Your Expected Big IF Aquisition After Semien's Departure?

[Jays24]

So after signing Gausman and losing out on Semien, it seems like the glaring hole on our team is how we're going to handle 2B/3B. I'm creating this thread mainly because I haven't heard many rumours this offseason of which infielder we're tied to but I'm pretty damn sure we'll make a big splash on that front.

 

There are a lot of ways this can go but my preference at this stage would be to get a 3B and let Biggio/Espinal battle for 2B or just platoon them. I've even heard from some that we could maybe move Vlad to 3B and go after a 1B but I don't think we'll mess with Vlad defensively. Kris Bryant/Chapman/Jose Ramirez would be my targets so what are yours?

Edited November 29, 2021 by Jays24

[The Iceman]

Kyle Seager

LH bat on a 2 year deal until Groshan is ready

[Carlos Danger]

Jays will trade with the Reds for Mahle.. As part of the conditions of the deal, Jays will need to eat salary of one of Reds 3B and he will also come over in the deal.

[The Iceman]

Jays will trade with the Reds for Mahle.. As part of the conditions of the deal, Jays will need to eat salary of one of Reds 3B and he will also come over in the deal.

 

Edwin E???

[The Iceman]

Jays will trade with the Reds for Mahle.. As part of the conditions of the deal, Jays will need to eat salary of one of Reds 3B and he will also come over in the deal.

 

Edwin E???

[Deadpool]

N/A

 

I think they sign a versatile, decent guy who can cover 2B/3B, but is mostly on the bench. They'll use Biggio at 2B and Espinal at 3B until one of their internal options pushes Espinal to the bench role he was designed for.

 

Basically, I think they're going to try to upgrade on Valera for the bench piece, not on Biggio or Espinal.

[wilko]

I'd let Biggio play 2B and Espinal 3B. Possibly go after another IF who can cover around the diamond with a LHB.

[ColdPint]

If we don’t make a move to replace some of Semien’s production we’re fielding a team that is worse than 2021 on paper.

 

Sure we can hope on a bounce back season from Biggio, and a healthier season from Springer, but a hell of a lot of things went our way in 2021.

 

We can’t go into a season with WS aspirations with a bottom 3 of Jansen, Biggio and Espinal.

[Sammy225]

I would be shocked if Kirk is on our roster to start the year with Moreno likely up sometime this year it makes no sense right now to keep him or pigeon hole him as a dh. Now is the time to move him while his value is high. I'm thinking he will get dealt for a 3b or 2b and biggio/espinal will deal with the other.

[Eat My Shatkins]

The big wild card in all of this is Gabe Moreno.

 

If the FO is expecting him to come up and have a Bo Bichette level of impact while getting reps at 3B and catcher, they might not be as eager to fill that void via free agency as many fans are.

[Carlos Danger]

Edwin E???

 

Reds have Moustakas, Suarez (both on big $ contracts) as well as Asdrubal Cabrera and Kyle Farmer on their 3b depth chart.

[The Cats Ass]

Kris Bryant would be a perfect fit. Give him a mixture of 3B, OF to give Hernandez/Gurriel/Springer a DH day, 1B to give Vladdy a DH day. If/when Moreno is up on the days he plays 3B are the days Bryant could flip to the OF or 1B to give one of those guys a rest from the field.

[DigitalRock]

If we don’t make a move to replace some of Semien’s production we’re fielding a team that is worse than 2021 on paper.

 

Sure we can hope on a bounce back season from Biggio, and a healthier season from Springer, but a hell of a lot of things went our way in 2021.

 

We can’t go into a season with WS aspirations with a bottom 3 of Jansen, Biggio and Espinal.

 

Do you think every ws team has all stars at every position or what.

[L54]

Of the guys listed Matt Chapman because he’s the cheapest and if you eat the whole salary Oakland probably gives him to you for free

 

Don’t love his profile in this lineup. Right handed, low OBP, high K’s but if the cost is cheap he’s better than Kyle Seager

[Jays24]

Kris Bryant would be a perfect fit. Give him a mixture of 3B, OF to give Hernandez/Gurriel/Springer a DH day, 1B to give Vladdy a DH day. If/when Moreno is up on the days he plays 3B are the days Bryant could flip to the OF or 1B to give one of those guys a rest from the field.

 

I also think Bryant would be the cheapest big target we can get. Jose Ramirez and Chapman will cost so damn much. I say let's go after Bryant and Schwarber at DH for his left handed bat. We can hope someone will take Grichuk off our hands if the MLB implements a salary floor in the new CBS

[glory]

The 3B free agent market sucks, and the trade market is basically gut your farm (Ramirez) or a good flawed player who is not the best fit since he K's a ton and is RH (Chapman). I legit have no idea where the Jays go to fix that hole. Alpha Atkins doesn't shop in the stop gap aisle anymore, so I don't think he's going spend money on Seager. My guess is he either blows his load for Ramirez in a trade, or sticks with internal options (depending on what the actual plan is for Moreno) and spends big on a LH bat like Conforto or Schwarber.

[Brownie19]

Jays will trade with the Reds for Mahle.. As part of the conditions of the deal, Jays will need to eat salary of one of Reds 3B and he will also come over in the deal.

 

This is an interesting idea. Moose and Suarez are only signed until 2024 (and both have club options for 2025). If you could drastically reduce the cost to acquire Mahle buy 'taking' either of them and their contracts, that might be an interesting way to fill 2 holes without sacrificing the farm, or handing out a long term commitment. Moose, as a lefty might 'fit' the need better, but Suarez, if you could fix him, has massive upside (and only costs $11.2M AAV). I'd love to find a way to get Nick Senzel included also. The Reds must be ready to give up on him.

 

Any thoughts on what Mahle + Suarez would cost the Jays if they 'ate' all of Suarez's contract?

[Funky]

Ramirez being a switch hitting 3B that can hit and play Defence for a bargain contract is my choice. Fills the void left by Marcus departure while balancing the right heavy lineup. Biggio and Espinal are good enough to play 2B and spell of others when needed.

 

We are in our winning window now, the kids are here, hopefully Moreno is up this year. We have extra picks from our Free Agent departures, let’s spend some more prospect capital.

[John_Havok]

Ramirez being a switch hitting 3B that can hit and play Defence for a bargain contract is my choice. Fills the void left by Marcus departure while balancing the right heavy lineup. Biggio and Espinal are good enough to play 2B and spell of others when needed.

 

We are in our winning window now, the kids are here, hopefully Moreno is up this year. We have extra picks from our Free Agent departures, let’s spend some more prospect capital.

 

Or Ketel Marte. He can play a ton of positions, 3 more years under contract for 8, 10 and 12 million respectively. Probably not the same upside with the bat as Ramirez but he's no slouch either.

[Jimcanuck]

There won't be one. Moreno is getting daily 3B reps for a reason.

 

The offense is more than capable, and will be even more so when Moreno is elevated. The needs are another MLB rotation SP, SP depth, and BP help.

[gruber92]

Kyle Seager

LH bat on a 2 year deal until Groshan is ready

 

Groshans isn't quality MLB material, lacks bat speed. Let him hopefully shine in the minors and then move him possibly at the deadline as part of a package.

[John_Havok]

Groshans isn't quality MLB material, lacks bat speed. Let him hopefully shine in the minors and then move him possibly at the deadline as part of a package.

 

Was this serious? If there's one thing about Groshans that nobody questions, it's bat speed.

[gruber92]

Was this serious? If there's one thing about Groshans that nobody questions, it's bat speed.

 

We shall see..

[John_Havok]

We shall see..

 

Well, in any case he could absolutely brick as a prospect, but based on virtually every scouting report available on the kid, it wont be because he lacks bat speed.

 

From pre-season 2021:

 

Hit: Slightly open stance that squares on load; hands high above the letters; upright stance with a slight crouch and wide base. Busy pre-load; large leg lift on gather opens body up to clear hips on load; shortens to a smaller stride or toe tap when behind in the count. Quick trigger. Strong hands and quick wrists generate plus bat speed. Fluid swing with natural loft. Advanced feel; solid bat-to-ball skills; shows patience, grinding out ABs waiting for his pitch; occasionally more passive than you'd prefer to see. Utilizes entire field. Enough bat speed to handle premium velocity; occasionally exposed by chase up in the zone and above-average or better off-speed and breaking balls. Deficiencies should shore up a tick with further pro instruction. Grade: 55

 

Power: Plus raw in BP; shows average in game. Explosive hands and quick wrists generate plus bat speed. Fluid swing with natural loft. Good barrel control; stays within his swing, seldom selling out for power. Drives the ball with authority to all fields; drives the gaps; shows significant over-the-fence pop. Frame and physicality ideal for future power; should easily mature into an above-average asset. Grade: 55

 

Had some injury issues in 2021, but didn't seem to limit him at all. When healthy he still hit very well.

[Jimcanuck]

Was this serious? If there's one thing about Groshans that nobody questions, it's bat speed.

 

The BA writeup of last month does question the bat speed / power. Groshans has been projected defensively to 3B or corner OF, so he needs the power to come through.

 

Groshans stands out for his feel for hitting. He can square up good fastballs, adjust to offspeed pitches and has good strike-zone judgement with an approach that allows him to use the whole field. He tightened his swing by condensing some of the bigger movements he had previously, which helped him stay more under control rather than trying to cheat to get to more power. Figuring out how to tap back into more game power will be critical for Groshans, who probably ends up at third base. Some evaluators are skeptical that his bat speed and approach will ever result in big power numbers, while others think he could get to average or better power. Groshans has a plus arm and improved defensively in New Hampshire, but his quickness and range are better suited for third base, where he spent around one-third of his defensive innings in 2021.

[DigitalRock]

Groshans isn't quality MLB material, lacks bat speed. Let him hopefully shine in the minors and then move him possibly at the deadline as part of a package.

 

Gruber with more bad takes I see.

[John_Havok]

The BA writeup of last month does question the bat speed / power. Groshans has been projected defensively to 3B or corner OF, so he needs the power to come through.

 

Groshans stands out for his feel for hitting. He can square up good fastballs, adjust to offspeed pitches and has good strike-zone judgement with an approach that allows him to use the whole field. He tightened his swing by condensing some of the bigger movements he had previously, which helped him stay more under control rather than trying to cheat to get to more power. Figuring out how to tap back into more game power will be critical for Groshans, who probably ends up at third base. Some evaluators are skeptical that his bat speed and approach will ever result in big power numbers, while others think he could get to average or better power. Groshans has a plus arm and improved defensively in New Hampshire, but his quickness and range are better suited for third base, where he spent around one-third of his defensive innings in 2021.

 

One thing they all seem to agree on is that he is destined for 3B. That's the first I've ever read his bat speed being a question mark, though that writeup isn't perfectly clear. Are they questioning his bat speed and the approach? Just one? Or saying the approach doesn't make use of the bat speed? Slightly ambiguous the way i read it.

[Jimcanuck]

One thing they all seem to agree on is that he is destined for 3B. That's the first I've ever read his bat speed being a question mark, though that writeup isn't perfectly clear. Are they questioning his bat speed and the approach? Just one? Or saying the approach doesn't make use of the bat speed? Slightly ambiguous the way i read it.

 

Yes it is ambiguous. Let's just say there is a question of how much raw power Groshans will tap into.

[Terminator]

We are going to trade for Jose Ramirez!

[gruber92]

Gruber with more bad takes I see.

 

Lol