You may have noticed that the Toronto Blue Jays bring up the rear in the American League East, five games below.500. The Jays have struggled to compete since their early 90s World Championships and have made their share of bad personel moves.
Two of those moves are playing the left side of the Toronto infield today and go a long way towards explaining why the Jays' imminent challenge to Boston/New York hegemony never materializes.
At shortstop is David Eckstein, a 33-year-old journeyman whose value has always been overblown because of his diminutive stature and his consistent hustle. The standard Eckstein narrative emphasizes his pluck, his "heart," and his family's health struggles. It obscures the truth about him, that he's never been more than a decent leadoff hitter with absolutely no power. Toronto signed him to a $4.5 million contract, but he's fallen to second on the depth chart behind the immortal Marco Scutaro.
At third is Scott Rolen, whose accomplishments have obviously far outstripped Eckstein's, but who's missed 176 games in the last three years. Toronto and St. Louis swapped third base headaches during the off-season, and so far, Troy Glaus has given the Cardinals the better of the deal, particularly considering Rolen's $11.6 million salary. I'm not knocking the defensible trade for Rolen, but if Ontarians believed it would do anything to solve the Blue Jays' offensive deficits, they were sadly misguided.
So why spend $16 million on a pair of 33-year-olds who offer little added value? According to the Braves' broadcast this afternoon it was to season the roster with "that winning attitude." You see, Rolen and Eckstein had the good fortune to share the roster with Albert Pujols two years ago and collect some lovely post-season hardware. Eckstein had the added good fortune in 2002 to play beside Tim Salmon, Troy Glaus and Troy Percival in Anaheim to share the same honor.
The Toronto Blue Jays do not lack a "winning attitude." "Winning attitudes" are things teams acquire when they win. The Blue Jays lack winning talent. David Eckstein similarly lacks winning talent, which means no matter how admirably hard he tries, he still can't help Toronto compete. But as long as he's "pesky" and has two World Series appearances on his resume, people will believe he "knows how to win."
Here's the fun irony of the Eckstein-Rolen saga. In 2006, Eckstein and his dirty uniform were named World Series MVP, mostly on the strength of his Little Engine That Could history. Eckstein collected all of eight singles and a walk in 23 plate appearances, making his one of the silliest MVP selections in MLB history. Who deserved the trophy? None other than Scott Rolen, who ripped a home run, three doubles and four singles and earned a pair of walks in 21 trips to the plate.
Apparently when it comes to MVP Awards, Eckstein is peskier than Rolen, and knows how to win.
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