2012-2013 Toronto Blue Jays Off Season Thread

[dustyanddaflames]

1.Travis d'Arnaud, c
2.Jake Marisnick, of
3.Noah Syndergaard, rhp
4.Aaron Sanchez, rhp
5.Justin Nicolino, lhp
6.Roberto Osuna, rhp
7.Marcus Stroman, rhp
8.Adeiny Hechavarria, ss
9.D.J. Davis, of
10.John Stilson, rhp

List taken from Baseball America. Underlined/bolded players are no longer property of the club.

[whosurnabby]

What a beautiful off-season to be a Blue Jays fan - I honestly can't remember this much "actual" excitement, meaning we aren't wetting our pants over Fred Lewis, etc.

For the people who are saying we overpaid, and not meaning anyone in this forum specifically, but we just landed last year's CY YOUNG winner. LAST YEAR'S CY YOUNG WINNER. For people who are saying we acquired a 38 yr old hurler - he WON LAST YEAR'S CY YOUNG. Frick give your collective heads a shake. I listened to DJF's podcast on the way into work this morning, and I thought they brought up an excellent point - if this trade were to have taken place five years ago, the pieces going back to the Mets would have been Travis Snider and Brett Cecil.

I understand that the players aren't the same - but you get the jist behind it. They are just prospects until they hit the MLB stage. Five years ago, I would have cringed at the thought of trading Dustin McGowan, and now you couldn't give him away for 20 other clubs. D'Arnaud might end up becoming a top tier catcher in the MLB, but until we know that, it seems like a stretch to say that the Jays got screwed in this deal. I honestly hope that Syndengaard and D'Arnaud do well for the Mets, I would like to see them become relevant again in the NL East. But by the time D'Arnaud becomes an established MLB catcher, Bautista/Encarnacion are probably on the tail end of their productive years - so where does that leave you?

I love the deal from every aspect - you aren't going to land a Cy Young winner without giving up your best prospects. We are fortunate enough that we didn't have to give up anything off our roster to complete the deal. Add to the fact that the Jays were able to sign Dickey for three more years at a very competitive dollar adds value to this deal for Toronto. So even if Johnson walks at years end you have eliminated that gaping hole and added another top pick in 2014, amd you still have a strong 4/5 in your rotation, AND you are getting Hutchinson back in 2014.

Great stuff A.A., a right-handed bat to platoon with Lind and convincing Black Magic for one more year - and Alex may have completed one of the most effective off-season turnarounds I have seen.

Just got done listening to the DJF podcast as well and they also brought up key points about former "can't miss" catcher prospects like Jesus Montero and Matt Wieters not living to their prospect status (yet). And even though I am still 50/50 because a) this is baseball b) i'm a Blue Jays fan and something always goes wrong for the past 20 years. On another note, I whole-heartedly agree with your statement regarding AA doing this trade with our core line-up being in their primes. We bitched about watching the Delgado and Halladay-lead Jays team not having any support, now that we got it, why are some fans whining about losing key prospects?

Guys, with all of those prospects, we have gotten a Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, JJ, R.A Dickey and Emilio Bonifacio in their primes. The better news...we also have a JoeyBats, Edwin Encarnacion, Ricky Romero, and Brandon Morrow in their primes as well. Imagine if one of Colby Rasmus, Anthony Gose, J.P. Arencibia, and Brett Lawrie decides to make that leap in 2013 and "arrive in the SHOW"? WOW.

Bottomline is that the Toronto Blue Jays are finally relevant once more in the sport of baseball, in this country, and in the city of Toronto since Joe Carter ended the World Series in 1993.

[Clever_Iggy]

As I've taken the position that I am not a fan of the trade, I want to be clear. I'm not against AA trading prospects or even trading the prospects he did. I'm not a Dickey fan so I'm not a fan of trading those prospects for Dickey.

Now that the trade has gone through and the extension is very favorable to the Jays, there's no point in rehashing - either from the point of view that don't like the trade or those that do like the trade and are arguing against those that don't.

Last year I thought the excitment surrounding the Jays was great. The disappointment as a result of their season could not have been a more stark contrast. The excitment this year is 10 fold compared to last year. Let's home the results match the hype.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by VERVE

World Series Odds
(odds updated 12/17/12)

Toronto Blue Jays
8/1

Wow.

I'm trying to temper my excitement at all the moves that were made, but to think that the Jays would be right at the top in terms of odds is pretty crazy and I don't think deserved at the moment.

I just want to see playoff baseball right now. Let the pieces fall where they may after that.

[GirlySports]

Also those prospects were traded to the national league so who cares. Even if D'Arnaud becomes Gary Carter he's over there.

Remember back in the 90s, the Jays traded Jeff Kent for David Cone. Cone was just a rental and didn't even return for the 1993 season. Kent is probably a Hall of Famer and that doesn't bother Jays fans that much.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Wow.

I'm trying to temper my excitement at all the moves that were made, but to think that the Jays would be right at the top in terms of odds is pretty crazy and I don't think deserved at the moment.

I just want to see playoff baseball right now. Let the pieces fall where they may after that.

Odds don't really mean that the bookies think the Jays will win the WS. It just means the Jays are hot right now and in the news so bettors are more likely to notice them, thus the odds are a bit inflated to reduce volume.

[whosurnabby]

Here's an A-Z guide on all things "R.A Dickey" according to "former" Toronto Blue Jays troll, Dustin Parkes of the gettingblanked blog/podcast ====>http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2012/1...to-r-a-dickey/

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

1.Travis d'Arnaud, c
2.Jake Marisnick, of
3.Noah Syndergaard, rhp
4.Aaron Sanchez, rhp
5.Justin Nicolino, lhp
6.Roberto Osuna, rhp
7.Marcus Stroman, rhp
8.Adeiny Hechavarria, ss
9.D.J. Davis, of
10.John Stilson, rhp

List taken from Baseball America. Underlined/bolded players are no longer property of the club.

Would you like me to do the same with the major league starting line up and rotation, basically bolding the all the upgrades?

You want a good system or a good team?

This is a once in a generation time when NY and Bos are down, all the deals this off season make sense. In the order they were done. To do the Dickey trade first would make no sense but once they loaded up with the FA's and all the good Marlins, it works to go all in.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

1.Travis d'Arnaud, c
2.Jake Marisnick, of
3.Noah Syndergaard, rhp
4.Aaron Sanchez, rhp
5.Justin Nicolino, lhp
6.Roberto Osuna, rhp
7.Marcus Stroman, rhp
8.Adeiny Hechavarria, ss
9.D.J. Davis, of
10.John Stilson, rhp

List taken from Baseball America. Underlined/bolded players are no longer property of the club.

Was that before the season?

Keith Law said this on Twitter today and linked to mid-season update again

keithlaw ‏@keithlaw
Deal breaker. "@shawnbuca27: @keithlaw how much of an overpay would it have been if A.Sanchez was in the deal instead of Snydergaard?"

keithlaw ‏@keithlaw
There's no comparison. He's among the best SP prospects in baseball “@andyjdowney: @keithlaw what has you taking Sanchez higher?”

mid-season update had Sanchez 25th in the league

25. Aaron Sanchez, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays (Age 20)
Current level: Low Class A (Lansing)
Preseason ranking: 96

He has an electric arm that is loose and easy with life on the fastball and an out-pitch slider. He hasn't been fully tested by Toronto, which has him on such a tight pitch count that he doesn't turn lineups over three times, facing 20 batters for the first time in one outing just last week. He also has a comical, if not particularly meaningful, platoon split against lefties. He has faced 105, walked 25, fanned 45 and given up just eight singles for a .077/.254/.077 line.

[3thirty]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Would you like me to do the same with the major league starting line up and rotation, basically bolding the all the upgrades?

You want a good system or a good team?

This is a once in a generation time when NY and Bos are down, all the deals this off season make sense. In the order they were done. To do the Dickey trade first would make no sense but once they loaded up with the FA's and all the good Marlins, it works to go all in.

I believe he just posted that as someone asked for a prospect list in the previous post...

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Would you like me to do the same with the major league starting line up and rotation, basically bolding the all the upgrades?

You want a good system or a good team?

This is a once in a generation time when NY and Bos are down, all the deals this off season make sense. In the order they were done. To do the Dickey trade first would make no sense but once they loaded up with the FA's and all the good Marlins, it works to go all in.

I asked for an updated overview of our prospect pool a couple posts up. He was just replying.

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Would you like me to do the same with the major league starting line up and rotation, basically bolding the all the upgrades?

You want a good system or a good team?

This is a once in a generation time when NY and Bos are down, all the deals this off season make sense. In the order they were done. To do the Dickey trade first would make no sense but once they loaded up with the FA's and all the good Marlins, it works to go all in.

Easy pard - look a few posts back and I was raving about the deal.

[Sylvanfan]

Although, when you consider that by giving up those 5 prospects, they got 3 upgrades at starting pitcher, and a big time upgrade at short stop, that's pretty impressive. Than consider that they didn't lose any bench strenght, and if anything made themselves more versatile with a LH hitting catcher, and a real speed demon in Bonaficio.

Really most of those prospects were not in the system 3 years ago, so in the coming time that's been bought be getting good veteran players to play in the majors, I'm confident that they'll be able to replenish the pool while providing the fans with what should be a substantially better product on the field.

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Was that before the season?

Keith Law said this on Twitter today and linked to mid-season update again



mid-season update had Sanchez 25th in the league

25. Aaron Sanchez, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays (Age 20)
Current level: Low Class A (Lansing)
Preseason ranking: 96

He has an electric arm that is loose and easy with life on the fastball and an out-pitch slider. He hasn't been fully tested by Toronto, which has him on such a tight pitch count that he doesn't turn lineups over three times, facing 20 batters for the first time in one outing just last week. He also has a comical, if not particularly meaningful, platoon split against lefties. He has faced 105, walked 25, fanned 45 and given up just eight singles for a .077/.254/.077 line.

I think this was the Jays' 2013 top 10 prospect list compiled by Baseball America (before the trades obviously).

[VERVE]

Now that my mixed feelings of the D'Arnaud and Syndergaard trade for Dickey are no longer shaken but slightly stirred, I am moving on and getting very excited of the 2013 season ahead. T'is the season to be jolly.

AA is right, there is a window of opportunity here. The timing of the Jays' great improvements to be contenders coincide with the big two in the AL East who are declining slighty to moderately enough to make this work. After reading AA's post-trade interview, I am again more at ease by the direction of the Blue Jays organization and their strategy and planning for now and the future.

Hopefully, all the pieces fall into place as planned. It will be even more exciting to watch them in post-season again (I hope sooner than later).

[FakenHaken]

[Clever_Iggy]

^^^ If healthy, that's a heck of a line up to run out everyday. IMO, catcher is the only real hole... but that's only relative to the rest of the lineup.

[FakenHaken]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

^^^ If healthy, that's a heck of a line up to run out everyday. IMO, catcher is the only real hole... but that's only relative to the rest of the lineup.

I'm not nearly as worried about the catcher as I am about 2nd base. I am no baseball expert just a guy when not much is happenning sitting down with a cold beer to watch. Didn't Lawrie come to us from the Royals as a 2nd basem and was moved to 3rd base? What about Encarnacion at 3rd base and move Lawrie over to 2nd base? Then have Gose, Cabrera switch around in Left Field for the DH position. Even move Bautista over to be the 3rd bagger again leave Encarnacion and Lind to switch around from DH to 1st Base still, and Gose Right Field and Cabrera Left Field.

[moon]

Pretty much 0 chance Lawrie is moved to 2nd and Encarnacion at 3rd is a disaster.

[Jason14h]

Both Izturis and Bonifacio are good 9th batters at 2nd. If they can platoon to hit .270 from the 9 hole we will be fine. They are the least of the question marks for this season