Blue Jays Trade Farquhar and Magnuson for Rajai Davis

[Hoopstarr]

My analysis: we needed a black guy to replace Lewis and Wise and everyone knows Vernon doesn't count

[DonYon]

Crap, I was a big fan of Farquhar.

[Randle McMurphy]

My analysis: we needed a black guy to replace Lewis and Wise and everyone knows Vernon doesn't count

Raj definitely will help there.

[s e n s i]

My analysis: we needed a black guy to replace Lewis and Wise and everyone knows Vernon doesn't count

That's spot on. When I was reading DJF I was like like, why would Fred Lewis be the 'other black guy', trying my damnest to think of another black player on the team.

[zilby]

Yawn.

Though, Rajai Davis could make for a great 4th OF or a leadoff man.

[-MetA4-]

This isn't an overly exciting deal but the revolt against it is fairly overblown IMO. We traded scrap pieces from our minor league system (guys that would continue to look less and less enticing now that we have a system that is on the upswing in a big way) for a guy that has proven to be a useful major league player. I was one of the biggest Farquhar fans on the internet; he still has set-up man type stuff but the fact remains that he has made next to no progress in his ability to control his stuff since we made his debut. Magnuson is a tall guy with decent velocity and good control but he doesn't have a single secondary or breaking pitch that is better than average. I think he can be a decent reliever but he isn't likely going to be anything more than a guy you can pick up each offseason. Those two got talked up all year but the fact remains that they were both out-pitched by Alan Farina once he was promoted from Dunedin. Farina is a legit arm who has had injury problems since we drafted him but he finally put together a healthy year and his production was excellent. He has a better profile than both Farquhar and Magnuson IMO because he has better pure stuff than Magnuson as well as more control of his hard fastball and strong slider than Farquhar does. He has also greatly out-pitched Farquhar (who once again has 6 walks in 10 innings) in the AFL these past few weeks.

[flatjacket1]

In a down year he had a higher OBP than 5 of our starters (Baustista, Overbay, Escobar, Lewis and Wells) with more at bats than 2 of them, (Lewis, Escobar).

His batting average would rank 1st on our team (again, in a down year) and a hit is better than a walk. Why? Because a hit can get a guy from 1st to 3rd, a walk can't.

His steals are also something being overlooked, aside from being an average to above average hitter, (SB-CS) he got ahead on the bases 39 times this year. That is 39 times that we got a running into scoring position than last year. Steals are very underrated, they can turn a 2 hit inning into a run. On a single he can get 2nd to home a good portion of the time too. He scored only 66 runs on a bad batting team, (No privileged of having a HR hitter behind him) which would still rank top 5 on the team. Stealing bases does another thing that isn't included in stats. A pitcher throwing with him on base will have some mental strain on the pitcher. We will see pitch outs, botched pitches and possibly more mistakes with him on base. With Overbay on base, its like pitching with no runners. This at least plants the idea in opposing pitchers minds of stealing, which is undervalued and IMO another great non-statistical good.

I think this move was necessary, and we got great value. 2 AA relievers who were in no way destined for the majors. I bet 1 of them doesn't make it, and the other one isn't effective enough for us to care.

We won't know until the future, but I am willing to say this was a great move and I hope he starts.

[Michael Bradley]

I am not a Rajai Davis fan, but I agree, the prospects dealt are not a big deal. It is like when the Jays traded for Accardo and Roenicke and people were acting like they were steals. Minor league relievers with command issues (or minor league relievers in general) are plentiful with high bust rates. Neither Magnuson nor Farquhar are elite prospects, and the chances of the Jays trading them for a player or players better than Davis were not very high. Could the Jays have used them in the pen some time down the road? Definitely. Maybe AA just did not view them very highly. For a GM who has not made a noticeable mistake yet, he gets the benefit of the doubt in my book.

Worst case, the Jays get a good 4th OF who gets about 300-400 plate appearances as a back-up or injury replacement and pinch runs late in games. Best case, he comes close to what he did in 2009 and doesn't hurt the team as a full-time player, although I really, really hope he just a fourth OF. Then again, Murphy was able to turn John McDonald into a slugger last season, so maybe Davis will bust out 30 bombs next year.......

I think it is clear given the acquisitions of Gose and now Davis that AA values stolen bases. Given Rajai's high success rate in SB's he is clearly valuable in that area.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

You guys are crazy. We get our top of the order threat which we sorely lacked.

[baulderdash77]

He's about an average player on our lineup. We're better with him in RF and Bautista at 3rd than any other combination we had last year.

So it's an upgrade for us for 2 guys who would never be huge contributors for us.

But he's a guy that you may always be looking to upgrade since his OPS is a bit low for a contending team.

It's a decent deal that could be good.

[SolomonSkyHook]

Any chance he is put into an offer for Justin Upton.

[flatjacket1]

Just throwing this out there but he was once put on waivers to give Fred Lewis the starting role in the OF.

Personally, I like Lewis a lot and think this would be a solid lineup:

1 - DH - Lewis
2 - CF - Rajai Davis
3 - 3B - Jose Baustista
4 - RF - Vernon Wells
5 - LF - Travis Snider
6 - 2B - Aaron Hill
7 - SS - Yunel Escobar
8 - 1B - Adam Lind
9 - C - JP Arencibia

[KPJR]

jayson werth was also a useless scrub...but now hes a power hitter that can command 50 mill ...**** happens

[Msgrv32]

At the moment I know that Daniel was a 2008 10th Round pick. No way after only 2 seasons in the minors he pitches in the bullpen in 2011. He is replaceable and well... he will be replaced by the next kid we draft in the 7th-10th round.

Trystan Magnuson is potentially a different story. Being a former number 1 pick attaches special meaning in my gut... he's also been pretty consistent in the minors. He's a big tall guy and will likely earn a job in the majors after another season or two in the minors.

Raj? Well he can run... the Jays don't have any real speed threats so I'm going to give AA credit. Speed may not be what the Jays used to win games last year, but you can't simply rely on the long ball to carry your teams perception...

So the question is: Do you sacrifice a former first round pick ('07) and a throw in 10th round pick ('08) -thereby trading away 'potential future bullpen arm(s)'- in exchange for a 4th outfielder who can run circles around your other guys?

I think the answer is - Sure, why not... who cares. Let's hope it works out... at least he's not Fred Lewis.

Hey what was ever so wrong with Fred Lewis?

[-MetA4-]

Trystan Magnuson is potentially a different story. Being a former number 1 pick attaches special meaning in my gut...

Magnuson was only a 1st round pick because we had a **** of picks that year and he agreed to sign for well under slot. He was a SR and probably more realistically a Round 10-15 type talent than a 1st round talent.