General Jays Discussion 2015

[LTR]

Here's hoping Danks get's completely annihilated by our offense tonight, which is what I expect.

[HERPDERP]

Speaking of Brewers, what do you guys think of Gerardo Parra as a trade target for a left fielder? 2x gold glover and he's hitting his pants off at the moment, you have to assume Brewers are moving him.

 

I'll pay more to take Gomez off their hands

[Governator]

I'll pay more to take Gomez off their hands

 

Well yes but I'm assuming AA is trying to upgrade the rotation first and Parra would be a relatively cheap, rental option that can throw a ball in the f***ing right direction.

[ColdPint]

While we're waiting/hoping for some key additions to the SP staff what do you think the possibilities are of Dickey being bumped to the bullpen and bringing Norris back up to take his spot? Seems to me that it would be an upgrade that can be made now. You know......as long as we're not about pissing away wins for the sake of protecting egos.

 

You'd think after 23 years of futility winning would be the only thing that matters.

[Governator]

While we're waiting/hoping for some key additions to the SP staff what do you think the possibilities are of Dickey being bumped to the bullpen and bringing Norris back up to take his spot? Seems to me that it would be an upgrade that can be made now. You know......as long as we're not about pissing away wins for the sake of protecting egos.

 

You'd think after 23 years of futility winning would be the only thing that matters.

 

He'd make our bullpen worse.

[ColdPint]

He'd make our bullpen worse.

 

Fair enough. I assumed we'd have to keep him on the 25 somehow, there's no way the Jays are getting rid of him unless through trade. Miraculously.

 

I think bringing back Norris and Pompey are two moves that can be done now, rather than later, to improve the club internally. It's infuriating to see the org sit on their hands making inconsequential moves back and forth to Buffalo with no real hope of impact to the W-L. Why wait?

[LTR]

While we're waiting/hoping for some key additions to the SP staff what do you think the possibilities are of Dickey being bumped to the bullpen and bringing Norris back up to take his spot? Seems to me that it would be an upgrade that can be made now. You know......as long as we're not about pissing away wins for the sake of protecting egos.

 

You'd think after 23 years of futility winning would be the only thing that matters.

 

Holy f***, let's move the guy that gives up walks, home runs, passed balls, wild pitches, hits batters, and needs a special catcher, to the f***ing bullpen... GENIUS I TELL YOU!

[BlueBirdBro]

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has been vocal about his desire to strengthen both his starting rotation and his bullpen prior to the trade deadline, and on a radio appearance with Tim & Sid of FAN 590 in Toronto, he expressed an openness to dealing from his big league roster to do so. Via Sportsnet’s Jeff Simmons, Anthopoulos said that while he’s reluctant to do so, it’s already been discussed with other teams:

 

“We’re looking to add and it’s hard to take away from the big-league club. I was on the phone with one team (prior to coming on the show) and I mentioned that we may need to be creative. As much as we don’t want to take away from the current 25, we bounced around some ideas and concepts. That’s not the path we want to go down but if we can’t seem to get what we want from a prospect standpoint we’ll need to open it up and be creative, similar to what Oakland and the Red Sox did last year with Jon Lester and (Yoenis) Cespedes. We’re open to doing something like that as well.”

 

On July 31 last season, the A’s acquired free-agents-to-be Lester and Jonny Gomes from the Red Sox in exchange for Cespedes and a Competitive Balance draft pick. That trade stunned many at the time, given the fact that Cespedes was a significant cog in the contending Athletics’ lineup, but it was certainly not the only trade in which a contending club traded away a notable big leaguer. The Tigers parted with both Austin Jackson and Drew Smyly in a three-team trade with the Mariners and Rays in order to acquire the services of David Price.

 

Such trades could be more commonplace in 2015, given the parity that exists throughout the game and particularly in the American League. However, when looking at the Blue Jays’ roster, they don’t necessarily have a player with one-and-a-half years of service time remaining (the amount of service that both Cespedes and Jackson had) that fits the exact mold of those two 2014 trades. While both Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have only a 2016 club option remaining on their deals, each also has 10-and-5 rights, meaning that both Bautista and Encarnacion must personally approve a trade to another team.

 

Dioner Navarro stands out to me as a name that could be moved to a team in need of a catching upgrade. Toronto could either replace him at DH internally or find a DH replacement via trade, as that would be easier to come by than a significant pitching upgrade. Productive part-timers like Danny Valencia, Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak could hold appeal to other clubs as well, though none of the aforementioned names would bring a significant return on his own.

 

One name that could draw some interest might be Kevin Pillar. The Jays do have an in-house candidate to replace him in center field in the form of Dalton Pompey, who was demoted earlier this year but has slashed .357/.416/.571 in his past 26 Double-A contests. Pillar, though, is controllable through 2020, and he may be changing the perception that he’s a fourth outfielder. His five-plus years of control and elite glove might make him an unlikely candidate to go, but it’s easy to envision teams inquiring.

 

All of that, of course, is all highly speculative as opposed to anything that Anthopoulos has indicated through his comments. The Blue Jays also have a nice stable of near-MLB-ready talent to deal from in Pompey, Daniel Norris and Miguel Castro, to say nothing of high-upside prospects that are further down the line such as Jeff Hoffman and Max Pentecost.

 

For the time being, Anthpoulos said that he’s not close on any deals, but he’s “starting to talk a little bit more” with other clubs, calling the All-Star break “the earliest to get something done.” The Toronto GM also expressed a willingness to act quickly, stating: “In season though, timing is huge. Within two or three days or a week, someone’s value can skyrocket so if you have a chance to close (on a deal), you better do it fast.”

[Governator]

Fair enough. I assumed we'd have to keep him on the 25 somehow, there's no way the Jays are getting rid of him unless through trade. Miraculously.

 

I think bringing back Norris and Pompey are two moves that can be done now, rather than later, to improve the club internally. It's infuriating to see the org sit on their hands making inconsequential moves back and forth to Buffalo with no real hope of impact to the W-L. Why wait?

 

I don't know why. Pompey should've been here for the road trip imo.

 

For Norris it's because his walk rate has been high and Estrada has done a solid job taking over while he works on his command. I believe his last start he didn't walk anyone so he'll probably get a call up soon. If they bring Norris up, who do they replace? My guess is they are waiting for Sanchez to return off the DL before calling him up. Even though Sanchez has been getting better and showing sound results of late, he's still a -0.1 fWAR player who could help our BP more than any other SP. They aren't going to lose games by replacing him with Norris, but they could win some.

 

Then trade for a starter and DFA Dickey lol.

[BigCecil]

I don't know why. Pompey should've been here for the road trip imo.

 

For Norris it's because his walk rate has been high and Estrada has done a solid job taking over while he works on his command. I believe his last start he didn't walk anyone so he'll probably get a call up soon. If they bring Norris up, who do they replace? My guess is they are waiting for Sanchez to return off the DL before calling him up. Even though Sanchez has been getting better and showing sound results of late, he's still a -0.1 fWAR player who could help our BP more than any other SP. They aren't going to lose games by replacing him with Norris, but they could win some.

 

Then trade for a starter and DFA Dickey lol.

 

It drives me f***ing nuts that we make decisions on Pompey after 20 gms and now we will bring him cause he is raking in AA. He should have had a real shot. Bosox were patient with Betts and his fWAR is steadily climbing after a pretty slow start.

 

Now because Norris doesn't walk anyone in one start he is cured and ready to come up? Boyd has one ok outing and one he is blown out so he is gone.

 

I don't give a f*** about the Redmonds etc being yo yo'ed back and forth but with our young talent it just seems knee jerk and random. Travis would have probably gone down if he had a s***** April/May too.

[Governator]

Holy f***, let's move the guy that gives up walks, home runs, passed balls, wild pitches, hits batters, and needs a special catcher, to the f***ing bullpen... GENIUS I TELL YOU!

 

Could you imagine, 7th inning, 2 run lead with 1 on and Gibbons brings in Dickey. If you thought last night's game was stressful, that thought alone would make all of us bald.

[Governator]

It drives me f***ing nuts that we make decisions on Pompey after 20 gms and now we will bring him cause he is raking in AA. He should have had a real shot. Bosox were patient with Betts and his fWAR is steadily climbing after a pretty slow start.

 

Now because Norris doesn't walk anyone in one start he is cured and ready to come up? Boyd has one ok outing and one he is blown out so he is gone.

 

I don't give a f*** about the Redmonds etc being yo yo'ed back and forth but with our young talent it just seems knee jerk and random. Travis would have probably gone down if he had a s***** April/May too.

 

Oh I agree. Pompey should be here and just play it out, he shouldn't have left to begin with.

 

I'm not suggesting Norris should come up, I said he probably will because of that game. I believe it was the minion, Barry Davis that said it during last night's game that they'll look to call him up soon and you can pretty much assume it will happen, not because of Davis, because that's how this organization works.

[glory]

Yeah, Dickey would have to be DFA or traded if he's going to be replaced. I have no problem with that. The trade happened, can't change it now. Just accept it as one of the worst trades ever and move on. Norris, even with his control issues, is still better than Dickey right now. Make the change sooner than later.

[RealAccountant]

Before we trade Dickey perhaps it might be a good idea to match him up with Thole some more

[ColdPint]

Could you imagine, 7th inning, 2 run lead with 1 on and Gibbons brings in Dickey. If you thought last night's game was stressful, that thought alone would make all of us bald.

 

Ok, maybe I didn't explain myself properly. In no way am I endorsing Dickey as a BP arm. I was simply saying that I would rather Norris in the rotation at this point than Dickey, I really think he would give us a better chance at winning. We all know that AA won't DFA Dickey so then what do the Jays do with him? BP is the only other option.....long man for when we need to cover 5 innings without using our key BP arms.

[BigCecil]

Oh I agree. Pompey should be here and just play it out, he shouldn't have left to begin with.

 

I'm not suggesting Norris should come up, I said he probably will because of that game. I believe it was the minion, Barry Davis that said it during last night's game that they'll look to call him up soon and you can pretty much assume it will happen, not because of Davis, because that's how this organization works.

 

Thanks...I realized where you were coming from. I was just ranting uncontrollably. lol

[Spanky99]

Ok, maybe I didn't explain myself properly. In no way am I endorsing Dickey as a BP arm. I was simply saying that I would rather Norris in the rotation at this point than Dickey, I really think he would give us a better chance at winning. We all know that AA won't DFA Dickey so then what do the Jays do with him? BP is the only other option.....long man for when we need to cover 5 innings without using our key BP arms.

 

Bingo!

[Governator]

It's also quite possible the Jays are keeping Pompey in AA to see his numbers increase and use him as trade bait. Pompey+ for Cueto. Make it happen.

[o2cui2i]

[jaysfan2014]

 

Martin off due to day game tomorrow, Donaldson getting 1/2 day off, and when the heck are we going to find another OF who's capable of playing LF decently?

[o2cui2i]

Martin off due to day game tomorrow, Donaldson getting 1/2 day off, and when the heck are we going to find another OF who's capable of playing LF decently?

 

they have one, he's trapped in AA hell because AA thinks 20 games is a solid sample size.

[Governator]

"That's a fair ball past Valencia, Colabello didn't see it good off the bat, he has a long run. Ramirez can hustle, he makes the turn at 2nd and he's headed for 3rd. Colabello throw gets past Valencia and now here comes Ramirez, the play at the plaaate.... not in time, Ramirez hits a triple down the line and comes all the way around to score on the error by Colabello."

[DuckDuckGose]

they have one, he's trapped in AA hell because AA thinks 20 games is a solid sample size.

 

The actual LF'er tripped on a sprinkler and wrecked the ligaments in his knee

[LTR]

Too bad another lefty, want to see more of Smoak.

[guylaroche5]

seems like Gibby is going with the worst defense possible formation, interesting choice

[baubau]

they have one, he's trapped in AA hell because AA thinks 20 games is a solid sample size.

 

I honestly think there is a lot more to this. AA stuck with Pillar when he had his slump; certainly you could argue he had no choice by that point. AA has been long around long enough to know not to overreact to a cold streak. His move of sending Pompey to AA from AAA citing "media pressure" is also a little telling. Perhaps Pompey felt he was overwhelmed and certainly sounded like it when he said he was playing "scared".

 

AA is likely just moving Pompey up slowly this time as opposed to last season or having him slowly grow accustom to the media than throwing him in the fire? Either way I don't think it was due to a cold streak alone that Pompey was sent down.

[LTR]

Another s***** White Sox line-up, not even worth my time to post it:

 

1. Adam Eaton (L) CF

2. Jose Abreu ® DH

3. Melky Cabrera (S) LF

4. Avisail Garcia ® RF

5. Adam LaRoche (L) 1B

6. Alexei Ramirez ® SS

7. Gordon Beckham ® 3B

8. Tyler Flowers ® C

9. Carlos Sanchez (S) 2B

[DuckDuckGose]

seems like Gibby is going with the worst defense possible formation, interesting choice

 

Wow, brutal IF defensively today.

[o2cui2i]

The actual LF'er tripped on a sprinkler and wrecked the ligaments in his knee

 

you can't count him as available....

[LTR]

Wow, brutal IF defensively today.

 

I've got the solution for Reyes SS:

 

Go with a 2-man OF and 5-man IF with Goins or Valencia directly behind Reyes to mop up all his misplays... this way Reyes can keep his ego in check by continuing to play SS and we now have a relatively solid SS position! Success!