Bud Norris for free?

[TURBO]

Bud Norris

RP, Toronto Blue Jays

 

Blue Jays released RHP Bud Norris.

This is quite a surprise, as Norris reworked his minor league contract with the Blue Jays last month so that he could rehab his forearm injury while still a member of the organization. Toronto isn't exactly loaded with relief depth, either. The veteran right-hander should be able to find a new team quickly once he's back to full health.

 

Source: Scott Mitchell on Twitter

 

Apr 2, 2019, 7:37 PM

[RockCoCougars]

Pass.

[stoutdude04]

Isnt he the guy that was a massive jerk? Feel like a remember something about him popping up last year.

[brooks_quichenick]

Don’t really want that guy in the clubhouse

[trwi7]

“I think it’s a culture shock,’’ Norris said. “This is America’s game. This is America’s pastime, and over the last 10-15 years we’ve seen a very big world influence in this game, which we as a union and as players appreciate. We’re opening this game to everyone that can play. However, if you’re going to come into our country and make our American dollars, you need to respect a game that has been here for over a hundred years, and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. There are some players that have antics, that have done things over the years that we don’t necessarily agree with.

 

“I understand you want to say it’s a cultural thing or an upbringing thing. But by the time you get to the big leagues, you better have a pretty good understanding of what this league is and how long it’s been around.’’

 

Also the dude that tattled on Jordan Hicks last year when he wasn't up to Norris' professional standards.

 

Hard pass on this dickwad.

[stoutdude04]

“I think it’s a culture shock,’’ Norris said. “This is America’s game. This is America’s pastime, and over the last 10-15 years we’ve seen a very big world influence in this game, which we as a union and as players appreciate. We’re opening this game to everyone that can play. However, if you’re going to come into our country and make our American dollars, you need to respect a game that has been here for over a hundred years, and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. There are some players that have antics, that have done things over the years that we don’t necessarily agree with.

 

“I understand you want to say it’s a cultural thing or an upbringing thing. But by the time you get to the big leagues, you better have a pretty good understanding of what this league is and how long it’s been around.’’

 

Also the dude that tattled on Jordan Hicks last year when he wasn't up to Norris' professional standards.

 

Hard pass on this dickwad.

 

Exactly what I was remembering. Jerk.

[DuWayne Steurer]

This guy was Matheny's stooge/narc in St. Louis. I'll normally look past character issues in favor of talent to make a team better, but......yeah, no. Norris is a something-something-something that I don't want near a team I root for. Absolutely no.

[HiAndTight]

“I think it’s a culture shock,’’ Norris said. “This is America’s game. This is America’s pastime, and over the last 10-15 years we’ve seen a very big world influence in this game, which we as a union and as players appreciate. We’re opening this game to everyone that can play. However, if you’re going to come into our country and make our American dollars, you need to respect a game that has been here for over a hundred years, and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. There are some players that have antics, that have done things over the years that we don’t necessarily agree with.

 

“I understand you want to say it’s a cultural thing or an upbringing thing. But by the time you get to the big leagues, you better have a pretty good understanding of what this league is and how long it’s been around.’’

 

Also the dude that tattled on Jordan Hicks last year when he wasn't up to Norris' professional standards.

 

Hard pass on this dickwad.

 

 

The first part of full of dog whistles, but maybe I'm just desensitized to it. He DOES talk about how it's good that more people are coming over and playing. I'm not 100 pct sure who the "We" is that he's referring to and it's annoying that he's speaking as though he had any part in opening said door to those players. And for someone who wants people to understand the history of baseball, tell me, did Clemente play in the last 10-15 years?

 

He comes off as a clown in there as the self appointed "unwritten rule" just echoing what a lot of people say about Latin American players, they tend to be more affable, outgoing and they have big personalities and celebrate when they do something well...like in pretty much every sport. Not just the Puig's, but guys like Lindor...some people don't like that. Actually a lot of people don't like that. Not sure why, it's usually the same people who complain about grown men playing a kids game wanting to get paid more. Lindor really comes to mind when I think about how much someone just loves to play.

 

 

So that's not disqualifying to me in and of itself. Not sure what he did with Hicks. 21 year old pitcher isn't doing something right, it's kinda on the vets to take care of it, but again, I don't know what the story is.

 

Beyond that, he just really isn't good enough is he? I can overlook that stuff...and again, maybe that's just because you hear so much worse from certain individuals on a daily basis about the people he seems to be referring to. I could get past the Cards-like righteousness as well. For instance, if Kimbrel had signed and said these things, not sure people would be too upset.

 

But you need to be better, be healthy and then sports fans will tolerate stupidity. At least that's my experience in watching sports.

[HiAndTight]

This guy was Matheny's stooge/narc in St. Louis. I'll normally look past character issues in favor of talent to make a team better, but......yeah, no. Norris is a something-something-something that I don't want near a team I root for. Absolutely no.

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-bud-norris-repeatedly-harassing-cardinals-rookie-manager-doesnt-seem-care-much-234600367.html

 

Sounds like Matheny was all on board with this. I get that he was an unquestionable tough guy as a player, but this just seems stupid and counter productive to me.

[sarcasm]Hicks certainly seemed to just LOVE the mentoring by Norris.[/sarcasm]

 

 

Still, I stand by what I said. If he was better, I'd be able to see past this. This crap wouldn't fly in Milwaukee...but agree with everyone else, why bother bringing in a rehabbing vet who's just not that good to possibly mix it up in the clubhouse.

[xisxisxis]

I respectfully disagree. We should sign him to a minor league contract and send him to Biloxi for the season. That is exactly what he deserves. If we let some other team sign him there's a chance he could make it to the majors...

[HiAndTight]

I respectfully disagree. We should sign him to a minor league contract and send him to Biloxi for the season. That is exactly what he deserves. If we let some other team sign him there's a chance he could make it to the majors...

 

 

Yeah, come to think of it, I like that idea. We have enough of these "Mexican countries," getting dumped on without some moron pitcher doing it because guys actually show emotion while playing a game. It's like when Carlos Gomez was atop all these lists of most unsportsmanlike MLB players when I just thought he was so much fun to watch and actually cared. He did a few things I didn't like, but as a whole, loved the guy.

 

Plus, he just sounds sooo antithetical to the Brewers current clubhouse.

 

 

The only problem with Biloxi is it sounds like he's going to be yelling and riding the guys who have more talent than him relentlessly and then "reporting back to the manager," so they can get fined. Let him go back to STL so they can continue their hypocrisy when it comes to doing things the right way.

[SRB]

I could have sworn Bud Norris was good at one point? But looking at his career stats it doesn't seem like he's ever been good.

[reillymcshane]

I could have sworn Bud Norris was good at one point? But looking at his career stats it doesn't seem like he's ever been good.

All the stuff about Norris' character and personality aside, the guy had a stretch of about four years where he was a semi-competent back-of-the-rotation arm, but nothing more.

 

After a pretty bad stretch, he reinvented himself as a mediocre reliever - but again, nothing more than average. At age 34, there's no upside in the guy, so there's not a lot to like. He's got some closing experience, which some teams value.

 

Add in the previously discussed issues - and it's easy to see why some teams would shy away from the guy.

 

His deal with Toronto would have paid him $3M - not a huge amount - but not insignificant. Again, easy to see why Toronto said he wasn't worth it and cut the cord (it was a minor league deal).

 

I'm not sure about demand for his services this past off season, but it might be that he overplayed his hand. While he wasn't bad in 2018, he wasn't that great. I'm wondering if he took the fact that he saved 28 games and expected that would net him a nice contract. Thing is, he just wasn't that good. Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference pretty put his performance as replacement level. Who wants to commit money - even a modest amount - to a guy who's probably about a 4.00 ERA type? And a guy who has a less than stellar reputation.

 

There are lot of these kinds of guys looking for jobs (new Brewer Alex Wilson is an example). Solid veterans, 30+, not a lot of upside. Many are simply fighting for jobs - happy to be making $1M or so.

 

I don't doubt Norris will land somewhere - because as noted, he was decent last year. But he'll be lucky to get a $1-2M at this point.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I would love for Norris to get signed by the Reds so he can play with Yasiel Puig.

[SeaBass]

I wonder what country Bud Norris thinks Bryce Harper came from with that bat flip he did a few days ago.

[Brew crew 92]

Yeah I don’t think there’s anybody in all of brewer world who’s head doesn’t hurt reading any more of this wasted thread. Just my opinion, of course I could be wrong.

[HiAndTight]

I wonder what country Bud Norris thinks Bryce Harper came from with that bat flip he did a few days ago.

 

 

What's sad is he's far from being the only one who cares about this crap. Molina gets all pissy about this type of stuff. For instance. LaRussa could just imagine an insult and start directing his pitchers to throw at Brewers heads. It's not just the Cards, but they seem to be the most obvious. The Brewers, on the other hand, they're far from over the top, but they just have fun. Remember when them untucking their shirts got people riled up? I mean....seriously? Untucking your shirt after the final out is "feud" worthy.

 

The chasm between football and baseball is laughable. You make a tackle after a gain of 6, down 28 and you do a dance or whatever. In baseball, if you hit a game-winning HR and don't put your head down and you show some emotion, you're breaking the unwritten rules.

[KeithStone53151]

I don't really care for him singling out foreign players, but I don't really mind if some guys want to have an old school mentality on home run celebrations. That's their right and I don't care about that, but he shouldn't be singling out anybody...as home run celebrations aren't specific to one nationality or race. I'll add that I think a much bigger deal is being made of his comments on here than should be. If your argument is moreso "I don't want him in the clubhouse with our latin players"...I can understand that. If your argument is "he's a horrible human being and shouldn't be allowed to play"...well that's silly and ridiculous. It's very similar to how many self-righteous Cubs fans sounded regarding Russell and Murphy last year.

[brwrsfan]

I wonder what country Bud Norris thinks Bryce Harper came from with that bat flip he did a few days ago.

 

 

What's sad is he's far from being the only one who cares about this crap. Molina gets all pissy about this type of stuff. For instance. LaRussa could just imagine an insult and start directing his pitchers to throw at Brewers heads. It's not just the Cards, but they seem to be the most obvious. The Brewers, on the other hand, they're far from over the top, but they just have fun. Remember when them untucking their shirts got people riled up? I mean....seriously? Untucking your shirt after the final out is "feud" worthy.

 

The chasm between football and baseball is laughable. You make a tackle after a gain of 6, down 28 and you do a dance or whatever. In baseball, if you hit a game-winning HR and don't put your head down and you show some emotion, you're breaking the unwritten rules.

 

I'd have to agree with this. I mean, look at the NFL and NBA. Guys dunk on you....they stare you down or scream in your face. Guy hits a three and there's a huge variety of stuff guys do going back down the court. As you said, NFL guys do all kinds of stuff - not just for TD, but for normal stuff. But for some reason in baseball, everyone takes it personal.

 

I get you don't want people blatantly showing up a pitcher (yelling or pointing at them for example), but watching a HR? Or tossing your bat? Who cares. Pitchers and catchers celebrate big K's to end innings or win games constantly - why is that OK but a hitter doing it is "breaking the unwritten rules"?