Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Jays Payroll for 2022 Set

Jays Payroll for 2022 Set

Well, it seems the Jays have settled everything on the payroll front...for now with all arbitration eligible players settled.

Figures via Roster Resource at FanGraphs

Teoscar Hernandez: $10.65 mil his 2nd year of arbitration
Vladimir Guerrero: $7.9 mil for his first arbitration year
Matt Chapman: 2 year deal $25 mil - $1 mil signing bonus, $12 mil in 2022, $12 mil in 2023 covering his arbitration years
Ross Stripling: $3.79 mil in his final year of arbitration
Danny Jansen: $1.95 mil in his first year of arbitration
Adam Cimber: $1.575 mil in his second year of arbitration
Trevor Richards: $1 mil in his first year of arbitration
Ryan Borucki: $825k in his first year of arbitration
Cavan Biggio: $2.123 mil in his first year of arbitration
Tim Mayza: $1.25 mil in his first year of arbitration
Trent Thornton: $850k in his first year of arbitration

Pre-Arbitration guys like Bo Bichette generally get the minimum or just a bit over ($700k for 2022)

Non-arbitration or pre-arb contracts (mostly free agent ones) are...

George Springer: $29,666,667 (drops to $24,166,667 in 2023 and stays there through 2026)
Kevin Gausman: $21 mil (increases by $1 mil in 2024, and another $1 mil in 2025, ends after 2026)
Hyun Jin Ryu: $20 mil ($20 again in 2023 then a free agent)
José Berríos: $10,714,286 (signed through 2028 but an opt out after 2026, increases every year to $24,714,286 in each of the last 2 years)
Yusei Kikuchi: $16 mil ($10 mil in each of 2023, 2024)
Randal Grichuk: $10,333,333 (same in 2023 then a free agent)
Yimi García: $4.5 mil ($5.5 next year, $5 mil in 2024 as a team option)
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: $4,928,571 (up to $5,828,571 next year then a free agent)

So pre-signed guys = $117,142,857 (8 players)
Arbitration players = $45,412,500 (11 players including Chapman's signing bonus of $1 mil)
Pre-Arbitration players = $4,900,000 (7 players at ML minimum)
Extra if Phelps makes the team = $1,050,000 (contract is $1.75 mil if he makes the team, so $1.05 mil more than the minimum)

Total = $162,560,257 - Roster Resource adds another $9.1 mil for the rest of the 40 man roster I'm guessing (13 x $700k = $9.1 mil). For Luxury Tax purposes you need to add an extra $20 mil roughly (benefits, the Jays portion of the pre-arb bonus pool, etc.) putting the net total at a Jays record smashing $191,236,310 (previous highest is $167,138,865 in 2018 via Cot's Contracts at Baseball Prospectus).

For the Jays future there is lots of room going forward as the 'already settled' deals go down by $5 mil next year (not factoring in that Chapman's moves to settled) without losing a single player, then down to $78,880,953 in 2024 as Ryu, Grichuk, and Gurriel come off the books. 2025/2026 sees it drop to $65,880,953 as Kikuchi's deal runs out. 2027/28 are just $24,714,286 for Berrios if he doesn't opt out. Of course, each year also sees some jumps.

Arbitration eligibility - note: if sent to the minors then some guys could see this shifted back a year.
2023: Year 1 arbitration: Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano; Year 2 arbitration: Danny Jansen, Trevor Richards, Ryan Borucki, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Tim Mayza, Trent Thornton; Year 3 arbitration: Teoscar Hernández, Adam Cimber. Chapman already signed for this year at $12 mil.
2024: Year 1: Julian Merryweather, Alejandro Kirk, Santiago Espinal; Year 2 and beyond match above except Teoscar Hernández who ages out and becomes a free agent as does Chapman.
2025: Year 1: Alek Manoah, Andrew Vasquez, rest as in 2024 but up another year as Danny Jansen, Adam Cimber, Trevor Richards, and Ryan Borucki all hit free agency
2026: Year 1: unknown (rookies from this year), rest as 2025 but up another year as the nuclear winter hits with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano, and Tim Mayza become free agents (as well as Trent Thornton if he gets that much service time and isn't released by then).

The 2025/6 offseason will be a scary one if the Jays can't get Vlad/Bo signed long term before then, not to mention Romano, Biggio, and Mayza - all key pieces too. Hopefully guys signed as IFA's the last couple of years will be ready to take over by then if needed. I suspect if Rogers wants to keep this team together we'll see $200+ mil in 2023 and for years afterwards though. I suspect we'll start to see guys moved out next winter to make way for kids (such as Gabriel Moreno who is almost ready to catch, displacing Jansen most likely, Jordan Groshans also ready for next year at 2B moving Biggio to the OF, and Orelvis Martinez taking over 3B in 2024 after Chapman becomes a free agent, or even mid 2023 so the Jays can trade Chapman for something). Lots of others will be charging up the system by 2024 (hopefully) to allow the Jays to let Grichuk/Hernandez/Gurriel to walk away and start getting ready for Bo or Vlad leaving after 2025 (lets hope not, but it certainly is more likely than not). With Gausman, Berrios, and Manoah all under team control through 2026 the starting staff is in very good shape, so the pen (always rotating) and lineup will be the big issues going forward.

FYI: new rule change - 28 man roster for April. So add 2 more minimum salary guys.

Posted by John Northey on Tuesday, March 22 2022 @ 10:19 PM EDT.

Jays Payroll for 2022 Set | 254 comments | Create New Account

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Waveburner - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 12:26 AM EDT (#411517) #

Nice to see everything finished for signing players. Great info. Not surprised they expanded rosters for April, I'm sure every team wanted it to hopefully reduce injury risk with the shortened Spring. Means they can take their time sorting the back of the bullpen.

Is it certain that Gurriel is a FA after 2023? I actually thought he was just short of accruing enough service time and the Jays had him for one last arbitration year in 2024. But maybe I'm wrong on that.

John Northey - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 01:46 AM EDT (#411518) #

It was part of Gurriel's deal when he signed that once it was done he'd become a free agent. Unfortunate but the way it is.

Waveburner - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 02:31 AM EDT (#411519) #

I didn't know that, thanks. Likely the price of getting him to sign with the Jays in the first place. Also means him and Hernandez are both free agents the same year.

With how strong the lineup is, I wonder if the Jays start with 13 position players and 15 pitchers in April. A fifth player on the bench would probably just entice Montoyo to give that player starts. It would be better to not give him that choice IMO.

John Northey - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 07:53 AM EDT (#411520) #

I think it depends on the rules for those 2 extra players. Odds are they will let both be pitchers and if so then every team pretty much will make it 2 pitchers. Solves the Pearson vs Borucki situation for a month and creates a slot for the others to fight over. I suspect Merryweather, Vasquez, Castro, Saucedo will fight over it with Kay, Hatch, and Francis dark horses as they are starters unless the Jays feel they need a 3rd long man in April (IE: starters are still not up to 5-6 innings). I suspect tandem starting will happen with Pearson & Stripling assigned to one starter each and the rest of the pen spread out among the other 3 pretty much (Betting on Ryu and Kikuchi for pairings). Berrios and Gausman should be fine come opening day, and Manoah I feel will become a horse very quickly who eats 5-7 innings every time with no effort (in the old days he would be eating 9 regularly).

grjas - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 09:06 AM EDT (#411521) #

A Ryu/Pearson tandem start would be great for both pitchers, and daunting for the opposition. We'll see if the braintrust will finally use relievers for more than 2 innings.

Cracka - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 10:53 AM EDT (#411525) #

I would not be surprised to see 16 pitchers on the roster in April, at least to start the season. There are no limits on the # of pitchers until the rosters are reduced on May 2nd and this lineup, when healthy, will be fine with only 12 position players - 8 regulars plus Kirk, Espinal, Grichuk, and either McGuire or Bird. An 11-man bullpen is overkill but would provide room for 2 long guys (Stripling, Pearson), 2-3 lefties (Mayza, Borucki, Saucedo?), plus the rest of the regulars.

uglyone - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 10:58 AM EDT (#411526) #

Please don't sign Brett Gardner.

please.

mathesond - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 12:16 PM EDT (#411531) #

"Please don't sign Brett Gardner."

I won't if you won't.

Mike Green - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#411532) #

"Please don't sign Brett Gardner."

I won't if you won't.

Orelvis will sing Return to Sender.

bpoz - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 12:40 PM EDT (#411534) #

I believe that there are 2 open 40 man roster spots.

As mentioned in this thread almost all the players are eligible to return next year. Stripling is a FA.

However there are some players who will play their way off the 40 man roster during this year. Last year, Dolis, P Murphy, Zeuch, Roark, Chatwood. Some get kept because they are transferred to the 60 day DL. In 2021 K Smith earned his way onto the 40 man roster and then became a key piece (sort of) in the trade for Chapman.

Unless Palacios and O Lopez can prove something this year they may move off the 40 man roster. At C someone should/may take the job. The pitchers are where we will see a lot of movement off the 40 man roster. There will be opportunities for Thornton, Kay, Hatch because that happens every year. They will have to prove themselves this year.

John Northey - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 01:46 PM EDT (#411538) #

Ugh. 16 pitchers? That'd be crazy. 11 man bullpen - what the heck is the point? 5 starters - lets assume all can go 4-5 innings in April. That leaves 4-5 each game to cover. Pearson & Stripling should be stretched out for 4-5 innings if needed, ideally 3-4 innings each. So that covers most of the game twice per rotation between the starters and those 2. That leaves 3 x 4-5 innings plus 1-2 innings each of the other 2 games. Lets assume max need so 5 x 3 + 2 x 2 = 19 innings every 5 days to cover. With a 9 man pen you'd have 7 available (removing Pearson & Stripling) each 1 IP guys every other day = 14 innings+ without an issue. So at most those extra 2 would cover 5 innings every 5 days. That is the worst case situation. If one of those 2 is a starter (Hatch or Kay for example) then he'd eat most of those in tandem with one of the starters (Manoah probably). Most probable is Berrios/3 relievers, Gausman/3 relievers, Ryu/Pearson/1 reliever, Manoah/Kay/1 reliever, Kikuchi/Stripling/1 reliever. The 6 used for Berrios starts would be used for Ryu's start and Manoah's, the 3 on Gausman's would be there for Manoah & Kikuchi's. So 6 relievers plus Pearson/Stripling/Kay should (in theory) do the job. 9 total relievers. Add one more for 'safety' and know others are there if needed. Of course, sometimes Berrios/Gausman/Ryu/Manoah/Kikuchi could go 7 or 8 innings even (not expecting 9 from anyone in April, but it could happen) which would rest up the pen nicely. Yes, sometimes they might be knocked out quickly too - but then you stretch out anyone you can to 2-3 innings to reduce the load.

So 9 man pen I see working nicely, 10 maybe just to ensure you don't lose any 1 inning guys (like Borucki) that you want later. But 11 is overkill. Yeah, the bench is going to be very small and doesn't need to be big - Kirk/Espinal/Grichuk is all that is needed (11 batters) but one or two more would be nice (2 of Bird [LH power], McGuire [emergency catcher], or Mallex Smith [pure speed for Ghost Runner situations]) just to give more flexibility.

scottt - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 04:11 PM EDT (#411542) #

Teams try to limit pitcher exposure.
Ideally a starter does not go through the lineup a third time and a reliever only once.
Also, you don't want your lefty facing the same batter 3 days in a row.
I think that's mostly why you don't see tandem starts.

vw_fan17 - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 07:53 PM EDT (#411553) #

For the Jays future there is lots of room going forward as the 'already settled' deals go down by $5 mil next year (not factoring in that Chapman's moves to settled) without losing a single player, then down to $78,880,953 in 2024 as Ryu, Grichuk, and Gurriel come off the books.
I'm clearly missing something - the previous total mentioned was ~$160M. Ryu, Grichuk + Gurriel = $20 + $10 + $5 = $35 with a $5 thrown in there somewhere, so a drop of $40M. How does $160M - $40M come anywhere close to $78M? I'm not saying the math is wrong, just that I can't figure out how to get from ~$160 to $78 with the mentioned numbers..

John Northey - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 09:45 PM EDT (#411554) #

I guess I didn't word it too well.
Pre-signed guys = $117,142,857 (8 players) - Springer, Ryu, Gausman, Berrios, Grichuk, Gurriel, Kikuchi, Garcia.
2023 barely moves as all 8 still here - just a $5 mil shift down due to Kikuchi's top heavy contract ($16 this year, $10 next), Springer's too (by $5 mil), and some tiny movement elsewhere (Gausman, Berrios up a bit, as are Gurriel and Garcia).
2024 moves due to Grichuk ($10+ mil), Ryu ($20 mil the big one), and Gurriel ($5+) coming off the books and only Gurriel likely to get a serious offer from the Jays ... maybe. Garcia also might be off the books, depends on his option.

Pre-signed is mostly free agents and guys who were signed before this offseason (Grichuk, Gurriel). Berrios probably should've been listed with arbitration like Chapman since both were in line for that but he signed so long ago I felt he belonged in 'pre-signed'.

What makes me happy is seeing that Atkins has been very creative with his deals - putting more up front in 2022 so he has more flexibility in 2023 and beyond. The $160 includes arbitration which is a crapshoot each year. I was focused in this case on the fixed/known costs. I strongly expect to see Jansen and Biggio (or an outfielder while keeping Biggio in LF or something) moved out after 2022 to free up space (Moreno & Martinez/Groshans/Lopez fighting for 2B with Espinal around as backup/security) and contract room (not a ton, but every dollar counts). After 2023 I expect Martinez to move to 3B long term while Groshans takes over 2B and Lopez takes over the Espinal utility role in a perfect world. Freeing up the $12 mil currently budgeted to Chapman as the Jays try to squeeze every dollar they can so they can fit Bo & Vlad long term here. Hernandez and Gurriel will leave but outside of moving someone to the OF (like I figure will happen with Biggio eventually). Jays really need to develop a CF quickly so Springer can move to RF in 2024 ideally.

Glevin - Wednesday, March 23 2022 @ 11:17 PM EDT (#411555) #

Something I das just pondering: where would you rank Rogers as owners now? A few years ago, they seemed solidly in the middle but now they seem near the top. This is partly because they have shown a willingness to spend but also because so many owners are just complete trash ( White Sox refused to come to terms with Giolito and have posed him of f over... $50K!!!).

bpoz - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 06:32 AM EDT (#411556) #

If an extra inning game goes 3 extra innings would Mallex Smith start as the ghost runner at 2B coming off the bench in the 10th. I presume so. But he could not also do that for the 11th and 12th again I presume. So M Smith being added for that and defense may be wasting a spot on the eventual 26 man active roster.

bpoz - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:10 AM EDT (#411557) #

Checking the 13 possible position player active roster.

OF Grichuk, Springer, Gurriel and Hernandez. 4.

IF Vlad, Biggio, Bo, Chapman, Espinal. 5.

C Jansen, Kirk, McGuire. 3.

The 13th could be Bird if he can earn it with his offense.

Injuries (always happen) to IF & OF that affect Offense can be replaced by ABs for Kirk and possibly Moreno if he can handle ML pitching.

Defense should not be a problem. O Lopez & Palacios.

John Northey - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 11:19 AM EDT (#411559) #

The question with a pure runner is how often do you go to extras and how often would you actually use him. I remember in 2015 how fun it was with Pompey going in to run late and how it felt like it made a difference, not sure if it actually did or not though. If Smith can work on that defense so he is at least league average (with his speed he should be) then things would be a lot easier with him. I'd have him work hard on bunting for a hit too. For him to have a ML career at this point he needs to do everything possible outside of power as he doesn't have that.

For the 13th hitter the question is what will be most useful - a 3rd catcher (rarely if ever needed), a speed demon (can steal a run in extras), a power bat (can DH now and then). With guys like Espinal and Biggio on the team you have tons of flexibility and the 4 man OF but no pure DH also adds more flexibility. I can see how the Jays of '85 could carry 2 rule 5 guys all year with no troubles (Lou Thornton and Manny Lee) who barely got into games as they too had tons of flexibility (Iorg could cover 3B/2B and probably more, Fernandez never needed a day off, 3 young OF'ers, etc.) Youth and endurance helps a lot, as does flexibility. The Jays could get away with a 11 hitter setup easily (starting 8 plus Espinal/Kirk/Grichuk). I'd lean towards keeping McGuire and Smith while sending down Bird to fill it in. That way you can start Kirk at DH often and if in extras a catcher is the ghost runner (or Vlad) you can bring in Smith and his speed could turn the game into a win quite easily. Bird at DH/1B just gives you that LH bat but hard to say how good his bat will be. Smith we know will be fast, McGuire will be a solid backup catcher on defense. ZiPS has Bird as a negative player right now so I'd want him to show more in AAA for a month at least at which point you could send down McGuire or Smith depending on how they are working for the team.

bpoz - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 12:11 PM EDT (#411561) #

"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link". Any IF that get injured and replaced by Espinal weakens the offense IMO. Biggio to 1st for Vlad, Espinal to 2B for example.

Regarding our SPs all 5 look good unless hurt. The pen has a lot of 1 inning guys so maybe we can find 6/7. 2-3 inning guys have to first be able to get outs. Roark, Zeuch, Hatch, Pearson, Milone, Thornton and Kay all failed by injury or non performance. 2 inning relievers cannot go 2 days in a row either I think.

Glevin - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:04 PM EDT (#411562) #

Grichuk traded! For Tapia who is left handed at least and makes much more sense as 4th OFer. (Prospects and cash also involved)

Thomas - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:16 PM EDT (#411563) #

Apparently the Jays are sending cash to Colorado to cover Grichuk's contract.

The prospect is Adrian Pinto, who had an impressive year in the DSL as an 18-year-old infielder.

99BlueJaysWay - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:32 PM EDT (#411564) #

Looks like he’s predominantly played LF. Can he play adequate CF? Otherwise it’s kinda hard to understand from my perspective

Glevin - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:33 PM EDT (#411565) #

He played cf mostly in the minors. Probably not great there but neither was Grichuk. Easy trade to understand for me. He gives the Jays who are filled with RH power guys some LH speed.

Nigel - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#411566) #

I'll wait until the whole trade is made clear before jumping to any conclusions. But my first reaction is that I think the concept of the trade makes a ton of sense, the execution of the concept, not so much. I'm really not sure that Tapia is a better player than even, say, Palacios - he really hasn't shown any ability to hit or play above average defence.

Nigel - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#411567) #

I'll also say that I know little about the prospect so maybe that is the part that will make this all make sense.

85bluejay - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#411568) #

Good trade for everyone - Jays get a LHH with speed who can play all across the outfield and I think still has some upside - Charlie Blackmon was the veteran playing CF when Tapia came up and I suspect didn't want to move - Tapia hasn't broken out in the ML but I was a fan of his as a prospect - Grichuk gets more playing time and the power should play up.

85bluejay - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 01:54 PM EDT (#411569) #

Josh Palacios looked completely overmatched at the plate last season and I'm skeptical can play CF.

Gerry - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#411570) #

I am not sure if this trade makes the Jays much better this year (Fangraphs has it as losing one win) but it does have some other benefits, namely (1) the Jays add a prospect, (2) they add a left handed bat, (3) they save money in the future, (4) they open up at-bats at DH for maybe Alejandro Kirk, and (5) you dont have to sit an outfielder to give Randall at-bats.

I am not sure how much value to give to the 5 benefits.

Gerry - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#411571) #

Actually #5 is not a benefit as you now have Tapia. But Randall has been here for a while and usually the Manager feels obligated to give him at-bats.

Gerry - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:12 PM EDT (#411572) #

Pinto was the number 19 prospect per BA. Fangraphs did not list him.

Pinto is short, 5'6", but hit really well in the DSL in 2021.

Lylemcr - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#411573) #

Grichuk was a distraction. This was a win-win trade. Colorodo has a good bat and likely flourish there. I like Grichuk, I just think he was not in the organizational plans. It could be argued that they mishandled him. Good luck to him!

Pinto is a nice organization add. Tapia is a nice defense\baserunning replacement. Essentially, a #4 outfielder.

The true winner was Kirk and Romano. When Romano is called up, they will have a place where he can get at regular bats.

Hodgie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:18 PM EDT (#411574) #

For what it is worth, I have seen a couple of articles on the Coors effect on traditional defensive metrics. Coors has MLB's largest outfield by far, which in small studies seems to have negatively impacted how individual defensive value was measured. It will be interesting to see how Tapia's defense translates to Rogers. Ben Badler is also a Pinto fan.

92-93 - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:32 PM EDT (#411575) #

We don't actually know yet if they save money in the future with this trade. If, for instance, Colorado is picking up all of Grichuk's '23 tab then it looks a lot better.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:35 PM EDT (#411576) #

Tapia at Coors: .319/.366/.472. Alas, those days are over and he's hit .243/.285/.320 everywhere else.

Dr B - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:42 PM EDT (#411578) #

Raimel Tapia appears to be a player with no power and won’t take a walk
and survives on batting average, which to be fair he’s been consistent
with. He has slight batting splits vs L/R: OPS 694/730 so not much of a
platoon advantage. And as noted by Magpie his home/away splits are
839/605. Ouch. Let’s hope he makes up for some of it with defence. If
one squints one might have optimism that he will exceed Mallex Smith by
some non-negligible margin, but as Gerry points out, this trade was
probably not about acquiring Tapia.

Chuck - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:45 PM EDT (#411579) #

How many games will Springer start in CF this year? He had the luxury of being capped at around 80 while in Houston because of Marisnick being on the roster, and the Astros having a LHB in RF they could platoon offensively with Marisnick.

I ask because Tapia could well start half the team's games in CF this year and then be a whole lot more than a mere bench player. I don't know how aggressively the Jays pursued options for the half-time center fielder they would need to caddy for Springer, but perhaps this is the best they could do.

As for Tapia being a LHB, well, that's technically true, but he's a singles hitter so his handedness isn't such a big deal. This certainly opens the door for Kirk to lay claim to a bunch of the DH at-bats without Charlie having to factor Grichuk into the equation, as Gerry mentioned. I don't think that Tapia will be stealing at-bats from anyone.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:53 PM EDT (#411580) #

Love this trade. Per Statcast, Tapia has had 45 "attempts" in CF (i.e. plays that he could conceivably make) over his career. He's made 41 of them for a success rate of 91%; Statcast estimates the typical success rate on those plays as 84%. There's a large error bar of course, but the odds are that he's an average defensive centerfielder at least. Grichuk is very far from that now. As a hitter, he's a bit of a throw-back, he chops down on the ball and doesn't strike out much. His launch angle last year was -4.4 as he overshot the mark. After posting line-drive rates in the 23-28% range, it fell to 16% which is not going to work. His max EVs are actually pretty decent in the 107-109 range.

Tapia should get about 250 PAs, with Springer getting time off completely a couple of times a month and playing some right-field (with Hernandez getting the day off or moving to left to give Gurriel Jr. the day off). If he can post a wRC+ of about 85 (which I think he can), he'll be fine in the role. And it means Kirk can do the DH job almost full-time and McGuire can get more work behind the plate against RHP (FWIW, Fangraphs projects Tapia to get 224 PAs in RF with Teoscar getting the plurality of the DH time- this would not be a good use of resources). And of course, Tapia will be a useful late-inning pinch-runner also.

Basically, management has acted exactly the way they would if they were going to optimize their lineup, in my opinion.

Cracka - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#411581) #

This is an outstanding trade considering that we're swapping guys that play the same positions, had nearly identical OPS #s last year (703 vs. 699), but are completely different hitters.
Tapia is the most extreme groundball hitter in baseball --actually had a negative average launch angle last year -- but does hit lefties as well as righties. His approach at the plate is very different than Grichuk's and very unique in this era of baseball. I already like him better than Randall and it's easy to see him fitting in quickly with fellow countrymen Espinal, Teo, Vlady, as well as the rest of "la Gente del barrio".

Thomas - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 02:57 PM EDT (#411582) #

Raimel Tapia appears to be a player with no power and won’t take a walk

Not that it's a high bar, but he takes more walks than Grichuk.

I think, as 92-93 theorized, and based on the way the Jays structured Chapman's contract, the Jays are likely eating the bulk of Grichuk's contract this year, but trying to reduce their 2023 payroll. Also, I am more convinced now that the Jays will take three catchers north and McGuire will serve as the backup while Kirk takes a bunch of at-bats at DH.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:01 PM EDT (#411583) #

FWIW, Tapia's lines look a lot like Jarrod Dyson's at the same age. We'll see if he emerges as the primo defender, as Dyson did. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

rpriske - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#411584) #

I have a knee-jerk reaction of 'great trade, who did they get?'

The cash considerations part makes me hold off on that because Grichuk isn't bad, he is just way overpaid.

uglyone - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#411585) #

Doubt Tapia is an upgrade. Might not even be playable.

But Pinto is interesting enough to make it worth it.

But if we ended up saving money in this deal I sure hope that means we're about to add another real bat.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#411586) #

I don't think that Tapia will be stealing at-bats from anyone.

We can always hope - as a hitter, get Tapia out of Coors and he looks rather disturbingly like Grichuk without the power. Thing is, your modern manager, and Montoyo is no exception, tends to use everybody and he'll surely have trouble resisting the novelty of having an actual LH batter. And what are the chances Gurriel and Springer can get through the year without hurting themselves?

Tapia has hit quite well on artificial turf in a tiny sample. So there's that.

Glevin - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:17 PM EDT (#411587) #

Tapia is hard to judge because Coors messes all numbers up. I guess we'll see but I like him much better as a fit than Grichuk.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:18 PM EDT (#411588) #

I am more convinced now that the Jays will take three catchers north and McGuire will serve as the backup while Kirk takes a bunch of at-bats at DH.

Take it to the bank.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:23 PM EDT (#411589) #

Tapia is hard to judge because Coors messes all numbers up. I guess we'll see but I like him much better as a fit than Grichuk.

I agree with all of this, too! What's come over me?

Tapia is the type of player the team needs - assuming he's actually good - and Coors is confusing. The same players who hit better there (pretty well all of them) then go and hit worse than you would expect when they return to sea level.

Shoeless Joe - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:25 PM EDT (#411590) #

I like Pinto, but I’m not sure tapia makes the team.

Michael - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:34 PM EDT (#411591) #

Who got the better player in the trade? Colorado. Grichuk is the best player in the trade. Usually who ever gets the best player "wins" the trade.

Who has the highest upside in the trade? The prospect Toronto got who is young and most likely never makes the majors, but, has upside and could end up being a star/quality player if he develops well.

Jays sent money (but I haven't seen how much) in exchange for the deal so it is hard to evaluate the trade. If the Jays pay all Grichuk's salary for the next 2 years this is different than if they just cover some of this years, for example.

It still might make sense as a deal though as Tapia is arguably a better defender than Grichuk (although hard to tell with the Coors field effect and having been primarily a LF).

Seems like a mediocre deal overall. Not that good, not that bad, not that impactful. Although if it means more AB for Kirk, I'm a fan for that outcome.

grjas - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:37 PM EDT (#411592) #

Re Tapia, for me it’s a shrug. Speed off the bench, a slight improvement as a backup CF, and a marginal LH bat.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:41 PM EDT (#411593) #

Obviously, it would be better if instead of Bird, they had a LH corner OF/1B type who could hit. Guerrero Jr. is a better bet to play 150 games than Springer or Gurriel Jr.

scottt - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:43 PM EDT (#411594) #

Fangraphs thinks Teoscar is the DH and Grichuk was the right fielder, so you have to take their estimates with a grain of salt.

vw_fan17 - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:43 PM EDT (#411595) #

Does Tapia make more contact than Grichuk? I.e. will Buck/Tabby constantly talk up his "productive outs"?
I mean, Buck/Tabby notwithstanding, there have been a few times I've wished we had a contact hitter to pinch-hit, who could get the bat on the ball instead of striking out. If you're GOING to make an out anyway, a groundball on artificial turf from a LHB with some speed is probably not the worst way to do it? Although, IIRC, the new turf isn't as fast as the old turf, right?
Might be useful in extras, with a runner on 2nd, to bring in a contact-heavy bat instead of a K-heavy bat? Last year, Tapia struck out half as often (by rate) compared to Randal.

He does seem to be a better baserunner than Grichuk at this point.

(and yes, this is a "looking for any positives" type of post :-)

scottt - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:47 PM EDT (#411596) #

It's a bit weird that a slap hitter would have much better numbers at Coors.

If he can play CF better than Grichuk it's probably a wash.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#411597) #

Here are the DSL league leaders. Pinto had the best W/K numbers in the league (by far) and also led the league in stolen bases, and turned 19 in September. He's Rule 5 eligible in 2023, so I would anticipate that they'll start him in Dunedin. He looks to be a ringer of Leo Jimenez.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:55 PM EDT (#411598) #

He looks to be a ringer for Leo Jimenez.

But faster.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 03:56 PM EDT (#411599) #

it would be better if instead of Bird, they had a LH corner OF/1B type who could hit.

Matt Beaty, that would be your cue!

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:01 PM EDT (#411600) #

Does Tapia make more contact than Grichuk?

Tapia doesn't strike out quite as often as Grichuk, but Grichuk actually strikes out less than the average hitter anyway. (I know. The modern world is very, very weird.) Both players have rather dramatically reduced their strikeouts over the last two years.

hypobole - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:11 PM EDT (#411601) #

Just a guess why Colorado batters have such an anti-Coors effect on the road, but I think it has something to do with pitch shapes. At home pitches break differently than they do on the road. 2 seamers drop more at home than on the road. So only the most elite hitters can constantly make the necessary mental and physical adjustments as they end a home stand and then go on a road trip.

Nigel - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:33 PM EDT (#411602) #

A LHH OF who can play defence well enough to handle CF, pinch run and hit even a little bit (particularly if said player's offence leaned a little to the OBP side of things) is exactly what this team needs. I just think that you need to squint pretty hard to see that Tapia can do more than one of those things. I do agree that Coors might be causing distortion. I also agree that this may open things up for an expanded role for Kirk, in which case that may make the deal a good one on that basis alone.

The prospect does look interesting at least.

Glevin - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:33 PM EDT (#411603) #

"Re Tapia, for me it’s a shrug. Speed off the bench, a slight improvement as a backup CF, and a marginal LH bat."

Well, don't think this is a world-beating move or anything but moving on From Grichuk was important and Tapia is a better fit. Ideally, Jays add a DH that can play OF. I mean, Conforto (if vaccinated) is now such a perfect fit as DH/ part time OF.

uglyone - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:36 PM EDT (#411604) #

Not sure how swapping a 4OF for a 4OF changes anything for Kirk as the starting DH.

If anything, they might be even more eager to use Tapia for defensive purposes which might lose Kirk ab.

And does being LH even matter if you can't hit RHP anyways?

greenfrog - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:44 PM EDT (#411605) #

It's not the most exciting deal but let's see how Tapia does in Toronto. The Jays have been pretty good at identifying undervalued talent (Teoscar, for example) even if their timing in making acquisitions is sometimes a bit off (see Urshela and Villar). And, of course, acquiring Tapia doesn't preclude acquiring a better outfielder later this season.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:47 PM EDT (#411606) #

Randal Grichuk made 12 starts as a DH last year, going .255/.294/.447. Tapia will not be making any starts as a DH and I'm confident that Kirk can beat .255/.294/.447 by a considerable margin.

uglyone - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#411607) #

Grichuk was never going to DH over Kirk. Neither will Tapia.

But if Tapia is better defensively then suddenly more DH ab for Speinger and Tesocar.

John Northey - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:51 PM EDT (#411608) #

To me this is a solid trade. Jays get rid of a guy who should play everyday and is paid that way but has nowhere to play. In exchange they get a LH OF and a very young prospect.

Cash the Jays sent is $9,716,333 (via Associated Press) split over the 2 years. Tapia is a just above replacement level player (1.0 WAR last year, 0.4 lifetime) who has speed (20-6 SB-CS last year) and decent defense it seems. Under control for 2022 and 2023.

What gets me going is Adrian Pinto though - a 2B/SS who hit 360/487/543 in the DSL last year at 18. I wonder if the Jays wanted to sign him but Colorado got him first/Jays hitting cap limit. Regardless, he looks promising from that stat line, we'll see how he does in A ball or A+ this year I suspect. Never can have too many quality prospects.

So the big loser is Mallex Smith who now has the pinch runner role taken by Tapia, Grichuk is a big winner as his style of play should work well in Colorado (swing for the fences) and from what I read he should be their everyday CF. Yikes for them, but good for him.

My gut says another deal is coming for a slugger who'd DH and maybe play LF or 1B. Clearing out Grichuk who'd be pissed to be on the bench was a smart move from a clubhouse perspective as that would mean he'd be benched 4 days out of 5 unless someone was hurt. It also could just mean the Jays decided to give DH to Kirk for 90% of the time, and keeping space open for Moreno (not up until June or later I suspect).

Paul D - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:52 PM EDT (#411609) #

Reminder that looking at road stats for Colorado players is a bad way to try to guess how they'll hit in a new environment. The Coors hangover is real, and you should expect Tapia to hit about his OPS+, not his road numbers

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:53 PM EDT (#411610) #

It's not the most exciting deal

True, but it's not like there's much else to talk about!

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 04:55 PM EDT (#411611) #

from what I read [Grichuk] should be their everyday CF.

That's not going to work. It's a big outfield. I say he ends up in RF, and Blackmon becomes a DH.

Nigel - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 05:16 PM EDT (#411612) #

If there is that amount of cash going to the Rockies then there will be very little in the way of salary savings from the deal (unless the Jays walk from Tapia after this year). Grichuk was only owed $10.3 million for each of the next two years and Tapia is making $4m this year and would likely see a bump in his last arb year.

uglyone - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 05:46 PM EDT (#411613) #

5.3m this year 4.3m next year.

So about $10m saved.

Hope they use it immediately.

grjas - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 05:53 PM EDT (#411614) #

MLB Rumours says 9.7mm going from Jays to Rockies so doesn’t sound like any savings.

Nigel - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 06:00 PM EDT (#411615) #

uglyone that's the amount saved if they cut Tapia immediately. If not, there's next to nothing saved over the two year period. Now, having the right to walk away from Tapia after this year has some value of course.

Ducey - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#411616) #

Would Tapia be in line for much of raise if he plays part time this season?

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 06:48 PM EDT (#411617) #

I have to wonder if there's an issue with Tapia's outfield defense. He's apparently as fast the wind, yet the Rockies still preferred to play him in LF, while playing a second baseman (Hampson) in CF. Not all fast guys are good outfielders. Apparently, part of the reason Colorado made the deal was because they needed to improve their OF defense and they now had Bryant set to take over in LF. And they're still left with multiple centre fielders who can't hit.

Hodgie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:00 PM EDT (#411618) #

Trading for Grichuk to improve their outfield is a bold strategy, hope it works out for them.

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:01 PM EDT (#411619) #

Charlie Blackmon was the veteran playing CF when Tapia came up and I suspect didn't want to move

But move he did, to RF in 2019, which was Tapia's first full season. The Rockies had Ian Desmond in CF that year, Kevin Pillar in 2020, and a rotating cast in CF (Hampson, Daza, Hilliard) last year.

Mike Green - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:33 PM EDT (#411620) #

Tapia's strength is coming in. There's a lot of distance to cover going back in center in Coors. Less so in the RC.

scottt - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:46 PM EDT (#411621) #

If Moreno is not healthy and playing in AAA--and ready to be called up--it's going to be hard to release McGuire.
We'll see how that works out April 7th.

They don't need a left bat to play LF. They need a left bat to DH.
Even more so now that they got rid of Grichuk and the 4th outfielder is not going to play every day.

Kirk might be able to DH against a lefty if he's not starting.
Springer can DH when Tapia plays, assuming Tapia makes the team.
He played a fair bit off the bench. 147 games as a substitute vs 292 as a starter.
That's in the NL without a DH.

Tapia was hitting .278 vs RHP with an OBP of .328.
That's not bad for a 9th hitter who is hard to double up.
Power doesn't really matter here.

Conforto is not a DH. He's expensive, he cost a draft pick and he didn't hit last year.
Hard pass here.

bpoz - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 07:59 PM EDT (#411622) #

If a 20-30 Hr bat is injured there is no Grichuk to fill in. He did that last year for Springer.

So I don't like this deal.

earlweaverfan - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#411623) #

What is most interesting to me is how teachable Tapia will turn out to be. We know he has been cutting down his strikeouts (like Grichuk was). Tapia seems to be adept at hitting balls out of the strike zone but the Jays are teaching their whole roster how to be far more selective than they are used to. (See the March 20 article by Shi Davidi entitled: “ Blue Jays emphasizing swing decisions in bid to become even more dangerousl”)

My bet is that they think they can do that with Tapia. A guy who can compete for the NL batting title over several months may have more upside than we know…

greenfrog - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 08:32 PM EDT (#411624) #

One thing I like about the current Jays front office is that, even as they are cashing in some prospects for major-league pieces like Berrios and Chapman, they are still trying to build a good farm system by adding players like Bonilla and Pinto. Ben Badler of BA was somewhat puzzled that Colorado would include Pinto to make the Grichuk-Tapia trade happen (a trade of two players with similar projected value, both of whom are projected to hit free agency after the 2023 season).

electric carrot - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 08:49 PM EDT (#411625) #

I really like having a guy that can pinch run and maybe steal a base in close game. The Blue Jays did lose a lot of one run games last year and speed can really help in close games in late innings.

Glevin - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 08:52 PM EDT (#411626) #

"One thing I like about the current Jays front office is that, even as they are cashing in some prospects for major-league pieces like Berrios and Chapman, they are still trying to build a good farm system by adding players like Bonilla and Pinto"

Pinto probably won't be anything but he's a legitimate prospect and not some 27 YO relief prospect or something. Jays have system need at 2B too.

vw_fan17 - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 09:51 PM EDT (#411627) #

Ben Badler of BA was somewhat puzzled that Colorado would include Pinto to make the Grichuk-Tapia trade happen (a trade of two players with similar projected value, both of whom are projected to hit free agency after the 2023 season).

Maybe Colorado has advanced metrics that Grichuk's batted ball profile will play well in Coors Field and they initiated the trade?

Magpie - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 10:06 PM EDT (#411628) #

Andrew Miller just confirmed that he's retiring. I have to think he knew he was going to do that quite some time ago, but he still spent his winter trying to negotiate the new CBA. I will, of course, remember him best for the pain he inflicted on the Jays in the 2016 post-season.

Thomas - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 10:57 PM EDT (#411629) #

Kudos to Andrew Miller for spending an offseason in which he was retiring working long hours for future generations.

Dalton Pompey has signed with the Guelph Royals of the Intercounty Baseball League.

92-93 - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 11:03 PM EDT (#411630) #

Thumbs down on this trade unless the $ is put back into the team immediately. We all know Grichuk's warts, but he was a luxury for a good team to have as a 4th OF, especially one with a CF that has never started more than half a season out there who already needs load management. Neither Gurriel or Hernandez have ever played a full season, so that 4th OF spot is going to get plenty of playing time. With the league mandating a 4-man bench this year they should have had no issue finding and carrying a guy who can play CF and steal some bags without compromising their depth.

Waveburner - Thursday, March 24 2022 @ 11:54 PM EDT (#411631) #

Not a fan of this trade, and I've been wanting them to move on from Grichuk. Practically no money saved, and Tapia seems a replacement level player. I think what bothers me most is that a team that has been searching for basically anyone to play CF for the last 3 years have been very reluctant to play Tapia in CF other than when other guys needed a day off or were injured. That does not bode well. He also sucks at the plate.

I mean the Rockies need a CF right now and were apparently unwilling to use Tapia there. I really don't see the appeal. As much as I dislike Grichuk he seems like the more valuable player for 2022.

I quite like the prospect they received, seems like an exciting sleeper prospect with upside, but I care more about the 2022 roster right now. I think the Jays are worse today than they were yesterday without freeing up payroll room. Even if they just changed the way they are compensating the Rockies I would like this better. Eat almost all of Grichuk's contract in 2022 and you free up that $10 million for 2023 when the Jays have to pay raises to their young stars. I'm hoping another domino is about to drop.

Also, the Grichuk contract extension a few years back remains one of the biggest head scratching moves Atkins has made as GM.

Magpie - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 12:34 AM EDT (#411632) #

Thumbs down on this trade unless the $ is put back into the team immediately.

This transaction doesn't give the team much additional money. The difference in salary between Grichuk and Tapia is about the same as the money Toronto is sending to Colorado as part of the deal.

Hodgie - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 01:16 AM EDT (#411633) #

“ I mean the Rockies need a CF right now and were apparently unwilling to use Tapia there.”

I will be surprised if the trade doesn’t wind up being a wash but I wouldn’t worry too much about this. There are a lot of smart, well run franchises in MLB and Colorado isn’t one of them.

85bluejay - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 07:04 AM EDT (#411634) #

Raimel Tapia who hits a lot of ground balls seems to be a player who should benefit from a banning of the shift - too bad the ban starts next year.

Jonny German - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 07:09 AM EDT (#411635) #

It'd be nice if Tapia was a better player than he is, but when you're trading Grichuk you're not going to get a guy who's a lot better than Grichuk.

If Tapia is what he is, he's a bad player but he fits the roster better than Grichuk.

If Tapia thrives with the change of scenery, he's a real asset.

If Tapia is even worse than he's been before, he's cut loose and the team has more flexibity for 2023.

Jonny German - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 07:11 AM EDT (#411636) #

This "Springer has never started more than half a season in CF" line of thinking doesn't make sense to me. The reason he didn't clear that bar wasn't because he was injured or DHing, it was because he spent a lot of time playing right field. That wasn't about load management, it was about Jake Marisnick being a better defender than Springer.

And sure, he was no ironman before 2021, but it's not like he was constantly injured either. Games started since 2016:

Mike Green - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 09:08 AM EDT (#411639) #

Excellent summary of the trade, Jonny.

92-93 - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 09:36 AM EDT (#411641) #

The reason the Jays need a CF is because Springer can't be counted on to play defensively, so to throw up his %s that include the games he has played at DH doesn't really tell us much. Furthermore, playing CF takes a bigger toll on the body than playing a corner; you cover far more ground and have more balls to chase after. Right now Tapia should be projected to start at least 20% of the Jays' games in CF.

Jonny German - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 10:00 AM EDT (#411642) #

I should have included more detail. Springer's time at DH was not significant prior to 2021.

Year	GS	GS in field
2016	99%	91%
2017	84%	80%
2018	84%	78%
2019	73%	65%
2020	82%	77%
2021	48%	25%

As for the toll of playing centre versus a corner, you're going to have to point me to a comprehensive study to convince me it's a significant difference.

How much of a defensive downgrade is Tapia in CF vs Grichuk in CF? It's not like Grichuk was 2015 Kevin Pillar.

Mike Green - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 10:05 AM EDT (#411644) #

I agree that Springer ought to be projected for 120-130 games in CF, and 10-15 games in RF to give Hernandez a break. There is no significant difference overall between Tapia and Grichuk, as a backup centerfielder over 30-40 games. Grichuk has a moderate offensive edge and Tapia a significant (in my view) defensive edge. The crux is not Springer, but Gurriel Jr. He's had significant injuries in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and 2020 was a short season. If Gurriel Jr. can play 130-140 games in 2021, Tapia will end up starting a little less than half time and that will be perfect.

Incidentally, I am pretty sure that you could ask Moreno to play left-field, if needed, and it would be fine. He came up as a shortstop and the Jays moved him behind the plate.

Glevin - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 10:09 AM EDT (#411645) #

Agree with Jonny. Would be great if we got a better player than Tapia but for Grichuk, you weren't going to and Tapia fits Jays much better. Also, of note is that Biggio is playing RF today so Biggio in RF and Espinal at 2B is also an option when giving OF day off. Jays do need to find some flexibility with the bench though. 3 catchers won't work and Bird is not an ideal DH since he only covers 1B. If the Jays have a 4 man bench, it needs to be Backup C, Tapia, Espinal, and either an infielder or OF (preferably the DH able to play the other one). Someone like Otto Lopez would be great if he earns the spot.

John Northey - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 10:10 AM EDT (#411646) #

This is an interesting trade...well, right now a AAA guy for another AAA would be interesting but still...

Grichuk vs Colorado: Career: 261/298/489 (25 games), at Coors - 192/204/447. Yikes.
Tapia vs Jays: Career: 333/385/500 (3 games), never played in the Rogers Centre. 0-4 vs Yankees, 1 for 10 vs Red Sox, 1 for 5 vs Rays for what that is worth.

So not a lot to go on, but what there is suggests Coors isn't a place Grichuk enjoyed, nor that Tapia can hit the big 3 the Jays gotta beat to win the East.

For defense - a measure I enjoy is UZR/150 lifetime in CF - Grichuk: -3.6 (3123 innings) vs Tapia: -2.5 (190 innings). RZR: Grichuk .888, Tapia 889 - dang they are close by those 2 measures. BR has a Rdrs/Yr figure: Grichuk 1 Tapia 18 (for comparison Kevin Kiermaier is at 25, Teoscar Hernández -8, Springer 6). Tapia is a 0 in LF and -20 in RF by this measure so don't read too much into it.

So for defense by 1 measure Tapia is drastically better than Grichuk and visibly better than Springer, by 2 other measures he is comparable to Grichuk in CF - but his innings have been limited so take it all with a grain of salt.

In the end, this is all secondary if Springer is healthy. If Springer is not then the Jays have a nightmare to deal with and will probably do a trade to improve or move an infielder out there so a prospect can play (whichever is doing well in AAA).

bpoz - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 10:57 AM EDT (#411647) #

Shapiro/Atkins want to make the playoffs. They have built a very good team. Moving Grichuk was not to save any half decent money but somehow made sense to them.

Chuck - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 11:21 AM EDT (#411648) #

Moving Grichuk was not to save any half decent money but somehow made sense to them.

Agreed. They had a player with X characteristics and swapped him out for one with Y characteristics. It's not that the new guy is necessarily better than the old guy, or saves the team money, just that the new guy's skills better complement the team than do the old guy's. Or at least that's the hope.

This trade feels like a wash of low-WAR contributors, but there is little else to discuss save for Bichette and Manoah entering the season somewhat pissed about having had their contracts renewed rather than satisfactorily negotiated. It continues to amaze me how teams will so aggressively offend their young pre-arb stars to save a few hundred thousand. Is there any reason that Bichette is getting slightly more than the league minimum other than the Jays have all the leverage to make this so? If you are thinking that you will be offering this player tens of millions in the near future, why risk offending him now over a relative pittance?

Mike Green - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 11:30 AM EDT (#411649) #

The prospect is nothing to be sneezed at. He was arguably the best position player in the DSL last year at age 18. He played some in centerfield and he runs very well, and the Blue Jays have an organizational need there, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's where he goes.

John Northey - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 11:58 AM EDT (#411651) #

For the pre-arb pissing off of Bo & Manoah I wouldn't be shocked if teams do that on purpose sometimes in an effort to push the player to show they are worth more, especially with the new bonus system in place for pre-arb kids. They have 3 years to cool down after this before free agency (depending on how arbitration goes) so I really don't see much point to paying more than needed. Really, anything over the ML minimum is a gift from the team to the player anyways. IIRC some of the cheapest teams don't pay one cent over the minimum until a guy reaches arbitration.

greenfrog - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 12:26 PM EDT (#411652) #

I like the idea of having all three of Jansen, McGuire and Kirk on the roster. The situation is a bit unusual because Kirk is such a promising hitter. So the team would have a good starting catcher (and decent hitter) in Jansen, a good defensive catcher (and adequate hitter against RHP) in Jansen, and a very good hitter and adequate defensive catcher in Kirk. It's a good mix of skills and also useful depth for lineup construction and in case of injuries.

Nigel - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#411653) #

Hard to argue with Jonny's synopsis. I'm most worried about his defence. I appreciate that the Rockies aren't the pinnacle of good organization decision making, but there's zero logic to keeping Tapia out of CF in Coors unless he comes from the Alvis Woods/Ben Revere School of Defence for speedy OFs. We'll see.

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 01:21 PM EDT (#411654) #

OK so it's nice to hear Shapiro say "more payroll available - not top-5 but close".

That makes it sound like they're comfortable going above $200m but that $250m would be pushing it.

That's fine.

And gives us room for one more big time salary (i.e. $20-30m type salary).

So I hope he's telling the truth and that they choose to use it ....and sooner rather than later.

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 01:23 PM EDT (#411655) #

"unless he comes from the Alvis Woods/Ben Revere School"

Not gonna lie...Ben Revere (and Zeke Carrera) were the first names that came to mind looking at Tapia's profile.

Magpie - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 01:24 PM EDT (#411656) #

Arden Zwelling at Sportsnet laid out the Bichette-Manoah situation in some depth. This is all done by a ore-determined formula:

Each MLB club utilizes its own methodology to determine salaries for pre-arbitration players, some of them not even sharing the process behind the result with players and their agents. But upon overhauling their own approach prior to the 2020 season, the Blue Jays laid the formula out for all of their players to see.

Each day of service time is worth a slight increase; each plate appearance for a hitter and inning pitched for a pitcher, too. There are also $10,000 bonuses up for grabs if a player wins a major award or is a top-three finalist in MVP or Cy Young voting. Under the formula, players can earn a maximum of $15,000 for career active days on the roster and $25,000 for career playing time. That means the most a player could increase their salary — outside of a major award bonus — is $40,000.

[Bichette and Manoah] rejected those raises, triggering a policy in the uniform player contract utilized in Toronto’s system that assigned them a renewal salary halfway between the major-league minimum — $700,000 this season under the game’s new collective bargaining agreement — and the figures the formula generated.

Bichette said simply "I disagree with the formula." Rejecting the offer that was generated by the formula and instead having a lesser amount imposed by the renewal formula costs him a little money (about $25,000) this year - but more important, it doesn't put him on the record as accepting the Jays offer as reflective of his actual value. That's not something he wants on the record when he goes into his first arbitration year.

Glevin - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 01:47 PM EDT (#411657) #

"I like the idea of having all three of Jansen, McGuire and Kirk on the roster. The situation is a bit unusual because Kirk is such a promising hitter. So the team would have a good starting catcher (and decent hitter) in Jansen, a good defensive catcher (and adequate hitter against RHP) in Jansen, and a very good hitter and adequate defensive catcher in Kirk. It's a good mix of skills and also useful depth for lineup construction and in case of injuries."

Really really hard to do this with short benches. Let's say, for argument's sake, Bird is DH against RH and bench is McGuire, Kirk , Espinal, and Tapia. That's half your bench covering 1 defensive spot and the other half covering 7 defensive positions and your DH can only play 1 spot also. it just doesn't give near enough depth and it means you have so little flexibility. You can't really use Tapia to pinch run because then you have no backup OFers left. One players goes down and you are scrambling with a bunch of players out of position. I'd be shocked if the Jays go with 3 catchers when rosters are back to normal.

hypobole - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:12 PM EDT (#411658) #

Don't think 3 catchers will be kept, but the chances they are kept is better than Bird making the opening day roster. Bird had one decent MLB season - 7 years ago. Even last year he had a 117 wRC+ in AAA (the stat is league but not park adjusted) and he played in one of the 3 best hitting parks in the PCL. Buffalo 1st baseman,

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:31 PM EDT (#411660) #

I think 3 catchers is a lock with the current roster - fact is that both Jansen and Kirk need to be everyday players with the current roster.

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#411661) #

Very interesting segment on the Jays by Carlos Pena on MLB Tonight:

https://youtu.be/niku3W6SeJ0

Magpie - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:41 PM EDT (#411662) #

Let's say, for argument's sake, Bird is DH against RH and bench is McGuire, Kirk , Espinal, and Tapia... You can't really use Tapia to pinch run because then you have no backup OFers left.

Not really. The fact that you can play Biggio almost anywhere makes Espinal effectively an extra outfielder as well.

I think it's unlikely that both Bird and Kirk will make the roster, because most of the MLB at bats available to either guy will be as the DH. Nobody carries two DHs anymore. The days of Orta-Johnson, or even Stairs-Thomas, are long gone! If Bird goes north as the DH - hey, if he hits .500 with 10 HRs this spring you have to consider it - I would assume Kirk would then be catching every day somewhere in the minors. But that seems an unlikely development. McGuire and Kirk seems much more likely.

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#411663) #

Love the Bird free wallet but we should probably remember that the only time he was ever even an average MLB hitter was for less than 50gms 7 years ago, and that last year he was just a good not great hitter in AAA at age 28.

92-93 - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 02:55 PM EDT (#411664) #

The Jays have been running a 3 man bench for years. There's plenty of room for 3 catchers on the roster when benches have been expanded to a minimum of 4 players and one of those catchers is actually your best option to DH at full strength. A bench of Espinal, Tapia, McGuire, and Bird/Lopez/Smith/X is fine.

GabrielSyme - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 03:01 PM EDT (#411665) #

Let's say, for argument's sake, Bird is DH against RH and bench is McGuire, Kirk , Espinal, and Tapia... You can't really use Tapia to pinch run because then you have no backup OFers left.

Not really. The fact that you can play Biggio almost anywhere makes Espinal effectively an extra outfielder as well.

Even more, how much should you really worry about having another backup for a given position once you're pinch-hitting or pinch-running late in a game? Frankly, I don't really care. If the pinch-running or pinch-hitting makes sense otherwise, the remote possibility of having to play someone out of position shouldn't change the calculus - it's a tiny factor in that kind of decision.

Glevin - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 03:30 PM EDT (#411666) #

"Not really. The fact that you can play Biggio almost anywhere makes Espinal effectively an extra outfielder as well.

Even more, how much should you really worry about having another backup for a given position once you're pinch-hitting or pinch-running late in a game? Frankly, I don't really care. If the pinch-running or pinch-hitting makes sense otherwise, the remote possibility of having to play someone out of position shouldn't change the calculus - it's a tiny factor in that kind of decision."

Sure, but he's then you're stuck with single backup for 7 different positions. There are so many common scenarios where 2 backup catchers is an issue. Let's take the common occurrence of having a position player who is out for 4-5 days with some hamstring issue. You have one position player backing up 7 positions for an entire series but still 2 backup catchers. No team AFIK carries 2 backup catchers, for very good reason. If Jays want to go with Kirk as full-time DH then fine. You then don't have Bird on the roster and have someone with defensive versatility as bench guy. Then you can have 3 bench guys who can cover 7 defensive spots which is doable.

Magpie - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#411667) #

No team AFIK carries 2 backup catchers, for very good reason.

Yes. And surely everyone remembers (no?) that last August I went crawling through the records and discovered that in 45 years and more than 7,000 games the Blue Jays have used a third catcher in a game just 15 times. Strangely enough, the only time they have ever had to use a position player behind the plate came when they were carrying four catchers on the active roster.

Dr B - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 05:48 PM EDT (#411668) #

That’s a good point, UO, about the tiny sample size for Bird’s 2015 performance. I had a look at his minor league record, and compared it to Rowdy Tellez who had a good but marginal-for-a-first-baseman record. I was expecting them to be roughly equivalent, but no. Once again using OPS as a rough and ready measure, we have Rowdy Tellez at an OPS 799 over 2500 minor league ABs versus Greg Bird at OPS of 884 over 2000ABs. That ain't a difference that is easy to explain away. A fair amount of that is driven by a higher OBP for Bird.

Now for comparison, in the majors we have Tellez at 770 OPS vs. 725 for Bird (1000 to 700ABs).

Does Bird have real talent? Yes. Are we likely to see it? No.

uglyone - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 06:00 PM EDT (#411669) #

As it currently stands, Kirk is deservedly the starting DH. He just also happens to be able to catch, which is pure bonus.

Then of course we have the minimum defensive OF-IF-C bench no matter what.

Whether we decide to carry a 4th bench guy more for offense than defense doesn't effect the defensive makeup of the club whatsoever.

92-93 - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 06:34 PM EDT (#411670) #

It's really not an issue. For a good chunk of 2021 the Jays bench looked something like McGuire/Adams, Panik, and Davis. Heck, there were times Panik was replaced by Tellez and there was even less flexibility.

scottt - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 08:44 PM EDT (#411671) #

When you have a 3 player bench, there is no backup once you go to the bench.
It's been like that for a long time.
On top of that, they often play with day-to-day regulars sitting on the bench and not available to play.
It's not really a big deal. Part of the reason why they like versatility so much.

scottt - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 08:53 PM EDT (#411672) #

AFAIK, accepting or not the team offer plays no role in determining arbitration value.
MLBTR has a formula for predicting arbitration value and they usually come very close.
Personally, I see it as an ego thing, like wearing a massive gold chain while playing the field.
(Are those things more than 25K?)

The good news for Bo and Manoah is that extra pot of money available for grab.
Here's hoping both guys cash in rather than guys from Baltimore or Tampa.

vw_fan17 - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 09:48 PM EDT (#411673) #

Per MLBTR, the Rays have acquired former Blue Jay Harold Ramirez from the Cubs.
14 game losing streak at the Trop incoming..

smyttysmullet94 - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 11:09 PM EDT (#411674) #

Well those two players' skills would be great to have in this lineup come playoff time; skills that Grichuk didn't provide.

John Northey - Friday, March 25 2022 @ 11:49 PM EDT (#411675) #

This is fun. Reminds me of the old days in the late 80's, early 90's when I'd debate with friends (no internet) about backups on the Jays as the starters were pretty much set. That is what happens with a contender - you nit pick on the edges as the big questions have answers.

For the bench your #1 concern is having guys to cover in a single game, or to allow the manager to do whatever he needs to in order to win that game. 3 catchers allows the freedom to DH Kirk, and to run for Jansen or Kirk should the need arise. If someone gets hurt then you just need guys to cover for that game - here is where the insane flexibility of Biggio & Espinal comes in handy - for 5 innings or so either can cover anywhere but catcher while the other covers 2B. If a regular needs a day off at 3B/SS/2B/1B either of them can easily cover while the other covers 2B. The OF has a locked in starting 3 with new guy as the backup. So a bench of just Espinal & Tapia would cover 90% of what is likely to be needed with Kirk DH'ing. The only issue is giving Jansen a day off and having someone cover DH - so do you keep a LH DH (Bird) so Kirk needs to play nearly everyday or if Bird hits well then Kirk and Jansen just share catching duties. Or do you keep McGuire to allow Kirk to be a near pure DH and Jansen plays most games with McGuire the primary backup and Kirk starting maybe 1 out of 5 games - actually I'd give 1 out of 5 to each of McGuire and Kirk so Jansen starts 3 out of 5. That covers a 12 batter setup, but with 13 (as mandated) you have Bird and McGuire, with Espinal and Tapia as well on the bench. Kirk/Bird platoon at DH, Espinal/Biggio more or less platoon at 2B, Tapia gets in vs the odd RH to give Springer/Hernandez/Gurriel some DH time. Bird also covers for Vlad when he needs a DH day. So really, what would be the point of another infielder or outfielder on the roster?

CA: Jansen/McGuire/Kirk (3)
IF: Biggio/Bo/Chapman/Espinal (4)
OF: Hernandez/Springer/Gurriel/Tapia (4)
1B/DH: Vlad/Bird (2)
Total: 13 hitters. Others? You could have Lopez up to cover IF, Palacios or Smith in the OF (5th OF) but how often would any of those guys play? Maybe once a week as a pinch runner or defensive replacement in a blowout? Maybe. If a guy goes down for a week (less than a IL stint but more than 1 or 2 days) then you demote a pitcher and call up one of those guys or someone else to cover. I really don't see much point in someone other than McGuire as the 13th man on the hitting roster. If Kirk wasn't going to get a lot of DH time, then sure there would be no point, but since we all know he should hit more often then there is a point.

jgadfly - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 01:45 AM EDT (#411676) #

why is Angel Del Rosario, a 19 year old with 41 games in the FCL on the 40 man roster ? ... clerical error ... EC ?

uglyone - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 09:43 AM EDT (#411678) #

Gausman's Sacrifice:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/why-bloody-blisters-are-always-welcome-for-blue-jays-starter-kevin-gausman/

bpoz - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 11:21 AM EDT (#411679) #

I am very excited about H Danner. He pitched the 9th yesterday and was able to throw strikes with his FB, CU and SL. He should be in AA this year. He was a Catcher in 2017/18/19. If he makes the Majors one day he could be an extra catcher maybe.

ISLAND BOY - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 11:30 AM EDT (#411680) #

I was going to mention the Gausman article but uglyone already did. It's pretty interesting how he can manage the blister while others like Sanchez couldn't. Maybe the Giants were nervous that he might not be able to cope with it and that's why they didn't resign him.

grjas - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 11:50 AM EDT (#411681) #

Shapiro mentioned that there were potential FA’s and trades that didn’t happen because players weren’t vaccinated. It would be interesting to know what fell through…Is Robbie Ray one of them?

John Northey - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 12:04 PM EDT (#411682) #

Angel Del Rosario can't be on the 40 man - that would make zero sense - probably a typo by whoever does the Jays website. He is probably up for the game today as a backup and they put him on the 40 man (on the website) for that even though he isn't. He was signed in 2019, so this is just his 4th year as a pro. After 2023 the Jays have to decide if he needs to be on the 40 man, but not until then.

hypobole - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 12:08 PM EDT (#411683) #

Was this mentioned?

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-to-significantly-renovate-rogers-centre-before-2024-season/

So the first stage done prior to 2023 season and the rest by 2024. Will add 10-15 years to the RC.

John Northey - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 12:09 PM EDT (#411684) #

The travel vaccination requirement just started in October (on the 30th) so I guess Ray could be unvaccinated. My first thought was he had to be in order to play here, but I guess not. Appears in August they started to set this up, but you could get away without until the end of October. I guess we'll find out with many players as the season progresses depending on when the requirement is phased out. I can't imagine it will be until the US does though and with the level of infection growing quickly I figure we'll see more restrictions soon, along with more complaining about it from the PPC crowd.

85bluejay - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#411685) #

I'm sure MLB and the Jays are working feverishly through their political contacts to get the vaccination mandate to change conveniently in time for the baseball season and I'm sure the NBA and NHL are also working officials - I expect the mandate to change shortly - money almost always wins out.

hypobole - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#411686) #

Don't think the NHL has the mandate as a priority. There are only a couple of unvaxxed players. Bertuzzi won't be in the playoffs and Archibald is the hockey equivalent of a quad A guy. The only NBA player I know can't play in Canada is Irving.

John Northey - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#411687) #

The article is interesting, but obviously with a pro-Rogers tint to it (it is on a Rogers platform after all). The Dome is perfectly fine for 20+ years if they maintain it. It was state of the art in 1989 which was 33 years ago. What has changed? More luxury boxes and fancier digs for the players? That will easily be covered with the reno's. If Fenway and Wrigley can both be updated enough to work in 2022, then so can SkyDome. If they want a new playpen then Rogers better pay for it, although with Tory running Toronto I wouldn't be shocked if he threw away taxpayers money into it.

BlueJayWay - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#411688) #

Pete Walker arrested for going about 40mph over the limit and DUI.

Cracka - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 02:27 PM EDT (#411689) #

Pete Walker should not be with the team right now. He either needs to seek treatment or step away from the team. He's at risk of being inadmissible to Canada (at least temporarily) and it's an unforgivable mistake for such a highly regarded leader to make. Matt Buschmann can be the interim pitching coach and one of the three bullpen catchers can become the interim bullpen coach.

At one time, DUI wasn't a big deal. But not anyone. Walker can recover from this but he simply cannot just apologize and move on.

John Northey - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 03:07 PM EDT (#411690) #

Ugh. Article on it here. Not a good thing. Hopefully others on the team have learned enough from him to be effective. In Florida it seems money = freedom no matter what so he should avoid jail time, but this is quite disgusting. I have zero patience for drunk driving.

Leaside Cowboy - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 03:25 PM EDT (#411691) #

Just awful news. Last season, I reviewed Tony La Russa's situation. DUI conviction in the State of Florida remains on a person's criminal record for 75 years. A felony charge or conviction (equivalent to an indictable offence) requires a Criminal Rehabilitation certificate for entry to Canada. Perhaps any barrister among the ranks might clarify?

Presumed innocent until proven guilty, of course. That being said, I believe this is a dealbreaker. Road safety, in my opinion, is the most overlooked or neglected problem in our society.

85bluejay - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 03:55 PM EDT (#411692) #

Walker will apologize, get the charges lessened so no criminal conviction with a diversion program and everyone will move on - this may be unpalatable to many but such is life.

grjas - Saturday, March 26 2022 @ 04:30 PM EDT (#411693) #

I had a relative killed by a drunk driver. Four beers and double the speed limit for Walker. Another arrogant athlete. Disgusting.

Magpie - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 07:41 AM EDT (#411696) #

The two obvious options for the team is either a) the Osuna treatment (begone, forever) or b) he's our man, he has a problem, he needs help, we're here for him.

But if what we've heard so far is accurate, it seems unlikely to me that Walker actually has a problem with alcohol, although it may be politic for everyone to pretend he does.

Mike Green - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 08:02 AM EDT (#411697) #

It's likely that, at a minimum, Walker can't be the pitching coach this season. It is very serious and whatever the truth is, there's enough there to know that dealing with it and being a pitching coach are incompatible. Who are the Blue Jays' internal replacement options?

We may find out how good Charlie Montoyo is this year. It's not easy for a manager to have most of the pitching management on him.

bpoz - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 08:07 AM EDT (#411698) #

The regular season will start soon. In no order I believe that the strongest teams in the AL are CWS, Houston, TB, Boston, NYY and Toronto. I checked the AL East April/May schedule and Toronto has the most games against the above strong teams. TB has the least number of games against those strong teams.

Leaside Cowboy - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 09:09 AM EDT (#411699) #

“What we did last year was the trailer... Now you guys are going to see the movie.”

And the Teoscar goes to...

Vladdyshack (1980)
Dial 'M' for Montoyo (1954)
The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Manoah (1995)
I Know What Ryu Did Last Summer (1997)
Tinker Tailor Saucedo Soldier Spy (2011)
Groshans Pointe Blank (1997)
Planes, Trains & Otto Lopezes (1987)
3:10 to Yimi (2007)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kirk (1989)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jansen? (1962)
Glengarry Glen Ross Atkins (1992)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Buck Martinez (1995)

The 94th Academy Awards - Live! Tonight on ABC

Glevin - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 09:58 AM EDT (#411700) #

Not sure what walker's punishment should be but it's a big deal and should be treated as such. Jays signed Josh Fuentes from Colorado which is interesting. Can't really hit but is very good defender at 3B apparently.

Cracka - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 10:51 AM EDT (#411701) #

Fuentes is basically Brandon Drury - a defensively solid, yet offensively-challenged AAAA-level player, with just enough pop in his bat to be occasionally dangerous. Interestingly, Fuentes and Nolan Arenado are first cousins and I'm guessing that Fuentes and Matt Chapman know each other very well - they are the same age and from the same LA suburb. Chapman & Arenado were high school teammates (maybe best defensively 3B/SS combo in high school history?), while Fuentes played at a rival school a few miles away. Another random HS teammate connection: Greg Bird was Kevin Gausman's high school catcher in Colorado.

85bluejay - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 01:13 PM EDT (#411702) #

"It's likely that, at a minimum, Walker can't be the pitching coach this season."

I'm surprised at that comment - I'd be shocked if Pete Walker was not the pitching coach of the Jays this season - As I mentioned earlier, I expect an apology, lesser charges with no criminal convection and some sort of diversion program and away we go - If Tony La Russa can be the manager of the White Sox with I think multiple DUI charges, then Pete Walker will continue to be the Jays pitching coach - that's just the way it is.

hypobole - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 01:22 PM EDT (#411703) #

I'm not going to pretend I know Florida law, but DUI while doing over 130 km/hr in a 70 zone seems more than a slap on the wrist offence.

Mike Green - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 01:31 PM EDT (#411704) #

Even if Walker emerges from this with little or no punishment, the stress of the proceedings will be very significant. Reese McGuire had a much, much less significant incident and it obviously greatly affected his performance in the year of.

scottt - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 01:52 PM EDT (#411705) #

I read the news today, oh boy.

John Northey - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#411706) #

For on the field we have a good battle for the last batter slot or 2.

Lets assume a starting 8 of Jansen/Vlad/Biggio/Bo/Chapman/Hernandez/Springer/Gurriel then Kirk/Espinal/Tapia on the bench as locks. That gives us 11 batters leaving likely 2 slots (assuming a 8 man pen normally but 10 during April with expanded rosters). Who gets those last 2 slots? Candidates are...

Reese McGuire: a 3rd catcher, not what Montoyo wants, but he might get anyways. 79 OPS+ last year, 85 lifetime over 367 PA. A pure defense catcher who hits LH which is a plus
Josh Fuentes: just signed. 55 OPS+ last year, 63 lifetime over 424 PA, but still a 1.1 WAR lifetime. Strong on defense, 1B/3B/LF/RF/P in the majors (just 1 inning pitching so don't get excited). Bats right handed. I suspect he'll be AAA depth to start, but if Chapman gets hurt he is a high end defensive replacement (led in Total Zone Runs for 3B in 2021 in the NL despite only playing 60 games there).
Greg Bird: quickly becoming a favorite here due to his LH hitting for power. 94 OPS+ lifetime over 611 PA, limited to 1B/DH, but has shown signs of being a better hitter in the past. His 189 K's lifetime, if they can be cut down, suggest an obvious area for improvement.
Gosuke Katoh: has been in 7 spring games already, never played in the majors. Has a 695 OPS in spring, lifetime 259/359/388 in the minors with 88 SB vs 37 CS. Bats left, has played 2B/3B/1B/SS/LF in the minors. Nothing exciting, but seems to be a favorite of the management early on, or at least getting lots of looks.
Josh Palacios: Just 35 PA in the majors so far, bats left, plays mainly CF, lots of LF/RF in his past too though. In the minors he has hit 288/368/400 so far, with 51-29 SB-CS plus an impressive 1.156 OPS in spring through 7 games played. I expect him to be in AAA ready for whenever an OF goes down for more than a game or two.
Mallex Smith: His odds dropped drastically when Tapia was signed as their skill sets are similar. Speed but no bat. 88 OPS+ lifetime (1654 PA), 5.3 WAR. 120-34 SB-CS. He is a speed demon for sure. Hits left handed. Like Palacios I expect him to sit in AAA ready for an injury.
Orelvis Martinez: not staring the season in the majors, but dang is he tearing apart spring with a 333/429/1000 line through 15 PA and looking impressive doing it. He'll be up for good soon. 2024 was the timetable I think, but that might be moved up if he does this in the minors this year. Between him and Moreno the Jays future looks bright.

I'm sure I'm missing some candidates, but those are the ones that come to mind right away. My bet for 2 are McGuire and Bird right now but Katoh and Fuentes both have a real shot to give the Jays more than Espinal as an infield backup (shifting McGuire to the waiver wire or Kirk to AAA). FYI: ex-Jay Kevin Smith is doing OK in Oakland 263/263/474 so far.

Waveburner - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 09:41 PM EDT (#411707) #

John I think one guy missing on the list is Nathan Lukes, who has looked good at the plate this Spring so far.

I'm a little surprised they signed Fuentes, it's looking pretty crowded in the Buffalo infield right now. I count 8 players likely to start there, although I suppose one of them could grab the 13th position player spot that seems unlikely to see much playing time for the Jays.

Jordan Groshans, Otto Lopez, Greg Bird, Josh Fuentes, Vinny Capra, Cullen Large, Gosuke Katoh and Eric Stamets. Plus Samad Taylor who the Jays might want to keep getting some reps at 2B to give him utility value. Maybe injuries will sort it out or maybe they cut one or two when the season starts. Interested to see how the last bench spot and the Buffalo infield shake out.

John Northey - Sunday, March 27 2022 @ 10:39 PM EDT (#411708) #

Excellent point on Lukes - guess he just never catches my eye when I look at the box score or watch the game. Through 8 games now he has hit 429/500/571 but against low quality opponents (6.0 rating where 10 is facing just major leaguers, 6 is midway between AA and A+) so take it with a big grain of salt.

AAA I am guessing will be 1B: Bird, 2B: Lopez (SS/OF), 3B: Taylor (2B/OF), SS: Groshans (3B/1B) with lots of moving around to maximize utility. Katoh (1B/2B/3B/SS/LF) would be the #1 backup who'd get into lots of games to allow Lopez & Groshans to play in CF now and then. Capra has been 3B/2B/LF/CF in the minors, Large 3B/2B/LF/RF, Stamets SS/2B/3B. Hard to say how the Jays see them all fitting into AAA but I figure a lot of time in the OF for whoever is there, rotating at 1B if Bird sticks, it'll be a challenge for the manager there to get everyone time and not to let any kid sit. Some might go to AA for more playing time. It isn't odd for vets to be sent to AA instead of AAA but paid a AAA salary so they stay around.

Dr B - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 01:00 AM EDT (#411709) #

Nathan Lukes is 27 and a career minor leaguer. His OPS in this time is 730 with a good dollop of batting average and a very small sprinkle of walks. On the offensive side the only thing he has going for him is that he is left handed and has noticeable platoon split. He did have a decent 2021 driven again by batting average. There's nothing in his record that suggests this isn't a spring-training mirage. He'll get his chance in AAA to prove me wrong...

Waveburner - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 01:01 AM EDT (#411710) #

The outfield doesn't appear to have much open playing time either. Josh Palacios, Samad Taylor, Nathan Lukes, Mallex Smith and Logan Warmoth all seem likely to play in AAA. Possibly Chavez Young as well.

They could move a vet down to AA, but there are a fair number of bodies in the infield there. Sebastian Espino, Spencer Horwitz, Tanner Morris, Rafael Lantigua, L.J. Talley, and Nick Podkul all seem likely to start there. Orelvis Martinez also seems a fairly likely choice, though they may want him to mash in Vancouver for a short period first. Then there is Zac Cook, Davis Schneider and Luis De Los Santos who might move up. Not all are legit prospects of course, but it will be interesting to see who starts where. Players needing to learn different positions to earn more playing time might be the plan.

Waveburner - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 01:17 AM EDT (#411711) #

To be clear, I don't think Lukes is likely to start with the Jays, but John listed Fuentes, Palacios, Katoh and Smith. Lukes looks pretty similar in ability with those 4 to me. Now checking closer at his minor league stats I see what you mean. I've just thought he showed a good eye at the plate in a tiny Spring sample.

I don't know how much the 4th bench position will even matter. If they don't get another bat for DH, Kirk seems likely to get most of that playing time with McGuire sticking around as the primary backup. Santiago as the utility infielder who can cover all of SS, 3B and 2B. Tapia (we hope) can cover all 3 OF spots. They don't really need a pinch hitter on the bench either because the lineup is so strong. You don't want to keep a still developing prospect on the end of the bench, so I think Lopez won't be the 13th guy. I don't really see an obvious choice. Maybe Katoh because he plays a bunch of positions and you aren't worried about him stagnating at the end of the bench? Someone else's guess is probably better than mine.

85bluejay - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 09:49 AM EDT (#411712) #

Josh Palacios has never reached double digits in homers in a season in his career and had no extra base hits in 42PA with the Jays last season - I've read that he bulked up this past winter and he has 2 homers and a triple out of 4 hits in spring training - interesting and he could get an opportunity later this year and the jays could do with a solid LHH. Gosuke Katoh is looking like a player who will not embarrass himself if he's an injury backup sometime this season.

John Northey - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 10:43 AM EDT (#411713) #

Agreed Waveburner - there are many guys who will probably never be playing in Toronto but I listed them anyways as possibilities. Lukes lands into that area. Every year there are a handful of AAAA types who get a shot (too good for AAA but not good enough for the majors) for a week or two when someone is hurt and the team doesn't want to burn an option on a prospect. This year more so with the limit on call ups for each player - I think it is 5 vs the old unlimited. Probably far more of a factor for relievers than hitters, but still there.

I'd expect guys 25 and under in AAA and lower will get the bulk of playing time, while guys like Lukes, Fuentes, Palacios, Katoh, Smith are mixed in to fill the gaps - by age 27 if you aren't established in the majors you probably never will be. Right now in ML spring training the Jays have used outside of the obvious ML'ers (age in brackets)...

Catcher: Tyler Heineman (31), Chris Bec (26), Kellin Deglan (30)
Infield (2B/3B/SS): Gosuke Katoh (27), Otto Lopez (23), Orelvis Martinez (20), Leo Jimenez (21), Jordan Groshans (22), Eric Stamets (30), Sebastian Espino (22), Luis De Los Santos (24), Addison Barger (22), Miguel Hiraldo (21) - lots of youth there.
Outfield: Nathan Lukes (27), Josh Palacios (26), Mallex Smith (29), Vinny Capra (25), Chavez Young (24), Logan Warmoth (26), Will Robinson (24), Steward Berroa (23), Cullen Large (26), Dasan Brown (20), Trevor Schwecke (24), Zach Britton (23)
1B/DH: Greg Bird (29), Spencer Horwitz (24), Rafael Lantigua (24), Tanner Morris (24), LJ Talley (25).

Lots of guys there. 3 catchers, 10 infielders, 12 outfielders, 5 1B/DH's. Mix in non-roster guys at minor league camp and guys who should be here but aren't due to visa issues (Moreno) and you get pretty full rosters.

Catcher: I figure one of those 3 catchers will be in Buffalo with Moreno, the other 2 in AA trying to show they belong. Bec is a marginal prospect (could become a high end defensive catcher if he has those skills) while the other 2 are vets who know their role is just to fill space till a kid takes it while hoping for a callup for a week or two to increase their ML service time (better benefits when retired).

Infield: ML service time for Stamets. None for Katoh. Prospect status for Lopez (1 ML game so AAA for him), Groshans for AAA, O Maritnez in AA or A+ (the way he has played I'd put him in AA and challenge him), Espino for A+/AA depending (I think AA), Des Los Santos should be A+ or AA, Jimenez is targeted for A+, Barger in A+, Hiraldo in A+ too.

Outfield: ML time for Palacios, Smith (both targeted for AAA); no ML for Lukes (AAA), Large (AAA), Capra (AAA - mainly an IF), Warmoth AAA, Young in AAA or AA, Robinson AA/A+, Britton (A+/AA - mainly a C), Berroa A+/AA (had 3 games in AA last year but otherwise hasn't been above A), Brown A/A+, Schwecke (A+ - mainly an IF).

1B/DH: ML time Bird (might be here), Horwitz (AA/AAA if pushing it), Lantigua (AA - mainly an IF), Morris (AA/A+ - mainly an IF), Talley (AA - mainly an IF).

Wow, so many guys in OF/1B who are mainly IF in the past but used elsewhere in the spring. Clearly the Jays are filling up their infield and shifting guys to the OF now to make room for everyone. So I see, not counting vets, AAA: 2 pure IF, 1 IF/OF from prospects, AA: 3 pure IF, 2 IF/OF. That isn't counting Samad Taylor or others who haven't been to ML camp yet. Yeah, this is a good problem but a challenge none-the-less for the Jays. How to maximize development for your top prospects but not lose out on guys who might be good role players? Should be a good year to watch Buffalo and New Hampshire closely.

Ducey - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 12:12 PM EDT (#411714) #

15 sent to minor league camp

Palacios, Hatch, Kay, Lopez the ones probably the most disappointed.

ISLAND BOY - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 12:20 PM EDT (#411715) #

An article in The Athletic explains how and why second base will be moved in 13.5 inches in the minors this year. Sounds crazy but it will actually make second base line up correctly if you drew a diamond of the bases whereas it doesn't right now. Apparently they did it in one minor league last year but never told anybody ( go figure), but are telling all the clubs this year so expect more basestealing in the minors, especially since pitchers can only throw to first base with the runner on a limited amount of times.

If this eventually reaches the majors, there will definitely be more steal attempts as second base would be a foot closer to first, and think about how many close plays there are at that base on steals.

John Northey - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#411716) #

Of course, if it is moved in 13 1/2 inches then it is also a shorter throw for the catcher so the ball gets there quicker which would reduce steals. Guess it all depends on how much one factor changes the others - should increase steals of 3B though as 2B would be closer to 3B in theory, but the throw for the catcher doesn't shift one iota. Also should make it so more runners at 2B can score, and more runners can get 1B to 3B quickly. Doubt it would be a visible difference but after a season or two we'd see it in the stats and feel it watching the game.

Michael - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#411717) #

Pretty sure the ball thrown by the catcher is significantly faster than the speed of the runner. So making both closer favors the stealer over the catcher (even if the distance difference isn't 1:1).

bpoz - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 01:36 PM EDT (#411718) #

Shapiro spoke about payroll. His plan is to spend when the time is right.

He said spending to go from 81 wins to 85 wins is not the right time. Going from 92 to 94 wins is the right time.

He sort of hinted that the extra spending would be for a new player added. IMO it is more detailed than that but he did not elaborate.

Just my opinion is:

1) Vlad's salary increased by $7 mil. But he is not an added player.

2) Chapman is an added player but affordable.

3) Chapman, Gausman and Kikuchi were added but I think of them as replacements for Semien, Ray and Matz. The 3 we have now are being paid more than last year's 3.

4) Having to pay Roark and others like Yates is hard to explain. 1 or 2 year contracts are easy to absorb even if they provide little to nothing.

Thomas - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 03:11 PM EDT (#411719) #

And the Teoscar goes to...

This post deserved more love. Well done.

Mike Green - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 03:33 PM EDT (#411720) #

Seconded. I meant to give that post plaudits, LC, but then got distracted from my computer. Teoscar, 3:10 to Yimi, I Know What Ryu Did Last Summer were all good. There are a bunch of films with Walker in the title- The Walker, Walker, The Exorcism of Karen Walker and The Haunting of Helen Walker. For Gurriel Jr., it has to be The Lourdes of the Flies. And it won't be Forest Whitaker playing Bird in the new version.

Chuck - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 04:29 PM EDT (#411721) #

And the Teoscar goes to...

And Dodger catcher Will Smith slugging a presenter!

Mike Green - Monday, March 28 2022 @ 05:34 PM EDT (#411722) #

There's a recent PG-13 Tweet from Cespedes Family BBQ of an edited broadcast call of Will Smith's homer.

Waveburner - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 12:18 AM EDT (#411723) #

It sucks that the feed cut out, I really wanted to get a look at Samad Taylor and he ended up hitting a homerun.

Mayza was 89-91 on his fastball today, not really what you want to see this close to the season. But he might be a guy who takes longer to reach max velocity. Richards was only 88-89 on his fastball, but I can't actually remember how hard he normally throws.

Braves bullpen looks like an embarrassment of riches.

Jonny German - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 05:41 AM EDT (#411724) #

At this point it looks very likely that the opening day roster will have a bench of McGuire, Tapia, Bird, Espinal. In a typical 6-game week I'd be inclined to start players like so:

	C	1B	2B	SS	3B	LF	CF	RF	DH
Jansen	4
Guerrero		5							1
Biggio			4
Bichette				6
Chapman					6
Gurriel						6
Springer							4		1
Hernández								6
Kirk	2								2

Bird		1							2
Espinal			2
Tapia							2
McGuire

Notes:

Espinal probably deserves a little more time, and he'll get it as the primary backup for Chapman and Bichette.

Tapia may or may not deserve more time, but he'll get it as the backup for Gurriel and Hernández. And hopefully he'll show himself good enough defensively to sub out Springer when leading late.

Bird will pick up a few extra at-bats pinch-hitting for Jansen.

I'm fine with McGuire taking a spot but not playing much at all, at least for the start of the season.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 07:52 AM EDT (#411725) #

The schedule is shortened a bit, and the Blue Jays have only 1 day off in April. So, the way I would look at it is in 13 games in 2 weeks. That also allows for a bit more nuance. My playing time would differ considerably from Jonny's. Over those 13 games:

C- Jansen 10, McGuire 2, Kirk 1

1B- Guerrero Jr. 12, Bird 1

2B- Biggio 8, Espinal 5

SS- Bichette 12, Espinal 1

3B- Chapman 12, Espinal 1

LF- Gurriel Jr. 11, Tapia 2

CF- Springer 10, Tapia 3

RF- Hernandez 12, Springer 1

DH- Kirk 11, Bird 2

Further nuances- I'd actually give Guerrero Jr. one day off a month DHing and one day off a month entirely. I'd similarly give Springer one day a month DHing and give Hernandez only one day off a month.

scottt - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 08:50 AM EDT (#411726) #

In a setting like this, I would imaging Bird coming off the bench to pinch hit for Jansen and or Tapia pinch running for Jansen/Kirk and McGuire coming in late.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 08:58 AM EDT (#411727) #

Yes. Bird pinch-hitting and Tapia pinch-running (particularly for Jansen/Kirk) ought to be a feature. I am speaking (and I believe Jonny is too) of starting lineups.

Hodgie - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 09:59 AM EDT (#411728) #

The Athletic published their MLB All-Under-25 Team. Four Jays made the cut with Guerrero (1B), Bichette (SS), and Manoah (SP) listed as starters and Kirk in the honorable mentions (C). They bumped Wander Franco to 3B (played 7 games) and listed Tatis as the UT given the questions about his ultimate role (and injuries). I do find myself still taking for granted just how young and special some of the Jays' best players are, even ignoring the impending arrival of Moreno (and Martinez possibly in 2023).

Leaside Cowboy - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#411729) #

From the cutting room floor:

The Grichuks of Madison County (1995)
Fried Green Morenos (1991)
Lourdes of the Rings (2001)
This is Spinal Tapia (1984)
Beauty and the Beeston (1991)
One Flew Over the Magpie's Nest (1975)

[*teary-eyed curtain call*]

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 01:59 PM EDT (#411730) #

Very good, LC! Although I prefer Lourdes of the Flies to Lourdes of the Rings. The dread I feel as he angles back for a fly ball...Now if he can be a post-season hero for a few years, then he can move from a angstfest film to a myth film.

Magpie - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#411731) #

One Flew Over the Magpie's Nest (1975)

I think you've made me an honorary member of the team, which is a little frightening. I was in my athletic prime when that film was in the theatre, and even then - "no power, no arm, no speed, no defensive position."

All the magpie ever has going for it is its wits, which are not to be mocked.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 04:12 PM EDT (#411732) #

Maybe LC was riffing on Greg Bird- "One Flew Over The Bird's Nest" is lacking oomph and meter, even worse than lacking power, arm, speed and defensive position.

Magpie - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 04:28 PM EDT (#411733) #

Dodger catcher Will Smith slugging a presenter!

Has there even been a major leaguer named Rock?

There was the immortal Les Rock, who got into 2 September games with the 1936 White Sox. He pinch hit for regular first baseman Zeke Bonura with the Sox up 16-1 on the A's and runners on the corners. He hit into a 463 DP, but one of the runs scored - and they gave him an RBI in his only major league plate appearance.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 05:41 PM EDT (#411734) #

Les Rock

More talk? After his brief major league appearance, he worked his way around the minors including a year in the "outlaw" Quebec Provincial League in 1939. Why outlaw? Apparently because it was an independent league, and it was a haven for black and indigenous players and one year had a club based on a reservation.

John Northey - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 06:03 PM EDT (#411735) #

The Rock was Tim Raines nickname - for a bit some broadcasters called him that on the air. Rock Raines.

Four Seamer - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 06:52 PM EDT (#411736) #

The Rock was Tim Raines nickname - for a bit some broadcasters called him that on the air. Rock Raines. That was probably the year - around 1990, I think - he showed up at camp and declared he wanted to be known as "Rock" instead of "Tim". I had a Topps card where he was named Rock Raines, and my sister had a Rock Raines baseball glove. The experiment was shortlived.

Chuck - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 07:17 PM EDT (#411737) #

and they gave him an RBI in his only major league plate appearance

I was really hoping to learn that he became a doctor thereafter, and bought out the town's blue ladies' hats, but I guess that was already done once.

Leaside Cowboy - Tuesday, March 29 2022 @ 09:32 PM EDT (#411738) #

Peter = Rock?

John Rocker?

Burt Lancaster played Doc "Moonlight" Graham in Field of Dreams (1989) as well as the eponymous Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) that was loosely based upon a true story of a federal prisoner at "The Rock."

Waveburner - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 02:35 AM EDT (#411739) #

Is tomorrow's game televised?

Leaside Cowboy - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 08:27 AM EDT (#411740) #

Tonight's game is "Free on SN NOW" and the rest of this week's games are scheduled for Sportsnet Ontario.

Leaside Cowboy - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 09:06 AM EDT (#411741) #

The regular season broadcast schedule is yet to be published, or so it would appear.

The near total absence of baseball on Sportsnet Ontario during the hockey playoffs is deeply frustrating.

An old friend of mine worked at the Fan 590. Oh, I used to give him the business!

SK in NJ - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 09:35 AM EDT (#411742) #

If Bird makes the team, then I think people will be surprised at how often he plays (at least early on). I have a feeling he'd steal a noticeable amount of playing time from Kirk at DH against RHP. Of course, that won't be an issue if Bird becomes the latest Blue Jays slugger to randomly breakout in his late-20's but that's not something I'd bet on. The fact that he's a LHB with power and can draw walks certainly is fun to dream on as that would fit the team's needs pretty well, but the track record (mostly due to injury) just isn't there, especially as it relates to making contact.

If only Conforto wasn't (allegedly) anti-vaccine. The fit is very ideal otherwise.

Glevin - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#411743) #

Fowler to a minor league deal as well. He's probably done but a minor league deal is never a bad one in case he has something left in the tank. I hope Bird hits well enough to make the team but don't have a lot of faith in him. I mean, Lukes and Katoah had the same WRC+ in AAA as Bird and both give you much more defensively.

electric carrot - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 11:36 AM EDT (#411744) #

If you buy the idea that Bird's problems have all come about because of an unfortunate series of injuries -- well then I think there is great reason to be optimistic about him and his Spring numbers so far. I buy the argument because when he first showed up in the league (before the injuries) he looked like he was going to terrorize the Blue Jays pitching for a decade or more. I don't think we should count on him -- but I do believe that he has a good chance of being a difference maker on this team.

Glevin - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 11:46 AM EDT (#411745) #

"If you buy the idea that Bird's problems have all come about because of an unfortunate series of injuries -- well then I think there is great reason to be optimistic about him and his Spring numbers so far. I buy the argument because when he first showed up in the league (before the injuries) he looked like he was going to terrorize the Blue Jays pitching for a decade or more. I don't think we should count on him -- but I do believe that he has a good chance of being a difference maker on this team."

I would buy it more if his great season were more recent but it was 2015 which is a LONG time ago with nothing of note since. Last year, he was mostly healthy and his AAA numbers were OK but not great. Maybe he fixed something in his swing or something but this isn't a case of someone being down for an off year or two.

Chuck - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#411746) #

I don't think we should count on him -- but I do believe that he has a good chance of being a difference maker on this team.

Tom Lehrer said it best:

Spring is here
A-suh-puh-ring is here
Life is skittles and life is beer
I think the loveliest time
Of the year is the spring
I do, don't you? 'Course you do

uglyone - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 12:55 PM EDT (#411747) #

sounds like Bird is in the Best Shape of His Life

greenfrog - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 01:06 PM EDT (#411748) #

Best Shape worked for Vladdy last year.

electric carrot - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 01:10 PM EDT (#411749) #

sounds like Bird is in the Best Shape of His Life.

Yes -- I can see you all think I'm bird-brained on this one. Could be. I will be quiet for a few weeks on this score but expect some serious cawing on my part if he re-establishes his swing from 2015.

dalimon5 - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 01:16 PM EDT (#411750) #

I’m bullish on Josh Phelps, err, Bird this year. The fit is ideal and he’s making adjustments. We have a good hitting coach and an ideal right heavy line up to give him ideal matchups, especially with the 3 batter rule.

Lylemcr - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#411751) #

- The one part of the Grichuk trade that is overlooked is the space the opens up for a potential minor leaguer (like O. Mart).

- I was watching MLB TV. They ranked the Jays as the #2 offense behind the Dodgers. They also ranked the Jays as the #3 starting staff behind the Mets and the Brewers. Thus, they are #1 in the AL for both.
In the next segment, they predicted the Yankees to beat the Jays. So..
1. They see the jays having a bad bullpen.
2. They see the Jays have poor "intangibles" (like Defense,etc)
3. They are homers...

I vote for 3.

grjas - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 04:14 PM EDT (#411752) #

MLB ranked the Yankees bullpen as 4th in MLB and second in AL and Jays as 9th in MLB and 5th is AL. So not that much worse.

Agree with you. Homer call re Yankees.

scottt - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 07:24 PM EDT (#411753) #

The difference is that Bird can play 1B when Guerrero is the DH better than anybody else.
Katoh is an infield replacement and Lukes is a spare outfielder, guys who could cover for a few weeks while someone is on the IL. Espinal and Tapia already have the defensive spots locked up for now.

John Northey - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 07:35 PM EDT (#411754) #

I'm hopeful for Bird, but not betting on him. His opponent quality this spring has been 6.6, between A+ (5) and AA (7) level. We can hope, but odds are low that he'll be the answer. I just hope we get lucky and he has a hot streak early on, then that the Jays recognize that it is an illusion and drop him when he slumps (or bench him so Kirk DH's more).

DH options: Lukes has hit 375/450/500 vs 6.4 quality, Bird 333/478/722 vs 6.6. Kirk 400/471/677 vs 7.0, Palacios 333/467/1000 vs 6.6. Note: Orvelis Martinez hit 308/400/923 against 5.8 quality - yeah, he is damn close to being ready (I figure AA to start 2022, AAA by mid-season, ML in 2023). Stats via BR.

Mike Green - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 07:43 PM EDT (#411755) #

If my memory of Bird's defence is accurate, I'd rather have Biggio or Gurriel Jr. there than him defensively. He's got to hit to have value.

Glevin - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 08:09 PM EDT (#411756) #

"The difference is that Bird can play 1B when Guerrero is the DH better than anybody else."

That's the smallest reason I've ever heard for keeping someone on a team. The ability to play mediocre D at 1B is not a hard skill to find. As Mike says just above, Bird needs to really hit to justify a place on the team. Someone like Fuentes or Katoah don't to the same extent.

Mike Green - Wednesday, March 30 2022 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#411757) #

Espinal with his second homer of the spring. Maybe the muscles mean something.

earlweaverfan - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 09:41 AM EDT (#411758) #

Chuck, that Tom Lehrer reference was a very subtle way of saying you don’t think Bird will make it. The rest of that song goes on to laud the lovely pastime of “poisoning pigeons in the park”, as “the one thing that makes spring complete for me”.

What I hope you are not suggesting is that you will go to the park and take matters into your own hands.

If most prognosticators on this site are correct, he will fail to fly with the rest of the Jays all of his own accord.

Glevin - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 10:21 AM EDT (#411759) #

Padres apparently interested in Bryan Reynolds He's also someone I'd give up a lot for. Can play CF, is switch hitter, great contract. and can rake. He can play CF/RF and put Teoscar/Springer/Gurriel at DH.

Cracka - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 11:34 AM EDT (#411760) #

Jordan Romano has a mild ankle sprain (from walking his dog); Nate Pearson has "symptoms". I said this earlier, but I still think it's very possible that the opening roster has a 3-man bench and an 11-man bullpen. The new roster rules (26 players, no more than 13 pitchers) aren't active until May 2nd, and now with a couple of guys limping into April, plus a few others struggling (Borucki, Merryweather), I could see going North with an extended bullpen.

I also don't think Reese McGuire will be joining them - he has barely caught this spring (just 2 games/12 innings), hasn't hit well, and still could fetch a fringe prospect in a trade. Meanwhile, Tyler Heineman is seeing significant time and holding his own at the plate -- he's an ideal "veteran 3rd catcher" that can be stashed at Buffalo off the 40-man roster. I'm not convinced that this opens the door for Greg Bird, especially with Dexter Fowler joining yesterday... 6 more games to figure it out.

85bluejay - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 11:42 AM EDT (#411761) #

Bryan Reynolds would cost more the Jose Ramirez - I'm also thinking CF but more longterm especially with both Hernandez and Gurriel due FA in 2 years - I'm interested in Corbin Carroll, the Diamondbacks CF prospect - wonder what's their level of interest in Alexander Kirk

uglyone - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 12:50 PM EDT (#411762) #

There's always the chance that Espinal does keep hitting at a league average level, and with is plus defense becomes a very valuable 2B for us.

This would put Biggio into that bench bat spot that people are slotting Bird into, and/or into a competition for a starting OF/DH spot, and open another bench spot for a more defensive guy. like a Samad Taylor or an Otto lopez who are both 23 now and both hit very well at AA last year. Otto even hit above average at AAA last year.

Ryan Day - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 01:00 PM EDT (#411763) #

I also don't think Reese McGuire will be joining them - he has barely caught this spring (just 2 games/12 innings)...

I don't think official games caught means that much in spring training. Ryu & Gausman both pitched in an intra-squad game yesterday, and while I can't find actual rosters, I would guess McGuire got some work behind the plate. Meanwhile, Heineman worked with future Bisons teammate Nick Allgeyer.

bpoz - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 01:30 PM EDT (#411764) #

Buffalo opens their season April 5th against Iowa. They have had a full ST. They should pack up and leave Dunedin maybe Sat. NH, Vancouver and Dunedin start their schedule April 8th.

We should know minor league rosters soon.

Waveburner - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 02:48 PM EDT (#411765) #

With the signing of Fowler I think one or both of Mallex Smith and Logan Warmoth may get released. Otherwise with Fowler there I see 6 OF vying for playing time. Palacios, Fowler, Lukes, Taylor, Smith and Warmoth. Plus Chavez Young who might deserve a AAA promotion and Otto Lopez has been playing both LF and 2B in the past. That's a lot of bodies.

bpoz - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 07:53 PM EDT (#411766) #

As far as I know Gabe Moreno has not yet arrived at ST. I am curious as to how he will proceed once he arrives.

John Northey - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 08:23 PM EDT (#411767) #

I see Smith as surplus right now - Tapia is the 4th OF and has better skills all around than Smith outside of the raw speed. As much as I love raw speed, there are lots of other options for that now. Warmoth barely had any playing time before being sent down, so clearly isn't in the teams plans. I'd put Cullen Large in that category too (over 25 and under 10 PA in spring) although he has a bit more time (just drafted in 2017) but not much more. Lukes has impressed, Palacios is still in the picture but the Jays want him getting more AAA reps I suspect.

Jays are a young team. For hitters the over 30's in spring are Springer, Eric Stamets (IF), Kellen Deglan (C), Tyler Heineman (C), and that's it for hitters 30+. For pitchers you get Kikuchi, Ryu, Merryweather, Garcia, Cimber, Biagini, Stripling, Lawrence, Phelps, and Mayza. Clearly the Jays believe in experience for pitchers, but youth for hitters right now.

greenfrog - Thursday, March 31 2022 @ 11:50 PM EDT (#411768) #

BA has a piece on 20 players scouts have taken notice of in spring training. One of them is Orelvis Martinez (a prospect I’ve been interested in for quite a while):

“He’s been on fire in big league camp. He’s gotten thicker, more muscular. He homered off a Triple-A pitcher in a big league game on a breaking ball. Just seeing him recognize and pick up the spin for such a young hitter compared to some other guys at that stage where you have concerns about potentially handling offpseed, he crushed it. He’s been one of the standouts so far for them. He looks like a dude, for sure. Just seeing him handle that breaking stuff from upper-level arms, not chasing, having good at-bats, it was really impressive.”

Gerry - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 08:18 AM EDT (#411769) #

Moreno did arrive a week ago (at the same time as Yimmy Garcia) and has been in minor league camp. He had been invited to major league camp but was assigned to the minor leagues shortly after he arrived. According to reports he was not happy about that but I think he will get over it.

I am surprised the Jays haven't called him up for a game yet.

bpoz - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 09:08 AM EDT (#411770) #

Thanks Gerry. One possibility is the Jays trying to evaluate how ready he is for playing in games. I think the best gym facilities are in Dunedin and Toronto so he may go/stay there to prepare before eventually playing in Buffalo. We will see soon.

hypobole - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 11:14 AM EDT (#411775) #

Montoyo has been extended another year for the 2023 season, with team options for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Gerry - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 02:05 PM EDT (#411778) #

David Phelps has been added to the 40 man roster so he almost definitely makes the team.

Dewey - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#411779) #

As Chuck and Tom Lehrer reminded us, it’s Spring. Or getting close. So I’d like to watch some Blue Jays games. Or even listen to them on radio. But MLB (or Rogers) seems determined to make that difficult. Is there any alternative to Sportsnet that is workable? How many games are available on Sportsnet? Home and away?

I sort of know what’s available to us, but dread making arrangements with Rogers/Sportsnet. (Last time I did so, the lady taking my call kept referring to the Blue Jays as a hockey team.) I’m hoping that some of you will have a nice hassle-free solution to watching Jays games. What kind of set-ups do bauxites have?

I can’t get over how short-sighted it is of MLB that this is even an issue.

Cracka - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 03:13 PM EDT (#411780) #

I think that Sportsnet Now is a pretty good deal if you are comfortable with & capable of streaming the games over Wi-fi. It's $15/month or $50/4 months. You get virtually every Jays game + Raptors, Hockey, and countless hours of other stuff (Highlights, "Jays in 30" game recaps, etc.). It works out to about 50 cents a game for the season and should just be able to sign up online, without having to talk to a nice lady in Cape Breton that never actually watches TV or Sports. Home games are broadcast in 4K if you have a newer TV with such capabilities. Otherwise, it's ~$50/month with cable, which obviously gives you a lot of other stuff. I have both - and my viewing is about 50% streaming vs. 50% cable at this point... the latter is more stable but streaming is fine 99% of the time.

John Northey - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 04:19 PM EDT (#411783) #

I set up Sportnet Now back in 2020 after MLB.TV was blocked in Canada from showing Jays games. It works reasonably well, but was grossly overpriced imo at $200 a year iirc. Their current plan is $150 a year for 'standard' which includes Jays games and other stuff. $250 for premium (adds in all out of market NHL games for Canadian teams). Monthly is $15/$35 depending on package. When my plan runs out in late July I'll debate reupping but right now I am leaning against it and just figuring out other ways to keep up to date (radio).

Magpie - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 06:07 PM EDT (#411787) #

What kind of set-ups do bauxites have?

Well, I use a friend's cable log-in and password, and he uses my Netflix. Am we cheating a couple of insanely rich multinational corporations? I guess we are.

hypobole - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 06:28 PM EDT (#411788) #

Last roster spot watch. All LHB's.
1B Bird 0-3, 2K, 286/423/619
OF Lukes 2-3 2B(4), 435/481/739
IF Katoh 3-3, 2B(1), 318/375/500

Dewey - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#411789) #

Thank you, gentlemen. Looks like I’m pretty much stuck with Sportsnet one way or the other. Still not sure how many games that includes. And, if I understand the recent item on the matter in The Athletic, there will be no on-site radio broadcasts for away games. (Ben Wagner will do a re-creation here from a television feed at the road ballpark.) MLB seems to keep shoving prices up at the ballpark, limiting the number who can attend a game; but nonetheless also keeping broadcast access to the games restricted. Great way to encourage fan growth. As someone who grew up with baseball and radio virtually joined at the hip, this is incomprehensible.

John Northey - Friday, April 01 2022 @ 11:52 PM EDT (#411790) #

Weird to not have the radio guy go with the team - the cost would be minimal for the Jays to do so. Ah well. My car only plays radio off TuneIn (hopefully they don't black out Jays games). Used to have satellite radio but my current car doesn't support it (an old 2013 Tesla - I love this thing, just got it in the fall, gets up to 400 KM per charge it says, but as long as I get 300+ I'll be good for my annual trip to Thunder Bay).

As to Sportsnet it was rare a game wouldn't be on - generally the only games they didn't show were the YouTube games (exclusive to YouTube). I only stream - cut cable as no one was using it except me, and I rarely used it for stuff beyond Jay games. Netflix, Crave, Prime, Disney+ cover all that I want to watch and my kids love them and YouTube. I suspect we'll see over the air stuff vanish outside of CBC at some point (saved only due to government mandates). Oh yeah, CBC's streaming was nice during the Olympics (mostly free).

John Northey - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 12:33 AM EDT (#411791) #

Time for everyone to die of shock - Ken Giles will start 2022 on the IL - due to a tendon injury in the middle finger of his throwing hand. So his M's debut is delayed. They paid $1.25 mil for him to rehab last year, and are paying him $5.25 this year hoping he actually gets on the mound, with a $9.5 mil option for 2023 or $500k buyout. José Ramírez is working on a long term deal with Cleveland but it seems stalled at the moment - no shock really. If he signs there long term I'd be happy for him and the fans there, but if not then hopefully the idea of him coming here to play 2B resurfaces.

Dodgers traded a good CF/LF in AJ Pollock - 137 OPS+ last year, 3.1 bWAR - to the ChiSox for a closer in Craig Kimbrel. Weird given they let Jansen go just a few weeks ago as a free agent.

David Phelps made the team, leaving one less spot open in the pen of 10. Romano, Cimber, Mayza, Garcia, Richards, Stripling, Phelps, all now locks = 7 spots. 3 left for Pearson, Merryweather, and Borucki most likely as they all try to prove they deserve to stay up come May 1st when rosters are cut back and the pen goes back to 8.

Montoyo extended through 2023. Odd to be going just 1 year beyond this one, but I guess the Jays want to be certain he is right for a strong contender before going longer term. Gaston & Gibbons have over 1500 games each, Cox is at 648, then Williams (ugh) at 523, and Hartsfield at 484 are ahead of Montoyo's 384 games (190 wins puts him 1 behind Tosca, but 24 ahead of Hartsfield). So he should climb those lists a bit this year, with 162 games he'd pass Hartsfield and Williams, then catch Cox in 2023 (would reach 708 if he manages full seasons both in 2022 and 2023). Hard to imagine that he has been around long enough to pass Bobby Cox next year for games. 91 wins needed to catch Williams, 165 (obviously 2 years needed) to catch Cox and move into 3rd all time for manager wins, then a long wait to catch Gibbons (793) and Gaston (894) but I think we'd all love it if he does that and eventually becomes the first Jays manager to 1000 wins as a Jay (Cox has 2504 wins overall but just the 1 WS title).

scottt - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 09:34 AM EDT (#411793) #

Trading a bunch of top prospects for 2 years of Ramirez plugging a hole at 3B was one thing, but doing the same to improve second base, is another thing. Ramirez was upset when he was moved to 2B to accommodate Donaldson, so putting him in that role here would likely make it impossible to extend him.
Chapman is getting real money. The Jays are getting close to max payroll and the prospect pipelines will only get harder to maintain with worsening draft positions and possibly more challenging international signings and the loss of compensation for departing free agents.

They might struggle to find a playing spot for Orelvis Martinez as it is.

I'm more interesting in what they can get for their extra catchers once Moreno comes knocking.
Would probably make sense to look for high ranked prospects in the low minors.

ISLAND BOY - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#411795) #

I hope the Jays hang onto Moreno and Martinez as we're going to need some good, cheap players in the future. I don't know about Groshans though. It's hard to get excited about a prospect who gets hurt all the time.

Tayler Saucedo seems to be pitching well any time I've seen him pitch this spring. Is there any chance he'll survive the final cuts?

Waveburner - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 01:06 PM EDT (#411799) #

If the Jays want a third lefty in the pen to start with the expanded roster, I think Saucedo has looked a little better than Vasquez. I assume Borucki is the second lefty due to lack of options, but if he doesn't improve his consistency this season I could see the club moving on from him. His command has not looked good in a tiny Spring sample. At that point it would be between whoever is pitching best between Saucedo, Vasquez and Kay.

I also think trading a monster prospect package for Ramirez would be risky and not really necessary now that they have Chapman. They can afford to wait until later in the season when Ramirez's trade value will be a bit lower, and hopefully some breakouts on the farm give the Jays more depth to trade from so it doesn't hurt so much. I also hope the Jays talk to Ramirez first to make sure he is fine with moving to 2B. As one of the top 5-10 players in the sport, you need to show him that respect IMO.

scottt - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 01:48 PM EDT (#411801) #

With only a handful of games remaining, today's lineup is
Springer,
Guerrero,
Hernandez,
Bichette,
Gurriel,
Bird,
Chapman,
Biggio,
Jansen

scottt - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 04:07 PM EDT (#411805) #

So, 5 inning game today? It looks like the Phillies didn't have a starter and used their bullpen top guys.
Another bomb from Chapman and a decent outing from Berrios.
It's getting close.

John Northey - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 05:25 PM EDT (#411808) #

TV said it was rained out - I was out of the room at the time, but I suspect you are more correct scottt. Bird didn't help himself here - 0 for 2 with 2 K's as the DH (4 pitch K in the 2nd (2 fouls, swung and missed on an 0-2 count to end it), took one ball & had 2 fouls in the 4th before K'ing again) - about as bad as possible. Yeah, 2 plate appearances doesn't determine how good/bad a guy is but late in the spring when you are fighting for that last roster spot every chance you get you need to do something to impress. Even working the count and getting more than 1 ball or fouling off 5 or 6 pitches would've been something.

Meanwhile in NY - Kyle Higashioka has had a killer spring with 7 HR and a 478/500/1.391 line over 24 PA. Yikes. He is a catcher with a lifetime 65 OPS+ over 415 PA and is entering his age 32 season so odds are this is just an illusion but still...yikes. 3 guys in baseball are hitting over 500 with 20+ PA - Edward Olivares (KC), Paul Goldschmidt (StL), and Paul DeJong (StL). Nathan Lukes is 5th for average at 435 (27 PA).

So for that last slot for hitters the stats are...

Nathan Lukes: 435/482/739 vs 6.8 quality (age 27, plays all 3 OF positions, never in majors, bats left)
Greg Bird: 261.393/565 vs 7.0 quality pre-today (probably up a little) over 28 PA (age 29, plays 1B/DH, bats left, 700 ML PA with a 94 OPS+)
Gosuke Katoh: 318/375/500 vs 6.8 quality (age 27, plays everywhere but C/P, never in majors, bats left)

Bird seems to be the favorite lately, but Lukes and Katoh both have more usefulness as both are more than a bat. Bird is the only one with ML experience. Really, none should get tons of playing time but hopefully one takes off and does well. Still wouldn't be shocked to see a last minute trade for a LH slugger just before opening day.

scottt - Saturday, April 02 2022 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#411809) #

Borucki is dealing with his right hamstring and will undergo an MRI.
Pearson has some sort of non-Covid illness.
Romano has a sprained ankle.

Bullpen tends to sort themselves out.

ISLAND BOY - Sunday, April 03 2022 @ 12:35 PM EDT (#411815) #

Romano just had a mild ankle sprain and was throwing yesterday. He should be good to go on opening day.

Very small sample size but Austin Martin is batting .333 in 14 at bats at spring training for the Twins. I think Martin and SWR will have to turn out to be both very good players for the Jays to regret trading for Berrios. Even then, they have a good, durable pitcher, now signed long term, which they need now, not what prospects might deliver in the future.

scottt - Sunday, April 03 2022 @ 02:00 PM EDT (#411819) #

The story there was always about SWR rather than Martin who hasn't shown he can field any position at this point.

Lylemcr - Sunday, April 03 2022 @ 08:53 PM EDT (#411835) #

Well, the McGuire question was answered. He went to the CWS for Collins, who has an option

ISLAND BOY - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 11:51 AM EDT (#411848) #

It was mentioned on the broadcast yesterday that Tyler Heineman, a catcher who will probably end up at Buffalo, is an accomplished magician. I looked at some videos on youtube of him doing tricks and he's really good.

ISLAND BOY - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#411849) #

Projected opening day starter for the White Sox, Lance Lynn, has a small tear in one of his knee tendons and will require surgery. He will be out 4 weeks rehabbing and will need 4 more weeks to get up to speed again. There will probably be a lot of pitchers injured this year.

Gerry - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#411850) #

Story on Twitter suggesting Greg Bird has been released. Bird hit well early in camp but hasn't hit as much in the last week. So who gets his spot? Collins or Katoh?

Gerry - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 01:04 PM EDT (#411854) #

Bird had a release clause and he exercised it.

scottt - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 04:43 PM EDT (#411878) #

Katoh has made the team.
I don't really expect him to DH much, but he can play all over.
Not sure about Collins. That's not a lot of time to get familiar with the pitchers.

scottt - Monday, April 04 2022 @ 05:55 PM EDT (#411880) #

It looks like Collins takes the last spot.

Maybe he plays 1B once a week, works with the pitchers, backups up so Kirk can DH some.

scottt - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 06:22 AM EDT (#411897) #

Is it me, or did the Rays get surprisingly little for Meadows?

grjas - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 09:02 AM EDT (#411899) #

Meadows trade is a head scratcher. Would have looked good with the Jays given his strong splits against RH pitching, and they could have offered more without hurting the system. Presume the Rays wouldn’t be willing to trade him here.

scottt - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 09:48 AM EDT (#411904) #

Or that the Jays weren't open on making Tampa better.
We'll see if this is the year the Jays can win at the Trop, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Rays pick up a pick, which they don't really need and they haven't drafted particularly well anyway.
By subtraction he opens an outfield spot for Josh Lowe, a top 50 prospect who will probably be up after the super-two deadline.
The biggest surprise here is probably that Kermaier is making 12M. They held on to him too long.

James W - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 10:02 AM EDT (#411905) #

Josh Lowe is expected to now be on the Rays Opening Day roster.

Michael - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 04:34 PM EDT (#411917) #

Profile from CBS sports of the 100 top players for 2022 with 7 Jays on the list (one more than the 6 from the Dodgers): https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/top-100-mlb-players-for-2022-season-juan-soto-at-no-1-jacob-degrom-fernando-tatis-jr-tumble-with-injuries/

scottt - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#411924) #

Is that fantasy baseball?

scottt - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 06:23 PM EDT (#411925) #

Must be those bonus picks.

Michael - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 07:30 PM EDT (#411930) #

It isn't fantasy, it is real baseball (projected) value in 2022 season. From the article:

We're ranking players based on actual baseball considerations as opposed to anything having anything to do with fantasy (although there's obviously some overlap).

scottt - Tuesday, April 05 2022 @ 07:40 PM EDT (#411931) #

MLB is providing each team with 3 transmitters and 10 receivers for the catcher to signal pitches electronically.

bpoz - Wednesday, April 06 2022 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#411946) #

That was a good trade for TB. J Lowe adds to the Rays very strong defensive OF. He has power and speed and seemed ready for the Majors.

Paredes is a good IF. 3 months "younger" than A Kirk and has fairly similar bb/k ratios to Kirk. Also ready for the ML.

TB being V young this year may slip due to inexperience. But that youth will gain experience this year, most likely providing a very strong team for a few years.

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