Blue Jays 2013/14 off season

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Rajai Davis signs with Tigers

two-year deal worth up to $10 million dollars

I like Davis, wish he could have stuck around somehow. Loved having his speed in the lineup. Crappy.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

Sounds like the Phillies aren't all that interested in moving them, as they don't want to eat any dollars and want a hefty return of players/prospects back.

Makes sense. Position scarcity. Aces are hard to find, with only roughly one per team (if at all), so it would make sense these guys are held to a premium - even at their lofty paycheques. Some GM will pay, and Philly's GM knows that. Wait until all a panic situation and many GM's will bite that bullet to save their teams and their own skin!

[bomber317]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I like Davis, wish he could have stuck around somehow. Loved having his speed in the lineup. Crappy.

Too bad we didn't deal him at the deadline to get something back. He could have been a great option for some of those playoff teams last year.

[Flickered Flame]

Anderson has been traded to Colorado.

[RedHot25]

Blue Jays shopping Rasmus for starting pitching:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/1...es-chavez.html

The Blue Jays have offered outfielder Colby Rasmus to two teams in exchange for starting pitching, the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott writes.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Gregor Chisholm@gregorMLB

AA: "I think one thing that we're pursuing, would most likely have a three-team component to it that I think could work." #BlueJays

[bluejays]

Up the middle was an issue for the Jays in all the positions this year, so I'm glad AA seems to be upgrading that. Ridding of Arencibia was addition by subtraction and if he can address a 2nd starter at the cost of Rasmus, it's a done deal. Rasmus has plateaud, and though Gose offers almost nothing with his bat, pitching is still what wins championships, and the incremental difference between adding a pitcher at Rasmus' cost to replacing him with Gose, is pretty small. I'd actually go a step further and package Gose with another player for a legit 2nd baseman.

[Parallex]

And in timewarp related news the Jays have apparently come to a verbal agreement to sign Tomo Ohka to a minor league deal. Apparently he's a Knuckleball pitcher now so I'd have to think that's all about getting AJ Jimenez reps catching a Knuckleball.

[MyFlamesFirst]

I don't know a whole lot about baseball and actually just became a blue jays fan last year ( I wanted to cheer for a winning team for a bit....that didn't work), so take this with a grain of salt but I thought Goins played really well last year. I don't understand why everyone is saying we need to address second base. Am I missing something? I think after starting pitching we need to more closely look at speed on bases. With Bonifacio and Davis gone that leaves Gose as our only really quick base runner.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by MyFlamesFirst

I don't know a whole lot about baseball and actually just became a blue jays fan last year ( I wanted to cheer for a winning team for a bit....that didn't work), so take this with a grain of salt but I thought Goins played really well last year. I don't understand why everyone is saying we need to address second base. Am I missing something? I think after starting pitching we need to more closely look at speed on bases. With Bonifacio and Davis gone that leaves Gose as our only really quick base runner.

Goins is basically a bench caliber player. Someone that's good enough to play every 4th or 5th day. He just doesn't hit enough to allow him to stick. With any position, it's always better to have more of a sure thing heading into the season and Goins does not qualify.

It would be like us relying on Derek Smith to be a top 4 d-man after the half season he was decent.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

The Jays have three starting pitchers targeted and Anthopoulos says a fourth pitcher could also be in play. “We’re not going to close the door on the fourth,” the GM said. “The fourth is a little more challenging, but I think there could be a domino effect with the fourth if we do some other things.”


The Jays are looking to add an international free agent, Nicholson-Smith reports, so the trade of Rule 5 draft pick Brian Moran to the Angels for $244K of extra space under the international spending cap helped Toronto prepare for this potential signing. The Blue Jays attempted to acquire international cap space from the Phillies earlier this winter but were turned down.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/1...thopoulos.html

[flames_fan_down_under]

So far the Jays have been pretty quiet. Still a lot of time left but they still need a 2B and at least one starting pitcher.

[Parallex]

Jays sign Munenori Kawasaki to a minor league contract with invite to spring training.

Yay! Kawasaki is back! Love that guy.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

When right-hander Doug Fister was traded to the Nats in November, Anthopoulos was surprised and indicated the Tigers surely knew he was interested, that he would have liked a last chance to bid on the talented starter. Would he have been given the opportunity two years ago? Perhaps.

One executive at the recent winter meetings indicated that other GMs now realize that when they are talking to Anthopoulos about a potential trade, it may just be information gathering. Some have become more careful in their conversations. Maybe it’s time to adjust.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/blueja..._griffin.html#

[RedHot25]

I think, generally, what you see is what you get for the Jays this year.

[bluejays]

I read the Griffin article yesterday, and I respectfully disagree with Griffin that AA should be on the hot seat. He's one of the smartest minds in the game where he's always looking out for the best interests of the club making some good deals that simply didn't pan out. No way I'd fire the guy when there's likely no better replacement.

[moon]

What makes AA one of the smartest guys in the game?

His teams have been 4th, 4th, 4th in the division. During that time every other team in the division has made the play-offs so the "tough AL East" with NYY and Boston is a weak excuse.

I understand that he does some odd things that often get thrown into the category of being smarter than anyone else but what has he done to earn this smartest minds in the game? Especially looking at some of the moves he has made.

You may be right that there is no better replacement because who knows who will come to Toronto but their are a lot of better GM's out there than AA.

[The Big Chill]

I think the idea comes from the way he built the Jays minor league system in a very short time. He made some very shrewd moves to acquire extra draft picks and take it from an area of weakness to an area of strength. His moves have yet to yield results at the major league level yet though, and if that doesn't changed this season then I'm sure his seat will be getting quite warm.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

I think the idea comes from the way he built the Jays minor league system in a very short time. He made some very shrewd moves to acquire extra draft picks and take it from an area of weakness to an area of strength. His moves have yet to yield results at the major league level yet though, and if that doesn't changed this season then I'm sure his seat will be getting quite warm.

Yeah some of the bloom has come off his "boy wonder" rose. I'm not sure I'd call him "one of the smartest minds in the game"... I wouldn't put him on the same level as B. Beane or A. Friedman for example. He's got his strengths and he's got his weaknesses.

If his seat isn't hot yet it'll be hot if the only reason you watch the Jays in September is to see the prospects play.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

John Gibbons’ 2015 option became guaranteed and the manager had a 2016 option added to his contract due to a clause in his unique deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

If Gibbons makes it through another season, the 2016 option will become guaranteed and a 2017 option will be added. The contract amounts to a perpetual two-year deal and means Gibbons and Anthopoulos don’t face questions about the skipper’s job status.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...-jays-gibbons/