Devon Travis is Criminally Underrated

[BramptonYute]

He was great last season, but that was only 2 months.

No doubt I have him over Goins, but I havent put him in the core yet because I feel like he has to show it for a longer period of time.

[Banco]

If Travis is healthy next season and Goins starts over him, someone needs to get fired.

[joshgc]

How much longer till Spring?

[James_Raptors]

How much longer till Spring?

Not soon enough..

[UN-Owen]

I might look to trade Tulowitzki this off-season and move Goins to SS

It would clear a lot of salary going forward to spend on pitching

[AirCanadaMouse]

Yes, he is really underrated because people are severely overrating Goins. Goins is a solid backup at the MLB level, Travis is a future all star at 2B. I get baffled to people that pick Goins over him, he would've been a great piece to have in the post season, for sure. When I think of next year's lineup, he's my pick to bat as the lead off hitter tbh.

[bluerap23]

I might look to trade Tulowitzki this off-season and move Goins to SS

It would clear a lot of salary going forward to spend on pitching

I agree with this. Tulo is amazing but a declining asset.
I would keep him for the coming season, but look to trade him if the right deal came along. He is eating 15% of our budget. Our future middle infield will be Goins at SS and Travis at 2B.

[Santoki]

You keep all three of Travis, Tulo and Goins this season and you make a decision after that. Travis and Tulo are question marks with injury and all three will see playing time. For the first time in forever this team actually has some depth. Remember the days we'd be super thin and if an injury or two hit our season would be over? Spend on FA for pitchers and bring back the entire lineup from last season minus Navarro. Minor upgrades to the bench are needed but those options are generally found internally or on the waiver wire.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I might look to trade Tulowitzki this off-season and move Goins to SS

It would clear a lot of salary going forward to spend on pitching

I think moving Tulo's deal is easier said than done, and Tulo is still really good. And whether they make a playoff run or not, the Jays are going to be a good team next season, too. Having an infield of Donaldson, Tulo, Travis and Colabello (I get the defense argument with Colabello, but he's a damn good hitter) is just a monster offensive infield with no holes in it at all. Martin behind the plate, and Bautista and Pillar in the outfield with EE at DH, and the team is absolutely loaded offensively next season - actually probably better. Travis, even if he comes back to earth a bit, is still a significant upgrade over Goins, who is as good a bet to come back down to earth as Travis, if not better. Goins off the bench, and as a potential injury replacement should either Travis or Tulo get hurt is also a huge plus.

It's the pitching that needs to be figured out because Price and Estrada aren't going to be easily replaced, and Stroman, Dickey and Hutch are really a top 2 SP and 2 4th/5th SPs. I'm betting Price is gone, but Estrada is back and the Jays go after Fister or another SP and hope that Stroman is the ace and Estrada + free agent make for a decent 2/3 combination.

[CrookedJ]

Repost of mine from sometime late in the regular season....

Travis was so amazing to start the year....IF this the real him .... and IF he's not hurt all the time going forward .... he is a top 3 offensive second baseman.

Was playing around on fangraphs, reducing the 2B qualifier to 200 ABs. Travis is number one in OPS, number one in wOBA, number two in slugging, number two in wRC+.

Obviously small sample size bla bla bla bla.

Travis was just ridiculously good, although it was with a .347 BABIP which is pretty high ( top 20 in MLB)

EDIT. Stupid browers and REAL Gm crashes... arrggghh

Anywho I meant to close this with a few thoughts on the high BABIP and whether it was sustainable or not.

* His Line drive % was very solid, really helps BABIP, but this years LD% is not strongly predictive of next years LD%
* His infield fly ball % was really low, lowest on team, which also helps big time there is no surer out than an IFFB. This does correlate well to itself year over year.
* Travis was able to use the whole field better than anyone on the team, he had pull, middle and opposite percantages all in the 30%s. This also speaks to him not just getting lucky and blasting it through shifts etc. - they have to repect him to put the ball in play everywhere.

So there. Im gonna say it, I think there are reasons to think his performance is somewhat sustainable. Note my use of "think" "reasons" and "somewhat" lol. A real fearless prediction.

[duppyy]

Anyone who picks Goins over Travis is most likely someone that just started watching the Jays after we acquired Price.

[The_Hater]

Travis had the misfortune of having his season end right as baseball and the attention the Jays garnered exploded. I guess that makes him underrated due to circumstances but I think AA knows exactly what he has With Travis. A great bat at a MI position with years of team control left. That's valuable. And with both Travis and Tulo being somewhat injury prone I'd be shocked not to see both along with Goins on the roster come April.

[The_Hater]

I might look to trade Tulowitzki this off-season and move Goins to SS

It would clear a lot of salary going forward to spend on pitching

I agree with this. Tulo is amazing but a declining asset.
I would keep him for the coming season, but look to trade him if the right deal came along. He is eating 15% of our budget. Our future middle infield will be Goins at SS and Travis at 2B.

Tulo is 30 and goins is 27. Goins will be a free agent and likely long gone before Tulos contract ends so I wouldn't count on that being our MI of the future. And that ignores the possibility that he gets traded before that time comes.

As for Tulo being a declining asset, it's too early to tell IMO. He did have his best season in 2014 and was Still hitting over 300 at the time of the trade. It's probable that his poor hitting in TO was a slump and related to his shoulder injury too rather than a clear decline. Defensively he's still an elite SS so there's no decline there.

[wazabifuzz]

tulo needs a new glove.

[Who Zaun First]

tulo needs a new glove.

Thanks Harold.