Kevin Pillar to SF Giants for INF Alen Hanson, RHP Derek Law and RHP Juan De Paula

[Spanky99]

Giants play at Toronto in 3 weeks

 

We all know that buddy, even Pillar knew it.

[Spanky99]

 

Well said, Stro.

[Brownie19]

Smoak very well might get moved, but we don't really have a 1B other than him. I'd be okay with re-signing him, depending on the terms, unless we get a 1B (Rowdy might work out with the bat, but I have little faith in him becoming decent defensively...)

 

We do that that guy named Vlad. Remove the rose coloured glasses and you'll see our future 1st baseman...

[Deadpool]

We do that that guy named Vlad. Remove the rose coloured glasses and you'll see our future 1st baseman...

 

They're going to give him every chance to play 3rd. Going to be a while before he transitions across the diamond.

[Spanky99]

They're going to give him every chance to play 3rd. Going to be a while before he transitions across the diamond.

 

I keep telling the dumn-dumns, feel free to tell all, our sentiment!

[Key22]

Who here actually hates Pillar other than the one obvious moron? He was a useful player that the Jays drafted very late and spent almost nothing on. His tenure here was about as efficient as one could hope when developing a major league roster.

 

There is nothing Wrong with Kevin Pillar IF Pillar is your number 9 hitter and you are a winning baseball team. You can live with a no bat good defensive CF. I mean getting anything out of a nine hitter is pretty good and Pillar at least had some power and some speed so in the 9-hole he'd be a respectable bat. The problem is when you have such a crappy baseball team that Pillar ends up leading off or batting second, fifth and sixth his bat looks truly awful.

 

And the reality is - they have other players who can play CF and offer the same sort of bat and defense for league minimum rather than nearly $6million. For the next two years they'll be experimenting. I'm a bit surprised they committed to Grichuk who doesn't exactly scream all-star but if the plan is for him to play center he does seem to be an above average bat for the position. And the Jays do not appear to have much in the way of OF prospects. So perhaps locking down 1 spot in the OF makes some sense. The Jays have a lot of payroll flexibility and they may be able to speed up the playoff drive if they don't have to acquire too many free agents fill the holes.

 

It seems like they have done more just today than they have done in the last three months.

[Boxcar]

 

What a let down

[Grant77]

I disagree.

 

What do you think his ML value is?? A 30 yr old CF with declining D, a career .297 OBP and a high K rate..

 

I think his ML value is about 2 WAR, the same thing he does every year. I'm not seeing why we had to rush to trade him for nothing. We left ourselves pretty thin in the outfield for no apparent reason.

[Abomination]

I think his ML value is about 2 WAR, the same thing he does every year. I'm not seeing why we had to rush to trade him for nothing. We left ourselves pretty thin in the outfield for no apparent reason.

 

You can probably replace him at similar cost if need be. Might as well see if a kid with higher upside can fill it and break out (like Alford).

 

Plus, as soon as Pillar's legs give out, he's not gonna be 2 WAR.

[Key22]

I think his ML value is about 2 WAR, the same thing he does every year. I'm not seeing why we had to rush to trade him for nothing. We left ourselves pretty thin in the outfield for no apparent reason.

 

Perhaps part of it is about not embarrassing him. I mean we could keep him but Alford deserves to make the team given his spring so what do you do with Pillar - keep playing him on a team that is going nowhere and wind up benching him similar to Martin? Playing Pillar in the 4th outfield role.

 

I think if Pillar has more opportunity to play regularly in San Fransisco you give him the opportunity to have some sort of career as a major league regular. And with only 10,000 fans in the seats - the fan base is not coming out to see Pillar. The fan support is in the toilet so I suppose now makes the most sense.

 

And perhaps the Jays have evaluated one of those prospects considerably higher than San Francisco rates them.

[saskjayfan]

Pillar's first AB was with Martin behind the plate. Pretty cool moment actually.

[DigitalRock]

The casual fan comments... I just can't... "He was the heart and Soul of the team" people are so dumb.

[Krylian]

The casual fan comments... I just can't... "He was the heart and Soul of the team" people are so dumb.

 

Maybe he was. But the team was s***...so there's that.

[jerb]

[EastCoaster]

They're going to give him every chance to play 3rd. Going to be a while before he transitions across the diamond.

 

I think it will soon come to a reality that given his stature and weight he's better suited as 1 baseman. He looks more with his build like a Miguel Cabrera than a Nolan Arenado, Miguel had also started his career with limited success at 3rd before moving across the diamond to 1 base. Going by his fielding percentage in the minors at 3rd base isn't favorable. Guerrero value is in his bat so why risk injury at the hot corner while he can become a better 1 baseman.

 

I could see a short contract extension for Smoak to mentor this kid into a smooth transition being a good 1 baseman.

[Bobthe4th]

I think it will soon come to a reality that given his stature and weight he's better suited as 1 baseman. He looks more with his build like a Miguel Cabrera than a Nolan Arenado, Miguel had also started his career with limited success at 3rd before moving across the diamond to 1 base. Going by his fielding percentage in the minors at 3rd base isn't favorable. Guerrero value is in his bat so why risk injury at the hot corner while he can become a better 1 baseman.

 

I could see a short contract extension for Smoak to mentor this kid into a smooth transition being a good 1 baseman.

 

Miggy didn't switch to 1B until his sixth season when he was in his mid 20's. Vlad is never going to be an elite 3B (and we're not going to see him play a year in the outfield like Miggy did) but I think everyone here would be happy if we managed to get 5 seasons of Vlad playing a passable 3B.

[BTS]

Miggy didn't switch to 1B until his sixth season when he was in his mid 20's. Vlad is never going to be an elite 3B (and we're not going to see him play a year in the outfield like Miggy did) but I think everyone here would be happy if we managed to get 5 seasons of Vlad playing a passable 3B.

 

Young Miggy was in much, much better shape than Vlad. Or rather, he was significantly less fat. Vlad might well be a passable 3B, but there isn't a single player who looks like Vlad and plays a passable 3B.

[Krylian]

Young Miggy was in much, much better shape than Vlad. Or rather, he was significantly less fat. Vlad might well be a passable 3B, but there isn't a single player who looks like Vlad and plays a passable 3B.

 

Didn't Panda used to play a solid 3B? Or am I imagining that.

[BTS]

Didn't Panda used to play a solid 3B? Or am I imagining that.

 

Sandoval played something like an average 3B until he was 27. He was shockingly mobile for a guy that big.

[Bobthe4th]

Didn't Panda used to play a solid 3B? Or am I imagining that.

 

Yeah he was rated higher by some pundits, but was at least passable and he was just as fat as Vlad.

 

It would be disappointing if Vlad followed Panda's career path though - eating himself out of the game after signing away from us in free agency.

[Krylian]

Sandoval played something like an average 3B until he was 27. He was shockingly mobile for a guy that big.

 

Ya. He was certainly not a blueprint...but I guess it's technically possible. Vladdy does have a plus arm so there's that.

[DigitalRock]

Maybe he was. But the team was s***...so there's that.

 

What does that even mean? How can anyone even say that with any certainty? It's dumb, especially with it being a bad team anyway.,

[glory]

Put Vlad at 1B and keep Drury at 3B. That seems like a simple fix. Vlad will hit enough to be an elite 1b so not sure why he even needs to play 3b.

[BTS]

Put Vlad at 1B and keep Drury at 3B. That seems like a simple fix. Vlad will hit enough to be an elite 1b so not sure why he even needs to play 3b.

 

The more I've seen of Drury, the more I think we should leave him there. The defense looks above average, and if he's even an average hitter, that's a nice player. I don't understand the motivation to force a fat guy in at 3B while crossing your fingers that he's only, like, a -5 defender for a few years.

[BlueRocky]

We’re trying to appeal to Vladdy to sign with us long term..

He wants to play 3B, and has been working on it in the minors for 3 years.

He’s basically our franchise player for the next 7 years.

 

It seems ill-advised crap all over his efforts before giving him a chance. I’ve watched him half a season in NH and a month in Buffalo and it’s not quite as bad as people make it out to be.

 

Plus he’ll likely DH twice a week, so it’s not like you have a blackhole at 3B for 162 games

[Jimcanuck]

The more I've seen of Drury, the more I think we should leave him there. The defense looks above average, and if he's even an average hitter, that's a nice player. I don't understand the motivation to force a fat guy in at 3B while crossing your fingers that he's only, like, a -5 defender for a few years.

 

Agreed. Maybe an attempt to motivate him to keep in shape.

[Laika]

The more I've seen of Drury, the more I think we should leave him there. The defense looks above average, and if he's even an average hitter, that's a nice player. I don't understand the motivation to force a fat guy in at 3B while crossing your fingers that he's only, like, a -5 defender for a few years.

 

I mean we can assume that when the organization outlined their developmental plan for Vlad a few years ago they were hoping / projecting that giving him more defensive responsibility would help him stay athletic.

 

Who knows if they even give a s*** about him actually playing an MLB 3B anymore, in light of him showing up to spring training at 450 pounds and immediately getting hurt.

[Carlos Danger]

I mean we can assume that when the organization outlined their developmental plan for Vlad a few years ago they were hoping / projecting that giving him more defensive responsibility would help him stay athletic.

 

Who knows if they even give a s*** about him actually playing an MLB 3B anymore, in light of him showing up to spring training at 450 pounds and immediately getting hurt.

 

 

If you read between the lines when you listen to Atkins, and a degree to Shapiro; Especially this AM when Atkins was talking about the Acuna extension comp. One, Acuna had a bunch of ML ABs.. Vlad zero.. But, all the other stuff, Atkins says is basically PC stuff for saying yea, we think he can hit, but Acuna is a CF in good shape and Vlad is a fat body probably going to get fatter... There is a real concern with aspects of Vlad apart from his bat..

[Grant77]

I like Drury, but letting him dictate what we do with our best prospect in years would be foolish. If they think Vlad is ready for 3B then he should go there. If he is not then we have a nice fallback option.

[Terminator]

The more I've seen of Drury, the more I think we should leave him there. The defense looks above average, and if he's even an average hitter, that's a nice player. I don't understand the motivation to force a fat guy in at 3B while crossing your fingers that he's only, like, a -5 defender for a few years.

 

I think Drury's best position is 2B where his bat plays up. Then Gurriel can become the UT guy.