Official Toronto Blue Jays Discussion 2013

[BRabbiT]

..Now we are screwed with a maxed-out budget and very few prospects to use in acquisition of starting pitching and filling our other holes ...if AA can't pull a miracle in the next 2 years we will be back at square one with an old, overpaid team and a depleted farm system.

minor league system not as depleted as many think.....

Fangraphs (Dec. 2013)


1) RHP Aaron Sanchez

2) RHP Marcus Stroman

3) 3B Mitch Nay

4) LHP Daniel Norris
5) RHP Roberto Osuna
6) RHP Alberto Tirado
7) C A.J. Jimenez
8) CF D.J. Davis
9) LHP Matt Smoral
10) LHP Sean Nolin

link

Baseball Prospectus (Dec. 2013)


"The #Jays will have seven arms in their top 10 (excluding Osuna), and six of the seven have role 6 grades (no. 3 starter) or higher. #rig"

"RHP Alberto Tirado is highly underrated nationally. FB already +; could end up a 7; SL/CH should get to +. #3 prospect on Jays farm."

"It's still a top ten farm for me. Above-avg thickness. RT @nicholasmcmanus @ProfessorParks huh? I thought we sold the farm last offseason?"

"Stroman is short but he's athletic and strong, and I really like his delivery. He has all the characteristics of a frontline #2 starter."

"Absolutely. Stroman is ready for major league rotation. RT @GrubersMullet @ProfessorParks Good enough to start in the bigs this year"


1) RHP Marcus Stroman

2) RHP Aaron Sanchez

3) RHP Alberto Tirado

4) LHP Daniel Norris
5) LHP Sean Nolin
6) C A.J. Jimenez
7) SS Franklin Barreto
8) CF D.J. Davis
9) RHP Chase DeJong
10) LHP Jairo Labourt


link

[brwnman]

With the Mariners signing Cano, the infield is crowded all of a sudden for them. Brad Miller played well last year in his brief time whereas Nick Franklin struggled. If I were the Jays, I'd look into acquiring Nick Franklin for a reliever or two. The Mariners could definitely use relief help and we've got more than enough to deal.

[brwnman]

According to JPM and Ken Rosenthal, Sergio Santos was going to Texas in a 3 team deal where another player failed a physical. This happened 2-3 weeks ago.

Edwin for Price rumor swirling (doubt either team does it).

AA looking at minor moves to strengthen bench and is optimistic.

AA also has a more complicated big trade that is considered a long shot.

Sorry for the lack of links, they're all from twitter. Either from Ben Nicholson or JPM.

[brwnman]

I suppose this is worth discussing. Roy Halladay has retired from MLB as a member of the Blue Jays (signing a 1-day contract). Injuries the last couple of year really did him in. I remember reading an article a couple of years ago (by Peter Gammons I believe), and he was saying how Doc could be the most likeliest pitcher to hit 300 wins next. He did mention that it would be extremely difficult and that injuries could be a factor. Hats off to Doc!

I think the next question is, will he get to the HOF? It's tough. What makes baseball HOF great is that no very good players make it. It's only elite players that do and you have to be elite for a long time. Longevity matters. I think Halladay was well on his way (until the injuries last couple of years), and I still think there's a good chance he makes it, but the road is much tougher now.

[Qwyjibo]

From all the recent AA talk, it doesn't seem like there is much (any?) money available to sign a bigger free agent. Ubaldo and Garza are probably pipe dreams. I guess we better hope that either Hutchison or Stroman are legit. Out of all the young guys, those two are, IMO, the most likely to be in the rotation this upcoming year should the Jays not sign/trade for anyone.

[brwnman]

Stroman is too much of an unknown for me in the sense I have never seen him pitch. Reports are good, but until I see him pitch, can't really make a determination.

With Hutch, I liked him when he was pitching pre-injury. I can see him as a #3 at his peak. However, going with just Buehrle, Dickey and Morrow as your confirmed starters into spring training would be pretty disappointing, especially because I don't trust Dickey or Buehrle. Morrow can't be trusted to pitch a full season either. If that happens to be the case (I don't think it will), we may become sellers by the trade deadline in the upcoming season.

[Qwyjibo]

With Hutch, I liked him when he was pitching pre-injury. I can see him as a #3 at his peak. However, going with just Buehrle, Dickey and Morrow as your confirmed starters into spring training would be pretty disappointing, especially because I don't trust Dickey or Buehrle. Morrow can't be trusted to pitch a full season either. If that happens to be the case (I don't think it will), we may become sellers by the trade deadline in the upcoming season.

I agree. None of those guys are guarantees to even be #2 quality starters due to a number of reasons. And then after them the next options are Happ, Hutchison, Stroman, Redmond? Then after that you get into the bigger question marks like Drabek, Nolin and, ugh, Romero.

The Jays must add another starter if the goal is to contend in 2014.

[RaininThrees]

From all the recent AA talk, it doesn't seem like there is much (any?) money available to sign a bigger free agent. Ubaldo and Garza are probably pipe dreams. I guess we better hope that either Hutchison or Stroman are legit. Out of all the young guys, those two are, IMO, the most likely to be in the rotation this upcoming year should the Jays not sign/trade for anyone.

I doubt that he'd say anything if he had enough to get one of those guys. Where's the benefit in saying anything at all? "I have a ton of money to spend, who wants to take it?" doesn't do anything for leverage.

Frankly, though... if they miss out on Garza/Ubaldo/Santana/Tanaka I'd be much more comfortable with them standing pat and seeing what they have in the likes of Drabek, Hutchison, Nolin & Stroman than giving up even more assets on a pitcher (unless we're talking about a top-tier guy).

Oh, hi guys. I'm back, I guess.

[brwnman]

I doubt that he'd say anything if he had enough to get one of those guys. Where's the benefit in saying anything at all? "I have a ton of money to spend, who wants to take it?" doesn't do anything for leverage.

Frankly, though... if they miss out on Garza/Ubaldo/Santana/Tanaka I'd be much more comfortable with them standing pat and seeing what they have in the likes of Drabek, Hutchison, Nolin & Stroman than giving up even more assets on a pitcher (unless we're talking about a top-tier guy).

Oh, hi guys. I'm back, I guess.

Wb. Gotta make your next post worthwhile.

Ubaldo intrigues me, but I think he's tied to a first round pick (I think for us it'll be a 2nd-3rd). And I absolutely want the Jays to be in on Tanaka. If nothing else, raise the price for the Yankees.

[Dr.Funk]

Wb. Gotta make your next post worthwhile.

Ubaldo intrigues me, but I think he's tied to a first round pick (I think for us it'll be a 2nd-3rd). And I absolutely want the Jays to be in on Tanaka. If nothing else, raise the price for the Yankees.

We don't give any picks for any free agents.

The Indians would get a sandwich pick but that doesn't effect our picks.

[RaininThrees]

We don't give any picks for any free agents.

The Indians would get a sandwich pick but that doesn't effect our picks.

The Jays would lose their 2nd rounder.

(Edit: 5,000!)

[BRabbiT]

Are the Blue Jays Getting a New Turf This Season?


It's not really a question of if the Blue Jays will get a grass field at the Rogers Centre now, it's just a question of when. And when is obviously dependent on how quickly the Toronto Argos can vacate the facility and find a new home.

So what are the Blue Jays supposed to play on in the meantime?

I received an anonymous tip last week (and by anonymous I mean truly anonymous) that the Blue Jays may be in the process of modifying the current AstroTurf for the 2014 season.

This information should obviously be taken with a grain of salt considering the undisclosed origin, but there's a chance this person could be onto something.

This source claims that the Blue Jays are in the process of lightening the field by removing the sand layers of the AstroTurf and replacing it entirely with rubber (or something to that effect).

FieldTurf was the previous playing surface at the Rogers Centre, but according to their website their average sports field weighs approximately 720,000 pounds; the bulk of which is sand.

Larger-sized cryogenic rubber top layers ensure that the rubber remains on top, providing a safe, forgiving surface.

With all this taken into account, it finally makes sense why you see the turf at Tropicana Field behave the way it does during Blue Jays road trips to St. Petersburg.

Whenever ground balls skipped off the turf, it looked like sand kicked up off the field. I could never figure out exactly why, but it turns out there's multiple layers of sand within the typical artificial surface. This may have been common knowledge, but it's news to me.

As detailed by Minor Leaguer at Bluebird Banter, Paul Beeston was also chatting with some season ticket holders at last week's State of the Franchise, and he informed them that a new surface (or at least a modified one) would be going in this season.

The Rogers Centre turf was completely rolled up and on the field at last Wednesday's State of the Franchise event. The Blue Jays Home Opener is also just over two months away, which doesn't seem like much time to get a new surface ready.

The turf was down the previous weekend for the 'Round the Clock Slo-Pitch Tournament. And there aren't any events planned at the Rogers Centre until mid-March, so why would they pull up the turf so far in advance?

This source claims removing the sand from the AstroTurf will actually soften the field.

If that is in fact true, a softer field would ultimately react much more like real grass compared to its predecessor.
link

.......

[BRabbiT]

VIDEO



Jays Sign Dominican Pitcher Hansel Rodriguez

After trading for additional international bonus pool space from the Angels in December, the Blue Jays have used the extra room to sign Dominican righthander Hansel Rodriguez for $330,000.

Rodriguez, 16, is around 6-foot-2, 180 pounds with a fastball that sits in the low-90s and touches 95. Rodriguez also throws an above-average curveball, which had made him one of the top arms available in Latin America after going unsigned last year on July 2. Rodriguez turns 17 on Feb. 27.

[QUOTE]
In January 2013, Rodriguez pitched in MLB

[Jballer]

Jays Sign Dominican Pitcher Hansel Rodriguez

The big thing is dump all the middle relief and hangers on the rotation for a true number 1 pitcher if you can. Trade 4 for 1 or 5 for 1 and promote a bunch of rookies and D league guys to be your middle relief as long as you can possible land a Zack Grenkie .....

Another International signing with "promise."

I would suspect Anthopolis is just stock piling "potential arms" for a great arm as this team has about a 3 year window to go deep in the playoffs... win a pennent.

Dont know who that is... ...

Just as long as it is a solid American League pitcher or a guy with extensive time in the AL so we dont have grandious illusions that a sub 450 era will translate to an AL east sub 450 era... and 15 winning games translates to 15 winning games... which is what we need for the post season.

Maybe Tigers have an arm they are willing to loose...?

[Dr.Funk]

Jays Sign Dominican Pitcher Hansel Rodriguez




Another International signing with "promise."

I would suspect Anthopolis is just stock piling "potential arms" for a great arm as this team has about a 3 year window to go deep in the playoffs... win a pennent.

Dont know who that is... ...

Just as long as it is a solid American League pitcher or a guy with extensive time in the AL so we dont have grandious illusions that a sub 450 era will translate to an AL east sub 450 era... and 15 winning games translates to 15 winning games... which is what we need for the post season.

Maybe Tigers have an arm they are willing to loose...?

They did. They already traded Doug Fister to the nationals.