Report: Twins, Rockies, Jays 'could be threats to steal' Saltalamacchia

[jaysblue]

Completely agree. Salty at $8-9 AAV makes me sick. Lol @ "steal" him from the Red Sox, they'd be happy to let him walk at that price.

 

Isn't that considered a bargain? If Ruiz was a bargain at that AAV, then shouldn't Salty be as well?

[Frenchsoup]

Isn't that considered a bargain? If Ruiz was a bargain at that AAV, then shouldn't Salty be as well?

 

Do you not get Salty is a terrible defender? Ruiz is a good defender and can hit.

[jaysblue]

I've already answered you on this, meat?

 

No you haven't mate lol

[jaysblue]

Do you not get Salty is a terrible defender? Ruiz is a good defender and can hit.

 

Where did I say Salty is a great defender? I know defensively he isn't that good behind the plate. Though he managed to post a 3.6 WAR last season according to FanGraphs and Steamers projects a 3 WAR from him in 2014. He's also only 28, and has more of an offensive ceiling then Ruiz. So if posters on here were saying Ruiz was a bargain, wouldn't Salty be a bargain as well at that same price? Unless there is something wrong with FanGraphs and Steamers projections?

[KingKat]

Isn't that considered a bargain? If Ruiz was a bargain at that AAV, then shouldn't Salty be as well?

 

The Salty hate is bordering on irrational. I mean he was generally considered the 2nd or 3rd best free agent catcher and now that the other two are gone, there's a whole lot of noses being lifted which doesn't make a whole lot of sense given the dwindling options. I get that the skill set isn't popular because he's a lot like JPA but he's unquestionably an upgrade.

[Dr. Dinger]

I for one never said Ruiz was a bargain, although I do prefer him as a player. I don't believe in Salty's bat at all going forward and he is a below average defender in most respects. That money would be better spent towards SP.

[KingKat]

His bat landed him that WAR, as Kev pointed out earlier last year is just an outlier, there's no way he can sustain a BABIP near 400 again.

 

Yeah but wouldn't his projections going forward adjust for his BABIP? The point isn't that he's expected to produce as much value, the point is that he's still projected to provide good value (about the same as Ruiz who definitely has the more attractive skill set but is off the market).

[jays_fever]

Yeah but wouldn't his projections going forward adjust for his BABIP? The point isn't that he's expected to produce as much value, the point is that he's still projected to provide good value (about the same as Ruiz who definitely has the more attractive skill set but is off the market).

 

Streamers has him projected as a really good defender, which is carrying his war total. They put him back down to below average offensively. Better off just saying f*** it and waiting for Jiminez which cost us basically nothing

[jaysblue]

I for one never said Ruiz was a bargain, although I do prefer him as a player. I don't believe in Salty's bat at all going forward and he is a below average defender in most respects. That money would be better spent towards SP.

 

Salty isn't my first preference as well. I'm just playing devil's advocate here with everyone since I'm shocked on how irrational some posters are. Many were saying Ruiz was such a bargain, though Salty at the same price wasn't. I think the Jays are better on using that money elsewhere to improve the club such as the rotation. I've been on the Hanigan bandwagon since Day 1 lol.

[Frenchsoup]

If your going to go after Salty you may as well go for Navarro who will come in a lot cheaper and has a better bat.

[kcjaysfan]

Page 3 dumbass!

 

Shouldn't that be "dumnass"?

[kcjaysfan]

Don't mess with my sayings brah.

 

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/346/741/fde.jpg

[kcjaysfan]

lol......ultimately, not even close!

 

http://makeameme.org/media/created/i-tried.jpg

[Abomination]

I believe steamer did by dropping him .6 WAR, as I've said earlier, I'll take a big fat steamer on that projection. I believe Ruiz is by far the better player overall, it's simply my opinion, this includes age and term. Salty's a sack of s***. I just read a suggestion of yours and was thinking Martin Maldanado is a great target. I mentioned him awhile back but he's slipped my mind since. I wouldn't mind him and Hanigan as a tandem.

 

Steamer is also projecting him to start 146 games next year... Dump him down to a more reasonable 120 and you probably get about 2.4 WAR projection. Without calculating the exact amount, it looks like Steamer is projecting Salty and JPA to be roughly equal defensively per game, but Salty to be slightly better with the bat (but still below average).

[jaysblue]

If your going to go after Salty you may as well go for Navarro who will come in a lot cheaper and has a better bat.

 

Contracts aside, I'd take Salty's bat over Navarro's any day of the week.

[KingKat]

I believe steamer did by dropping him .6 WAR, as I've said earlier, I'll take a big fat steamer on that projection. I believe Ruiz is by far the better player overall, it's simply my opinion, this includes age and term. Salty's a sack of s***. I just read a suggestion of yours and was thinking Martin Maldanado is a great target. I mentioned him awhile back but he's slipped my mind since. I wouldn't mind him and Hanigan as a tandem.

 

That would be my preferred tandem as well. You have to figure either should be good enough to catch th knuckleball but AA might be hung up on experience with the knuckleball. You would hope that wouldn't prevent him from simply acquiring the best receivers out there but who knows. The other big question mark is the cost to acquire Hanigan. If the price is reasonable you would think AA would have acquired him already by now but who knows.

[Terminator]

I believe steamer did by dropping him .6 WAR, as I've said earlier, I'll take a big fat steamer on that projection. I believe Ruiz is by far the better player overall, it's simply my opinion, this includes age and term. Salty's a sack of s***. I just read a suggestion of yours and was thinking Martin Maldanado is a great target. I mentioned him awhile back but he's slipped my mind since. I wouldn't mind him and Hanigan as a tandem.

 

Don't you dare steal my Martin Maldonado suggestion!

[Dr. Dinger]

Contracts aside, I'd take Salty's bat over Navarro's any day of the week.

 

I wouldn't. When Salty's BABIP regresses to league average he's a .230 AVG .290 OBP type who strikes out 30% of the time. It's Arencibia with slightly better defence for 3/4 of the cost of an SP2. I'd rather use that $9M AAV towards someone like Garza and keep the s***** offensive catcher we already have.

 

At least Navarro has good contact skills, and more to the point, you can't put "contracts aside." Navarro looks like he's going to be considerably cheaper than Salty. FWIW, Steamer projects Navarro to be the better hitter in 2014.

[Angrioter]

Can't we just all agree that neither Saltalamacchia nor Navarro are particularly sexy/desirable options?

 

The options are few......pick your poison: JPA, Salty, Navarro, trade Stroman/Sanchez

[Abomination]

Can't we just all agree that neither Saltalamacchia nor Navarro are particularly sexy/desirable options?

 

Yes. Absolutely.

[Dr. Dinger]

Can't we just all agree that neither Saltalamacchia nor Navarro are particularly sexy/desirable options?

 

I'll absolutely agree to that, so why blow $9M in payroll? I'd take Navarro at $5-6M for 2+ an option, maybe. Salty just doesn't bring a different skill set and he has absolutely terrible hair.

 

I mean really, if we're just going to waste money on an incremental improvement, I'd rather take Brandon Phillips.

[jaysblue]

I wouldn't. When Salty's BABIP regresses to league average he's a .230 AVG .290 OBP type who strikes out 30% of the time. It's Arencibia with slightly better defence for 3/4 of the cost of an SP2. I'd rather use that $9M AAV towards someone like Garza and keep the s***** offensive catcher we already have.

 

At least Navarro has good contact skills, and more to the point, you can't put "contracts aside." Navarro looks like he's going to be considerably cheaper than Salty. FWIW, Steamer projects Navarro to be the better hitter in 2014.

 

Navarro has a career .684 OPS and really his only two good years offensively were in 2007 and last season. I was talking about offensive skills overall which is why I said "contracts aside" with no intentions of suggesting the Jays should sign the one or the other.

 

Also, where have I said I wanted the Jays to sign Salty at $8-9 million AAV? I've just been playing devil's advocate since most posters on this board were all crying and wishing the Jays signed Ruiz to the deal he signed with the Phillies, though when mentioning Salty's name with the same terms everyone on here started saying Salty was as bad as JPA and freaking out. I've stated numerous times I hope the Jays trade for Ryan Hanigan or a go for a cheaper option behind the plate rather then spend close to $8-9 million AAV on a Ruiz or Salty so they could use that $ elsewhere like pitching.

 

As for Steamer projections, they aren't the be-all and end-all. I think with almost every post regarding a FA or trade, I've read "Steamer projects this or that" when posters are trying to support their arguments. And it seems like many are now discrediting Steamers projections on Salty which is what I found ironic. In my opinion, I doubt Navarro comes close to having the season he just had or even something resembling his 2007 season.