The Blue Jays’ new front office leadership — president Mark Shapiro and interim GM Tony LaCava — held a press conference today in which they addressed a variety of important topics. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reported on all the key aspects of the discussion. Among the most notable bits:
- Toronto will bring back manager John Gibbons. He was under contract for another year already, as his deal includes a clause that guarantees an added season if he’s not let go within the prior calendar year. It’s designed to prevent him from ever entering a season as a lame duck manager, and the Jays will apparently allow that provision to go into effect this season.
- While LaCava will take the reins of the baseball operations department for the time being, Shapiro said that he intends to conduct a full search for a new general manager. It’s not yet clear whether LaCava will be a candidate and what kind of timeline the club expects. Looking ahead, Shapiro indicated that he will operate at a high-level in collaboration with his general manager, but gave Nicholson-Smith the impression that he is and will continue to be well-versed in all of the organization’s baseball assets and decisions.
- Shapiro clearly rejected idea that he’d criticized Alex Anthopoulos for his deadline dealing in an internal meeting, as had been reported. He told the press that the summer moves were “great trades,” even if they required the organization to part with good young talent.
- The Jays payroll will give the team what it needs to continue in contention, Shapiro said, though he did not give details on the club’s actual spending appetite for the coming year. He did note that he’s not unaware that he’ll be working with more flexibility than he had with the Indians. As he put it, “if you have a larger payroll you have a greater tolerance for risk.” In that regard, Toronto will no longer abide by any strict rules against issuing contracts of more than five years in duration. “I don’t believe in absolutes,” Shapiro explained.
Willing to bet he would go 6 years for the right SP
Duquette was originally the first choice for Pres, am I right? Then that got too sticky to pry him away, the Jays have their best year under Alex Alphabet due to genius moves- then AA is made to feel uncomfortable by a guy with a genius tag that never got his team to the playoffs. Makes sense to me.
Donaldson and Wells trades were genius, a less persistent GM would miss those opportunities. Selling your near mlb ready pitching depth for a gamble at a playoff run without a payroll increase, not so much. His drafting and communication skills will be missed however. The rotation now consists of Stroman and Dickey with three openings and $30m or so to spend. Hutchison Sanchez and Osuna can compete for spots but they need reliable starters and more depth.
You’ve named the five guys in the rotation at the moment. Only Dickey and Hutchison will be allowed to go 200 innings, so at the very least they need three starters by the trade deadline, plus depth for Buffalo. I would guess the Jays get one established starter in the winter so Osuna can stay healthy (and move to the rotation in 2017). Ideally, another acquisition competes for Hutchison’s spot (I believe he still can be optioned). All other cash goes to relievers and a trade deadline slush fund. A third starter is grabbed late July, when Sanchez moves to the ‘pen. In the spring, the Jays pick up an out-of-option starter or two waived by other teams and put them in the swingman spot (a la Estrada).
I would give Marco Estrada a qualifying offer. I would try to sign Wei-Yin Chen. Also, there are a ton of FA starters who need to rebuild their value in a glutted market and might be had relatively cheaply (can Doug Fister or Mat Latos rebound?).
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agreed Fister and Latos are both strong value prospects…also I think Zimmerman would be awesome albeit at a price
With Price most likely walking away from the Jays where do the Jays turn to for signing SP? I personally like Gallardo, Chen and O’Day (which would allow Sanchez to move to the rotation) but they may only get one of these guys. How do they fill out the rotation?
which Jays’ players have the 5 and 10 rights and
i) who among those would be willing to be traded
and if not one of those, ii) which others could be traded
for a competitive starter in the ame?
Any of the other great FA SP’s, of which there are many, would be where they will start.
If you think O’Day is coming to the jays you musn’t follow the jays AT ALL. Bautista and O’Day have literal HATE for each other.
so Shapiro goes out before negotiations and proclaims that there are no absolutes in regards to max 5 year contracts…wouldn’t this be something you at least keep in your backpocket in negotiations until the first signing beyond 5 years? Players: 1 Shapiro: 0 facepalm