Comments on: Jays release Frank Thomas… huh?

by: shtiny

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:21:16 +0000

There you go… A platoon of Stairs and Mench is more productive than Thomas THIS year. For his career Mench has put up .305/.361/.563 line against lefties. Stairs against righties is .274/.364/.503

Happy to pounder that Mench/Stairs will out OPS Thomas this year…. and it won’t be that close

by: Cliffy

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:53:27 +0000

After posting, I subsequently read about (a) the reaction to being sat down, and (b) the ABs clause that kicks in (a lot of) guaranteed money for next season… so it does make a bit of sense to me in that light.

Still… I think it’s a bit of an overreaction - and I would not be surprised if Thomas surfaces elsewhere and makes a contribution accordingly. I’m not saying he’ll finish top-5 in the MVP voting like his previous Phoenix impersonation in Oakland… but I don’t think he’s done by a long shot.

And the Blue Jays don’t really have a replacement - unless Adam Lind’s outstanding production at AAA thusfar this season can somehow translate to the majors. I remember Lind from some Sox-Jays games last year, and he looked pretty good to me then - but replacing Thomas’s production? That’s a very tall order.

by: Jakes

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:49:54 +0000

I love the move. His reaction to a one-game benching was completely rediculous. The same thing happened to Papi a few weeks ago (which seemed to do him some good until his fucking 0-6 gack last night against the mighty Rays), and he took it like a man.

Now, I don’t know what was said to Frank. Maybe they told him he was down for a while and not one game. But he (a) immediately goes to the press and (b) sits in the dugout like a 12-year-old after a win that night instead of going out on the field for the *TEAM* celebration. Ok, Frank…see ya.

It may have been a bad financial decision in the sense of not at least trying to trade him, but I love what the move said about the organization’s values, and would applaud the Red Sox if they did the same thing.

by: shtiny

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:56:33 +0000

Frank Thomas is going to turn 40 years old this year. Frank Thomas is not a positive clubhouse influence. Frank Thomas had a vesting option for $10 M in 2009 if he played semi-regularly in TOR this year (370 PAs). When they signed Frank Thomas prior to 2007, Matt Stairs appeared to be DONE. Today, there is not an appreaciable difference between Stairs and Thomas. Thomas is slightly better, but not worth a guarenteed 10 M for next year.

I agree Stairs isn’t an ideal full time replacement, but he is only the lefthanded portion of whatever platoon Riccardi wants to go with. The right handed portion of that platoon could be Shannon Stewart, if they decide to bring up Travis Snider or Adam Lind.