Jeremy Accardo and Gregg Zaun, back when life was good
Alright, I’m a bit late getting to this, plus I’ve been slacking on any sort of Jays coverage this spring: Without further adieu, why are the Jays sending Jeremy Accardo to Las Vegas (or the new Syracuse, if you hadn’t heard) and sticking with “The Reign Man” Shawn Camp? Cito Gaston, proclaimed by many to be the main reason for Toronto’s second half turnaround last season, opted for the journeyman that pitched 39 innings of mop-up work over Accardo, who was brilliant filling in for an injured B.J. Ryan before missing most of last season with a forearm injury.
Okay, forget about Accardo having minor league options — If they’re worried about the effects of losing a horse like Camp, then this season is going to be even worse than I thought. This also comes a few weeks after Gaston suggested Accardo, who has never pitched more than 69 innings as a pro and is coming off an arm injury, is a candidate to be stretched into a starter. I don’t know what Cito was doing from 1997 through last June, but I get the impression he wasn’t watching much in the way of Blue Jays baseball.
Like most Jays fans, I thought pretty highly of Cito for the job he did last season. This mysterious move, however, makes it pretty clear he’s not the mastermind we’ve all made him out to be…
