Braves to sign Santana

[jaysblue]

Doesn't seem to be causing him issues. Taking a chance on him on a one year deal is a no brainer.

 

He didn't want to pitch in the AL East - simple as that. The Jays had the same offer on the table as the Braves, so you tell me.

[pickoff22]

The argument that signing Santana wouldn't have made us favourites to win the world series therefore it wasn't worth it is ridiculous. Ownership has constantly said they think we have enough talent to field a competitive team. Your job as a GM is to field the best team you can with the resources provided. Santana would have made us better.

 

If you want to say Santana would only have added a couple wins, you can't ignore the fact that teams miss the playoffs by only a couple games all the time. Bottom line is he would have made us better and would have been a clear upgrade in an area that needs upgrades. At this stage we're counting on a minimum of two surprise pitchers coming in and killing it this year.

 

Even if Santana didn't perform like he did last year the value that a guy who throws 200 innings provides is tremendous. Heck, give me a 4.00 era and I'm still ok with it especially considering the lack of durable arms we have.

 

They talked about the 3 year window last year and this offseason they've acted like those words were never spoken. Observing the situation rationally the only explanation for their lack of activity this offseason is that they had financial constraints they were working with. And since front office constantly lies to us about injuries I have no doubt that they aren't exactly honest about the fact that ownership has never restricted their use of resources.

[GeorgiaPeach]

When you watch a guy hit the glove and execute 10 pitches in a row with plus velocity it raises your eyebrows. Sure he's struck out 9 in 5 innings, but it's the manner in which he's executing his pitches and repeating his delivery. I understand that you are not allowed to make qualitative judgements on this site. AA s***, Hutch s***, blue jays s***....there I'm one of the crowd now.

 

You're putting way too much stock in ST.

[Dr. Dinger]

Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons "seemed more subdued than usual" during his media session Wednesday and "hinted" that the Blue Jays "had made plans based on signing Ervin [santana]," reports Toronto radio broadcaster Mike Wilner.

With the Nos. 4-5 spots in the rotation projected to be occupied by question marks -- J.A. Happ and Drew Hutchison -- and the No. 3 spot manned by a pitcher coming off a poor and injury-plagued season (Brandon Morrow), most analysts predicted Toronto would step up and land Santana. Apparently the Blue Jays' miffed manager did too. Santana signed a one-year, $14.1 million contract with Atlanta on Wednesday. It's possible that Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos got too cute here.

[GeorgiaPeach]

AA isn't going to trade for anything until mid way into the season....he will either buy then or sell...depending on how well the offense holds things together for them.

 

I'm hoping he's selling for youth. This team is too old and fragile.

[Frenchsoup]

I still like what I'm seeing out of hutch. He looks like a number 2 the way he's pitching right now. I'd still like to see him in AAA and limiting his innings until about june 1 though.

 

A number 2 will give you 200 innings you think Hutch is capable of that?

[pickoff22]

A number 2 will give you 200 innings you think Hutch is capable of that?

 

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnope!

[Anemic0ffense]

Embarrassing, but as Jays fans we're used to being embarrassed. Great deal for the Braves.

[TDotttt2005]

RE People should at least realize that Stoeten ripped on this message board pretty hard last year for the "Official Fire AA Thread", which was made largely through the prism of last years moves and maybe contained more thoughtful foresight than he was willing to entertain at the time. He washed away the sentiment that AA was performing poorly with a response of "baseball is hard", and then he said this message board was full of dopes.

 

Lots of people here are dopes, sure, but for Stoeten to come completely over to the darkside because the Jays missed out on Ervin Santana is pretty funny to me.

 

Blogging is hard.

 

Actually, I didnt realize that, as unfortunately I didnt know these boards existed until this offseason (Was on ESPN for years).

 

That said, I can see why someone who was a defender of AA last season, has turned on him this year. If it is to be believed that the money is there, then AA simply chose not to improve the team AFTER he stated that his offseason goals were to add 1 or 2 SP's, a 2nd baseman and catcher. If it is to be believed that the money was there, then it was AA who is the decider of value, and he's clearly undervalued free agents, leaving us with Navarro, while the O's got Cruz and Jimenez, the Yankees got McCann, Tanaka, Ellsbury, and so on and so forth. Last year, the only move that wasn't lauded was the Dickey trade, which couldve gone either way. Last year, there were freak incidents, tumors, injuries in the WBC, and under performance all around. While ultimate performance does fall on the GM, I'd agree that a lot of it was not on him. He did what he had to do, and it didn't work out. This year, he isn't even doing what he has to do. For that, he has to be blamed.

[Boxcar]

LOL

 

Start of offseason:

 

"Speaking of pitching, GM Alex Anthopoulos told media (including The Toronto Star) that the rotation is "the most glaring hole on this team and that’s the most glaring area we need to address." What exact kinds of starters will be acquired, however, is still up in the air. “Can it be done with five mid-rotation starters? Would we be better off with two front-of-the-rotation guys and three guys that are five-hole or four-hole guys? ... I think it’s as much about guys who give you a chance to win games," Anthopoulos said."

 

Doesn't address it. The Blue Jays have a GM that doesn't even address self-admitted glaring holes on his pseudo-competitive roster.

 

I am almost in awe of the let down offseason that Anthopoulos is letting happen. Good luck getting fans excited this year.

 

In his defense, its hard to send scouts out during the winter. Santana would have been a complete unknown!

[BallsDeep]

Lol, chances are he would have been awful in our division. He must have truly not wanted to pitch in the AL East after all.

[saskjayfan]

You're putting way too much stock in ST.

 

I'm putting zero stock in spring training and a lot of stock in my eyes. You can see where he is spotting his fastball. You can see the movement on off speed pitches and you can measure velocity by what the gun is saying. You can project how that will play in the regular season. Yes, I need to see more innings to see if he maintains the command and velocity, but from what I've seen already and what I saw in his first stint in the majors I am encouraged.

[saskjayfan]

A number 2 will give you 200 innings you think Hutch is capable of that?

 

what's the difference between he looks like a number 2 the way he's pitching and he is a number 2. The latter gives you 200 innings...the former is a guy who develops into that guy. I said Hutch should start in AAA. I said he could come up around june. I think he will give a sub 4 era for the innings he does pitch this year....I think he develops into that guy who gives you 200 innings and a 3.5 era in time. I was not pumping Hutch's tires at all this offseason. He's been a very pleasant surprise. I never expected his velocity to increase as much as it has and for him to maintain that command it's very encouraging. We should have a thread about hutch and how excited we are as having him as a very enticing prospect. He's 23 years old. He plays on the Jays though, so he can't develop into anything better than a number 5 right.

[vic city]

LOL this is just getting comical. Should be an easy transition for me tho, I get to go from watching the Canucks s*** the bed to watching the Jays finish last in the AL East. Niiiiice.

[Laika]

[TwistedLogic]

Well I guess this is a testament to AA's inability to sign free agents. The dude has literally not signed ANY significant free agents. Only FAs he has signed in the last 4 years are Raj Davis at 5/2? and Melky at 16/2, which is a decent deal but he WAS coming back from a 50 game suspension. AA is a garbage GM.

 

Oh grow the f*** up. This signing doesn't have a f***ing thing to do with AA's ineptitude or adequacy as a GM. The Braves got him for the exact same money that the Jays offered.

[pickoff22]

 

I was trying to find this letter yesterday as I stared at my signed Kawasaki ball. Words with no substance.

[Laika]

Ceci n'est pas une Ninja: http://www.breakingblue.ca/2014/02/23/what-happened-to-the-ninja/

[pickoff22]

Oh grow the f*** up. This signing doesn't have a f***ing thing to do with AA's ineptitude or adequacy as a GM. The Braves got him for the exact same money that the Jays offered.

 

Ok fine, he signed for apparently the same amount. But no, AA doesn't get a free pass on this one. Waiting until mid March to address your biggest need is a failure all in itself.

[pickoff22]

Oh grow the f*** up. This signing doesn't have a f***ing thing to do with AA's ineptitude or adequacy as a GM. The Braves got him for the exact same money that the Jays offered.

 

Ok fine, he signed for apparently the same amount that we offered. But no, AA doesn't get a free pass on this one. Waiting until mid March to address your biggest need is a failure all in itself. We never should have been in this position to begin with.

[vic city]

I'm gonna cut down on Jays content and double up on Charlamagne The God cuz he's not as offensive.

[Dylan]

sums up everyone's thoughts since last offseason

 

[JJippidy]

Ok fine, he signed for apparently the same amount. But no, AA doesn't get a free pass on this one. Waiting until mid March to address your biggest need is a failure all in itself.

 

That's for certain.

 

I hate AA talking about how they couldn't compete with an NL team when the only reason they had to was because of playing cute and allowing g injury to create demand against them at the 11th hour.

[TwistedLogic]

Ok fine, he signed for apparently the same amount. But no, AA doesn't get a free pass on this one. Waiting until mid March to address your biggest need is a failure all in itself.

 

I didn't say he gets a free pass. I said only a f***ing moron would rage at AA for missing out on Santana. I don't believe that AA has any actual influence in the free agent market to begin with. It comes down to whether the puppeteers, Rogers and Beeston want a guy, and then they tell AA to make an offer, and then it comes down to if the free agent wants to come here. So if he picks up or misses on an FA, I don't give a s*** because I truly believe it's not down to him. That is on Beeston and on Rogers.

 

I do believe, however, that a General Manager makes his money off trades. Beeston or Rogers can't be working the phones and calling up other teams. That is a GM's bread and butter, and that has always been Alex's bread and butter. So if he knew that his club was going to be stingy as f*** this offseason and not allow him to pick up any useful names, or hamstring him with f***ed up policies like not dealing with Boras, then I think he should have kicked it into the next gear and worked his ass off and got something done on the trade market.

 

So yes, I'm not giving him the proverbial (and insignificant -- let's face it, I'm a forum poster) "free pass", because I think he f***ed up for not making any trades and improving the club in that regard (if you can't sign Baker, you can trade for Ruggiano, etc, etc). But I'm not going to sit here and crucify him for missing out on free agents, especially on this f***head Santana. With the way his ownership limits him, and how unwelcoming this team looks to free agents, free agency is probably and almost entirely out of his hands.

[TwistedLogic]

sums up everyone's thoughts since last offseason

 

 

LOL http://i.imgur.com/RN70TUF.gif I wish I could like this post more than once.

[Angrioter]

Ceci n'est pas une Ninja: http://www.breakingblue.ca/2014/02/23/what-happened-to-the-ninja/

 

http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/032011/ninja-fail.gif

[jerb]

http://i.imgur.com/QB92SCM.jpg

[RIPEXPOS]

I'm boycotting them until they are 10 games over .500

[eastcoastjaysfan]

You do what you need to do to get the deal done. Offer incentives, sell the player on the city/future of the team, scratch their ego to no end.

 

AA has continuously failed at this. Some GM's could sell a freezer to an eskimo. AA simply doesn't have the communication skills to do this. His beta vibe is killing us.

[NorthOf49]

Braves paid up the ass for Santana here, considering the value of their lost pick.

But isn't there a ~70% chance they get a 2015 comp pick out of him though? Is that part of your calculus?