Nice move.  Rotoworld says the Jays got the better of the deal, and that the A's are dumping salary to go with a cheaper backup infielder.

I don't think there is any way the Jays will go with a 'platoon', playing Scutaro against all RHP.  That would leave McDonald with only about 40 starts, and the Jays like him a lot more than that.  They almost always start him when Halladay is on the mound, so that's 30 or so starts right there.  I would expect that at the start of the season, McDonald will be playing 4-5 games a week.  Not saying that is what I would do, just saying that is what I think the team will do.  Scutaro's playing time will depend on injuries, how poorly McDonald hits as the season goes along, how well Scutaro hits and fields when he is in there, and general team needs (if the offense in humming along, McDonald will play more, if it's struggling, there will be more need to get Scutaro in there).  At a minimum, this move gives them more depth and options. 

Scutaro's offensive stats have probably been hampered somewhat by playing half of his games in Oakland, a park which generally speaking lowers batting averages.  Last year he did have significantly better stats on the road, so he could be a better hitter than his numbers from the last 4 years indicate.

Here is the latest from the Jays official site:

-They are eyeing Clement but likely only if he accepts a minor league deal and if they have a financial match

-They were considering Kenny Lofton but decided from a financial standpoint he was going to be too expensive so they have all but decided to use Johnson at lead off

-On the injury front all Jays are doing well and are all expected to be ready for opening day, including B.J Ryan!

-The Jays have been in contact with Fasano about possibly having him come back but the search for a back up catcher may continue during the winter meeting set to take place in two and a half weeks.

Here's the link: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071118&content_id=2303222&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor

Hinske might fit, and he would be a great team guy to have back.

I think many are pitching in games within 12 months now (Zambrano, Backe).  Brandon Backe was throwing bullpen sessions after seven months and even though he had a setback at nine months, he was back pitching in games in twelve months.

It's certainly not unreasonable to think BJ might be pitching in Spring Training.

We envision him playing some games in the outfield for us, as a way of maximizing his role

In what scenario would playing Scutaro in the outfield prove advantageous for the Jays? For nostalgic appeal on Dave Berg bobblehead night?

I would like to see Aaron Hill be the backup SS this season in games where we've had to pinch hit for JMac.  He can't be worse than Scutaro.

Reed Johnson and Greg Zuan may also garner draft picks if they leave next year - though both would have to have pretty good years to be qualified by the Jays.

Also noteworthy is that AJ is a "B" free agent right now.  I don't understand Elias, but AJ probably needs a better (more starts) year to get "A" status.  I think AJ will be in Washington in thirteen months from now, as they look to splash their cash.  Here's hoping they finish 16th worst in the league next year if AJ's an "A", and last if he's a "B".

I used to be of the mind that Troy would exercise his option, because he wouldn't do better than $12m on the open market.  I have since changed my mind.  If he has a $12m season or thereabouts, he'd be wise to try to get a four year deal even if it were at a lower annual rate - his physical decline may accelerate in his thirties.  That said, I think he likes it here and would have to know of interest out west to leave.

My fear is that Scooter (is that now his official BB nickname?) is used to spell off Glaus, Overbay, and even Thomas (normally this would be Stairs) when they are hurt/ need a day off.  This was the practice with Chris Gomez, Frankie M and Dave Berg.

The Jays need someone to backup 3rd.  Bring back the "Dude"!

Hinske @ 5 million = hated.

Hinske @ 500k = loved.

Money Talks.

This talk about finding a backup at 3B for Glaus has got me thinking.....and I'm worried.  The Jays don't have any starters for the left side of the infield anywhere near ready to play in the majors.  Santos hasn't done anything to prove he's capable of playing in the bigs (.252/.311/.402/.713 minor league career, and even based on last year in AA he'd probably hit about .220/.295/.440/.735 in the majors next year).  Ahrens, Fuenmayor, and Jackson are all 18 years old, and there's no guarantees there either. 

If Glaus opts out, the Jays are in a bit of a jam.  If he has a solid, healthy season, J.P. might be wise to try to extend him.  On the free-agent market next year, Ensberg and Blalock are the biggest names at 3B (not too impressive), though at least SS has Furcal, Renteria and Cabrera scheduled to be available.  There were rumours of Glaus going to LA for LaRoche this past season, I wonder if LaRoche is still available.  It would probably cost more than Glaus now, with his potential legal troubles, but it's going to be at least  three or four years before the Jays have a SS or 3B in-house solution and I'd love to see the Jays make a pre-emptive move at the winter meetings. 

I like the previous comment about shifting Hill to the left side.  He could provide average defense at SS with a plus bat, and it seems it's a lot easier to find a 2B these days than a 3B or SS.  The Jays may have no choice next year.

Earlier today, we posted the poll that China fan suggested. It is currently live in the left column of the site -- if you have not yet voted, feel free to do so.

Got an idea for a poll? Just COMN and e-mail me or directly at media.relations@battersbox.ca.

Can't guarantee we'll use every one, but ideas are always invited and welcome!

I was going to give thumbs up to this deal until I saw this. The Fielding Bible along with UZR  is the  gold standard for fielding evaluation. Basically Scutaro has played 1583 innings over the past  3 years at short, 1440 innings is considered a full season by many, put him at this level and he's -24 runs below average for a shortstop , that's a pretty damning indictment.

I had to double check that page to make sure but I'm pretty sure that it would be -24 plays below average, not -24 runs.  That's a big difference.  Now the differential between McDonald and Scutaro sounds like it would be on the order of maybe 40 to 50 additional plays for McDonald in a full season which IS a fairly big difference.  Whether those plays not made would actually lead to 24 runs really depends on chance...assuming they're mostly singles or one base errors, I don't think that would be the case.

Maybe someone can do the math on the run expectation for a groundball single given up in various base situations and approximate cost in runs on average or something like that.

Maybe someone can do the math on the run expectation for a groundball single given up in various base situations and approximate cost in runs on average or something like that.

Sounds like linear weights. Pete Palmer's original LW system had .46 as the coefficient for singles. MGL has it at between .4 and .48 (infield singles vs non-infield singles). Tango has it at .49. Some dude I've never heard of has it at .4753.

So, it looks like 24 missed plays at shortstop amounts to about 11 runs, or one win.

So, it looks like 24 missed plays at shortstop amounts to about 11 runs, or one win.

So about 11 runs below average instead of 24. 

So using that, if McDonald really can manage to be a plus 24 on average while Scutaro manages to be a minus 24, then a defensive run cost of close to 24 runs between the two players actually sounds about right.  Or McDonald would be worth two additional wins on defence compared to whatever additional runs Scutaro would be worth with the bat.

Read this article, a missed play is worth about 0.8 runs, A common mistake most people make is not factoring in the value of the missed out.

Good catch. A single is worth about .48. An out is worth about -0.30. The swing is .78. A further argument for the value of a glove at shortstop.

That said, I agree with your analysys that MacDonald's 2007 defense may not be what we can expect moving forward. Just as players sometimes have offensive seasons that are anomalies, so too do they sometimes have such seasons on defense, as contrary to intuition as that might seem.

Regardless, given the team's use of Towers and their apparent feelings for him I think there's less than a 10% chance he's in a Jays uniform next year.

I agree entirely. I think Ricciardi is reacting to the $10/11M per year contracts signed by Lilly and Meche last year, and the inevitable 3/24 contracts to be signed by the likes of Silva and Lohse this year, and figures that a $2/3M Towers for one season may prove attractive to many pitching thin teams.

Or maybe he plans to move the Rogers Center fences back on days that Towers is starting.

I've never heard a GM say 'Sheesh, we have WAY too much pitching on this team'.

In my eyes, the addition of Towers, even at $2M per, gives us added flexibility in the bullpen/starting rotation. I just hope he doesn't stay in AAA for the majority of the season as that would be a waste - for some reason I'm still rooting for the guy.

In other news, Jimmy Rollins of PHI was named the NL MVP in a tight race with Holliday. I must admit, I'm slightly surprised that the Colorado slugger didn't win the award with those gaudy RBI, AVG, OBP numbers.

I've never heard a GM say 'Sheesh, we have WAY too much pitching on this team'.

After Towers' impressive 2005, here are his numbers from the past two seasons: 169 IP, 6.50 ERA, 1.9 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, 5.3 K/9

His K/BB ratio is always good, whether he's pitching well or not. His HR/9 ratio has gone into the toilet and his ERA with it. People are talking as if he can be counted on to be a #4-6 starter, presumably teased by the potential conveyed by his control of the strike zone.

But I think the consistent talk that he's a 180-inning pitcher who could perform at slightly below league average smacks more of wishcasting than objectivity.

No GM has complained about having too much pitching. But is Towers pitching? Or is he just a pitcher, one who once pitched well and now occasionally gives reason for optimism, but is no one, at this point, that can be counted on?

No GM has complained about having too much pitching. But is Towers pitching? Or is he just a pitcher, one who once pitched well and now occasionally gives reason for optimism, but is no one, at this point, that can be counted on?

I guess we get a chance to see what the Jays have in him. My observations tell me he would be fine in the 5-6 hole. Lots of pitchers with his stuff have become very servicable pitchers. Towers reminds me a bit like Woody Williams who we were all happy to see the back side of.

Towers reminds me a bit like Woody Williams who we were all happy to see the back side of.

I don't understand the comparison nor do I concur about the widespread sentiments associated with Williams' departure.

After a 10-game tryout as a starter, with an ERA+ of 106, Williams then followed up with seasons of 195 innings of 104 ERA+ and 210 innings of 103 ERA+. Conversely, Towers followed his one big season as a starter -- 209 innings of 120+ ERA -- by going straight into the crapper and never coming out.

Williams, who did get a lot of grief in Toronto for reasons I can't fathom, was ultimately traded for Joey Hamilton who, upon Dave Stewart's insistence, was signed to a contract extension before pitching a single inning for the Jays. We all know well how that worked out.

Towers may well turn it around. That wouldn't be unheard of. But if he were a pitcher on another team with his particular track record, and in which with no Jays' fans had a personal rooting interest, I'm not so sure how eager we'd be to want to acquire him.

Apropos of nothing, according to BBRef, Williams' two most similar pitchers were Pat Hentgen and Todd Stottlemyre.

Quite a feast of Blue Jays!

The knock on him was that he was a six-inning pitcher

Yes, you're right, it's all coming back to me now. Woody was a mere six-inning guy whereas Hamilton was considered a horse, an innings eater.

In his two fulltime seasons as a Jay starter, Williams averaged 203 IP at 6.4 IP/start.

In his four seasons as a Padre starter, the Big Load averaged 206 IP at 6.5 IP/start.

Can you tell the 6-inning weenie from the horse?

Williams did not have a high ceiling, but he was a bland, reliable middle of the rotation starter.

You forgot to factor in complete games -- Hamilton threw seven over 209 career starts (242 games) while Williams had 10 over 330 starts (424 games) ... so while Williams completed only one of every 33 starts, Hamilton completed one of every 29.9 starts! So there! Even a wider disparity when you consider Williams completed just one of every 42.4 games, while Hamilton completed one of every 34.6. So there, take two! Hamilton even had twice as many career shutouts, four, to Williams' piddling two. So there, take three!

Anyway, yeah, they're pretty much the same guy from an endurance viewpoint. Their most-similars are even similarly Blue Jay-heavy, with the aforementioned Stottlemyre and Hentgen for Williams and Doug Davis and Ted Lilly for Hamilton (who, oddly, was not left-handed).