Jays Claim 1B/OF Chris Colabello of Waivers

[TheHurl]

I'm really curious. Did anyone have a Gomes boner before he was traded? I don't recall him being any kind of a special prospect... Just a marginal one if memory serves. Did anyone have him ranked high in their prospects lists? Those are the people that are allowed to say 'I told you so'. Not so much anyone else...

 

I 100% don't think anyone did. The trading of him isn't where the Jays f***ed up IMO. They saw enough in him to move him to the 40 man (likely based on a good run in AAA) but couldn't see it enough previously when they gave him 845 PA's in his first 4 seasons with his team. Not to mention that he's shown to be an above average catcher yet the team only let him catch 78 games after he hit AA. This is what BA had to say about him in 2012

 

Gomes generates good bat speed that produces solid power. His hands are high in his load, which can create a little length to his swing, but he's pretty direct to the ball and has shown the ability to make adjustments. Gomes' primary position is catcher, and he has seen action on both infield corners and brief time in left field. He has good hands and feet that allow him to provide solid defense behind the plate. He also has an average arm.

 

The trade wasn't the issue it was the lack of recognition. Not to mention all this while rating JPA as a 50/60 defender.

[BigCecil]

The ridiculousness had reached to a point where JPA was openly gloating on Twitter about AA promising not to trade him. And who could forget opening day and the decision to have JP catch Dickey when they had already allocated a roster spot to Thole (whose only purpose on the squad was to catch the knuckleball)... I think Arencibia had 7-8 passed balls in that game before they decided to scrap that idea... lol

 

I was at that game - flew in from Calgary for it. It was painful to watch JPA flail around. His acerbic comments to the media "Im not worried about hitting..Ive always hit" were grating.

 

Anyway....JPA - Gomes - Aviles - Rogers - Izturis- Navarro and then the big FA signing of Martin (who is $ but has been excellent) are all connected to the JPA decision.

 

Time to let it go I guess.

[Jimcanuck]

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Trading Gomes or even d'Arnaud and going all-in with JPA as the primary catcher was a colossal mistake. You're right in the fact that most didn't see much value in Gomes, although his versatility was thought to be an asset by some, but pretty much everyone on this board not including Jimcannot, Saskjaysfan and theblujay knew by then that JPA wasn't good enough. AA however saw him as "his guy" and didn't even see a need for some competition or depth in that spot. The Gomes trade represents more than just a mis evaluation of Gomes talents but also a major mis evaluation of JP's talents which shouldn't be simply dismissed.

 

haha prove it with the link

 

I wanted JPA gone 2 years before he actually was..... admittedly after his 2011 season I thought he had a chance to stick

 

as for Gomes, thought he was a very good asset and was pissed he was moved for very little return

[BigCecil]

haha prove it with the link

 

I wanted JPA gone 2 years before he actually was..... admittedly after his 2011 season I thought he had a chance to stick

 

as for Gomes, thought he was a very good asset and was pissed he was moved for very little return

 

but dem rbi's?

[Jimcanuck]

but dem rbi's?

 

2011 23 dingers and 0.6 WAR despite brutal D.... the consensus on the board after 2011 was if JPA improved his D he would be viable as a C... some like dr dinger didnt buy into the bat... swing too long, etc

 

he improved the D but the O went to s*** and everyone including I turned against him

[Jayday]

You did it, You did it. You beat jimcanuck for worst post of the year!!! Congrats Jayday. Wow that was one of the closest races of the year but you came out on top with this terrible stupid post

 

This season isn't over yet.. there are many many posts yet to come.

But really, you can't be in love with smoak..i mean him as a baseball player judging from his past. He has some positives, power and defense at 1st...he hasn't hit for average,and is not a base stealing threat, nor a multi position player. that being said,it doesn't mean he can't improve on his weaknesses. I would love to see him improve.. and that goes for all the jays players, including chris colabello. I am not one of the posters who tout certain players and only want them to succeed, and harbor ill will on players who they've deemed as unworthy and are doomed to fail, and conjure up multiple reasons as to why they WILL most certainly fail.

[Boxcar]

This season isn't over yet.. there are many many posts yet to come.

But really, you can't be in love with smoak..i mean him as a baseball player judging from his past. He has some positives, power and defense at 1st...he hasn't hit for average,and is not a base stealing threat, nor a multi position player. that being said,it doesn't mean he can't improve on his weaknesses. I would love to see him improve.. and that goes for all the jays players, including chris colabello. I am not one of the posters who tout certain players and only want them to succeed, and harbor ill will on players who they've deemed as unworthy and are doomed to fail, and conjure up multiple reasons as to why they WILL most certainly fail.

 

Bautista and Donaldson can't hit for average either. Better trade them.

[glory]

This season isn't over yet.. there are many many posts yet to come.

But really, you can't be in love with smoak..i mean him as a baseball player judging from his past. He has some positives, power and defense at 1st...he hasn't hit for average,and is not a base stealing threat, nor a multi position player. that being said,it doesn't mean he can't improve on his weaknesses. I would love to see him improve.. and that goes for all the jays players, including chris colabello. I am not one of the posters who tout certain players and only want them to succeed, and harbor ill will on players who they've deemed as unworthy and are doomed to fail, and conjure up multiple reasons as to why they WILL most certainly fail.

 

He has power, draws walks, and play defense at first. It's ok if you are not in love with him as a player, but he shouldn't be benched for Fatty and Colabellol. He is a better option than both of them, and still has enough upside to possibly be more than he's shown.

[IronLadle]

Bautista and Donaldson can't hit for average either. Better trade them.

 

Donaldson's hitting .300

[IronLadle]

He has power, draws walks, and play defense at first. It's ok if you are not in love with him as a player, but he shouldn't be benched for Fatty and Colabellol. He is a better option than both of them, and still has enough upside to possibly be more than he's shown.

 

To this point Colabello's been the better hitter, why Navarro DHs in favour of Colabello or Smoak at first base I'll never know.

[Mikeleelop]

To this point Colabello's been the better hitter, why Navarro DHs in favour of Colabello or Smoak at first base I'll never know.

 

At worst you could argue a 1B platoon of smoak/colabello

 

But i think volabello's Magic streak is coming to an end

 

Navarro has some value as a backup catcher, but he should not DH forcing any of smoak, colabello or EE to the bench

[AdamGreenwood]

If this was an online fantasy game, you would bench Navarro all the time.

But in real life, you have to give AB to guys, so they have a chance at getting a contract next year.

Now, even if you don't give a s*** about the person, you still need to watch your team's reputation. If you have a rep for treating the backup players like dirt, you're going to have a much tougher time signing your bench/depth players.

[Olerud363]

Donaldson's hitting .300

 

He's allready had one .300 season, could get another one this year... .275 or so career. He is not Wade Boggs... I guess it depends on ones definition of "hitting for average"

[Olerud363]

If this was an online fantasy game, you would bench Navarro all the time.

But in real life, you have to give AB to guys, so they have a chance at getting a contract next year.

Now, even if you don't give a s*** about the person, you still need to watch your team's reputation. If you have a rep for treating the backup players like dirt, you're going to have a much tougher time signing your bench/depth players.

 

It's a zero sum game... if you give Smoak 500 at bats and he goes on to a nice 5 year run, earns some money... doesn't that help the teams reputation for giving bench players a chance?

[IronLadle]

If this was an online fantasy game, you would bench Navarro all the time.

But in real life, you have to give AB to guys, so they have a chance at getting a contract next year.

Now, even if you don't give a s*** about the person, you still need to watch your team's reputation. If you have a rep for treating the backup players like dirt, you're going to have a much tougher time signing your bench/depth players.

 

Navarro had 19 PA last week - Smoak had 2

[BigCecil]

But hey...even with pros sometimes the Gomes slip by.

 

Find me a team that hasn't moved a player that turned out being better than anticipated. It happens all the time (Michael Young).

 

Like I said...sometimes they slip by. I meant for all teams. I'm pretty sure the Reds and PITT never saw what Edwin and Jose B could morph into. Jesse Chavez has become a good back end SP etc etc

 

I think its pretty hard to argue with the opinion that the last decade or so the record of players we have assessed, selected and developed that ended up as impact players on our team hasn't been great. Under AA admittedly some that may have were moved as assets.

Edited July 1, 2015 by BigCecil

[RealAccountant]

I wonder if Navarro was moved if anyone would even claim him for his remaining couple of million

[BigCecil]

I wonder if Navarro was moved if anyone would even claim him for his remaining couple of million

 

Aside from the fact he is expensive and not a great catcher I don't have a huge issue with carrying him as a back up C. His SH offense isn't the worst at that pos and offsets his D somewhat. He has little, if any, trade value so we are kinda stuck with him. It becomes a bigger issue when we give a roster spot to Thole.

 

I just don't think we should be creating playing time for him outside of that role over better options that we have.

[fireballW]

Aside from the fact he is expensive and not a great catcher I don't have a huge issue with carrying him as a back up C. His SH offense isn't the worst at that pos and offsets his D somewhat. He has little, if any, trade value so we are kinda stuck with him. It becomes a bigger issue when we give a roster spot to Thole.

 

I just don't think we should be creating playing time for him outside of that role over better options that we have.

 

He is taking away at bats from better hitters and it is becoming more clear that Thole really is needed for Dickey until we can be rid of him.

[Spanky99]

I'm really curious. Did anyone have a Gomes boner before he was traded? I don't recall him being any kind of a special prospect... Just a marginal one if memory serves. Did anyone have him ranked high in their prospects lists? Those are the people that are allowed to say 'I told you so'. Not so much anyone else...

 

Not sure if srs?

[Spanky99]

I hope you're not hoping Smoak will be in the Jay's long term plans !

He is a below average 1st baseman...there's a reason he only made a total of 5 million in the last 5 years. When a crap team like Seattle puts a player on waivers ,you need to run from him like your hair's on fire. Ok, he's cheap.. give him a defensive role in the later innings, like goins will be used. Right now CC has more value,is he a keeper.. most likely not .. but HOLY SMOKES, NOT SMOAK !

But who really know what the future holds for smoak or CC,.. but my money is on CC to make more of a positive contribution this year.

 

Holy f***........

[Spanky99]

This season isn't over yet.. there are many many posts yet to come.

But really, you can't be in love with smoak..i mean him as a baseball player judging from his past. He has some positives, power and defense at 1st...he hasn't hit for average,and is not a base stealing threat, nor a multi position player. that being said,it doesn't mean he can't improve on his weaknesses. I would love to see him improve.. and that goes for all the jays players, including chris colabello. I am not one of the posters who tout certain players and only want them to succeed, and harbor ill will on players who they've deemed as unworthy and are doomed to fail, and conjure up multiple reasons as to why they WILL most certainly fail.

 

You're trolling, lol. You had me earlier.

[Spanky99]

He is taking away at bats from better hitters and it is becoming more clear that Thole really is needed for Dickey until we can be rid of him.

 

This^^^ It's frustrating man.

[BigCecil]

He is taking away at bats from better hitters and it is becoming more clear that Thole really is needed for Dickey until we can be rid of him.

 

This^^^ It's frustrating man.

 

Smoak isn't going to get 3 hits every gm but I think yesterday again showed there is some merit to this Board lighting up complaining about Navarro being handed playing time taking away ABs from others. If he is giving Martin a day off no prob. Other than that and possible PH spots...pass.

[glory]

I wonder if Navarro was moved if anyone would even claim him for his remaining couple of million

 

I doubt it. He's not good and I think everyone knows it. Even Dave Stewart moved on to someone else.