Rasmus says he has been benched in favour of

[MGD24]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/09/03/toronto-blue-jays-colby-rasmus-says-he-has-been-benched-in-favour-of-rookies/

Colby Rasmus has been benched.

The signs started last week, when he missed a couple of games with an alleged illness. And on Tuesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons called Rasmus into his office and made it official.

“I’ll be playing whenever they think I should play and I’m just going to be sitting around watching these rookies play,” Rasmus said in an interview in the visitors’ clubhouse Wednesday.

Rasmus, 28, is a free agent after the season. He said Gibbons made it clear his reduced playing time was a front-office decision.

[C Court]

Not a surprise. Mr. Rasmus cost himself a lot of coin with his play this season.

[Graham's Cracker]

Interesting comment about Gibby saying it's a FO decision.

[Schad]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

[Michael Bradley]

I really wish the Jays would have traded him last off-season. This decline was very predictable given his career and BABIP-influenced numbers last season. Oh well.

At least the Jays got one very good season out of him in three and a half years.

[Santoki]

I really wish the Jays would have traded him last off-season. This decline was very predictable given his career and BABIP-influenced numbers last season. Oh well.

At least the Jays got one very good season out of him in three and a half years.

Didn't he miss a huge chunk of that season?

[Graham's Cracker]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

Especially given his rep. You'd think he'd be on his best behaviour given his pending FA.

[Schad]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

Especially given his rep. You'd think he'd be on his best behaviour given his pending FA.

But alas, he's truly rather dumb. Not that being dumb is an impediment to success in baseball, but when you're dumb and struggling, life just ain't good.

[There There]

I really wish the Jays would have traded him last off-season. This decline was very predictable given his career and BABIP-influenced numbers last season. Oh well.

At least the Jays got one very good season out of him in three and a half years.

Rasmus has put up two 4+ fWAR seasons over the past four years.

And he was averaging 3+ fWAR per 162 games.

Even if the more likely outcome was him regressing this season, there was no need to actively create another hole in this lineup in a season in which they wanted to contend, especially considering the value if he did manage to duplicate last season.

[Randle McMurphy]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

Have absolutely no idea why you think he isn't taking coaching advice or doesn't give a damn about what he's doing.

[SharoneWright]

I’m just going to be sitting around watching these rookies play,” Rasmus said.

An indictment presented as a grievance.

[Randle McMurphy]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

Especially given his rep. You'd think he'd be on his best behaviour given his pending FA.

But alas, he's truly rather dumb. Not that being dumb is an impediment to success in baseball, but when you're dumb and struggling, life just ain't good.

Is he even struggling, though? His career rWC+ is 102, his 2014 wRC+ is 99. At the age of 28, this is kind of what he is at this point. His 2010/2013 seasons are proving to be the exception.

[Randle McMurphy]

Interesting comment about Gibby saying it's a FO decision.

If AA had no plans to actually use Colby the rest of the year and has given up any pretense of trying to win, his presence on the roster makes no sense. Why didn't they trade him 2 days ago for a bag of balls?

[Schad]

Is he even struggling, though? His career rWC+ is 102, his 2014 wRC+ is 99. At the age of 28, this is kind of what he is at this point. His 2010/2013 seasons are proving to be the exception.

He's still being buoyed by his early-season numbers, to a large extent; past 45 games, he has an OPS of .679 and just 4 HRs in 170 PAs, which I'd categorize as struggling given that power is one of the two things he has on offer (the other has also fallen off the table, though his defense may be related to his injuries).

[Santoki]

Interesting comment about Gibby saying it's a FO decision.

If AA had no plans to actually use Colby the rest of the year and has given up any pretense of trying to win, his presence on the roster makes no sense. Why didn't they trade him 2 days ago for a bag of
balls?

Probably on the very unlikely chance that they find themselves somehow back in the hunt and need all the MLB-quality depth they can get.

[jaymeister15]

While Rasmus has given us some value over the past few years, if you're too dumb to i) show up on time when in a playoff race, ii) take coaching advice when you're in a slump, iii) act like you give a damn in a contract year, you probably have earned a spot on the bench.

Not sure where you get that he "doesn't give a damn"

Everything I've read over the last couple years is that, if anything, he gives too much of a damn and does things like wear himself out in the batting cage trying to correct things when in a slump

[Randle McMurphy]

Is he even struggling, though? His career rWC+ is 102, his 2014 wRC+ is 99. At the age of 28, this is kind of what he is at this point. His 2010/2013 seasons are proving to be the exception.

He's still being buoyed by his early-season numbers, to a large extent; past 45 games, he has an OPS of .679 and just 4 HRs in 170 PAs, which I'd categorize as struggling given that power is one of the two things he has on offer (the other has also fallen off the table, though his defense may be related to his injuries).

He just hasn't had one of his power streaks since May (which was cut short by injury). He might have had one in September instead of just petering along at league average numbers, but I suppose we'll never know now. I just wish they'd have traded him if this was how they intended to use him this month.

[Michael Bradley]

I really wish the Jays would have traded him last off-season. This decline was very predictable given his career and BABIP-influenced numbers last season. Oh well.

At least the Jays got one very good season out of him in three and a half years.

Rasmus has put up two 4+ fWAR seasons over the past four years.

And he was averaging 3+ fWAR per 162 games.

Even if the more likely outcome was him regressing this season, there was no need to actively create another hole in this lineup in a season in which they wanted to contend, especially considering the value if he did manage to duplicate last season.

The problem with Colby's 2013 season was that there was very little chance he was going to come close to repeating it if he maintained his terrible BB:K rates (he's K'ing more and walking less this season, which is remarkable). His BABIP this season is right around his career mark. This season is a good representation of what he is, and that happens to be a highly replaceable talent whose defense is bound to slip even further as he gets older.

Gose would have been a downgrade, but if they could have gotten something of value for him, it may have evened out a bit and saved some money. In hindsight, Gose has been worth more than Colby this season in less playing time.

[Randle McMurphy]

Interesting comment about Gibby saying it's a FO decision.

If AA had no plans to actually use Colby the rest of the year and has given up any pretense of trying to win, his presence on the roster makes no sense. Why didn't they trade him 2 days ago for a bag of
balls?

Probably on the very unlikely chance that they find themselves somehow back in the hunt and need all the MLB-quality depth they can get.

So if they get 4.5 games back after tonight, is that close enough to start using him again?

[Schad]

Have absolutely no idea why you think he isn't taking coaching advice

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/scott_macarthur/?id=458658

or doesn't give a damn about what he's doing.

He showed up an hour before a game when we were in a playoff race, apparently not the first time he's been late.

He just hasn't had one of his power streaks since May (which was cut short by injury). He might have had one in September instead of just petering along at league average numbers, but I suppose we'll never know now. I just wish they'd have traded him if this was how they intended to use him this month.

Yes, I know: he's a very streaky hitter. And when streaky hitters aren't on a streak, they tend to -- wait for it -- struggle.

I also wish that they had traded him. I'm not sure that anyone was particularly interested in his services, however.