2010 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Flickered Flame]

The Jays have picked up catcher Miguel Olivo from the Rockies for a PTBNL.

[CaramonLS]

Buck insurance.

[JiriHrdina]

^Or do they just want him for the compensatory pick?

[Flickered Flame]

And just across Twitter is that the Jays have declined Olivo's option. He is now a free agent.

[Caged Great]

Awesome awesome move by AA. He trades either a C level prospect (filler at best in the minors) or 75000 cash to the Rockies to buy out his option at 0.5 million.

Then the Jays get a top 50 pick when Olivo signs elsewhere. So for $575000 the Jays can get another high potential prospect in what's reported to be a very very deep draft.

Brilliant GM'ing there.

[dustyanddaflames]

Brilliance.... Hard not to get behind a guy like A.A. who has a vision and isn't willing to jump the gun when in rebuild mode.

[bluejays]

It's not necessarily rebuilding. He's setting things up for years to come to continually have prospects year after year much like the Yankees. I can't say I'm all that impressed by letting Gregg walk, simply because he was cheap (probably worth a bit more than a compensatory 50 pick), but AA probably knew better he wouldn't be the happiesst guy being a set up man. I love what AA's doing, and he's quietly making a name for himself. I don't think he's made one bad move yet.

[JayP]

I could be wrong, but didn't the Jays have to pick up both years of club options on Gregg ($4.75m next season, then $8.75m the year after)?

Either way, I think the Jays are going for the common small market strategy of filling the bullpen with cheap, young arms. I like the idea especially since it protects against the all too common veteran closer who only comes into games when it's a save situation and can't ever pitch more than an inning. I'd rather have a young guy who might not be quite as good, but his ability can be maximized by using him when it really matters (ie; 8th inning, 1 out, bases loaded, 3-2 game) rather than when there's a save on the line.

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by JayP

I could be wrong, but didn't the Jays have to pick up both years of club options on Gregg ($4.75m next season, then $8.75m the year after)?

Either way, I think the Jays are going for the common small market strategy of filling the bullpen with cheap, young arms. I like the idea especially since it protects against the all too common veteran closer who only comes into games when it's a save situation and can't ever pitch more than an inning. I'd rather have a young guy who might not be quite as good, but his ability can be maximized by using him when it really matters (ie; 8th inning, 1 out, bases loaded, 3-2 game) rather than when there's a save on the line.

I could be wrong, but I thought the Jays had the option of 1 year @ $4.75 or 2 years @ $8.75. Could have mis-read it somewhere though too...

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by fleury

It's not necessarily rebuilding. He's setting things up for years to come to continually have prospects year after year much like the Yankees. I can't say I'm all that impressed by letting Gregg walk, simply because he was cheap (probably worth a bit more than a compensatory 50 pick), but AA probably knew better he wouldn't be the happiesst guy being a set up man. I love what AA's doing, and he's quietly making a name for himself. I don't think he's made one bad move yet.

I agree that it isn't a "complete" rebuild, I guess a re-buffing of the system would have been a more appropriate phrase to use. Really like that A.A. has stocked his farm system with high-end talent, and when the time is right, will have the pieces to go out and acquire major league talent when this team is ready to compete.

[Gozer]

It seemed to me that Purcey was being groomed to take over the closer's role.

I hope Carlson can make an impact too next year, but I'm also optimistic that Farrell's knowledge will augment any bullpen moves.

[dustyanddaflames]

A good read on MLBastain (sp?) on twitter about the conference call with A.A. earlier this morning. Seems to me like the Olivo thing was just insurance the Jays wouldn't lose a pick either way, as signing Buck back would cost them one. Worst and best case scenario, Jays have a catcher and one/two pick.

EDIT - didn't really make it clear that it sounded like Olivo, himself, may be an insurance policy at catcher if Buck were to sign elsewhere. Sounded like the Jays had interest in his last off-season as well.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

An easy way to inflate a pitcher's value is to have him as a closer, particularly if you do protect him by not putting him in those difficult 8th inning situations. I wouldn't be surprised if he brought in a veteran reliever, plugged him in as a closer with an eye to moving him at some point during the season.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

An easy way to inflate a pitcher's value is to have him as a closer, particularly if you do protect him by not putting him in those difficult 8th inning situations. I wouldn't be surprised if he brought in a veteran reliever, plugged him in as a closer with an eye to moving him at some point during the season.

That happened this past season, the Jays have too much young pitching depth to bring in stop-gaps.

I could name five potential closers from their prospect pool alone.

From http://thesouthpawbaseball.blogspot.com/:
[quote]
I'd assume the closer candidates are Purcey (based on pedigree), Camp (based on effectiveness), Roenicke (based on scouting reports of "stuff") and possibly Buchholz as a dark horse. There's a nonzero chance that they might surprise us and give Zep a chance at that role too, but there's been not so much as a whisper about it from the press. I would add to this conversation the observation that before his injury, Casey Janssen finished 21 games, collected 6 saves and had a very low ERA. His supporting stats were much better this year than they were in 2007, and it's not inconceivable he could be a candidate as well - it's at least as realistic as Camp getting the job.
[endquote]

[Gozer]

Also from southpaw, BA's top ten Jay prospects;

1. Kyle Drabek, rhp
2. Deck McGuire, rhp
3. Anthony Gose, of
4. Travis D'Arnaud, c
5. Zach Stewart, rhp
6. Asher Wojciechowski, rhp
7. J.P. Arencibia, c
8. Carlos Perez, c
9. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
10. Jake Marisnick, of

[Pagal4321]

MLBastian Jays complete coaching staff: Wakamatsu bench coach, Lovullo 1B coach, Hentgen bullpen coach, Murphy hitting coach. More soon on mlb.com. They join previously announced Butterfield (3B coach) and Walton (pitching coach) on Jays manager John Farrell's staff.

[dustyanddaflames]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

MLBastian Jays complete coaching staff: Wakamatsu bench coach, Lovullo 1B coach, Hentgen bullpen coach, Murphy hitting coach. More soon on mlb.com. They join previously announced Butterfield (3B coach) and Walton (pitching coach) on Jays manager John Farrell's staff.

Always liked Don Wakamatsu, thought he got a raw deal in Seattle w/ the Griffey thing and the club they handed him to run.

[Super-Rye]

Originally Posted by Gozer

Also from southpaw, BA's top ten Jay prospects;

1. Kyle Drabek, rhp
2. Deck McGuire, rhp
3. Anthony Gose, of
4. Travis D'Arnaud, c
5. Zach Stewart, rhp
6. Asher Wojciechowski, rhp
7. J.P. Arencibia, c
8. Carlos Perez, c
9. Aaron Sanchez, rhp
10. Jake Marisnick, of

How many of those guys are AA guys? I know at least the top 4.

Also seems like a lot of righties and catchers, with a lack of lefties and infielders.

[Caged Great]

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 are AA guys

Not sure about Perez or Marisnick

[Gozer]

Perez is a 20 year old Venezualean catcher, so probably a AA guy even if he was acquired with JP at the helm, Marisnick is an AA guy too. Missed a lot of the season because of a contract holdout.

Although, as resident JP apologist, Riccardi did put Anthopolous in a great position to draft well with JP's past drafts focusing on MLB-ready talent and efforts to optimize draft picks.