Grichuk to the Rockies

[Jimcanuck]

I'm suspecting another trade or a free agent signing of another outfielder is in the works

 

Yes, but Tapia has no options and not sure they want to run with 5 OF

 

Maybe Teo or Gurriel for an equivalent value OF that is average or better in CF

[Stangstag]

I'm suspecting another trade or a free agent signing of another outfielder is in the works

 

Possible, too bad we couldn’t have signed Schwarber.

 

The ideal move would be a good defensive CF with a league average bat

[G-Snarls]

 

Dingers baby

 

Rockies front office total geniususus aren't they

[TwistedLogic]

In a vacuum, this trade undoubtedly makes the Jays worse in 2022. However, no matter what the salary difference is this season, unless they're sending money to cover both of Grichuk's remaining years, getting his 10M off the books for 2023 is huge. Can non-tender Tapia's bum ass next season.

[Jimcanuck]

Grichuk did hit a shitload of flyballs deep into the OF last year. Those balls carry out of the park in Coors.

[Sammy225]

Yes, but Tapia has no options and not sure they want to run with 5 OF

 

Maybe Teo or Gurriel for an equivalent value OF that is average or better in CF

 

As i see it right now that if Springer goes Down Teo is in CF and that is very much less then Ideal.

[G-Snarls]

Possible, too bad we couldn’t have signed Schwarber.

 

The ideal move would be a good defensive CF with a league average bat

 

[Jimcanuck]

^ not a league average bat, also is barely average defensively at this point

 

Also his nose could break Bichette

[Sammy225]

 

Don't know if your joking or not but less then ideal. He is not the defensive wizard he was back 4 years ago and i don't ever remember once thinking that his bat was ever league average.

[Carlos Danger]

Very happy with this.

 

The fact Grichuk is gone makes me happy. Not too worried about the return and not going to look at the deal in a vacuum.

 

The guy is like trying to get back with an ex every year when you know you should just cut bait. Starts of good and you think this is great, but the underlying issues why you shouldn't be together are still there and by the half-way point of the season you know it was never meant to work.

 

Plus, based on what I saw in some games a few years ago, his D is not plus either...

 

Good move Atkins.

[Laika]

As i see it right now that if Springer goes Down Teo is in CF and that is very much less then Ideal.

 

I think it would more likely be Tapia and/or one of the other outfielders on the depth chart like Mallex Smith or Palacios or Chavez Young or whichever one of them can handle centre.

[G-Snarls]

Don't know if your joking or not but less then ideal. He is not the defensive wizard he was back 4 years ago and i don't ever remember once thinking that his bat was ever league average.

 

Was 90% kidding

 

wRc+ 106, 90 last two years with NYM

[Laika]

Against RHP

 

Greg Bird DH

Kirk C

 

Against LHP

 

Kirk DH

Jansen C

 

ofc Jansen has to play sometimes against righties

[TwistedLogic]

I'm very glad they got out of the Grichuk deal. That being said, there's a lot of celebrating going on in this thread but Tapia is garbage and, unless there's another move coming, he is absolutely going to get more playing time than anyone on here wants.

 

Tapia being a lefty is the worst thing for this team because it means Montoyo is going to find his career 80 wRC+ split a spot in the lineup every single time the Jays are facing a righty.

 

Which is going to be brutal and have people here raging harder than they did over Joe Panik. People will be begging to have Grichuk back in the lineup a month into the season.

 

Really hope they have another move lined up.

[Laika]

I don't think Tapia is a downgrade on Grichuk. At least not obviously. Yeah projections are a bit higher for Grichuk but look at the age gap and the last two seasons; Tapia 1.2 fWAR in about 730 PA and Grichuk 0.9 fWAR in about 770 PA.

 

Possible Jays internal numbers have Tapia is an upgrade.

[Krylian]

Tapia will be Montoyo's new overplayed bum

 

Wrong thread. Keep it in the Wet Blanket thread.

[Carlos Danger]

People will be begging to have Grichuk back in the lineup a month into the season.

 

Yea, probably April, May and half of June. But not in July, August or September...

[glory]

Tapia will pinch hit for Kirk late in a game against a RHP at least once in 2022.

[JaysAllMighty]

The dumbest trade by Shatkins so far.

 

Very disappointed.

[Jimcanuck]

I don't think Tapia is a downgrade on Grichuk. At least not obviously. Yeah projections are a bit higher for Grichuk but look at the age gap and the last two seasons; Tapia 1.2 fWAR in about 730 PA and Grichuk 0.9 fWAR in about 770 PA.

 

Possible Jays internal numbers have Tapia is an upgrade.

 

a wash

 

but Grichuk gonna hit 40 dingers playing Coors and its gonna look bad

[JFD]

a wash

 

but Grichuk gonna hit 40 dingers playing Coors and its gonna look bad

 

Story will hit 12 dingers playing at Fenway to balance the universe

[Stangstag]

Tapia will pinch hit for Kirk late in a game against a RHP at least once in 2022.

 

It’ll happen in the first week of the season.

[jaysguy44]

The dumbest trade by Shatkins so far.

 

Very disappointed.

Lmao

[TwistedLogic]

I don't think Tapia is a downgrade on Grichuk. At least not obviously. Yeah projections are a bit higher for Grichuk but look at the age gap and the last two seasons; Tapia 1.2 fWAR in about 730 PA and Grichuk 0.9 fWAR in about 770 PA.

 

Possible Jays internal numbers have Tapia is an upgrade.

 

It's pretty much entirely baserunning. Tapia has a +6.9 BsR over that time while Grichuk is -4.8. They're pretty much a wash defensively and Grichuk is far better offensively.

 

If we could trust Montoyo to use Tapia strategically from a baserunning standpoint, I would classify this trade as a straight win even without taking the saved salary into account.

 

But we all know Montoyo is going to give Tapia way too many plate appearances and way too many high leverage pinch hit opportunities.

 

I was nervous about Montoyo having Greg Bird as an option going into the season because it was giving me Joe Panik PTSD but I'd 1000% take Bird over Tapia.

[Ehjays]

Blue Jays, Rockies To Swap Randal Grichuk For Raimel Tapia

By Steve Adams | March 24, 2022 at 12:01pm CDT

 

The Blue Jays and Rockies have agreed to a trade sending outfielder Randal Grichuk from Toronto to Colorado in exchange for outfielder Raimel Tapia, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Jays will acquire infield prospect Adrian Pinto from the Rockies, and they’ll also send cash to Colorado to help cover Grichuk’s contract, Feinsand adds.

 

Grichuk, 30, has been viewed as a trade candidate for more than a year now as the Rockies have deepened their outfield mix and Grichuk’s performance has slipped. Signed to a five-year contract covering the 2019-23 seasons, Grichuk is still owed $9.33MM both this season and next, while Tapia and the Rox settled on a $3.95MM salary earlier this week. He’s arbitration-eligible and controlled through the 2023 season himself. The difference in salary between the two players clocks in at about $14.7MM.

 

 

 

Grichuk signed a five-year, $52MM contract back on April 2, 2019 — fresh off a 2018 season in which he’d batted .245/.301/.502 with what was then a career-high 25 home runs in 462 plate appearances. It was something of a head-scratching deal even at the time, as Grichuk’s perennial OBP struggles worked to offset his power and solid glovework in the outfield. That’s not to say he wasn’t a useful player, but the Jays already controlled Grichuk for two seasons and were effectively committing about $39-40MM on top of what he might’ve earned in arbitration to buy out his first three free-agent seasons.

 

Since putting pen to paper, Grichuk has posted a .242/.286/.448 batting line with 65 home runs in 1414 plate appearances. Among the 159 players with at least 1000 plate appearances in that three-year stretch, he ranks 158th in on-base percentage. To his credit, Grichuk curbed his strikeout rate from 26.4% in 2018 all the way down to 20.9% in 2021, but the gains in contact didn’t result in a better average and his walk rate dipped to a career-low 5.0%. It’s clear that there’s above-average pop in his bat, but defensive metrics have also soured on Grichuk’s work in center over the past couple seasons. Meanwhile, the Jays have signed George Springer and received breakouts from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez since signing Grichuk to that long-term pact.

 

There were reports even while the lockout was still ongoing that Tapia could be on the move when transactions resumed. Adding Kris Bryant as the new primary left fielder surely only hastened the Rockies’ efforts to move Tapia, who’d previously occupied that position. Grichuk can serve as a primary center fielder or right fielder in Colorado, and he’ll bring the Rox quite a bit more power than Tapia ever offered — albeit at the expense of some speed, on-base percentage and (arguably) defensive value.

 

 

In Tapia, the Jays will get a much-needed lefty bat to help balance out an entirely right-handed outfield mix (and a generally right-leaning lineup overall). The 28-year-old has served as Colorado’s primary left fielder since 2019, logging a .282/.327/.394 slash line that appears solid on the surface but falls well shy of average after weighting for home park and league (79 wRC+). Tapia has strong bat-to-ball skills but an extreme ground-ball approach that has resulted in just 16 home runs through 1186 plate appearances since 2019. He can swipe a base when needed (37 steals with a 77.1% success rate across the past three seasons. Like Grichuk, he’s not one to take many walks (6.3% since ’19), but he’s also a tough strikeout, evidenced by last year’s career-best 13.1% mark.

 

Tapia has received solid marks in left field from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (4), Ultimate Zone Rating (6.0) and Outs Above Average (7) since emerging as a regular in the lineup at Coors Field. He’s at least capable of playing center in a pinch, having logged 189 innings there in his career (15 this past season, none in 2020, 83 in 2019). Those ratings, plus his left-handed bat, make him a better fit for Toronto’s roster than the right-handed-hitting Grichuk was.

 

While Tapia may not be the star the Rockies envisioned when he ranked among the sport’s 50 best prospects in the 2016-17 offseason, he’s emerged as a solid defensive outfielder with better-than-average speed and bat-to-ball skills. The Jays will likely hope to coax some more fly-balls out of Tapia, thus generating some extra power, but even if his batted-ball profile remains unchanged, he can be a useful fourth outfielder for a club that is deep in slugging right-handed options.

 

As for the 19-year-old Pinto, he’ll give the Jays something of a prospect wild card to plug into the low levels of their farm system. Baseball America rated Pinto 19th in a fairly thin Rockies system this spring, labeling the 5’6″ second baseman as a “breakout candidate” who could take substantial steps forward as he moves from the Dominican Summer League to a full-season affiliate.

 

Pinto hit .360/.486/.543 in 224 DSL plate appearances last season, walking at a massive 17% clip against just an 8% strikeout rate while leading the league with 41 stolen bases. BA’s scouting report lauds his “outstanding” hand-eye coordination, advanced pitch recognition skills and plus-plus speed. Players of his size and stature will always have their share of skeptics, but the Jays probably feel better about paying Grichuk to play elsewhere if they’re viewing part of the transaction as an effective purchase of Pinto from the Rockies.

[204Jays]

Tapia's numbes batting numbers dont look awful. Sure he doesnt hit for power but the other numbers look not awful?

 

He's hit .271, .321, and .275 the last three years? That's a heck of a lot better than most folks on our team.

 

Admittedly, Im just getting into baseball but I must be missing something.

[lovemyjays]

Tapia is far from a bum. I've always thought of him as a solid player. Don't understand the hate for this guy. He's basically another Ben Revere and IMO exactly a guy we needed in our lineup. A guy that can constantly get on base for our power hitters. Enough of the solo dingers. And not to mention... Tapia can fkin run! He'll be a nightmare for catchers (wish Yankees still had Sanchez).

 

Don't know anything about the prospect we got but looks like the FO snagged a real good one.

 

 

If your mad about this trade, give your head a shake. We just got rid of a double play machine and his ugly contract.

[lovemyjays]

[JaysAllMighty]

Tapia is far from a bum. I've always thought of him as a solid player. Don't understand the hate for this guy. He's basically another Ben Revere and IMO exactly a guy we needed in our lineup. A guy that can constantly get on base for our power hitters. Enough of the solo dingers. And not to mention... Tapia can fkin run! He'll be a nightmare for catchers (wish Yankees still had Sanchez).

 

Don't know anything about the prospect we got but looks like the FO snagged a real good one.

 

 

If your mad about this trade, give your head a shake. We just got rid of a double play machine and his ugly contract.

 

He will have to win me over, we'll see. I thought we could get a better return.

[TwistedLogic]

Oh god, I've been wondering for the last hour why I hated Grichuk so much last year and why I complained about him to my dad every time he came up to bat.

 

It was the double plays. I forgot about the double plays.