The Blue Jays have signed Chris Woodward to a minor league deal, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (on Twitter). The former Blue Jay will fill in on the infield and postpone his plans to become an agent, according to Griffin.
The Blue Jays selected Woodward 17 years ago, in the 54th round of the 1994 draft. He was in the majors five years later and played for the Blue Jays from 1999-2004 as a backup infielder. The 34-year-old appeared in eight games for the Mariners last year and also has big league experience with the Mets, Braves and Red Sox.
Woodward, who has played every position but pitcher and catcher in the Major Leagues, has spent most of his career at short, second and third. He has a .241/.298/.362 line in 1886 MLB plate appearances over the course of 11 years.
Brings back memories! 🙂
He was the first SS I saw play for the Blue Jays!
Maybe a hole to fill? Maybe a trade in the works? Maybe related to that cabral kid?
well considering Woodward’s regular positions of ss, 2b and 3b
I severly doubt the jays are about to trade aaron hil, Yunel Escobar or Jose Bautista to the Sox for Cabral.
I wonder if AA sees an oportunity in the market for utility infeilders. Could it be Mccoy or Johnny Mac as trade possiblity?
Trading Johnny Mac is a great way to get death threats in Toronto, he is possibly the most liked Blue Jay.
Packaging McCoy, a guy who can play Of and IF, seems to be a possibility. I do not think McCoy is on the 25 man roster out of Spring Training and has some decent trade value especially if packaged with a relief arm or a …cough…5m/yr OF’er.
Woodward would be at AAA as a utility player and mentor to the younger guys. IMO
No one is going to give anything up for Mccoy, every team has utility infielders who cant hit, no one is going to give anything of significance up for a bench player.
And Mac is going to retire a Jay and become a coach. Doubtful they trade him either..
I think he may be brought in to be the veteran in charge of looking out for Lawrie on and off the field in vegas.
Your right that we will not get anything big for McCoy but he is useful enough off the bench that he could be tacked onto the end of a trade to push it through and he will not be terribly missed.
I really do hope that Mac will someday be the next Butterfield for the Jays
Tor: We’ll give you Cecil and Arencibia for Rasmus.
StL: No.
Tor: We’ll give you Cecil, Arencibia AND McCoy for Rasmus.
StL: You just put that trade over the top.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Should we send some cash?
Ahahahahahaha
+10
Maybe a minor league filler?
That’s what I’m thinking…nothing to get excited about
Is there a trade in the works for one of the jays middle infeilders??? Otherwise WTF?
Maybe they wanted him to retire a Blue Jay for HOF purposes?
They signed him to a MINOR LEAGUE deal. Chill.
Playoffs
This is probably a minor league depth move, perhaps to have him in Vegas to help Lawrie adjust to 3B..
Unless they have no faith in Mccoy as a back up infielder.
This is the Jays (late) response to Adrian G and Crawford.
It always makes sense to have minor league utility/bench guys. You really don’t want prospects sitting on the bench.
he’ll head to AAA and mentor lawrie, or perhaps they like him as the 25th guy over mike mccoy…mccoy hasn’t looked sharp this spring…
Mentor Lawrie in what? From what I remember he couldn’t hit or field
That’s a dumb thought.
yeck … Aaron Hill must reeeeeeeaaaaaly be hurtin’
nope
Every team makes signings like this, and every team has fans that make a big deal about signings like this. Most likely he will not get 75 AB’s with the Jays this year. He will be there in case he is needed later in the season. He will not break camp with the Jays.
good signing by the Jays, I always liked Woody
Maybe he was about to become the agent of a player the Blue Jays wanted to extend.
My god, people. It’s just a depth signing. This isn’t some AA pathos or an impending trade for J-Mac.
He threw me a baseball when he was on the mets!! And then Chuck James of the Braves signed it.
Unless Aaron Hill starts playing very soon, the Jays had better start stock piling middle infielders.
I think McCoy makes the opening day 25 for one reason only…Aaron hill’s quad. Yes I know Johnny Mac can handle 2B, but I think they need more insurance.
Steve
hill’s playing tomorrow. simmer down
I`m fairly certain Diaz is being groomed for that role (behind McCoy).
From my reading, I am uncertain if Hill is playing for sure. Mention of a running test. Not sure if it’s during the game or in practice prior. Unfortunately, I have left the Dunedin area, starting to head back home, so won’t be able to attend the minor league game he is expected to play.
I still think that until Hill is back for sure, that AA is making the right move picking up an insurance infielder.
I think that Diaz has looked good. Saw him turn two double plays nicely on throws from Lawrie. Seemed to be stinging the ball sharply as a hitter. Also saw him at SS one game (couple of innings?). Don’t recall him being “tested” in that game. Farrell describes Diaz as a Johnny Mac clone. That sounds like they are looking at him as a utility player.
Steve
Northview High School baseball rules! Great Job!
Man, is this guy a survivor or what? How has he eeked out a career for so long?
Now all we need is to sign Russ Adams and Mike Bordick and we can start planning the parade!
A future piece in the Pujols to T.O. deal