Anorthagen

He is giving himself a knuckle-bump

What's wrong in today's Free agent market is that teams pay a player (Josh Hamilton) for their 20's but get there 30's.Which is usually worse.

Remember back in 2011 when the Twins didn't have Ryan Doumit? Or Kevin Correia? The good old days some would say....but not many. After that horrendous 2011 season for the Twins, Ryan Doumit finished had his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate and was looking for a possible new home. In that season he played 77 games (in 60 of those games he played catcher. The other we're a combination of RF/1B/PH) with a .303 AVG, 8 HRs, and 30 RBIs. Not that impressive. Kevin Correia on the other hand made 24 starts that season, going 12-11 with an ERA of 4.79 in 2011. Again not that impressive. And if memory serves correctly Doumit and Correia played together back in 2011. With Doumit catching for Correia in 7 out of his 24 starts that year. Which begs the question were they a good pitcher-catcher combination? Truthfully,they were so-so. Their first start together was surprisingly Opening Day 2011 against the Chicago Cubs. In that game Correia went 6 innings, allowed 7 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 Earned Runs, 1 Walk, with 3 Strikeouts and won the game 6-3. Their second game together was 5 days later against the soon to be World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals. This game Correia proved to be crucial to the Pirates victory against the Cardinals. He went 7 strong innings, 5 Hits, 0 Earned Runs, 0 Runs, 2 Walks and 3 Strikeouts. Quite impressive if you ask me. After those two starts Correia went on to lose his next game. Then they wouldn't play together until May in which Correia went 2-1 and an ERA of 4.26. So basically his career averages. Once May had finished Doumit wouldn't catch for Corriea until August. Where Correia lost both of his starts and ended the year on a bad note. To sum it up, it started strong and faded as the season went along with a 4-2 record and an ERA of 3.69 Now as we fast forward 2 years to 2013 in Minnesota, Doumit and Correia are once again teammates except this time Mauer is doing all the catching and letting Doumit look around at beautiful Target Field. Which in my opinion is the right move by Gardy. By doing this, it not only gives each starter and reliever a gold glover behind the plate, but it keeps his MVP type like bat in the lineup. But now this is what is critical to every baseball fan, stats. In Correia's first start as a Twins and in the American League he faced the reigning AL Champions, the Detroit Tigers. For that game Mauer caught for him. In which Correia went 7 innings, 2 Earned runs, 2 Runs, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts while getting the Win as well. Not too shabby. Through Correia’s next 4 starts he lasted at least 7 innings for all of them (with one going into the 8th), going 4-1 and only giving up 9 Earned Runs while having an ERA of 2.22. Which in the Twin’s case is their best case scenario they were hoping for. Now as you probably remember last saturday (May 4), was Correia’s most recent start, against the Cleveland Indians, with Ryan Doumit catching instead of Mauer. Which as the stats tell you was a bad move by Gardy. In that game Correia pitched his shortest outing of the season (5 innings), gave up 2 Home Runs, and gave up the most Earned Runs he has given up in this young season (4 Earned Runs). All in the 7-3 loss to the Indians. Even though Doumit has only caught for Correia in one game this season, that stats argue that Correia should stick with Mauer as his full time catcher. And more importantly leave Doumit as the DH.

Remember back in 2011 when the Twins didn't have Ryan Doumit? Or Kevin Correia? The good old days some would say....but not many. After that horrendous 2011 season for the Twins, Ryan Doumit finished had his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate and was looking for a possible new home. In that season he played 77 games (in 60 of those games he played catcher. The other we're a combination of RF/1B/PH) with a .303 AVG, 8 HRs, and 30 RBIs. Not that impressive. Kevin Correia on the other hand made 24 starts that season, going 12-11 with an ERA of 4.79 in 2011. Again not that impressive. And if memory serves correctly Doumit and Correia played together back in 2011. With Doumit catching for Correia in 7 out of his 24 starts that year. Which begs the question were they a good pitcher-catcher combination? Truthfully,they were so-so. Their first start together was surprisingly Opening Day 2011 against the Chicago Cubs. In that game Correia went 6 innings, allowed 7 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 Earned Runs, 1 Walk, with 3 Strikeouts and won the game 6-3. Their second game together was 5 days later against the soon to be World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals. This game Correia proved to be crucial to the Pirates victory against the Cardinals. He went 7 strong innings, 5 Hits, 0 Earned Runs, 0 Runs, 2 Walks and 3 Strikeouts. Quite impressive if you ask me. After those two starts Correia went on to lose his next game. Then they wouldn't play together until May in which Correia went 2-1 and an ERA of 4.26. So basically his career averages. Once May had finished Doumit wouldn't catch for Corriea until August. Where Correia lost both of his starts and ended the year on a bad note. To sum it up, it started strong and faded as the season went along with a 4-2 record and an ERA of 3.69 Now as we fast forward 2 years to 2013 in Minnesota, Doumit and Correia are once again teammates except this time Mauer is doing all the catching and letting Doumit look around at beautiful Target Field. Which in my opinion is the right move by Gardy. By doing this, it not only gives each starter and reliever a gold glover behind the plate, but it keeps his MVP type like bat in the lineup. But now this is what is critical to every baseball fan, stats. In Correia's first start as a Twins and in the American League he faced the reigning AL Champions, the Detroit Tigers. For that game Mauer caught for him. In which Correia went 7 innings, 2 Earned runs, 2 Runs, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts while getting the Win as well. Not too shabby. Through Correia’s next 4 starts he lasted at least 7 innings for all of them (with one going into the 8th), going 4-1 and only giving up 9 Earned Runs while having an ERA of 2.22. Which in the Twin’s case is their best case scenario they were hoping for. Now as you probably remember last saturday (May 4), was Correia’s most recent start, against the Cleveland Indians, with Ryan Doumit catching instead of Mauer. Which as the stats tell you was a bad move by Gardy. In that game Correia pitched his shortest outing of the season (5 innings), gave up 2 Home Runs, and gave up the most Earned Runs he has given up in this young season (4 Earned Runs). All in the 7-3 loss to the Indians. Even though Doumit has only caught for Correia in one game this season, that stats argue that Correia should stick with Mauer as his full time catcher. And more importantly leave Doumit as the DH.

I always like to read a article that is positive about the Twins.

As you have probably noticed Kevin Corriea has been a nice surprise in this year's rotation. In fact, so good that he is the only pitcher on the starting staff who has pitched into the 7th inning. Not only that but he leads the team in strikeouts (8), ERA (2.95), and WHIP (1.22). I know you might be reading this and saying WWWHHHHAAAATTT? Corriea did this? Believe me, I can't believe it myself. Coming into the season everyone was thinking "Waste of money" and "We could have gotten someone else for less money." I didn't want him either, especially after his less than sterling career in the National League. In the National League he had a win/loss record of 60-65, an ERA of 4.54, with 9.5 hits/walk. With this, how in the world would he be able to survive in the American League. And with the horrific pitching the Twins had last year, the last thing the team needed was another pitch to contact starter. But ,thankfully, he has surprised us all. He is being the one thing many Twins starters lacked, consistent. In every game he has pitched, the Twins have had a chance to win and finally last night against the Angels he earned his first American League win, against an team with a pretty impressive lineup. Though he has had only three starts and one win, a thing that is important is consistency. This might be the reason Terry Ryan signed him to two years, while we just looked at the stats. So is the real Kevin Corriea standing up? Or has he yet to reveal himself?

As I was watching the first of a three game series with the Mets, there was one thing that caught my eye in why the Mets were destroying in that particularly game. It seemed like no matter what Twins tryed to do the Mets were always one step ahead of them. But that thing wasn't how bad worly was pitching or how well the Mets hit agianst our bullpen, but it was rather their defense. Throughout the game Twins hit the ball hard and far all over the diamond, but each time it was recorded for an out. Willingham hit one to deep right center field that looked like a for sure double, Hicks showed some of his potential by driving a line drive to left-centerfield, Mauer hit a sharp line drive to third base, and all of these ended in the same result. Not a single one of these hits started a possible rally that could have provided some confidence for the teams and the fans. As for the real question to this writing is, is defense the key to ,not only winning games, but a championship as well. To help me with this I looked at the last three World Series Champions, along with the last time the Twins made the playoffs. ( WAR= Wins Above Replacement) (dWAR=defensive Wins Above Replacement) The 2010 San Francisco Giants World Series Starting Lineup Cf Torres (WAR 5.1) (dWAR 1.6) 2b F. Sanchez (WAR 1.6) (dWAR -.1) C. Posey (WAR 3.7). (dWAR .7) Lf. Burrell (WAR 2.0) (dWAR -.4) Rf. Ross (WAR .2) (dWAR -.1) 1b. Huff (WAR 5.4) (dWAR -.2) 3b Uribe (WAR 1.2) (dWAR .2) Ss Renitina (WAR .4) (dWAR .1) *The Giants also had the best overall defense in all of baseball, in 2010 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series lineup Ss Furcal (WAR .9) (dWAR -.3) Cf Jay (WAR 2.9) (dWAR .8) 1b Pujols (WAR 5.4) (dWAR .1) Rf Berkman (WAR 3.7) (dWAR -2.6) Lf Hoilday (WAR 4.0) (dWAR -.7) 3b Freese (WAR 1.8) (dWAR 0) C Molina (WAR 3.0) (dWAR .4) 2b Punto (WAR 1.5) (dWAR .5) * The Cardnials had the 27th Best Defense in all of Baseball. *The Twins had the 21st Best Defense in all of Baseball. 2012 San Fransciso Giants World Series lineup Cf Pagan (WAR 4.1) (dWAR -.3) 2b Scutaro (WAR 2.1) (dWAR 2.1) 3b Sandoval (WAR 2.2) (dWAR -.2) C Posey (WAR 7.4) (dWAR .5) Rf Pence (WAR .2) (dWar -.6) 1b Belt (WAR 1.8) (dWAR -.3) Lf Blanco (WAR 2.1) (dWAR .4) Ss Crawford (WAR 2.5) (dWAR .2) *The Giants had the 8th Best Defense in all of Baseball. *The Twins had the 15th Best Defense in all of Baseball. To put this into perspective, here is the Twins 2010 lineup for Game 1 against the Yankees in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Cf Span (WAR 1.5) (dWAR -.1) 2b Hudson (WAR 2.7) (dWAR .8) C Mauer (WAR 5.7) (dWAR .9) Lf Young (WAR 1.6) (dWAR -1.9) Dh Thome (never played defense) 1b Cuddyear (WAR .1) (dWAR-2.8) Rf Kubel (WAR -.4) (dWAR -1.8) 3b Valencia (WAR 1.9) (dWAR .5) Ss Hardy (WAR 1.9) (dWAR 0) *The Twins were Ranked the 6th Best Defense in the League. It's simply really, to win games a team must be good at hitting, pitching, and defense. But to win a championship you don't have to be the best defensive team to win it all (2011 Cardinals). Even though teams like the Giants have been in the top ten each year they won the World Series. So my answer to this question is that defense isn't the most influential aspect of the game. The pitchers still have to throw strikes, the hitters still have to home runs. Cause after all defense doesn't score runs.

As I was watching the first of a three game series with the Mets, there was one thing that caught my eye in why the Mets were destroying in that particularly game. It seemed like no matter what Twins tryed to do the Mets were always one step ahead of them. But that thing wasn't how bad worly was pitching or how well the Mets hit agianst our bullpen, but it was rather their defense. Throughout the game Twins hit the ball hard and far all over the diamond, but each time it was recorded for an out. Willingham hit one to deep right center field that looked like a for sure double, Hicks showed some of his potential by driving a line drive to left-centerfield, Mauer hit a sharp line drive to third base, and all of these ended in the same result. Not a single one of these hits started a possible rally that could have provided some confidence for the teams and the fans. As for the real question to this writing is, is defense the key to ,not only winning games, but a championship as well. To help me with this I looked at the last three World Series Champions, along with the last time the Twins made the playoffs. ( WAR= Wins Above Replacement) (dWAR=defensive Wins Above Replacement) The 2010 San Francisco Giants World Series Starting Lineup Cf Torres (WAR 5.1) (dWAR 1.6) 2b F. Sanchez (WAR 1.6) (dWAR -.1) C. Posey (WAR 3.7). (dWAR .7) Lf. Burrell (WAR 2.0) (dWAR -.4) Rf. Ross (WAR .2) (dWAR -.1) 1b. Huff (WAR 5.4) (dWAR -.2) 3b Uribe (WAR 1.2) (dWAR .2) Ss Renitina (WAR .4) (dWAR .1) *The Giants also had the best overall defense in all of baseball, in 2010 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series lineup Ss Furcal (WAR .9) (dWAR -.3) Cf Jay (WAR 2.9) (dWAR .8) 1b Pujols (WAR 5.4) (dWAR .1) Rf Berkman (WAR 3.7) (dWAR -2.6) Lf Hoilday (WAR 4.0) (dWAR -.7) 3b Freese (WAR 1.8) (dWAR 0) C Molina (WAR 3.0) (dWAR .4) 2b Punto (WAR 1.5) (dWAR .5) * The Cardnials had the 27th Best Defense in all of Baseball. *The Twins had the 21st Best Defense in all of Baseball. 2012 San Fransciso Giants World Series lineup Cf Pagan (WAR 4.1) (dWAR -.3) 2b Scutaro (WAR 2.1) (dWAR 2.1) 3b Sandoval (WAR 2.2) (dWAR -.2) C Posey (WAR 7.4) (dWAR .5) Rf Pence (WAR .2) (dWar -.6) 1b Belt (WAR 1.8) (dWAR -.3) Lf Blanco (WAR 2.1) (dWAR .4) Ss Crawford (WAR 2.5) (dWAR .2) *The Giants had the 8th Best Defense in all of Baseball. *The Twins had the 15th Best Defense in all of Baseball. To put this into perspective, here is the Twins 2010 lineup for Game 1 against the Yankees in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Cf Span (WAR 1.5) (dWAR -.1) 2b Hudson (WAR 2.7) (dWAR .8) C Mauer (WAR 5.7) (dWAR .9) Lf Young (WAR 1.6) (dWAR -1.9) Dh Thome (never played defense) 1b Cuddyear (WAR .1) (dWAR-2.8) Rf Kubel (WAR -.4) (dWAR -1.8) 3b Valencia (WAR 1.9) (dWAR .5) Ss Hardy (WAR 1.9) (dWAR 0) *The Twins were Ranked the 6th Best Defense in the League. It's simply really, to win games a team must be good at hitting, pitching, and defense. But to win a championship you don't have to be the best defensive team to win it all (2011 Cardinals). Even though teams like the Giants have been in the top ten each year they won the World Series. So my answer to this question is that defense isn't the most influential aspect of the game. The pitchers still have to throw strikes, the hitters still have to home runs. Cause after all defense doesn't score runs.

5. The M&M boys Mauer and morneau have been in the twins organization for over the past decade, and have been the face of the Twins for the past 6-7 years. They have combined for 2 MVPs, 6 sliver sluggers, and 9 all star appearance. It now seems that both of them are back to full health and their old selves. With morneau in the last year of his contract, you don't know how much longer he will be in a twins uniform. Especially sense all he wants to do is win now a days, which as we know has been a struggle for the twins these past couple of seasons. 4. The P&P boy AKA Parmalee and Plouffe. This is what we will hopefully be saying for the next couple of seasons, as both are coming off breakout years. Plouffe who hit 24 home runs, which was the most he has ever hit in his entire MLB career. And who at one point was one of the hottest players in baseball. Parmalee on the other hand did struggle at the beginning of the season, but when he was demoted back to AAA he hit .338 with 17 hrs. Which the best season any twins prospect has had in the minors. 3.Terry Ryan's new pitching staff This new staff is defiantly a surprise for many people, and at the least could surprise many people or live up to there low expectations. Mike pelfrey seems to have the most upside in this new rotation. He may be coming off of tommy John surgery. But that was 11 months ago, the recommended time for recovery is a full year. When the season starts he should be at full health and seems to be now ( he is scheduled to pitch this Tuesday against the blue jays). Vance Worley is by far the best pick up for twins from this past offseason. After having having elbow surgery last August he should hopefully have no setbacks this year and should be improved this year as compared to last year. And Kevin corriea who could barely survive as a starter in the national league is now a starter for the twins....in the American League.....with the DH. In fact he was moved to the bullpen last year because of inconsistency. I think he the same thing could happen here, if Hendricks and Gibson give Gardy a good reason for them to be in the rotation. 2.The Lineup This lineup is posed to produce a boatload of runs with mauer, willingham, and morneau at the core of it. The only question that lays is the 1 and 2 spots in the lineup. Wether it will be mastronanni and dozier/florimon/carroll or hicks and dozier/flormon/Carroll. Possibly even moving mauer in the number 2 hole with willingham moving into the 3 spot. Either way this lineup is in position to produce a good number of runs. 1.The Farm System The farm system is what defines the twins organization now a days. With prospects like Sano and Meyer expected to arrive in a few years, we can only look at this year's prospects to help the big league club. Such as hicks and Gibson, both former 1st round picks and come with high expectations. These two have the best chance to make the team out of spring training and could impact the twins not only for this year but for years to come. Hicks at some point will be playing centerfield and hitting lead off for the twins this year, the only question is when. As for Gibson his role on the majors depends on one of two things. One of them is how the rotation will shape out. My best guess is diamond, Worley, pelfrey, corriea, and Gibson in that order. The other thing is what gardenhire thinks of him in spring training and how he wants to handle him coming off of tommy John surgery. But either way, I hope to see Gibson be that fifth starter out of spring training. Another prospect I'm looking forward to seeing probably won't get here till the second half of the season is oswaldo arcia. I have heard nothing negative about this guy, and excellent compliments from Gardy. Which isn't surprising when he was named the twins minor league player of the year last season. Not only that but he keeps improving, when he got promoted to AA last year he had a better batting average, more home runs and more RBIs. With his numbers there is no reason but to be optimistic about this guy.

5. The M&M boys Mauer and morneau have been in the twins organization for over the past decade, and have been the face of the Twins for the past 6-7 years. They have combined for 2 MVPs, 6 sliver sluggers, and 9 all star appearance. It now seems that both of them are back to full health and their old selves. With morneau in the last year of his contract, you don't know how much longer he will be in a twins uniform. Especially sense all he wants to do is win now a days, which as we know has been a struggle for the twins these past couple of seasons. 4. The P&P boy AKA Parmalee and Plouffe. This is what we will hopefully be saying for the next couple of seasons, as both are coming off breakout years. Plouffe who hit 24 home runs, which was the most he has ever hit in his entire MLB career. And who at one point was one of the hottest players in baseball. Parmalee on the other hand did struggle at the beginning of the season, but when he was demoted back to AAA he hit .338 with 17 hrs. Which the best season any twins prospect has had in the minors. 3.Terry Ryan's new pitching staff This new staff is defiantly a surprise for many people, and at the least could surprise many people or live up to there low expectations. Mike pelfrey seems to have the most upside in this new rotation. He may be coming off of tommy John surgery. But that was 11 months ago, the recommended time for recovery is a full year. When the season starts he should be at full health and seems to be now ( he is scheduled to pitch this Tuesday against the blue jays). Vance Worley is by far the best pick up for twins from this past offseason. After having having elbow surgery last August he should hopefully have no setbacks this year and should be improved this year as compared to last year. And Kevin corriea who could barely survive as a starter in the national league is now a starter for the twins....in the American League.....with the DH. In fact he was moved to the bullpen last year because of inconsistency. I think he the same thing could happen here, if Hendricks and Gibson give Gardy a good reason for them to be in the rotation. 2.The Lineup This lineup is posed to produce a boatload of runs with mauer, willingham, and morneau at the core of it. The only question that lays is the 1 and 2 spots in the lineup. Wether it will be mastronanni and dozier/florimon/carroll or hicks and dozier/flormon/Carroll. Possibly even moving mauer in the number 2 hole with willingham moving into the 3 spot. Either way this lineup is in position to produce a good number of runs. 1.The Farm System The farm system is what defines the twins organization now a days. With prospects like Sano and Meyer expected to arrive in a few years, we can only look at this year's prospects to help the big league club. Such as hicks and Gibson, both former 1st round picks and come with high expectations. These two have the best chance to make the team out of spring training and could impact the twins not only for this year but for years to come. Hicks at some point will be playing centerfield and hitting lead off for the twins this year, the only question is when. As for Gibson his role on the majors depends on one of two things. One of them is how the rotation will shape out. My best guess is diamond, Worley, pelfrey, corriea, and Gibson in that order. The other thing is what gardenhire thinks of him in spring training and how he wants to handle him coming off of tommy John surgery. But either way, I hope to see Gibson be that fifth starter out of spring training. Another prospect I'm looking forward to seeing probably won't get here till the second half of the season is oswaldo arcia. I have heard nothing negative about this guy, and excellent compliments from Gardy. Which isn't surprising when he was named the twins minor league player of the year last season. Not only that but he keeps improving, when he got promoted to AA last year he had a better batting average, more home runs and more RBIs. With his numbers there is no reason but to be optimistic about this guy.

Why it is bad for toronto. The reason behind this article is due to the recent trade between Miami and Toronto. Also it is that all that I have heard in the last couple of days is that the blue jays are now contenders in the AL east. Which would make sense, because of the Red Sox continue to fall each year. Along with the Yankees new struggles in offense and in their starting rotation. But you cannot forget about the orioles, who shocked everyone last year. With excellent pitching and defense. But the reason I DON'T THINK THE BLUE JAYS WILL WIN OVER 75 games is that of chemistry between the players on and off the field. Nobody knows how Jose Reyes is going to play in the blue jay's stadium, that doesn't play to his ability of getting doubles and triples. Another thing is how his attitude wll be towards the trade, his new teammates, and Toronto in general. He is coming from Miami, which is one of the warmest states in America and now he is going to one of the coldest placest in North American. My guess is that he will ask for a trade at the end of the year. Simply because he didn't want to be traded and didn't choose Toronto. Another thing that I hear is that now that the Blue Jays have one of the better rotations In the league. Just because they have Josh Johnson now doesn't mean he will be an ace, or even HEALTHY!! With this being the last year on his contract, I don't see him signing a extension with Toronto, especially if Reyes leaves too. And even if he does do good, he will be a potential trade target, come mid July. If you haven't noticed already the Blue Jays payroll jumped almost as high as the Dodgers did earlier this year. Saying in which that it is becoming a Dodger like payroll without the Magic Johnson type of money. Aside from the money situation, recent blockbuster trades have not played out for the team that gained in payroll, rather then loosing. Back in 2010 when the Red Soxs traded for Adrian Gonzalaes, and landed Carl Crawford from free agency, they dug themselves into a huge hole in payroll. Then as the season got closer and closer it seemed like every where you looked people said the Red Sox were going to win the World Series. That season......they didn't even make the playoffs. The next season Gonzalaes, Crawford, Beckett and Punto get traded to L.A. This team two years ago a live in the moment kind of team. Now they're a work for the future kind of team and most likely to finish 4th in the east. Why this is bad for the marlins. The big picture in this trade for Miami was that they got rid of a boat load of payroll. BUT this is only due to a failed experiment, that only took one season to realize that it was a mistake. In which Gullien gets fired, and Reyes, Johnson, Burhle, and Heath bell are gone. Which is what nobody thought would happen. Because last winter they spent over $100 million to try and bring in a winning team and new fans. Along with that a new multi-million dollar stadium. Now the only player that is, in my opinion good or worth mult-million dollars is Stanton. Probably the only thing that has gone right for the Marlins, is that you can only hope that they got some really good prospects in that trade with Toronto. Otherwise this trade defiantly favors Toronto. This also relates to Boston, in that trade with L.A. You can only hope that they too got good prospects with that kind of talent they sent away. With all of this being said, and with all of the media and fans saying that the Blue Jays are now a contender, they can only see what these players have done and what they can do. And when you only look at the talent level, everything will collapse, leading to more blockbuster trades and bad decisions by GMs. Because they can't look at the chemistry side of baseball which is always more important then the physical side of it.

Why it is bad for toronto. The reason behind this article is due to the recent trade between Miami and Toronto. Also it is that all that I have heard in the last couple of days is that the blue jays are now contenders in the AL east. Which would make sense, because of the Red Sox continue to fall each year. Along with the Yankees new struggles in offense and in their starting rotation. But you cannot forget about the orioles, who shocked everyone last year. With excellent pitching and defense. But the reason I DON'T THINK THE BLUE JAYS WILL WIN OVER 75 games is that of chemistry between the players on and off the field. Nobody knows how Jose Reyes is going to play in the blue jay's stadium, that doesn't play to his ability of getting doubles and triples. Another thing is how his attitude wll be towards the trade, his new teammates, and Toronto in general. He is coming from Miami, which is one of the warmest states in America and now he is going to one of the coldest placest in North American. My guess is that he will ask for a trade at the end of the year. Simply because he didn't want to be traded and didn't choose Toronto. Another thing that I hear is that now that the Blue Jays have one of the better rotations In the league. Just because they have Josh Johnson now doesn't mean he will be an ace, or even HEALTHY!! With this being the last year on his contract, I don't see him signing a extension with Toronto, especially if Reyes leaves too. And even if he does do good, he will be a potential trade target, come mid July. If you haven't noticed already the Blue Jays payroll jumped almost as high as the Dodgers did earlier this year. Saying in which that it is becoming a Dodger like payroll without the Magic Johnson type of money. Aside from the money situation, recent blockbuster trades have not played out for the team that gained in payroll, rather then loosing. Back in 2010 when the Red Soxs traded for Adrian Gonzalaes, and landed Carl Crawford from free agency, they dug themselves into a huge hole in payroll. Then as the season got closer and closer it seemed like every where you looked people said the Red Sox were going to win the World Series. That season......they didn't even make the playoffs. The next season Gonzalaes, Crawford, Beckett and Punto get traded to L.A. This team two years ago a live in the moment kind of team. Now they're a work for the future kind of team and most likely to finish 4th in the east. Why this is bad for the marlins. The big picture in this trade for Miami was that they got rid of a boat load of payroll. BUT this is only due to a failed experiment, that only took one season to realize that it was a mistake. In which Gullien gets fired, and Reyes, Johnson, Burhle, and Heath bell are gone. Which is what nobody thought would happen. Because last winter they spent over $100 million to try and bring in a winning team and new fans. Along with that a new multi-million dollar stadium. Now the only player that is, in my opinion good or worth mult-million dollars is Stanton. Probably the only thing that has gone right for the Marlins, is that you can only hope that they got some really good prospects in that trade with Toronto. Otherwise this trade defiantly favors Toronto. This also relates to Boston, in that trade with L.A. You can only hope that they too got good prospects with that kind of talent they sent away. With all of this being said, and with all of the media and fans saying that the Blue Jays are now a contender, they can only see what these players have done and what they can do. And when you only look at the talent level, everything will collapse, leading to more blockbuster trades and bad decisions by GMs. Because they can't look at the chemistry side of baseball which is always more important then the physical side of it.