More front-office changes as Shapiro puts stamp on Jays
The new broom continues to sweep clean in the Blue Jays’ front office.
The latest to be shown the door by president and chief executive officer Mark Shapiro are scouting director Brian Parker and national crosschecker Blake Davis.
As the minor and major-league seasons come to a close, more dismissals are expected as Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins continue to try to put their stamp on the organization.
Parker, who came on board with the Jays as a pro scout in 2009, has been the top man in the amateur scouting department since 2012, overseeing all the drafts since then.
Despite having the farm system decimated by the trades that brought Josh Donaldson, David Price and Troy Tulowitzki in 2015, Parker leaves behind some organizational depth that includes pitchers Conner Greene, Sean-Reid Foley, Jon Harris, Justin Maese and Tim Mayza. Among position players, powerful first baseman Rowdy Tellez and catcher Max Pentecost still have high-end value.
TOO MUCH REST
This is where the notion of a sixman Blue Jay rotation starts to fall apart.
After finishing up in New York, the Jays had an off-day Thursday in Cleveland. When this three-game series in Cleveland is over, they have another off day on Monday.
In the normal order of a sixman rotation, J.A. Happ, who won his 17th game in the finale at New York, won’t pitch again until Thursday on a ridiculous seven days of rest.
Marco Estrada, who had his last start abbreviated by rain on Tuesday, after throwing just 59 pitches, will likewise have to cool his heels through seven days of rest before his next turn on Wednesday.
Francisco Liriano, as he tries to establish credentials with his new team, will make his third start for the Jays, 20 days after his last start with Pittsburgh, and he’s not scheduled again until next Friday. Hard to establish any kind of rhythm with six days off between each start.
R.A. Dickey, whose results have not reflected the quality of his work the last few weeks, needs to stay on a five-day rotation to be most effec- tive. So does Estrada, even though he has a chronic back issue. The back is the last of Estrada’s concerns. He wants to be out on the mound where his fine control is best cultivated by regular work.
Don’t be surprised if there is a reorganization of this schedule sooner, rather than later. The manager and the front office have been careful to say that nothing is written in stone, but it’s hard to see the six-man arrangement surviving much longer.
Extra rest can be important for some pitchers, but it can also be death to others who thrive on the five-day routine. If keeping Aaron Sanchez in the rotation is going to drag the others down, then it’s not worth it.
When he announced the sixman plan in Houston two weeks ago, GM Ross Atkins raved about the variety of brilliant, creative solutions that had been presented. Maybe it’s time to look at one of those alternatives because the one they’ve chosen does not seem to be serving the participants very well.
THUMB PAIN
The Blue Jays will make a decision on whether Josh Donaldson needs more time to ease the discomfort in his jammed right thumb. He came out of Wednesday’s game after grounding out in the sixth inning against the Yankees.
“Just jammed my thumb pretty good,” Donaldson said. “It’s obviously not the first time it has happened this year, but it got me pretty good so I didn’t want to do any further damage — going back out there again and possibly getting jammed a second or third time and having to maybe miss more time than I need to.
“This one isn’t as bad as the one in Boston (earlier this year) so we’ll see what it feels like (Friday).”