General 2018 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[glory]

There are a lot of options, and many things can happen between now and next April. Jays make a trade, someone gets hurt, dead, jailed, whatever. Maybe a few guys like Travis and Morales get DFA'ed solely to make room for potential rule 5 losses.

 

I think they'll keep Morales for his vetrin presentz (and not wanting to throw $12m in the trash), but yeah the infield could/will see a lot of movement. Solarte has to be done with the org, Travis is questionable, and Tulo is still the elephant in the room.

[Jimcanuck]

I think they'll keep Morales for his vetrin presentz (and not wanting to throw $12m in the trash), but yeah the infield could/will see a lot of movement. Solarte has to be done with the org, Travis is questionable, and Tulo is still the elephant in the room.

 

Ya so trade Morales and $6M to KC for some low level prospect and/or IFA money

[Spanky99]

Anyone read this good piece on Nikki Huffman? Never knew much about her. The funny part of the article is the banter between her and Devon Travis.

Of course, this article was immediately overshadowed by the news of Gibbons not returning in 2019.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/nikki-huffman-toronto-blue-jays-trainer-profile/

 

Great read, thanks.

[glory]

Ya so trade Morales and $6M to KC for some low level prospect and/or IFA money

 

I'd be fine with keeping Morales around as a vet as long as he's used as a bench player. Have the Mirage DH full time with McKinney in LF. No one wants a DH nowadays. I doubt any team will take him for even 50% of his 2019 salary.

[Spanky99]

Gibby...

[Jimcanuck]

I'd be fine with keeping Morales around as a vet as long as he's used as a bench player. Have the Mirage DH full time with McKinney in LF. No one wants a DH nowadays. I doubt any team will take him for even 50% of his 2019 salary.

 

I like Tellez and Teo as a DH platoon with time at 1B and OF

 

Give both of them the chance, maybe one of them takes it and runs with it

[Dick_Pole]

If Travis is in the minors next year, might as well make it productive and see if he can still play the outfield. He's not going to take time away from Biggio.

[Bobthe4th]

You say this as if its a "surprise" or something. Diaz is obviously better than Travis at this point and can play SS, so he's definitely on the team over him. Drury is a guy they like a lot and he will absolutely get the chance to prove himself over a failed experiment from the last regime.

 

Haha, I literally said the opposite, but I get what you mean.

 

Before the injuries Travis was one of our most important players IMO. Diaz is a journeyman bench player, and Drury is s***. Sad it’s come to this.

[Terminator]

No need to DFA, he has options. Unless you want him off the 40 man? Seems like there's other fat to cut imo.

 

Well he made 1.4 mil this year and he's due for a raise through arbitration. I have no idea what he'll make which would of course play a factor in retaining him or not but my thinking was let's save the 3 million and clear him off the 40 man instead of hanging onto him. But I'd be open to finding a way to hang onto him too. I just don't think he's any good anymore.

[Orgfiller]

Haha, I literally said the opposite, but I get what you mean.

 

Before the injuries Travis was one of our most important players IMO. Diaz is a journeyman bench player, and Drury is s***. Sad it’s come to this.

 

What? Diaz is 4 months older than Travis, whose best season is better than Travis' best and plays a premium position at least at an average level whereas the other is garbage at second now. It's true that at one point Travis looked like he could have been a solid piece on our team but it's disingenuous to act like Diaz is some replacement level garbage that you can get from anywhere. His acquisition was very shrewd and it's worked out very well, he could easily start for this team next season and he wouldn't be one of our holes.

 

They also obviously liked Drury enough to accept him as part of a package for their top deadline asset. I feel like you're oddly overrating Devon Travis,

[Bobthe4th]

What? Diaz is 4 months older than Travis, whose best season is better than Travis' best and plays a premium position at least at an average level whereas the other is garbage at second now. It's true that at one point Travis looked like he could have been a solid piece on our team but it's disingenuous to act like Diaz is some replacement level garbage that you can get from anywhere. His acquisition was very shrewd and it's worked out very well, he could easily start for this team next season and he wouldn't be one of our holes.

 

They also obviously liked Drury enough to accept him as part of a package for their top deadline asset. I feel like you're oddly overrating Devon Travis,

 

You think Diaz is good enough that he has to play every day? I don’t. He’s a versatile player who is a good depth piece. He’s not someone you have to get into the lineup. Obv he’s better than the likes of Goins though.

 

Travis when he was fit looked like he was going to be a fixture in the team, putting up 2.2 and 2.4 WAR both in basically half seasons disrupted by injuries. It never happened though because of his knees.

 

I appreciate the FO like Drury and they obv have more info than we do. I still think he’s s***, haha.

[bendera3]

Can you be a journeyman player if you've only played for 2 teams?

[Laika]

Can you be a journeyman player if you've only played for 2 teams?

 

The dude journeyed from Cuba to Mexico to St. Louis to Toronto. Four countries! I'd call him a Journey Man for sure.

[Olerud363]

You think Diaz is good enough that he has to play every day? I don’t. He’s a versatile player who is a good depth piece. He’s not someone you have to get into the lineup. Obv he’s better than the likes of Goins though.

 

Travis when he was fit looked like he was going to be a fixture in the team, putting up 2.2 and 2.4 WAR both in basically half seasons disrupted by injuries. It never happened though because of his knees.

 

I appreciate the FO like Drury and they obv have more info than we do. I still think he’s s***, haha.

 

Of course he's good enough to play everday. He's basically a 2 WAR player.

 

Jays have a bunch of 1-2 WAR players, and I guess have to crank it up and get some stars at some positions. Kind of a weird situation but basically a couple of players have to be replaced with stars, but it doesn't matter which players it is. Nobody specific has to be replaced.

[Boxcar]

Decent defensive shortstop who is a league average hitter - not good enough.

 

Diaz is basically Ryan Goins.

[metafour]

Decent defensive shortstop who is a league average hitter - not good enough.

 

Diaz is basically Ryan Goins.

 

Diaz's 103 wRC+, if qualified, would rank 12th in MLB among shortstops...just behind Trea Turner and his superstarish 104 wRC+.

 

Even in his one completely fluke season, Goins was just an 85 wRC+ hitter.

[Bobthe4th]

 

Lots of low grades of course, Martin and Grichuk seem particularly harsh though (D- and D+)

[Orgfiller]

You think Diaz is good enough that he has to play every day? I don’t. He’s a versatile player who is a good depth piece. He’s not someone you have to get into the lineup. Obv he’s better than the likes of Goins though.

 

Travis when he was fit looked like he was going to be a fixture in the team, putting up 2.2 and 2.4 WAR both in basically half seasons disrupted by injuries. It never happened though because of his knees.

 

I appreciate the FO like Drury and they obv have more info than we do. I still think he’s s***, haha.

 

Well I'd prefer to have Bregman, but Diaz is perfectly fine as an average starting shortstop, and it should be noted that he's still an above average hitter even with a .269 BABIP. We never had a large enough sample of Travis to determine if he could maintain BABIPs around .350 and what would happen when the likely event of that regressing to the mean would mean for him, given that he was never a high OBP guy and without plus power.

[Orgfiller]

 

Lots of low grades of course, Martin and Grichuk seem particularly harsh though (D- and D+)

 

Lol at giving a D+ for what was basically our best player this year.

[Bobthe4th]

Well I'd prefer to have Bregman, but Diaz is perfectly fine as an average starting shortstop, and it should be noted that he's still an above average hitter even with a .269 BABIP. We never had a large enough sample of Travis to determine if he could maintain BABIPs around .350 and what would happen when the likely event of that regressing to the mean would mean for him, given that he was never a high OBP guy and without plus power.

 

Yeah that’s fair. I think Diaz is better suited to infield cover than starting SS, but no issue with him there until Bichette is (hopefully) ready.

[BTS]

Why would Grichuk get a D+ for contributing ~ 2 fWAR in like 450 PA?

[Bobthe4th]

Why would Grichuk get a D+ for contributing ~ 2 fWAR in like 450 PA?

 

I guess the author hasn’t being paying much attention the second half of the season. To be fair Grichuk started off badly so maybe he was soured by that? The Steve Pearce effect.

[JuniorFelix]

Why would Grichuk get a D+ for contributing ~ 2 fWAR in like 450 PA?

It almost seems like the D+ is a typo because the write-up isn't particularly bad. Odd for sure.

[Jimcanuck]

Why would Grichuk get a D+ for contributing ~ 2 fWAR in like 450 PA?

 

Maybe he was expected to deliver 4 WAR? Then it might make sense.

 

I mean, if Trout delivered 2 WAR this year, would you give him a D+ before shooting your brains out?

[Dick_Pole]

I guess the author hasn’t being paying much attention the second half of the season. To be fair Grichuk started off badly so maybe he was soured by that? The Steve Pearce effect.

 

The Sportsnet propaganda machine is blasting full force trying to save the parent company some arb $$$ or convince Randy to sign a cheap long term deal.

[Brownie19]

What does he mean by this:

 

A functional closer who’s not as good as the guy he replaced, but turning a radioactive commodity into the potential Rookie of the Year isn’t something that’s likely to be replicated any time soon.

[Laika]

What does he mean by this:

 

A functional closer who’s not as good as the guy he replaced, but turning a radioactive commodity into the potential Rookie of the Year isn’t something that’s likely to be replicated any time soon.

 

Gleyber?

[Ray]

Maybe he was expected to deliver 4 WAR? Then it might make sense.

 

I mean, if Trout delivered 2 WAR this year, would you give him a D+ before shooting your brains out?

 

It's a little unfair to expect 4 WAR from a player who never even had a 4 WAR season in his career before.

[glory]

I predicted a 3+ war out of Grichuk in 2018 but no way is what he did this year disappointing. He is what he’s always been. I still think he has another gear and can improve but I wouldn’t rate his 2018 poorly at all.

[Brownie19]

Gleyber?

 

Good call.

 

Either way - for me. Giles is very comparable to Osuna. To think we essentially replaced Osuna while added a very talented arm is exciting - even if you ignore the situation that Shatkins/Ownership were in. When you factor in the later, it's a massive win.