Blue Jays claim Justin Smoak off waivers.

[Dick_Pole]

http://www.nasorb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Justin-Smoak-Fat-Ryan-Gosling1.jpg

 

I'd rather he turn into a skinny Babe Ruth.

[Ziggyy108]

mmmmmmm moar scrubs

[Ziggyy108]

I was at a game down in Seattle a couple years ago when Justin took a gnarly ground ball right off the face and left the game with a broken nose.

[Jonzo]

Davidi's article on Sportsnet today makes it seem like we just picked up a new Jose Bautista.

[BTS]

@BKennedyStar

"Justin Smoak says in conf call that #bluejays suggested to him they won't pick up his 2015 option & will likely renegotiate or go to arb."

 

Sounds like they actually kind of want him on the team next year. s*****.

[Jimcanuck]

Brett Wallace or Justin Smoak?

[JaysAllMighty]

Can someone please ban longtime reader? Thx.

 

We don't need that childish stupidity here, ban him for life.

[JaysAllMighty]

Davidi's article on Sportsnet today makes it seem like we just picked up a new Jose Bautista.

 

I'm all for gambling on a first round pick and he's in his prime.

[reedjohnsonfan]

I'm all for gambling on a first round pick and he's in his prime.

 

Me too if they are in rebuild mode. It seems like they might trade Lind and let Smoak play everyday, which would be a terrible decision and mean they are very tight on payroll. Either that or he's on the bench which would also be a bad decision.

[Abomination]

The poor defense in actual games surprises me a bit. I could have sworn when Smoak was coming up, he was billed as an elite defender.

[Laika]

The poor defense in actual games surprises me a bit. I could have sworn when Smoak was coming up, he was billed as an elite defender.

 

His UZR/150 over his entire career is almost exactly zero. Not exactly "poor"

[AdamGreenwood]

The main difference between Lind and Saunders is that Lind is terrible against LHP, whereas Smoak is subpar against LHP or RHP. If I had a decent split, he could at least be interesting, but he's got terrible lines against both LHP and RHP.

[Nox]

Smoak isn't very good. Why does this team like players who aren't very good?

 

Probably because the general manager isn't very good.

[KingKat]

Smoak isn't very good. Why does this team like players who aren't very good?

 

Probably because the general manager isn't very good.

 

On the plus side, we don't know how committed they are to Smoak. They might just be f***ing around. They pick up people just to try to sneak them by waivers all the time.

[BTS]

On the plus side, we don't know how committed they are to Smoak. They might just be f***ing around. They pick up people just to try to sneak them by waivers all the time.

 

Yeah. It's hard to believe he's actually going to be on the team. I'm waiting until he actually gets tendered before getting pissed.

[reedjohnsonfan]

Yeah. It's hard to believe he's actually going to be on the team. I'm waiting until he actually gets tendered before getting pissed.

 

Won't he definitely get offered arb? Unless some deal with Lind gets axed, they're just throwing 150k away. Apparently that's not an insignificant amount.

Oh, I misread the context of your post, nevermind.

[kgm1]

The poor defense in actual games surprises me a bit. I could have sworn when Smoak was coming up, he was billed as an elite defender.

 

Better than Encarnacion. I had thought EE would be average at 1st but he isn't very good

[kgm1]

Yeah. It's hard to believe he's actually going to be on the team. I'm waiting until he actually gets tendered before getting pissed.

 

I'm already prepared for the worst. An infield of Smoak, Goins, Reyes, and Valencia for 60 % Lawrie 40 %. Any Upgrade from that is a bonus

[bendera3]

I'm already prepared for the worst. An infield of Smoak, Goins, Reyes, and Valencia for 60 % Lawrie 40 %. Any Upgrade from that is a bonus

 

And you can't even say that that infield is great defensively. Only Goins is above average and the rest are at or below average.

 

Edit: Two are above average when Lawrie isn't injured.

[BTS]

I'm already prepared for the worst. An infield of Smoak, Goins, Reyes, and Valencia for 60 % Lawrie 40 %. Any Upgrade from that is a bonus

 

It's just hard to see where the wins are going to be added. As things currently stand, we have something like:

 

C - replacement level

2B - replacement level

LF - replacement level

CF - Gose/Pillar platoon (maybe average, but high risk)

 

Bench

Mayberry - replacement level

Smoak - replacement level

Thole - replaclement level

Valencia/Francisco - maybe 1 win

 

Subtract another ~1.5 win bat from the lineup in the likely event that Lind is moved for a reliever and Smoak is his replacement. That's just a lot of bad players.

[baseballsss]

It's just hard to see where the wins are going to be added. As things currently stand, we have something like:

 

C - replacement level

2B - replacement level

LF - replacement level

CF - Gose/Pillar platoon (maybe average, but high risk)

 

Bench

Mayberry - replacement level

Smoak - replacement level

Thole - replaclement level

Valencia/Francisco - maybe 1 win

 

Subtract another ~1.5 win bat from the lineup in the likely event that Lind is moved for a reliever and Smoak is his replacement. That's just a lot of bad players.

 

Isn't mayberry a good option off the bench?

[BTS]

Isn't mayberry a good option off the bench?

 

I see an ageing player who's never been able to run or defend and might be a bit above average offensively vs. LHP, but probably not enough to overcome the fact that he can't do anything else.

[kgm1]

It's just hard to see where the wins are going to be added. As things currently stand, we have something like:

 

C - replacement level

2B - replacement level

LF - replacement level

CF - Gose/Pillar platoon (maybe average, but high risk)

 

Bench

Mayberry - replacement level

Smoak - replacement level

Thole - replaclement level

Valencia/Francisco - maybe 1 win

 

Subtract another ~1.5 win bat from the lineup in the likely event that Lind is moved for a reliever and Smoak is his replacement. That's just a lot of bad players.

 

Wins aren't going to be added . AA is going to give us the spiel about adding defense and speed and a better Bull Pen when all he is doing is cutting the budget as per Rogers orders.

 

I'm expecting an OF of Gose, Pompey, and Bautista so we will have replacement level players at catcher , 1st base ,2nd base, 60 % of the time at 3rd and at least 1 OF position.

 

last off season I had expectations . I have none this year in fact I firmly believe the budget is going down Any Additions will be a bonus to me.

[Terminator]

It's just hard to see where the wins are going to be added.

 

Well you just rattled off 8 replacement level players. Right there would be a good start?

[BTS]

Well you just rattled off 8 replacement level players. Right there would be a good start?

 

Yeah, I didn't word that properly. I meant that there are a lot of positions filled with very bad players, and there just aren't a lot of resources available for big additions.

[reedjohnsonfan]

This has potential to be a nice move at low cost.

 

Just like every low cost move. Good job.

[BTS]

Just like every low cost move. Good job.

 

Gonna go out on a limb here and assume he meant he likes Smoak more than your typical 'low cost' waiver-wire claim.

[glory]

If Smoak is going to start at 1B (still too early to speculate on that, I guess), then I would assume they would get rid of Mayberry, as Smoak's splits are not extreme enough to play him one side over the other. If he is the guy at 1B, then he is the everyday guy, most likely, for better or worse. When you figure that Lind makes $7.5M and Mayberry will probably get $2-2.5M, then the cost savings might be beneficial if it's used on other improvements. I'm not sure I trust AA to make the right improvements, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[RealAccountant]

If Smoak is going to start at 1B (still too early to speculate on that, I guess), then I would assume they would get rid of Mayberry, as Smoak's splits are not extreme enough to play him one side over the other. If he is the guy at 1B, then he is the everyday guy, most likely, for better or worse. When you figure that Lind makes $7.5M and Mayberry will probably get $2-2.5M, then the cost savings might be beneficial if it's used on other improvements. I'm not sure I trust AA to make the right improvements, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

I do not think that the money saved (10-4=6?) will be enough to offset the wins lost due to losing Lind's bat in the lineup. Who knows I could be wrong and Smoak could be the next Chris Davis

[glory]

I do not think that the money saved (10-4=6?) will be enough to offset the wins lost due to losing Lind's bat in the lineup. Who knows I could be wrong and Smoak could be the next Chris Davis

 

I think Smoak's salary will probably be closer to $3M than $4M, but regardless, every little bit helps. If it opens up some payroll flexibility to sign someone like Headley, then I'd probably take the trade-off. Of course, if the cost savings are used on negligible improvements at 2B and the bullpen, then I would agree that it was pointless. AA really needs to add a true impact talent if he is going to risk Smoak's bat at 1B full-time.