BLUE JAYS SIGN Tyler Chatwood

[Ehjays]

The Blue Jays have reached a deal with right-hander Tyler Chatwood, pending a physical, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Chatwood will earn $3MM, but the deal could reach $5.5MM based on incentives, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. He’s a client of Excel Sports Management.

 

Chatwood has spent the majority of his career as a starter, but he is expected to serve as a reliever for the Blue Jays, Davidi reports. The 31-year-old owns a lifetime 4.40 ERA/4.83 FIP with a 16.8 percent strikeout rate against an 11.8 percentage walk rate in 846 2/3 innings. Nothing there looks particularly impressive, but after he put up middling-at-best production as an Angel and Rockie from 2011-17, the Cubs took a chance on Chatwood blossoming into a valuable part of their rotation.

 

The Cubs were hoping to steal a mid-rotation starter when they signed Chatwood to a three-year, $38MM guarantee before 2018, but the move didn’t work out for the club. Chatwood wound up tossing 199 innings of 4.70 ERA ball as a Cub, and he spent most of that time (37 appearances in 67 games) as a reliever. While Chatwood did make all five of his appearances from the Cubs’ rotation in 2020, his numbers declined after a quick start, and forearm problems held him out for all of September.

 

Chatwood will now join Toronto’s bullpen, and if anything goes wrong with its starting staff, he could be part of that group. At the moment, the Jays are slated to go with Hyun Jin Ryu, Robbie Ray, Tanner Roark, Nate Pearson and Ross Stripling in their rotation, but they may not be content with that bunch after earning a playoff berth in 2020.

[Jays24]

LOL I can’t wait to hear from Jays24 and max silver

 

Luckily Springer and Bauer are still available so won't be too negative here lol. After "fixing" Ray, we think we can do the same here. I really don't want to watch more analytical baseball where guys are pulled automatically after 3 innings. That only works if we have a dominant bullpen and not the likes of AJ f***ing Cole there.

 

Ryu

Free Agent

Pearson

Ray/Stripling

Chatwood/Roark

[Jays24]

Chatwood is my #5 SP over Roark. Wish there was a team option.

 

We have Stripling battling for the 5th spot too. Looks like we are hoping 2 of Ray, Stripling, Chatwood and Roark have bounce back years.

[Key22]

I think they left out Thornton who is likely to be in the rotation if healthy.

 

I don't mind the signing but it is kind of funny when Atkins is interviewed and says he wants to lower the walks issues and improve team defence. Then signs a walk machine in Chatwood and resigns a walk machine in Ray. Granted they both have upside and strike guys out but it's sorta funny to me how he does the opposite of what he says.

[Jays24]

I think they left out Thornton who is likely to be in the rotation if healthy.

 

I don't mind the signing but it is kind of funny when Atkins is interviewed and says he wants to lower the walks issues and improve team defence. Then signs a walk machine in Chatwood and resigns a walk machine in Ray. Granted they both have upside and strike guys out but it's sorta funny to me how he does the opposite of what he says.

 

Trying to be cost effective will do that to you. You can take Shatkins out of Cleveland but you can't take the Cleveland out of Shatkins...

 

*now that all changes if we get Springer lol

[Spanky99]

Luckily Springer and Bauer are still available so won't be too negative here lol. After "fixing" Ray, we think we can do the same here. I really don't want to watch more analytical baseball where guys are pulled automatically after 3 innings. That only works if we have a dominant bullpen and not the likes of AJ f***ing Cole there.

 

Ryu

Free Agent

Pearson

Ray/Stripling

Chatwood/Roark

 

I'd say Bauer in there would look good, lol...

 

Bauer every 4 starts.

Ryu every 6 starts.

Pearson/Chatwood

Ray/Stripling

Roark/Hatch/Kay

 

Rinse and replan, every week.

[Spanky99]

I think they left out Thornton who is likely to be in the rotation if healthy.

 

I don't mind the signing but it is kind of funny when Atkins is interviewed and says he wants to lower the walks issues and improve team defence. Then signs a walk machine in Chatwood and resigns a walk machine in Ray. Granted they both have upside and strike guys out but it's sorta funny to me how he does the opposite of what he says.

 

Options and depth.

[Orgfiller]

Tyler Chatwood is who people think Robbie Ray is.

[Spanky99]

Robbie Ray lite.

 

Tyler Chatwood is who people think Robbie Ray is.

 

Yup.

[Spanky99]

I believe the League knows more about Roster Limits, Universal DH, Taxi-Squads and additional WC spots.

[Grant77]

I don't mind this signing if he is used as a versatile reliever. It's frustrating that we haven't made our big moves yet, but this kind of signing was always necessary.

[Spanky99]

I don't mind this signing if he is used as a versatile reliever. It's frustrating that we haven't made our big moves yet, but this kind of signing was always necessary.

 

Yeah, it's all folk has to take it all in stride. Slow off-season y'all.

[saskjayfan]

Chatwood's K percentage jumped to 29.1% from his career average of 16.8%. His BB% ticked down to 10.5% compared to career average of 11.9% That is moving in the right direction.

 

My problem is we probably could have had McGee for that price who bounced back last year. His velocity ticked up and his K% was 41.8% with a 3.8%. Another lefty would have been nice in the pen.

 

They are obviously valuing multiple innings, but don't we have enough guys who can throw multiple innings?

[Laika]

My problem is we probably could have had McGee for that price who bounced back last year. His velocity ticked up and his K% was 41.8% with a 3.8%. Another lefty would have been nice in the pen.

 

Are you Jake McGee's agent? He had an elite season and could be asking for a lot

[BTS]

I find pitchers like Chatwood (and Ray for that matter) aesthetically unappealing, but there's a very good chance that one of them has an excellent season in 2021.

[Laika]

Funny how different baseball was a few years ago. Chatwood got like 3/$40M coming off a below-average season because the Cubs thought they were geniuses and evidently a bunch of other teams also thought Chatwood was sneaky awesome too, driving a weird money rush.

 

That's like Martin Perez getting $40M this offseason.

[Ehjays]

 

I think I would sooner see him pitch than Roarke , not a fan of Roarke at all

[Jays24]

 

I think I would sooner see him pitch than Roarke , not a fan of Roarke at all

 

Don't worry... no one is. Imagine having his 12 million to spend on a real starter this offseasln...

[LGBJ29]

Don't worry... no one is. Imagine having his 12 million to spend on a real starter this offseasln...

 

I highly doubt his salary is what is holding us back from pulling the trigger on any guy the FO is looking to sign

[jerb]

 

Toronto Blue Jays

@BlueJays

 

OFFICIAL: We’ve signed RHP Tyler Chatwood to a one-year contract. To make room, RHP Anthony Castro has been DFA’d.

 

Welcome to the #BlueJays, Tyler!

[Ryu In My House]

 

I think I would sooner see him pitch than Roarke , not a fan of Roarke at all

 

Are there any Roark fans on this forum?

[Krylian]

 

Toronto Blue Jays

@BlueJays

 

OFFICIAL: We’ve signed RHP Tyler Chatwood to a one-year contract. To make room, RHP Anthony Castro has been DFA’d.

 

Welcome to the #BlueJays, Tyler!

 

Anthony Castro was #19 on the Jays Top 30 prospects according to MLB.com

[Krylian]

Are there any Roark fans on this forum?

 

I hope not. There shouldn't be.

[wilko]

Are there any Roark fans on this forum?

 

Well this is embarrassing...

[max silver]

Are there any Roark fans on this forum?

 

A better question is whether there are any Roark fans anywhere.

[Spanky99]

Anthony Castro was #19 on the Jays Top 30 prospects according to MLB.com

 

Holy s***, that was a pretty promising light they put him in. He'll get claimed.

[Virgil_Hiltz]

Are there any Roark fans on this forum?

 

His mom was but he was pissed at her due to all her trash talking about his season so she left!

[Deadpool]

Holy s***, that was a pretty promising light they put him in. He'll get claimed.

 

Meh, he was with the team for a month and a half, I promise you nobody will remember he was ever a Jay by spring training.

[Spanky99]

Meh, he was with the team for a month and a half, I promise you nobody will remember he was ever a Jay by spring training.

 

I will, after reading that blurb...

 

To call Castro a late bloomer would be an understatement. The Tigers signed him out of Venezuela as an amateur in 2011, but after two years in the Venezuelan Summer League, a season lost to Tommy John surgery and a repeat of the Gulf Coast League, he didn’t make his full-season debut until 2017 as a 22-year-old at West Michigan. He has looked better at each stop since then, including a standout 2019 campaign as a starter and reliever in Erie, where he had some of the best power pitching on a staff that included top prospects Casey Mize and Matt Manning. A strong Arizona Fall League stint caught scouts’ attention, leading the Tigers to not only re-sign him but add him to their 40-man roster. But after making his big league debut out of the Tigers’ bullpen in 2020, Castro was claimed off waivers in December by Toronto.

 

The intrigue around Castro centers around a fastball that sits at 93-95 but works up to 97 mph with cutting action. His slider was a quality chase pitch for him against Double-A hitters, while his changeup has shown enough improvement to throw in different counts. The combination has enough movement that hitters struggle to square him up, evidenced by a low home run rate. However, it also costs him in command, coupling a 10.2 K/9 rate with 5.7 BB/9 in 2019.

 

Though most scouts view Castro’s best fit as a reliever, he actually has been much stronger in a starting role, where he’s better able to repeat his upright delivery. After claiming him off waivers, the Blue Jays may explore developing Castro as a starter, knowing that he could always fill a long-relief role if that doesn’t work out.

[The Iceman]

Roark is the BIG diesel...just ask him