8:20pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Podsednik will earn $1MM if he makes the team (Twitter link). Declining the option with the Dodgers definitely didn't work out the way he would have liked.
3:01pm: The Blue Jays have signed Scott Podsednik to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, the team announced. The 34-year-old speedster joins the Blue Jays after back-to-back solid seasons spent in Chicago, Kansas City and Los Angeles. Sports One Athlete Management represents the Blue Jays' new addition.
Podsednik posted a .297/.342/.382 line in 595 plate appearances for the Royals and Dodgers last year. He stole 35 bases (50 attempts) so, along with fellow newcomer Rajai Davis, he'll help manager John Farrell realize his goal of creating a well-rounded offense instead of a homer-centric one.
Podsednik, a ten-year veteran, figures to be in competition with Davis and Juan Rivera for playing time. A left-handed hitter, Podsednik will provide Farrell with alternatives to Davis and Rivera, who both bat from the right side.
The Dodgers didn't offer Podsednik arbitration after the season, so they don't gain a pick for losing the Type B free agent. Podsednik turned down his side of his mutual option with the Dodgers after the team picked its side up for $2MM. Unless his minor league deal with Toronto is an unusually lucrative one, Podsednik would have obtained more guaranteed money by exercising his option back in November.
Joshua Clark
A well predicted and good move from AA
dc21892
After a rather productive last two seasons offensively, I’m suprised he only got a minor league deal.
NL_East_Rivalry
He can’t throw or hit for power. You don’t want zero power coming from LF. Probably the only reason his SLG is higher than his avg is the gappers and his speed. But he is a fast runner and consistent to boot. You would think a speed-desperate team would pick him up.
jwsox
this is perfect fit for the Jays if he makes the team he should get the starting nod over rivera…with him and/ or davis at the top of the order batting 1-2 it gives the mashers more guys to bring in. The jays didnt need more power even with the loss of inconsistent wells out pods is s good signing for them
grownice
Itll be davis , escobar in the 1-2 spots and pods as the 4th Of, rivera will start in left/right unless traded, and yes im the Jays Gm.
jwsox
why would you want rivera to start? he is bad defensively, does not hit for average, does not get on base and cant run at all
grownice
Rivera’s obp is only 10 points below pods for his career, but Rivera’s ops is about 80 points higher then pods, and in the hitter freindly park of rogers centre im taking rivera’s power over pods speed.
MB923
“You don’t want zero power coming from LF”
Rajai Davis, Brett Gardner and Juan Pierre, all starting LFers who had a lower sluggging percentage than Posednik. I’d probably take any of the 3 on my team. Are their LFers I’d take over them? Sure, but just because they don’t hit for much power doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable in LF.
NL_East_Rivalry
Never said he wasn’t valuable, but at such an easy position, you can easily get a guy with a better OPS, so it seems like a waste. If you NEED speed that bad, then yeah sign one of those guys. I wouldn’t mind seeing Pods and Nix working LF and the bench for a team, but they both ended up signing minor league contracts. Both were guys I thought would get a Major League contract.
MapleWood29
Minor league deal can’t hurt
Brad L.
Minor league deal? That’s insulting for him. He’s performed well the last two years.
Janssen
Must be all he was getting.
Brad L.
Pretty disappointing.
Janssen
He turned down a 2M option with the Dodgers to hit the market. He’s likely to make a big league roster, unlike a lot of guys. Seems like the way things are going. You hit your mid-30s and unless you are an A-list star it can be hard to find a job.
jwsox
thats 2 years ina row pods has been offered a good major league deal for a team and tuned it down… he turned down the whitesox 1 maybe 2 year deal and he turned down the dodgers deal thinking both times he would get more money and more years…cant blame him for wanting more security but he should have played his cards better
Yankee_Baal
He has had two good years, but was lousy in 06, 07 and 08. This track record and his age doesn’t help. Plus, he has valued himself badly in the market, so… it’s not so much a tendency as a series of bad circumstances.
Furge
Who cares if he deserves more. Thats a bargain for the Jays. Good job AA!
PostMoBills
Wow, I would’ve thought somebody out there would give him a major league contract.
Bakker
Didn’t he have a players option and decline a decent amount of cash last fall?
Bakker
nm, found it. Declined $2M in November.
theophilus166
yeah. It was a mutual 2 million dollar option with the Dodgers. The Dodgers picked it up, but he declined. I guess this is what he gets for that move…
Guest 7311
watch yourself Raja!
BlueJaysFTW
Rajai not going anywhere. More like watch out Rivera.
TdotsFinest
exactly
jasonk
Yeah – Rivera is as good as gone with this move.
WhenMattStairsIsKing
Agreed. Rivera would be helpful in Pittsburgh, Washington, or Los Angeles.
Encarnacion's Parrot
Jays should give Rivera back to the Angels and a large double-double for that $5mil CND.
Sniderlover
I think they will both stay but it could turn into a platoon situation.
Patterson/Mastroianni, Molina and McDonald can be the other bench players.
rzepczynski
more like byebye corey patterson
blizzah
If Pod could still play a respectable CF, then you may be right, but he can’t/
Furge
What are you talking about? He hit just under .300 last season and had 35 SBs. Now that he’s out of KC i’m expecting his run total and his RBI rate to increase over last season.
inleylandwetrust
He means defensively (I assume), and with his -66.1 UZR/150 in 2010 he is correct.
Anthony
His career line is .279, .340, .381, .721
His 2010 line: .297, .342, .382, .724, 35 SB
So it is a bit surprising that he only got a minor-league deal, but he’s below average at just about every aspect of the game aside from his speed, so it’s not entirely surprising.
goredsgo
How does Nick Punto and Scott Hairston manage to get MLB deals but Podsednik cant??? Guess he didnt have much of a choice at this point though.
WhenMattStairsIsKing
I think he waited out a non-existent market. I hear you though.
damnitsderek
In Punto’s case, it was his defense.
Hairston, though. Well, that’s a mystery for the Hardly Boys.
TdotsFinest
Absolutely love this deal! Podsednik bats leadoff against righties while Davis bats 9th and against lefties, Davis bats leadoff with Podsednik 9th. This team is gonna be fast!!! 35 stolen bases for Podsednik and 50 for Davis last year.
jason
Does this mean Rajai Davis has to look over his shoulders or is AA working on a deal that would send Rivera somewhere for a 3b option? Landing Bautista in RF where he should be!
Eric Epp
Don’t forget about Travis Snider, if anything this move cements that Bautista will be at 3rd come opening day.
bla
The Jays just solidified its base stealing even more now, with Davis, Pods, Bautista, Snider, Escobar and Hill stealing, while Lind, Bautista, Hill, Rivera, and Snider providing the power, the only question is can Arencebia live up to his power?
grownice
davis , pods, and to some degree escobar are the only real sb threats, hill bautista, snider arent going to add many.
Lunchbox45
Snider could be a 20 base stealer..
Escobar isn’t ask quick on the paths.
Andrew
Agree, Snider’s speed is very under rated but since he lost weight last year he is surprisingly fast.
Lunchbox45
He told me his trick is to picture a bacon burger at second base before he swipes a bag
Motor_City_Bombshell
He should share that trick with the entire Detroit Tigers organization not named Austin Jackson.
Encarnacion's Parrot
Benji Molina uses the same technique. Problem is he’s used it too much to beat out lines at the buffet.
sports33
Whoa guys. Hold on a second, Bengie hit a triple last year. I’ll admit I had to pause the game because I was laughing too hard, but let’s give him some credit.
rzepczynski
seems high to me… i agree he is a lot faster then he is given credit tho
Lunchbox45
If Molina stole 1 base last year, Snider can steal 20 easily IMO
Encarnacion's Parrot
Bautista is someone I think could steal some bags too. Not 20, but maybe 13-15. In the last couple years he’s stolen bases at a 85% clip in limited chances [little playing time in 2009, too many home runs in 2010].
Anthony
Yunel Escobar will never be a stolen base threat. He’s got tremendous range at SS, but he’s pretty slow compared to other SS’s and is a flat-out terrible baserunner. It’s best to not even send him. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him run towards the right-field corner on an attempt at some point…
NomarGarciaparra
How does Poodsednik only get a minor league deal? He’s hit around .300 for the past 2 seasons!!!
WhenMattStairsIsKing
I know, he’s Rickey Henderson himself compared to the last two seasons of your Los Angeles and Oakland days!
blizzah
Price is right AA!
bleedDODGERblue
Good call riding out of LA on that high horse after opting out of that contract, Scotty 😉
brocnessmonster
So glad he did. We’d have half the left handed platoon options in MLB on the roster by now if he hadn’t.
MeowMeow
Yikes, times must be tough for the free agents. I can’t believe he couldn’t score a major league deal, but it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll be seeing major league playing time anyway, especially if AA can move Rivera.
okbluejays
Even though I hate Pods, and think Davis is a better player at this point anyways….this isn’t a bad move just because it’s low risk/medium reward, especially since it’s a minor league deal.
Dave_Gershman
This is really not a big signing. He deserved a minor league deal. He’s going to be a good 51.
pastlives
at this point, wouldn’t he make the team?
c- arencibia/molina
1b/dh – lind/EE
2b – hill
3b – bautista
ss-escobar
IF – mcdonald
OF – david, snider, rivera, pods.
who else am i missing? regardless though, it seems like he’ll have a spot, no?
Dave_Gershman
He sure might, but he’ll easily make a fraction of an impact. 51 quality
pastlives
Maybe he could platoon with Rivera in LF? Though I’d probably rather just stick Rivera out there for the whole season..I guess just a solid 4th OF
Dave_Gershman
Bautista/Davis/Snider. Do the Jays really carry a 5th outfielder with a 4 man bench?
BlueJaysFTW
What in the world would ever make you think Bautista is playing in the OF this year? Snider/Davis/Podsednik – Patterson/Rivera
Jon Stark
I sure hope that is not the outfield the Jays run out there. That is not good.
grownice
You dont follow the Jays apparently because bautista is playing 3rd at the moment, and Pods is an upgrade over Patterson for the 4th OF spot , if you dont agree your crazy.
Dave_Gershman
Who would you rather have in the lineup? Lawrie or Rivera?
Lunchbox45
Lawrie isn’t ready.
Dave_Gershman
You want to bet?
Lunchbox45
Yes I do, he’s 20 years, and only played 2 years of pro ball
AA didn’t call up Drabek instead he struggled through Eveland, Tallet and Litsch starting
He didn’t call up Arencibia to help out offensively even though his bat was ready
He even left Snider down in the minors longer than he had to be.
He’s made no indication of rushing players to the majors so far. Explain to me how you would win that bet.
**edit, I’m not counting september call ups
Dave_Gershman
You’re comparing apples and oranges. You’ll believe me when it happens
Lunchbox45
Lawrie isn’t God, Snider was as highly touted as him at the same age.
Snider was rushed to the majors and AA even said that he didn’t like the way the previous regime handled Snider’s first years. Also with the jays not seriously competing this year, I doubt they let his clock start ticking
Jon Stark
Snider was higher touted than Lawrie.
Sniderlover
Snider was far more highly touted and Snider at least saw some time at AAA and hit well there which is why he got a promotion (september call I think).
TheodoreRoosevelt
True. Think he was rated as 6th best prospect by BA. Still think he’ll live up to that promise.
grownice
You lost when you said Patterson > Pods, and you lost again when you assumed Lawrie is ready. 0-2
mp87
295 hitter who causes problems for the opposing infield? hes a better leadoff hitter historically than davis…i saw someone post earlier pods 1 against righties, davis 9 and invert againsts lefts is exactly what i was thinking…davis does not walk enough at all historically. Pods is over 0.5 walk to k ratio…and it looks like davis is a little above 0.3 in his career. this sets up jbau in right, davis in centre and pods/snider dhing and in left. yunel at short, lind first, arencibia catching. only question is whether they bring in a 2nd baseman or 3rd baseman to combine with hill at the 2 positions….unless they cant in which youll have mac playing 2nd…hitting 240 9th behind davis who they can run hit and run, straight steal, bunt and run….mac has the bat control to go to the open side of the infield…he may not hit the ball hard but you dont need to if theres sh** disturbers on base. and a 240 hitter isnt the end of the world in the 9 spot. joe inglett is still available by the way…and i dont think theyre keeping rivera…farrell let it slip that theyre looking to move him with that comment “if hes still here we’ll find a spot for him”
okbluejays
There are no “big” signings at this stage of the game. I think he’ll get some major league playing time, but probably not a huge factor in the grand scheme of things.
Dave_Gershman
Maybe, I didn’t expect a big signing. I’m just saying he’s not a good player, at all.
inleylandwetrust
What is this?!?!? A player Span doesn’t like??? You must have something personal against this guy
Dave_Gershman
I came to my senses brother. The podcast explains it all
HerbertAnchovy
I’d rather see him in the field than Rivera.
brocnessmonster
Hat? But he had a .300 average with 35 SB! :-S
jwredsox
Batting average is hollow if you don’t have any power. I’m with Span here.
Chris Bosh
I agree. Ichiro is garbage.
Alex Grady
300/346/406 vs. RHP last year, and the jays are a righty heavy lineup. I say he’s on the team with any semblance of a decent spring. especially if a Rivera trade happens.
Bennett
minor league deal because OF with aging speed with singles power and average defense isn’t that valuable. good depth move for the jays, especially because rivera is also an unnattractive option in the field. apparently blogger crush mastroianni isn’t inspiring too much confidence
mp87
his speed can age another decade and he would still be faster than most…
Bennett
yeah his speed is fine, he doesn’t play good defence though so you don’t want to start him over rajai (+glove, ++speed) and he doesn’t have any pop at all in his bat. so basically you have a pinch runner. that said he’s awesome on a minor league deal
Lunchbox45
Goood signing!!! I like this
RedSoxDynasty
This move will help them compete with the O’s this year!
grownice
Sarcasm only works when you actually say something funny! Better luck next time…
grownice
Such a good move by AA, hard to find anything wrong with this deal.
Ben
Invasion of the base-snatchers. Hehe, Pods.
Andrew
Rivera on the move next? I have liked Pods for the past few years and he is a good insurance OF option.
okbluejays
I’d rather play Rivera, to be honest. Pods should be only a back-up option that can bring some speed to the lineup (which i’ve wanted Toronto to do for awhile now). I have to agree with Span on this one, Pods stinks but in this type of deal…it isn’t a bad move.
Andrew
Agree that Rivera is better but he also holds somewhat of a trade value, so if AA can get something decent for him I would be satisfied with Pods as my 4th OF.
Alex Grady
love it.
ClimaClub
amazing that he only got a minor league deal, if the jays can trade rivera and maybe a prospect for a half decent stopgap 3b, have a 4 man of of snider, pods, davis and bautista
ClimaClub
rivera is a DH, cant(shouldnt) play the OF. That and its good to have table setters, baustista belted 54 homers last year but only had 124 rbi’s, there should have been more players on base when he hit those homers
Lunchbox45
I’d rather have EE DH than Rivera to be honest
JohnPaulP
Sure are a lot of comments with people scratching their head about how Scott P. only got a minor league deal after “a pretty good season.” I don’t mean to hate on the guy but when I look at his numbers I see…
A 35 year old guy who batted .20 points higher than his lifetime average (on an almost equally above career BABIP) but didn’t post a higher OBP or SLG (both of which are acceptable to low to begin with.)
A guy who’s game is based on speed, but got caught stealing 15 times in 50 attempts. I’d almost rather have him stay put. Steals are ok when you can get them, but getting caught nearly a third of the time is doing as much harm as good.
A guy who posted one of the worst defensive seasons of his career.
Granted Davis and Rivera aren’t ripping the cover off the ball or winning any defensive awards, and on a minor league deal it’s not a bad deal for the Jays. I’m just saying, Scott Pods last two seasons don’t really look that great and considering where he’s at, expecting more than a minor league deal was a mistake and this result really ISN’T surprising at all.
Lunchbox45
I’d bat Davis/Pods Leadoff based on the hand of the starting pitcher.
Andy Frank
AWESOME! Very happy about that, would have preferred Vlad, but this really works well, Bautista better get used to 3b this season. Jays needed a LHB with good OBP near the top of the order. Pods better than Patterson, and Corey can still spell Rajai or DH – Davis, Pods, Bautista, Lind, Rivera/Encarnacion, Snider, Hill, Arencebia, Escobar vs RHP, Davis, Escobar, Bautista, Rivera, Encarnacion, Lind, Hill, Snider, Arencebia vs LHP, getting better !! Go Jays!
Jon Stark
Not how the batting order will look…at least not to start.
northofsteeles
SPANdemonium is easily the dumbest/most annoying commenter on here. He clearly doesn’t have a clue about anything.
Lunchbox45
haha Northofsteeles!
thoughts with big lou!
Guest 7310
Whoops!
Sniderlover
Not a bad signing with pretty much nothing to lose. Rivera and Pods could make a pretty good platoon situation.
hoagiebuchanan
.948 ops in the playoffs!
BlueJay4Ever
Now the Jays trade Rivera and ? for Michael Young. Obviously, this is why they post poned the arbitration hearing. They were the unknown suitor for Young that has been in contact with Texas. They needed to see the outcome of Young before they committed to Bautista.
SpecialFNK
River and Bautista for Young? IF the Jays are trading Bautista, they would certainly want someone young who could help for the future, not Michael Young.
Texas would have to eat A LOT of salary, more than the now 1 year contracts of Rivera and Bautista would equal to.
BlueJay4Ever
I didn’t say Rivera and Bautista for Young. Rivera and prob a prospect or taking on more of Youngs contract would be the deal. That is one option for Texas; if they consider unloading Young, they will have to pick up a portion of that contract.
Jon Stark
That makes no sense given what AA has stated he is trying to do. Why would you take on an aging player losing athletic ability? All it does is block positions for players like Lawrie. Pretty sure any team would much rather have Bautista then Young (even with contracts aside).
jwsox
thats for CF it was -11 in left which is not good but not horrible and considering how many runs the jays can score its fine
BlueJay4Ever
Now the Jays trade Rivera and ? for Michael Young. Obviously, this is why they post poned the arbitration hearing. They were the unknown suitor for Young that has been in contact with Texas. They needed to see the outcome of Young before they committed to Bautista.
Manny_Lee
No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO! NO F’ING WAY NO!
sadp
Thankfully we do not live in the evil mirror universe where Alex Anthopoulos has a beard and would make that trade.
sports33
Although I would love to see what AA would look like with a beard.
Alex Grady
that blocks Brett Lawrie.
SpecialFNK
it’s a minor league deal, but I would put it in pen that he makes the team.
this is great! a lot of flexibility.
as of right now, Bautista is at 3B. who else is there? Lawrie? likely not ready? Encarnacion? E5, doubt it. Hill moving over? and who plays 2B?
you likely have an OF with 3 of Davis/Podsednik/Rivera/Snider with one of them also seeing time at DH with 1B players Lind/Encarnacion or even Rivera at 1B.
it also gives the Jays another player they can trade at the deadline.
thegrayrace
I am so thankful he turned down his half of the mutual option with the Dodgers… but the guy really needs to fire his agent.
O's2011Champs
As O’s fan I gotta say… damn.
The Blue Jays are stacked are looking good, but I’m really scared about them in 2012.
With a lot of young talent blooming by then(and maybe Pujols), I could see the Jays winning the AL East or atleast the wild card.
Furge
I’d be surprised if the Jays made a run at Pujols next off-season. I figure he’ll end up a Cub before anything.
Encarnacion's Parrot
If Pujols becomes available to everyone, I’m certain the Jays will try hard. Doubt he’d come here, but it’s a nice pipedream.
gorlak357
A decent fourth outfielder, but I can’t see him getting much playing time until Rivera is dealt. Even then somebody else may come along that allows Bautista to play RF. I would bet that with Bautista being signed long term they will try and get him back to RF as soon as possible.
m4r1n3r
Holy…. Only 1 million!!??? WHY? How does a guy with batting line like that ONLY get 1 mill?
mp87
you dont park him on the bench, hes never been a bench player. he signed a major league deal in toronto…you dont do that if youre told “hey if you make the team, youll be a pinch runner..even though we have patterson.” he undoubtedly had other minor league offers because theyre 0 risk for the issuing team. he picked here because as long as he shows up to spring training, unless patterson his 600 during the spring hes got a starting job. this team is now increadibly fast:
LF Pods
SS Escobar
1B Lind
RF Bautista
3B Hill
DH Snider
C Arencibia
CF Davis
2B McDonald
Thats as of now the way i see it. say what you want about mac, i know some of you will say something. as for pods, hes a BETTER LEADOFF HITTER than davis. davis simply doesnt walk enough. theyre both about 280-290 hitters, but pods is better in that spot, and its easier to put him there when they both fit in the lineup. mac also only fits in the lineup now because you want jbau in right. outfielders can play more games during the season and dont get worn down. and i would rather find someone to take rivera. hit macdonald 9th, behind davis and whenever davis is on base they can run hit and run, straight steals and if the pitch is there slap it through the hole or bunt and run. theres only 1 viable option at this point to bring in and think he could start right away and thats joe inglett (though i know last year he struggled)…in which i would sub him straight in for macdonald in the lineup above. and for everyone saying pods has no pop…youre all aware he hits homeruns at a higher rate than davis right? Pods makes more sense in left anyway if jbau is in right…rivera cant get to anything, and you dont need a big arm in left
Guest 7300
The Podfather lol!! Can’t hurt, I guess…
P.J. Lowry
A good deal for the Jays. Speed never goes into a slump. Great move by AA…