Mop Up Duty Mop Up Duty A Baseball Blog dedicated to answering the questions rarely asked. Main topics include fantasy baseball, sabermatics, forgotten leagues & players, expansion, bios, etc. Updated almost everyday! Articles
Stat nerds overestimated Alex Rios? value
2009-09-11 16:35:00 Good ole’ lazy friday. Here’s an article I prepared after Rios was dealt to Chicago. I went on vacation shortly thereafter and never got around to posting. The majority of this article was written right after the deal (and before Alex shit the bed in Chicago). The dust has settled. The sabermetric community proclaims the Jays ... More About: Alex Rios , Stat
The Paradoxical Scott Richmond
2009-09-09 13:53:00 The Paradoxical Scott Richmond I went on the record at the start of the season stating that Scott Richmond wasn’t a major league starter. I took some heat but I defended my position. Now as the season winds to a close I have to admit that his up and down campaign leaves more questions than it ... More About: Toronto Blue Jays , Sabermetrics
The Dirt on Cecil
2009-09-07 17:49:00 *Editor?s Note: The expressed opinions of Mr. X are those of Mr. X alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Mop Up Duty. Mr. X chooses to remain anonymous for the reason that should he be identified, it will compromise his ability to provide Mop Up Duty readers with the most intimate and cutting ... More About: Commentary , Wife , Girlfriend , Pregnant , Wives
The Weekend Blue Jays Dichotomy
2009-09-06 18:18:00 The comic above pretty much sums up my experience at the Jays games this labour day weekend. I wouldn’t go into the nitty gritty details in a game review but it went down like this: Friday I rolled into the dome and was treated to a Roy Halladay one-hitter. (Roy became just the 5th pitcher in ... More About: Commentary , Blue Jays , Blue , A-Rod , Weekend
2009 Zaun/Barajas Platoon would rule the earth
2009-09-04 19:27:00 2009 Zaun|Barajas Platoon would rule the earth While I was livebloggin’ last nights tilt between the Rays and the Red Sox (which Boston won 6-3) fellow MUD writer Callum dropped by and started expounding the virtues of one Gregory Zaun. Thinking back on the recent implosion in the T-Dot, I wondered if the Jays would have ... More About: Earth , Toronto Blue Jays , Gregg Zaun , Rule
Josh Roenicke?s Nubian Princess
2009-09-03 19:02:00 Hi everyone, Mr. X here and it has been a posting rennaissance for me over the last week and a half. Thanks to Baseball’s Hottest Wives , Blue Jays Wives & Girlfriends & Mr X’s Leftovers much interest has been generated in the significant others of Major League Ballplayers. Thank you for visiting everyone, it gives ... More About: Wife , Princess , Toronto Blue Jays , Josh
A Tale of Two Pitchers
2009-09-01 23:56:00 A couple of games ago I watched Brett Cecil’s start against the Texas Rangers where he and some Jays relievers combined to almost squander an 11 run lead. This shaky behaviour is not atypical of Cecil and it got me to thinking about a conversation I had with Kman not too long ago. It went ... More About: Pitchers , Tale
Billy Koch Loses His Cool
2009-08-31 13:28:00 ..and not in the 9th inning of a save situation. From the better late than never department…. Former Toronto Blue Jays closer Billy Koch was arrested about a month ago on criminal mischief and battery charges after getting into a wild incident with his neighbor in Florida. 48-year-old Luis Camacho “pushed” Koch’s stepson in the street of their residential area at 2:00 a.m., at which point Koch’s wife “came running out of the house, screaming and spitting at him.” Koch followed her, and that’s when things got heated. The altercation began near the Koch residence and moved to Camacho’s driveway nearby as Camacho and his son retreated. According to statements by the Koches, Camacho and several witnesses, Camacho grabbed a bat to defend himself and when it was taken away, grabbed a spade shovel. Camacho pushed Brandi Koch to the ground and swung at Billy Koch while his son lowered their garage door. Billy Koch landed a punch on Cam... More About: Cool
Lazy Links
2009-08-28 16:48:00 Lazy Links Tangled Up in Powder Blue creeps on Scott Richmond’s brother having a catch. The Blue Jay Hunter finds out what Kevin Millar has been doing with all his free time, since he isn’t playing and all. The newest tumbleblog, Retro Jays Fans brings you old school Jays pictures. The Tao of Stieb makes the case for the ... More About: Donald , Toronto Blue Jays , Sabermetrics , Lazy
Mr. X?s Leftovers
2009-08-28 13:35:00 Mr. X’s Leftovers Yesterday I wrote a post on the Blue Jays’ wives. While doing my research, I stumbled across a few others that are not associated with the Jays. In the interest of being thorough, here are my leftovers: Mike Hampton’s spouse. She seems happy despite having her husband hanging around the house a lot more ... More About: Commentary , Girlfriends , Wife , Girlfriend , Wives
Blue Jays Wives & Girlfriends
2009-08-27 13:45:00 Blue Jays Wives & Girlfriend s *Editor’s Note: Spurred on by the success of the “Baseball’s Hottest Wives“ and “Top 10 Derek Jeter Bimbos” posts, our resident sleuth Mr. X (more of Mr. X’s work can be found here) went into deep cover to find out what kind of wives and girlfriends your favourite Jays are pulling ... More About: Commentary , Wife , Blue Jays
Top 20 Ed Sprague Factoids
2009-08-26 13:38:00 Top 20 Ed Sprague Factoids Father Ed Sr. was an MLB pitcher from 1986 - 1976 Won a 1988 ‘demonstrative’ gold medal for the US olympic team Won two College World Series championships with Stanford Voted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002 1st round draft pick in 1988 Won two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays Played for ...
The Best Jays Pictures Thus Far
2009-08-25 13:48:00 The Best Jays Pictures Thus Far So there’s not too much to write about lately. Well maybe there is but I don’t feel like it. And can you blame me? The most riveting Jays news is the impending shut down of some young starting pitchers. Around the game playoff races are heating up but aren’t hot ... More About: Commentary , Jenna Fischer , The Sound of Music , Kelly Gruber
Josh Roenicke Needs to work on?
2009-08-23 06:08:00 While watching Josh Roenicke the other day I was impressed with his stuff, yet came away a little worried with his rather complex motion and overall time to the plate. I went back and checked his overall 2009 stolen base percentage numbers and opponents are 5 for 5 in only 21.1 IP. Dirty pro-rate ahead, if ... More About: Work
Jays Outfield D Terrible
2009-08-20 17:36:00 With the trading of Rios and the ascension of Randy Ruiz (eight game hitting streak) the new look Jays outfield is Lind in LF, Wells in CF and Snider in RF. Good god, that’s such a terrible defensive alignment. We all know about Vernon Wells troubles in CF. The man who?s an RBI away from 50 ... More About: Outfield
David Purcey Not Getting It Done
2009-08-20 16:00:00 David Purcey Not Getting It Done Late last night Robert MacLeod of the Globe & Mail posted this nugget of information: With the Blue Jays readying to pull the plug in early September on rookies Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski so as to not overtax their young arms unnecessarily, Gaston is not even sure as to the ... More About: David
Darvish to Toronto?
2009-08-19 22:03:00 Darvish to Toronto ? Today I was participating in an online chat with Baseball America’s scouting guru Jim Callis. It contained most of the typical post-draft jibber-jabber until one question piqued my interest: Adam (Top of CN Tower about to jump) Just a recap.. the Jays “save” money letting Rios go. Plus other moves to “save” money.. then they ...
Liveblog Observations
2009-08-18 22:17:00 One of the perks of being a member of The Score Sports Federation is the chance to cover out of market games via The Score Live Blogs. Below is a small collection of opinions that I’ve formed throughout the season. The New York Yankees turn-around should be credited to the bullpen. Watching the Yankees early ... More About: Observations
Zach Stewart Update
2009-08-16 20:32:00 Zach Stewart Update What’s going on with Zach Stewart? The key prospect acquired in the Scott Rolen trade is currently pitching in AAA Las Vegas. To this point he’s been used exclusively out of the bullpen. His role has been short relief and his longest outing has been one inning. I’m not going to read too ... More About: Toronto Blue Jays
Adam Loewen Heating Up
2009-08-15 17:00:00 Adam Loewen Heating Up At the end of May this season I wrote about the struggling Adam Loewen. Well Jays fans, it looks like things are starting to turn around for him! As you can see, Loewen is a new man. Turning a miserable first half into fairly decent production in the 2nd half, Loewen has even thrown in ... More About: Adam , Adam Loewen
My Favourite Tweets
2009-08-14 16:01:00 My Favourite Tweets It’s good to be back. I have been in Europe for 3 weeks with little to no information pertaining to my beloved Blue Jays. So Halladay stays, Rolen is gone and my boy Randy Ruiz is up. However, the boys in blue are scuffling dreadfully. The little information I did receive was from ... More About: Twitter , Toronto Blue Jays
Stop Hating on Randy Ruiz
2009-08-12 20:31:00 I’m not usually one to ‘report on the reporters’ but a comment from fellow Blue Jays blogger ‘LloydtheBarber’ (of the great Ghost Runner on First) irked me. Tweet about our boy Randy : I’ll go ahead and assume that the crux of his argument is Randy’s 2009 season has been aided by the hitter’s friendly park in ... More About: Stop
Blue Jays and Pirates Parallels
2009-08-11 19:15:00 Alex Rios and his future millions are headed to Chicago. The Jays failed to receive even the proverbial “bag of balls”. The Toronto Blue Jays have now shed millions in payroll during the season. Virtually nothing was spent in the off-season… The upcoming 2010 playoff run may be out the window unless millions are spent in ... More About: Pirates , Parallels , Toronto Blue Jays
Really Cito, Kevin Millar bats fourth?
2009-08-05 19:14:00 Really Cito, Kevin Millar bats fourth? Disgusted. That’s the only word I can use for how I felt after I read the Jays lineup for last nights game vs the Yankees. Millar batting fourth!? Here’s a screen Cap of Millar’s success…. let’s say Millar’s appearances in the various batting order positions. A total of 16 games in the ... More About: Bats
Troublesome Edwin Encarnacion Trends
2009-08-04 17:54:00 Troublesome Edwin Encarnacion Trends Home/Away Split The Park Factors for the Great America Ball Park have always been high. ESPN and Baseball-Reference confirm this theory (ESPN gives the park a 1.00+ run and HR ranking in each of the past three seasons. Baseball-Reference lists the hitting factor at 104, which is high on their system). For his career ...
Breaking down the Scott Rolen Trade
2009-07-31 23:12:00 Scott Rolen Trade Analysis The news just came across the wire via Sports Illustrated writer Jon Heyman. Scott Rolen has been dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh and Zack Stewart. Let’s look at this deal purely by the numbers for the MLB players and with some forward looking assumptions for the prospects. Scott ... More About: Scott , Toronto Blue Jays , Breaking
JP Anger, Roy Halladay to LAA & Free Randy Ruiz
2009-07-24 18:56:00 JP Anger , Roy Halladay to LAA & Free Randy Ruiz As we all know by now, yesterday Roy Halladay gave JP a list of teams that he’d be willing to move to. This promoted me to tweet my thoughts. Eyebeleaf over at the great Sports and the City tweeted back. And then things broke down MUD (mopupduty) Halladay ...
What about Marco Scutaro?
2009-07-22 20:48:00 What about Marco Scutaro? With all eyes firmly set on Roy Halladay, many in the mainstream media and even some in the ‘Jays Nation’ are seemingly forgetting about the upcoming free agency of Marco Scutaro. Scutaro, who is eligible for free agency in the off-season, will qualify as either a Type A or Type B free agent. ... More About: Toronto Blue Jays
Random Roy Halladay to Philly Thoughts
2009-07-20 19:39:00 Random Roy Halladay to Philly Thoughts Before we get going you might want to check out the fresh ESPN video from 11am this morning: Quote for Insider If the Jays know they won’t be able to re-sign Halladay after the 2010 season — and the guess here is that Halladay already has indicated to the Jays, respectfully and ... More About: Random , Trade , Toronto Blue Jays
Vernon Wells, MLB?s Worst Fielder
More articles from this author:2009-07-17 16:35:00 Vernon Wells , MLB’s Worst Fielder I’ll be honest, Vernon’s fielding makes me laugh out-loud. His routes are comical and anything hit more than five steps away from his initial positioning is bound to drop. My eyes (and anyone else’s) can plainly see that. What do the numbers say? Vernon’s UZR/150 (zone rating over 150 games) is an ... More About: Sabermetrics , Vernon Wells 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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