Jays interested in Steve Pearce

[TorontonianJD]

I wonder if Shapiro/Atkins floated this Pearce thing to Rosenthal as a way to force EE's hand?

[jays4life19]

I wonder if Shapiro/Atkins floated this Pearce thing to Rosenthal as a way to force EE's hand?

 

Some people thought that when it was reported we had interest in Morales. Then a few hours later...

[Laika]

As much as I liked Tellez, even before being drafted by the Jays. It seems there's a few reputable guys who aren't so high on his bat against MLB pitching.

 

Yeahhhh but it's hard to put too much weight into opinions like that. Picking which 1B prospects will translate their skills to the majors seems more like religion than scouting science.

 

I mean a lot of people didn't think Anthony Rizzo would hit. Paul Goldschmidt never made a top 100.

[Dr. Dinger]

Yeahhhh but it's hard to put too much weight into opinions like that. Picking which 1B prospects will translate their skills to the majors seems more like religion than scouting science.

 

I mean a lot of people didn't think Anthony Rizzo would hit. Paul Goldschmidt never made a top 100.

 

AJ Reed makes me sad.

[Angrioter]

AJ Reed makes me sad.

 

Singleton

[Jonn]

Going to be a lot of disappointed people if Pearce doesn't work out. He basically has a cult following here.

[Brownie19]

Singleton

 

Smoak!

[jays4life19]

Smoak!

 

Yonder Alonso!

[GeorgiaPeach]

There is not a team in the majors that has an opening for a below replacement level 1st baseman, that is making more than league minimum

 

Who would be better Smoak or Ryan Zimmerman in Washington?

[GeorgiaPeach]

If we really wanted to roll the dice, we could probably talk to one of the Texas teams about some of their guys. A guy like Profar as a super utility would be rather interesting, or one of the 1st basemen in Gallo or Singleton could be worth a shot.

 

Singleton's a darker version of Smoak

[jays4life19]

Who would be better Smoak or Ryan Zimmerman in Washington?

 

If we're just talking true talent (and not contract) I would take Zimmerman moving forward even though he was awful last year.

[GD]

Singleton's a darker version of Smoak

 

When you say "darker" you mean his future right?

[GeorgiaPeach]

Yeahhhh but it's hard to put too much weight into opinions like that. Picking which 1B prospects will translate their skills to the majors seems more like religion than scouting science.

 

I mean a lot of people didn't think Anthony Rizzo would hit. Paul Goldschmidt never made a top 100.

 

I know, I know.

 

Tellez Power & Strike Zone approach were lauded as some of the best coming out of HS pre-draft. He's done nothing to disappoint and has always made adjustments as each year has gone on, or Level he's been promoted to.

 

Just something to think about before we all cream ourselves

[Laika]

I know, I know.

 

Tellez Power & Strike Zone approach were lauded as some of the best coming out of HS pre-draft. He's done nothing to disappoint and has always made adjustments as each year has gone on, or Level he's been promoted to.

 

Just something to think about before we all cream ourselves

 

Yeah it would be a mistake to get overly excited about ANY first base prospect. They fail at such a high rate.

 

Tellez looks good but he'll still probably suck.

[Dr. Dinger]

Does he have an arm bar tho?

[Laika]

Does he have an arm bar tho?

 

Do you honestly think AJ Reed sucked this year and will never make it because he has an arm bar?

[Dr. Dinger]

Do you honestly think AJ Reed sucked this year and will never make it because he has an arm bar?

 

I was actually referring to Maikel Franco. I like AJ Reed, I was one of his most ardent proponents coming into 2016.

[Laika]

I was actually referring to Maikel Franco. I like AJ Reed, I was one of his most ardent proponents coming into 2016.

 

Franco has an arm bar? I know it was one of the "criticisms" of Reed.

 

It's such hokey. A red-herring swing "flaw" and nothing more. I hate s*** like that in baseball and it's so prevalent. More often in pitchers.

[Dr. Dinger]

I'm not so sure. If it's just a way of saying a guy has a rigid swing, that can be a problem, mostly against breaking balls. I think Reed will be good, but who knows.

[wk680]

I dunno. It happened in the middle of July. Maybe they have or had indicators or fancy stats that made it seem like they were buying low.

 

Heck, maybe they DID buy low. A lot of the decision was just about having controllable depth. Having someone, anyone, under contract for subsequent years.

 

It was hard to see the attraction at the time based on public information and a few months later it is even harder. IIRC he was very bad after signing the extension.

 

I noticed something peculiar with Smoak. Over the 7 seasons since starting out in 2010, his performance seems to oscillate between below replacement level to above.

Consider:

OPS+ (baseball-reference): 82, 106, 85, 113, 77, 105, 87

wRC+ (fangraphs): 81, 103, 85, 112, 78, 108, 90

fWAR: -0.5, 0.5, -0.6, 0.7, -0.4, 0.6, -0.1

 

All three metrics are up-down, up-down.....

 

So maybe they hope the pattern continues and he has a slightly above replacement level season again in 2017?

[Mittens87]

Smoak and Saunders were together in Seattle and then Toronto, apparently good friends. Saunders was most likely dragging Smoak down and could only be a good thing to separate them. I see smoak having a first half like Saunders and a Twitter campaign to get him in the all star game.

 

Worst case scenario there isn't someone like Edwin to compete with and he might not feel as much pressure as when Gibbons did throw him out there this year. Seeing a few of his interviews he always seemed pretty down on himself, maybe that's just his personality though.

 

He should not be allowed near the Internet at all during the season.

[Joshtowers]

Smoak and Saunders were together in Seattle and then Toronto, apparently good friends. Saunders was most likely dragging Smoak down and could only be a good thing to separate them. I see smoak having a first half like Saunders and a Twitter campaign to get him in the all star game.

 

Worst case scenario there isn't someone like Edwin to compete with and he might not feel as much pressure as when Gibbons did throw him out there this year. Seeing a few of his interviews he always seemed pretty down on himself, maybe that's just his personality though.

 

He should not be allowed near the Internet at all during the season.

 

Good analytics. I have some whiskas ready or chow cha cha cha ready for you

 

Get rid of saunders

[Brownie19]

Smoak and Saunders were together in Seattle and then Toronto, apparently good friends. Saunders was most likely dragging Smoak down and could only be a good thing to separate them. I see smoak having a first half like Saunders and a Twitter campaign to get him in the all star game.

 

Worst case scenario there isn't someone like Edwin to compete with and he might not feel as much pressure as when Gibbons did throw him out there this year. Seeing a few of his interviews he always seemed pretty down on himself, maybe that's just his personality though.

 

He should not be allowed near the Internet at all during the season.

 

WPOTY candidate

[Mittens87]

WPOTY candidate

 

It's a joke. But the front office wants him playing, I'd prefer him somewhere else. If you don't like smoak you should probably not watch because he will be playing. I'd make a large bet he gets 300 PA or more, like he has the last 2 years in Toronto. Not everyone on the team is going to be able to make contact, some of them are just destined to strike out and bat 9th.

 

Wasn't Pearce injured at the end of last season? He is pretty old an got only 265 or so plate appearances. Not worth more than 5 million. Nobody will expect him to start every game even though I think he is better than smoak from R and Lhp

Edited November 13, 2016 by Mittens87

[Gary]

Why is Pearce always injured?

[Mittens87]

Some players aren't built to play deep into their 30's as an everyday player. Steve hasn't got a full season in, but was getting sent down a lot and never got a good chance. Think it was just this season he was dealing with injuries

[Laika]

Why is Pearce always injured?

 

He's not always injured.

 

He had a significant elbow injury last year.

[Mittens87]

He was sent down and called up 7 times from 2008-2010. Then was on the 60 day DL in 2010 and 2011. Released. Then Baltimore signed him and got hurt in 2015, 15 day DL in June 2016 and again ended this year on the 60 day DL. Probably why they only want him as platoon.