The Angels announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Jabari Blash from the Yankees in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. In a corresponding move, the Angels have placed right-hander Alex Meyer on the 60-day disabled list. Blash was designated for assignment yesterday when the Yankees acquired Brandon Drury. Meyer was never likely to pitch in 2018 after undergoing shoulder surgery last September.
Blash, 28, has long boasted impressive power in the minors but hasn’t put that together in the Majors. Blash logged a career-high 195 plate appearances with the Padres this past season, hitting .213/.333/.341 with five homers and six doubles but an alarming 66 strikeouts in that time (33.8 percent). While he’s limited to the outfield corners, Blash has strong on-base skills to go along with his considerable power, as evidenced by his career .258/.381/.571 batting line and 65 homers through 235 games at the Triple-A level.
The Halos already have Chris Young on hand as a fourth outfield option, and Blash isn’t an ideal fit for that role anyhow, given his lack of prowess in center field. He could stick as an additional source of pop off the bench, though Blash also has a pair of minor league options remaining, so it seems likelier that he’ll head to Triple-A Salt Lake to open the season.
acarneglia
The Yankees essentially traded Chase Headley for a PTBNL or Cash
Travis’ Wood
Pure salary dump
YankeesBillsNets305
Even still….a fantastic trade for Cashman. Allowed us to get out from under that contract…gave us flexibility to accommodate more of the Stanton contract (and thereby reduce the prospect capital we had to give up to acquire him) and freed up 3B to give a shot to Andujar (and failing that Drury). 10/10 would do again.
srechter
Which was their only intention to begin with. There was little to no excess value on headley’s contract. The padres bought Bryan Mitchell, essentially, by taking it on. Blash was always just a throwaway piece, though he does have enticing potential with the bat.
acarneglia
Oh yeah I knew what the ideology behind it was I’m just like reiterating what it boiled down to
BronxBombers14
Think beyond the original trade. The Yankees essentially got Headley back last night in the Drury deal. Both players are statistically Similar. The Only difference is that Drury is 8 years younger, makes $12.5mm a year less, and is much more flexible defensively. Smart move on Cashman’s part.
Harry Scout
George Arias was a very streaky hitter but he did hit 38 homeruns for the Hanshin Tigers back in 2002. It’ll be interesting to see what he can bring to the clubhouse in terms of veteran leadership.
jbigz12
In that case they still dealt Headley Mitchell, widener and kolak for Brandon Drury. Drury’s OBP skills aren’t as good as headley’s but he has some more power and upside. That’s not magic. They paid the price.
brucewayne
So essentially , nothing like Headley then!
nyy42
Correct… Nothing at all like Chase!
lowtalker1
The padres essentially traded for chase headley just to get Mitchell
Jubilee3333
Nice trade. I see big things happening for the Angels now.
Long Duc Dong
Never heard of someone named David Arias. Drafted and 92 by Seattle Mariners traded in 96 to the Twins released in 2002 by the twins in signed by the Red Sox and change his name to Ortiz how much he had a pretty good career to
Axel612
Hmmmm good strategy suggestion, so if Jabari Blash changes his name to something like Jabari Jerell (his middle name), that could be the key difference.
Long Duc Dong
Yes
Kolukonu
Ortiz was never released by the Twins. BoSox drafted him in the Rule 5 draft.
start_wearing_purple
He was released: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_5_draft_results
If you listen to the way Pedro Martinez tells the story he was instantly in Epstein’s office pitching him that they had to sign Ortiz.
lowtalker1
You should never trust wiki
terrymesmer
From Ortiz’ B-Ref page: “December 16, 2002: Released by the Minnesota Twins.”
HalosHeavenJJ
So Jabari should start doing tons of roids and be like Artificially Big Papi?
Long Duc Dong
Yes
FriendOfBoras
I’ve always like Blash….but man does he suck at the Major League Level….in tripple A he plays looks MLB ready and when he gets a call to the big show he doesn’t do much.
pjmcnu
Salt Lake City is getting a fine power hitter….
silverrose
Maybe the best name in baseball
start_wearing_purple
Completely agree.
camdenyards46
Yeah. Jabari Blash sounds so awesome.
lowtalker1
John Jay gots him beat
How often do you see a founding father play baseball?
bastros88
Jon Jay is a walking collehe
lowtalker1
Whatever that is
wrigleywannabe
I loved when he was a Cub. Jon Jaycub Jingleheimer Schmidt..
sheacrazies
almost as cool as Lastings Milledge
greatdaysport
Minor league bound. If he excels he can be traded later in the season.
wrigleywannabe
for what, the cash they may give up?
xabial
As I’ve said in the Jabari Blash DFA thread…
ZIPS projects 25 home runs, 70 RBI, 61 Runs,
+1.2 WAR in 448 PA for this guy in 2018. Could be a steal, Lol
fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=11247&posi…
deej
The guy who does ZIPS must be related to Bash.
lowtalker1
Not in Anaheim
Maybe into a tiny stadium like cini or Pitts
Or in Texas
He hits a lot of pop flys
Some go out
Wolverines2
If Jabari gets 448 PAs for the Angels this year, things did not go as planned. He is Pedro Serrano. Great batting practice…not so much able to handle big league off-speed. Wanted him to be that guy in SD and after a while, it became clear he was a AAAA power hitter.
CowboysoldierFTW
I haven’t seen him live to see his swing… but he’s at the very least a cheap source of power. Defense?
xabial
Neutral (negative #’s in LF, positive #’s in RF, even out)
This guy played in the minors 2010-2016. He graduated to the majors in 2016, split time in AAA and MLB, played more AAA, in 2017.
With that being said, defensive metrics (like UZR and DRS) only measure a player’s defense performance, in MLB.
147.2 Innings in LF worth -4 Defensive Runs Saved (130 Inn in 2017)
393.1 Innings in RF worth +4 Defensive Runs Saved (264 Inn, 2017)
Uzing the sameLF/RF sample size in the majors UZR has him:
-2.3 UZR LF and +1.4 UZR in RF, for total of -0.9 UZR in OF.
Hope this helps. I never saw him play. Just looking at the #’s. I wish they calculated defensive metrics in inors, but not worth their time I guess. Even Trout didn’t get his insane UZR, DRS calculated until he graduated 2011. I use fangraphs to get all my data.
fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=11247&posi…
xabial
wish they calculated defensive metrics in minors*
-4 DRS in LF, +4 DRS in RF, comes out 0 DRS in 541 OF Inn Lol
lowtalker1
He is bad. He isn’t a major leaguer
hittingnull
“in exchange for a player to be named later…”
Mike Trout?
Houston We Have A Solution
Only if its him delivering a truck of trout to the yankees. About as close as theyll come to acquiring mike trout.
Houston We Have A Solution
I really wish he would succeed at the mlb level.
I mean blash off every time he hits a home run just writes itself.
Johnnycakes
If you’re reading this Jabari, my fiancé travels a lot for work and Salt Lake City is one of her favorite places to stay! So I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
Axel612
There’s a joke in there that I’m not going to make out of respect for your fiancé.
Dan Rogers
Maybe she can show I’m around some time….and he can give her a Blash
mcdusty31
Sometimes there’s just things you don’t say on the internet, no matter how harmless and positive your intent is
WaterfallEconomics
That’s a 3-run Blash to center! And from Statcast, the number of Jabaris the ball traveled is …
halos101
Lol
macstruts
Do the Angels understand they need Pitching… Especially Relief Pitching? They might be able to get by with their current starters. There is no chance they can get by with their current set of Relief Pitchers.
Begamin
Maybe Jabari is going to turn into a pitcher. Only he hits balls off the tee directed at the catcher
Long Duc Dong
Same problem every year for the last 15 years
Harry Scout
I don’t believe Mo Vaughn was ever a switch hitter. He batter from the right side a few times in ’97 but that was a failed experiment. Not sure what he’ll bring to this clubhouse in terms of output, but it will be interesting to see what he brings to this clubhouse in terms of veteran leadership.
lowtalker1
He isn’t a veterans
He barely passed rookie time
cakirby
They have plenty of starters, and most likely, if they like what they see with them, JC Ramirez will go back to the pen. Their bullpen isn’t bad, and if Ramirez can be reliable out of the pen, it’s actually pretty good. Remember that the Angels had one of the best pitching staffs in the league last year, primarily because of the pen. Also, why in the world would this move make you believe they aren’t trying to get more help in the pen as well?
thegreatcerealfamine
They were 12th in the league last year and if you look at their home/away splits it’s even worse.. they need pitching…
brucenewton
Petit was a great workhorse for the pen last year. Parker seemingly came out of nowhere and will need to do it again at 33. Lots of question marks.
halos101
Dude… this move has nothing to do with their efforts in the bullpen.
wrigleywannabe
and this does nothing to stop them from getting it
gorav114
It’s the same philosophy as the Os. Need pitching so keep stocking up on fourth outfielders.
Rounding3rd
I was hoping Blash would go the A’s, team up with Khris Davis as the “Blash Brothers.”