Jays like Andrew McCutchen

[North_of_Border]

The Blue Jays are seeking outfield help and are open to trading for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

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So the Jays won't resign EE at a bargain price, only to save a comp draft pick. Yet they will further diminish their weak farm by trading a huge package for McCutchen, who is a FA after the season.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Cause I'm perplexed at the logic.

[Schad]

The Blue Jays are seeking outfield help and are open to trading for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

----------------------------

So the Jays won't resign EE at a bargain price, only to save a comp draft pick. Yet they will further diminish their weak farm by trading a huge package for McCutchen, who is a FA after the season.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Cause I'm perplexed at the logic.

It's hopefully more tire-kicking than anything. However, McCutchen isn't a free agent after this season: he has a $14.5m option for 2018 which will be picked up in all but extraordinary circumstances.

[North_of_Border]

The Blue Jays are seeking outfield help and are open to trading for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

----------------------------

So the Jays won't resign EE at a bargain price, only to save a comp draft pick. Yet they will further diminish their weak farm by trading a huge package for McCutchen, who is a FA after the season.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Cause I'm perplexed at the logic.

It's hopefully more tire-kicking than anything. However, McCutchen isn't a free agent after this season: he has a $14.5m option for 2018 which will be picked up in all but extraordinary circumstances.

True. He us not a FA after season.

However if the goal of letting EE go was to replenish the farm. Even if it's for 1 comp pick. This he very odd trade to even kick the tires on. Just look at what the Pirates demanded from Washington. Even Gioloto plus more was not enough. Doubt we would even have the pieces if serious.

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[spykelee]

It would have to be from our roster... somebody like a stroman to start with. We aren't letting Eddie walk and then burning what little currency we have in the minors to get AM. Our position of strength is pitching and we aren't acquiring all stars with anything less.


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[Kurtz]

Shapiro and Atkins have been in this business an awfully long time, and in that time, they've never made the type of deal it would take to get McCutchen.

I wouldn't worry about it too much; it ain't happening.

[Indiana Jones]

Just a rumor started to get people to forget about losing out on EE. Don't hold your breath on this trade happening.

[Sticks]

It would have to be from our roster... somebody like a stroman to start with. We aren't letting Eddie walk and then burning what little currency we have in the minors to get AM. Our position of strength is pitching and we aren't acquiring all stars with anything less.


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We can't afford to give up any of our starters. We have no depth in case we deal with injuries.

Sanchez
Happ
Estrada
Stroman
Liriano

Thats it amd we better hope for great luck with injuries. Giving up stroman would create a big hole.

[Lukeem]

The Blue Jays are seeking outfield help and are open to trading for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

----------------------------

So the Jays won't resign EE at a bargain price, only to save a comp draft pick. Yet they will further diminish their weak farm by trading a huge package for McCutchen, who is a FA after the season.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Cause I'm perplexed at the logic.

I really doubt it is more than a ploy if we did get McCutchen that would make Bautista even easier to say good bye to. Jose has already figured out his value isn't as high as he/ his agent thought

Also we didn't let edwin go by the sounds of it we offered as good or better deals than cleveland whether it was a screw up by his agent, jays jumping the gun on others or edwin not wanting to come back it just didn't work out.

[Lateral Quicks]

McCutchen had a pretty awful year in 2016, putting up -0.7 WAR. Could be trying to buy low. He'd still cost more prospect capital than the FO is willing to pay though.

Edit: Saw some speculation that Pillar might be included in a deal. I would do that. Most of Pillar's value comes from his defense, and I have concerns that he won't be able to keep the Superman act going much longer. He actually took a step back offensively last year, which was very disappointing since there is so much room for improvement. He is not the kind of player I would look to give a big money contract too. The main reason he's presented as a lock is because our outfield depth is so terrible at the moment. So two years of Cutch for a few years of Pillar makes some sense.

The other rumoured player heading the other way - Stroman - is arguably too much. Four years of low-cost control over Stroman > two years of control over Cutch after the year he put up in 2016.

[Skin Blues]

The main reason he's presented as a lock is because our outfield depth is so terrible at the moment.

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

[Lateral Quicks]

The main reason he's presented as a lock is because our outfield depth is so terrible at the moment.

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. How long can he keep that up? He's entering his age 28 season and he's already played a few years on turf. If you think that's going to catch up to him sooner rather than later, selling high would be a wise move.

Of qualified outfielders, he was 53rd out of 54 in wRC+ last year with a mark of 80. Over the last two he's 46th out of 48. In the past I've actually been a big supporter of Pillar (when very few were, BTW), but my opinion has shifted with the total lack of any improvement offensively. When his defense stops being elite, we're talking about a replacement level player.

As to your second statement, let's not even go outside the division. Which of the Killer B's (Benintendi, Bradley Jr., or Betts) would you not take over Pillar?

[Skin Blues]

The main reason he's presented as a lock is because our outfield depth is so terrible at the moment.

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. How long can he keep that up? He's entering his age 28 season and he's already played a few years on turf. If you think that's going to catch up to him sooner rather than later, selling high would be a wise move.

Of qualified outfielders, he was 53rd out of 54 in wRC+ last year with a mark of 80. Over the last two he's 46th out of 48. In the past I've actually been a big supporter of Pillar (when very few were, BTW), but my opinion has shifted with the total lack of any improvement offensively. When his defense stops being elite, we're talking about a replacement level player.

As to your second statement, let's not even go outside the division. Which of the Killer B's (Benintendi, Bradley Jr., or Betts) would you not take over Pillar?

You said he's a lock because the team is weak; that is obviously wrong. Then you steered the discussion away from the point I disputed, toward something completely different. I don't know how many more years he can keep up the elite defense, but I'm gonna bet that there isn't a monstrous decline in his age 28 season. I also don't think he's a good hitter so you don't need to point that out.

As for the Red Sox, Pillar would certainly come before Benintendi on the OF depth chart.

So, no. The main reason he's a lock isn't because the Jays have a weak OF. He's a lock because he's extremely valuable. As for cashing in on him because he might break down physically: the reasons you're giving aren't a secret. Everybody knows when defense peaks. Everybody knows he's played a few years on turf. Those pieces of information are only cause to trade him if we're the only ones that have it. Any team that is smart enough to value his defense isn't stupid enough to ignore the obvious downfalls that you noted.

[Lateral Quicks]

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. How long can he keep that up? He's entering his age 28 season and he's already played a few years on turf. If you think that's going to catch up to him sooner rather than later, selling high would be a wise move.

Of qualified outfielders, he was 53rd out of 54 in wRC+ last year with a mark of 80. Over the last two he's 46th out of 48. In the past I've actually been a big supporter of Pillar (when very few were, BTW), but my opinion has shifted with the total lack of any improvement offensively. When his defense stops being elite, we're talking about a replacement level player.

As to your second statement, let's not even go outside the division. Which of the Killer B's (Benintendi, Bradley Jr., or Betts) would you not take over Pillar?

You said he's a lock because the team is weak; that is obviously wrong. Then you steered the discussion away from the point I disputed, toward something completely different. I don't know how many more years he can keep up the elite defense, but I'm gonna bet that there isn't a monstrous decline in his age 28 season. I also don't think he's a good hitter so you don't need to point that out.

As for the Red Sox, Pillar would certainly come before Benintendi on the OF depth chart.

So, no. The main reason he's a lock isn't because the Jays have a weak OF. He's a lock because he's extremely valuable. As for cashing in on him because he might break down physically: the reasons you're giving aren't a secret. Everybody knows when defense peaks. Everybody knows he's played a few years on turf. Those pieces of information are only cause to trade him if we're the only ones that have it. Any team that is smart enough to value his defense isn't stupid enough to ignore the obvious downfalls that you noted.

Actually, I steered the discussion back to the point I originally made - that his value comes entirely from his defense. I never questioned that he's been a valuable player the last two years. Successful front offices make decisions based on expected future performance, not past performance. It's a big reason we didn't sign EE, and probably why we won't extend Donaldson, either. Different front offices will have different expectations, leaving windows for trades to be made.

Benintendi has overmatched every level he's played. BA moved him ahead of Yoan Moncada as the Red Sox best prospect (and some had Moncada as the best prospect in baseball, period). There is no way Pillar would get playing time over Benintendi. Pillar would 100% be traded to make way.

[BigLeagueChew]

What actually happened to McCutchen though. This is someone that most teams would have picked in their top 5 or top 10 easy 2 years ago. Any known injury that he was trying to play through?

[The_Hater]

The main reason he's presented as a lock is because our outfield depth is so terrible at the moment.

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. ?

That's a fairly shortsighted view though. He had a terrible offensive 2016 when he was barely above league average but he was one of the best offensive players in baseball from 2012-2015 and far above average from 2009-2011. Nothing is for certain but 2016 is almost certainly an aberration.

[Lateral Quicks]

He's 16th in WAR among all MLB outfielders over the past 2 years. There isn't a team in the majors on which he wouldn't be a lock for being a full-time outfielder.

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. ?

That's a fairly shortsighted view though. He had a terrible offensive 2016 when he was barely above league average but he was one of the best offensive players in baseball from 2012-2015 and far above average from 2009-2011. Nothing is for certain but 2016 is almost certainly an aberration.

We were talking about Pillar there, not Cutch.

[The_Hater]

And, as I made clear, his value comes almost entirely from his defense. ?

That's a fairly shortsighted view though. He had a terrible offensive 2016 when he was barely above league average but he was one of the best offensive players in baseball from 2012-2015 and far above average from 2009-2011. Nothing is for certain but 2016 is almost certainly an aberration.

We were talking about Pillar there, not Cutch.

I figured that out after I wrote it. Ha.

[dagger]

Read on Twitter

[McBlunt]

The Blue Jays are seeking outfield help and are open to trading for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

----------------------------

So the Jays won't resign EE at a bargain price, only to save a comp draft pick. Yet they will further diminish their weak farm by trading a huge package for McCutchen, who is a FA after the season.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Cause I'm perplexed at the logic.

First Thing: The Blue Jays arent the reason Edwin isn't a BlueJay anymore, last time I checked he's the one that turned down the best contract he was offered in Free Agency that the BlueJays offered him. 2: The BlueJays need to Replace Bautista who can no longer play in the OF and they were going hard after Fowler but failed to sign him, they tried to get Eaton couldn't, McCutchen has less power than Jose but he has a productive bat is a good OF positionally. He's better than Jay Bruce. Yes this does make sense.

[North_of_Border]

Considering what the Pirates wanted from Washington. This is what it would realistically cost.

- Vlad + Stroman + Urena + Foley

...... I'm gonna puke.