2019 Blue Jays Season Thread

[browna]

A total aside, but full credit to the developers of Camden Yards almost 30 years ago for making the walls the height they are. 7 ft high according to google.

If there’s a catch where the player reaches over the wall to save a HR, 90% of the time it’s in Baltimore.

Watching 100 top plays of the year right now, there about 8 of said plays from Baltimore, giving the ball park notoriety.

[Roof-Daddy]

So what have we got so far?

C - Jansen
1B - Shaw
2B - Biggio
3B - Vlad
SS - Bichette
LF - Gurriel
CF - Fisher
RF - Grichuk
DH - Hernandez

UT - Drury
OF - Alford
IF - Valera
C - Mcguire

SP - Ryu
SP - Shoemaker
SP - Roark
SP - Anderson
SP - Borucki

RP - Thornton
RP - Font
RP - Gaviglio
RP - Pannone
RP - Romano
RP - Bass
RP - Yamaguchi
CP - Giles

[flamingred89]

That outfield is embarrassing haha. I read today about interest heating up with Marcel Ozuna. The Jays are apparently not in on him but if I were Atkins I would seriously take a look at him. He’s coming off a little bit of a down year and his time with the Cardinals hasn’t exactly been fruitful. So I think he’d be a candidate for a nice show me deal. He’d definitely be a huge upgrade over fisher. Have Grichuk start in CF and Hernandez as a 4th outfielder. All of a sudden that’s 4 players with above average speed and the ability to hit 30HR’s.

Edit: I should add that I used Fishers name but I personally think he’s lower on the depth chart than McKinney or Alford. Fisher might have been the worst big leaguer I’ve watched in a long time.

[Samonadreau]

Our pitching needs to stay healthy.

^Also Fisher CF and Hernandez DH, no good.... no good at all

[Karl]

Fisher is as bad as Zeke Carrera at catching a ball and he sure as heck can't hit a thing either.

Total garbage and an utter waste of a roster spot.

[Roof-Daddy]

I think Gurriel is the every day LF

CF and RF will be a steady diet of Grichuk, Hernandez, Alford and Mckinney IMO depending on who is playing and hitting better. I also think a lot of DH at bats will be goven to these guys as well as Drury, with Vlad and Shaw on days where they get a rest from taking the field.

Also, didnt Hernandez have a WRC+ of 120 to 130 from June on last year? If that's for real it's a bat you want in the line up, even with the high K rate. Plus his speed is an asset as well.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

CF and RF will be a steady diet of Grichuk, Hernandez, Alford and Mckinney IMO depending on who is playing and hitting better.

Minus one of them... not enough roster spots for all of them.

I think we can safely lock Gurriel & Grichuk into everyday slots so that leaves 3 spots on the roster for Hernandez/McKinney/Alford/Fisher. I think Hernandez showed enough with the bat that he almost certainly makes it as the principle DH and occasional OF. I wager It starts out as Alford and Fisher since McKinney has an Option left and the other two don't.

Semi-forgotten storyline... what are the Jays going to do with Ken Giles (and when are they going to do it)? I mean they have to either trade him or extend him before the season starts right? If they end up trading him I think the Jays ought to put Thornton in the Bullpen as the new Closer.

[Roof-Daddy]

Oscar Luis Colas, billed as a sort of "Cuban Ohtani" has apparently left Cuba and is seeking an MLB deal.

I wonder if the Jays will be able to get in on this.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Minus one of them... not enough roster spots for all of them.

I think we can safely lock Gurriel & Grichuk into everyday slots so that leaves 3 spots on the roster for Hernandez/McKinney/Alford/Fisher. I think Hernandez showed enough with the bat that he almost certainly makes it as the principle DH and occasional OF. I wager It starts out as Alford and Fisher since McKinney has an Option left and the other two don't.

Semi-forgotten storyline... what are the Jays going to do with Ken Giles (and when are they going to do it)? I mean they have to either trade him or extend him before the season starts right? If they end up trading him I think the Jays ought to put Thornton in the Bullpen as the new Closer.

Yeah, Giles is interesting. The Jays seem to be caught in the middle of going for a playoff spot or continuing to sell off and rebuild, because of this my bet is they wait to see how the team performs before trading him, which of course means they would risk him getting injured again.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yeah, Giles is interesting. The Jays seem to be caught in the middle of going for a playoff spot or continuing to sell off and rebuild, because of this my bet is they wait to see how the team performs before trading him, which of course means they would risk him getting injured again.

Well that is the one thing that I don't want them to do... so probably. I think they should deal him. If he pitches as well as he did last year we won't be able to afford him with free agency looming, if he falters he loses trade value, If he falters we won't want to sign him anyways, if he gets injured he loses trade value.

Giles is great but is he so great that he couldn't effectively be replaced by a max effort Thornton? I don't think he is. I think the Bullpen is the final thing the Jays need to tinker with everything else is more or less set (well the outfield could be improved but I think they're set on putting the fringy guys discussed above through the grinder and seeing what comes out). Pick-up some future former Blue Jays middle-relief arms and the roster is set.

[Roof-Daddy]

I agree, I wish they would trade him right now too.

Maybe they don't think they are getting enough value in the offers, it's possible teams are wary of his elbow issues and looming free agency.

What would have been nice was trading him last summer prior to Montoyo marching him out to the mound in three straight games, which is when his injury issues began.

I will never understand why Montoyo did that. It's not like they were in contention or anything. Just a dumb decision.

[Jason14h]

I don’t ever understand anything Montoyo does

[Roof-Daddy]

Giles avoids arbitration, gets 1 year $9.60 million
Shoemaker avoids arbitration, gets 1 year $4.20 million
Drury avoids arbitration, gets 1 year $2.05 million

[Roof-Daddy]

Orioles claimed Urena off of waivers from the Jays.

He is pretty much guaranteed to get off to a hot start now to get Jays fans wincing haha.

By the end of the season though he'll either be back in the minors or a minus WAR player....or both.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Not a whole lot of opportunity for Urena within the Jays system. Biggio and Bichette have sewn up the middle infield positions and Groshans is a couple years away as well. Plus he’s not good.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

Not a whole lot of opportunity for Urena within the Jays system. Biggio and Bichette have sewn up the middle infield positions and Groshans is a couple years away as well. Plus he’s not good.

Right, but he's better than Brandon Drury and Derek Facecatcher.

[bluejays]

Brandon Drury as a full time bat makes me cringe.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by Karl

Right, but he's better than Brandon Drury and Derek Facecatcher.

All three are sub replacement level so that’s not really a great benchmark. But I agree that Fisher and Drury are not good.

[Harry Lime]

I think that OF is still a pretty glaring weakness. What I would like to see is a culmination of the San Diego trade involving Wil Myers. Myers has one of the weirdest contracts. For the past three years, he was paid 5.5M/season, and then on the same contract for the next three years he is getting paid 22.5M/season in real money. So that means that if someone were to trade for Myers, and San Diego paid the entirety of his cap hit, the receiving team would still be on the hook for around 9M per year in real money paid to Myers.

Anyway, I think that there is a deal of some value there to be made. Trading Teoscar Hernandez and his 3 arb years to the Padres, you should be able to get them to cover 13M per 3 seasons of Myers contract, as well as dropping a solid prospect or two to Toronto.

I like Luis Patino, a right handed pitcher with a high risk/reward, about two years away. Adrian Morejon (LHP) also could be a great reliever, with a good fastball and a knuckle changeup. You could probably demand and get both of these two, because San Diego would hold onto their last two first round picks with a death grip.

Myers is better than Hernandez today, and his cap hit won't effect the payroll at all over the next three years. No real downside for the Jays, except taking a gamble that Myers is the average 2.5 WAR player he was 2016/17/18 instead of the -0.35 WAR player of last year.

Patino would immediately be the #2 prospect on the Jays, and Morejon the #7.

[Sylvanfan]

A left handed bat who can defend a little bit is something I would say is a need for the Jays. Fisher sure is not that.