Kazuma Okamoto and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement

[JaysForever]

32 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Giminez is league average with the bat against RHP, quite below average against LHP.

With this roster I see a SS platoon

Isn't Clement a better hitter than Giminez against RHP also?

I find being average on your better split, not exactly that greatest selling point. 

They will likely pitch hit for Giminez the first chance they get against LHP and RHP.

 

[Eat My Shatkins]

I dunno, Giminez battled injuries last year. He was good at the start when he was healthy, and he was good at the end when he got healthy again. I think he gets the full time SS duties to start and keeps them unless he falls on his face with the bat again. I would not be shocked if he put up a 3 fWAR season, all he needs is a 90-95 wRC+ bat to do it.

This all reminds of the Varsho discussions of years past. He was playing LF because of KK and struggling to have a league average bat. As soon as he got the full time CF gig and put up a 99 wRC+ he had a 3.1 fWAR season. Now under Popkins he's 120 wRC+ and trending for closer to 5 fWAR over a full season.

[Jays24]

20 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

I dunno, Giminez battled injuries last year. He was good at the start when he was healthy, and he was good at the end when he got healthy again. I think he gets the full time SS duties to start and keeps them unless he falls on his face with the bat again. I would not be shocked if he put up a 3 fWAR season, all he needs is a 90-95 wRC+ bat to do it.

This all reminds of the Varsho discussions of years past. He was playing LF because of KK and struggling to have a league average bat. As soon as he got the full time CF gig and put up a 99 wRC+ he had a 3.1 fWAR season. Now under Popkins he's 120 wRC+ and trending for closer to 5 fWAR over a full season.

This is how I see things too except the fact Gimenez has already gotten paid for being able to "bounceback."  Thats where people who dont like him have a case. 

It would be a major issue if we were a small market team like the Indians instead of the big dick swinging Jays lately.  

[Eat My Shatkins]

1 minute ago, Jays24 said:

This is how I see things too except the fact Gimenez has already gotten paid for being able to "bounceback."  Thats where people who dont like him have a case. 

It would be a major issue if we were a small market team like the Indians instead of the big dick swinging Jays lately.  

Agreed, the Jays seeming willingness to spend changes a lot of things. I don't care if they sign Bo or Tucker and it forces Taters to be a bench bat as long he's not a malcontent in the room and if the Jays don't care about his money on the bench I sure don't.

[saskjayfan]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

You think the team tries to DFA Straw thinking no one will take him and we can add him back to the 40 man at a later time like YRod?  

I think other teams would be stupid to not claim him when he provides elite defense and has just 1 year left on the deal.

Straw was a 1.8 win player last year in 299 plate appearances.  He doesn't make that much money.  If there are injuries in spring training I could see a team picking him up off on waivers or trading for him.  His D and baserunning are elite.  He also has a stellar clubhouse reputation.  He's a really good dude. 

[Jays24]

15 minutes ago, saskjayfan said:

Straw was a 1.8 win player last year in 299 plate appearances.  He doesn't make that much money.  If there are injuries in spring training I could see a team picking him up off on waivers or trading for him.  His D and baserunning are elite.  He also has a stellar clubhouse reputation.  He's a really good dude. 

I love the guy too but a lot of teams seem to be penny pinching right now.  He's like the Jays 4th/5th OFer so I can see the Jays taking the risk he slips through.  

[Pendleton]

The steamer projection for Okamoto is solid but not spectacular....

.251/.324/.441
110 wRC+
1.6 WAR

 

 

[JaysForever]

8 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

The steamer projection for Okamoto is solid but not spectacular....

.251/.324/.441
110 wRC+
1.6 WAR

 

 

It improves depth obviously, but it is not a seismic shift.

[Pendleton]

3 minutes ago, JaysForever said:

It improves depth obviously, but it is not a seismic shift.

 

I do think he has the potential to well outperform those projections but will remain guardedly optimistic for now 

[Eat My Shatkins]

Like I mentioned earlier, the Oka signing gave the Jays enough of a nudge to move ahead of the Yankees in fWAR projections and into 2nd place overall.

If they sign Bo or Tucker they will be breathing down the Dodgers necks.

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Pendleton said:

The steamer projection for Okamoto is solid but not spectacular....

.251/.324/.441
110 wRC+
1.6 WAR

 

 

That's only over 434 PA which is a solid enough result. I think over time once he's fully adjusted to MLB pitching he offers quite a bit more upside with the bat than this early projection suggests.

[Nexii]

The Steamer projection I don't get is Rogers at 0.2 WAR. What's that about?

[Orgfiller]

33 minutes ago, Nexii said:

The Steamer projection I don't get is Rogers at 0.2 WAR. What's that about?

He’s a very tough pitcher to project. Legitimate soft contact inducer which the projection systems probably aren’t tuned for/purposefully ignore projecting since for the vast majority of pitchers it’s not a true repeatable skill.

[Jimcanuck]

Read some posts in here saying Okamoto is weak defensively.  BA writeup says his 3B defense is above average.

He's likely the primary 3B, with the flexibility to play 1b and of.  Every lineup will be different in the 2026 version of the Jays.

[glory]

10 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Read some posts in here saying Okamoto is weak defensively.  BA writeup says his 3B defense is above average.

He's likely the primary 3B, with the flexibility to play 1b and of.  Every lineup will be different in the 2026 version of the Jays.

Yeah according to BBRef he's played 24 games in the OF since 2023, and he's clearly not starting at 1B. Logically it seems very likely the Jays plan to use him at 3B primarily as well as being Vlad's 1B backup. The one thing the Jays org does well is evaluate defense, so if they think he can play 3B well enough, then he probably can. 

[Omar]

The Jays 2026 payroll is about to crack $300M before opening day.  What a time to be a fan.  

AL east should be a dogfight for whomever finishes behind the Jays.  

I'm still holding out hope for  Bo or Tucker signing.

[Pendleton]

28 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Read some posts in here saying Okamoto is weak defensively.  BA writeup says his 3B defense is above average.

He's likely the primary 3B, with the flexibility to play 1b and of.  Every lineup will be different in the 2026 version of the Jays.

Yeah BA is saying above average at 3B and plus plus at first. 

[Joltin Joe]

I don't know this player but reading this thread it sounds mostly positive. 

[Pendleton]

 

[Laika]

Yeah I don't think Toronto signs him if he's a fringe 3B 

[Nexii]

Seems there is a Japanese Statcast but it's all paywalled :/

https://1point02.jp/op/index.aspx

[Bob_Gratton]

He won 2 times the gold glove in Japan, so we shouldnt worry too much about his defensive skills.

[Jimcanuck]

17 hours ago, JaysForever said:

Isn't Clement a better hitter than Giminez against RHP also?

I find being average on your better split, not exactly that greatest selling point. 

They will likely pitch hit for Giminez the first chance they get against LHP and RHP.

 

vs. RHP

Giminez wRC+ 2025: 80, Career: 100

Clement 2025: 75, Career 82

vs. LHP the numbers reverse, basically a pretty ideal platoon, giving league average hitting and above average defense at SS.  Top 10-15 overall numbers for the position.

Clement will still get his reps vs. RHP as a 2B

[JaysForever]

16 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

vs. RHP

Giminez wRC+ 2025: 80, Career: 100

Clement 2025: 75, Career 82

vs. LHP the numbers reverse, basically a pretty ideal platoon, giving league average hitting and above average defense at SS.  Top 10-15 overall numbers for the position.

Clement will still get his reps vs. RHP as a 2B

Looks like Gimenez had an off year. If they do sign Bo, I expect Clement will get some starts at SS against LHP.

[Bob_Gratton]

 

[Brownie19]

22 hours ago, Pendleton said:

Yeah BA is saying above average at 3B and plus plus at first. 

That would be fantastic.

[Terminator]

The projection systems have readjusted after Okamoto signed.
 

Steamer thinks he’s a 113 wRC+ hitter with 2.5 WAR in 130 games now. 

[Spanky__99]

Okamoto's cap hit this season is 8.25M, there will be another bat added for sure.

[Jays24]

3 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Okamoto's cap hit this season is 8.25M, there will be another bat added for sure.

Why so low?

[Spanky__99]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Why so low?

Structured that way, obviously.