ST GDT March 12th. Phillies vs Jays 1pm

[John_Havok]

I would hope there's improvement on his batting since he's still pretty damn young. I'm sure our management must have assumed this as well.

 

You don't give what we gave up only for above average Defense at the Corner OF spot lol.

 

In a vacuum…no. But to get the Jays from a 90 - 92 win team that might make it through a wildcard to a possible division winner that can make a deep run, the situational issues that plagued the Jays in the past few seasons needed to be improved. Varsho helps address that without giving up massive offense

[Captain_Obvious]

I understand that his bat has been average, but they obviously expect far more or We wouldn't have paid such an exorbitant price.

 

WTF are you talking about? He was a 4.7 WAR player with his league average bat. He is worth the trade without the need to improve offensively. He can stay a 100 wRC+ and still produce 4+ WAR seasons.

[gruber92]

I'm hoping and I do believe that Mattingly will help Varsho a lot offensively.

[Captain_Obvious]

I'm hoping and I do believe that Mattingly will help Varsho a lot offensively.

 

I hope so too. But it seems people around here are thinking that Varsho is only worth the trade if he takes a step forward with his bat. I think he is worth the trade even if his bat remains average.

[gruber92]

I hope so too. But it seems people around here are thinking that Varsho is only worth the trade if he takes a step forward with his bat. I think he is worth the trade even if his bat remains average.

 

Yeah.. Putting up almost 5 WAR with a league average bat is amazing. We'll find out in the next few years how the trade will pan out, but I don't see Moreno and Gurriel combining for a 5 WAR short term.

[Grant77]

WTF are you talking about? He was a 4.7 WAR player with his league average bat. He is worth the trade without the need to improve offensively. He can stay a 100 wRC+ and still produce 4+ WAR seasons.

 

We would not have paid such an exorbitant price if the FO did not expect offensive improvement from Varsho. He's almost certainly not going to reach the same defensive value in LF and an average bat would be disappointing.

[Captain_Obvious]

We would not have paid such an exorbitant price if the FO did not expect offensive improvement from Varsho. He's almost certainly not going to reach the same defensive value in LF and an average bat would be disappointing.

 

Yes they certainly paid a fair price for one of the best players in the league despite his league average bat. He produced very good or elite defensive numbers in all OF positions. What the f*** is this? Should we go back to measuring players with batting average and RBIs only?

[John_Havok]

Varsho smashed that double at 109 mph

[JaysAllMighty]

gameday ahead of the radio is annoying

[John_Havok]

Another decent showing from Kikuchi, the numbers say he didn’t have his best stuff early but made and adjustment and got it done. Still had 14 swings and misses too.

[gruber92]

Varsho smashed that double at 109 mph

 

The double he hit a few days ago off the LCF wall was encouraging. I hope he realizes that he has enough raw power to drive the ball flat footed the other way.

[John_Havok]

The double he hit a few days ago off the LCF wall was encouraging. I hope he realizes that he has enough raw power to drive the ball flat footed the other way.

 

I’m sure he knows how much power he has, he is him after all.

[gruber92]

I’m sure he knows how much power he has, he is him after all.

 

Yeah but some players feel that they need to hit 500 ft bombs. All players with enough power should try and apply a Miguel Cabrera approach. It does seem that a lot of players are staying back longer in the past 3-4 years. Check the ego at the door, nice to see. Speaking of which, Chapman has made good strides it seems since last July/August. It is a contract year for him.

[Grant77]

Yes they certainly paid a fair price for one of the best players in the league despite his league average bat. He produced very good or elite defensive numbers in all OF positions. What the f*** is this? Should we go back to measuring players with batting average and RBIs only?

 

Let's pump the brakes on the 'one of the best players in the league' talk. The metrics rated him as an elite fielder last year, but outfielders almost never put up that kind of defensive value consistently. We don't know enough to say that he is Andruw Jones, pretty much the only player to do it.

 

Look at Kevin Kiermaier's UZR/150 for a sample of 6 years

21.3

8.2

16.4

9.8

30.7

12.1

 

Is he that inconsistent in the field? He isn't, but the metrics are. I'm confident that the average tells us what kind of fielder he is, but one year doesn't always tell the full story. Even Varsho's number jumped from 13.9 in his first year to 23.2 in his second.

 

In left field with an average bat, he's probably a 3 to 3.5 win player if you allow for the fielding metrics to stabilize. That's just fine, but the projection systems think he's in line for improvement at the plate and so do the Blue Jays. That's why they made the trade.