The Blue Jays announced that they signed Jon Rauch to a one-year deal that pays the reliever $3.5MM in 2011 and includes a club option for $3.75MM in 2012. There's a $250K buyout for the 2012 option, so the deal is worth a total of $3.75MM in guaranteed money, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
Rauch posted a 3.12 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 37.7% ground ball rate in 57 2/3 innings for the Twins last year. The 32-year-old has always been a fly ball pitcher and the Blue Jays play in homer-friendly Rogers Centre. The combination isn't ideal, but the Blue Jays needed dependable arms after losing Kevin Gregg and Scott Downs to free agency. Rauch has made 50 appearances or more in each of the last five seasons.
The Blue Jays have already added Carlos Villanueva and Octavio Dotel to their bullpen this offseason.
The Twins did not offer the Type B free agent arbitration after the season, so they will not receive a pick for losing the 6'11'' hurler. The Blue Jays do not forfeit a pick for signing Rauch.
awesome pick up
Good, I was starting to worry Dotel would be their closer…
love this signing!
Solid pitcher but really nothing spectacular…his neck tattoo intimidates…but his fastball does not.
As a Twins fan…I hope Toronto didn’t overpay for him.
no but his 12-6 curve is straight scary
only because its coming from the sky…
Yep, he’s a Jays closer alright… “Solid pitcher but really nothing spectacular”
BJ RYAN!!!1
Without the big contract though!
more signings just keep on coming.
$3.5M is okay, but this deal gets a pretty big “meh” from me.
It’s a good signing. Sounder than signing Fuentes in my opinion.
I would prefer Fuentes… but not on a multi-year contract.
yes, if he could be had in 1-year deal with options. Definitely
Great signing ! 3.5 won’t kill yah and he’s a good guy to have in case JBau tries to start more fights (joking)
more of the twins sucking this off season
I would not underestimate the Twins, they are like magic, and have a knack of suddenly discovering very useful MLB players out of nowhere
The Twins pen will be alright. They’re no better or worse than the Sox pen. They have plenty of new faces that are gonna be highly motivated and fighting for jobs. With a little luck, this may turn out to be the hardest throwing Twins pen in years with the likes of Nathan, Mijares, and Capps, and with hard throwers like Slama, Burnett, Hoey, Gibson, etc likely to see time in the pen in the near future.
Don’t forget the guy they got in the rule 5. Diamond I think his name is.
I was only referring to the hard throwers. Diamond is more of a finesse guy (mid-upper 80’s) who will be competing with Perkins for the lefty long reliever spot in the pen.
I’m thinking Diamond doesn’t have much competition, especially if his “competition” is Perkins. I see him making the team unless he absolutely sucks.
that is a weak pen, with a lot of questions. Especially with the Staff they have. 3rd place finish for Minny this year.
the club option is the best part of the deal. you can easily trade him at the deadline with that stipulation is his contract, just like we did with alex gonzales
The fact that they got him on a one year deal, especially with the bloated contracts other relievers have gotten, makes this deal pretty damn good.
like it…especially the 1 year with team option part
if matt lidstrom gets 2 yr 6.6 mil, rauch at 1 yr 3.5 (2y 7.25) is a good deal
OH YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, Rays, wow.
This was out of your price range?
yes… yes it was.
I keep waiting to see who they are going to sign before tossing in the towel on ’11… but now who is gonna close? Farnsworth? McGee (I am actually ok with that scenario, but knowing the Rays, they wont want to rush him/start the arbitration clock).. ugh…
Howell maybe?
So Jays Bullpen is starting to look someone decent, although I still have my doubts, especially if some of the younger arms don’t step up ..
essentially it will be made up of most of the following
Dotel, Rauch, Purcey, Jansen, Roenicke, Villanueva, Frasor, Rzepcynski, Litsch.
Can’t forget Shawn Camp in that list…maybe Carlson too? It’s actually starting to look crowded in there….
Maybe the could trade one of them to the Cubs….we still have too many SP, even after trading gorzelanny to the nats.
I feel the need to throw Winston Abreu and Alan Farina’s name in the hat as well. Just a gut feeling.
holy crap i forgot Shawn Camp!!! definitely put him in there. What was I thinking.. Carlson, I don’t know. Never really liked him except when he fought posada.
Also in the mix: Stewart, Roenicke, Mills, Lewis, Cordero, Ledezma.
I listed Roenicke… and i doubt very much they move Stewart out of the starting rotation in the minors to be a big league reliever, especially after the year he had..
Lewis exploded after he went back down to the minors, Cordero and Ledezma are both long shots
can never be short on arms…can always throw one in a trade down the line too. good thing is most are short term commitments
I think they may need a reliable lefty in there. Unless Zep cracks the rotation, he is likely the long man. I could see Purcey setting up or be a lefty specialist but he’s not proven yet.
BTW, how in the world did you miss Camp in there? 😛
Decent bullpen, nothing special but it’s good enough for a stopgap.
Good signing.
Good signing Jays, Fantasy Rauch owners worldwide cheer as their mid-end holds guy now has a chance to earn some saves.
Doubtful on Litsch in the pen IMO, All the comments from Farrell suggest he will be the leading candidate for the 5 spot… I don’t see Litsch being an out of the pen arm at all.
I can see him as a long man in the pen, in my opinion, if they don’t opt to move Stewart up to that role, I think they are probably better off having Rzep in the rotation rather then Litsch… The fact of the matter is, Jesse isn’t all that good.
i do think Zep is better suited for the pen because he seems like he cant go deep into games. his fastball/slider combo are good and devastating on left handers. i think he can possibly be the next scott downs
I think Rzep would be be great out of the pen as he’d be able to use his devastating slider more frequently. But it seems like an awful waste to turn a potential good middle of the rotation arm into a loogy. I suppose the jays are so stacked in pitching depth that it probably wouldn’t hurt them long term though. I’d still like to see what he could do over a full season, although I’m not sure it would be good to have him blocking Stewart either, depending on how well Stewart develops (potential number 2 arm from what I’ve read).
While I agree that to date, he attempts to avoid contact and strike out batters, which deters his ability to go deeper in to games, I think that he has the stuff to induce a lot of ground balls. It could be more of a mindset with him, as he matures he could realize that a ground out is better than a strike out and adjust the way he attacks hitters..
I just don’t see Jesse Litsch as a strong option for the starting rotation. . Perhaps Rzep does end up in the bullpen. But I think for the time being they are better off letting him start, perhaps building some value. I rather him keep the spot warm for Stewart and Mcguire than anyone else.
have u seen Litsch lately? he has realy leaned out. im not sure if thats any indication of how hes going to pitch next season but at least he seems motivated. hopefully he returns to form.
Yah, I was actually at the raptor game when him wells, snider and lind we’re there.. He did lose a lot of weight, while being in better shape may help him stay healthy, I doubt it improves his pitches.. His fastball is just too straight, and non of his secondary pitches are plus to have hitters off balance..
I mean Marcum has a pretty lowsy fastball, but his location is supreme and his change up is unreal. Jesse needs that plus pitch in order to succeed, and I just don’t see him as anything more than a long man at this point.
I have to respectfully disagree with part of that statement. Although Jesse may not blow guys away with the fastball last year, I think the movement on his pitches was very good. His two-seam fastball always moved well, which is why two years ago they tried to teach him a four-seam fastball (which he was getting up to 94 on occasion), since it seemed that everything he threw was moving all over the place. I have to admit that sometimes it looks like his curve ball was flat, but I always though his change was a good pitch and his cutter really frustrated batters. In terms of control, he has walked fewer people than Marcum and he should get even better at hitting his spots in the zone as he gets older (I don’t know the stats but that’s what seems to have happened with Marcum). Also, if he’s completely healthy and recovered from his injuries he may get the velocity on the four seamer back up again (it was much lower last year). All in all, I think Jesse could surprise a lot of people this year since I personally believe that his stuff is better than Rzepczynski (who doesn’t have much going for himself outside of that wicked sweeping slider). Although I realize not all Jays fans agree with my opinion
…I would rather see zep as the 5th starter…stewart as our long man…..and Jesse in a trade.
i just dont think u can trade jesse right now because he has no value. give him a shot in the 5th spot and then trade him when Stewart is ready
Agreed, but I would think they would look to move Litsch rather than having him in the pen. His arsenal just doesn’t match the role, except as a mop up guy. His value lies in being a starter.
Like this if you can’t wait for the baseball season to start!
I wish we could have kept him instead of being stuck with Capps.
Yeah me too, I liked Rauch. But that price is pretty steep, $3.5M. I’m a little surprised he got that much.
Jays fans will like him. He’s a solid addition to any pen and he seems like a good guy.
I can take that price when most predict that Capps is going to get close to 2x more than that in arbitration.
Wow I thought for sure the Rays were gonna get this guy.
As a Yankees fan, this makes me happy.
why does this make u happy as a yankees fan?
If one team was to get a little better in the AL East by adding Rauch, I’d rather it be the Jays than the Rays, who might actually be battling with the Yankees for a playoff spot.
THIS IS WHY WE HATE THE YANKEES
i dont think he checked the yankees record against the jays last year before he posted that comment.
i think his point was the Rays have a better chance at PO than Jays
which is undeniable
The Jays can still improve and take wins away from the stankees
If you think the Rays are a better team then the Jays, especially after all the players the Rays lost, I think you’re sorely mistaken. I think the Jays will be closer to the Yankees then you think, they might not make the playoffs but they will battle.
I am guaranteeing that the Rays will do better than the Jays this season. If I were picking most playoff appearances over the next 10 years, though, I’d have to pick the Jays. I like your GM.
You’re psychic are you? Pick me some lottery numbers please.
While I would have to relucantly agree with you, you can’t guarantee they will do better. How many people honestly thought The Giants would win the World Series?
I actually did but that was just pure luck so I’m not going to take credit lol. The playoffs are almost completely random rarely does the favorite going in win it.
I don’t think the jays are quite ready to compete with the yanks…however, they do have a solid chance to finish ahead of tampa. Tampa suffered some big losses but they still have a very solid rotation minus garza. evan longoria is one of my fav players. losing crawford really hurts them defensively.
Looks like AA is going after draft picks like he did the past season. Like last season, he is deliberately going after guys who will be Type B free agents at the end of the year. Davis 2.6 pts shy of a B. EE is 8 pts away from a B. Rauch is 3.1 pts away from Type A. Dotel 2.4 pts away from Type A. Remember what he did with Buck, Gregg, & Gomzalez. Gave up on Overbay & Lewis because no chance to turn them into draft picks IMO.
EE’s position change will hinder his ability to achieve type B status, but good pull on the rest..good info.
Yep, agree with you on EE.
Isn’t Davis under control for a couple of years? If Dotel has a solid year and becomes a Type A, then it is not a good thing. Hopefully he can be good enough to stay at the Type B status.
Jays could load on a few more picks next year. Frasor and Camp are FA as well.
Yep…see your point on Davis. Changes the supporting details a little. But, my key message remains the same.
Wow this is exactly what I was hoping for! I said a few days ago on here that I thought the Jays should pass on Fuentes and try to grab Rauch for a 1 year deal. Awesome move by AA, and it’s at a good price with a CLUB option! Rauch/Dotel/Frasor isn’t a bad combo at all, and then they have a lot of other quality arms for short and long relief mixed in there. Rzepcynski definitely needs to be tried in the rotation before being put in the pen, his stuff much too good to be stuck in the bullpen right away. To me he should get a shot at the 5th spot over Litsch who I don’t really like that much. If it doesn’t work out with Zep, then you have other options that can come in and do a decent job.
I don’t understand this hate on Litsch… The guy has done nothing but pitch well his entire time in the big leagues. he may not look the part, but who cares as long as he acts the part. There are alot worse options in the bigs than Litsch…
I don’t hate him or anything, but for my money i’d roll with Zep first, as he has way better stuff than Litsch. If that doesn’t work out, then you have a guy in Litsch that can step in and be servicable. He’s a back of the rotation type starter, not much more…but he can be a decent #4/#5 and it’s always nice to have a guy like him around since injuries will happen.
i really think litsch and marcum have the same “stuff”. hopefully litsch becomes as good as he was
Nothing against litsch but, if you think he has the same “stuff” as Marcum we must be watching two different games.
not the same stuff, Marcum defintely has better control and changeup, but Litsch does limit walks well and has a decent fastball. Not a huge difference between the two’s stuff
Marcum has one of the best change-ups but it took him a while before he became that good. Litsch did have 2 pretty good seasons before getting injured.
Litsch gets a lot of hate for no reason.
i agree. he aint exciting in terms of stuff, but he has a decent repitoire of cutters, a changeup and a slider. i remember a couple years ago when cito had to tell him to start throwing a real straight fastball. his velocity actually wasnt bad after that (like 92-93).
i like pitchers who simply find a way to get the job done
i know seriously
he was pretty fantastic in 2008, and BABIP, LOB, and HR/FB makes me believe it wasn’t luck-based
He’d be a lot better if he could stay healthy. At this point, The Jays have better options for the 5th spot.
…You can now add a healthy Richmond to the bullpen list…
I don’t think Richmond will ever be in the Majors again, he’s the second coming of Josh towers.
Jays will have a lot of leverage by March 30 or so, I realllllly like this signing, Dotel frightens me as “The Closer”, and I believe Purcey is actually the diamond in the rough here, he adjusted very well to the pen, and wouldn’t be surprised if he saw some closing time early in the season, he has the stuff.
Meh. 3.97 BB/9 and 3.67 FIP doesn’t exactly inspire me to see Purcey as a closer. Perhaps if he can cut those down, he can be given a chance in the second half.
Beautiful work AA.
Go Jays!
as far as litsch pitching well goes…i am reminded of gustavo chacin or josh towers…smoke and mirrors guys had chance at sustainable success because there stuff sucked.
litsch as a number is a horrendous option. it’s been reiterated on this msg board enough…give Rzep a go it seems plausible he turned the corner after his stint in the Arizona fall league.
Good signing of Rauch, you can justify paying him a little more then you otherwise would because you get the team friendly option for his second year.
Go Jays…for what its worth I think the Rays still have a better chance at the playoffs in 2011 then the Jays do..Still got Price Shields Hellickson Davis in that rotation so I agree with the Yankees fan on that one.
You can add Nieman to that list
so Dotel and him are fighting for the Closer spot now?
so Dotel and him are fighting for the Closer spot now?
Great pickup by the Jays, this man can pitch.
Great acquisition! Our BP does not have as many question marks as it did a couple months ago.