Where Are They Now And Do We Want Them Back?

Saturday, July 06 2013 @ 12:33 AM EDT

Contributed by: John Northey

I was thinking about how the ex-Jays are doing this year, not just the ones who were playing here at some point in 2012, as many have left, but also some of the older ones.

Who'd have thought that of all the Jays that left last winter the one doing the best would be Yan Gomes hitting 280/313/517 for a 130 OPS+ for Cleveland as their backup catcher?

Kelly Johnson is down to a 105 OPS+, hitting 136/245/185 since June 1st
Yunel Escobar is at 250/315/364 for a 91 OPS+ vs career 99
Jeff Mathis (key to the Miami deal for some reason) is hitting 171/263/357 which is in line with last year (ugh)
Eric Thames was traded from Seattle to Baltimore and has yet to play in the majors this year
Adeiny Hechavarria has hit 222/262/306 for a 56 OPS+ (still better than Bonifacio)
Ben Francisco had a 12 OPS+ for the Yankees in 50 PA - so he helped us more this year than last.
Travis Snider is at 227/298/338 for an 80 OPS+
Yorvit Torrealba (30 PA here last year) has hit 299/376/351 over 112 PA for Colorado (90 OPS+) as a catcher
Henderson Alvarez threw 5 innings in his one start so far, 5 H 3 R/ER 0 BB 2 SO
Aaron Laffey came back and left again
Carlos Villanueva has a 3.45 ERA for the Cubs, 3.93 in 8 starts, 2.04 in 16 relief games, his last start was May 14th - his first 4 starts were great (6 2/3+ IP, each time 1.53 ERA) his next 4 sucked (6.94 ERA).
Jason Frasor has a 2.82 ERA for Texas, 31 games 22 1/3 IP, 10.1 K/9 3.6 BB/9 1.2 HR/9
Francisco Cordero has vanished
Brandon Lyon was just released with a 4.98 ERA but 0.8 HR/9 3.4 BB/9 6.0 K/9 suggesting the Mets defense is nightmarish
The rest of the 34 pitchers used are here or still in the minors or out of baseball I think.

So of all those only Gomes catches me as being very useful right this moment for the Jays. Frasor is too limited (seems to be a ROOGY now), Villanueva might be useful in his old role (probably misses the Jays right now given he wanted to start so badly and would be right now), Lyon could be useful as an 8th man in the pen but we have plenty of those. Alvarez being healthy does put him one notch above most starters here.

Other ex Jays of note who we might miss who are still active (sort of)...

Aaron Hill - a 142 OPS+ in Arizona, his best yet, but just 20 games due to being injured from mid-April until late June. An 816 OPS since returning.
Jose Molina - his usual self, an 83 OPS+ (94 in Toronto but 69 lifetime) with solid D I'm sure
Marc Rzepczynski - we hated losing him, but he is now in the minors and has a 4.54 lifetime ERA for the Cardinals
John Buck got off to a hot start for the Mets but is down to an 81 OPS+ now
Lyle Overbay also had a hot start but for the Yankees and now has an 87 OPS+ in 275 PA
Vernon Wells was also hot to start the year but now is down to a 74 OPS+ over 293 PA (since leaving he has hit 225/261/399 for an 83 OPS+ while making over $68 mil of which the Jays paid $5 mil)
Shaun Marcum who some wanted resigned by the Jays has a 72 ERA+ for the Mets in 13 games (11 starts) although his HR/9 is 0.7 BB/9 2.5 and K/9 7.0 ... something doesn't add up there... maybe the Jays should trade for him (give them Bonifacio) as his ERA should be in the 3's with those other stats
Kevin Gregg - a surprise here, for the Cubs he has a 1.59 ERA with 14 saves. 9.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 suggests it is for real too. Weird.
Shawn Camp has an ERA over 7 after leading the NL in appearances last year
Scott Downs has a 263 ERA+ 0 HR given up 3.0 BB/9 7.0 K/9 - basically he is the same strong reliever as he has been since the Jays converted him in 2006.
Marco Scutaro who was nice in that backup IF role has a 123 OPS+ for the Giants as their everyday second baseman. Guess the $20 mil over 3 years was a good idea this past winter.
Alex Rios is having an off year at 103 OPS+ after a 125 last year and a 63 the year before that. Guess we should pencil him in for a 120+ next year.
Roy Halladay as most know is DL'ed and possible done. His ERA+ of 45 was worse than his 48 the year he had a 10.64 ERA. Homeritis got him (2.4 HR/9) and a loss of control (4.5 BB/9) but he did get over 200 for career wins.
A.J. Burnett continues his fine post-NYY career with a 115 ERA+ in Pittsburgh over 14 starts (just 4 wins somehow) with his best K/9 figure yet (10.0)
Brandon League has 14 saves for the Dodgers but a 6.37 ERA and just 3.9 K/9 with 4 blown saves and a -1.784 WPA (he has cost them nearly 2 full games already) and they owe him $15+ mil after this season still.
John McDonald was traded twice this year for ptbnl or cash. Just 45 PA with a negative OPS+
Reed Johnson is still kicking with Atlanta now and has a 85 OPS+ over 86 PA.
Eric Hinske is still out there, but in DFA land after a 50 OPS+ for Arizona following a 57 for Atlanta last year.
Ted Lilly has a 5.09 ERA for the Dodgers in 5 starts with June 4th being his last ML start. Threw a game in A+ on the 30th of June but was hit hard (3 IP 4 R)
Guillermo Quiroz is still kicking, with a 57 OPS+ for San Fran over 58 PA

Interesting to see who is still out there. Gregg was a big shock, never thought Scutaro would be hitting this well at this point, or that AJ Burnett would have a longer career than Roy Halladay. Baseball is a funny game.

So, obvious guys we'd like back are Aaron Hill, Marco Scutaro, maybe AJ Burnett (fear of instant pumpkin status exists with him), and Gomes behind the plate. Any others I missed or who all of you would like back?

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