2017-2018 Blue Jays Off-Season Thread

[Harry Lime]

Heres the problem :

ROTATION
1. J. Verlander
2. D. Keuchel
3. G. Cole
4. L. McCullers Jr.
5. C. Morton
6. B. Peacock
7. C. McHugh

That's the cream of the crop. The best in the league. If you're not doing anything to realistically say, "if our pitching gets hot at the right time, we can win a series against these guys", then the off season is a failure.

The Jays want to compete, they need to add a top 2 starter. Estrada and Happ as the 4 and 5 is a fantastic rotation. Sadly, Cole would have been perfect. Darvish is still out there. Arrieta is a little scary over a five year term. Anyone else?

[ClubFlames]

Blue Jays have acquired OF Randal Grichuk from the Cardinals in exchange for RHP Dominic Leone and RHP Conner Greene.

Last season, Grichuk hit 22 home runs with 59 RBI and 25 doubles in 122 games.

[calculoso]

The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Toronto Blue Jays for right-hander's Dominic Leone and Conner Greene.

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1463204

[Roof-Daddy]

Jays FO must see something in Grichuk.

Or they don't see anything in Greene and don't think Leone can duplicate his strong season last year.

Not sure I like this move. Have to see what they do from here to add to the bullpen, because this move really weakened it on paper.

[cross16]

I like this a lot. Starting calibre OF who could hit 30 Hr in Rogers Center for a good bullpen arm and a prospect who outside of his fastball isn't really anything exciting. I think this is an upgrade both offensively and defensively while not giving up a bunch, but I will admit i'm not that high on either Leone or Greene.

Crowded OF now with lots of depth so I suspect they are not close to done.

[Jiggy_12]

Love this one. It does sting to give up a bullpen piece but good players always have a cost.

Grichuk will be a good addition to an exceptionally weak position for Toronto.

[Hockey Fan #751]

I think this is a good move. You never know what you're going to get with relievers from year to year (think Steve Delabar).

Grichuk also only makes $2.6 million so there's budget to add if needed (particularly if you need another arm for the bullpen or more importantly another decent calibre starting pitcher -- and then move Biagini to the pen to replace Leone).

[Parallex]

Blah... Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.

He has a career OBP under .300 and strikes out 30% of the time. I mean, he's under control for 3 seasons and he does have some good power but... blah.

[Roof-Daddy]

So unless the Jays move out one of Pillar, Pearce or Carrera it looks like the OF is set and the AAA outfield will be pretty strong with Hernandez, Alford and Pompey. Pretty decent depth.

LF - Pearce / Granderson
CF - Pillar
RF - Grichuk / Carrera

With Grichuk being able to spell out Pillar in CF.

Gotta say, if nothing else, the Jays FO is certainly improving the depth in the organization with the additions of Hernandez, Grichuk, Diaz and Solarte since late last season.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Blah... Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.

He has a career OBP under .300 and strikes out 30% of the time. I mean, he's under control for 3 seasons and he does have some good power but... blah.

I don't like this again and for me, it's pointing to something being just plain off with this management team. It's like they are begrudgingly going into some sort of half arsed re-tooling, bringing in players that are more of the same platoon types instead of actually moving one way or the other on a rebuild or bringing in players that can legitimately move the needle.

Now 5 outfielders who will struggle to get on base, strike out a ton, and aside from Pillar, not do much to improve the defensive side of things at the same time. Not a recipe for success. If these guys were all actually depth players on the team it would be fine but we are talking starters here, not once or twice a week players.

[Jason14h]

When I heard Grichuk wanted a trade from St.L my thought was "this is exactly who the Jays should be getting"

Like this much better then Granderson. We gave up nothing. Leone is a dime a dozen middle reliever with 40 good games to his name.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I don't like this again and for me, it's pointing to something being just plain off with this management team. It's like they are begrudgingly going into some sort of half arsed re-tooling, bringing in players that are more of the same platoon types instead of actually moving one way or the other on a rebuild or bringing in players that can legitimately move the needle.

Now 5 outfielders who will struggle to get on base, strike out a ton, and aside from Pillar, not do much to improve the defensive side of things at the same time. Not a recipe for success. If these guys were all actually depth players on the team it would be fine but we are talking starters here, not once or twice a week players.

True, but that's not an issue with this acquisition. At least there is some potential here. It's an issue with the team direction.

Granderson and Pearce should both be off this team, as neither has any unknow potentional. We should be completely rebuilding and going for deals like this. Low cost, one decently elite skill (Power) and hoping the player can develop. A bit like Smoak a few years back.

[cross16]

Grichuk's splits don't really scream platoon guy. I think you bring in someone like Grichuk because you want him to start and I think he's got the skills to do that. Not suggesting this is a move to jump up and down about but at age 26 and in 3 seasons he does have a career 7 WAR. That is pretty good.

I understand the lack of big names but how realistic is adding a big name that moves the needle? Trading for one involves moving Vlad Jr and/or Bichette and is there really a player in FA this year that can move the needle?

I also don't think enough attention gets paid to just how crippling the injuries and lack of depth where to the Jays last year. I believe they used around 60 players and so far have done a very good job of replacing not very good backups with some pretty good backups to the point you are probably looking at a 4-5 WAR swing and that doesn't even take into account a healthy Sanchez. Not going to write the Jays down as a WS contender but I think this is team is certainly in the mix for the playoffs and there is now some depth and money available to continue to address needs.

[Jiggy_12]

Just did some quick math on Grichuk's WAR. If you average it out, he's at 2.9 WAR per 162 games played, which if he can replicate that - would be pretty solid addition for Toronto. Nothing to suggest he should regress yet either, and going to Rogers Centre may give him a slight bump up.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Where are we at with Pompey at this point? Does he still have MLB upside?

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

Where are we at with Pompey at this point? Does he still have MLB upside?

He's only 25 so I wouldn't write him off yet. Hard to figure him out though when he's never healthy. Staying healthy this year will be key for him.

Same can be said for Alford, although he's still just 23 and has a lot of tools.

[Jiggy_12]

Also, according to fan graphs - combined WAR of ALL bluejays outfielders last year (if I added this up correctly) was 2.8.

Pillar, Hernandez, Carrera, Aoki, Cecilliani, Smith, Pearce, Saunders, Alford, Bautista, Coghlan - all of these guys amounted to less value than what we should expect next season from Grichuk if he posts his career average or better of 2.9 WAR (assuming 162 GP which admittedly is unlikely)

So yes, this certainly is an improvement on paper.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

Also, according to fan graphs - combined WAR of ALL bluejays outfielders last year (if I added this up correctly) was 2.8.

Pillar, Hernandez, Carrera, Aoki, Cecilliani, Smith, Pearce, Saunders, Alford, Bautista, Coghlan - all of these guys amounted to less value than what we should expect next season from Grichuk if he posts his career average or better of 2.9 WAR (assuming 162 GP which admittedly is unlikely)

So yes, this certainly is an improvement on paper.

The Jays should also improve their WAR by 3-5 with the middle infielders, whether it be Tulo/Travis actually staying healthy, Diaz/Solarte being better replacements than Goins/Barney or some combination of the two.

They should also see a 2-3 WAR improvement with a healthy Donaldson and a 2-3 WAR improvement with a healthy Sanchez.

Anything can happen, but all those factors on paper add up to being a wild card contender.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Do they still intend to have Sanchez start? Or are the blister issues such that he is a pen guy now?
Any hope of this team contending for a playoff spot would seem to hinge on whether or not they have an effective Sanchez at the top of the order.

If they don't the rotation doesn't smell like a wild card team to me.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

Do they still intend to have Sanchez start? Or are the blister issues such that he is a pen guy now?
Any hope of this team contending for a playoff spot would seem to hinge on whether or not they have an effective Sanchez at the top of the order.

If they don't the rotation doesn't smell like a wild card team to me.

Sanchez is a starter, and yeah if they don't get the healthy 2016 version of Aaron Sanchez, the rotation will be in trouble.