Biggio and Gurriel Jr. called up, McKinney and Urena sent down.

[Terminator]

[Krylian]

Neat!

[M.E.]

I thought they would string biggie along for a lot longer than this.

[Jonn]

Its about time. Biggio should have been here over a month ago.

[Slade]

f*** yea so pumped to see Biggio! Thought they might consider sending down Drury.

[Terminator]

I'll be interested to see where they play both of these two, particularly Biggio. Corner OF needs the most help but Sogard is cooling off too. Hopefully with more OF options it means Grichuk will be full-time in CF and Davis will be in a permanent bench role. Watching him start the last 6 games was testing my fandom.

[L54]

Nice! Excited to watch Biggio

[BTS]

f*** yes. Everything about Biggio seems legit, and it will be fun to see him.

[Spanky99]

Sweet.

[Terminator]

Who knows what order Montoyo will put them in or what positions the defensively flexible guys will actually play but the starting lineup looks a lot better and should resemble something like this:

 

C- Jansen

1B- Smoak (S)

2B- Sogard/Drury (L/R)

3B- Vlad Jr.

SS- Galvis (S)

LF- Biggio (L)

CF- Grichuk

RF- Gurriel

DH- Tellez (L)

 

Bench- Maile, Sogard/Drury, Davis

[BlueRocky]

http://media.giphy.com/media/14fnBD3MQslIGc/giphy.gif Edited May 24, 2019 by BlueRocky

[Abomination]

I disagree with Biggio being called up yet, but I'll be excited to see him play just the same.

[Jimcanuck]

Excellent! Starting to feel like the early 1980's when player after player started to come up from the minors. Spanky will probably agree that was the 2nd most exciting time to be a Jays fan, after the WAMCO years.

[Laika]

Shame to see a guy with Justin Upton upside given so little rope

[SaskJaysFan_2]

 

f***ing finally!

 

I'd keep Drury up. He's coming around and plays solidly wherever he goes.

 

This would be a great time to trade Smoak. Get the kids more reps.

 

But I am also open to extending Smoak.

[Jimcanuck]

f***ing finally!

 

I'd keep Drury up. He's coming around and plays solidly wherever he goes.

 

This would be a great time to trade Smoak. Get the kids more reps.

 

But I am also open to extending Smoak.

 

I don't mind a Smoak extension but would rather he be traded. He'll be 33 next year, in the decline phase and probably will not be a very useful piece by the time the Jays are good again. So get a young asset for him now from a contender needing a LH bat.

[glory]

Hopefully Biggio plays everyday. We really need his bat in the lineup.

 

Vlad, Biggio, Jansen, Tellez (power might be realer than I thought)........we're getting closer. Bichette when he gets healthy is next. Would be nice if Alford didn't completely decline but I'm not expecting much there anymore.

[SaskJaysFan_2]

I don't mind a Smoak extension but would rather he be traded. He'll be 33 next year, in the decline phase and probably will not be a very useful piece by the time the Jays are good again. So get a young asset for him now from a contender needing a LH bat.

 

I'd love to trade him over extending him. But if he were to extend for next to nothing, and let's be real, players like Smoak at the moment are commanding next to nothing, he'd be a decent middle of the lineup bat to protect some of the kids like Biggio and Vlad.

[Abomination]

I don't mind a Smoak extension but would rather he be traded. He'll be 33 next year, in the decline phase and probably will not be a very useful piece by the time the Jays are good again. So get a young asset for him now from a contender needing a LH bat.

 

I think the 1B market the last few years have shown there isn't much demand, at least in terms of coughing up assets. He may be more valuable to us than to anyone else.

[wk680]

I think the 1B market the last few years have shown there isn't much demand, at least in terms of coughing up assets. He may be more valuable to us than to anyone else.

 

Yeah there is some intangible value in that 'vetrin presenz' and Smoak is a guy who had to live through many years of underperforming and/or being inconsistent before finally getting more consistently solid in 2017. So he has lived the ups and downs and may be a good mentor to the young guys coming in with high expectations on them.

 

Wow things are really happening : the future is now !

 

ETA: 2 more years of Smoak for $16M total (maybe give him a $2M bonus for each season that he hits 500 PA)?

[glory]

I think the 1B market the last few years have shown there isn't much demand, at least in terms of coughing up assets. He may be more valuable to us than to anyone else.

 

Agreed the Jays will get nothing for him in a trade. The market hates 1B/DH more than any other position right now.

 

The best hope is if a contender wants to clean up its 40 man roster and gives up a Thornton type (back end SP type/multiple inning RP type).

[SaskJaysFan_2]

Yeah there is some intangible value in that 'vetrin presenz' and Smoak is a guy who had to live through many years of underperforming and/or being inconsistent before finally getting more consistently solid in 2017. So he has lived the ups and downs and may be a good mentor to the young guys coming in with high expectations on them.

 

Wow things are really happening : the future is now !

 

ETA: 2 more years of Smoak for $16M total (maybe give him a $2M bonus for each season that he hits 500 PA)?

 

I think that would be an overpay. I dunno if it would work, but $3M and then a $5M for 2021.

[Barkerfan23]

They should have Craig throw out the first pitch

[Grant77]

Sending down McKinney in the middle of a really strong 2 week stretch seems strange but hopefully he'll be back.

[Angrioter]

Gurriel is a piece of s***, but Biggio could be something

[tercet]

Nice to know gurribabip gets another chance despite being f***in awful in AAA, with a 2~ walk rate, and OPS under 500 in May.

[Abomination]

Sending down McKinney in the middle of a really strong 2 week stretch seems strange but hopefully he'll be back.

 

It might have more to do with the leg injury he's nursing, if it's not bad enough to be able to DL him.

[Barkerfan23]

Nice to know gurribabip gets another chance despite being f***in awful in AAA, with a 2~ walk rate, and OPS under 500 in May.

 

Dude did he step on your pumas or something

[wk680]

I think that would be an overpay. I dunno if it would work, but $3M and then a $5M for 2021.

 

Smoak is making $8M this season on the 3rd (option) year of the extension signed after 2016. He has averaged 1.5 fWAR per season in 4 seasons with the Jays between 2015 and 2018. He is currently at 0.5 fWAR in 2019 with about 1/3 of the season in the books (on pace for another 1.5 fWAR). So $8M (same as current salary seems appropriate. Offering less than that would feel like a bit of a show of disrespect by the Jays toward him, and would be better to pay a few more M to show a guy you actually value him than penny-pinching (this IS NOT CLEVELAND!!!). They could go 1 yr $8M with a 2nd year option at $8 M, with a $1M buyout or vesting for 500 PA.

Edited May 24, 2019 by wk680

[Angrioter]

Sending down McKinney in the middle of a really strong 2 week stretch seems strange but hopefully he'll be back.

 

Yep. He's the white Justin Upton