Laika

Yeahhhh but it's hard to put too much weight into opinions like that. Picking which 1B prospects will translate their skills to the majors seems more like religion than scouting science. I mean a lot of people didn't think Anthony Rizzo would hit. Paul Goldschmidt never made a top 100.

I dunno. It happened in the middle of July. Maybe they have or had indicators or fancy stats that made it seem like they were buying low. Heck, maybe they DID buy low. A lot of the decision was just about having controllable depth. Having someone, anyone, under contract for subsequent years. It was hard to see the attraction at the time based on public information and a few months later it is even harder. IIRC he was very bad after signing the extension.

To sign a free agent this early it typically takes something extra on the expected contract. An extra year, a bit more money, a guaranteed starting job... MLBTR predicted 2/$10 for Pearce. Would you give Steve Pearce 3/$15? Would you give him, say, 2/$13? Keith Law said he would only give Pearce "one or two million." lol

Smoak intrigued last year with that .243 ISO. 18 homers in just 330 PA. At 28 years old it was fair to add everything up and make a small bet that he could be a power platoon player going forward with some gravy 1B defensive replacement value. The bottom fell out this year though. He never looked good at baseball. Sunk.

Alford, Pompey, Tellez, Urena, Gurriel could all become major league fixtures in the next two years. Also McGuire, Ramirez

Gurriel could be in the majors this year. More likely next but still possible.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. baby

Is DeRozan actually doing anything different, or is he just hitting more shots? Randomness?

This is my dream signing. I would probably just play Pearce every day unless they get a better platoon partner than Smoak. I don't think Smoak is even good against RHP.

That's true. Gurriel likely is the better player now and short-term but Gurriel Jr. could feasibly have gotten the bigger contract because of age, potential position, etc.

I don't understand how the conversation landed on Izturis. Lourdes is nothing like him. He's like 8 inches taller and he has louder tools across the board haha.

Nope. Older brother had long been considered the best hitter outside of MLB.

Yeah you can infer that Toronto likes him more than his projections. Hopefully they are right and this doesn't end up like Billy Butler in Oakland. Could swing either way.

It's possible but even then you're talking about marginal, almost irrelevant gains. I don't think Morales is that reliant on the home run. Last year (2015) he had 41 doubles. He's always struck me as more of a "pure" hitter, batting average and bat-to-ball line drive hitter than a big fly ball slug monster.

Morales was 69th (nice) out of 131 qualified players in FB% in the last two years. He does not seem like an extreme FB hitter. But yeah. Possibly.

On Morales' poor baserunning.... The way Fangraphs BsR works is that the run value of each base running event is summed up as the season goes along. For example, if a player is on second base and the batter hits a single, the baserunner is graded based on how often the average player scores in that particular situation. Morales scores less often from second on singles, advances to third from first less often on singles, scores less often on doubles, etc. On a team like the Royals poor baserunning value is magnified because the Royals rely heavily on small-ball. They plunk singles for days, try to advance runners and keep the line moving, bunt, and when they get "the big hit" it's more than likely a double. Toronto doesn't play like this. If Morales is on first base and Tulo or Martin swing for the downs with success then his baserunning is irrelevant. Morales' baserunning will be irrelevant on the Blue Jays a lot more often than it was on the Royals. So, don't expect his BsR to be as bad. But I can't quantify how much better it should be. And on park factors.... Be careful when you say that Morales should be a better player because the Rogers Centre is a hitters park. It's true that his offensive numbers will be (or should be) better, but that probably won't make his hitting worth any more. That's not how park factors work. You would only expect him to actually be worth more if he has a certain skill-set that is specifically and personally catered to the environment.

Well, looks like I got the price right. Cost Philly essentially nothing.

Although of course in an ideal world at least one of your two 1B/DH options would have defensive utility elsewhere on the field.

Makes contact, switch hits, has decent slash numbers (AVG and OBP). If they give him 3/$33 they are only paying him to be a slightly below average player. He really doesn't have to do much to be worth that money.

Maybe an emergency OF. Yeah I think his reputation at 1B is decent. If you look at anything (DRS, UZR, fans scouting report) his numbers are average or slightly above.

Well, he's a lot worse at hitting.

Yeah he can. The Royals just have Hosmer there. Morales actually played some OF this past season which I don't remember.

Keep in mind that Toronto needs a DH and a 1B. Morales doesn't preclude Edwin.

Like Javy Baez. 2B/SS/3B/LF yes please.

This is probably an intended leak to serve as posturing in the EE negotiations. That's my 2 cents!