Armchair GM: What are the Jays Top 3 Needs?

[jalenrose#5]

Just looking for opinions here...

What do you think are the 3 glaring weaknesses of the Toronto Blue Jays?

If you want to tell everyone how you'd address the problem....you can go right ahead.

I'll start off with mine....and I'll keep it short

1. Lack of Speed

Gary Sheffield....yes Gary himself has 18 SB's.....the Jays as a team have 28. If you can't bat in runs....you're going to have to manufacture them. Is it a managerial change, or does this team need an overrhaul?

2. Address the C position

Gregg Zaun is finito IMO. He's slow, can't bat for average, sucks at throwing out runners and he's a locker room liability IMO. He has a personality that might rub some of the players the wrong way. Thigpen IMO is not ready and still needs some time at C before suiting up as a starting C.

3. SS upgrade

No knock with McDonald, I just find his bat is not very strong. The D will always be there, I just believe that having a player like Hanley Ramirez there would make this lineup so much more dangerous. I'm just using him as an example....not saying go out and get him.

HM: Fire Gibbons

Thoughts?

[fliszt25]

The 3 main ones in order of importance are:

1. Too much low-average power bats and not enough contact hitting. As for what you said earlier, getting two good contact hitters at the catcher and shortstop position could go a long long way. However, I'm for seeing how Thigpen does for the remainder of the season because I like his poise.

2. JP Ricciardi. The solution to this one is obvious. As for who to replace him with, I don't know.

3. A depleted farm system. We need prospects badly. It is possible that next season, the current group will turn it around with the bats, but even so, having a healthy contingent of prospective players is important (especially when the team gets injured!). I'd say trade one of Glaus or Thomas to see if prospects can be obtained.

Of course, I am more in rebuilding mode but I try to be optimistic in thinking that if the hitting comes back with the acquisition of one or two good run-producing contact hitters, then rebuilding won't be as neccessary.

As well, firing Brantley and especially Gibbons is also an option I'd consider strongly.

Finally, I share your concern with the speed issue but I don't rank it as high.

[jalenrose#5]

fliszt25 thx for the reply....Just to tell you all...there is no specific order for the three. The main concern with me is the farm system IMO. We've got those college snior type players with very limited ceilings....JP was like Babcock drafting college seniors (Araujo/Graham) when he really should've went with higher ceiling players like (Smith/Jefferson/Green/Granger) etc.

JP missed out with Troy Tulowitzki IMO and he'd be the perfect SS for this team. A cannon for an arm, great defence, speed and hits for contect/power.

From what I can tell, the FA crop for SS is very thin....and I'm probably not going to shell out the $$ for Eckstein. That position is filled via trade.

The catching position is a whole different can of worms

There is some great talent available, and if the Jays can clear some salary, they can go after a C.

Posada/Lo Duca/Barrett/Pudge/Kendall are all available.

I'd personally look at Michael Barrett for the Jays. With Josh Bard in SD looking for the starters job, he can be had. He has some locker room issues, but he can provide a solid .270 average with 15 HR's and solid defence. If the Jays could get Posada....I'd kiss JP's big nose.

As for the DH, I might just keep Matt Stairs there or I'd look to Adam Lind. Lind, in the minors is a perennial .300 hitter who has some power.

If not, I'd fill the void by trade aswell.....not too sure with who.

As you can see, it's going to be tough for whoever tries to get this team back to it's glory days.....man they're going to need an overhaul.

[Griff83]

a.) Team needs more speed simple and plain. I know it goes against JP's philosophy but this team needs to start to manufacture runs other ways other then just attempting to play for the big inning and count on the home run. Even at his age a guy like Kenny Lofton would do wonders for this team (not saying going out and getting him but a player like him would be ideal for this team decent hitter/tons of speed.

B.) Zaun needs to go. Not only has his arm become a major liabilty but so has his bat (.235 just aint cutting it). everyday I see teams start to take more advantage of his pathetic arm and this problem will only start to get worse if this team ever makes the playoffs in where the scores of games lower and each single run becomes more valuable. Id go out and try to aquire a decent backup catcher to be the bridge from now to J.P. Arencibia.....Kelly Shoppach would be a sufficient replacement.

C.)This team needs another consistant .295-.300 hitter in its lineup. I think we are the only team in the division currently that only has one guy hitting over .300, every other team at least has 2 guys hitting at that mark. Reed Johnson might become this guy seeing he was a 3 hundred + hitter last year, but im just not sold he can be that hitter year in year out.

[SDM]

1. The ability to manufacture runs. Clearly, JP isn't in support of this philosophy, but we have decent speed with Wells and Rios already. Let them use it. It's counterproductive for them to lay down bunts, if if they're on second, you can't have Thomas and Glaus attempt to slug them home every time. We have four or five guys on this team who slug. That's it.

2. Starting SS. A no-brainer.

3. A better medical staff.

[stro4swift]

Just looking for opinions here...

What do you think are the 3 glaring weaknesses of the Toronto Blue Jays?

If you want to tell everyone how you'd address the problem....you can go right ahead.

I'll start off with mine....and I'll keep it short

1. Lack of Speed

Gary Sheffield....yes Gary himself has 18 SB's.....the Jays as a team have 28. If you can't bat in runs....you're going to have to manufacture them. Is it a managerial change, or does this team need an overrhaul?

2. Address the C position

Gregg Zaun is finito IMO. He's slow, can't bat for average, sucks at throwing out runners and he's a locker room liability IMO. He has a personality that might rub some of the players the wrong way. Thigpen IMO is not ready and still needs some time at C before suiting up as a starting C.

3. SS upgrade

No knock with McDonald, I just find his bat is not very strong. The D will always be there, I just believe that having a player like Hanley Ramirez there would make this lineup so much more dangerous. I'm just using him as an example....not saying go out and get him.

HM: Fire Gibbons

Thoughts?

I agree 100%.

The running game is weak! Even though I think that players like Rios, Wells and Reed could steal a couple more bases...I rarely see Gibbons start his runners for a steal or even a hit and run. I saw some hit and runs last week and I was shocked.

I'm sick of everybody running on the Jays because of Zauny's weak little arm. And it's not like he's going deep 30 times a year.

I love McDonald's defensive gems, but we need some offense at every position.

[tsherkin]

I'd think change #1 would be the replacement of Ricciardi and Gibbons; their philosophy, such as it can be called, is not effective.

After that, there are a number of things.

Key among them is contact hitting, as others have mentioned; our offense lives and dies with our power but that's not a good way to be consistent. Contact hitting and moving runners into scoring position with the running game, that'd be better. That means more speed (as others have mentioned) and livelier bats and less focus on 30/100 guys and more on a guy who can just get on base, Paul Molitor and John Olerud types, to use older examples.

I'd like to have a catcher with more zip; I like how Zaun calls games but we're bottom two in stopping runners and that needs to change.

The comment about the farm system is a pretty good one; we really need some guys we can develop for the future.

I'm lukewarm on the SS bit; Mac's hitting .274, which is acceptable, and he's a defensive gem. He can get the extra base hit, he's stolen a few bases... We're not going to have outstanding hitting from every position and he's still an acceptable hitter.

There was a study done on hitting recently (at either hardballtimes.com or baseballanalysts.com) that pointed out that hitting caliber is inversely proportional to the difficulty of fielding at a given position, so it's tough to expect a shortstop to be a great hitter, which is why Rodriguez is so special.

I'd be content just leaving Mac there and upgrading our backstop.

I wouldn't mind a legit 5th starter. Burnett needs to go, we need consistent health, not consistent injuries and Towers needs to go because there's really no place for him in our bullpen, most especially once Ryan comes back. But pitching, at least at this point, is the least of our concerns. Our manager is one of the worst in the league and our GM has a really silly philosophy; I don't think very highly of Ricciardi and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Changing over our management would seem to be the highest priority because it'll help us get a REAL idea of what this lineup is capable of doing as opposed to seeing what it can do when everyone swings for the fences and the runners never move.

[cb4_89]

Prince Fielder.

I love that guy.

[Griff83]

I have no problems with JohnnyMac. Sure a awesome fielding SS with some power would be nice, but how many are those in the majors and how many are available? Mac's impact defensively will basically match what you get from a decent defender and a guy who will hit 25 pts higher in batting avg (Macdonald isnt the reason this teams offence sucks this year). So you might get a few more runs driven in and a few more home runs, but most likely that guy will also give up quite a few more runs in the field compared to Macdonald.

The Jeters, Guillens, Peralta's, Tejada's, Cabrera's, Rollins, Reyes of the world are great but the only really realistic targets would be a guy like Eckstein and in my opinion he's not a major upgrade over Mac, even though he would add more to the offense.

[GYBE]

I just believe that having a player like Hanley Ramirez there would make this lineup so much more dangerous.

Really? Adding by far the best SS in the game would make the lineup better? I know you weren't advocating getting him, I just found that really funny.

Anyways, I'm not a Jays fan, but I see a lot of the games on TV and have been to a couple this year. Here's how I'd try and improve the team:

- Sell high on the Jays relievers, preferably for high-upside positional prospects. Several of them are pitching over their heads, and relievers are inconsistent enough that you never know what you'll get from them next season. Virtually every team outside Boston could use bullpen help, and down the stretch run a bunch of dumb GM's would probably overpay for a Scott Downs or Casey Janssen type player.

- The Jays have decent power spread throughout the lineup, but they don't have a guy capable of carrying the team. When your LF is Reed Johnson and your 1B is Lyle Overbay, you're weak in power at two critical positions. I don't know if it can be done, but I'd like to see the Jays trade multiple good players for one great one (in simple terms). Personally, I'd try and get an upgrade at 1B since Reed is valuable as the only true leadoff option.

- Vernon and Glaus need to hit better...not much more you can say. Especially Vernon, since the team obviously committed to him long-term. On paper, the offense should be better, these guys just haven't played well this year.

- Trade AJ Burnett, pay a majority of his salary and pick up some good prospects. The Jays need to invest more in the farm, they've been very poor at developing positional players outside Rios. The rotation will be fine without him with Doc/Marcum/McGowan/Litsch/FA.

- Petition the MLB to move out of the AL East.

[Griff83]

[quote="GYBE"][/quote]

"The Jays have decent power spread throughout the lineup, but they don't have a guy capable of carrying the team. When your LF is Reed Johnson and your 1B is Lyle Overbay, you're weak in power at two critical positions. I don't know if it can be done, but I'd like to see the Jays trade multiple good players for one great one (in simple terms). Personally, I'd try and get an upgrade at 1B since Reed is valuable as the only true leadoff option"

Overbay hit 22 home runs last year and has 41 over the previous 2 seasons to this one. Power is certainly not weak at 1B as a healthy Overbay is easily capable of being a perennial 20hr a year player.

[kelso]

1. New General Manager.

2. New Coach.

3. Balls for the likes of Vernan Wells and the rest of the under-performers who can't take it to the next level.

[SDM]

-= original quote snipped =-



"The Jays have decent power spread throughout the lineup, but they don't have a guy capable of carrying the team. When your LF is Reed Johnson and your 1B is Lyle Overbay, you're weak in power at two critical positions. I don't know if it can be done, but I'd like to see the Jays trade multiple good players for one great one (in simple terms). Personally, I'd try and get an upgrade at 1B since Reed is valuable as the only true leadoff option"

Overbay hit 22 home runs last year and has 41 over the previous 2 seasons to this one. Power is certainly not weak at 1B as a healthy Overbay is easily capable of being a perennial 20hr a year player.

Ideally, you want 30+ from first base, but since Wells, on a good year, can hit 30+, I think he makes up the difference. Overbay gets on base a ton and is a solid contact hitter when healthy. He's the ideal #2 guy, plus he's a lefty.

He's good for .280/.360/.850 with 35 doubles, 20 homers, and 80 RBI. Generally, he hits for more power than you'd like from a #2, but we can live with it.

[Griff83]

-= original quote snipped =-



Ideally, you want 30+ from first base, but since Wells, on a good year, can hit 30+, I think he makes up the difference. Overbay gets on base a ton and is a solid contact hitter when healthy. He's the ideal #2 guy, plus he's a lefty.

He's good for .280/.360/.850 with 35 doubles, 20 homers, and 80 RBI. Generally, he hits for more power than you'd like from a #2, but we can live with it.

Boston, Detroit and Cleveland are all going to end up with a 1B that doesnt hit 30 home runs.

[OldNo7]

1. Axe Godfrey

2. Axe JP

3. Axe Gibbons

4. Rebuild the farm system from scratch. I want some exciting young players in bunches like Tampa, Arizona, Kansas City.

[Mak]

I think catcher position is the one that needs addressing the most. We need someone that can actually throw out runners. Stay healthy and get 70+ RBIs.

Any good catchers free agents this year? Position might be hard to fill.


With a healthy Overbay all year and Reed and maybe Wells has a good season again. I think we can score some runs next year.

The only two position we can improve on is SS and C. Get a better hitter at that spot and maybe we can revamp line up for next year. I guess you could replace Reed? But i would not unless a good deal coems along of course.


So to sum up:

1. Catcher
2. SS
3. LF

[jalenrose#5]

I think catcher position is the one that needs addressing the most. We need someone that can actually throw out runners. Stay healthy and get 70+ RBIs.

Any good catchers free agents this year? Position might be hard to fill.


With a healthy Overbay all year and Reed and maybe Wells has a good season again. I think we can score some runs next year.

The only two position we can improve on is SS and C. Get a better hitter at that spot and maybe we can revamp line up for next year. I guess you could replace Reed? But i would not unless a good deal coems along of course.


So to sum up:

1. Catcher
2. SS
3. LF

1. Guys like Paul Loduca, Jorge Posada and Mike Piazza will be availble for FA's....but I like the pickup of Michael Barrett....a great game caller, fiery competitor, career .270 hitter, drives in roughly 60-70 runs if given starting time nad he can actually throw out runners.

TSN Scouting Report

Assets
Displays excellent leadership qualities. Has a smooth line-drive stroke and doubles power. Possesses a cannon for an arm behind the plate.

Flaws
Tends to crawl out of the gates in April and he's a typically slow catcher.

Career potential
Strong overall starting catcher

How about the pickup of Joey Gathright at LF if Stairs doesn't return. He provides some speed and D, he can play all OF positions and he can finally hit decently. I think he'll be useful in those situations.

SS I still say Johnny Mac, but I'd bring up Santos as the backup to see what he's got....either that or bring in Adams who seems to be hitting his stride in AAA at this time....see if Hill will move to SS a few times....or try Adams back at SS.....he has played 3rd a few times this year.

[Holmes]

4. Rebuild the farm system from scratch. I want some exciting young players in bunches like Tampa, Arizona, Kansas City.

Well, we would then need to lose like the Rays, DBacks and Royals did to do that. Are you prepared for that?

SS I still say Johnny Mac, but I'd bring up Santos as the backup to see what he's got....either that or bring in Adams who seems to be hitting his stride in AAA at this time....see if Hill will move to SS a few times....or try Adams back at SS.....he has played 3rd a few times this year.

I will cry (a lot of man-tears) if I see McDonald starting at short next year. I do not want to see a Rey Ordonez-thing happening at SS. The bottomline is McDonald is the epitome of a solid backup infielder but giving a full season of at bats to a guy who has a career average of .242 and an OBP of .282 is not the answer.

It may look ok now when he's "hitting .270" but not when he might be getting 450+ at bats hitting .230-.240. Hell, he hit .223 last year with us.

A change has to made there for next year and it must be help that is brought in. Whether it be through trades or FA. Nothing in our minors will save us and neither would McDonald.

[OldNo7]

Heck the DBacks have won a World Series in between, I will take that.

[The_Hater]

1. A new GM.

2. Upgrade at SS, McDonald is a solid b/u. Hopefully with somebody with a high OBP who can lead off.

3. Another true, top flight SP to help get through injuries. A staff of Halladay/Marcum/Burnett/McGowen would look awesome with a healthier version of AJ stuck in the 2-hole.

4. Upgrade the catching situation. Zaun is a solid b/u.


On a side note, I see people listing lack of speed quite high and I don't agree with this at all. We've already got the best defensive outfield in baseball, where speed is most important and offensively we need guys that get themselves on base in front of our power hitters, not necessarily guys that can run around the bases really fast when after they hit a 2-run homer.