Jays are going to go from horrible against lefties to lefty killers. Bautista and Donaldson were the 3rd and 8th best hitters in baseball against LHP. That might be enough for teams to change rotations around.
Howard got 10 as the highest ever. Trout will obviously shatter that.
Here are the criteria for determining arbitration payouts as laid down by MLB's collective bargaining agreement:
The quality of the player's most recent season
The length and consistency of the player's career contribution
The record of the player's past compensation
Comparative baseball salaries
The existence of any physical or mental defects
The recent performance record of the player's club
$7.5 seems to make sense. I don't think it will be an issue. I see a 5 year deal being announced.
Boxy, does going to Oakland equal "falling short"?
As much as I think the players going to Oakland will all do better there than they did/or would do here (Lawrie can run as hard as he wants after balls now and he'll never make it all the way to the wall), it's tough to think that anything but good will happen for the Jays in this deal. Of course I've been in the "Donaldson can't be this good can he?" camp in all fantasy leagues. I'll await the Jays ruining him (this is much more of a hope than anything else). AA is having a good off season no doubt.
On a side note, I also never thought the Jays could trade Lawrie and the Jays fans be happy about it (although I await Matt Harvey and Jose Bautista's reactions).
Most of mine are the guys no one wants but I still have a few
Longoria, BJ Upton (ugh), Seager, Milone, Miley, Segura, Mesoraco, Saunders, Stults & Eovaldi.
likely the reason I have more than others is that I take months to make a deal.
1. A GM in their 5th season, who has likely their most competitive team and has a team record payroll approved...does not rebuild
2. You do not rebuild because of something that your division rival does (Boston will be the ultimate under bet this year...book it)
3. Never ever rebuild solely in an off-season (see Chicago Cubs as the model...regardless of whether it's successful or not)
If Rusney is as advertised and starting in CF. Then their bench/depth looks better than several lineups in baseball
Allen Craig
Brock Holt
Daniel Nava
Xander Bogaerts
Garin Cecchini
Mookie Betts
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Bryce Brentz
Blake Swihart
Travis Shaw
Sean Coyle
Will Middlebrooks
All of those guys are on the 40 man and don't have a starting job at this time.
The Red Sox were quite well set up for their future. Already. As much as it doesn't seem to make sense to many...there is a good chance that Xander (who has 3 options) starts in AAA. He's projected to be a little better in 2015 but still not likely to be better than either Sandoval or Hanley next year. So Xander is your emergency blanket in the minors (and a damn good one) for two guys that have injury history. Hanley is signed at or below market for him so he's able to be dealt (assuming he didn't get a no trade). While I think the signings are overkill for depth (depth isn't about keeping positive assets from playing). There is no deeper team in baseball. Getting pitching will not be an issue for them and I like 5 of the guys they currently have.
Thanks for the reminder, I am supposed to advertise that Joey Votto will be at the Brampton Soccer Centre (1495 Sandlewood) on November 29th between 10am and 1pm. In Sports Day in Canada and Brampton Minor Baseball.
http://bmbi.net/cms/images/stories/joey%20votto%20ad%20w%20address%20bsc.jpg
Alex on Prime time right now about Martin.
"he handles the pitchers well, frames well and with the bat makes contact...all those things that are becoming increasingly important"
Good thing someone invented making contact...he never would have figured it out that it was important.
be happy that he's spending money. You might see a playoff game. Sandoval gets you there closer than what you have right now. Yes, Headley will have greater value and come cheaper and I truly believe he's on AA's radar...but if the Jays sign Panda it's an improved team from this morning.
and as expected I got a season ticket email from the Jays today. You have a GM that doesn't prescribe to value in any way, and has once again been told by his owners to spend. Take the overall upgrade to the team and be happy if it happens. You want playoff baseball in Toronto, this is the way you are going to see it. He's never going to build a winner with a 100M payroll on his own.