Grimace Rides Again

Maybe He Should Write His Columns With His Other Hand

Not to be outdone by Simmons inability to understand how ERA works, Griffin kicks off the week with his take on Reed Johnson:

Every night, Jays fans in attendance recognize and appreciate Reed Johnson's hustle and enthusiasm; his strong, accurate arm, baseball savvy, loyalty and his personal drive to rehab ahead of schedule from back surgery. Unfortunately, the only two men that matter – manager John Gibbons and GM J.P. Ricciardi – don't see those traits as worthy of a two-way street, and have reduced his role to platoon player.

'Reduced?' Reed Johnson has been a platoon player almost his entire career. And those traits aren't worthy of a "two-way street" - the Jays don't owe Reed Johnson any playing time, just his salary, which they are paying him, minus ten per cent agent's fees for Richard Griffin apparently. Production is what gets playing time, nice as the intangibles are. Otherwise, I could be playing in right field, and Johnny MacDonald would be the best SS in the league. Wait a minute...

Last year, Johnson played so well in a platoon left-field role with Frank Catalanotto that the Jays let Cat go as a free agent.

He played well in that role cause he's a good platoon player, something Griffin will completely fail to grasp for this entire column. Also, wasn't Catalanotto allowed to leave because he was too expensive, thus defeating the purpose of the cheap LF production the Jays had garnered? And wasn't Adam Lind supposed to step into that job?

Now that he has returned, needing consistent at-bats and games to re-establish his groove, Gibbons has turned to a platoon with Matt Stairs. Johnson drew last night's start vs. a righty because he was hitting .571 lifetime against Joe Blanton.

Reed Johnson is still injured.

"I wish it was different," Johnson said. "I wish I could be out there helping my team on an everyday basis, because I know I have more to offer as a player. That's been my mentality. That's why I earned the starting job."

Griffin should point out here that Johnson has earned a job as a platoon player, right?

That's the key word: Earned. Johnson is the only Jays starter that possesses true top-of-the-order skills in the art of small ball.

Dr Grimace is in! The Jays problems this year aren't that they're 8th in runs, 11th in OBP, and 8th in home runs - it's that Reed Johnson isn't dropping leadoff bunts down every night. Whew, hopefully Gibbons can give a few more outs away per game and they'll be right back in this thing.

Instead, by not making him an everyday player, the Jays' brass is sucking the energy out of Johnson. They see the regular season as a day-to-day battle for a wild-card spot and don't want to take any chances. They are sacrificing the loyalty and clubhouse presence of one of their only true "gamers" for an occasional Stairs long-ball.

Hold the phone, Mabel - the Blue Jays see the season as a set of games they need to win to make the playoffs? Not Participaction for injured players who are underperforming? See you in court, Ted Rogers!

Also, Reed Johnson is being disloyal? Not showing up for meetings, badmouthing in the clubhouse, not hustling in the field? Oh sorry, you were just making shit up again, weren't you? Silly me.

If Johnson is to be a part of the Jays' plans next year as was touted this past winter, then he should play every day. The players know he has earned that right.

Absolutely. Sticking to plans you made ages ago certainly takes precedence over dealing with the events of the season. BJ Ryan was touted as the closer last winter - he should be out there in the ninth, elbow surgery be damned! Why isn't Gustavo Chacin in the rotation? Fun fact - in his spare time, Richard Griffin writes military strategy under the pen name 'General David Petraeus.'

Also, I have to put this at the end, because Griffin is too busy constructing fictional arguments about what 'the players know' without any quotes from said players. Why is Matt Stairs playing more than Reed?

Matt Stairs - .288/.359/.545
Reed Johnson- .270 /.333/.384

Matt Stairs never should have written Moneyball.