P2F

I've gone and published an article that goes into some detail about DRC+ and then I use the metric to evaluate the 2018 Blue Jays. Check it out here: https://www.radioscouts.com/blog/introducing-drc-and-using-it-to-evaluate-the-2018-blue-jays

Haven't listened yet, but here's Ross Atkins talking about moving on from veterans, being competitive ASAP, and the ongoing Kyler Murray debacle. https://www.tsn.ca/radio/toronto-1050/atkins-we-re-looking-to-be-competitive-as-soon-as-possible-1.1241412

It sounds like Baseball Prospectus will finally usher in the modern era with a revamped version of their site. It's supposedly expected to launch in beta before the season's start. An excerpt from an article at The Athletic:

New people, don't forget to pepper BTS' inbox with all of your questions!

By Shi Davidi on January 14, 2019 Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins cited the ongoing innovation across baseball as an influence in the selection of the club’s new major league staff, and it was again a factor in the organization’s recent minor league appointments. While experienced baseball men such as Bobby Meacham at Triple-A Buffalo, Mike Mordecai at Double-A New Hampshire, Cesar Martin at high Class A Dunedin and Dallas MacPherson at low Class A Lansing remain in the system and will manage teams in 2019, analytically-adept newcomers such as short-season Vancouver pitching coach Demetre Kokoris bring a different dimension to the farm system. “The current landscape of player development and helping players get better is really to be curious about every type of resource," farm director Gil Kim said, "and that’s (a combination of) experience, knowledge, past playing ability and that’s also experience with data and technology, experience with integrating mental performance into development. “So it’s really about trying to maximize the skill set and diversity of our entire development department.” Kokoris joins the Blue Jays from the college coaching ranks, most recently as pitching coach at Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego, along with Lansing hitting coach Logan Bone (assistant coach at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo.) and Rookie-level assistant coach Cory Popham (pitching coach at Post in Waterbury, Conn.). Jake McGuiggan, a Harvard graduate who played two years of independent ball before joining Dunedin as a video coach last year, remains with the club in a new analyst coach position, a first in the system. His role will be “to try to help leverage all the information and data and technology that are resources for us,” Kim said. “This is a new role, so we wanted to try it out at one affiliate this year, and we felt that high A level was maybe the best level for now with where we are as a group on this.” Casey Candaele will manage at Vancouver while also beginning work at another new position: the system’s coordinator of practice design/skill development. “He brings the humility and knowledge,” Kim said, “but he also has the experience and open-mindedness to think about the two main areas, which are designing and structuring the development day and then how best to help our players acquire the technical and tactical skills.” JAYS CHATTER — Hunter Mense, the hitting coach at New Hampshire last year who worked closely with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is the club’s new hitting coordinator. — Doug Mathis joins the Blue Jays as pitching coach at Buffalo after two seasons at low Class A Clinton in the Mariners system.

All of this rotation talk got me thinking about the depth we've accumulated, so I thought that it might be fun to put it on paper. The AAA rotation will probably look pretty similar to this: Sean Reid-Foley Thomas Pannone Sam Gaviglio Trent Thornton TJ Zeuch Jacob Waguespack? Jon Harris? Julian Merryweather will be in this rotation when healthy, before eventually coming to Toronto. Andrew Sopko, Hector Perez, Patrick Murphy, and Nate Pearson can't be too far behind. Move a couple of Harris, Zeuch, Pannone, or Waguespack to the 'pen to maximize their skills and that should be a pretty good pitching staff full of MLB-ready depth. There are also org types, like Shawn Morimando, Justin Dillon, Zach Logue, that could pitch in the majors in a pinch, but hopefully, that doesn't ever come to fruition with the insane amount of serviceable depth the Jays have. I can't ever remember this organization having so many viable starters in the upper minors. The AAA rotation is usually filled with cast-offs and career minor leaguers, so it's going to be really interesting to see which pitchers from this group - if any - emerge as legit MLB pieces. It's probably not unreasonable to assume that at least a couple of them could stick in the MLB rotation long-term; a couple more settle in as back-end/depth arms (#5-7 types); a few more make the majors in varying bullpen roles; some get a cup of coffee but are destined to pitch out almost the entirety of their careers in the minors; and the rest never get a sniff of the majors. While none of these pitchers project to be aces (except for possibly Nate Pearson, though that's still highly unlikely), it seems probable that the Jays have rotation spots 3 through, like, 15, on lock. So if and when the wheat separates from the chaff and the team's competitive window opens - possibly as early as 2020 - it will be interesting to see whether or not this front office acquires an ace or two. And it'll be even more interesting to see who it will be.

I got you.

This guy: https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=sa551979

What a nutty game. Good win.

Ugh, just f*** off into the ether, New England.

Oh yeah, football.

Perfect, sign me up for Axford, then.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/john-axford-potential-blue-jays-return-thats-want/ Would anyone be vehemently against this?

The 'Boys came to play.

Not that the play mattered, but lol. Nice catch, bud.

What a garbage game.

Wow. That's just inexcusable.

Oh yeah, football.

I know.

I feel like Sopko is being undervalued here. On paper, he's at least comparable to recent returns Trent Thornton and Julian Merryweather, and probably better than Jacob Waguespack, who's not completely devoid of intrigue, at least for me. As for the other component of the return, I like that we got one Ronny Brito in this deal. Sure, he's 19 and in Rookie ball, so he probably never makes it to the show, but I'll take a prospect with plus-bat speed and power and plus-plus-defense in trade any day of the week. It might take a swing change to unlock his true offensive potential, but if the Jays can work with him on that and do so successfully, they'll have a legitimate prospect on their hands. Just don't hold your collective breath, I suppose.

Blue Jays Payroll & 40-Man Roster (2019 and Beyond) [TABLE=class: grid, width: 800] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Player[/TD] [TD=align: center]Age[/TD] [TD=align: center]2019[/TD] [TD=align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=align: center]2021[/TD] [TD=align: center]2022[/TD] [TD=align: center]2023[/TD] [TD=align: center]2024 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]Kendrys Morales[/TD] [TD=align: center]36[/TD] [TD=align: center]$12M[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]Justin Smoak[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center]$8MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]Marcus Stroman[/TD] [TD=align: center]28[/TD] [TD=align: center]$7.4MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A4[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]Ken Giles[/TD] [TD=align: center]28[/TD] [TD=align: center]$6.3MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]Kevin Pillar[/TD] [TD=align: center]30[/TD] [TD=align: center]$5.8MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]6[/TD] [TD]Randal Grichuk[/TD] [TD=align: center]27[/TD] [TD=align: center]$5MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]7[/TD] [TD]Aaron Sanchez[/TD] [TD=align: center]27[/TD] [TD=align: center]$3.9MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8[/TD] [TD]Matt Shoemaker[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center]$3.5MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A4[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]David Phelps[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center]$2.5MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$3MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]10[/TD] [TD]Lourdes Gurriel Jr.[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]$1.929MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$2.928MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$3.929MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$4.928MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$5.829MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]11[/TD] [TD]Devon Travis[/TD] [TD=align: center]28[/TD] [TD=align: center]$1.925MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]A4[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]12[/TD] [TD]Ryan Tepera[/TD] [TD=align: center]31[/TD] [TD=align: center]$1.7MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]13[/TD] [TD]Clayton Richard[/TD] [TD=align: center]35[/TD] [TD=align: center]$1.5MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]14[/TD] [TD]Brandon Drury[/TD] [TD=align: center]26[/TD] [TD=align: center]$1.3MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]15[/TD] [TD]Joe Biagini[/TD] [TD=align: center]29[/TD] [TD=align: center]$900K[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]A4[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]16[/TD] [TD]Luke Maile[/TD] [TD=align: center]28[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]17[/TD] [TD]Teoscar Hernandez[/TD] [TD=align: center]26[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]18[/TD] [TD]Ryan Borucki[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]19[/TD] [TD]Billy McKinney[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]20[/TD] [TD]Danny Jansen[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]21[/TD] [TD]Richard Urena[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]22[/TD] [TD]David Paulino[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]23[/TD] [TD]Tim Mayza[/TD] [TD=align: center]27[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]24[/TD] [TD]Danny Barnes[/TD] [TD=align: center]29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]25[/TD] [TD]Thomas Pannone[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]26[/TD] [TD]Sam Gaviglio[/TD] [TD=align: center]29[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]27[/TD] [TD]Elvis Luciano[/TD] [TD=align: center]19[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]28[/TD] [TD]Reese McGuire[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]29[/TD] [TD]Rowdy Tellez[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]30[/TD] [TD]Anthony Alford[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]31[/TD] [TD]Dalton Pompey[/TD] [TD=align: center]26[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]32[/TD] [TD]Jonathan Davis[/TD] [TD=align: center]27[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]33[/TD] [TD]Dwight Smith Jr.[/TD] [TD=align: center]26[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [TD=align: center]UFA[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]34[/TD] [TD]Sean Reid-Foley[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]35[/TD] [TD]Julian Merryweather[/TD] [TD=align: center]27[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]36[/TD] [TD]Trent Thornton[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]37[/TD] [TD]Jacob Waguespack[/TD] [TD=align: center]25[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [TD=align: center]A3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]38[/TD] [TD]Patrick Murphy[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]--[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]39[/TD] [TD]Hector Perez[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]--[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]40[/TD] [TD]Yennsy Diaz[/TD] [TD=align: center]22[/TD] [TD=align: center]--[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]Pre-Arb[/TD] [TD=align: center]A1[/TD] [TD=align: center]A2[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Retained Salaries [TABLE=class: grid, width: 547] [TR] [TD]Player[/TD] [TD=align: center]2019[/TD] [TD=align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=align: center]2021[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Troy Tulowitzki[/TD] [TD=align: center]$19.445MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$14MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]$4MM[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Russell Martin[/TD] [TD=align: center]$16.4MM[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Jaime Garcia[/TD] [TD=align: center]$2MM[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Yangervis Solarte[/TD] [TD=align: center]$750K[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: grid, width: 547] [TR] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: center]2019[/TD] [TD=align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=align: center]2021[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Total Salary Commitments[/TD] [TD=align: center]~$110MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]~$18MM[/TD] [TD=align: center]~$8MM[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: grid, width: 450] [TR] [TD]Red indicates a player having reached unrestricted free agency[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Orange indicates an estimated/projected salary[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Blue indicates a club option[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Green indicates a salary partially covered[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] There's about to be a whole lot of money off the books after this season, with Vlad, Bo, Jansen, and Biggio about to make the jump to the major leagues. Past them, there's an absurd amount of talent coming down the minor league pipes in the subsequent seasons. With so much money to utilize after 2019, this front office will be free to spend money to fill out the roster as the cream of the team rises to the top. Operation Perpetual Competitive Window is about to begin.

Marcus Stroman, A3: $7.4M Ken Giles, A2: $6.3M Randal Grichuk, A2: $5M Devon Travis, A2: $1.925M Brandon Drury, A1: $1.3M Joe Biagini, A1: $900K Kevin Pillar, A2: TBA Aaron Sanchez, A2: TBA

Is it this one?