September is usually the month that non-contending clubs call up their best minor leaguers for an audition for the following season.  Strangely, we’re well over a week into September and there’s no indication that Gibby is going to follow this time-honoured tradition over the handful of games left in 2007.  One begins to wonder why players who have the potential to be key cogs for the next edition of the Jays are being left to rot on the bench…

Backing things up jusssst a little bit, there have been three black holes in the Jays’ lineup this season: LF, C, and SS.  The lion’s share of the playing time at each position has gone to an aging veteran (Reed Johnson, Gregg Zaun and John McDonald) who is not going to be a factor in the long term success of the club.  And coincidently, these are the positions played by the troika of youngsters Adam Lind, Curtis Thigpen and Ray Olmedo respectively. 

How bad has the production at each of these three positions been this year?  Here are the numbers (AVE/OBP/SLG/OPS/HR/RBI):

LF: .259/.319/.423/.742/18/71

C: .222/.298/.354/.652/14/58

SS: .236/.274/.322/.596/2/37

Left-field is the least bad of the black holes, in large part due to the excellent play of Matt Stairs.  Sparky, who hasn't regained his pre-back surgery form, has been a shadow of his former self.  That he would fall off after a career year is not surprising in and of itself--he always performed best platooning with Frank Catalanotto and has never hit right-handed pitching well--but there's good reason not to think he'd be best used as a backup/defensive specialist.   Lind surprised most by hitting poorly (.233/.277/.386) in 70+ games as an injury replacement despite excelling at every level in the minors and his 2006 stint with the club, but is still only 23 and should be given every opportunity to rebound.

Sweet Swingin' Adam Lind

Our production behind the plate has been abysmal.  Gregg Zaun's broken hand has certainly  contributed in part to his disappointing .239/.320/.414 line, but there's also good reason to suspect that the 36-year-old vet's best days are behind him.   Jason Phillips... let's not speak of this departed goggle-wearing backstop and his many, many shortcomings.  When Zaunnie's offensive decline is taken into account alongside his almost total inability to throw out opposing base-stealers, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that we need a changing of the guard at catcher.

Thiggy of Texas, I tell you what.

Shortstop has been the most glaring offensive weakness for the '07 Jays.  John McDonald has provided Gold Glove-calibre defense, but has no power and doesn't walk.  Yes, he's a great bunter and always takes an extra base on a lazy defender, but the team simply cannot carry the bat of a regular who hits like a National League pitcher if everyone else in the lineup isn't performing at or better than expectation.  Mercifully, the lazy/shitty Royce Clayton was given the heave ho before Labour Day.

Olmedo: no seriously, he's a Jay, I swear

It’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that there will be no forward progress in ’08 if Sparky, Zaunnie and J-Mac all end up retaining their jobs.  It’s painful to say it because they’re all popular players with fans, but the truth hurts.  Knowing this, it’s hard to figure out why Lind, Thigpen and Olmedo—all of whom would probably be cheap upgrades over the status quo for next year—seem to have been banished to the land of wind and ghosts.

Lind has not started since his September recall despite regaining his stroke in AAA (.299/.353/.471) after his poor early season run in TO.  Thigpen has not started since Aug. 28 and sees only sporadic playing time as a pinch runner.  Olmedo has collected a measly 20 ABs in almost a month since callup from Syracuse.

 We here at Jaysfanz are huge fans of Matt Stairs fan in here, but we’re wondering why Adam Lind isn’t getting his fair share of playing time in LF.  Of the Jays three most-ML ready prospects, Lind is the one who is most likely to crack the starting nine next spring.   Matt Stairs has undoubtedly earned his ABs, but should have them spread out mostly between 1B and DH and then only occasionally in LF.  This, coupled with JP's recent comments that Lind would start next year in AAA—implying that he won't be given the chance to win the job in Spring Training—have had us scratching our heads about the club's handling of its best hitting prospect.  Or is this an indication that JP is planning to find a free agent for LF next year and isn't counting on Lind?  If an established bat is available, that may well be prudent, but we all know from the Lilly/Meche fiasco last season that best laid plans don’t always unfold as you’d like them to.

It's hard to see the master plan behind Lind, Thigpen and Olmedo's respective spell in the dog house.  Let's hope there is one.

---