It Was Fun Frank...

Yes the Jays won today. It was an ok game. Thank you to David Eckstein for the home run. I was still a bit nervous when Jeremy Accardo came in for the save but he got the job done. And that's what matters right?

Today's post though has really little to do with the game. If you don't know by now Frank Thomas has been released. On Saturday it was announced that he had been benched. I didn't really know why and didn't find out all day. But it came as a shock to find out the next day that he had been let go.

Unfortunately I am going to have to go with the management on this one.

Sports are a business. Baseball is no exception. Whether they admit it or not this was a financial decision. Thomas had a bonus deal that if he was to have 1000 plate appearances he would gain an extra $1 million next year. That's pretty sweet...except why pay him that when he is not doing well. When the Jays offered that deal I'm sure they were thinking that he was going to be this awesome power hitter like he usually is. But he is getting older and I don't think he has it in him anymore. Also next year he would have been making around $10 million for the season. This was a good way to free up some cash and maybe sign a big all star in the off-season or something.

Anyways the story goes that Thomas didn't appreciate being benched and didn't like the idea of playing a couple times a week. J.P. Ricciardi has said though that the team can't wait for Thomas to pick things up. And lets be honest he hasn't been playing like he should. When the team released him he had 3 home runs, 11 rbis, and was batting .167. He seemed to be on a nice little streak about a week and a half ago so where did that go?

This all sounds like I'm hating on the guy. I like Thomas. or the Big Hurt...whatever you want to call him. I had the lucky chance of seeing him hit (if I remember correctly) his 496th or 497th homerun last year against the Twins. That is a memory I will have with me forever.

What A Nice Guy...Good Luck...

But in this division teams like us, the O's and the Rays, can be destroyed and out of the playoffs early on. Why keep Thomas batting at fifth if he really isn't doing anything. Sure he might get a hit here or there but is it worth it? The best part about this is that the Jays will more then likely bring up Adam Lind. I'm sure Thomas will find work somewhere else within the league and do ok. So all the best to him.


-Stanton X