Jays close to deal with shortstop Eckstein
Ken Rosenthal
FOXSports.com, Updated 17 minutes ago
The Blue Jays have been mostly quiet this off-season, waiting for the right player to become available at a reasonable price.
That player finally has emerged -- free-agent shortstop David Eckstein.
The Jays are on the verge of signing Eckstein, according to a major-league source. Terms of the contract were not immediately known.
Eckstein, a two-time World Series champion, likely will become the team's everyday shortstop, returning John McDonald to a backup role.
The Jays signed McDonald to a two-year, $3.8 million contract in September, but considered his deal affordable even if they used him as a reserve.
Eckstein, who turns 32 on Jan. 20, struggled to find the right fit in free agency, and the squeeze became tighter after the Cardinals declined to offer him arbitration.
The White Sox and Tigers acquired shortstops through trades early in the off-season. The Mets signed Luis Castillo to play second base after a brief flirtation with Eckstein. The Rockies, too, considered Eckstein at second, but the Jays offered a better opportunity.
Eckstein, a seven-year veteran, batted a career-high .309 for the Cardinals last season with three homers, 31 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
His career on-base percentage is .351.
Jays close to signing Eckstein?
Moderator: JaysRule15
Jays close to signing Eckstein?
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Griff83
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Duffman100
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Michael Bradley
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People may be underrating just how big of an upgrade this is. From 2005-07, Eckstein hit .306/.361/.382 (.743 OPS) against RHP. Over that same span, McDonald hit .228/.262/.301 (.563 OPS) against RHP. That's nearly a .200 gain in OPS and OBP against 75% of the pitching in the league. It's a downgrade defensively, but the offensive upgrade is more than enough to off-set that. Plus McDonald is still there to be a late-inning defensive replacement if necessary (albeit an expensive one).
For one year and that price, I'm OK with the move. I don't expect JP to make any risky decisions with his job on the line (though Rios/Lincecum came close), but he hasn't done anything boneheaded. He's keeping the contracts small, which if nothing else doesn't prohibit the team from moving on if the decision fails.
If Stairs (or even Lind) gets the majority of AB's as left-fielders against RHP, then the Jays no longer have a blackhole in the lineup against RHP. That's step one to at least being competitive.
For one year and that price, I'm OK with the move. I don't expect JP to make any risky decisions with his job on the line (though Rios/Lincecum came close), but he hasn't done anything boneheaded. He's keeping the contracts small, which if nothing else doesn't prohibit the team from moving on if the decision fails.
If Stairs (or even Lind) gets the majority of AB's as left-fielders against RHP, then the Jays no longer have a blackhole in the lineup against RHP. That's step one to at least being competitive.
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whiterasta80
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Don't get me wrong, I think that JP should still be canned (and Paul Godfrey too for defending him for so long) but this actually might be one of his shrewdest moves. He only had to commit 1 year, which means we aren't hurt at all going forward, and I believe that Eck is a serious upgrade for the team. He gives us a legitimate leadoff guy who can get on base and steal bases. He'll be fine defensively at SS, he just won't make up for Glaus' deficiencies like McDonald does. Plus I think the value of the contract is about right.
On the down side, this makes the McDonald re-signing and particularly the Scutaro deal seem quite stupid. That's now two years in a row where he signs McDonald and then goes and gets his supposed replacement at SS.
On the down side, this makes the McDonald re-signing and particularly the Scutaro deal seem quite stupid. That's now two years in a row where he signs McDonald and then goes and gets his supposed replacement at SS.
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The_Hater
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I can't believe the negative backlash I'm reading? This is a VERY good move. I know that John McDonald is a fan favourite and has a great glove, but he is an awful, awful hitter. One of the worst in all of MLB. He belongs in the utility role coming off the bench, not starting and sucking the life out of a lineup that had trouble producing last season.
Do people want a better team on the field or do they just want to watch their favourites run around and go 81-81 every season?
I think people forget that Eckstein has been an above average MLB starting SS for several years now. We're not going to compete with the Yanks and the Sox putting the John Mcdonald's of the world in the starting lineup for 500 AB's.
Do people want a better team on the field or do they just want to watch their favourites run around and go 81-81 every season?
I think people forget that Eckstein has been an above average MLB starting SS for several years now. We're not going to compete with the Yanks and the Sox putting the John Mcdonald's of the world in the starting lineup for 500 AB's.
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The_Hater
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fame wrote:JP is a (Please Use More Appropriate Word)
Blows a possible Cain or Lincecum deal
Trades for Scutaro
Sign Eckstien
Scutaro and Eckstien suck..This doesn't make our team any better.
Based on what scale?
McDonals, our previous starting shortstop, has a career OPS of .595. Last season he was at .612. That's Mendoza line type production.
Eckstein has a career OPS of .712. and was .738 last season. To put that into perspective, both those numbers are higher than the OPS Wells, Lind, Overbay, R.Johnson, Clayton/McDonald and all 3 of our backup Catchers put up last season.
Even Scutaro, the other guy that 'sucks' has a career OPS of .704 which is equal too or higher than everyone on that list.
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fame
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You can't use numbers or percentages to judge everything.
Eckstien is a 2 time all star, 2 time wold series champ, and 1 time world series mvp. So I'll give him that, he's very accomplished.
I'm just complaining about the fact that JP constantly uses a band aid solution to fix our holes.
Eckstien is 33 years old so he's not gonna be getting any better. In fact he'll probably start deterioting. He's missed 90 games in the past 2 season so his health is nothing to go crazy about...He has no power what so ever...Basicly a contact hitter with average defense.
Why did we trade fo Scutaro if we were planning on signing Eckstien, after already resigning McDonald? It's just annoying moves that make no sense.
Eckstien would be absolutley perfect for us as an infield utility man in my opinion. Then Scutaro and McDonald wouldn't be needed, but we gotta find a young shortstop with a good bat AND good defense, sign him long term...That'll fix our weakness..Not some bull 1 year band aid solution.
Eckstien is a 2 time all star, 2 time wold series champ, and 1 time world series mvp. So I'll give him that, he's very accomplished.
I'm just complaining about the fact that JP constantly uses a band aid solution to fix our holes.
Eckstien is 33 years old so he's not gonna be getting any better. In fact he'll probably start deterioting. He's missed 90 games in the past 2 season so his health is nothing to go crazy about...He has no power what so ever...Basicly a contact hitter with average defense.
Why did we trade fo Scutaro if we were planning on signing Eckstien, after already resigning McDonald? It's just annoying moves that make no sense.
Eckstien would be absolutley perfect for us as an infield utility man in my opinion. Then Scutaro and McDonald wouldn't be needed, but we gotta find a young shortstop with a good bat AND good defense, sign him long term...That'll fix our weakness..Not some bull 1 year band aid solution.
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The_Hater
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Fair enough on the bandaid comment. I made that comment myself last week and on the larger scale, I agree with you.
Still, Eckstein is an excellent bandaid for the 2008 season after watching JP sign Royce Clayton and Edgardo Alfonzo as middle infield bandaid solutions the last 2 seasons. Just like LoDuca would have been an excellent bandaid catcher for 2008. One year, low risk, high reward contracts on players that are still productive and plug weaknesses are never bad investments.
And I agree with you that he already overkilled on middle infielder investments with McDonald and Scutaro previously, but I'm far happier he didn't rest on that as a solution for 2008. That would have been a typical JP move. Find the worst solution possible and then sit on your hands. Plus Scutaro can still be moved elsewhere before April (and I suspect he will) while JMac can remain as the utility guy. Either way, you still need to keep one of them around for 2008.
Listen, I can't stand JP but this is a good move.
EDIT: The other great part of this move that nobody is considering is that should the Jays be out of the race at the trade deadline, Eckstein then becomes an excellent trade chip for prospects. You can almost be certain that some contender will need a SS upgrade come July.
Still, Eckstein is an excellent bandaid for the 2008 season after watching JP sign Royce Clayton and Edgardo Alfonzo as middle infield bandaid solutions the last 2 seasons. Just like LoDuca would have been an excellent bandaid catcher for 2008. One year, low risk, high reward contracts on players that are still productive and plug weaknesses are never bad investments.
And I agree with you that he already overkilled on middle infielder investments with McDonald and Scutaro previously, but I'm far happier he didn't rest on that as a solution for 2008. That would have been a typical JP move. Find the worst solution possible and then sit on your hands. Plus Scutaro can still be moved elsewhere before April (and I suspect he will) while JMac can remain as the utility guy. Either way, you still need to keep one of them around for 2008.
Listen, I can't stand JP but this is a good move.
EDIT: The other great part of this move that nobody is considering is that should the Jays be out of the race at the trade deadline, Eckstein then becomes an excellent trade chip for prospects. You can almost be certain that some contender will need a SS upgrade come July.
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Michael Bradley
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fame wrote:You can't use numbers or percentages to judge everything.
Eckstien is a 2 time all star, 2 time wold series champ, and 1 time world series mvp. So I'll give him that, he's very accomplished.
I'm just complaining about the fact that JP constantly uses a band aid solution to fix our holes.
Eckstien is 33 years old so he's not gonna be getting any better. In fact he'll probably start deterioting. He's missed 90 games in the past 2 season so his health is nothing to go crazy about...He has no power what so ever...Basicly a contact hitter with average defense.
Why did we trade fo Scutaro if we were planning on signing Eckstien, after already resigning McDonald? It's just annoying moves that make no sense.
Eckstien would be absolutley perfect for us as an infield utility man in my opinion. Then Scutaro and McDonald wouldn't be needed, but we gotta find a young shortstop with a good bat AND good defense, sign him long term...That'll fix our weakness..Not some bull 1 year band aid solution.
Eckstein overvalued himself on the market, and that's the reason he settled on a one year deal. He was likely out of Toronto's price range about a month ago as I believe he was asking for a four year big money deal. Getting him this cheaply for one year was a pretty smart deal. Signing McDonald was the only real mistake here. Scutaro is a solid bench player and Eckstein's been good enough to start on playoff/World Series teams before. McDonald is just a waste of money.
Eckstein doesn't hit for power, but that's not a bad thing. He hits for a high average, gets on base, and runs well, which makes him a pretty good lead-off option. Over the last three years, his OBP is .357 (1564 at bats). His OBP last season was .356, which would have ranked 8th among MLB short-stops. He was ranked 11th in OBP in 2006 (.350), and 4th in 2005 (.363). That's his skillset, and he's good at it. Makes contact, works the count, gets on base, and plays a premium position. His defense might be a concern, but we'll have to wait and see on that.
Would I have preferred a younger/better option? Certainly. But if the team intends on competing in 2008, then this was as good a move as they could have made given the market and their internal options. It cost them nothing but money, which they had to burn anyway, and it was only a one year deal. I don't see the downside. If he declines or gets hurt, he's gone after 2008 anyway. When you have a chance to upgrade a position as significantly as the Jays just did, you have to take it assuming it's reasonable.
If Eckstein signed a 3-year deal, then I'd be concerned. But one year for less than $5 million in a market this insane? Really nothing to complain about.