How the Jacque Has Fallen

by ravenfly on Jun 26, 2007 7:21 PM EDT Comment 17 comments

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-0626marlins,0,5116352.story?coll=sfla-sports-front

Ahh, Jacque, we hardly knew ye. Off to the land of oranges and apathetic old folks for a [reported, but not confirmed] mid-level single-A prospect.

That's what happens when you're OPSing .623 as a corner outfielder on a team that already DFA'd the superior Matt Murton (why is he not a Twin yet, btw?).

/salute, Jacque. I did so love your constant, beaming smile.

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If Florida was giving up only a mid level prospect, I wonder what a medium to big market team would have to give up (and pick up a bigger chunk of his contract)

by DedicatedFollowerOfFashion on Jun 26, 2007 9:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

haha...

and it didn't even happen.

Man, I'm glad we no longer have Frenchy. Watching him at the plate was much like watching Eddie Guardado in the ninth inning. Not good for the heart!

by djskilbr on Jun 26, 2007 11:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Heh, the commish nixed it. Apparently the Cubbies were going to pick up more of his salary than he was comfortable with.

by ravenfly on Jun 27, 2007 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Double-J did much better in Chicago than people give him credit for. Baker failed to move to move him over to left field and his weak arm looked embarassing. He struggled in April and July with the Cubs in 06, but he was OPSing over .850 in the other 4 months of the season. He struck out too much as usual, but finishing 06 with .833 OPS on a crap team isn't deserving of the boo's and the blame that he took.

This season, that OF is crowded with LFs and he's been getting the Jason Kubel treatment. His at-bats are more infrequent and his numbers are getting destroyed because of it. I'm glad we weren't the ones who made the deal with the Cubs, but I think the Marlins are hosing the Cubs right now. I still like him a lot and I think he's going to really surprise people in Miami.

by TheMattWilke on Jun 27, 2007 1:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

EDIT

surprise people (whereever he goes).

by TheMattWilke on Jun 27, 2007 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jacque Jones

Competent. Actually, if you draw comaprisons between him and Torii Hunter over the life of his days as a Twin, both were pretty close offensively. Both seemed to not come up with the clutch hit when needed. Both showed some speed and decent power. You can say Torii covered more ground in the outfield and had a bigger smile and was marketed better.

This year Torii is shining bigtime (contract year, of course).

But Jones is also showing that you don't get super better that next year in your 30s.

check out Twinkies autograph collection at www.TwinsCards.com

by twintown on Jun 27, 2007 2:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not clutch except for....

All those walk off home runs Jacque through the years. He just had problems when he fell behind in the count and he did that often, if he gets a fastball early in the count he'd usually hit the ball hard.

by TheMattWilke on Jun 27, 2007 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man, he had the goods

What a talent. A good corner outfielder who, unfortunately, let it fly from all angles and never got the throwing thing down. It wasn't that his arm was bad, it was that his mechanics were all over the place.

If only the ball shot off Kubel's bat the way it jumped off the barrel when The Strap let it fly; maybe there would be a reason to think Kubel will do more than give Twins' fans a leg, then take it back.

JJ just never had a lick of discipline and pitchers that listened to the scouting report knew they didn't have to throw him strikes.

He's likely not done. Bunch of home runs last year, more on the road than at Wrigley, which can be a tough place to hit home runs. For his career, he's hit better with runners on, runners in scoring position, than with the bases empty; particularly so last season.

Someone will give him a shot.

by Firpo Marberry on Jun 28, 2007 12:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So far. . .

>>But Jones is also showing that you don't get super better that next year in your 30s.

Gary Matthews, Jr., is among those for whom this does not hold.

His dad did real well when he was younger, so this "super better" doesn't particularly apply to Sarge Sr. But Sarge cranked it pretty good for a couple years in his early and mid 30s. Turning 32, 33 isn't a death knell.

by Firpo Marberry on Jun 28, 2007 12:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cannot hit a curve ball

In his best years, he led off and feasted on first-pitch fastballs. When he has to deal with breaking balls for strikes, he's pretty hopeless. And when he's behind in the count, he swings at every slider or curve ball in the dirt that gets thrown at him. I thought he might do better in the NL, but I guess they have curve balls over there too.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 27, 2007 5:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

SI.com...

rumors that TR had phone calls with Jim Hendry yesterday. After initial panic, I started to think if Hendry could pick up 4.5-5 million of the contract, he wouldn't be such a bad CF option at the bottom of the order in 08.

by TheMattWilke on Jun 28, 2007 1:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LEN III

If you read between the lines of LEN III's article on the subject, the Twins intend to sign Hunter at the end of the year. That's why whoever they get needs to be a free agent at the end of this year because they don't expect to have any money left after signing Hunter, Cuddyer, and Morneau to long-term deals and extending Santana.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 28, 2007 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Plus......

Nathan, and Rincon, and bringing back Ortiz and White?!!?

check out Twinkies autograph collection at www.TwinsCards.com

by twintown on Jun 28, 2007 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let me check

No, he just said the four:

"According to a club source, the Twins have no flexibility to take on payroll beyond this year because of the raises right fielder Michael Cuddyer and first baseman Justin Morneau will get through arbitration after the season. The club also could make another run at locking up lefthander Johan Santana beyond 2008 and possibly re-sign outfielder Torii Hunter."

So he does say "could make another run at locking up Johan Santana" and "possibly resign Hunter." With my rose-colored glasses, I read the could and possibly out of it all together.

Still , it's encouraging that they are counting their pennies to at least try to fit the two cornerstones into the budget for long-term deals.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 28, 2007 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They'll let Rincon go I think....

...and I'm betting they'll replace Nathan with Neshek.

by MNPundit on Jun 29, 2007 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They wouldn't just let him go...

I hope you mean trade.

And I would not be disappointed at all with a Nathan trade to make room for Neshek. Nathan is great, no doubt, but man, we could get a nice package for him and REALLY fill out this team, plus save money in the process. And we have more than enough arms ready to contribute. Heck, Blackburn and Mijares could both be bullpen arms for us next year, as well as Manship, plus whoever doesn't make the staff from the young guns (two of Slowey/Bonser/Baker/Perkins won't). My guess is that Bonser and Baker will end up in the pen, and we'll have a 3rd lefty in the rotation in Perkins. If I had to make an early guess at the 2008 staff, it'd be:

Santana
Garza
Liriano
Slowey
Perkins
Pen: Nathan, Neshek, Crain (if back), Guerrier, Bonser, Reyes

Baker/Rincon both shipped out for something in a package. And if Crain's not ready, either Blackburn or Mijares stepping in for the pen.

by djskilbr on Jun 30, 2007 3:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs