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OAKLAND, Calif. – Rather than raising the bar, Toronto Blue Jays general Ross Atkins feels the steep price paid by the Boston Red Sox for Drew Pomeranz is simply reflective of the current trade market rate for starting pitching.

The Red Sox acquired the all-star left-hander from the San Diego Padres on Thursday for right-hander Anderson Espinoza, an 18-year-old Baseball America ranked as the No. 15 prospect in baseball. While Pomeranz is in the midst of a breakout season and is under club control for two more years after this one, he doesn’t have the track record more typical of players that fetch a premium prospect in trade.

“It’s really more indicative of the alternatives, or lack thereof,” Atkins said on a conference call Saturday. “There just aren’t a lot of them. I’m not so sure it’s going to increase the market drastically. There’s just more buyers than there are sellers at that position. The market was already set very high based on the alternatives. It wasn’t surprising to see that’s what it took to get some deals going.”

The Blue Jays, of course, are on the lookout for some pitching help but are not expected to pay the going rate, especially after last summer’s buildup. Given that they have eight pending free agents even after extending Justin Smoak, they could get more of their off-season work done ahead of the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline by targeting controllable players.

Atkins, however, says the Blue Jays aren’t ruling out rentals, either.

“We’re considering and talking to teams on both of those fronts,” he said. “There’s an acquisition cost that will be factored in. Typically you pay for control, so that would mean probably giving up more prospect-level. Everything’s a balance. We’re not focused on one versus the other. We’re focused on winning this year and obviously every team would say that. You just don’t want to compromise your future in how hard you try to do that. We’ll keep those things at the forefront, but we’ll 100-per-cent recognize the opportunity that we have in front of us, with a very good team. We’ve been playing very well and hopefully and seemingly peaking at a very good time. We’re going to look to complement the team every day that we wake up.”

The_Hater wrote:So who is in the AL MVP race right now? Is it down to Altuve, Donaldson and Machado? I figure last place takes Trout out of the running. How much support does Ortiz get as a DH only if the BoSox win the division?

Santoki wrote:

The_Hater wrote:So who is in the AL MVP race right now? Is it down to Altuve, Donaldson and Machado? I figure last place takes Trout out of the running. How much support does Ortiz get as a DH only if the BoSox win the division?

Surely Boegarts would get more consideration than Ortiz if it's a Sox player wouldn't he?

Market Supply: The Boston Red Sox acted quickly and paid a high price in prospect Anderson Espinoza to acquire lefty Drew Pomeranz precisely because the trade market for starting pitching is so weak. Oakland A’s lefty Rich Hill, who left Sunday’s start against the Blue Jays after five pitches because of a popped blister, is considered the top rental available, and doing better for a pitcher with control beyond this year is going to be prohibitively expensive.

One industry source says there are a handful of lower-tier starting arms available, think of a scale like Jeremy Hellickson to Jon Niese, to eat innings. The Blue Jays pulled off one such deal along those lines earlier this season with their clever buy-low acquisition of set-up man Jason Grilli, and their evaluators may need to identify another change-of-scenery candidate.

The market is expected to be deeper for relievers, although developments regarding Aaron Sanchez will dictate interest in that regard. High-end position players like Jay Bruce and Carlos Beltran would make some sense for the Blue Jays, although the acquisition cost may be too high. Whatever they do, they’ll need to ensure the incoming player can make an impact and isn’t just window-dressing.

Prospect Capital: From the Josh Donaldson deal through last summer’s trade deadline, Anthopoulos flipped 15 minor-league pitchers plus a premium shortstop prospect in Franklin Barreto to upgrade the big-league team, and that put a dent in the farm system.

Still, the Blue Jays system isn’t as barren as it’s sometimes made out to be, and enough pieces remain for a move or two without endangering the organization. Frontline prospects like centre-fielder Anthony Alford and right-hander Conner Greene were asked about regularly last year, although moving Alford now would be selling low as injuries and underperformance have spoiled his season thus far.

The emergence of arms like Francisco Rios and Angel Perdomo has also deepened the pool of secondary prospects that could potentially be used. The challenge will be in making an add without subtracting too heavily from a group that includes Alford, Greene, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Rowdy Tellez, Richard Urena, Sean Reid-Foley, Jon Harris and 2016 first-rounder T.J. Zeuch.

Adding Payroll: An inability to add money kept the Blue Jays from making moves before the 2014 deadline, while last year Anthopoulos made sure to keep some payroll liquid to spend in July. Shapiro is believed to have done the same thing, and with the Blue Jays currently leading the American League in average attendance at 39,274, good for fourth overall in the majors, he may even have more room.

Now, one mitigating factor in that regard is that the Blue Jays budgeted for significant gains in attendance and other revenues in order to maintain payroll in the $140 million range it was at last year, covering the decline in the Canadian dollar. So the big revenue numbers so far aren’t an unexpected windfall. Still, the off-field success is creating the conditions for the Blue Jays to perhaps increase their payroll.

Skin Blues wrote:I wonder how low on a team's WAR list a player has been while winning the MVP. Currently, Papi is 4th behind JBJ, Betts and Bogaerts, although they're all bunched together pretty tightly. Pedroia could also pass him.

Schad wrote:

Skin Blues wrote:I wonder how low on a team's WAR list a player has been while winning the MVP. Currently, Papi is 4th behind JBJ, Betts and Bogaerts, although they're all bunched together pretty tightly. Pedroia could also pass him.

Baseball Reference pegs Dennis Eckersley as the 6th-most valuable player on the '92 A's. Good chance that there are worse offenders out there, though.

GM Ross Atkins made it clear on the weekend that the Jays are in the market, not only for players they can control beyond this season but also for any potential rental players that could fit into the mix in a ‘win-now’ scenario.

“We’re considering (deals) and talking with teams on both of those fronts,” said Atkins. “There’s always an acquisition cost to be factored. Typically, you pay for control, so that would mean giving up more prospect level in that type of deal. Everything is in balance. We’re not focused on one versus the other. We’re focused on winning this year.”

“Every team would say that. You just don’t want to compromise your future in how hard you try to do that. We’ll keep both of those approaches at the forefront but we, 100 per cent, recognize the opportunity that we have in front of us with a very good team that is playing very well.

“Hopefully we’ll be peaking at a very good time. We’re going to be looking to complement the team every day when we wake up.”

“We recognize that it can be an incredible jolt of energy into a clubhouse,” said Atkins. “As long as you make the right moves and you’re acquiring good makeup and somebody who can complement your clubhouse and complement your team. Our challenge remains that because of our off-season starting pitching acquisitions, the overachievement of some players like Darwin Barney and Ezequiel Carrera, the fact that we have Jose Bautista coming back soon, the season that Michael Saunders is having, we’re finding it difficult to look into the market place and find obvious ways to make the team better.”

That may be true but the need for additional pitching is undeniable. The window of opportunity is wide open. The Jays need help from their front office to climb through it.

vaff87 wrote:Is Byron Buxton's profile so far in his career, as concerning as it looks to me?

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=14161&position=OF

The_Hater wrote:

vaff87 wrote:Is Byron Buxton's profile so far in his career, as concerning as it looks to me?

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=14161&position=OF

Can he play a good CF? Or is he Ben Revere without the wheels?

The_Hater wrote:Pomeranz roughed up in his Sox debut. Too bad the Giants can't get anyone out themselves.