Baseball Blog (Midterm)

http://thestar.blogs.com/baseball/
http://mvn.com/mlb/bluejays/
http://bluejays.mlb.com/blogs/

Well, I blogged about my favorite sport in the world and my favorite team in the world, so I think it's only fair that I blog about my second favorite! (Sorry to anyone who was hoping for in depth blogs from me..I don't like to put my personal thoughts and feelings out there for everyone to see, so I just stick to sports and things that I love)

Anyways, there are really 3 main issues that are being written about as far as my beloved Toronto Blue Jays are concerned, soI'll do my best to address those issues the way I see them.

1) Pitching. Is A.J. Burnett going to opt out of the last 2 years of his contract searching for a bigger payday elsewhere?

This one is really interesting to me, because it's almost like the entire baseball world is under the assumption that he is leaving for sure, even within the organization that is the popular belief. There is only one issue with that; Nobody is asking A.J. what he plans to do. The only things he has ever said of his contract is that he loves the organization, he thinks they are contenders, and he has a great relationship with all of the coaches and players.

Does that sound like someone who is hell-bent on opting out of his contract for more money?

2) What is going on with the team GM J.P. Ricciardi? Perhaps the most hated GM in all of baseball, he was brought in claiming he had a "5 year plan", meaning that he was going to make the blue jays a playoff baseball team within his first 5 years. Well...it's 8 years later and the Blue Jays finished 9 games out of a playoff spot yet again. Although I, and many other Blue Jays fans will commend him on bringing back legendary Toronto manager Cito Gaston (albeit too late to save the season) with hopes that he can resurrect the team and bring them back to the so called "glory days".

Toronto fans, and some players as well wonder just why he is still around, and management has yet to give a satisfactory explanation as to why Ricciardi remains. However, with CEO Paul Godfrey stepping down at the conclusion of the 2008 season, perhaps those questions will be answered.

Could this year be his "last hoorah"? so to speak. I sure hope so. It's been 13 years since the Jays last had a playoff appearance (on my birthday in 1993 to be exact), and if the only remaining Canadian franchise hopes to remain, they need to build a contender and fast.

3) Lastly but not leastly, is the unwillingness of the ball club to give their youth a chance to show what they can do. I don't have much to say on this one, but if you look at a team like the Tampa Bay Rays, they aren't made up of huge payrolls and high profile players. They are made up of inexpensive homegrown talent, that has 100% bought into the team, the program, and the philosophy that comes with being a part of that team.

Maybe the Blue Jays could take a lesson from them. It's like my College coach once said, it's not about finding the best players, it's about finding the right ones, and making them buy into the system they are taught.

Or at least thats my two cents.