Toronto Blue Jays - Offseason Thread

[Caged Great]

Getting EE would just mean that Pearce would spend more time at 2B and OF with the occasional game at 1B instead.

[puffnstuff]

I wonder if they are thinking about Travis to the outfield.

[Dion]

My prediction is EE signs a 3 year deal with the Jays. His game of chicken back fires forcing EE to question his agents tactics.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

I wonder if they are thinking about Travis to the outfield.

I doubt it, I seem to recall Detroit trying him in the outfield with no success.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yankees sign Chapman as expected.

5 years / $86 million

[Parallex]

Jays select RHP Glenn Sparkman from the Royals in the Rule 5 draft. They hit gold last year with Biagini let's see if they hit gold again.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp...ching/2016/ALL

[calculoso]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/210580...draft-results/

Also in the AAA phase:
Jays lose:
6. Phillies: Jorge Flores, SS, Blue Jays
13. Yankees: Jorge Saez Jr., C, Blue Jays
21. Rangers: LHP Matt Smoral, Blue Jays

Jays pick up:
18. Blue Jays: Philp Walby, RHP, Nationals

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Getting EE would just mean that Pearce would spend more time at 2B and OF with the occasional game at 1B instead.

Yeah, but I don't think the issue with the Blue Jays is whether they could find somewhere else to shove a just purchased asset, it's that they're carefully budgeting every last addition to the dollar to put together the best team possible under budget constraints.

If they spent the money already to shore up first base and DH, the chances of them doing it again because a star player is now available for a bargain is as close to zero as you can get.

Really frustrating when you think about it. We likely could have had Edwin back easily if we were patient, but the narrative that we were looking to wait out Edwin for a better deal was false, we had decided early on that we were going a much cheaper route.

[jayswin]

I'll hold out hope that something bigger happens, but honestly at this point when you compare the last two years to this upcoming year, would one medium ticket FA signing even put us into playoff contention?

We seem to be putting together a very budget minded roster and we've still got a lot to shore up before opening day. With all that's left to address I'm just not seeing the room to even add a high priced FA even if one was available.

[cross16]

I think this whole "budget constraint" thing is getting pretty over blown.

Currenly the Jays have the 6th highest payroll in terms of committed money for 2017 and by all reports are set to have a payroll in the 160-170 million range for this season which is a top 10 payroll. They also have the 2nd highest paid catcher in the league, 4th highest paid 3B and the highest paid SS. Problem isn't their budget, problem is they have a high concentration of salary in a few positions and a poor farm system that has not allowed them to develop MLB replacement talent so they are relying on FA to build their team. That is not a very sustainable model of success.

[REDVAN]

The issue is that they are 6th overall spending but are realistically 10-20M away from a WS Championship and fans want them to go spend that for the next year or two...

Rogers/Management is trying to put an "almost" good enough team on the field for 4 years (2 or 3 past, then this year, maybe the following depending how lucky their trades will work out) in order to make a ton of playoff money, rather than win one WS and then have to go through a decade of mediocrity since we have no prospects.

[jayswin]

Yeah, I agree with Cross16's assessment of the roster vs the budget, but the unfortunate thing is that's what we have to work with. You take away Martin or Tulo or Donaldson and you're opening up huge holes that we'd just have to fill anyways.

Redvan is right that the roster is what it is and you can either dismantle it and start over, go all in on a championship and face the consequences or maximize TV/gate revenue by doing the best you can without going over an internal budget that doesn't quite allow you to go for it.

We're doing the latter, which is kind of unfortunate. Obviously we'll all still be here cheering for the best, but this route requires lots of things to go right and likely leaves no room for key injuries.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Jays select RHP Glenn Sparkman from the Royals in the Rule 5 draft. They hit gold last year with Biagini let's see if they hit gold again.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp...ching/2016/ALL

Looks like he has pretty good stuff.

Sparkman’s repertoire includes a good breaking ball, a good change-up and a fastball that can reach 95 mph. Atkins considers the former Royals prospect a strike thrower with an athletic delivery, a combination that will give him the chance to make the Blue Jays’ bullpen out of spring training.

Sparkman, a 20th round pick in the 2013 draft, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he returned to action in June of 2016. In 16 starts across four minor league levels this past season, he posted a 5.22 ERA but struck out 65 batters in 60.1 innings while walking just 10.

I love the idea of the Rule 5 draft.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Things I will still never understand and have yet to see an explanation for: Why did the team re-sign Smoak to a two year extension in the middle of the last season? I know it's only 4.125 million a season, which is not much in baseball terms, but he's occupying a roster spot and 8 million dollars that could be allocated to literally any other player and it would be an improvement.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by calculoso

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/210580...draft-results/

Also in the AAA phase:
Jays lose:
6. Phillies: Jorge Flores, SS, Blue Jays
13. Yankees: Jorge Saez Jr., C, Blue Jays
21. Rangers: LHP Matt Smoral, Blue Jays

Jays pick up:
18. Blue Jays: Philp Walby, RHP, Nationals

I saw him pitch for the Vancouver Canadians a couple of times this summer. I can see why he was a first round pick just based on the metrics: 6' 8" left handed pitcher but I don't think I saw his fastball hit 90 mph once and he was getting rocked in short season A ball, I don't see this is a major loss. He was a supplemental pick for losing Frank Francisco.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by calculoso

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/210580...draft-results/

Also in the AAA phase:
Jays lose:
6. Phillies: Jorge Flores, SS, Blue Jays
13. Yankees: Jorge Saez Jr., C, Blue Jays
21. Rangers: LHP Matt Smoral, Blue Jays

Jays pick up:
18. Blue Jays: Philp Walby, RHP, Nationals

How does the AAA phase work, is it the same as the MLB (i.e. players who have reached a certain time limit since draft that hasn't reached AAA?)

[cross16]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

The issue is that they are 6th overall spending but are realistically 10-20M away from a WS Championship and fans want them to go spend that for the next year or two...

Rogers/Management is trying to put an "almost" good enough team on the field for 4 years (2 or 3 past, then this year, maybe the following depending how lucky their trades will work out) in order to make a ton of playoff money, rather than win one WS and then have to go through a decade of mediocrity since we have no prospects.

I don't see this the same way. I think this idea that and extra 10-20 million will win them a championship isn't sound logic. by that account why don't the Dodgers win the world Series every year? Why did 2 teams below the Jays in payroll last year make the world Series? I think the Jays could open up their wallets and sign both EE and Chapman and it woudn't guarantee them anything and in fact that team could easily not even make the ALCS like they did the last 2 years.

I don't see payroll hampering this team at all personally, there is no reason to believe that a team that operates with a payroll in the top 10 in MLB can't compete for a World Series. I don't understand why people think 1 or 2 FA or 10-20 million is suddenly going to make them more of a contender that they already are but clearly I have more faith in the Jays management than most here and I understand that.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by cross16

I don't see payroll hampering this team at all personally, there is no reason to believe that a team that operates with a payroll in the top 10 in MLB can't compete for a World Series. I don't understand why people think 1 or 2 FA or 10-20 million is suddenly going to make them more of a contender that they already are but clearly I have more faith in the Jays management than most here and I understand that.

I kind of agree with some of what you're saying but then it seems you oversimplify to an excruciating level with a coupe comments, like the bolded. I don't understand how adding significant FA's wouldn't make them more of a contender?

You can argue that it may not be the best way to go, and that it may hurt them down the road, but I'm not sure how you can say with a straight face that adding more salary to shore up positions wouldn't make them more of a contender this season.

[cross16]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I kind of agree with some of what you're saying but then it seems you oversimplify to an excruciating level with a coupe comments, like the bolded. I don't understand how adding significant FA's wouldn't make them more of a contender?

You can argue that it may not be the best way to go, and that it may hurt them down the road, but I'm not sure how you can say with a straight face that adding more salary to shore up positions wouldn't make them more of a contender this season.

What I mean is there is no guarantee and I don't think spending more money guarantees you anything, espeically in this FA market that isn't all that good. I"m not seeing players out there that Jays could get that suddenly would make them a legit WS contender.

I guess at the end of the day I just don't see an extra 10-20 million really making that much of a different to their chances. They are several pieces away and i'm not a believer at all you build a team through FA so i'm not seeing those 1 or 2 missing pieces that an extra 10-20 million would solve.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Cappy

How does the AAA phase work, is it the same as the MLB (i.e. players who have reached a certain time limit since draft that hasn't reached AAA?)

Basically. Except that teams get to protect additional guys without having to put them on the 40 man (and claiming teams don't have to put them on the 40 man). When you get to the MILB portion of the Rule 5 your talking about the most extreme of longshots and it's mostly to get more age appropriate org depth.