All Things Vladdy: Debuting Friday the 26th

[phillipmike]

Doubt Vladdy comes anywhere close to that. Trout is an all around player and athlete who plays a premier position. Vladdy might have a Miggy bat but until you see better conditioning and well above average play at 3B he will always be limited as a very good hitter. He still might make Miggy money with a Miggy bat but he shouldnt touch Trout's deal, even in 7 years.

[dagger]

Doubt Vladdy comes anywhere close to that. Trout is an all around player and athlete who plays a premier position. Vladdy might have a Miggy bat but until you see better conditioning and well above average play at 3B he will always be limited as a very good hitter. He still might make Miggy money with a Miggy bat but he shouldnt touch Trout's deal, even in 7 years.

It's more about the bums he can put in seats. Fans here are already so invested in him, if his bat alone is that good, and his fielding good enough to keep him in the lineup somewhere, and the team is a reasonable playoff bet or better, management will pay him a fortune to stay. Fans wanted the Jays to overpay to keep aging Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion - the former no longer much of a defensive player and the latter a DH whose primary connection with fans was an imaginary parrot - imagine the hew and cry if Vlad leaves in his prime.

[phillipmike]

Doubt Vladdy comes anywhere close to that. Trout is an all around player and athlete who plays a premier position. Vladdy might have a Miggy bat but until you see better conditioning and well above average play at 3B he will always be limited as a very good hitter. He still might make Miggy money with a Miggy bat but he shouldnt touch Trout's deal, even in 7 years.

It's more about the bums he can put in seats. Fans here are already so invested in him, if his bat alone is that good, and his fielding good enough to keep him in the lineup somewhere, and the team is a reasonable playoff bet or better, management will pay him a fortune to stay. Fans wanted the Jays to overpay to keep aging Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion - the former no longer much of a defensive player and the latter a DH whose primary connection with fans was an imaginary parrot - imagine the hew and cry if Vlad leaves in his prime.

Jays will never overpay (this FO or the owners) even if he puts butts in the seats. These long term deals are rarely good investments especially after their control years. No way he gets as much as Trout in my mind, just got to wait 7 years and see.

[vaff87]

I think the Jays will pony up for Vladdy. But that’s a long ways away. Things are going to change both within the Jays organization and within the league, before then. Including a new CBA.

[Schad]

Trout's the best player in the history of the sport through this point in his career. Vlad's highly unlikely to be that.

[Fairview4Life]

Trout's the best player in the history of the sport through this point in his career. Vlad's highly unlikely to be that.

Such a hater.

[vaff87]

Trout's the best player in the history of the sport through this point in his career. Vlad's highly unlikely to be that.

Such a hater.

Sick of Schad’s negativity smh.

[phillipmike]

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Id give Vladdy this or something similar.

[dagger]

That Jimenez extension must buy out his remaining control years or it's dumb on his part. He's 22, a top 5 prospect in all of MLB, and has 35 major league at bats from last season.

Update - yes, plus likely first two FA years.

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[Schad]

One thing to note: because the deal kicked in this season, they're really only gaining one year through those options, because they'd have otherwise left him down for a few weeks this year. A deal for Vlad after April would probably cost a bit more, but would buy out a further FA year...8 years, $100m sounds about right.

[torontoaces04]

One thing to note: because the deal kicked in this season, they're really only gaining one year through those options, because they'd have otherwise left him down for a few weeks this year. A deal for Vlad after April would probably cost a bit more, but would buy out a further FA year...8 years, $100m sounds about right.

This makes too much sense. Likely means we won't see it happen.

[polo007]

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Certainly, Harper and Machado led the way in free agency, while Arenado and Trout crushed it with their extensions. There has been a number of other extensions as well, including first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (reportedly five years/$130 million) with the Cardinals, third baseman Alex Bregman (six years/$100 million) with the Astros and reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell (five years/$50 million) with the Rays. We’re seeing both proven veterans and young players with far less experience making deals.

What we’re experiencing is players and agents finally adapting to the changing landscape of player valuation and free agency. If clubs won’t pay players big money in free agency because of declining performance due to age, then get the team to buy out free agent years before players get there. In some of these cases, teams are basing value upon projections with less tangible data.

One extension that should interest Jays fans is the White Sox signing of stud outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez to a deal that guarantees him $43 million over six years, with the value rising as high as $77.5 million if the White Sox exercise a couple of club options.

Jimenez is ranked as the third-best prospect in baseball behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His deal is just the third of its kind given to a player with no major-league service. In 2014, the Astros signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a five-year, $10 million deal that turned out to be a bust. Last spring, the Phillies signed infielder Scott Kingery to a six-year, $24 million deal with three club options that could make the deal worth $66 million.

The obvious question is whether this same structure makes sense for the Blue Jays with Guerrero. Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro is a disciple of former Cleveland Indians general manager John Hart. In Cleveland, Hart and Shapiro locked up many of their young stars to long-term deals. It is in his DNA to want to control young stars for as long as possible.

The Jays should absolutely consider doing the same for Guerrero. It’s always hard to know exactly how players will develop, but Guerrero, like Jimenez, seems more predictable. The framework is already done for the Jays. Just like Trout worked off of the extension of Nolan Arenado and the free-agent deals of Machado and Harper to find his value, so too should the Jays and Guerrero work off of Jimenez. Bump the deal up a bit because Guerrero is the better player and get the deal done. If possible, the Jays should try to secure as many options on free agent seasons as they can.

Just show him the money!

[torontoaces04]

One thing to consider is that Vlad Jr. likely doesn't need the money, the way Jimenez perhaps did. Jr can go to the bank of Sr if truly needed, and won't have the same incentive to sign early.

[polo007]

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[Ado05]

One thing to consider is that Vlad Jr. likely doesn't need the money, the way Jimenez perhaps did. Jr can go to the bank of Sr if truly needed, and won't have the same incentive to sign early.

Yup, probably a 1% Vlad Jr signs for something like that.

[vaff87]

IMO, Vlad Jr "not needing the money" means he'll be more likely to want to sign somewhere where he's happy. Hopefully that place is here.

[polo007]

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[Skin Blues]

Yup, Buffalo for a bit. I think Shi Davidi tweeted that out a couple days ago. Jays told Vladdy something like "enjoy the warm weather in Florida for now, because you're going to Buffalo soon". Lets see if we can leave him there through Super 2. It'd have to be over a month. Let's test the limits of service time manipulation.

[polo007]

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[hst420]

He's already walked, driven in a run with a dbl, and stole third base for the Bisons.