2019-20 Offseason Thread

polo007 · Post #461 » by **polo007** » Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:55 pm

Black Watch · Post #462 » by **Black Watch** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:54 am

phillipmike wrote:
Lateral Quicks wrote:
BigLeagueChew wrote:

Read on Twitter

I live in a world where Brandon Drury gets $2.05M to play baseball. The guy has produced a negative WAR 5 out 6 years in the bigs. How does he still have a job?

He was a top 100 prospect on many lists.

He only played 5 seasons. I count 3 negative fWAR seasons.

Rookie year was 20 games so that doesn’t count for me. Two seasons ago he was shut down more than once with multiple injuries including migraines which can be a killer.

I’ll give him a mulligan on his rookie year and two seasons ago.

Last season he has no excuse. This is make or break for his career as a Jay this year.

Similar argument could be said for Derek Fisher.

polo007 · Post #463 » by **polo007** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:23 pm

Read on Twitter

SharoneWright · Post #464 » by **SharoneWright** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:11 pm

Read on Twitter

phillipmike · Post #465 » by **phillipmike** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 6:45 pm

Black Watch wrote:Similar argument could be said for Derek Fisher.

Id gladly give Fisher this season as a 1A/1B to try to show something, if not then he can be your 4th OF. One Fisher, Alford and/or Hernandez should breakout (minimum 2 fWAR).

polo007 · Post #466 » by **polo007** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:04 pm

Read on Twitter

Black Watch · Post #467 » by **Black Watch** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:44 am

SharoneWright wrote:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Powder Blue jerseys! (... as alternates.)

Black Watch · Post #468 » by **Black Watch** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:49 am

phillipmike wrote:
Black Watch wrote:Similar argument could be said for Derek Fisher.

Id gladly give Fisher this season as a 1A/1B to try to show something, if not then he can be your 4th OF. One Fisher, Alford and/or Hernandez should breakout (minimum 2 fWAR).

Absolutely agree.

The_Hater · Post #469 » by **The_Hater** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 5:45 pm

phillipmike wrote:
Black Watch wrote:Similar argument could be said for Derek Fisher.

Id gladly give Fisher this season as a 1A/1B to try to show something, if not then he can be your 4th OF. One Fisher, Alford and/or Hernandez should breakout (minimum 2 fWAR).

Ya that’s just it. You’ve got a roster full of young 4th/5th OF’s and even if just one of them breaks out you’ve either filled a hole or gained a valuable trade chit. Last year Gurriel and Urshela broke out, unfortunately one of them did that with the Yankees. :-?

phillipmike · Post #470 » by **phillipmike** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 6:29 pm

The_Hater wrote:Ya that’s just it. You’ve got a roster full of young 4th/5th OF’s and even if just one of them breaks out you’ve either filled a hole or gained a valuable trade chit. Last year Gurriel and Urshela broke out, unfortunately one of them did that with the Yankees.

Yup, this is what you do as a rebuilding team. Had Gurriel, Biggio, and Thornton breakout. Now you have 3 key pieces (may not be cornerstones) but key pieces under control for 6 years making pretty close to league minimum. In our years of contention we were spending 10-14M on our backend starters in Estrada, Garcia, Dickey, and Liriano. Had no consistency in LF going with Revere, Saunders, Upton and Zeke. And at 2B we didnt need to spend resources on Solarte, Diaz, Goins, Barney etc. in case Travis could get healthy.

Just got 3 better players making under 3-4M combined. Saved possibly 20-25M that you can use on other ares of your team. Its a huge win. Hoping the same happens with one of Fisher, Alford and/or Hernandez. If 2 happen then the Jays are golden.

The_Hater · Post #471 » by **The_Hater** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 6:35 pm

phillipmike wrote:
The_Hater wrote:Ya that’s just it. You’ve got a roster full of young 4th/5th OF’s and even if just one of them breaks out you’ve either filled a hole or gained a valuable trade chit. Last year Gurriel and Urshela broke out, unfortunately one of them did that with the Yankees.

Yup, this is what you do as a rebuilding team. Had Gurriel, Biggio, and Thornton breakout. Now you have 3 key pieces (may not be cornerstones) but key pieces under control for 6 years making pretty close to league minimum. In our years of contention we were spending 10-14M on our backend starters in Estrada, Garcia, Dickey, and Liriano. Had no consistency in LF going throw Revere, Saunders, Upton and Zeke. And at 2B we didnt need to spend resources on Solarte, Diaz, Goins, Barney etc. in case Travis could get healthy.

Just got 3 better players making under 3-4M combined. Saved possibly 20-25M that you can use on other ares of your team. Its a huge win. Hoping the same happens with one of Fisher, Alford and/or Hernandez. If 2 happen then the Jays are golden.

I just wouldn’t bet on Alford, he’s been a below average hitter in AAA for years now. He’s a non prospect in my eyes. Drury could still play a COF spot and Breakout though. A Grichuk bounce back is needed too.

Tanner · Post #472 » by **Tanner** » Tue Jan 14, 2020 7:13 pm

Teoscar's exit velocity was nearly Aaron Judge levels after the all star break, and he started drawing more walks as well. His defence will probably limit his WAR potential, especially if he's in CF, but I could see him hitting well enough to play everyday.

To me the real wild cards are Fisher and Alford. Wouldn't mind if they started Fisher and Hernandez at the same time (one at DH and one in the OF), and used Alford as the 4th outfielder. I think Tellez will end up starting at DH but he has an option remaining so why not use it? Give Fisher and Alford a month or two to see if something clicks.

Black Watch · Post #473 » by **Black Watch** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:49 am

I'd rather give Alford more ABs than Tellez, but they play different positions so it's not one over the other there. I really don't see a future for Tellez in Toronto (or in the major leagues for that matter).

But like PhillipMike said, the value in having one of these AAAA OFers break out would be huge, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

Ditto for all the AAAA SP depth we have now. You got to imagine one or two of them is going to stick in the majors.

This year is shaping to be less of the continued rebuild I expected it to be, and more of a showcase!

The_Hater · Post #474 » by **The_Hater** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:05 pm

Black Watch wrote:I'd rather give Alford more ABs than Tellez, but they play different positions so it's not one over the other there. I really don't see a future for Tellez in Toronto (or in the major leagues for that matter).

But like PhillipMike said, the value in having one of these AAAA OFers break out would be huge, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

Ditto for all the AAAA SP depth we have now. You got to imagine one or two of them is going to stick in the majors.

This year is shaping to be less of the continued rebuild I expected it to be, and more of a showcase!

What do you see in Alford that makes you think a breakout is possible?

wazabifuzz · Post #475 » by **wazabifuzz** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:21 pm

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/watch-live-blue-jays-introduce-pitcher-shun-yamaguchi/

yamaguchi presser on now ..

polo007 · Post #476 » by **polo007** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:58 pm

The Toronto Blue Jays introduced their newest pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi, who spoke about being able to live his dream of pitching in the MLB.

Watch on YouTube

Read on Twitter

Black Watch · Post #477 » by **Black Watch** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:50 am

The_Hater wrote:
Black Watch wrote:I'd rather give Alford more ABs than Tellez, but they play different positions so it's not one over the other there. I really don't see a future for Tellez in Toronto (or in the major leagues for that matter).

But like PhillipMike said, the value in having one of these AAAA OFers break out would be huge, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

Ditto for all the AAAA SP depth we have now. You got to imagine one or two of them is going to stick in the majors.

This year is shaping to be less of the continued rebuild I expected it to be, and more of a showcase!

What do you see in Alford that makes you think a breakout is possible?

Not much, unfortunately. But after 8 years of frustration (first college football, then all the injuries), it would be very satisfying to see him put something together. And so I hope he does well in the end.

Black Watch · Post #478 » by **Black Watch** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 8:33 am

In case y'all don't believe in Biggio as much as I do:

Read on Twitter

polo007 · Post #479 » by **polo007** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 5:19 pm

Read on Twitter

BigLeagueChew · Post #480 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:30 pm

Ross Atkins’ heavy lifting could be done, but the executive stated Wednesday that the team’s still open to another pickup that would make a “significant impact,” per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Atkins revealed such a move would more likely come via trade than free agency, but he cautioned, “Executing trades of significant impact is very difficult to do.” Center field is one area that could still use some help, Atkins suggested, while Nicholson-Smith points to a reliever and a utility player as possible late-winter additions.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/al-notes-red-sox-blue-jays-rangers-mathis.html

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/rotation-now-improved-whats-next-busy-blue-jays-off-season/