So are you saying that the Jays shouldn't have given up on guys like Chien Ming Wang last season after only 27 innings? He was solid down in Triple A. Chavez was a fringe arm, that mostly spent his career in the bullpen. Sure it would have been nice to hang onto him, but even Oakland never used him as a starter in 2013 when he was there. It's just irrational to say back in 2012 that you thought Chavez was going to be a solid Major League starter, when there was very little evidence suggesting that.
Just using Rogers as an example. His rate stats were excellent with Cleveland in 2012 and he s*** the bed here. Just goes to show you that some guys could pan out and some guys don't. So far in 3 starts, Chavez has. Lets see if he makes it to 20-25 starts this season.
Was it a painful memory last season when Chavez was pitching as a mop-up guy out of the A's bullpen?
Sure mistakes are made, but there are so many examples of teams catching lightning in a bottle with a vet. Look at Josh Towers for an example. Baltimore then made a mistake for letting him go, since he was a decent arm for the Jays for those three seasons. Letting go of Towers went on to haunt them since he posted a 4.2 WAR in 2005. The Pirates are probably still banging their heads on letting Jose Bautista go, and even the Rangers probably for trading Chris Davis, but stuff like that happens. You can't go and say two-three years after and say "oh I knew Jose Bautista was going to hit 50 HR's in a season back in 2007/2008 or that Chris Davis was going be in the running for MVP when he was struggling with Texas" after the fact.
I'm not making broad extrapolations. Chavez didn't have any success here in Toronto at the big league level. He was a fringe pitcher so I'm asking where does it warrant him getting an extended look in the rotation? Then you can make that argument about almost anyone. Sometimes players get an opportunity and run with it; sometimes they don't. Especially for those fringe minor league/replacement level vets, they can't afford to struggle early once they get an opportunity since then that stamps their ticket out of town.
How was it bungled? He never panned out here in Toronto and who would have said he would? Sure it looks like a mistake if Chavez goes on to post a 3-4 WAR season in Oakland this season. Though it's easy to say that now in 2014 compared to in 2012.
I'm all on the Jesse Chavez bandwagon, especially after I claimed him in my 30-team dynasty league. Though I find it hard to believe that you saw this coming back in 2012 and are saying the Jays made a huge mistake in letting go of a fringe MLB player at the time. It's easy to say that two-three years after the fact. Let's wait and see him make more than 3 starts this season.