RealGM

An interesting read

http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2013/09/21/gregg_zaun_on_blue_jays_im_not_paid_to_sugarcoat_reality.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Have you been instructed to lay off on your criticism?
They (Rogers) told me when I came on full-time to be honest, be opinionated, as I tend to be, and to be fair. They have never asked me to censor myself or be a homer. They only asked that I not attack “The Man.” I was told I was free to criticize and praise performances all I wanted.

Has there ever been a comment or opinion you regretted making?
Yes, I have said something I regret. Last year I called (Blue Jay GM) Alex Anthopoulos a “bean counting sabermetrician” with 10 seconds left on Prime Time Sports. It was an extremely amateurish attempt at illustrating to the fans that Alex should not have been held responsible for what was perceived as a bad clubhouse culture in Toronto because he’d never played or coached pro ball. My point was poorly made and regrettable. I was disciplined in house for those comments and apologized to Alex a number of times via email and promised to be a better broadcaster. I have not heard from him since.

Maybe he should have apologized in person and he would be on speaking terms with the Godfather of Jays baseball.

So, the takeaway here is that it's open season on the players, the actual talent, but anyone else in the org are off limits? ( as blatantly off the mark as Zaun's criticism of Anthopoulos was, it is stunning that it actually led to being disciplined )

Way to be transparent Rogers.

They have never asked me to censor myself or be a homer. They only asked that I not attack “The Man.” ... I was disciplined in house for those comments and apologized to Alex a number of times

So, which is it? Or is AA "The Man"?

Although, there is a report that JPA did go to Beaston complaining about Zaun. In years past I've found him to be a bit of a blow hard, but this year he seems to speak the truth. He was dead on in Game one calling out JPA for not letting Dickey's hired catcher do his job, just because it was opening day. I got Dickey off on the wrong foot, and its hasn't bode well for JPA either.

Chevy Chase wrote:Although, there is a report that JPA did go to Beaston complaining about Zaun. In years past I've found him to be a bit of a blow hard, but this year he seems to speak the truth. He was dead on in Game one calling out JPA for not letting Dickey's hired catcher do his job, just because it was opening day. I got Dickey off on the wrong foot, and its hasn't bode well for JPA either.

Even a loud mouth finds the right line twice a day.

Zaun is a blow hard and is paid to be inflammatory and generally act (Please Use More Appropriate Word). It doesn't mean the substance in his commentary is without merit, but I find everything and about his style and intentionally performed personality objectionable. They're trying to create a Don Cherry for the Jays and they're so uncreative they even dress him accordingly. I cannot believe people put up with this sadness.

That doesn't mean JPA isn't a whiny baby and a terrible baseball player.

The fact that he is getting paid to do what he is doing is a reality that I'd certainly like to sugar-coat.

AA won't be the man much longer, the 3 year plan failed. Zaun was correct and should not have apologized.

Love him or hate him but at least Zaun says what's on his mind and many times he's right.

LOL you guys would rather have the crap we get with the Raptors where every guy associated with the reporting of that team is afraid of thier own shadow and spew the same garbage year after year in an desperate attempt to hide the fact that the team sucks and to keep thier job.

It's never funnier when guys here praise Jack Armstrong after the Raps have lost 6 in a row and are losing by 20 in the 4th quarter in their next game and then Jack finally spews stuff like "the Raptors are not showing enough consistent effort which is very disappointing and they have to find it within themselves to be committed to defense" and then everybody yells "way to go Jack, I love him because the guy tells it like it is." It's just that everyone else is such a blatant homer that he looks good by association.

Yosemite Dan wrote:Love him or hate him but at least Zaun says what's on his mind and many times he's right.

LOL you guys would rather have the crap we get with the Raptors where every guy associated with the reporting of that team is afraid of thier own shadow and spew the same garbage year after year in an desperate attempt to hide the fact that the team sucks and to keep thier job.

It's never funnier when guys here praise Jack Armstrong after the Raps have lost 6 in a row and are losing by 20 in the 4th quarter in their next game and then Jack finally spews stuff like "the Raptors are not showing enough consistent effort which is very disappointing and they have to find it within themselves to be committed to defense" and then everybody yells "way to go Jack, I love him because the guy tells it like it is." It's just that everyone else is such a blatant homer that he looks good by association.

Well said man. Forget the Raptors, just focus on the Blue Jays homers- love him or hate him, i love the fact that Zaun speaks his mind and is not a blatant apologist like Mike Wilner (or Mike Shillner as i call him). If you take a non-baseball fan right now, tell him to listen to the Blue Jays talk (without disclosing the Blue Jays terrible season) and that person after listening to Mike Shillner for a hour would probably believe that the Jays are a very good team right now (LOL).

You guys realize there's some sort of a middle ground between being a homer and a complete know nothing loud mouther **** ? I'm not sure Zaun is less damaging than a guy like Eric Smith with the Raptors, they both spread misinformation except peoples' BS detectors seem to malfunction when you put on this tough rogue image.

Zaun isn't there for 'truth-telling' or any such thing. He's there for STRONG TAKES, and most of those strong takes are laughably stupid.

There are plenty of very good journalists and commentators out there who are not afraid to be critical. Zaun isn't one of them.

Schadenfreude wrote:Zaun isn't there for 'truth-telling' or any such thing. He's there for STRONG TAKES, and most of those strong takes are laughably stupid.

There are plenty of very good journalists and commentators out there who are not afraid to be critical. Zaun isn't one of them.

What strong takes of Zaun have been laughably stupid?

EE should be out at the plate even though he was safe because Varitek had done everything right on the play.

Waylon Mercy wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote:Zaun isn't there for 'truth-telling' or any such thing. He's there for STRONG TAKES, and most of those strong takes are laughably stupid.

There are plenty of very good journalists and commentators out there who are not afraid to be critical. Zaun isn't one of them.

What strong takes of Zaun have been laughably stupid?

I would like to like know this as well. For some reason the stat nerds can't stand him because he actually played the game while most of them had never played organized sports in their entire life.

Waylon Mercy wrote:What strong takes of Zaun have been laughably stupid?

Stating that Bautista should be traded for Gallardo and Weeks because they'll help us win a World Series, and Bautista won't?

I would like to like know this as well. For some reason the stat nerds can't stand him because he actually played the game while most of them had never played organized sports in their entire life.

Yeah, that's it, totally. Never picked up a ball in my life, and I'm jealous of Zaun.

Kaizen wrote:EE should be out at the plate even though he was safe because Varitek had done everything right on the play. I lost all respect for him and do not listen to a word he says anymore. In fact everybody on Sportsnet is an idiot. Does not matter if it is hockey, baseball, basketball, or sports radio. They are all an embarrassment to our country.

I'm not sure what play you're talking about but a great many runners on tag plays who are called out are actually safe. If the ball arrives before the baserunner and a proper tag is attempted the umpire almost always gives the fielder the benefit of the doubt even if the runner touches the bag with his toe before the tag is applied to his leg. That's the way its always been.

Schadenfreude wrote:

Waylon Mercy wrote:What strong takes of Zaun have been laughably stupid?

Stating that Bautista should be traded for Gallardo and Weeks because they'll help us win a World Series, and Bautista won't?

Such a typical answer. Maybe he said that because he knows Bautista is lacking leadership issues and seems to be worried about his own #'s first and foremost, is a whiner and and has a huge ego and maybe that's not the best kind of influence in the clubhouse. Whether you like it or not these media guys hear more things that go on in the clubhouse that you'll ever hear. Its not all about stats all the time. Zaun has been in major league clubhouses for many years so I think he knows a little about how culture in the clubhouse can affect win/loss records.

And Zaun is not the only one who has called for Bautista to be traded.

Zaun is the only one calling for him to be traded for a pile of ****. And the only reason he's calling for that is because it'll get attention, which is the only reason that he's there.

No, Bautista's ego is not the reason that our starting pitching sucks. And yes, most good players are concerned with their own numbers...it just so happens that a player posting great numbers is contributing to the team, because hitting is pretty individualistic. Hence why many players far more moody and self-absorbed than Bautista have been celebrated World Series champions.

But none of that matters, because Zaun is just there because Sportsnet needed a Skip Bayless-style commentator feeding easily-digested pablum to a willing audience of mongs who don't like to think about any analysis more complicated than "they didn't want it enough".

Schadenfreude wrote:
Yeah, that's it, totally. Never picked up a ball in my life, and I'm jealous of Zaun.

Interesting that these wackos only resort to that line of argument when people use facts and objective data to make arguments but apparently you can talk about stuff like "leadership qualities", "heart" and other intangibles even if you've never played the game yourself.