TODAY: The Jays officially added Godley to the active roster, optioning right-hander Brock Stewart to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
YESTERDAY: The Blue Jays have claimed righty Zack Godley off waivers from the Diamondbacks, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Toronto will owe Godley the remainder of his $609K salary.
It’s easy to see why the Jays took a shot on the 29-year-old Godley. In need of some additional arms to finish out the season, there’s no harm in giving him an opportunity. And the club could tender Godley a contract for 2020 if he manages to bounce back.
Make no mistake, though: it has been a rough campaign to this point for Godley. His strikeout rate has plummeted to just 6.9 K/9 after sitting at better than a batter-per-inning in the prior two seasons. Godley is giving up more homers than he had in those immediately preceding campaigns as well. The result: a 6.39 ERA over 76 innings.
A mid-season move to a multi-inning relief role did help, as Godley’s velocity turned up a bit. He held opposing hitters to a .218/.297/.414 batting line and posted an improved 28:13 K/BB ratio. But he was also tagged for seven long balls and a 4.62 ERA in his 37 relief frames.
Godley is just two years removed from an excellent 2017 campaign and also posted reasonably promising peripherals last year. But he’ll have to figure some things out if he’s to get back on an upward trajectory. Rediscovering some of the lost velo would help. He’s generating swinging-strikes at a significantly lower rate than he did in his ’17 effort (10.1% vs. 13.3%), with the difference residing almost entirely in the fact that hitters have made way more contact on pitches out of the zone. His groundball rate has sagged from 55.3% at its peak to to just 43.0% this year.
This is the single most Blue Jays move ever
They will have to put a spittoon on the mound for this guy. He spits twice before every pitch, though stress pitches may provoke a fusillade of randomly aimed streams.
I don’t understand you people, what do you expect??? We need arms right now, would you rather they have open try outs?
Then maybe trade for some arms with your trade chips?
Their trade chips are promising minor leaguers. They’re not going to trade Miguel Hiraldo, or Gabriel Moreno, or Patrick Murphy, for a mediocre major league starter. They’re going to first see what they need when enough players are ready for the minors. It’s how a rebuild works, or at least a smart one which is what they are doing.
I get to watch Gabriel Moreno play half the month for work and he’s wonderful. Such a good and accurate arm when picking off it’s magical.
Yeah, there’s absolutely no point in making a comment about a Godley claim. This guy was a competent ML SP the last 2 seasons. The Jays are rebuilding. This is what rebuilding teams do. They take a flier on guys w past success. It’s not as if Godley’s going to be blocking some stud prospect right now. If he’s good, then great you’ve got a #4 starter next year. If not, what did you lose? 50K for the waiver claim?
Then don’t trade Aaron Sanchez. Wait, the highly coveted Derek Fisher was worth him, Biagini and Cal Stevenson. Maybe have a better gameplan at the deadline? Maybe there was a point to make a comment? Is it registering?
No, no and no.
None of the guys they traded are worth much at all. It’s not 2016. Sanchez hasn’t been a major league starter for three years and has only regressed. Next year he’s a $5m reliever. Happy for you that you have something to feel good about griping about though.
The Fisher deal was surprising. Sanchez didn’t have much value on his contract. It was all essentially the value that he rebounds but Fishers Value wasn’t exactly on top of Mt. Fuji either. I would’ve bet Biagini and Sanchez for Fisher would’ve been plenty. But evidently it wasn’t and they threw in another prospect. He’s not much of a prospect and is likely nothing but it did appear they paid a premium for Fisher.
Could easily work out for them and I do like Fisher. I think he’s a solid OF who could be a 25/15 guy w a solid OBP. Think Michael Saunders if Michael Saunders ever panned out. I was going to say 20/20 but w the way the baseball landscape has changed 25/15 is probably more accurate.
Yep, we need arms. Just traded four major league arms away and replaced them with a bunch of Triple-A no names. Was Godley on Atkins radar for years as yet another underachieving talent? Maybe his fWAR suggests he can provide value by “outperforming his contract” with multiple years of team control? That strategy has left the Jays with Triple-A pitching and AAAA utility players like Drury, Grichuk, Hernandez, McKinney and Fisher… gone in their stead is actual 27/28 year old MLB pitching that should have been extended!
If it breathes, it can pitch for the Blue Jays. Up next, an actual Blue Jay.
Lol
I was really hoping it would be Houston, so I could pick him up in all my fantasy leagues and then watch as they fix him in a week.
His name might be Godley, but his numbers have been mostly ungodly bad.
Have people not noticed his ’17 & ’18 seasons?
Certainly far more upside than some guys on the team. Surprised the Tigers or Orioles wouldn’t claim him first he’d be one of their better pitchers.
I don’t get why people dump on the Jays for moves like this. Why not take a shot on a guy that could rediscover his old form and become a viable major leaguer again. They’re top pitching prospects aren’t ready yet so might as well take a chance on a guy for cheap.
I am in the vast minority here, but I honestly believe that this front office is doing this re-build the right way. Tear things down to the studs and build a wide base of young controllable players with a lot of potential. The bats are already living up to the hype, now the pitching needs to catch up! Hopefully this guy can help.
I agree 100%
Are they doing it the right way? Because they already had 5-6 OFs before they traded two pitchers and a Single-A outfielder raking for another OF with suspect potential at the major league level.
Or how about receiving questionable arms for Stroman?
Or holding Justin Smoak?
Or the return for both Hudson and Phelps that doesn’t come close to what Texas received from Atlanta for Chris Martin.
Just because they aren’t rocking the boat does not mean the rebuild is going the right way. They still lack pitching and perhaps more once things shake out in a year.
Fisher is a former top 100 prospect who couldn’t get enough of an opportunity because he played on a stacked Astros team. I’d rather have a player who is raking at AAA then one who has limited potential in Single A. Plus, why not have 5-6 legit outfield options? Having that kind of depth and competition can only be a good thing. There’s a good chance one or two of those guys can develop into a major impact player for the team
I’m not here to argue with disgruntled fans who overvalue former Jays players.
I’d rather trust the process, watch the young guys develop and enjoy the ride. Let go of the past and embrace the future because it is bright!
One can never let go of the past when history repeats itself.
5-6 legit OF options? I’ll wait for the 5-6 names. Your definition of legit and mine may differ. As for Fisher not getting an opportunity, sure. Except now the Jays need a starting pitcher and didn’t need another OF. They didn’t move an OF for a pitcher and they moved a pitcher (Sanchez) when his value was at rock bottom. Sanchez would/could be used right now. Overvalue? I think not.
Not sure what constitutes disgruntled in your book. I’d prefer to trust the process from a regime that isn’t attached to bad blood/animosity from previous players they have cut ties with. I’d trust the process a lot more if they knew when to push the right buttons. Observant Jays fans know they have not done that.
Did you compare chris Martin to Hudson and Phelps? Oh you did? Ok no point reading anything else from you.
Legit options is getting a bit carried away!
Gurriel, Fisher, Grichuk, Hernandez, Mckinney, Alford/Davis.
5-6 options is fair.
Closer to 3 legit options now than during Spring.
Problems knowing when to push the right buttons is right on the money.
Feels strongly like they didn’t want to risk letting injury tank the trade asset value again.
Stevenson mashing? Get real. 22 at A-ball, getting on base fine, but not much pop. Sanchez deal isn’t that bad. Should benefit both teams. Fisher bumping others down the OF depth chart is good.
First time Sanchez had any trade value in over a year, and one blister away from losing all trade value anyway.
Questionable return for Stroman? Woods-Richardson looks like he could be a real solid piece. Stroman has had his health issues as well, waiting another year a big gamble. Zero chance he would have stayed. Every arbitration has turned pouty. Reminds me of Bautista “knowing what he’s worth” before being wildly humbled in FA. Had Stroman stayed healthy in 2018 and traded then, the Jays could’ve looked for an Archer type return, but that lost year cut into the haul. Kay seems like he could fill a back end spot. Not like he was that far out of the top 100.
Holding Smoak? Did you see what the Mariners got for Edwin? No market to get anything for 1B/DH. May as well keep.
Fine point about the return for Chris Martin compared to Hudson/Phelps. Martin had been closing and seemed to have a bit more shine than Hudson or Phelps. And Allard had lost a lot of his shine. Would’ve liked to see a chance on Allard or similar over a couple MILB wild cards though.
Easy to be disappointed, but a lot of the issue is due to injury timing. Smart money was on rebuild before 2017 and not doing so was the biggest bungle so far. Needed healthy everyone for another playoff run and that didn’t happen. Donaldson, Sanchez, Stroman all had much more value at that time. Others as well, less notable value drops but still factors. Management got greedy trying to milk some extra fans from the names that year and it set the rebuild back. GM decisions factoring too much of ownership’s desires rather than product on the field has been the biggest obstacle.
Wish all the trading turned out better but still pretty tough to be anything but excited for the next few years of this franchise.
As a jays and leafs fans… Toronto sports fans are stupid and will never be happy
Name 1 reason they should be happy. We’ll wait.
ummm raptors?
I really hope it’s just the more vocal minority. Can’t help but feel for them when they just eat up anything Simmons or Cox writes.
Simmons, Cox and most of the media is part of the problem too. They will never admit to it. NHL rules also differ from MLB. Maple Leafs generate so much revenue and have to share it with the rest of the NHL.
Shi Davidi’s latest article on Sports Net opened my eyes to responsible media.
So we see Shapiro having a news conference and he talks about winning not competing and the process. His process is broken: Fill up the minors with prospects and see what drops out.
Shapiro says they are going to buy pitching with resources, okay how much money? 1m, 80m, 200m? He won’t say. Why isn’t the budget like that now?
Why not trade the farm now like a Dombroski or Cashman and get some real talent? He won’t do that. His process is broken. Dombroski and Cashman have 6 world series and many more titles and awards. Shapiro, not so much.
Why on earth would he tell everyone what the budget is? Are you that dense? Guess what every agent would do if they knew the budget? Try and squeeze the jays for more money. The simpleton fans don’t need to know anything. Their job is to watch and stfu. Don’t like it, don’t go to the games, guess what nobody will miss you. The team will still be profitable if the building is literally empty every night.
You’re upset over mentioning budget? Did you miss the logic boat with the rest of your diatribe?
You have to understand Toronto. Most of the negative commenters are people who know little about baseball, but enjoy being on a bandwagon – especially a negative one. To feel like they can be part of a group criticizing and acting like victims is a great pleasure to them. Toronto picked up Hudson like this, and Font who has pitched well. The negative commenters neither know nor care that good evaluators can sometimes see something in a player that’s worth a shot. Here the shot is free, but that doesn’t stop the sob storytellers from having their moan and groan.
Eddie, stop. You neglected to mention the other pitchers who could not cut it at the major league level. You are part of the problem; buying into what has not and will not work. Pitching depth is a problem and you will not acknowledge it. The Blue Jays are no longer a class organization among their peers and haven’t been since the turn of the 20th century. Your argument is weak at-best. You are doing far more complaining about actual fans than you are over a mediocre organization.
Maybe you missed that the 76-39 (L10 9-1) Yankees young core just hammered Triple-A Jays (47-71, pitching 12-6? Or that the Jays are 30.5 games behind the Yankees? Whose GM Brian Cashman has rebuilt his team in the same timeframe Shatkins has had since the 2017 offseason UNDER the luxury cap? Talk is cheap. While Bo’s hot streak and doubles are nice, the Yankees have slugged 19 homers in four games – a major league record. And that is with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit and EE on the IL. Not one of those 19 homers was hit by Aaron Judge but by guys like Tauchman and former Jay/Indian Urshela. You’d think Atkins would have known Urshela?
Still not as bad as the A’s signing the guy who threw to a pitching radar.
My theory on Godley is that the new baseball being used this year changed the movement on his pitches, the late action, the break, etc. and Godley wasn’t able to make the adjustments in his grip, or whatever to get the effectiveness of those pitches back this year. I think the new baseballs did the same for several other pitchers who suddenly became ineffective this year.
So, I don’t think he’s suddenly a bad pitcher. If he can make the necessary adjustments to get his pitches back to being effective, the Jays might have a good pitcher to bridge the gap to their up and coming youngsters. I’m not saying Godley can be great, he never was, but he could be a back of the rotation arm for the Jays.
As a Dback fan, I liked Godley his first few years here and scratch my head wondering what went so wrong so fast.
He became unexpectedly bad just like he became unexpectedly good in 17. There is nothing more to it. His curve is toast and he keeps falling off the mound.
Godley and Creme is the only act that should enter the Toronto area.
It makes me wanna cry.
You don’t know how to play the game.
you are.
^You didn’t get it Eddie.
Not quite sure why the Orioles didn’t take a shot. There aren’t exactly 5 pitchers on our team who are big league starters. I think we could’ve punted on someone to take a shot on Godley.
Everyone should read ahi davidi’s piece on sports net. Sums up the Jayscurrent situation perfectly.
Yes, and speaks well of the people like you with the ‘shatkins’ idiocy. What did he call your act? Garbage? Or did you get that far.
JibberishTree has #scoutseyes, a condition where he can only see facts that support his predispositions, and only in hindsight.
I see you still have nothing to contribute.
Complaining about using the short form of Shapiro Atkins lol. U probably attended the democratic socialist convention.
Those soundbites were awesome, weren’t they?
Wow what a move by the current management group. Plucked this guy right off the garbage heap. And say what you want about the whole this is what rebuilding teams do. But it’s not right to subject paying fans to this guy every fifth day. They should have held onto Sanchez if they felt they were short on starters. Fischer will be released within a year.
1. Obviously he won’t.
2. This guy is basically the same as Sanchez
3. It’s not worth getting upset over
Hmm…Sanchez is a proven MLB commodity……and Fischer a proven MILB commodity……in what world are that equal???
Possible worst trade in MLB history was a proven pitcher named Doyle Alexander returning the Braves some MILBer from AA by the name of Smoltz. Sometimes trading for the future works.
Cost and player control is much more of a factor these days.
What don’t you see?
A guy that was going to get a raise and then leave, or just get non-tendered next year in exchange for a guy that earned a callup, just needed an opening?
Not equal, at least you’re right on that part.
Fisher has the edge considering the Jays needed to add to Sanchez to persuade the Astros.
Thanks for the W and four shutout innings in your debut now go enjoy Buffalo.
Great start to his bj rein
Double post:
Shi Davidi’s latest article on Sports Net opened my eyes to responsible media.
So we see Shapiro having a news conference and he talks about winning not competing and the process. His process is broken: Fill up the minors with prospects and see what drops out.
Shapiro says they are going to buy pitching with resources, okay how much money? 1m, 80m, 200m? He won’t say. Why isn’t the budget like that now?
Why not trade the farm now like a Dombroski or Cashman and get some real talent? He won’t do that. His process is broken. Dombroski and Cashman have 6 world series and many more titles and awards. Shapiro, not so much.
Now is not the time to begin burning the prospects. They need some of their talent to reach AA at the very least. In a way they are rebuilding the farm. Also no guarantee pitchers will want to sign with Toronto. We, Blue Jays fans, have to find out which players are here to stay and who are posers. Tellez, McKinney, Drury, Teoscar, Grichuk…find out which positions on the field need to be addressed. Can Bo play short? Can Vlad play third? Where to go if both need to move to another position and how will that affect the rest of the players?
The kids need a full season at the majors. Then reassess.
The “rebuilding the farm” narrative is tired. The only real MLB talent Anthopoulos gave up in building the core of the 2015 & 2016 playoff trades was Noah Syndergaard… and maybe Matt Boyd… maybe. In exchange for two playoff runs including go the 2016 ALCS? You always make that deal. Sadly the current “rebuild” is nothing more than a cost cutting tear down to prepare the Jays for sale. They have $31 million in committed salary in 2020, almost half of that to the retired Tulo. Rogers wants out. Shapiro is just tearing the organization back to the studs, so they can relocate to another city (Nashville, Raleigh, Columbus?)… and the Shatkins apologists here and on Rogers owned Sportsnet are all part of the sales pitch.
The scenario is a little different here Charles; Jays are much worse today than they were in 2015, even 2012. The spending was a huge question mark after 2016 when they paid for 3 Designated Hitters (Morales, Pearce, Bautista). Because they are so far behind it wouldn’t make any sense to start dealing and spending just to reach .500.
I was hoping the Tigers pick up Zack Godley. He looked like an outstanding starter in 2017 then lost his command sometime last season and getting worse. If he gets his command back, great pick up for TOR.