Besides the bad back, there have certainly been changes going on in his personal life including an interracial marriage to a very attractive lady and a new child. Her Canadian citizenship also led to some strange complications with immigration that affected the time they could be together. His mind has not been fully on baseball. I have no idea if this has affected his performance or not.

If I were speculate, this isn’t about simple deterioration of skill. There is likely something less publicly obvious. Otherwise the Jays wouldn’t attempt to cut ties with him in such a dramatic fashion.

And what is it about autographs anyway? What is it? To prove that you handed a baseball and a pen to a famous athlete? I mean seriously, it’s not like you have any connection to the guy whatsoever other than watching him play in a game.

No, the reason for his struggles is that:

A) He’s making less contact (82% in career year vs 78% after)
B) His walk rate has dropped while the K rate has gone up.
C) He’s struggling to pull the ball (1.00+ OPS to LF in 2009 and that’s dropped in 2011/2012).

I remember seeing the Jays on the road in Philly and Washington and I was trying to get autographs with a bunch of other Jays fans. Most of the guys would either come sign some or at least give us a wave when we shouted out to them. Adam Lind just ignored us. Not a look, not a wave, not anything.

He’s been a jerk in my books his entire career and I’m ecstatic to see him and his worthless bat gone for good. If he never plays in the majors again then that’s even better. Good riddance.

Lind can still hit, but he had turned too passive at the plate. Not swinging at the first pitch put him in the hole far too often, He also played well at first base.

But he’s been so bad the past couple years, it’s hard to justify keeping him in the lineup.

If he does go, then I hope he turns it around wherever he ends up.