You can’t put a price on leadership
Monday, April 21, 2008 | 08:07 PM ET
The game of baseball sure has changed.
It’s not everyday that you release the guy that lead your team in homers and RBIs the season before, but the Jays did. I guess it’s like the old Janet Jackson song, “What have you done for me lately?”
It’s a shocker for me. Why?
Everybody knows Frank Thomas is going to get hot and put up stronger numbers month by month. He has usually been a slow starter, but it will be hard to replace those numbers when it’s all said and done. I know some of the decision was due to his salary, but you can’t put a price on the leadership of a veteran player like “The Big Hurt.”
Veteran insight invaluable
What veteran players bring to the table is experience and know-how and Thomas had both. Just look at his numbers, they speak for themselves. When a young player is around a veteran like Thomas, they can talk to him about different situations, like how to solve a certain pitcher that is tough for them to hit against. The veteran can give insight on that pitcher because he has faced him several times and can pass on something he has picked up about that pitcher. That is invaluable and can make your team better, especially in the clutch.
I remember for the “Drive of ’85” Pat Gillick brought in Al Oliver, a proven veteran clutch hitter. One of the first things “Scoop” - as we called him - did was to have the team over to his home in Arlington, Texas. He wanted to get to know us and for us to know him, so he rented two buses and had a big dinner party. He made his way around to every player and talked hitting and winning that night. It set the tone for the rest of the season. We went on to win the American League East and Scoop was a huge part of that drive.
That’s one reason why I was surprised to hear manager Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers say that “chemistry is overrated, winning is the important thing.” Well, his team is not winning right now, so maybe he needs to rethink that philosophy.
Tigers need their own “Scoop”
What they need is an “Al Oliver” to come in and take the bull by the horn. The atmosphere has to be changed so that they can start winning and winning can create better chemistry.
After being in a club house with both good and bad chemistry, and I can tell you, good chemistry, along with talent, will take you a long way. It makes for a miserable season when the club house is negative. In that respect, I do understand why J.P. [Ricciardi] pulled the plug on Thomas because he knew he wasn’t going to be happy in that role of a part-time player.
Speaking of part-time players, Cliff Johnson was one of Major League Baseball’s best pinch hitters, so when some of us young players were struggling with pinch hitting, C.J. pulled us to the side and shared some insight and his tips were huge and helped us tremendously, especially with our platoon system at the time.
‘We are here to pass on our knowledge’
Do I see value in having veterans around? You bet I do! As a father, I have seen veterans like Mike Cameron take out a group of rookies to dinner and talk about the game, the city they were in, the ballpark and how it played, etc. I remember giving former Astro and Cardinal pitcher Daryl Kyle his first leather jacket when we were on a caravan when I coached for Houston. When he suddenly died, his wife told me how he still had that jacket and he would always take the young players out and mentor them because of what I did.
See, we are to pass on what we know to the next generation of players, that is what it’s all about. (OK, I got that out of my system, I can go on).
Lind looking sharp
As I was watching the Buffalo Bisons play I saw Adam Lind and he looked good at the plate. I was impressed with his aggressiveness and his ability to drive the ball to all fields. This young kid should have a bright future, but hopefully the pressure to put up Frank Thomas numbers won’t hinder him. Adam should just go out there and be himself.
Little big man
Great job by the little man who swings a big bat in the clutch. Mr. David Eckstein nailed a three-run shot to left in the Jays 5-3 victory over the Tigers. Just goes to show you, it’s not always the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
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Inside Baseball with Jesse Barfield »
About the Author
Jesse Barfield returns to the booth with the Rogers Blue Jays Baseball
on CBC broadcast team for the 2008 season as an analyst, after making
his debut with the program in 2007.
Barfield, a favourite with Canadian baseball fans, was selected by the
Blue Jays in the ninth round of the 1977 amateur draft, debuted with the
club in 1981 and helped the franchise reach the playoffs for the first
time in 1985.
A two-time Gold Glove winner with a cannon for an arm, Barfield led American
League outfielders in assists for three straight seasons (1985
– 87). Barfield was selected to the American League All-Star Team in
1986, a season in which he blasted 40 home runs to lead the majors while
driving in 108 runs. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 1989,
where he completed his playing career.
In 1,428 career games, Barfield was a .256 hitter with 241 home runs and 716 RBIs.
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Comments
Geoff
TO
It's time for JP to move on as his latest moves are taking the Jays backwards not forwards. No one can say the current lineup is really going to win the Eastern Division title or wild card spot.
Frank Thomas- why did JP sign to the contract he did? He simply led the team in homeruns and RBI's last season. He's known to start slow but still had 3 homers and decent RBI numbers and its not even May yet. If the problem was the at bats and next season's salary - who signed the deal making it effectivley only a one year proposition.
DH- I don't think our committee DH or Stairs is going to scare anyone in August or September.
RF- JP traded Reed Johnson, a fan favourite, a hustler (not enough of these on the team - ie Wells and Rios) who plays with emotion. Last I checked Reed was hitting .354 with the Cubs while retread Shannon Stewart is batting .216. C'mon.
CF and RF- Time we got some extra base clutch production from these two. I don't think either warrant their huge salaries for lack of clutch production when its needed. And we complain about the Yankees Rodriguez.
SS- I miss seeing John MacDonald at short every day where great defence will save you runs. Eckstein while a hustler has booted some balls recently and is hitting below .250. I hear he was a World Series MVP, well so was Pat Borders, getting hot for 10 days does make you a world beater game in game out year in year out. I would have stuck with the defence and the great tandem of MacDonald and Hill and let other spots be responsible for the hitting.
1B - this spot is reserved for power from a hig hitter - Lyle Overbay has fallen badly since his broken hand.
In conclusion there is a danger that the Jays of 2 years ago were a group of overperformers having carreer years. If so its going to be a very long season in 2008.
Posted April 28, 2008 04:08 AM
Rashed Abuodeh
Toronto
Hi Jesse,
I wouldn't say I disagree in what you're saying about leadership and how important it is for a baseball team to have a proven leader who helps the rookies. But I disagree in your stance on Frank Thomas being released. He is a liability on the base-paths and the Blue Jays don't have the time this season to wait for him to get hot. Blue Jay fans are annoyed and fed up with empty promises since Ricciardi took over, and especially fed up with over a decade of lack-lustre and bad teams. What I think you should've written about, or should in the future, is the lack of leadership that Gibbons exhibits and why he should be replaced because with him as manager the Blue Jays will not make the playoffs and will not improve. They will be at best a little over .500 team with him steering the ship. It's time to make changes, it's time to bring in a hard-nosed manager who can motivate an underachieving team that's already disinterested in a long season. And it's especially time to bring in a GM who doesn't make as many bonehead moves as Ricciardi, releasing Reed Johnson being the latest one.
Posted April 27, 2008 10:26 PM
kevin
Everyone should read the comments that Frank from TO wrote....you have hit the nail on head with those thoughts, what the jays need is solid management all the way around. If you where going to spend all that money on the big hurt just to let him go.....stay away all togeather...JP stop making excuces and stop burning all that money on futurless personel you loser!!!!
Posted April 26, 2008 09:47 PM
gary kushnir
vancouver,bc
question:
Blue Jays released Frank Thomas and are on the hook in '08 to him for $9 million - if he were to be picked up by another team this season - would they have to pay anything for him? and if so,how much? would they for example,negotiate with the Jays to underwrite a portion of the $9 million? or would he play for them, for free this year and try to negotiate something for next year - like that option clause he had with the Jays - which was obviously the reason the Jays dumped him - they were willing to ea t the $9 million to save next year's $10 million
Posted April 23, 2008 04:01 AM
Frank
Toronto
Here is the solution to the Jays problem.
1. Accept that A.J. Burnett will never amount to more than a .500 pitcher or worse. He is too stubborn or stupid to learn how to pitch. Great arm but anyone in MLB can hot a fastball. Trade him asap when he goes on a winning streak.
2. Hire new General Manager. J.P came in with a fanfare of being a genius, but with the salary at over 80 million, he still can't field a winning team, while Tampa, Oakland can field a team of rookies with half the salary and win. His excuse of not having money is no longer valid, and having money has not proved successful on the field. His baseball mind has been overrated.
3. Hire new manager. John Gibbons has not shown that he can manage the baseball players, never mind manage a game. There are many instances in a game where he just goes to sleep. His style of managing is so confusing. He runs when he shouldn't and doesn't when he should. He can't seem to cultivate some type of pride and energy on a team, which a manager is hired to do. Having played numerous sports, I can appreciate a good field manager and how intergal they are to the team. I was surprised he was rehired again this year. I believe his salary is only about $500,000.00? Is that based on his desperation for a job or his lack of managing skills? It confounds me how Cito Gaston, who has won 2 World Series, would not be hired over John Gibbons. Is it cronyism?
4. Advance scouting. I have never seen a team struggle with so many opposing rookie pitchers in all my years of watching baseball. It has to be based on lack of advance scouting on these pitchers. The schedule and roster is available and not scouting the opposing pitchers is one of the reason for their struggles.
I believe Toronto has the talent to compete in the East even without A.J Burnett, but more importantly, they need leadership in the front office as well as on the field. Put some fire under these players' belly
Posted April 23, 2008 01:10 AM
Ryan
Edmonton
I love the column and am looking forward to your analysis on TV. I do have to disagree with you on this one. I think we've got some great leadership in Stairs, Wells and Halladay. I also think we ought to get Lind up here. This guy is wasting his talents in AAA. We've got to find room for his talent. It reminds me of Vernon when we were trying to find space for him back in the day when he was more than ready. Dont get me wrong I love Frank, but I think we can get similar numbers out of a platoon between "Beer League" Stairs and Lind.
Posted April 22, 2008 07:46 PM