2014-2015 Blue Jays Off-Season Thread

[d_phaneuf]

still need a LF, I would prefer to not have Izturis or Goins be an everyday 2b, right now Smoak looks to be playing a lot of games at 1B/DH (assuming Navarro is traded) and that's risky

[Matty81]

Yeah I think Smoak should never be an everyday player and you're right LF is a gaping hole. Valencia could maybe DH but again shouldn't be an everyday player let alone on a team that hopes to contend.

I'm ok with them gambling on Pompey/Pillar in CF and accepting Goins horrible bat for his great D if they plug the holes in LF and DH. Bringing Melky back would be a good start.

[alan21]

Sad to see Lawrie go but he was injured way too often.

[bluejays]

Yeah, the middle is looking relatively weak. With Melky seemingly on his way out, there's LF, CF, 2nd and pitching still to be addressed. Good move for the Jays, but curious to see what else they can do. If it's up to me, I'd go with an all-star 2nd baseman over the other fielding positions. I love that AA's gotten rid of the undisciplined players (on the field and in the dugout) on the team this off-season. The guys that have been brought in are simply good respectable players and it's going to change the laissez faire clubhouse atmosphere. I really hope there's more to come. I'm going to guess Reyes may be next to go, but at this point I don't care. Real happy at this trade.

[The Big Chill]

So at the moment we have:

1) Reyes - SS
2) Donaldson - 3B
3) Bautista - RF
4) EE - 1B
5) Martin - C
6) Smoak/Valencia - DH
7) Pompey - CF
8) Pillar - LF
9) Goins/Izturis - 2B

SP) Buehrle
SP) Dickey
SP) Stroman
SP) Hutchison
SP) Happ/Estrada etc.

A lot to like with that lineup, but the bottom third of the order is potentially quite weak, and it would be really nice to add another decent SP too.

[Tyler]

Interesting:

Andrew Stoeten ‏@AndrewStoeten 3h3 hours ago
Davidi on PTS today: Manager wanted more "mature adults" in the room, and there weren't enough. Colby, Brett, Gose, Lind all gone. Hmm.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Where does Devon Travis fit in the 2nd base discussion?

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Where does Devon Travis fit in the 2nd base discussion?

Possibly in the discussion if he has a good spring training. His bat is better than Izturis, so if he can play he could very well start in the majors.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by fleury

I'm going to guess Reyes may be next to go, but at this point I don't care.

Moving Reyes is going to be tough...we likely won't get more than a bag of balls for him and even then we might still have to eat some of his contract. He is due for $22 million (!) each year for the next 4 years. We'll be left with another big hole up the middle if we do trade him.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

So at the moment we have:

1) Reyes - SS
2) Donaldson - 3B
3) Bautista - RF
4) EE - 1B
5) Martin - C
6) Smoak/Valencia - DH
7) Pompey - CF
8) Pillar - LF
9) Goins/Izturis - 2B
.

I'd bet on a Mayberry/Dirks platoon in left before Pillar being an everyday player. Which is fine Mayberry hammers lefties and Dirks is a decent all around player. Really want to see second base solidified... Just sign Jed Lowrie and be done with it. Oh yes the trade... one the one hand I'm puzzled that AA has again chosen to seek an upgrade at a position that was already covered over ones in obvious need... that being said we just got the best 3B in baseball (losing Lawrie and Barreto kind of stings).

[Clever_Iggy]

Couldn't stand Lawrie so this is great. Lots of holes and all AA has done is upgraded positions that were "adequate" so there's still a long ways to go.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Moving Reyes is going to be tough...we likely won't get more than a bag of balls for him and even then we might still have to eat some of his contract. He is due for $22 million (!) each year for the next 4 years. We'll be left with another big hole up the middle if we do trade him.

I agree. I don't think it'd be easy to move Reyes, more because of his salary. But if the Jays retain, say $8M, he becomes widely appealing to 80% of the league I'd think. At the end of the day, I'm fine with him being here, but if there's a guy who I think the Jays can benefit from dealing to get an lower upside but more consistent player back, it might be him.

[Ne7en]

What a great trade for the Jays. If they can't manage to find a 2B, I'd move Reyes to second and bring in a upgrade at short. Still hopeful the Jays find a way to bring Melky back, and add to the rotation.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

A's are clearly trying to destroy their fanbase so they can move.

How so? This is, is exactly what Beane has done over the past numbers of years. I bet by the end of 2 years from now that is, is an even trade. Donaldson is an upgrade over Lawrie, there is no doubt about that but Donaldson is very inconsistent at the plate. When he is on, he hits everything but when he is not, he is really bad and swings at a lot of bad pitches. What makes this trade for the Jays is not the on field stuff but the clubhouse aspect that Donaldson will bring. He was a real leader in Oakland, the type of player you win with.

[Antithesis]

Great trade for the Jays. I'm thrilled with this acquisition. Consider that they acquired perhaps the best 3B in all of baseball (right up there with Longoria) and they didn't part with any of Stroman, Sanchez, or Norris. That's huge. You don't pass up an opportunity like this because you have needs elsewhere. Possibility also exists that this acts to convince Cabrera to stay on with the Jays. Very exciting.

[REDVAN]

Come on Melky... you know you wanna play for this team

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Here's a couple tweets from yesterday, I thought Melky was good as gone a few weeks ago, now there's at least a glimmer of hope. Would love for him to return.

Jon Heyman@JonHeymanCBS
jays still trying for melky. he was great for them last year, and they do need a lefty bat, or 2.

Melky Cabrera‏@TheMelkman53
I want everyone to know that I am a baseball player and it doesn't matter to me what surface I play on. I will be the best player I can be.

[GirlySports]

he probably played on cow dung in the Domincan so I'm sure truf is fine.

[transplant99]

One of the talking heads on CBS surmises that the melky tweets are in response to a "planted" story by the Jays that said he didn't want to play on turf in hopes that he would now want to stay (for what they have offered $$ wise) because of the trade last night.

Im not sure I buy it and I do suspect it all comes down to $$ for him and if he can get some more out of another club and play on grass, im sure he would be better off health wise in doing so.

Interesting times though as I think AA needs MC's money to chase a SP.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

How so? This is, is exactly what Beane has done over the past numbers of years. I bet by the end of 2 years from now that is, is an even trade. Donaldson is an upgrade over Lawrie, there is no doubt about that but Donaldson is very inconsistent at the plate. When he is on, he hits everything but when he is not, he is really bad and swings at a lot of bad pitches. What makes this trade for the Jays is not the on field stuff but the clubhouse aspect that Donaldson will bring. He was a real leader in Oakland, the type of player you win with.

Right, but how do you go to the fans in Oakland and say "Come out pay money to watch us play when since the trade deadline last year we've traded away our two best offensive players on the team, and the top higher end pitchers we traded for are also going to be gone". It's a difficult sell right?

And that's before you remember they play in the worst or second worst (the Big O) sports stadium in North America. I get that Billy is always playing the long game because of their budget constraints, but it's pretty impossible to build a fanbase when any time you might have a window to win, it gets slammed shut by your owners.

This case seems particularly odd as Donaldson is on a very good contract for a few years yet. This just seems like making moves for the sake of making moves. Or maybe Billy saw the second half collapse last year and decided this team wasn't anywhere close to winning anything and is re-tooling for a few years from now. But that's still not going to help build their fanbase.