Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins spoke Saturday on how division-rival Boston’s recent acquisition of left-hander Drew Pomeranz could affect the trade deadline, telling Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, “I’m not so sure it’s going to increase the market drastically. There’s just more buyers than there are sellers at that position. The market was already set very high based on the alternatives.” Atkins added that, given the lack of sellers, it was no surprise the Red Sox had to surrender top-flight prospect Anderson Espinoza to make a deal happen. As for his own team’s plans as the Aug. 1 deadline nears, the Blue Jays aren’t focusing solely on acquiring rentals or controllable players, Atkins stated. “Typically you pay for control, so that would mean probably giving up more prospect-level. Everything’s a balance.”
More from Toronto and one of its AL East rivals:
- The Rays don’t seem interested in trading third baseman Evan Longoria this year, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. However, Longoria will get 10-and-5 rights in April 2018, relays Topkin, and will then have the opportunity to veto any trade. That could be a date to watch, then, should the Rays eventually have a change of heart on Longoria. The 30-year-old, who’s amid yet another terrific season, is controllable through 2023.
- The two-year extension the Blue Jays awarded first baseman Justin Smoak on Saturday is a safe play for the club, opines Davidi. If Edwin Encarnacion leaves in free agency, the Jays at least have an in-house fallback option. On the other hand, Davidi argues that the $4.125MM that Smoak will make in 2017 is $4.125MM less for the team to give Encarnacion, Jose Bautista or Michael Saunders. Extension discussions between Smoak and the team moved quickly, according to Davidi, with the two sides beginning negotiations Monday and taking less than a week to reach an agreement. “We love Toronto, me and my family, we wanted to stay here for as long as we can, and I’m just happy to get something done,” Smoak said.
- The Blue Jays aren’t sure how they’ll handle first baseman/outfielder Chris Colabello’s forthcoming return from the 80-game suspension he received in April for performance-enhancing drugs. “It’s complicated by what the alternatives will be, how he is performing, the fact that he had so much down time, then, secondarily, what that means going forward for someone who is not going to be a part of our playoff roster,” Atkins commented. Colabello – who’s on a rehab assignment at Class-A Dunedin – is on track to join Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, reports Davidi. The 32-year-old is eligible to return July 23, though he does have minor league options remaining and, as Atkins mentioned, won’t be eligible to participate in the postseason if the Jays make it.
Why is someone who is SUSPENDED allowed to rehab in the minors? He’s not injured unless being an idiot and/or a liar is now considered an injury. This has bothered me since Manny Ramirez. Why can’t a suspended player just go play in the minors the whole time if he can run a “rehab” stint?
You are bothered for no reason.
Did you also skip the fact that he has options? So it doesn’t matter he could just be in the minors no matter what ?
Smoak is the very definition of a journeyman player, why sign him. There are lots of 1B available and many are better than him, and most are just as good. Why spend this 4 million when he can be replaced at pretty much league min. He just isn’t that good. There is a reason why Seattle released him in the first place. This is a penny pinching team, fine. But why not spend money more wisely than this?
EE is likely gone and if Bautista shows anything when he returns he is gone too. Jays will will have to overpay a bit to keep Saunders. Smoak has shown consistent power numbers throughout his career and he walks enough to mitigate his low BA. Defensively he is pretty good. A very later bloomer perhaps.
Smoak also strikes out every other at bat. Is Atkins that big of a fool thinking Smoak will make up if we loose EE and/or Bautista? Toronto had the highest attendance in the AL I don’t think they should be a penny pinching team. If Rogers can’t see if they build it we will come then they deserve to never sell put a game again
Someone has to play 1B. Unless you think they should move Bautista to 1B, this doesn’t seem to affect resigning either of those guys. I’m sure they will make a big play for one of them, I doubt they just willingly let both walk. By the sounds of it, they want Bautista more than EE though, probably because they don’t want the DH spot clogged up for the next 3-4 years with an aging team. If they get a better backup catcher next year once Dickey is gone, Martin can get more days off the field and DH. You can also give Tulo and Donaldson more turns at DH to keep them fresh.