Blue Jays Attempt to Make Me Look Dumb, Fail Because They're Canadian

(xenophobic title FTW!)


Anyway, a few days ago I wrote that the Blue Jays swindled the Angels by convincing them to take their super expensive albatross and give them a potentially useful piece in catcher Mike Napoli. However, Napoli's stay above the border didn't last long, as the Jays shipped him off to Texas to for reliever Frank Francisco.

Now truth be told, The Blue Jays do have a very promising young catcher in J.P. Arencibia, but he's only had 35 ML at-bats, so although giving him the opportunity to shine is the right move, having a good back-up catcher (one who can hit a bit, sorry Jose Molina) is probably a good idea too. On top of that, Napoli has played some 1st base and can DH in the AL. Obviously the Blue Jays didn't see it this way, or they did and were just blown away by the unquestioned POWER OF MIDDLE RELIEF PITCHING!

Yes, Francisco is a pretty good relief pitcher, with great strike-out rates, but that's all he is; he's never thrown more than 63 innings in a season, spends tons of time on the DL, couldn't hold onto the closer's role last season and oh by the way is a complete psychopath who threw a chair into a crowd during a baseball brawl a few years ago.



Also parents--or future parents--if your last name is Francisco, don't name your kid Frank; it just sounds really stupid and will lead to obvious anger management problems for the little one. Bottom line, I disagree with the Blue Jays making this move, because a catcher with some value is almost always more valuable than a reliever with some value. Besides that, if they really didn't have a place long-term for Napoli, the Jays could have always built his value and traded him to a team in contention that has a need at that position. Remember he does have power, has shown an ability to reach base consistently at times, and is under control for the next 2 seasons.

But, it appears Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos had a real hard on for Frankie Franc for some time. Ahab caught his surly, marginally impressive white whale. Huzzah!

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

Fangraphs seems more optimistic about this deal than I am. I think they've been drinking before noon again.

Here's a death match between two horrible baseball deals: The Vernon Wells trade against the Barry Zito contract. Pitting these two against each other is like something out of a Bum Fights video.

Oh Jesus, the Yankees signed Bartolo Colon. This little gem will get it's own post later on, I'm sure. Brace yourself for fat jokes.

Wandy Rodriguez got a nice contract extension from the Astros.