The Blue Jays are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League Signings
- John McDonald, SS: two years, $3MM.
- Alex Gonzalez, SS: one year, $2.75MM. Includes $2.5MM club option for '11.
- Kevin Gregg, RP: one year, $2.75MM. Includes $4.5MM club option for '11 and $8.75MM club option for '11 and '12.
- John Buck, C: one year, $2MM.
- Total spend: $10.5MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Jose Molina, Shawn Hill, Raul Chavez, Joey Gathright, Jeremy Reed, Lance Broadway, Steven Register, Jorge Padilla, Chris Lubanski, Willie Collazo
Trades and Claims
- Claimed P Sean Henn off waivers from Orioles
- Claimed 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir off waivers from Cardinals
- Claimed SS Mike McCoy off waivers from Rockies
- Acquired P Zech Zinicola in Rule 5 draft from Nationals
- Acquired SP Kyle Drabek, OF Michael Taylor, and C Travis d'Arnaud from Phillies for SP Roy Halladay and $6MM
- Acquired 1B Brett Wallace from Athletics for OF Michael Taylor
- Acquired P Brandon Morrow from Mariners for RP Brandon League and OF Johermyn Chavez
- Acquired P Merkin Valdez from Giants for cash considerations
- Acquired P Dana Eveland from Athletics for cash
Notable Losses
- Roy Halladay, Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas, Brandon League, Kevin Millar, Brian Wolfe, Joe Inglett, Brian Bocock, Russ Adams, Michael Barrett
Summary
Alex Anthopoulos' first winter as Blue Jays GM started off quietly, with an October waiver claim for Henn. His major moves came a few months later, as he traded Halladay, Taylor, League, and Chavez and netted Drabek, d'Arnaud, Wallace, and Morrow. His free agent moves were sensible, affordable replacements for Scutaro and Barajas. There was also a typical smattering of minor league signings and the interesting under-the-radar pickup of Valdez.
Anthopoulos' moves should be judged on two criteria: did he waste significant money trying to stay respectable in a rebuilding year, and did he get enough for Doc? Gregg was a free agent head-scratcher, but it's hard to quibble with the other $7.75MM spent. The answer to the latter question appears to be yes. If we judge the Halladay trade on what we know now, Anthopoulos acquired at least two badly-needed top 50 prospects in Drabek and Wallace.
Not sure if anyone remembers me here, I used to post here nearly everyday under the screenname “scribbletone”, but I stopped after joining the writing teams at Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy. Glad to be back as a commenter here on MLBTR. I’ve just been wondering if some of the old commenters I used to have good discussions with, like SuzysMan, melonis rex, nrmax and bjsguess, are still around.
Getting back to something that’s actually interesting, though, I actually love what Anthopolous has done in Toronto this offseason.
He got, in my opinion, surprisingly solid value for one season of Halladay in landing Drabek, Wallace and D’Arnaud. The offensive core of Snider, Hill, Lind and Wallace should be solid for years to come. The Morrow trade was an interesting buy-low, as Morrow’s stuff indicates some truly huge upside, and the price was reasonable given the depth that Toronto has in its bullpen.
They probably gave a little too much cash to McDonald and Gregg, especially considering the possibility of a Downs or Frasor trade, but overall I think that Toronto did a good job of moving back into the right direction this offseason, especially considering the payroll flexibility they’ll have after 2010.
Now we just need to see that Anthopolous will get more out of the draft than his predecessor did.
I remember you. Welcome back, always enjoyed your input, and yes, I still see Suysman, melonis and bjsguess posting on a regular basis. Haven’t seen Max for a while though.
I can’t say I’m in love with AA’s FA signings so far, but the trades he has made have been pretty good. Especially the Morrow one, hopefully they let him start.
I can’t imagine that they would’ve traded League for Morrow, just to give Morrow the job that League already showed that he can thrive in.
Drabek, Wallace, and Morrow are all studly prospects. I really hope that the Jays are good in the future. I’m always a sucker for Canadian teams. 🙂
I absolutely love AA’s off-season so far. As a 32 year old rookie GM, he managed to get a solid haul in a franchise changing deal. Picking up Morrow for League and an A-ball prospect (who wouldn’t have even made the Jays top 10 prospect list) was a steal. Hes shown he can negotiate with the big boys as hes earned respect as an up and coming GM from his peers around the league. The Gregg signing was unexpected but maybe AA thinks he could flip him for a prospect or two at the deadline (much like the O’s did with Sherill). AA also did a great job obtaining 3 picks for Scutaro and Barajas, and the Jays now have 9 picks in the first 3 rounds that should give the system a jolt of quality young talent. He and Beeston have said they’re commited to signing all of their picks which is great, they’ve even set aside money to insure that those picks will get signed. AA has stated that since the Jays play in Toronto, a huge market, they will raise payroll significantly to the Tigers/Cubs level once he feels that they have a solid young core in place. He has an excellent plan in place, and I believe the Jays are in good hands for years to come.
Beane discussed a Taylor + for Holliday last july prior to any stl and wallace trade. I guess they like taylor, then settled for the wallace deal. Since he was the next best prospect offered. They tried to make it work at 3b, but it wasnt to be. Add in 1b depth with barton, carter, doolittle and then an offseason trade for jake fox. Something had to give.
Russ Adam is NOT a notable loss. Perhaps the worst player I’ve ever watched.
The Gregg move isn’t really bad move in my opinion, I think AA’s overall goal is to see if these players can become type A or B free agents at the end of the year. Thats why AA keeps doing contracts for 1 year with a club options. In anyways the players he sign with this club option are clearly under his radar to give him more draft picks, unless AA see’s them as part of the jays future.
Overall I think the Jays did as well as they can in the Halladay trade, although I don’t understand why they traded Taylor for Wallace. I feel like between Ruiz/Dopirak/Lind and maybe in the future Cooper we are set at 1st base/DH (we should get rid of Overbay asap). We are short in the outfield, and if they are planning to keep Wells in center field anyways, why not keep Taylor. I like the Gathright pickup though I don’t think we should have got rid of Buck Coats.
I also don’t understand the Gonzalez signing after the McDonald signing nor do I understand the Molina signing after the Buck/Chavez signing. Even if McDonald would have went down we have Angel Sanchez (who is usually a no hit shortstop who hit well in Las Vegas) and is good defensively, and we have Phillips at catcher in Las Vegas who has hit okay and who I’d also rather see than Molina. I think the Morrow/Evelend moves were excellent moves. Morrow especially could have a huge upside. I was also sad to see Inglett go. I don’t know to much about his ability to play shortstop, but I would of loved to seem him try there. I think he has the potential to be a really strong hitter. I also think Buch