Justin Smoak contract extension

[Krylian]

What's stupider? This extension. Or bringing Dickey and Thole back next season?

[wamco]

I like the deal. 4.25 m is nothing nowadays. They clearly value his power potential. He values 1 war at 9m. I think he believes in smock and bought low by doing it now.

[Terminator]

This isn't a total disaster IMO if the circumstances are applied. The dollar amount isn't that bad but the two year commitment to a player of his caliber is a little alarming.

 

But look at the FA crop next year. EE is the top 1B but after that you've got Brandon Moss and Mike Napoli. Both will probably command far more than 4.25 M a year and I'm not sure this team is in a position to make competitive bids to players like that when we've got our own big name FA's on the verge of leaving. And after Napoli and Moss (who frankly aren't sure bets anyway) it's Lind, LoMo and a bunch of other slop. Smoak is probably better than any of those 2nd tier guys and if he played out the rest of the year and ends it slashing about .235/.330/.405 with 16-19 homers as projected he'd probably find himself a decent deal in FA. For comparison LoMo got 4.2 last year and he was coming off a terrible year.

 

On top of that we had 4 regulars leaving. Given how s***** the FA class is next season we weren't going to find perfect solutions to all 4. Since we were going to have a patchwork guy or two in there anyway I think Shatkins probably just decided to use one of the patches now because he found one he was comfortable with and now he can focus on the other 3.

[TheHurl]

What's stupider? This extension. Or bringing Dickey and Thole back next season?

 

depends what the options are? It's 12 players, some of which are tough to replace. Hanigan has an option, I don't see Boston not picking it up but he's a potential non Thole option, which makes Dickey at the right price more attractive.

[BTS]

depends what the options are? It's 12 players, some of which are tough to replace. Hanigan has an option, I don't see Boston not picking it up but he's a potential non Thole option, which makes Dickey at the right price more attractive.

 

Meh, Hanigan has been disastrous catching Wright this year.

[o2cui2i]

What's stupider? This extension. Or bringing Dickey and Thole back next season?

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure all three will be Jays next year.

[TheGrandslamMan]

*Confirmation that Shapiro is unaware or doesn't pay attention to sabermetrics *

[glory]

What's stupider? This extension. Or bringing Dickey and Thole back next season?

 

Dickey with a replacement level or better catcher is fine. With Thole, it's probably worse than the Smoak deal, and I don't like the Smoak deal at all.

[RealAccountant]

I like the deal. 4.25 m is nothing nowadays. They clearly value his power potential. He values 1 war at 9m. I think he believes in smock and bought low by doing it now.

 

I would not bet that Smoak will be worth 1 WAR over two years. Risky considering he has been replacement over 7 years

[puphood]

Nah. Need to save $$ to lock up Ryan Goins long term.

Sapiro said he loves Goins

[Brownie19]

Seems excessive for what he is. I was hoping the Jays would improve at 1B this offseason, guess they are focusing on other priorities?

 

I was hoping they'd improve at 1B this year...

[TheGrandslamMan]

Well guys, he's on average to accumulate 0.18 WAR this season. That's gotta be worth an 8.5 million dollar extension right? It's not like he posted well below replacement level numbers for 3 outta 6 of his seasons in the show... Oh s***, wait...

 

f***.... If this is the best option they have, just let Montero have a crack at it. He can't be much worse than Smoak, and you'd be paying a fraction of the cost.

[Jayday]

This deal makes no sense. What can Smoak show now that he hasn't shown in nearly 3000 Plate Appearances.

 

The reason is obvious to me .. it's his hair

[Spanky99]

I think this contract extension will work out well for the Blue Jays.

 

Last night Justin Smoak easily slapped a ball to the opposite field with the A's shifting him to pull - if Smoak can continue this approach when required, then he has shown with 100 home runs in 780 plate appearances that he has power - http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=9054&position=1B . I think with a slight change in approach, like he showed last night, that he can consistently be a wRC+ 125 player who is also a good defender at 1B.

 

I wonder if Smoak could play another position when required, such as 3B or LF? Looking at his past MLB history, he has only played 1B. If he can only play 1B then that is a limitation, however he will have good trade value to some teams in the future if he can get his hit production up.

 

Yeah, you're trolling.

[Spanky99]

Meh, not a big deal, but the timing is odd.

[nextyear]

Yeah, you're trolling.

 

Not really, maybe Smoak can't play any other position well other than 1B; I just threw the question out there.

 

PS: It is good that Blue Jay fans have come to expect good defense. It was only a year ago that Jose Reyes was throwing balls away at SS, and a couple of years ago they had Juan Francisco play some games at 3B, who had the fielding range of a pylon.

 

The Blue Jays have become an enjoyable team to watch on defense, it wasn't that way a couple of years ago. So no, Smoak shouldn't play at 3B, especially since the Blue Jays have Barney to back up Donaldson. However, is Smoak slower than Saunders in LF - I am not suggesting him as a permanent replacement, just a fill in if required.

 

Please no insults - I am just asking what would happen if Smoak was in LF? Would he have no range, he has a good accurate arm and a good glove. I have seen Smoak run into the foul territory to catch popups, so he does have some fielding range.

Edited July 17, 2016 by nextyear

[ElNik2013]

Here's LaCava announcing Estrada's signing, I mean re-signing:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/gm-tony-lacava-announces-signing-of-pitcher-marco-estrada-1.3322768

 

 

Let's not forget that the Blue Jays acquired Estrada during a stellar 2014 offseason.

[rancher]

Smoak strikes out too often especially with men on base, he can't run and can only play 1st base. Definitely not a good move when they do have other options. A 2015 Collabello wld be a better option than Smoak, at a hell of a lot less money.

[Plat]

f*** smoak bad extension

[L54]

Smoak is going to be paid like a part time player and the Jays have 12 free agents this upcoming offseason. It's about covering their ass. Shut the f*** up.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Smoak strikes out too often especially with men on base, he can't run and can only play 1st base. Definitely not a good move when they do have other options. A 2015 Collabello wld be a better option than Smoak, at a hell of a lot less money.

 

What I do find interesting is how when batting Fourth or Sixth his numbers across the board seem to go up and are much better, then when slotted elsewhere.

[burlingtonbandit]

Smoak is going to be paid like a part time player and the Jays have 12 free agents this upcoming offseason. It's about covering their ass. Shut the f*** up.

 

You think Smoak would have gotten 8.5 Million this offseason as a replacement level DH/1B? Just because you have a lot of FA doesn't mean you go waste money just to plug a roster spot.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

You think Smoak would have gotten 8.5 Million this offseason as a replacement level DH/1B? Just because you have a lot of FA doesn't mean you go waste money just to plug a roster spot.

 

Again what do you see out there that would have cost less and been a better move???

[wamco]

Smoak is going to be paid like a part time player and the Jays have 12 free agents this upcoming offseason. It's about covering their ass. Shut the f*** up.

 

I also thought this was pretty obvious.

[L54]

You think Smoak would have gotten 8.5 Million this offseason as a replacement level DH/1B? Just because you have a lot of FA doesn't mean you go waste money just to plug a roster spot.

 

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, bud.

 

Would anyone have been surprised if Smoak got 2/7M? Paid an extra 1.5M to get it done in season and to get an option year in 2019. It's not a sexy move by any means but it keeps guys like Jesus Montero out of the Rogers Centre.

[L54]

I also thought this was pretty obvious.

 

So did I. At first glance it seems pretty meh, but when you take a step back it's really f*** all in the grand scheme of things.

[wamco]

I'll go on record with the 9m per War win and say smoak will outperform the 1 win needed over the next two years to earn his salary or he will be traded at some point and it won't matter. Obp 85 points over his avg for career( 100 this year) career high slugging pct last year. He is 29 and we have several offensive free agents. It's a low low risk move with upside.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Plus with Batz's contact demands going up like Smoke in the Wind, when he resigns and plays 1st/DH next year this will all be moot!!!

[Dr. Dinger]

Lol I loved checking in on this thread and seeing all the AA-hating, Shapiro-fellating fanboys recoiling in disgust.

[Key22]

Lol I loved checking in on this thread and seeing all the AA-hating, Shapiro-fellating fanboys recoiling in disgust.

 

Well The brass claims it won't affect the EE negotiations - yeah ok. Every GM makes good and lousy moves. Happ = good. Storen = Horrible, Smoak = meh, Grilli = Good, not signing EE = will be stupid, Ortiz was worth every dime as a DH.