Blue Jays Nation
Don't miss
Home / News / The Elephant in the Clubhouse

The Elephant in the Clubhouse

0224rasmus1

It seems to me that Blue Jays fans have such a love for Alex Anthopoulos (myself included) that we don’t want to admit when a trade he made turned out poorly. Not many seemed to think at the time that trading for Colby Rasmus was going to turn out so poorly. He was still fairly young, and had had a decent year in 2010. We all thought the change in scenery would be good for him and he could continue to develop to what his once great potential as an elite centre-fielder. Fact of the matter is, he has not been getting better. In fact, sabermetrically, he is getting worse every year, and at 26 he can’t exactly be called a “promising young player” any more. The problem is, nobody is willing to admit his acquisition did not go as planned, as obvious as it seems when you take a sober second thought. He’s at the age where most players are entering their prime, but if his own history is any indication, he has as much promise to be elite this year as Juan Pierre. Some make the excuse that he way nagged by injuries, but it seems obvious that his problem is that he just doesn’t care whether he plays well (let alone any desire to be great, as indicated by last years admission that he didn’t pick up a bat for the entire off-season). With the complete turnaround in this years starting line-up and rotation, the name Colby Rasmus is the one name that doesn’t belong (at least Adam Lind had a strong finish last year, and Edwin can play first). It seems odd to me to have such a team filled with all-stars, yet we have statistically the worst centre-fielder in the division, and possibly the league.

Obviously it isn’t easy to find a replacement for Colby at this point, as most good centre-fielders belong to good teams, and we don’t exactly want to give anything more away than what we have this off-season. But maybe, that answer lies from within. I can’t imagine Anthony Gose not being a better player than Rasmus this coming year. His fielding, arm, and speed are all as good or better than Rasmus, and his on-base-percentage was better than Rasmus last year (Rasmus has more power than Gose). It is also fair to assume that Gose will get better than Rasmus at a faster rate based on two things; Gose being only 22 and Rasmus being 26, and Gose’s history of off-season practice (ei. Arizona Fall League), compared to Rasmus’ history of not practising all winter. Unless Colby had a severe performance hindering injury last year, or completely changes his outlook on the game, in my opinion, Gose will prove in spring training that the time is now for him to be the every day centre-fielder.

  • jaharhar

    Rasmus did get hot eventually last season, but not for very long.

  • http://twitter.com/teufelshunde4 Teufelshunde4

    As a Cards fan I am not gonna hate on Colby… But he is very frustrating to say the least. He will look so lost and then it will click and he looks and plays like an MVP for a few games then repeats the process all over again.  I love the kids talent always have.. I just dont know if he has ever loved the game.. He doesnt play like it..

  • Riggs010

    His problem is between his ears. He is not a bright individual. Talent alone got him this far, but he does not possess the brain power to be an elite or even solid major league player.

  • NLP

    Rasmus was 25 most of the year and had 23 HR and 49 XBH, 75 RBI and RS while having a low low BA due alot to a unlucky .259 BABIB but was a +7 Defensive Run Saved, Cardinals fan rave about Jon Jay’s defense who replaced Colby with the Cardinals and he was just a +2 this year so we should be happy to have him since a BABIP return to league levels mean we have one of the better CF in baseball and to get lucky like the Cards CF has been with a .355 BABIP or a .096 spike and we have an All-Star.

    • http://twitter.com/teufelshunde4 Teufelshunde4

       I am sorry but you cant blame a season like that solely on BABIP..  Nor can it be explained away by web gems either.. 
      Colb has over 2200 ab’s at the major league level.. He is what he is at this point… 

      • NLP

        When you have an Top-10 lowest BABIP its easy to blame it on the bad numbers, since all of those guys have terrible batting averages by default. That and his historically bad run after he hurt his groin and played with the injury the last quarter of the season. Before that he had a
        .784 OPS even with a well lower than average .275 BABIP but after the injury he lost some pop and couldn’t run as well on top of the bad luck so his BABIP fell to .216 and he hit .154 with 5 XBH over the last 45 games.

        No player who turned 26 late in the season is ever what they are going to be. Just look at our team with Encarnacion a nothing player at 26 and then dropping off 42 bombs last year and Bautista having a.239 BA and a .722 OPS at 27 before getting it figured out at the end of his 28yo season hitting 10 HR his last 100 AB of 2009 then adding 124 more over the next 1414 AB since.  Since you’re a Cards fan look at your team Freese was still in the minors at the same age Colby was at the end of the season.

        Rasmus has taken zero healthy AB as a 26 year old so its comical to judge a young player who’s been though so much already with the massive hype as one of the games biggest prospects who was fast tracked to the show, the issues he had with the St Louis manager, then moving to a new country and having a baby all before 25 after growing up in the deep south and then ending the year playing with a major injury in the best division in baseball.

        He isn’t going to have a bad groin and that bad of luck forever with so much talent on this Jays team he will put up some massive numbers this year and if the BABIP flips and he becomes more lucky like he was in 2010 then the sky’s the limit for Colby.

        I also find it funny how many Cards fans are here looking to knock an old player aren’t you guys suppose to be the best fans in the game or something stupid like that?

        • http://twitter.com/teufelshunde4 Teufelshunde4

           First of all I am not knocking the kid…   I dont believe his struggles can be blamed away on BAPIP..  There have seemed to be make up issues with Colby for years now…  For the second time I love the kids talent.. The tools he can bring the game are huge.  Colby can dominate a game on several levels when he is playing well..  My point is Colby is going into his 5th year.  While he has the talent to become an elite player there hasnt been any real progress towards that yet..  At some point players are what they are.. 
          The real difference between us is..your opinion is your using stats to the and show bad luck and bad health..  My opinion is this kid has yet to truly apply himself to being the best player he can possibly be…

          • NLP

            If the balls fall in you don’t have any struggles when you hit tons of rockets to 1B, 2B and RF and to lose hits and you get limited with a groin injury keeping you from using speed to beat out close plays it becomes a issue.

            He struck out in 20% of his PA before the injury with power and that jumped to 32% after he got hurt and he lost all power with just 5 XBH his last 45 games. So the issue isn’t with his head or trying its with  playing hurt the last quarter of the year in a killer division with 3 90 win teams in which your team was one of the worst team and also having some very poor luck along the way.

  • Captain Underpants

    He doesn’t care. He is like that actor in a movie that has been told to play baseball since he was 4 and it became like eating his veggies. He just does it because that is the only thing he has done his entire life and knows what to do. He can’t just find something else to do. He will never get “it”. Plain and simple. His dad is a big problem for him as well. 

  • STLFan

    Cardinals fan here. I really, really wanted to see Colby succeed here in St.Louis, but everything can’t always work out the way you wanted it. I still think he’s an immense talent and won’t be surprised at all to see him have a “breakout” year in Toronto. Hopefully he can find happiness…if it’s playing CF or bass fishing.

  • DwaininAztec

    Where is his dad?  Keep dad away, get him focused on the coaches, he might do well.

AL East Standings

TeamWLPct.GB
Yankees2817.622 -
Red Sox2719.5871.5
Rays2421.5334.0
Orioles2421.5334.0
Blue Jays1827.40010.0

Last updated: 05/22/2013

Find us on Facebook

Twitter Feed