Comments on: Game 120: Blue Jays at Tigers

By: Rick G

Rick G — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:26:13 +0000

“Ah, yes. Jeremy Bonderman the journeyman. From Lakeland to Detroit. It’s been quite a long, illustrious ride”

Shouldn’t that be…

“Jeremy Bonderman – a young pitcher’s strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk?”

I know, I’m a bit late to the Seinfeld party, but I couldn’t resist.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:38:30 +0000

Scott: My point is that he’s inconsistent. That’s all. Each season (excepting 2003) he’s had a 3 month stretch of good-to-great pitching. Unfortunately (excepting 2006) he hasn’t been able to harness it for 6 months. The 3 month hot streaks show you that the talent is there to be a solid top of the rotation starter, though. He may not ever get to that level, but I don’t think you give up on a guy who shows you what he does when he’s right.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:39:55 +0000

I don’ think your ‘good stretches’ argument holds water, Chris. Verlander had a good stretch earlier this season, but would anyone argue that he has had a good year?

Bonderman’s stats:

2003 – 6-19, 5.56
2004 – 11-13, 4.89
2005 – 14-13, 4.57
2006 – 14-8, 4.08
2007 – 11-9, 5.01
2008 – 3-4, 4.29

Career: 59-66, 4.74

The losing record you can attribute to the mostly crappy teams he has been on. But a career 4.74 ERA, I don’t think, is misleading.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:32:12 +0000

You could be right about Bonderman, Chris, probably are. I’d have to see a full season of goodness from him to change my arms crossed, brow furrowed, eyes squinting, foot tapping impatiently stance on Bonderman. I’m definitely not consistent this way when it comes to pitchers. I tend to side with the underdogs, and lose faith easily in the overdogs.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:24:36 +0000

Bonderman is good. Just inconsistent, really. Look at some of the stretches he’s put together. As a 20 year old in ’03 he got his brains beat in, but that was kind of to be expected. The next year in ’04 he started off poorly, but in the second half of that season he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the AL. That’s not even hyperbole (85 K’s vs. 28 BB in 90 IP, 3.70 ERA, including a 2.53 ERA in 6 September starts). He picked up where he left off in ’05, posting a 3.99 ERA in the first half with a 3:1 K/BB ratio before wearing down in the second half and eventually being shut down altogether. ’06 was his best season, carrying a sub 4 ERA into his last start (which he famously blew) while striking out 202 batters. Of course, he also threw a Watermelon Balls game against the Yankees to close out the ALDS. He almost made the All Star team in ’07 (coming in second in the Last Man vote), posting a pretty nice 9-1 mark and 4:1 K/BB ratio to go along with his 3.48 ERA. Then the elbow thingy happened. He obviously wasn’t right at all in ’08, walking too many guys and forgetting how to strike guys out. Even still his 4.29 ERA in 12 starts looks decent. To make a long post short, if the surgery once and for all corrects the issues he’s had staying consistently healthy I’d say he’s much better than a ‘journeyman’.

By: ron

ron — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:14:13 +0000

We can pretend Jimmy talks in the third person. He probably does under his breath. Gary to Jim, I heard that, I heard something…

By: Dave BW

Dave BW — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:01:18 +0000

“Thank goodness for Dave DW and Greg providing 33and 1/3 % of the total. Those two are going down with the ship, come hell or high water.”

Damn skippy I am, ron. Damn skippy.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:00:23 +0000

“Ah, yes. Jeremy Bonderman the journeyman. From Lakeland to Detroit. It’s been quite a long, illustrious ride.”

Good one. But I have to admit that I see Bonderman as a journeyman in terms of performance and potential. I think the first half of 2006 was the fluke, not the rest of it.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:54:10 +0000

Hey, I hope Bonderman proves me wrong. But at some point you have to stop looking a potential and look at results. His results suggest journeyman.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:53:42 +0000

Don’t know if that’s what you were suggesting, Chris, but I, too, find it kind of dopey that Tampa Bay lopped off the Devil in their name. Devil Rays was really cool. Rays? Bland, without clear meaning.

Why don’t the Yankees change their name, too, to avoid all controversial connotations? They could be the New York Advocates of Continued National Unity. Or the New YorK Opponents of Secession. Or combine the two and be the New York Ad-Ops. That way you could write an op-ed on the Ad-Ops.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:51:44 +0000

Competing for the 2009 rotation: Verlander, Bonderman, Willis, Robertson, Miner, Galarraga. That’s 6 guys who have all proven at one time or another that they can pitch well at this level. They just have to either stay healthy (Bondo), or perform up to the level that they’re capable of (Verlander, Robertson, Willis). I could see them auditioning spare parts like Freddy Garcia and some other veterans for depth. The bullpen is the area that will need to be hashed out. Zumaya and Rodney are terribly unreliable as potential 9th inning guys. Jones will probably retire. Farnsworth is a free agent. Fossum is a heaping pile of whale dung. I’d recommend using any and all of the college relievers that they just drafted. Extreme Makeover – Bullpen Edition.

By: Brian P

Brian P — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:46:35 +0000

Ah, yes. Jeremy Bonderman the journeyman. From Lakeland to Detroit. It’s been quite a long, illustrious ride.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:46:19 +0000

To make matters worse, you’ve got several other guys that are going to get big pay jumps: Granderson and Verlander.

Little known fact: Granderson signed a long term extension in the offseason. If you’re going to rail on DD, you should probably then acknowledge that that was a good move. Yin and yang. Or something.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:42:48 +0000

Note to the Tmapa Bay Rays:

Cliff Floyd’s performance in your 3-2 win over the A’s was inexcusable. So bad you had to pinch-hit a nobody for him after 2 Ks. Nearly cost you the game, which would have brought the Red Sox within 2 games of you. You can’t afford to let a seasoned playoff team like Boston get so close so soon. Also, Hinske’s performance was a fluke. You can’t trust him in LF, or the so-called starter currently on the DL. What you need is a DH/LF who can provide a Hall of Fame bat, veteran leadership, and outfield depth at a crucial time.

Note to the Boston Red Sox:

You don’t know it now, but Jason Bay is soon going to suffer a season-ending injury that may or may not involve Tonya Harding. Picking up Gary Sheffield now will sweep you by those wanna-be Rays and into the World Series. Plus, you’ll bring the Sheff 500 HR circus to your town where it belongs, bringing your neglected team sorely needed additional national media coverage. Just do it. Money is for spending.

By: T Smith

T Smith — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:33:29 +0000

It will make you look like such a genius for fleecing us completely.

Unfortunatlely, the Braves don’t need to campaign too much for appearances on this front.