.252/.312/.409 2010.287/.332/.478 2009
.246/.282/.438 2008
Those are Juan Rivera's triple slash lines from the past three years. Are you impressed? I'm not. He is currently batting .167 (5/31). He has struck out 4 times (almost as often as he has gotten a hit) has yet to take a walk. Tonight marks the 10th game of the season for the Blue Jays, which means that we should give Juan a break shouldn't we? John Farrell says we should, suggesting that he still has faith in Juan and is going to let him play it out every night. But even if he does get back to form, how good is that form? In 2009 Juan hit 25 hr and drove in 52 runs. He had a similar year in 2006 posting 23 hr and 85 rbi. Other than those two years Juan has never hit more than 15 hr in a season nor has he drove in more than 59 runs. Juan Rivera has never put together a string of two successful seasons. Instead he has flip-flopped between adequacy and above-average talent. I understand Farrell's message: faith in his players, but as a fan I don't care about Juan Rivera. He belongs in the what have you done for me lately category.
So we have a DH who is unable to H. We have a third baseman with a rubber arm but a potentially filthy bat. Is it just me or does it seem pretty obvious that Edwin fits better as a DH and Juan fits better on the bench (of another team). We have a third baseman who everyone said was spectacular during spring and has a ceiling as good as any hitter at his level in the minors. Why aren't we taking a chance? Oh ya so we can wait for Juan to have a hot streak for a month, get his sub-par stats in the books and then watch his aging body stand as a free-out in our line-up. I get it. I totally understand the situation from a Managers perspective. He has to encourage, show faith and gain the confidence of his players. But from a business prospective you have to cut loose the dying horse, sell it for what you can and use the money to build and train a new horse.
I know I have already commented about Brett Lawrie during the off-season, but the numbers just don't seem worth it. The young jays have a chance to do something special this year. I am not claiming World Series Champions. They have the ability to instill within themselves a winning attitude, the mentality that this team can match up with anyone's lineup. The players are bonding, showing a real urge to fight for each other. This is encouraging, you need your team to be like a family so that they can battle for each other and encourage rather than discourage. Juan Rivera is not part of that family. He is more like the boyfriend of a relative that no one likes and hopes wont be part of the family for too long. Lawrie needs to be born into this Blue Jays family and there is no time like the present.
G.
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