Troy Tulowitzki was blindsided by his trade to the Blue Jays last July, but the former Rockies star told FOX’s Ken Rosenthal that he’s not bitter toward his former organization. “I was honest last year saying it was very tough for me, ” Tulowitzki explained. “And now I’m honest saying I’m over it.” Tulowitzki spoke to Rosenthal about how close he’s become with Josh Donaldson since joining the team, praising Donaldson’s leadership and intensity. “You want him on your team,” Tulowitzki said of the reigning AL MVP. “He might be that guy on the other team that irks you. But you love taking the field with him. He gets the best out of me.” Tulowitzki spoke favorably about his new organization overall, praising the level of competitiveness that permeates the veteran clubhouse.
More on Tulo and the AL East…
- Interestingly, Tulowitzki gave somewhat of a different vibe in an interview with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. “I’ll never talk to him, never talk to those people,” the Blue Jays’ shortstop said of the Rockies’ front office. “You get lied to, straight to your face, you get upset. I believe in forgiveness, but at the same time, I don’t plan on being friendly with them, or anything like that.” Tulowitzki hasn’t spoke to Rockies GM Jeff Bridich since being informed he was traded — a meeting in which Tulowitzki was “livid,” Nightengale notes. Tulowitzki explained that he felt betrayed because he’d been promised to be kept in the loop on trade talks involving his name, but that ultimately didn’t happen. However, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos each explained to Nightengale that they felt keeping talks as silent as possible was imperative, as leaking information could have jeopardized the trade. Tulowitzki’s focus now, however, is on the upcoming season and rediscovering the level of offense he displayed in his best years with the Rockies. Tulo batted .239/.317/.380 with the Jays and missed time due to a cracked left shoulder blade.
- David Murphy explains to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he was surprised at the fact that he ultimately settled for a minor league contract this winter. While Murphy is excited about the prospect of being in camp with the Red Sox, who originally selected him in the first round of the 2003 draft, he also felt he was productive enough in 2015 to land a big league pact. “I kind of thought it was 50-50 my option would be picked up in LA,” Murphy tells Bradford in reference to a $7MM club option. Murphy didn’t enter the offseason with outlandish expectations; he tells Bradford that his expectation was to sign a one-year deal somewhere but never came all that close to finding one. Murphy implies that earlier in the winter, he received some hypothetical interest on low-paying one-year deals, but his camp waited to see if more lucrative offers materialized. The veteran outfielder adds that he spoke to other free agents this offseason, with many expressing similar confusion about the lack of a market for position players.
- Sticking with Murphy, Jon Heyman recently reported an additional minor detail about his contract with the Red Sox (Twitter link). In addition to the previously reported $2MM base salary, Murphy can earn up to $1.5MM via incentives and secured a March 27 out clause on his deal as well.
- The salary level of pre-arb players is sometimes also cause for controversy, but the Red Sox seemingly avoided that with some of their deals. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (links to Twitter) that shortstop Xander Bogaerts will receive a relatively hefty $650,500 payday after his strong 2016 season. Others, too, were rewarded, including Brock Holt ($606K) and Mookie Betts ($566K).
- Nobody really comes out of the Aroldis Chapman suspension as a winner, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who says that’s the way it should be. All those involved were in a tough spot, particularly the MLBPA, and the 30-game ban that was arrived upon walks a fine line in serving the varied and complex imperatives that were at play. Sherman’s Post colleague Ken Davidoff argues that the Yankees at least benefit in that the lack of ongoing controversy won’t be a source of drama, while Rosenthal opines that the league landed on an appropriate decision. For his part, Chapman says he’s gotten rid of any firearms and says that the matter is “something I definitely want to put behind me,” as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets.
Not to mention Tulo called the Rockies a “country club” too, oof.
Tutoring would know. A country club is a place where half the people show up to watch other people play a game. He’s done that from the Rockies bench a large percentage of his career. Dude basically backs the Rockies into a corner with him or his agent leaking a trade demand…then gets livid when it happens. As if he’s not out taking care of himself.
Good luck playing him on that turf, Jays fans.
Tulo would know. A country club is a place where half the people show up to watch other people play a game. He’s done that from the Rockies bench a large percentage of his career. Dude basically backs the Rockies into a corner with him or his agent leaking a trade demand…then gets livid when it happens. As if he’s not out taking care of himself.
Good luck playing him on that turf, Jays fans.
Grass infield bud
Tulo is a helluva player but he comes off as a whining brat.
Don’t worry about the Rockies only thing you should focus on is 2016. And besides, didn’t you REALLY want to be traded by Colorado in the first place?
I think his point more-so has to do with leaving him in the dark. He really did have a simple request: just keep me in the loop in terms of trading me.” He really wasn’t demanding anything unreasonable or excessive – just to let him know where he might be heading. And he had told this to the front office a few times. Instead, they left him out of it. I can see why he would be upset over it. Up until that point, thats where he played his entire career.
Sure – we can grow up, be a man, you’re getting paid millions, etc., but at the end of the day, it is a big transition. Espicially playing in an entirely different country.
It’s reasonable to believe Tulo or his reps would have leaked the info had they been aware of a Toronto deal to put the kibosh on it. He seems to have done everything possible to steer himself toward New York. He essentially hamstrung the Rockies trade leverage with his earlier public demands. Could he be trusted to be kept in the loop?
Would think he’d be happy being sent out of a rebuilding situation so he can have his prime years not wasted, Never seen so many unhappy millionaires playing a game for a living.
His prime years are behind him. He is still good and wouldnt surprise me if he has one more excellent season in him but those injuries add up.
Tulo’s talk about being so mistreated by the Rockies confuses me. The reports leading up to the trade seemed to indicate that his main priority was to play for a contender, and if that was somewhere else, so be it. Were these reports just speculation?
It seems like he just wanted to be kept in the loop, but not everyone wants to go to Toronto as well. Taxes are insane.
Chapman wins because the suspension doesn’t effect his service time and he can become a free agent after the season. That’s if you want to call someone a winner that looses 2m for actions like this….pretty lucky he didn’t catch shrapnel.
Tulo wants to be so much like Jeter…including staying with one team his entire career. He wanted what Helton has in Colorado. Except Helton is a stand up guy and Tulo is the guy no wants to be around.