyone. Since Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wrote his article pretty much writing off any chances the Indians have to win anything, this team has taken the mentality to shut the doubters up. By pure talent, the Cubs are the favorite in the NL and the Red Sox in the AL. But as we’ve seen so many times in recent years in the playoffs, it’s not about the talent, it’s about the heart. Whatever your teams record or stats were in the Regular Season, throw that out the window now. Everyone is back at the same record of 0-0. This month will be full of twists and turns and moments that we’ll remember for some time. It’s the beauty of the MLB Playoffs and this playoff season is one we’re going to remember for some time.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

This Week In The Show 8.25.16

By Alex Hale, @ThatCLESportGuy

Well, this season has escalated rather quickly. After a few weeks to digest all that has happened in baseball for the last month, it’s finally time for another This Week in The Show. A lot has happened since we last had one of these, but now with the season coming down to the final stretch it’s time to highlight the biggest stories in Major League Baseball. We have a lot to dive into so let’s skip the formalities and dive right into this.

Fallen Angels- Going into the 2016 MLB Season, the Angels were looked at as a potential Wild Card team. Led by quite possibly the best player in the game in Mike Trout and a young talented pitching staff, the Angels seemed poised to make a run for the playoffs. But injuries soon started to pile up, especially in their starting rotation losing their ace Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney. In August the bottom has seemed to fall out on the Angels starting the month 7-15 including an 11 game losing streak. You got to start thinking that the Angels will probably look in the offseason to replace Manager Mike Scoscia if they continue to struggle down the stretch.

My Thoughts- I’ve seen this coming for a while for the Angels and it’s time to face the facts…it’s time to rebuild the franchise. I would start by moving Mike Trout for a king’s ransom. It would replenish an extremely thin farm system and start the rebuilding process. I would also think that Mike Scoscia is entering his final days as Angels Manager. Since their 2002 World Series run, Scoscia really hasn’t done anything special as manager.

The Yankees Youth Movement- After dominating the trade deadline and completely rebuilding the franchise, the Yankees took the next big step in their rebuilding process. On August 13, the Yankees called up outfielders Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin, who proceeded to hit back-to-back HRs in their first at-bats. The Yankees also have finally seemingly give the spot behind the plate to long time top prospect Gary Sanchez who is answering the call hitting .382 with 8 HRs in the month August so far. Whether fans want to believe this or not, but with Clint Frazier on the way soon, this looks to be only the beginning of the next Yankee Dynasty.

My Thoughts- Gary Sanchez was brought up slowly and it seems their patience might pay off. Sanchez is a potential 25 HR/90 RBI threat one day with a great arm behind home. Austin should be a solid OF for the future, but the emergence of Aaron Judge is no surprise. If you recall Aaron Judge was my AL ROY dark horse selection and already is proving why I prized him so much. Once Frazier comes up and backs up the hype, the Yankees got an amazing core going forward.

Canadian Takeover- After starting off the year slow, the Toronto Blue Jays have started to heat up in the 2nd Half of the year, going 12-9 in the month of August. This is coming without star slugger Jose Bautista. The Blue Jays have been led by Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion for the most part this season, but Troy Tulowitzki is finally starting to swing the bat like he’s supposed to and has offset the loss of Bautista. What’s more surprising is the great starting pitching they’ve gotten this year, especially with Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ leading the way. The Blue Jays it seemed all season were underachieving and now they’re finally playing to their potential and aren’t at full strength still. With a month and a half to go, the Blue Jays are getting hot at the right time.

My Thoughts- The Blue Jays were my preseason pick to win the AL East and it never made sense why they weren’t in control of the division early on. Their offense is their strong suit and it carried them especially in the 2nd Half. I think their rotation really hasn’t even reached its potential yet, especially with the inconsistency of Marcus Stroman. If one more starter can get hot with Happ and Sanchez, the Blue Jays might not only win the division, but could be a very tough out in the playoffs.

Dry Spell in Phoenix- After their big moves in the offseason, the Diamondbacks looked to be everyone’s pick to win the NL West, but instead the Diamondbacks look to be the biggest flop in recent memory. The acquisition of Shelby Miller and Zack Greinke signaled the start of a new dynamic duo of starters to go with a lineup led by Paul Goldschmidt. Instead Zack Greinke has been anything but his 2015 form and Shelby Miller has pitched so terribly, he was sent down to the minors. On top of that, a report by ESPN’s Keith Law explained how messed up the Diamondbacks Front Office is during what he called, “The Timeline of Error”. In it he explains that Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart has no knowledge of the rules when it comes to making moves. On top of that he explains how little they understand how the draft works. And we haven’t even mentioned trading 2015 #1 Overall draft pick SS Dansby Swanson and Diamondbacks 2014 1st Round pick SP Touki Touissant for a simple salary dump. When you read what Keith Law writes, it’s alarming.

My thoughts- Whether Dave Stewart or Tony La Russa is at fault here, the moves they’ve made over the past few years are inexcusable. It definitely shows total incompetence by the Front Office and I’d argue they took incompetence to the next level. When your GM makes a trade that would’ve violated rules and it takes the OPPOSING GM to tell your GM the rules…he must be fired. I can run the Diamondbacks better than Tony La Russa and Dave Stewart and that says a lot.

Here Come The Champs- It seemed like a month ago, the Kansas City Royals were dead and buried and weren’t going to be able to defend their crown and might actually be virtually out of contention by September, but the Royals got back to the basics. They’ve played smart and efficient baseball and have racked up a 16-6 record through the month of August. Their offense is finally getting back some of the players they’ve lost to injuries earlier this year and the Royals starting staff has gotten a major boost from lefty Danny Duffy who has been red hot over the past few months and has an 11-1 record with a 2.66 ERA and might garner Cy Young contention if he continues this.

My Thoughts- The Royals seemed to underperform all year on both sides, now with a starter to anchor the rotation in Duffy and players like Kendrys Morales who have played better as of recently. They were efficient and clutch when it came to scoring runs last year and with their bullpen still looking good, nobody should be sleeping on them. They could make a run at the Wild Card and while a long shot, could make a run at the division, with 6 games against the Indians in the last week, including the last 3 games of the year, which will be played in Kansas City.

Thank You A-Rod- On August 12, one of the most talented, yet polarizing players in the history of Baseball took what looked to be his final bow in Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had been having the worst season of his career and was a shell of what he once was. But what has happened since August 12 is the speculation of if Alex Rodriguez is really retired. Rumors have said Miami was among a few of the teams that might want to bring in Rodriguez for a potential pennant run. But it seems for now those rumors have gone away, but nobody seems sure if A-Rod is done for good. I find it completely interesting myself that people are so intrigued about a player who is a shell of his former self and whether he’s really retired or not.

My Thoughts- Bottom line… A-Rod is done. He would look like Baseball’s Brett Favre if he plays anywhere else at this point. Rodriguez is 41 years old and had hit only 9 HRs and was hitting .200. Who would want that on their team, plus the fact he’s a highly controversial character for the locker room. It seemed after the game A-Rod was at peace with his decision and I expect that his playing days are done.

I Don’t Believe What I Just Saw- I have to throw this in there because of how improbable this victory was. The Cleveland Indians down 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth against the Toronto Blue Jays faced their dominant closer Roberto Osuna. Up stepped Jose Ramirez who proceeded to get a hanging off-speed pitch and get a hold of it and the ball just barely cleared the wall to tie the ballgame. The next batter was rookie CF Tyler Naquin. Naquin would proceed to hit another fly ball that RF Michael Saunders missed leaping at the wall and the ball hit the wall and rolled to center field. Naquin would fly around the bases and after Melvin Upton Jr. slipped grabbing the ball, Naquin would proceed to be the first Indian in 100 years to hit a Walk-Off Inside the Park Home Run. While that was rare, it was more rare that it was back to back HRs, capped off by the Inside the Park Home Run.

My Thoughts- THIS IS WHY BASEBALL IS THE BEST SPORT. YOU CAN’T SCRIPT THIS, I REST MY CASE!

The playoff picture is finally starting to take shape and teams are bracing for the final month of the season. As we’ve seen so far this year that anything can happen in a split second. We’ve seen sudden retirements, amazing comebacks and historic feats already this year. Once again Baseball continues to show why it’s the best sport of them all. You cannot predict what you’ll see next and trust me, I think this season has one more shocker left in store for us yet.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Tribe Talk 8.30.15: Sandy Alomar Jr. Isn't The Best Choice #Indians

By @DaSportsGenius7

There's a controversy within the Cleveland Indians fanbase that has been brewing since the news of Mark Shapiro and the Toronto Blue Jays possibilities first surfaced. As Indians fans know, Manager Terry Francona has an opt out clause that if Antonetti or Shapiro were to leave, he could seek another opportunity. My belief is if Shapiro left, he's taking Francona with him to Toronto, a situation I'm sure Francona can thrive in. But the controversy is with who would replace Francona. A lot of Indians fans have been waiting for the opportunity to have fan favorite Sandy Alomar Jr finally get his shot as Manager of the Indians. I know I'm in the minority about this, but I think the time for Sandy to be named the manager of the Indians has passed. The opportunity was when Sandy took over as the interim manager and showed he could do the job.

Instead the Indians went out and got Terry Francona to manage and the Indians have been extremely fortunate that Sandy has stayed all this time. While I firmly believe the reason Sandy has stayed is because he's been guaranteed the manager's job when Franonca leaves, I don't think the possibility of Shapiro and possibly Antonetti gone too was weighed in that scenario. So now I'm going to explain to the Tribe fan base that as nice as it would be that Sandy could be named the manager, I'm going to argue that the best manager choice does lie elsewhere. Before I get to my choice for manager, let me examine a few other names.

David Wallace (AA Akron Manager)- All I know about Wallace is that the Indians are extremely high on David Wallace and has experience working with guys like Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, and Giovany Urshela that really could help in their continued progression at the Major league level. He led the Rubberducks to a 73-69 record last year, and is on pace to again finish above .500 this year. His only bad year as a manager was with High-A Carolina. Look at that roster, outside of Lindor and Wendle, nobody was hitting down there. Again I've only heard great things about him at Akron and I know the Indians are looking at him as a potential future manager. He's only 35 right now so he's got time to still make his name known in the Minors. I think though he's an up and coming name to watch out for.

Mike Sarbaugh (3rd Base Coach for Indians)- A few years ago when the Indians fired Manny Acta, I was clammoring for him to take over as the Indians manager. The big plus for Sarbaugh is that he has very strong relations with the core of this team as he managed them as they were coming up. As a manager in the minors, he was a standout coach and in 9 seasons was 697-511 (.577). He has an outstanding knowledge of the game and great leadership ability. Whether the Indians hire him or not as the manager, at some point he's going to get his shot. I wouldn't be stunned in the slightest if he thrived in the bigs. By the way with that record, in 9 years, he NEVER had one losing season. That's impressive with how unpredictable the minors can be with call-ups and send downs.

Torey Lovullo (Interim Manager for Boston Red Sox)- I'm throwing Lovullo in here because he was another former candidate after Acta was fired. In fact from my understanding, Lovullo was almost hired as the manager. If I'm an Indians fan I'm closely monitoring how the Red Sox play under Lovullo. The Red Sox season has been a disaster and I'd be very interested with a mediocre pitching staff and a potentially very good offense, can the Red Sox make some sort of run under him. If they do that, I'd strongly consider him to replace Francona.

Jason Giambi (Retired MLB Player)- If Francona were to leave, I'm not ruling out the darkhorse here. Giambi makes a lot of sense if you think about it. OVer the past 2 years the one constant in the clubhouse was Giambi and his veteran presense. The players respected him as he led by example. He took the year off to focus on himself and family. I truly believe after what he's meant to the team from a leadership standpoint, plus he's got a high Baseball IQ to do the job, I'd interview Giambi for the job. Would I offer it? He'd have to blow me away.

Mickey Callaway (Indians Pitching Coach)- Okay in response to a certain unnamed Twitter account, you think he's another Bryan Price? I'm sorry did Cincinnati ever have one of the most potent rotations with up and coming plus rejuvinated career pitchers? NO! Mickey Callaway not only helped the development of Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, and Corey Kluber but he's rejuvinated the careers of Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez. He isn't a one dimensional pitching coach. He develops and motivates his players. Can anyone name me a pitching coach get so fired up he gets ejected? Because that happened to Callaway this year. The man has fire and isn't afraid to get in his players faces when needed. Callaway comes across as the manager type. The players already respect him and I believe will follow him. I truly believe Mickey Callaway is the perfect replacement for Francona.

Now I'm not going to sit here and say hiring Sandy Alomar might be a disaster, but to the fans, your premise for hiring him makes ZERO SENSE. Your argument for Sandy Alomar is as valid as Cardale Jones being the Browns savior at QB. Sandy is 3-3 as a manager and has zero experience elsewhere as a manager. When you make an argument, you must have concrete evidence to make a good argument. The Indians fans argument is, "Well he's a 90s Indians fan favorite, so he can't fail!" What happens in the scenario of one of your 90s heros fails? Right now I can make a stronger argument for Mike Sarbaugh as manager than Sandy. I think Sandy as all the qualities you want in a manager, but sadly Cleveland the opportunity to do it was 2012 and Cleveland hiring Terry Francona. The ship has passed and I urge Cleveland Indians fans to not let fan favorite feelings cloud your judgement on who might make a great manager. I know the 90s were great for the Tribe, but it doesn't mean you put them on a coaching staff, they're going to thrive. How did Eddie Murray work out as hitting coach? Trust me I want nothing but the best for my Indians, but at the end of the day, you look at the resumes and what the candidates have done, it's obvious that Mickey Callaway in my opinion is the best choice to replace Francona at this moment. I'm sorry to the Sandy Alomar fans, but the harsh reality is that you're basing your argument as a fan and not as an educated fan. This is living proof that fans should not run teams. The Indians have 3 people on the Major League staff that could manage, its Cleveland's responsibility to evaluate who is the guy. Sit on it and think about it for a while, Mickey Callaway is the way to go.