Blue Jays targeting Iannetta

[Angrioter]

Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports that the Blue Jays have targeted Angels catcher Chris Iannetta.

And if the Jays can't get Iannetta they'll try for the Angels' other backstop, Hank Conger. Iannetta, who's due $4.975 million in 2014 and $5.525 million in 2015, batted .225/.358/.372 with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 115 games this past season for Anaheim. Conger, who is still a pre-arbitration player, hit .249/.310/.403 with seven homers and 21 RBI in 92 games. Toronto wants to upgrade defensively from J.P. Arencibia.

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/414394/Blue-Jays-targeting-Angels-catcher-Iannetta?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Angrioter]

I like this. wRC+ of at least 105 in each of the past three seasons and a career 103. I wonder if he can frame.

 

He's the Daric Barton of the catcher position. Defensively a small upgrade over JPA. Offensively a great upgrade.

 

What would be the cost? Sargio Santos?!

[G-Snarls]

Know what I like most about this news???

 

It means that Alex Anthopoulos knows our catcher is terrible and is going to do something about it

[JugglingPitches]

I want JPA gone more than anybody, and would be happy to see ANYONE ELSE behind the plate next year...but I hope we get someone better than Iannetta or Conger (the Sun has something about the Jays having interest in him as well). I want a gun behind the plate, someone who can frame and can hit at least .250 with an OBP over .320.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Iannetta would be a great pickup.

 

See you later Aaron Sanchez!

[G-Snarls]

I want JPA gone more than anybody, and would be happy to see ANYONE ELSE behind the plate next year...but I hope we get someone better than Iannetta or Conger (the Sun has something about the Jays having interest in him as well). I want a gun behind the plate, someone who can frame and can hit at least .250 with an OBP over .320.

 

Me too. I hope he aims higher. I'm just glad he's obviously going to do something about it.

 

A 2 ish WAR catcher ain't Joe Mauer but it's a huge step up from JPA.

Edited October 21, 2013 by G-Snarls

[DuckDuckGose]

Me too. I hope he aims higher. I'm just glad he's obviously going to do something about it. A 2 ish WAR catcher ain't Joe Mauer but it's a huge step up from JPA.

 

Just get a free agent though. Why the hell would you give up assets for ianetta when there are equivalent players to be signed.

[Sammy225]

Iannetta is a career .355 OBP guy and was at .358 last year. I feel like you're underrating him.

 

Here's the Leaderboard of available guys, over the past five seasons: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2009&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=697,3256,8267,4810,3179,746,2579,5557,8259,9689,25

 

I agree. The guy is an on base machine and a HUGE upgrade defensivly. We don't need a guy that can knock out 20 HRs. We have those guys (Lawrie, Bau, EE. Rasmus, Lind). Give me a guy that can get on base at the bottom of the order. We had none of that last year. We had K's and lots of them. I would welcome Iannetta with open arms.

[Angrioter]

Iannetta is a career .355 OBP guy and was at .358 last year. I feel like you're underrating him.

 

Here's the Leaderboard of available guys, over the past five seasons: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2009&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=697,3256,8267,4810,3179,746,2579,5557,8259,9689,25

 

Chris Iannetta and Kottaras in, JPA and Thole out

[KingKat]

The Angels and Jays have seemed like obvious trade partners for awhile. The Angels have extra catchers. The Angels have a 2B they might trade and they really want to upgrade thier bullpen which is practically the only area of depth the Jays have to trade from. The other reason why this works is that both teams are in the same posiiton, two teams who have spent to win now and aren't winning. They are both looking to re-arrange the deck chairs. Neither team is looking for prospects and that's just as well because neither has a lot to offer. I could see a big trade brewing with a lot of name and salaries being moved around. Romero, for one, would probably love to pitch in California and the Angels might be one of the rare teams desperate enough to give a return for him, provided there are financial commitments going both ways of course.

[DuckDuckGose]

Fast's data has Ianetta at -29.5 runs over about 3500 innings from 2007-2011. So just under -1 WAR per 1000 innings.

 

He'd be an upgrade on JPA, but what the f*** is AA's aversion to the FA market? There are like 5 players available who are at least as good as Iannetta, and would cost nothing but cash.

 

Well said. Agreed on all points

[DuckDuckGose]

The Angels and Jays have seemed like obvious trade partners for awhile. The Angels have extra catchers. The Angels have a 2B they might trade and they really want to upgrade thier bullpen which is practically the only area of depth the Jays have to trade from. The other reason why this works is that both teams are in the same posiiton, two teams who have spent to win now and aren't winning. They are both looking to re-arrange the deck chairs. Neither team is looking for prospects and that's just as well because neither has a lot to offer. I could see a big trade brewing with a lot of name and salaries being moved around. Romero, for one, would probably love to pitch in California and the Angels might be one of the rare teams desperate enough to give a return for him, provided there are financial commitments going both ways of course.

 

Kendrick with Ianetta/Conger makes some sense

[G-Snarls]

Fast's data has Ianetta at -29.5 runs over about 3500 innings from 2007-2011. So just under -1 WAR per 1000 innings.

 

He'd be an upgrade on JPA, but what the f*** is AA's aversion to the FA market? There are like 5 players available who are at least as good as Iannetta, and would cost nothing but cash.

 

Exactly

 

Trading for a catcher is only acceptable to me if:

 

It's to obtain a very good player at low cost in trade

 

AND

 

He is saving $$ to spend on a starter

 

But given market factors, singing a FA catcher and trading for a starter seems more sensical

Edited October 21, 2013 by G-Snarls

[Sammy225]

Kendrick with Ianetta/Conger makes some sense

 

It does but I can't see the Angels selling Kendrick for just bullpen pieces. I would see them wanting a little more value for him. They may want a prospect back in return and who would we have in the farm that is not over paying that they would want.

[Sammy225]

The Angels and Jays have seemed like obvious trade partners for awhile. The Angels have extra catchers. The Angels have a 2B they might trade and they really want to upgrade thier bullpen which is practically the only area of depth the Jays have to trade from. The other reason why this works is that both teams are in the same posiiton, two teams who have spent to win now and aren't winning. They are both looking to re-arrange the deck chairs. Neither team is looking for prospects and that's just as well because neither has a lot to offer. I could see a big trade brewing with a lot of name and salaries being moved around. Romero, for one, would probably love to pitch in California and the Angels might be one of the rare teams desperate enough to give a return for him, provided there are financial commitments going both ways of course.

 

Romero?? I guess they did take Wells off our hands and Romeros contract is way lower lol.

[KingKat]

 

He'd be an upgrade on JPA, but what the f*** is AA's aversion to the FA market? There are like 5 players available who are at least as good as Iannetta, and would cost nothing but cash.

 

It's pretty bad. Why is it that JPR could get players to accept his money and AA can't? They had to make generous offers to sign A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan but neither was outrageous. The only signing that seemed really out of wack for the market was Thomas and if j.P. doesn't compound that with the poorly handled option clause, it wouldn't have been that bad. I remember J.P. stating point blank that the free agent market was prefferable to trades because it's only money. AA is the complete opposite of that. Don't get me wrong, AA's pulled some great trades (Morrow, Rasmus, Y. Escobar) but trading for what are essentially free agent contracts or just to plug easily filled holes is stupidly inneficient.

 

I'm tired of this loser talk. Get over f***in' Carlos Beltran already. JPR got spurned by Gil Meche. What did he do? He pursued Burnett even more aggresively the next year. He gave him a lot of money, a player's opt out. Whatever it took and he still got good value on the deal (which wasn't the point anyways, the point was to make a run which he did which is why even the Ryan deal was arguably worth it). AA is basically operating with one arm behind his back by eliminating the free agent market. Sign free agents or build from within or ideally do a bit of both. Don't give up assets potentially usable assets for every single roster move. Destroying your depth in not a viable alternative to the free agent market if the market is really that bad then you should be hoarding prospects not giving them up.

 

The worst move aren't even the overpays for guys like Dickey and Johnson (who was a leat potentially were aces), the worst moves are giving up assets for guys like Happ, Bonifacio and Rogers who are a dime a dozen and should never cost you more than money.

[Angrioter]

Iannetta + s*** for Drabek, Pillar and Rogers

[KingKat]

It does but I can't see the Angels selling Kendrick for just bullpen pieces. I would see them wanting a little more value for him. They may want a prospect back in return and who would we have in the farm that is not over paying that they would want.

 

They want pitching prospects. They would want guys like Stroman, Sanchez or Osuna. We'd want to move guys like Drabek, Jenkins or Nolin. Both teams are desperate to shake things up. Who blinks first?

[Sammy225]

They want pitching prospects. They would want guys like Stroman, Sanchez or Osuna. We'd want to move guys like Drabek, Jenkins or Nolin. Both teams are desperate to shake things up. Who blinks first?

 

The way last season went goodbye Sanchez f***. But I do agree that I would go the free agent route for a catcher and then maybe try and deal for Kendrick or someone else. I don't see anyone in the Free agent market that really turns my crank except Cano.

[Abomination]

The Angels and Jays have seemed like obvious trade partners for awhile. The Angels have extra catchers. The Angels have a 2B they might trade and they really want to upgrade thier bullpen which is practically the only area of depth the Jays have to trade from. The other reason why this works is that both teams are in the same posiiton, two teams who have spent to win now and aren't winning. They are both looking to re-arrange the deck chairs. Neither team is looking for prospects and that's just as well because neither has a lot to offer. I could see a big trade brewing with a lot of name and salaries being moved around. Romero, for one, would probably love to pitch in California and the Angels might be one of the rare teams desperate enough to give a return for him, provided there are financial commitments going both ways of course.

 

Those are some very interesting points. I wonder if they could also be interested in Izzy returning, especially if they were considering trading Kendrick (whether to us or elsewhere). Perhaps a Romero and Blanton swap as well could be interesting for both sides.

 

The best part would be if JPA went the other way. It would be amusing to see which of the wills would win between JPA and Scioscia.

[TheHurl]

You are all missing some important names here.

 

1. Bob Elliot - the guy who is given zero access to Blue Jays front office.

2. LA Angels - They'd be more likely interested in Esmil Rogers or Ricky Romero than Aaron Sanchez.

 

If the intention is to keep JPA and get him a platoon partner it would make more sense for it to be Conger as long run I think JPA can hit lefties if that's all he sees. Iannetta showed signs of decline (K-Rate up, huge defensive decline, has always hit righties and lefties pretty equally but this year against righties he K'd or walked, nothing else) not to mention the chances of him putting up a 17% BB rate in Toronto are nil.

[G-Snarls]

Blue Jays Interested In Iannetta, Conger

 

by Steve Adams, Oct 21 at 9:59 AM CST

 

Catcher is known to be a priority for the Blue Jays this offseason, and Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports that the team is interested in Chris Iannetta and Hank Conger of the Angels. According to Elliott, the Blue Jays have already begun their efforts to acquire one of Anaheim's backstops.

 

As MLBTR's Mark Polishuk noted in analyzing the Blue Jays' upcoming offseason, the team is set at most offensive positions with the exception of catcher and second base. Mark noted that while incumbent J.P. Arencibia may not be non-tendered, his days as the team's starter are likely over. Toronto's desire to acquire one of the Angels' catchers and their interest in Washington's Wilson Ramos seem to support that line of thinking.

 

Iannetta, who turns 31 next April, might at first appear to be similar to Arencibia given his low batting averages and escalating strikeout rate (25.1 percent in 2013). However, Iannetta has always been adept at drawing a walk. In fact, he drew nearly as many walks in 399 plate appearances in 2013 (68) as Arencibia has in his entire career (74). Overall, Iannetta batted .225/.358/.372 for the Halos in the first season of a three-year, $15.5MM extension. He'll earn $4.975MM in 2014 and $5.525MM in 2015. In each of those seasons, his contract calls for an additional $100K bonus for starting 90 games at catcher and $125K when he reaches each of 100, 110, 115, 120 and 125 starts behind the dish.

 

The switch-hitting Conger batted .249/.310/.403 in 2013. He'll turn just 26 years old in January and won't be eligible for arbitration until next offseason. Originally selected by the Angels with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2006 draft, Conger has never gotten a full season's worth of at-bats with the Halos despite a robust .298/.371/.470 slash line in 854 career plate appearances at Triple-A.

 

As we saw last offseason, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has no problem dealing young talent to fill holes on his big league roster. Though the Blue Jays' farm system was depleted after acquiring R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson in trades, the team still has plenty of minor league pitchers that would pique the Angels' interest. According to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, the Blue Jays' top six prospects are all pitchers, though a top prospect along the lines of Aaron Sanchez would seem far too steep a price for either of the catchers in question.

 

If the Blue Jays really want to get aggressive, they could look to structure a deal that would land one of Iannetta or Conger as well as second baseman Howie Kendrick, who is known to be available. While that scenario is purely my speculation, such a trade would address both of the major holes highlighted in Polishuk's outlook. The Blue Jays own two of the first 11 picks in next year's draft, so they would have ample opportunity to add high-end talent to their farm system following another aggressive winter on the trade market.

[Sorrow]

I would be interested to see if we could do something like Conger and Kendrick for Janssen, Rogers, +

[TheHurl]

The Angels have extra catchers.

 

This is the part where I'm missing something I think. Who are these extra catchers...they have the two we are discussing, a defensive specialist that can't hit AA pitching and several career minor leaguers. Are the Angels really smart enough to trade Iannetta and sign an equal catcher for less money and commitment?

[GD]

WILSON RAMOS i READ WILSON RAMOS.

 

Please?

[G-Snarls]

No Buck please, he's a terrible framer.

 

Is he?

 

Regardless, I want this team getting younger, not older

[G-Snarls]

WILSON RAMOS i READ WILSON RAMOS.

 

Please?

 

Yes. Better target.

[TheHurl]

Is he? How bad?

 

almost identical to JPA in 2011 by Fast's data. Iannetta was worse

[GD]

Ianetta or Ramos would actually be pretty nice, I can cross check Fast's numbers when I'm home.

[KingKat]

This is the part where I'm missing something I think. Who are these extra catchers...they have the two we are discussing, a defensive specialist that can't hit AA pitching and several career minor leaguers. Are the Angels really smart enough to trade Iannetta and sign an equal catcher for less money and commitment?

 

That's a good point. I was going to say that Scioscia proably wants Bobby Wilson to start but I forgot about the whole sage of the Jays claiming Bobby Wilson away from them and him ending up in the Yankees system. Maybe they make a run at Jose Molina or another catch and throw guy. I definitely don't see them taking up J.P.A. or another mostly "offensive" catcher.