The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (subscription required) has delivered his traditional year-end rundown of some of the weirdest stats and moments from the past baseball season. Stark’s piece covers such oddities as Adrian Beltre’s eight straight seasons with exactly one stolen base, Framber Valdez’s oddly similar first two MLB starts, the Pirates pulling off a 1-3-4-2-5-8-7 double play, and how Juan Soto’s first career homer shattered the space-time continuum.
Some more from around baseball as we kick off 2019…
- Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins discussed several topics during a conference call with reporters (including Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm), including his team’s recent acquisitions of Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard. Atkins said the two veteran hurlers will likely be used in the rotation if physically able, though he stopped short of fully confirming that usage, noting that “both guys have the potential to start,” and “I do think there could be a scenario where either one of them or potentially both could be used in a (different) role.” The Jays still have a need for pitching, and Atkins said that the club will continue to look at adding more starters and relievers as the offseason continues, both in free agency and perhaps in trades, as Toronto continues to receive interest from other teams. “We’ll continue to consider any opportunities to move players potentially off of our roster. It’s not something we are proactively looking to do, but we do have a great number of players that other teams are interested in,” Atkins said. He also specifically noted that catcher Russell Martin is “interesting to a lot of teams.”
- Though the Astros have been linked to several first base/designated hitter types this winter, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan (subscription required) notes that the team could be in good shape as it stands by having Tyler White get a regular share of DH at-bats. White posted a .276/.354/.533 slash line over 237 PA last season, and he could join with the Astros’ left-handed outfielders (Michael Brantley, Josh Reddick, or Tony Kemp) in a timeshare at DH to keep everyone fresh. However, Kaplan also feels Houston will need to move an outfielder before Opening Day to alleviate a playing time crunch, which means that Kemp, Jake Marisnick, or possibly top prospect Kyle Tucker could all be trade candidates. There were also some rumblings about Reddick on the trade market last month, so it could be that Brantley and George Springer are the only two untouchable outfielders on Houston’s roster. Kaplan’s mailbag piece is well worth a full read, as it covers several other topics about the Astros’ offseason and potential long-term moves for the club.
Boring offseason
You must be boring if you think the off-season is for entertainment. 99% of players who are getting mlb deals will be signed by Opening day. It’s going to be an “exciting” January/February then for you.
Your a tool
*You’re lol
I’m all for driving the prices down on these overrated players salaries,if it takes a boring offseason so be it! The fans should be happy,high salaries end up coming out their pockets so suffer away!
No they don’t. The high salaries are not what is driving the cost for fans, it is supply and demand.
Cheering for owners is something I’ll never understand.
Supply and demand from the fans, as the previous guy alluded to. No fans, no demand.
When was the last time you saw ticket prices go down when a team’s payroll was reduced? I’ll wait…
Astros tickets were $7 from like 2012-2014. Just sayin…
MLB should incentivize signings by close of Winter Meetings. Maybe reduce compensation pick.
You can’t be serious Paul Newman. Incentive signing by the close Winter Meetings? For what? Something more to talk about? Ratings like it’s TV? These guys are deciding where they are going to live and work, and the teams are gonna decide which players dictate their course of action. They don’t care about whether it’s exciting or not.
Second season in a row players/agents complaining about the slow market and sense that clubs are holding out collectively to play on players sense of desperation as new season approaches.
While true that 5 to 10 players have enough collateral to wait and set their own market, another 100 have to sweat it out, and take what market gives them.
Maybe motivating owners to spend early in the offseason would be to the players collective benefit.
Are you Rob Manfred? Usually ideas this bad come from him.
Please explain why it is such a bad idea?
Because it’s completely pointless?
MLB makes nothing off your interest in the off-season, they can’t monetize it. Trying to force action gives leverage to the players, which costs them money.
There is no benefit to MLB in catering to short attention spans
Was that succinct enough?
Second that!
If those 5 or 10 players are holding up the market for the lower tier guys then they (and their agents)should poop or get off the pot. I’m all for players making all they can but some of these guys’ demands are no where near reasonable. Players and agents want to use analytics and technologies of the likes to capitalize earnings but don’t like it when those same tactics say they aren’t worth what they are seeking.
Yes, it was succinct. Nevertheless, it was contradictory on its face.
On one hand, you say it is “completely pointless.” On the other hand, you concede the central premise, giving additional “leverage to the players, which costs them [the owners] money.” That is in fact….as you concede, something.
Lastly, I would suggest that your penultimate sentence, “no benefit in catering to short attention spans,” is not consistent with the most recent efforts by MLB to improve pace of play since 2014 (see batter’s box rule, pitch clock, limiting mound visits, etc). Arguably, these efforts were made to address the attention spans of fans, increase overall interest in the game, and drive the revenues of the constituent MLB franchises.
One of us is confused here…
You’re saying the owners should implement a system that benefits everyone but them for… Reasons? Seriously, what do the owners gain from it?
And there’s a big difference between keeping the individual games from dragging on to long and self-sabotaging your business for the benefit of internet message boards…
The benefit to ownership would be not forgoing a first round pick, or whichever applied based upon current rules, by signing free agents earlier rather than later.
Moreover, the owners do not rule over MLB without regard for the players’ interest. The MLB players’ union negotiates many benefits through collective bargaining that benefit the players interest over the owners’ interest.
Lastly, I am fairly certain that there is a monetary benefit to be had by professional sports leagues by keeping the interest of fans, even during the offseason. For example, see NFL Draft, MLB Winter Meetings, etc…
This of course says nothing for the well being of ancillary organizations that profit of MLB even during the offseason, baseball writers, conventions, fantasy sports…
Right, you’re all kinds of special…
You want them to self-impose a penalty for not doing something bad for thier own bottom line and saying the benefit is they don’t pay a penalty that doesn’t exist unless they impose the penalty they’d be trying to avoid…
Or, alternatively, they could just not impose such a moronic system and lose absolutely nothing…
Just stop. Please, Paul. Your comment is a sinking ship. Its pointless. Stop trying to save the boat anchor. Take your lesson learned, be a better person, and walk away.
You’re welcome for this point of clairity.
The penalty already exist.
mlb.com/news/mlb-qualifying-offer-rules-explained/…
Clepto…why would I walk away when the only reason I hear for why not to do it is that either I have “a short attention span” or that I am a “moron.” Neither of which address why it would negatively impact the sport.
@ paulnewman
Its interesting that you say “another 100 have to sweat it out, and take what the market gives them.” Isn’t that the player getting fair market value? Isn’t that what free agency was supposed to provide? A player is welcome to sign whenever they wish. If they feel the best offer will come closer to spring training or after Bryce and Manny sign, that’s their choice.
Paulnewman what incentive do they have to actually make this silly change that would be game changing?
Assuming this is just related to QO players this effects maybe an average of 10 players a year (this year 6). I would think this average would decline in the future with the players offered QO this year no longer eligible to be tagged along with it if the player is traded that year they can not be offered it. Add to that the Boras strategy is hold out til jan feb time before really engaging with his top free agents (usually 2-3 of those).
This will minimally effect maybe 2-3 players in the end.. Harper and Kimbrel were both looking for breakout deals with Grandal, Keuchel, and Pollock being the other QO that are looking for the big long term dea. and willing to wait out for the hope of them. Machado and every other FA would have been unaffected.
A player cannot sign without an offer in hand. Rightly or wrongly, the agents/players have been raising the specter of collusion amongst the owners, which would not be market value.
The suggestion is that it would set the high end of the market early, rather than later. Thus creating a trickle down effect to lower level players.
JKB, you posted 5 times in 8 minutes. Calling me an “annoying idiot” and telling me how Petrie “schooled” me. I suspect JKB is actually Petrie.
what you suspect means little when the only way you can justify anything you’ve said is if you admit sometime tomorrow you were completely wasted this whole time.
you still can’t come up with a single reason as to why the owners would do any of this, you just keep listing new reasons as to why they wouldn’t go anywhere near this idea.
and it’s kind of entirely up to them since they run the league, so yeah, until you figure out that part, nothing else matters
U know better than that stymee.. In some cases? like few at the top of the heap? Yes, they usually get close to what they want, the rest of the FA that wait? u ought to know that waiting is pointless and signing late.. like Feb-ST is a losing cash game.. Don’t even waste type space trying that 1.
The main problem is clubs have the metrics behind their decisions and the players haven’t caught up.
or they could just get rid of the winter meetings altogether instead of getting everyones hopes up about blockbusters happening everyday
The only one getting your hopes up is you.
Do you even understand the premise of the meetings?
The meetings are probably fine. Blame the media who uses it as a way to drum up interest during the slowest part of the offseason. Then again, just because they do it doesn’t mean you have to dedicate your time to reading about it.
1. It’s not always the teams holding back.
2. No. That’s idiotic.
Why are you so angry about the winter meetings?
Why do you sideswipe the obvious?
Is that so they can over spend? Probably can make a large enough incentive to make them keep from holding.
Cant
Why does baseball need to make the off-season interesting to people with the attention span of a gadfly?
@Syndergaarden Cop
All you do is complain. Kikuchi just signed yesterday?
And you have the audacity to complain me post “first”
You’re always the first to complain!
I have been reading for months. He might complain, but you are annoying. Like a summer gnat on the dog’s junk.
Synder said it best: it’s a boring offseason. Moving forward deals should ha e a deadline for completion of 12/31. Waiting on these overrated FA’s is like watching paint dry.
If they all sign before January, people like you would complain until March that you’re bored waiting for spring training
If you’re bored, get a hobby
Everyone on this thread is bored, or else they wouldn’t be on this thread.
Maybe it’s only the holidays (and week leading up to it), but Athletic has been pretty devoid of decent articles relating to of interest MLB topics lately. There was 1 Bowden article that was pretty good, but other than that? last 2 weeks have been weak for a site which charges 50.00 a year.
@ johnsilver;
Like those that make big decisions on Wall Street, most MLB execs take much of the month of December off. Starting the 2nd week of the month and by the weekend before Christmas they’re with their families. Some details are left to underlings – the execs check in by phone/text/email. This happens with most American businesses.
The groundwork for deals with players, agents, and other execs was done at the Winter Meetings. Much of the high-level negotiating is done during the break on gulf courses and in vacation spots. After New Years people slowly get back in the swing of things and begin the work to close on deals and signings going into Spring Training.
The Atlantic and others have little to report on. So people like Jon Heyman and Jon Morosi rehash old throwaway lines or rumors that people texted each other or went out for dinner with their wives as news.
Basically – most of MLB has been shut down for 2-3 weeks now.
Marisnick to Arizona. Astros have too many OFers and AZ needs to replace Pollock (unless they somehow resign him). Marisnick is a solid defensive option, even though he won’t offer much offensively. He’d pair well with Dyson
Marisnick has the ability to play any outfield position with above average defensive ability. As such he is the perfect 4th outfielder for a contending team. I have a difficult time thinking that the Astros would prefer to deal him away.
Marisnick would fit on a lot of teams. I wouldn’t mind him platooning in CF with Duggar on the Giants, either. He fits our mold.
As an Astros fan I’d prefer to move Reddick if possible, although that contract might be difficult coming off a down season. If Tucker is ready he can take over in RF, or Springer can slide over and let Kemp/Marisnick share time in CF. Myles Straw is also an interesting option as he is super fast and a prolific base stealer. Reddick plays good defense and had a nice 2017, but was pretty much a zero in the World Series run and kind of sucked last year. His money off the books would be nice IMO. Kemp is a nice underrated player who always seems to make things happen and Marisnick plays Gold Glove caliber CF. Would’ve been nice to grab Nelson Cruz to DH and jettison Reddick for roughly the same salary, but guess we’ll see what goes down.
Here’s a hypothetical, and it’s because I’m just killing time here….
Smoak, Stroman and Pillar to Houston
Reddick and prospects to the Jays. Pick the prospects and however many.
Houston gets a cheaper than Encarnacion 1B option, Stroman fills the back of the rotation and Pillar gives Houston the flexibility to decide what to do with Marisnick. It also opens a spot for Tucker. If Tucker falters then Yordan Alvarez might be the next guy up.
Like I said, just killing time….
I think it’s a solid foundation, and could work well for both teams. Maybe a 8-10 prospect and another couple of top 40 going back to Toronto?
^Probably something close to that. The top 10 guy probably an OF, the rest very young pitchers with heat and upside.
Trim did you see Tulo signed in NY? It’s probably because he grew up idolizing Jeter his whole life and Jeter was the reason why he wore number 2. Man can’t believe you didn’t know that.
Welcome to my past, Toronto fans. Shapiro and company will turn your hair grey.
Yah, kinda figuring that out. I have been saying they are not the right Mgmt team for the Jays for 2 years now.
I know. Assembling that rotation they had in Cleveland would be the worst thing for Toronto.
If Shapiro had it his way Justin Masterson would still be getting paid and Cleveland’s rotation would’ve never came to fruition.
Yes. He really whiffed on Carrasco, Kluber, Salazar and all. In fact, that one bad signing undoes all the development they did.
All that said, I can’t stand his constant management-speak with stupid buzzwords that mean nothing. “We want to build a sustained champion”. There are teams that don’t?
OBP – The money Masterson was offered would have cause a major ripple effect, and they are thankful that did not happen. Meaning they may not have been able to keep or extend Kluber or Carrasco or another major piece on the team. With Cleveland’s self-imposed budget, the signing would have meant total disaster.
jimmer, you say all kinds of things, but I thought you were a scout, not a management guy. In your expert opinion, who should the Jays have hired other than the team that built the second-best rotation in the American League on a shoestring budget?
I’m fine with gray hair if they can build a core like they did in Cleveland.
It took Shapiro 12 years of futility to “build” that core. And then a new regime came in to clean up his MLB level mess[Borner, Swisher and others] and acquire players to take them to the next level[Miller EE].
It took Dombrowski 2 years to win in Boston. The Yanks can win anything and Cashman only took one year or rebuild time.
Along with DD or Cashman or Stearns, my desire is too win now not build a core. They are very different goals.
the thing with the yanks… they seem to have a never ending supply of talented prospects people seem to want, so maybe they should dump more resources into scouting? grow their asset base for whe the top tier guys are ready to go.
they = Jays mgmt
Thanks for the narratives.
Yes, it took Shapiro a while because he inherited a lot of terrible contracts. Sound familiar?
Indians have been pretty damn good since he left. He built that.
All depends on who to believe. Apparently Shapiro let go of player personnel decisions after 2013 to focus on the President role. That said, more credit goes to Antonetti and even Atkins. Still remains to be seen where Atkins can take the team as GM rather than the other roles he’s taken on. Gord Ash was a very good Assistant in Toronto and Milwaukee. As GM? Maybe not his forte.
TrimReaper,
Shapiro’s irresistible appeal to ownership is his ability to 1) make a profit for the owner; 2) maintain the illusion of ‘competitiveness’ on the field. His off-season promotions are teases for season ticket sales. He’s good at convincing the local media that the team is ‘right there.’ And make no mistake, he never really completely let go of baseball operations with the Indians.
I agree with most of what you are saying. He is a good business guy.
As far as Shapiro maintaining the illusion of competativeness, he did fool some, but not with me or other baseball types. We knew back the end of 2016 it was all a snowjob for both 2017 and 2018.
And to reinforce your point, Shapiro has his hands on everyhting. I think he is a control freak. He has inserted organizational goals and processes in the Jays that Atkins nd Cherrington etc must follow. Those processes force the kind of poor shortterm decision-making that we are seeing at the Jay’s MLB level leading to a very poor longterm performance of the major league club. But the farm system slowly grows.
Bas I hear ya, The 2013 line was more of what was being reported but not necessarily what I believe. The convincing has been going on the last two years despite the very questionable offseason spending and acquisitions to pretend to contend.
Downvote Olympics are in-session with my Masterson comment. The Indians tried to lock him down for huge $$$ and it never happened. Masterson lost his stuff and they dodged a huge bullet. They threw money at Kipnis and now Cleveland fans want to offload him and can’t. It happens, right?
It happens too much with Shapiro. Borne, Swisher etc.
To his credit, He made some good decisions too though, signing Alomar, trading Esmil Rogers for below:.
Pitcher Esmil Rogers
60 appearances, including 20 starts, for Toronto in 158-1/3 innings
5-9, 5.62 earned-run average, 117 strikeouts, 51 walks
Designated for assignment
First year with cleveland:
MIke Aviles
160 games, .257 batting average, 11 home runs, 61 runs batted in
Signed through following year, with US$250,000 buy-out
Catcher Yan Gomes
129 games, .289 batting average, 17 home runs, 56 runs batted in
Signed six-year, $23-million deal
I almost cried when I heard this deal. I wondered why AA was trading Yan Gomes. AA later admitted he screwed up, they didn;’t think Gomes was going to be a major league catcher.
AA didn’t see Gomes as a catcher. But he and his staff looked at Arencibia as a catcher.
Cleveland fleeced the Jays on that deal. The selljob on Esmil Rogers still makes me sick to my stomach. Nothing against Esmil but he was garbage sold as a stud in-waiting.
Easy to convince the “local media” of things when the biggest driver of Jays content is Sportsnet, aka the house organ.
100% correct Harold.
100% correct? Yeah like I was about Tulo. Remember when you attempted to discredit me and than got roasted huge. Took a huge L.
^Hey #Goutseyes nobody noticed. Nice try.
jimmer, we still haven’t seen any evidence of your claims that you’re a “baseball type”.
Shapiro and Atkins were forced to take the middle-road approach in 2017 because the previous management sold out the future in exchange for going for it one last time, kinda like they did in 2013. And failed. And failed again in 2015/2016. Previous management saddled the team with a bunch of dead weight and you’re supporting that decision?
And after the team was full of dead weight but went to the playoffs the two years before, as your experience in running a business would no doubt tell you, the best way to sell tickets is to dismantle that collection of overpaid corpses?
You talk as if you know Mark Shapiro as a person and a baseball professional. Please provide evidence of that.
There’s a lot more in your posts that I could argue against but your grammar would embarass a 9 year-old and your claims about being a “baseball guy” are spurious AT BEST. Why don’t you take your #scoutseyes and go back to elementary school to learn how to write proper english? I mean, with all the knowledge as a baseball insider you claim to have, you must have made enough money to set yourself up for life, right? So you obviously have the free time.
There’s never a valid reason for personal attacks in these blog pages. Please be polite and professional or discontinue contributing or you wil be reported for breaking the rules of this site.
I was just trying to help you learn Grade 4 grammar, jimmy.
While I’m certainly not sure how either team sees the opposing player, but if you squint hard you may could envision a Teheran for Reddick swap (as the main part).
Could fit for both teams as a straight up, maybe with some cash as well for salary offsetting.
I see Russ Martin/Kevan Smith platoon in Eppler futute.
You’re forgetting Lucroy
If you rebuild? Then you like Russ Martin a lot? Sure, of course! Leader, leader, leader!
However, I like him for a Dodger. Be like next Ross, help team over WS hump? Play small time in a big way!
Shapiro and Atkins are totally out to lunch. Lights are on and nobody home.
They claim to be retooling but bring in stiffs like Grichuk, Hernandez, Drury, Mckinney, Shoemaker, and Richard etc.
NONE, repeat, none of these players are elite. In order to win, in the AL east a team must have 8-10 elite players like a Boston or the Yankees.
The Jays have one very good player in Gurriel Jr and four potentially elite players in Vlad Jr, Biggio Jr, N Pearson and Jansen. The rest are not even considered very good. [Bichette will be a below average major leaguer]. Alford will likely be just good.
Where are the Elite players coming from in order to win a championship?
Slow down on Biggio. Power game and walks are nice. Not hitting .260 in AA is a red flag. Bichette is further along than Biggio at this point, so if Bichette is below average in your mind then I can make a very strong case Biggio will be in the same boat.
These are the growing pains. The real complaint is if they don’t deal Smoak and Pillar, then Morales, Stroman and Sanchez mid season. If Grichuk starts off well deal him too. But the stiffs have to hold things down for the time being.
Yah true enough. I really like Biggio as a major leaguer but the gut doesn’t like Bichette as a good one. No science to it, just the gut.
Why wouldn’t the JAys totally tear it down at last years trade deadline or even during this offseason? I know Jays Mgmt has been quoted as they value the Jays players/prospects higher that the opponetns do, which is a bad sign. It indicates the scouting dept is off. Unless there is a Vad Jr, the rest of the Jays prospects are just commodities.. I still don’t see where the 8-10 elite players are coming from that a team needs to win a championship.
Do the Jays fans wait 14 years. Shaprio took over in clevleand making player personnel decisions 2002 didn’t he? And with major players changes by the new Cleveland regime in 2014 and they finally reach the World Series in 2016.
It’s the small minded, small budget process that I don’t like. Sell the farm[with exceptions], break the bank and lets win now.
To answer your questions….
Waiting game is all about prolonging the tenure. Rogers will be patient as they were with Ricciardi. And to a lesser extent Anthopoulos. Given what transpired in AA’s final season, Rogers may be more willing to wait things out knowing the payoff down the road.
Jays may think they have 6-7 potential elite players in their system. In reality it could be 3 or 4. That’s where free agency comes in, obviously.
I do not like the penny pinching, small market mentality either. We saw that with Ricciardi along with the Oakland Moneyball arrogance that did not work and did not win. Blue Jays should be spending near the luxury tax every year. It’s the AL East, act like it. But that should have been done two years ago. They didn’t tear it down (like you wanted) and they didn’t go all out to win like I wanted.
Cue Chariots of Fire. This is a slow motion regime.
Sell the farm and win now!!!! You gonna plug up all your holes by throwing money at Aj Pollock and Dallas Keuchel?
^Bigz, you sign Harper and Machado to huge money to play alongside Vlad and your 3-5 hitters are set for years. Jays should, theoretically, spend a ton every season. They should go for it all and be in the same league as Boston and New York as alpha hunters for World Series titles.
Jays are one of the richest ownership groups in MLB, though you wouldn’t know it by their spending habits.
Of course I’d argue they need to throw big money at pitchers more than anything right now, but same general theory
But are the jays good with Vlad and Machado and Harper? No, I don’t think so. You sold your top 5 closer because of his issues for a less than stellar return. And you realistically need at least 2 quality starters as well as more relievers to compete. It makes much more sense to suck for another year and add more prospects before potentially looking at FA acquisitions next season or there after. VLAD hasn’t played a big league game yet. Nor has Bichette.
Bigz did I say they’d contend in 2019? No I did not. But you need studs and you have two 26 year olds unsigned. Is 2020 realistic? Yes. Morales, Smoak and Martin off the books. Deal or non-tender Travis to make room for Bichette at 2B. Vlad moves to 1B. You go hard for Chris Sale. Need another arm and more. Heck, sign Kimbrel while signing Machado and Bryce.
Yeah, payroll will be pushed very high. That’s what you need to compete with New York and Boston. And surrounding the young guys with talent isn’t the worst thing in the world. Those deals would also allow the Jays to explore deals with young guys for a starting pitcher (Kevin Smith, Biggio, Alford etc.)
Trim, YES, JUST YES.
Lol at signing Machado and or Harper. Lol you people live in a alternate universe, spending a bunch of money on free agent pitchers is a good way to win though. It cripples you so bad you have no choice but to tank. Good way to ruin Vlad jr prime though. Great suggestions tho… good lord.
^Thanks #Goutseyes. You can keep your mediocre mentality and your burner account, JDGoat.
Iver, That kind of wait and see mentality will never win. Gillick had to learn that to make the deals he did in 92 and 93 to build a winner. He had to let go of the “Stand Pat” thinking.
Best lines of the day, #Goutseyes, Burner account, JDGoat
Because the Jays didn’t have any assets worth selling at last year’s trade deadline or during the offseason? They had a bunch of young controllable talent and a bunch of dead weight.
No, the Jays fans don’t wait 14 years. They wait three years. And you maybe go scout for a different team because your baffling lack of ability to understand the Jays’ process is really annoying.
They’re coming from building from within. From your #scoutseyes, it’s strange that you can’t see that. The’re not coming from trading prospects for other teams’ bloated free agent contracts.
There’s all this whining you do about the Jays’ inability to instantly acquire elite players, but I haven’t seen a single suggestion from you as to how they should actually do that.
When you whine and whine about how management sucks, and then ask, “Where are the elite players coming from?” then maybe make some suggestions as to where the elite players should come from.
No one wants Martin, without 90 percent of his salary picked up. Then, he’s a backup, nothing more and you’ll get backup return for him.
Shapiro should replace Atkins with Cherington as GM. ASAP
Why?
I can’t stand his psycho babble.
Also, I think Cherington would get more significant moves done. He left DD with Betts and Xander amongst others and sure there were a couple of albatrosses in Panda and Hanley but he cleared a ton of payroll space well before that through that trade with the Dodgers. He makes moves. Jays need that.
Ross out. Ben in.
Not a bad case coldbeer. No pun intended.
Cherington was not the GM when Mookie was drafted, and not the GM when Xander was signed. But he was the GM who hired Bobby Valentine, signed Rusney Castillo to that monster contract, got much less than he should have for Lackey, lowballed Lester out of town …. need I continue?
Please continue. Because there were some serious blunders and I don’t feel like looking them up at the moment….
Drafting was poor, especially considering the last place finishes in 2012 and 2014. (3 last place finishes out of 4 years as GM). Deven Marrero drafted 24th overall, Trey Ball drafted 7th overall (possibly the worst Sox pick ever), Pat Light and Teddy Stank both high picks. So many more.,
Atkins Psycho babble is baseball tech speak for, I don’t what I’m doing” so let me describe the broken process in MBA terms.
CHerington is not the answer.
The Jays need an elite GM. There are 3 in the entire league right now: Dombrowski, Stearns and Cashman. The only one I can see avialable to do this is Gillick. If they could hire John Schuerholz or Epstein, that would work too but as far as I know they are unavailable. The Rogers board needs to open the vault for an elite guy. All this current Jays GM failure reminds me of the John Ferguson Jr tenure at the Maple Leafs.
^Not putting Stearns in that group. Hoyer/Epstein much closer to elite. Stearns will blow that by keeping his best pitcher, Josh Hader, in the bullpen. Hader is Chris Sale in-waiting.
Stearns also hasn’t done anything to prove he belongs in any elite group. As of now he’s just another GM until he proves otherwise.
I wouldn’t call Dombrowski elite. He is notorious for trashing farm systems, and the championship was more the result of him being able to trade a bunch of elite prospects he had inherited and also of course the astronomical payroll.
I think the Jays should consider the Original DD, Dan Duquette. Most of what happened in Baltimore can be blamed on the worst owner in MLB and a manager that is not capable of leading today’s players.
All of this reminds me of someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. “Blah blah blah as far as I know these guys who’ve failed more than they’ve suceeded (other than Cashman, I guess) are unavailable. If money is the only issue, why haven’t you made a case for hiring Billy Beane as president?
“All this current Jays GM failure” (of which you have not made a single suggestion as to how he could do better) “reminds me of the John Ferguson Jr tenure” – so after your many years as a MLB scout you also have significant experience as an NHL front office manager? Not that I think John Ferguson Jr did a good job (he didn’t) but why do you think you’re qualified to bitch about this stuff without saying what you’d do differently??
I hope the Mariners receive Tyler White in a deal with the Astros for Edwin Encarnacion.
I can see Dipoto wanting that, but Houston is way better off financially and better off for the future if they jut keep white instead of trading for EE. And I don’t see EE being much of an upgrade over White. I’d argue White is going to have a more productive season in 2019.
I’m not sure how Houston views White. If they thought he was ready to make a big impact, they most likely wouldn’t be in the market for a DH. On the other side of that coin, Encarnacion adds a much bigger name and much bigger power threat to that lineup. In 2019, White would probably hit 7th in that lineup whereas Encarnacion would hit 4th or 5th.
I think they are high on White, but were open to significant upgrades as well. Same as every other team does. Also, Encarnacion bats 6th in the Houston lineup. Springer, Altuve, Bregman, Correa, are the top 4. Then it would be Brantley, Encarnacion, Reddick, Gurriel/White, then catcher. He would slot in between the two lefty bats. This is assuming neither Reddick or White were a part of the acquisition.
The Jays are probably gonna have to attach a prospect to Martin if they wanna move him.
And lots of cash, unless it’s one of their top 5. That’s a bad contract.
It makes zero sense for the jays to attach any prospects to martin just to get rid of him. They can pay 15 mil of that 20 mil and plenty of teams would be interested in him at that price.
For some reason people think Mlb has 30 good Mlb quality hitting catchers. I can tell these people don’t play fantasy baseball because there’s never 12 good hitting catchers.
Now fantasy baseball doesn’t mean anything in real Mlb but it gives you an idea of the lack of depth of the position in the sport in 2019.
Every conversation I ever see on this app starts with intelligent conversation and soon turns into a my Daddy is bigger than your Daddy excursion.
I don’t know my daddy.
Cards – do what it takes to get Kyle Tucker . Young, controllable left handed bat, and he would work perfect to be patient with this year while the outfield mix is figured out . Then you have an option for when Ozuna doesn’t resign, or when they finally give up on Fowler .
Tucker, Bader and Oniell for 2020 … would be a really high ceiling outfield .
What’s your offer? I’ll consult with Luhnow.
Maybe St. Louis and Houston could work out a deal that has Kyle Tucker and Alex Reyes + Jose Martinez as the foundational pieces. Some lower level guys would have to trade hands to even out the value on both sides, but this is one of those trades that would never happen anyway.
There’s little reason for Houston to sell off Tucker. They can find the ABs for him and he’s the highest upside OF on the roster outside of Springer. They won’t give him away for Realmuto, so I have no idea what St. Louis could do to tempt Houston’s FO.
134-2587 was also Tommy Tutone’s first demo attempt.
And her name was Penny.
Trades that could work? How about Russell Martin straight up for J. Heyward? Or even Martin and Stroman for Heyward, I. Happ, and a prospect? Fair on both sides. Toronto gets a ton of offensive potential in Happ, GG defense in Heyward, and a prospect. Cubs unload future salary and add another potential trade piece in Stroman or perhaps try to convert him to a relief role.
Are you a cubs fan by chance? lol.
I do think if Ian Happ can be given 1 position to play he could breakout. I think he is misused by the Cubs and has talent.
But Heyward? No thanks. I still think the Cubs should call Fred McGriff and let him work with Heyward’s swing on the condition he wears the same hat he wore in his instructional video.
Martin for Heyward? Straight up? Not in a million years lol.
What context are you taking JD? Bad for Toronto, or bad for Chicago? I mean from a Jays point of view, you are at least getting a perennial gold glover in Heyward and pretty much unloading the rest of the Martin albatross.
Its an easy no for Toronto. Martin is off the books after this year, and im not sure but Heyward still has at least 3-4 after this one.
Martin for Heyward straight up is one of the single worst trade proposals you’ll ever see. Why on earth would the jays trade for any future bad money when all their bad money sans Tulo’s 2020 money is gone after this year, a year in which they know they won’t be competitive.
There’s no albatross 1 year contracts unless you’re a contender up against the Lux tax. If Martin made 40 million this year it still wouldn’t be a problem for the jays.