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Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 12:57 pm
by dagger
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/time ... son-070413Expressing what is certainly a frequently expressed view here, Morosi says the Jays should be sellers now to get ready for a playoff run in 2014. The window is still open, guys like Bautista, EE, Reyes and maybe Lind should be back, but the team has to be recast. Needs: At least one controllable starter - ergo, not a rental like Garza - and some improvement in the 2B situation and fewer strikeouts in the bottom half of the batting order.
The everyday lineup has its share of questions, too. Only three players seem relatively certain to be in the 2014 Opening Day lineup: Reyes at shortstop, Encarnacion at first base and Jose Bautista in right field. Adam Lind’s power has returned in the designated hitter spot, which could solidify his place on the team at $5 million next year. But every other position is in flux.
Left fielder Melky Cabrera has hit for little power coming off his performance-enhancing drug suspension. Third baseman Brett Lawrie has been injury prone and relatively unproductive since the start of last year. The second-base committee — mostly Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis — has combined for the worst OPS at the position of any team in the majors. Center fielder Colby Rasmus and catcher J.P. Arencibia supply power, but at the expense of increasingly intolerable strikeout rates.
Anthopoulos traded away much of the organization’s prospect depth during the winter, so deals this month could involve players already in the major leagues. Anthopoulos doesn’t need to trade stars such as Reyes or Bautista or Dickey, but the supporting cast must change — if not this month, then at some point before the start of next season.
Call it “selling” if you must, but the Jays need to recognize the 2013 season for what it is — a well-intentioned but spectacular swing-and-miss. Now they should readjust their batting helmet and tighten the Velcro on their batting gloves for the 0-1 pitch. Toronto’s expensive at-bat is off to an inauspicious start. But it isn’t over.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 2:06 pm
by Waylon Mercy
The bottom of our order is unbearable and Melky and Lawrie have been big busts. I liked
Josh Johnson pre surgery but from what Ive seen from him the last 2 years not a guy
I would resign let alone get into a bidding war in FA with.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 2:21 pm
by Santoki
I'll take this Colby Rasmus because really we have no one better coming up and I don't see where we have the assets to improve CF. There are far more issues to deal with than Colby right now. Lind's starting to revert back to a pumpkin, so hopefully they can deal him along with a reliever for some kind of help at 2B.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 5:41 pm
by Lateral Quicks
Pretty much, barring another 11-game winning streak.
He's absolutely right about the strikeouts. There's way too many in the lineup. Colby is doing enough to live with them at the moment; JPK obviously is not.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 5:46 pm
by Randle McMurphy
Too early to be writing off seasons (and Morosi would probably change his mind about the Jays by next week if they won a few games this weekend), but they should already be preparing for 2014 and looking to improve next year's team. Getting rid of one of the team's best players in Rasmus, though, isn't any kind of an answer.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 6:14 pm
by Michael Bradley
I'd let whatever happens in 2013 happen (whether they go on another hot streak or stay around .500 for the rest of the season), but it is definitely time to look to improve for 2014. The biggest issue for me, aside of SP, is the lack of OBP on the team, which is a hard problem to fix because AA himself does not appear to value that (he seems more fixated on power and/or speed). That needs to change.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 6:50 pm
by There There
Randle McMurphy wrote:Too early to be writing off seasons (and Morosi would probably change his mind about the Jays by next week if they won a few games this weekend), but they should already be preparing for 2014 and looking to improve next year's team. Getting rid of one of the team's best players in Rasmus, though, isn't any kind of an answer.
Someone needs to nudge Morosi and let him in on the fact that he's losing credibility every time he references Rasmus' strikeouts and the impact they're having on the team.
Especially when he's always lumping him in with Arencibia, as if those two are similar in any conceivable way.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 8:12 pm
by Avenger
Can we not please not make threads based on Morosi's articles/tweets, the guy is a complete idiot. I don't say that lightly, he really doesn't know a thing about Baseball outside of parroting the usual cliches.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 8:12 pm
by nonc
The sooner the Jays re-sign Rasmus and recall Lawrie, the better.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 5, 2013 11:17 pm
by Tyrone Slothrop
Santoki wrote:I'll take this Colby Rasmus because really we have no one better coming up and I don't see where we have the assets to improve CF.
I'd take him over two thirds of starting Centre Fielders in baseball. He's having a comparable year to Adam Jones and is a year younger. Jays need to lock him up long term.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Sun Jul 7, 2013 11:57 pm
by Raider917
id like to see the jays get garza but im not sure if theres is enough left in the minors after the off season deals. being only 5.5 games out of the WC is close enough to buy to me. with a good week they could be within less than 5 games at the ASB.
if this team showed no signs of being able to win in bunches maybe then i would think selling but even in that case, what could you possibly get for guys like johnson, izturis, bonifacio and buehrle anyway. i think if they are going to sell then sell big. sell the aforementioned and also encarnacion and bautista for big time prospects.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 1:32 pm
by C Court
This season is over. Alex needs to figure out a way to fill in the gaps (and there are many) with a plan to compete next year. Problem is he has already given away a lot of his younger assets, so he may have to spend more of Rogers' money in the off season.
If the Jays of 2014 remain around .500 or below, then AA will have some explaining to do to the higher ups at Rogers.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 4:20 pm
by Gibby
Colby Rasmus is a very good CF. He strikes out a ton but gets on base at a decent rate as well, then of course you factor in the power and the great defense, he should be with this team long term if we can keep it up.
What we have this year is a .500 ballclub. Time to look forward to next year
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 4:26 pm
by Michael Bradley
Rasmus always does well in the 1st half before leveling off (badly) in the 2nd half. What he has done so far this season is actually worse than where he was at this time last season, at least offensively. Too early to say he has turned the corner. If he posts another second half with an OPS in the .500 range, then it starts to become a pattern.
With that said, I have no issues extending Rasmus beyond 2014. I'm not sold on Gose and there is really no one else in the Jays system that is better. Rasmus is still young enough to have "another gear in him", as AA said about Encarnacion. Whether Rasmus will sign before testing free agency is another story.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 4:44 pm
by Geddy
No point being buyers or sellers at this point in time. They should just stand pat and make any necessary moves in the off season.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 5:04 pm
by kavan
AA should make moves now to see if we can become a better club and then use the off season to make the last few tweaks. Or we will go through another season of seeing if it can work or not. Trade dead line for a team moving forward forget the money make moves t make this team better and ride that into next season.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 6:29 pm
by Schad
kavan wrote:AA should make moves now to see if we can become a better club and then use the off season to make the last few tweaks. Or we will go through another season of seeing if it can work or not. Trade dead line for a team moving forward forget the money make moves t make this team better and ride that into next season.
You make deals at the deadline if you can get players for a discount, a la Rasmus a couple years back, but in general the trade deadline is the most expensive time to buy, especially if you're looking at surefire upgrades. Better to wait until the off-season, if we're not expecting to compete this year.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 7:00 pm
by C Court
The Blue Jays could do worse than Rasmus. Finding a replacement centre fielder is down the list of priorities.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 7:08 pm
by Schad
Centre Court wrote:The Blue Jays could do worse than Rasmus. Finding a replacement centre fielder is down the list of priorities.
Yeah...it's slightly above finding a new right fielder, shortstop, closer and a replacement for Encarnacion, and well below everything else. Guys with 3 WAR before the All-Star break don't really merit replacing, even if his BABIP (which is a little high, but not remarkably so given his LD%) drops a little.
Re: Morosi: Time for Jays to forget 2013, prepare for 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 8, 2013 7:12 pm
by Tyrone Slothrop
Schadenfreude wrote:Centre Court wrote:The Blue Jays could do worse than Rasmus. Finding a replacement centre fielder is down the list of priorities.
Yeah...it's slightly above finding a new right fielder, shortstop, closer and a replacement for Encarnacion, and well below everything else. Guys with 3 WAR before the All-Star break don't really merit replacing, even if his BABIP (which is a little high, but not remarkably so given his LD%) drops a little.
I'd also like to think his ridiculous 32% K rate should drop at least a little bit. If he can get it down to (a still very high) 28-29% it should negate the likely drop in his BABIP.