Ryan may share closing duties

Post #1 » by **LittleOzzy** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:47 am

There is one conversation that B.J. Ryan does not want to have with Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, and that's discussing the possibility of handing some save situations to reliever Scott Downs.

For the past few days, Gaston has been open about potentially turning to Downs in the ninth inning this season in the event that Ryan's struggles persist through the end of Spring Training. On Monday, following another shaky performance on the mound, Ryan sounded miffed at the suggestion that someone else might be asked to close out a ballgame.

"I know where I stand," Ryan said. "But then again, my say-so doesn't mean a lot. We'll cross that bridge -- hopefully, we never come to it. It's an uncomfortable question with a lot of uncomfortable answers. It'll happen behind closed doors."

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/ar ... p&c_id=tor

Post #2 » by **Geddy** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:12 am

From everything I've heard during spring training, it's becoming clear that Ryan doesn't have that closer material yet. I'd like to see Ryan out there early in the season to see how he does. If he racks up some saves they should trade him while they can.

evilRyu · Post #3 » by **evilRyu** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:01 am

I really like Downs as the setup guy. I don't know if he has the "stuff" nor the intimidation to be a dominant closer, but if anyone deserves a shot, it's Scott Downs.

s e n s i · Post #4 » by **s e n s i** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:14 am

Has there been any word on Janssen? He's got an every other day gig too, I might assume. A Carlson/Janssen/Downs/Ryan as the main inning-eaters bullpen is very solid.

Modern_epic · Post #5 » by **Modern_epic** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:04 pm

Word is that Janssen is out until May.

Duncanfan · Post #6 » by **Duncanfan** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:49 pm

Whats goin on with League? He could be our closer of the future.. was very impressive last year.. I haven't seen him pitch much this spring..

_venom_ · Post #7 » by **_venom_** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:40 pm

Relief pitching is one area where the Jays are really talented and possibly are the best in the league. It's just too bad that they'll have to rely on that relief pitching so much this year because their starters are terrible (halladay excluded). A bullpen consisting of Ryan, Downs, League, Accardo, Carlson, and maybe eventually Janssen is crazy good. Plus you add in depth like Frasor, Tallet, Wolfe, and Camp. I would love for the Jays to find a taker for Ryan but I don't see a team biting on him. As for Downs sharing closing duties, I'm not a fan. I love Downs but he's better as a setup man. If you're going to split closing duties, give the reigns to League or Accardo if he can regain his 2007 form.

J-Roc · Post #8 » by **J-Roc** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 1:07 am

Duncanfan wrote:Whats goin on with League? He could be our closer of the future.. was very impressive last year.. I haven't seen him pitch much this spring..

Exactly!!! We've been told for years Brandon League was the closer in waiting. Now there's a spot and we're going to push Scott Downs out of his best role??????? Grrrrrrr

chargerxthirty · Post #9 » by **chargerxthirty** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 2:31 am

how did Jeremy Accardo fall so far off the Radar...

He's talked about as almost an after thought after grabbing 30 saves for us two years ago.

squeekysneakers · Post #10 » by **squeekysneakers** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 2:33 am

League is 100% the guy to be the closer if Ryan is not ready. Downs is a "key out" guy or a "pitch out of of a jam" guy. I do not think he would be good as a closer...but he has been one of the more consistent pitchers on our roster over the last few seasons.

League looked really good at the end of last year. Cito worked some magic with him and showed him some confidence...I think he should get a shot to make it...the kid has some crazy heat.

Modern_epic · Post #11 » by **Modern_epic** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 2:37 am

If you're going to split closing duties, give the reigns to League or Accardo if he can regain his 2007 form.

Accardo can't yet, and is unlikely to even break camp with the team. He still has an option left, so they are going to start him in the minors to work on his cutter.

The idea of Downs instead of League (if it isn't just Cito saying it to light a fire under Ryan's ass) would be to not supplant Ryan. While Ryan is still trying figure out where his velocity went, when matchups are favourable, Cito would bring in Downs. Downs still pitches in his normal role when Cito plans on using Ryan. Once Ryan (hopefully) gets back to form, putting Downs back in his set up role is an easy call. If you try doing this with League, you risk shooting his confidence if he fails, or having an ego problem and likely costing yourself a lot of money in arbitration if he succeeds.

It's really not as half baked of a plan as it seems.

s e n s i · Post #12 » by **s e n s i** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 3:49 am

Accardo was optioned to Triple-A LV today.

Post #13 » by **Alfred** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 4:59 pm

squeekysneakers wrote:League is 100% the guy to be the closer if Ryan is not ready. Downs is a "key out" guy or a "pitch out of of a jam" guy. I do not think he would be good as a closer...but he has been one of the more consistent pitchers on our roster over the last few seasons.

League looked really good at the end of last year. Cito worked some magic with him and showed him some confidence...I think he should get a shot to make it...the kid has some crazy heat.

I have to agree with this. League was one of the players that really caught my eye last year.

J-Roc · Post #14 » by **J-Roc** » Wed Apr 1, 2009 8:38 pm

chargerxthirty wrote:how did Jeremy Accardo fall so far off the Radar...

He's talked about as almost an after thought after grabbing 30 saves for us two years ago.

Wilner was saying last night that Accardo lost his split finger fastball. W T F ? Seriously, if this season didn't already look like a disaster, we're now just washing our hands of BJ Ryan and Jeremy Accardo and everything is still supposed to be okay? Oh, and Brandon League isn't good enough to be the closer? How many strikes can this beaten up team take?

Mustard_Tiger · Post #15 » by **Mustard_Tiger** » Thu Apr 2, 2009 5:38 am

J-Roc wrote:
chargerxthirty wrote:how did Jeremy Accardo fall so far off the Radar...

He's talked about as almost an after thought after grabbing 30 saves for us two years ago.

Wilner was saying last night that Accardo lost his split finger fastball. W T F ? Seriously, if this season didn't already look like a disaster, we're now just washing our hands of BJ Ryan and Jeremy Accardo and everything is still supposed to be okay? Oh, and Brandon League isn't good enough to be the closer? How many strikes can this beaten up team take?

Wow, a bit over dramatic there. It's been well known for a while (or at least I thought) that Jeremy was having problems with a splitter. Replacing him with Frasor (for now) doesn't hurt this team at all....they are end of the bullpen guys, they really don't matter.

J-Roc · Post #16 » by **J-Roc** » Thu Apr 2, 2009 8:50 pm

^^
Our bullpen is our saving grace. At least it's supposed to be. And we'll need them with these kids starting.

kelso · Post #17 » by **kelso** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 10:42 am

If BJ Ryan can't get over 85-86 mph hes going to be useless. At that speed, he's batting practice.

zilby · Post #18 » by **zilby** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 11:48 pm

kelso wrote:If BJ Ryan can't get over 85-86 mph hes going to be useless. At that speed, he's batting practice.

he won't even make it to the plate at that pace.

J-Roc · Post #19 » by **J-Roc** » Sat Apr 4, 2009 12:34 am

And to think this would have been the season to trade Ryan to get some value back.

s e n s i · Post #20 » by **s e n s i** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:40 pm

Forgot about this thread. Should have bumped it yesterday. So it shows Cito actually took Ryan's spring training performance into consideration, thus why he'd ponder platooning Downs and BJ at the closer role during meaningful games.