The Blue Jays are among the teams interested in free-agent second baseman Kolten Wong, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. There has been widespread interest this offseason in Wong, whom the Cardinals bought out for $1MM in lieu of exercising a $12.5MM option.
While Toronto likes Wong, he is not the team’s first choice at second, according to Morosi, who writes that that the club would prefer to sign fellow free agent DJ LeMahieu. Of course, LeMahieu will come at a much higher price tag than Wong. MLBTR predicts LeMahieu will get a four-year, $68MM payday this offseason, while Wong will earn a two-year, $16MM contract.
LeMahieu is far more of an impact player than Wong, but that’s not to say Wong isn’t a useful contributor. The 30-year-old has typically blended passable offense with exemplary defense since he debuted in earnest in 2014, thereby making him an average or slightly above-average regular. Wong’s now coming off a season in which he batted .265/.350/.326 (92 wRC+) with one home run, five stolen bases and 1.3 fWAR over 208 plate appearances. He tied for first among second basemen in Ultimate Zone Rating (3.8) and tied for second in Defensive Runs Saved (six).
The Blue Jays don’t necessarily need to find someone new to man the keystone, as they could just put Cavan Biggio there on a full-time basis. However, Biggio is versatile enough that he could move among multiple infield spots (including third base) and the outfield, so Toronto does have room to pick up a second baseman if it’s so inclined.
Cries as a cardinals fan the De Witt is to cheap to pay 12.5 MM
I’m surprised he came up with a 1 million buy out…
12.5 million for a defensive first 2nd basement going into his age 30 season is a little steep.
For this offseason at least. The option would’ve been picked up after a normal season.
12.5 million for a 30 year old who put up 5.2 WAR in the last real season (and was 20th in MVP voting) and has never had a below average season by WAA is a steal.
An average player will usually cost you around 15 mil in free agency.
To say numbers don’t lie, is realistically true when you’re talking about anything besides a human being. That brain plays a huge role in many different areas of an impact or mediocre player.
Too many people are using too much analytical analysis only to judge an individual player. There are other areas which vitally contribute to a players strong success.
Wong’s 2019 was very nice, but most times a player finished around 20th in MVP voting means that the 2 local voters gave a 10th place vote.
He was number 24 for batters according to fangraph NL WAR leaders. Some pitchers get MVP votes so he was number 40 overall. Very nice.
Remember Goldschmidt’s 2019, it got a 9th place vote!
His worst year, Dejong and Edman were better technically.
They fluffed up Yadi in 2016.
They gave Rosenthal a 6th place vote in 2015?!
Most teams do this, but the 2 voting writers from STL treat their players very well when it comes time to vote for awards.
If the speed and power didn’t fade so much for the summer of 2020, then Wong would be worth a look at 12.5 million, but I’m guessing closer to the $8-10mill range.
11.5 mil
Wong isn’t worth 4 million a year in this market. An OPS well south of .700 isn’t goong to get it done.
He’s had three seasons of a sub .700 ops (.675-.682) & four above (from .707-.788). So “well south” seems a bit uncharitable to me?
He put up 1.3 WAR last season. In a 60 game season. Depending on what number you like for WAR/$ he’s a net positive.
His value is derived primarily from elite defense & good base running. If he can provide roughly league average (or slightly above which he’s done 3 of the last four years) production with the bat that becomes a pretty valuable player.
He hits only around .260 WTF play him when they have others.
Because he gets on base, has great speed, and plays Gold Glove defense. A .260 AVG and low power is a perfectly acceptable trade-off for all of that.
Its not worth 12.5 million dollars
Ahhh the daily jays rumour.. scared I wasn’t going to get my fix today!
Any prediction on who the Jays are interested in tomorrow?
Tomorrow they will be interested in Luis Perdomo
I feel a Marcus Semien rumour coming soon!
Julio Tehran
I keep checking to see if I’m accidentally going to the Blue Jay’s rumors part of the site instead of the main page.
I have the blue jays page right by the mlb page and somedays I can’t tell the difference!
jaysrumours.ca?
I really dont like that the Cardinals let Kolten Wong walk for 1 mil… No draft compensation nothing coming back to the team. Was there no trade market for a gold glove winning second baseman? Wonder if they entertained trading him last winter? They should have if this was the plan. This is a move that will hinder the team in the long run.
De Witt is trying to be on cheapest people in America
Right the team could go 70-90 and they’d still end up with 3 million (null of Coronavirus) paying fans in the seats so why should he care? Why should he spend money on winning a world series, this is why Beltran left after 2013… He wanted to go to a team COMMITED to winning a world series.
The Cards didn’t want Beltran after 13, and they won 97 games and were in the WS in 2013, two years later the Cards would win the most games in baseball. Beltran was no longer needed in 2014 and wanted a 3 year deal (which he got from the Yankees) and the Cards no longer needed him with a full outfield and Taveras graduating to the big leagues (RIP)
This comment was so far off base on literally every aspect, I’m surprised you convinced yourself it was worthy of posting.
The Yankees and D’Backs were the two main teams that pursued him. The Cards never did. The Yankees were coming off a 84 win season and hadn’t made the playoffs two years in a row. He’s going to leave a 97 win team (who were just in the WS) for a 84 win team (who missed the playoffs) because he wants to win a WS?
No. He went where his biggest payday was on a good team.
People shouldn’t make up narratives like this. You have nothing to support what you said at all, and you clearly just made it all up, but stated it as fact.
Amen! Thanks for posting JFactor.
Cards will be fine without Wong
Completely agree
I agree.
Second is on offensive position in today’s game. So while he might be a gold glover, he’s a gold glover playing a non premium position at ~12.5M with a non impact bat.
He’s a good player, that when you take the whole package into account is an above average player, but the market isn’t really there for that type of player.
A 109/108 ops+ potential plays a bit different up the middle, C/SS/CF, but can’t really see a team actively scouting for that when then can sign for much much cheaper.
What position isn’t an offensive position in today’s game? A non-premium position? What game do you watch? Don’t be spoiled by your Dodgers spending and mint and finally getting their World Series trophy. Dont be theown by tou
Daniel Murphy carried the Mets through the playoffs in 2015 but couldn’t field the position in the World Series. And yea, he did ok but with Washington too but is a first baseman after that. Howie Kendrick was the 2B that won the World Series.
You don’t overpay for. Second baseman but you can strengthen your defense up the middle and be a better team.
And you’re point honestly just speaks to my point, after your generic attack of the Dodgers. After you gloss over the fielding blunders of Howie during that playoff run, there’s failure to mention the offensive component that was crucial to carry the nationals. The component that made up for fielding blunders and base running mistakes. If you want to talk about a bat first 2b, especially at that point of his career, then you just described one perfectly. His steady decline defensively it was clear the Nats preferred him at 1st. Happy for Howie though.
12.5 for Wong is the definition of overpaying which is the reason why there wasn’t going to be a market. You attempted to turn into the extremes, when my point was quite simple. 2B is no longer a premium position. Shifts have turned the position into more of a position that is a bat first/positioning battle. It’s always a plus if that guy can do both, but c’mon you can do better. There are so many examples today of a player being moved off 2nd to a premium position, due to athleticism and bat playing up or a guy that wouldn’t normally stick there if not for advanced positioning. But yeah something something Dodgers buying a WS is something I should have said?
Yea I don’t get it. Not a great bat but a very valuable all around player.
No team was going to trade for Wong at $12M/yr. The Cardinals made the right choice there. Wong is a $6-$8M player at the most. Great guy, great glove but not worth $12M/yr. In order for St. Louis to trade him, they would have either had to retain $4M+ of his salary or take back another ‘bad’ contract. Don’t discount St. Louis as a team to sign Wong now that he is free agent. If they offer him 3/$21 he might very well take that.
Good point. I didn’t realize his price tag was that high.
He wasn’t a FA so no QO.
Picking up the option only to trade him would’ve been too risky a roundabout method for the purpose of freeing up payroll space to improve the offense.
As for last offseason, they still needed him in 2020 to help them make the play-offs (which he did). Besides, the original plan back then was to pick up the option before Corona screwed up everyone’s finances.
The Blue Jays are interested in anyone who is willing to play in that sh!# hole in Buffalo… come to think of it, Buffalo is a sh!# hole in & of itself.
They got some damn good wing sauce though
Jays won’t be in Buffalo next season as there is a team there (if there is a Triple-A season).
Buffalo and Sahlen Field are most definitely not #### holes.
Well…depends on what part of Buffalo you’re in. Still, wings are phenomenal and they have terrific pizza spots too.
Comfortable with Wong at $16-mil for 2 or even $25-mil for 3. Comfortable with Biggio at 3B or even CF. Strong defender will help the rest of the infield. Make it happen Blue Jays.
Does Morosi ever break actual news?
Who aren’t the Blue Jays interested in
Chris Davis
Interesting. Are they really committed to moving Biggio off 2b? …. I mean.. if Vlad is moving to 3rd and Biggio to CF, does that mean grichuk will be moved? I don’t want Biggio at 1B. He has little value there because his bat isn’t quite good enough to warrant him playing there.
He’ll be a cheaper option than DJL, he’ll offer plenty of WAR, enough pop with the bat, etc.
Blue Jays will have to go to like 5 years/$100M to get DJL. They may only have to go to 1 year/$8M for Wong, maybe 2 years/$14M guarantee, maybe even tacking on an $8.5M club option with a $1M buyout or something and then even at the end of that deal, Wong is younger than DJL would be only half way through any deal DJL would sign with the Blue Jays, and the Blue Jays maybe have a younger prospect ready to plug in for the league minimum.
I think it’s a really sensible marriage between club with a need, and player in need of a contract and a chance to re-establish themselves.
Jays have nice internal options coming through shortly. Better off with a cheap vet in the OF and keep Biggio at 2B.
Just another “ Toronto is interested” who aren’t they interested in? No news here
The Blue Jays are over thinking things. Biggio should remain their primary 2nd basemen; there’s no need for them to spend money at this position. They should spend most of their money on pitching this offseason; they are in good shape everywhere else except for CF. That’s the one offensive position they should spend some money on.
Agreed. I’m sure they’ve checked in on everyone, just like all teams are doing. Just that media is stirring up news. Agreed that they should focus on pitching and 3B.
I disagree I think it’s best to turn him into Cavan Zobrist
Pitching doesn’t help if you can’t catch the ball. They need both pitching and defense. Wong is one way to improve the defense, if we assume Biggio will be good at 3B (which I think is reasonable). I’d prefer to upgrade CF and 3B defense instead, but you have to take your opportunities where they present themselves and it’s a lot easier to sign Wong than Springer (and doing the former doesn’t preclude doing the latter).
I’m interested in Jennifer Lawrence. Does anyone care?
Nope. You are in line behind me BTW.
Which their is 5M in front of you
Another strange option decision where the player will probably match if not exceed the amount on the open market especially with LeMahieu re-signing with the Yankees all but an open secret.
Wong is going to get paid.
He’s gonna make way more than 2/16 no doubt. But it’s not gonna be 12.5 a season. Not a terrible move by cards cutting him
(Jays fan wakes up)
Yawn…
Oh, another Blue Jays rumour about someone that they are “interested in”! Wow!
(Goes back to sleep that night)
(The next morning)
Yawn…
Oh, another Blue Jays rumour about someone that they are “interested in”! Wow!
(Goes back to sleep that night)
And… repeat.
Agreed. I’m sure they’ve checked in on everyone, just like all teams are doing. Just that media is stirring up news. Agreed that they should focus on pitching and 3B.
I mean for like a 3 year $21 million deal maybe
jays are interested in every free agent. they will have 80 men mlb roaster
The Jays will look much different next year and will be serious World Series contenders when they sign LeMahieu, Bauer, Springer, and Realmuto and then trade for Snell and Lindor. Wong would fit in nicely as a defensive replacement off the bench with all that depth they’ll have added.
Most teams in the league would be contenders if they sighed DJL, Bauer, Springer and Realmuto… as well as trading for lindor and snell. If you think the jays are going to do all of that.. well… Idk what to say
I guess sarcasm and hyperbole can easily be confused with what I think will happen. What I think will happen is they’ll touch base with all these players, sign one or two and decide on trades from there. If they sign Springer, they would trade one of their OF to address another area. If they sign Realmuto, they’ll trade Jansen again to address another area.
Didnt catch your sarcasm, my bad.
However, I think JTR is the best thing the jays could do this off season. I think they could actually trade not one, but two of the young catchers out of Jansen, McGuire and Kirk.
We’re on the same page. I’d love them to sign JTR. Catcher was the weakest area of the team (offensively at least). Kirk especially may have appeal to other teams in trade with his age and years of control and a productive first impression in the majors last year, his value may never be higher. Would prefer to trade Jansen and McGuire, but I’d imagine their value is relatively low. Overall, many will criticize Atkins but I think he’s doing a decent job. The major hurdle will be if players want to sign in Toronto, at least it appears they’re making some offers on the top tier of free agents.
If this would have been a normal year I totally think they would have picked up the option for sure. In a year where Hand gets cut loose for less, it’s not a shocker that won’t was cut loose either.
*Wong…..damn auto correct
Wong is not a difference maker for the BlueJays. Hard pass.
They need two frontline starters, a vet elite CFer and a Vet 3B. And for the 100th time, Vlad Jr cannot play 3rd base in the big leagues regardless of his weight.
I would tend to agree with most of this statement… The Blue Jays are an ace and a top hitter away from being truly competitive in my opinion. Signing George Springer and Trevor Bauer would change their circumstances, but they’ll be lucky to get one of them, nevermind both.
Toronto is interested in______ (fill in the blank.
I don’t understand all the blue jay hate, least their out there trying to get things done. Must be yankee fans, only news y’all got going on is what to do with that worthless excuse of a catcher yall got
They jays had a deal in place last season for moose to play 2nf and Cincinnati upd there final offer, I believe they were in on didi aswell. This year its kim and wong there after, makes me wonder what the plan with Biggio is. Does he get traded or moved to center? At the time of the moose deal vlad was the 3b, or does he go to third now.
I feel the jays package a catcher not named jansen or kirk with Grichuk to get his $ off the book and they sign Springer.
DJ is clearly the better fit but that just wont happen
Only other options is to try Gurriel at 3rd, has the arm and infield experience but that aint happening either