Terminator

The only time he got close to 200 strikeouts was in 2013, the last time he was any good.

My guess is that Blair said that because they have similar salaries? It's hard to tell what the mind of an alcohol-related dementia sufferer is thinking.

Fangraphs' profile on him kind of mirrors your thoughts and explains it pretty well.

It's not they they think Saunders is worthless, they were prepared to pay him 2.9 mil. The perplexing part is that they think Bruce is an improvement. That said, I don't know Saunders medicals, idk what about Bruce they think is fixable, and I don't know how much money the Jays will get in this deal if it happens. To many moving parts to be upset about it right now.

I mean if we add an insignificant net amount to the payroll and don't give up any prospects I think I'll chalk it up to "well maybe they know something". But if we are talking 3-4-5 or more million added it's going to be a real head-scratcher for sure.

Yeah he definitely is. A lot of his quotes directed at Rogers haven't been making the rounds as much. Gregor Chisholm ‏@gregorMLB 21m21 minutes ago Bautista put all of the focus on Rogers: "It's not necessarily Ross and Mark. I can't say that, I don't know... (1of2) #BlueJays Gregor Chisholm ‏@gregorMLB 21m21 minutes ago ... Some of that decision making, of a contract of this size that I presented, has to come from ownership." #BlueJays

It was tough talk from Bautista but he's right, Rogers can pony up the money for a guy like him. He's in the Stieb-Halladay-Delgado class of player that the Jays rarely get. That said, Shapiro doesn't need to substantially overpay either so I wonder what Bautista's number was. If his number wasn't sacrificing years or money in exchange for the certainty of signing it now then it may be best to just let this year play out and try in the offseason.

Bautista in a Red Sox uni would suck ass.

Pretty good article. His conclusion is that there is no way the Jays should sign both guys to extensions as they will be DH's (or at least should be) in 2017. He ultimately settles on resigning Bautista over EE.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/14823719/the-perils-locking-edwin-encarnacion-jose-bautista-mlb Tony Blengino Special to ESPN.com The juggernaut that was the Toronto Blue Jays' offense was one of the best stories of the 2015 season. In fact, it was one I wrote about in this very space, saying a case can be made for it being the best offense of this century. Anytime a club reaches such historic offensive heights, there usually are surprise contributors, Chris Colabello and Devon Travis (when healthy) in the Jays' case. There are also go-to heavyweights in place, such as Toronto's three-headed monster of MVP Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. Encarnacion and Bautista have been Toronto bellwethers for quite a while now, and the club's investment in both has paid off handsomely. Both will play the final year of six-year contracts in 2016, with Encarnacion being paid $10 million and Bautista $14 million in deals that guaranteed them totals of $43 million and $78 million, respectively. The Jays have been handsomely repaid with 18.8 WAR from Encarnacion and 32.6 WAR from Bautista, bargain rates of $2.3 million and $2.4 million per WAR. Not too shabby. Both of these stalwarts are slated to hit the free-agent market together at the end of the 2016 season, and the Jays have indicated an early willingness to keep both players around for the long term. There are enough underlying subplots here that will make this courtship one of the more intriguing off-field storylines to follow this season. Today we look at those. First, there is the turnover that has taken place at the top of the baseball operations department. The bulk of the two players' tenure in Toronto has occurred with president Paul Beeston and general manager Alex Anthopoulos in place. Most clubs coming off 93-69 seasons are models of stability in the prime decision-making roles, but not this one. Former Indians' GM and president Mark Shapiro was brought in to replace the retiring Beeston, and after a brief period of uneasy coexistence, Anthopoulos stepped down and was replaced by another former Indians exec, Ross Atkins. The men who will be making the call on these important contract decisions are not the ones who have established long and productive relationships with these two players. The second key point is one that is applicable to every pending free-agent situation throughout the game. The golden rule is to pay free agents to be not for what they have already done, but for what they are likely to do moving forward. It's a very tough call when the player is on the near side of age 30, and arguably still in his prime. In theory, it's a much easier one when players are ages 33 and 35, as Encarnacion and Bautista are. It's not that simple, however. We need to examine each player's specific situation to determine whether the Jays should place big bets on them moving forward. The comps For both players, I identified a group of comparables based on their respective production, age and years as a regular. I weeded out a few comps with similar overall production, but dramatically different OBP and SLG profiles. First, let's look at Encarnacion's comps: Edwin Encarnacion Comparables PLAYER OPS+ TO AGE 32 CONT. SCORE TO 32 REM. YEARS REM. OPS+ REM. C. SCORE Scott Rolen 128.8 139.4 4 111.5 107.8 Roger Maris 128.7 130.6 1 105.0 103.0 Willie Horton 128.3 156.2 5 100.2 117.8 Mark Teixeira 128.3 133.5 2 123.5 114.5 Ernie Lombardi 128.1 131.4 5 122.8 127.2 Edwin Encarnacion 128.1 120.2 N/A N/A N/A Roy Sievers 127.8 137.5 4 129.5 137.2 John Mayberry 127.5 122.5 0 N/A N/A Steve Garvey 127.2 140.0 5 103.2 111.0 Average 128.1 134.6 3.25 113.3 118.9 Encarnacion played 2015 at age 32, and it was his ninth year as a regular. The comps were all 32 years old, and had between eight and 10 years as regulars at that time. The left-most column lists their career OPS+ after their age-32 season. The next column lists their Contact Score -- their production on all balls in play, compared to the league average of 100 -- through age 32. Next up is the number of additional years each player lasted as a regular after age 32, and the final two columns list each player's OPS+ and Contact Score for those post age-32 seasons. (One note: Sal Bando, Tony Gwynn, Mike Hargrove and Roy White also made the initial comp list, but were dropped because of very different OBP/SLG profiles compared with Encarnacion.) The results aren't very pretty. The players as a group averaged only 3.25 seasons as regulars after age 32, though that figure may increase a bit as Teixeira's career continues. Encarnacion still has a season under team control, so these players averaged 2.25 additional years of service after age 33, the point at which Encarnacion can enter the free-agent market. The two players arguably most comparable to Encarnacion in terms of Contact Score and K/BB profile, Roger Maris and John Mayberry, lasted a single combined season after age 32 between them. Perhaps more importantly, the production of these players dropped off quite a bit after age 32; the group's cumulative OPS+ and Contact Score both decline by 12 percent. Encarnacion is basically a pure DH at this point, and a 113 OPS+ moving forward makes him a very marginal asset. Only one of the group of comps improved after age 32 in Roy Sievers, though by a very small amount. Let's perform the same analysis with Bautista: Jose Bautista Comparables PLAYER OPS+ TO AGE 34 CONT. SCORE TO 34 REM. YEARS REM. OPS+ REM. CONT. SCORE Al Simmons 138.6 171.6 3 105.6 116.0 Will Clark 137.8 145.8 0 N/A N/A Billy Williams 137.4 145.1 4 115.5 108.0 Tony Oliva 136.9 150.4 2 106.0 100.5 Minnie Minoso 136.4 135.6 2 95.0 85.5 Matt Holliday 136.0 148.2 N/A N/A N/A Jose Bautista 135.8 127.1 N/A N/A N/A David Ortiz 134.8 148.9 5 153.8 144.0 Dave Winfield 134.8 137.4 7 121.4 127.6 Bobby Abreu 134.7 146.8 3 111.7 108.0 Bill Nicholson 134.5 151.6 0 N/A N/A Mo Vaughn 134.4 173.6 0 N/A N/A Average 136.0 148.5 2.6 120.6 118.8 When I first identified the group of comps, using age 34 and between nine and 11 years as a regular (Bautista has 10), the group was very thin, including Oliva, Minoso, Holliday, Abreu and Vaughn. That group played only seven total seasons as regulars after age 34. Given Bautista's current excellence, and his unusual late breakthrough, I expanded the group to include players with between eight and 12 years as regulars, giving us the group above. (In this case, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew and Sammy Sosa were dropped from the group because of large OBP/SLG profile disparities.) The group lasted an average 2.6 seasons as regulars after age 34, 1.6 after age 35, the age Bautista will be when he would hit the market, not including Ortiz's 2016 farewell season. There are two comforting cases of Ortiz and Dave Winfield, however, who were productive in the vicinity of age 40. But again, there's a significant drop-off in production, with the group OPS+ declining by 11 percent and Contact Score declining by 20 percent after age 34. The players who relied on thump alone, without a strong K/BB foundation, plunged after age 34; Vaughn, Simmons, Nicholson and Oliva front that group. Bautista has a better current K/BB foundation than any of his comps did at age 34, enhancing his chances to remain productive moving forward. Once an average-ish right fielder whose arm strength was his best defensive asset, Bautista is now a DH-in-waiting, with a very limited shelf life as a serviceable outfielder. The comps enable us to make some big-picture generalizations, but let's briefly drill down into specifics regarding Encarnacion's and Bautista's specific offensive games. Both players stand out because of their ability to hit for power while maintaining low strikeout rates. That said, Encarnacion's K rate, while still strong, has increased from 10 to 16 percent in just two seasons. In addition, his average BIP authority, which had been over a full standard deviation higher than league average from 2011-14, was just over one-half standard deviation above average in 2015. The hitting profiles Encarnacion is an extreme pull hitter with an extreme popup tendency, whose liner rate has been below league average in six of the past seven seasons. Encarnacion is also routinely over-shifted in the infield, and can be counted upon to bat in the .100s on ground balls, putting a hard cap on his batting average. It's all about BIP authority moving forward, and I'd expect Encarnacion to age typically in relation to his comps. As for Bautista, many of the things I've just said about his teammate also apply to him. Extreme pull? Check. Extreme popup? Check. Miniscule liner rates? Check. In fact, Bautista's liner rate was the lowest among AL regulars in 2015, and since 2008, his liner rate percentile rank has never been higher than 17. Thus, he too has a hard cap on his batting average. There's one big difference between the two players, however, and it's in the biggest performance driver category for this type of player: BIP authority. Bautista's average velocity off the bat was over two full standard deviations above league average last season, his best single-season mark ever. That's up in Miguel Cabrera territory. In addition, his walk rate was over two full standard deviations higher than league average. He has very far to fall in those two categories, which should allow him to thrive for a while. So what should the Jays do? Under no circumstances should the Blue Jays sign both Encarnacion and Bautista. There is room for only one DH in an AL lineup, and by the time the 2017 season rolls around, both of these players will be pure DHs. If both players perform in the 120-125 OPS+ range in 2016, a fair yet conservative estimate, they likely will be seeking three-plus-year deals at $20 million-plus per season. Going forward, it's very unlikely that Encarnacion will be worth $20 million, even on a one-year deal, in 2017. He is not a standout among his comp group, he's already a pure DH, and has already begun to show some decline in BIP authority, the driver of his upside. His K/BB foundation gives him a high floor, while hit authority controls his ceiling. And the winner is ... Jose Bautista, who is more likely to maintain his production than Encarnacion. David Manning/USA TODAY Sports I'd be more inclined to explore an extension with Bautista. He still has at least a few strands of defensive utility remaining, and his BIP authority remains at the top of the scale. He's arguably the best age-34 performer among his comp group, killing the baseball with an elite BB rate, more than offsetting his weaknesses, chief among them his extreme pull tendency and subpar performance on grounders it brings. Like his comp Ortiz, Bautista has shown the ability to at least partially address his shortcomings; his K rate was once a weakness, and his popup rate was once much worse than it is today. I'd let the 2016 season begin to play out, then explore a three-year deal with a vesting option for Year 4 with Bautista.

I don't mean to pile on but I wouldn't trade any of those three main players you mentioned straight up for Jay Bruce; never mind combining all 3 together.

It doesn't really matter whether he said he gained 20 lbs of muscle or just 20 lbs because it's just ST drivel equivalent to "best shape of his life and ready for a breakout season."

Geezus, I really hope they just go with Tulo.

1. Cubs OVER 2. Mets OVER 3. Oakland OVER 4. Rays OVER 5. Orioles UNDER 6. Indians UNDER 7. Rockies UNDER 8. Marlins UNDER 9. White Sox UNDER 10. Seattle UNDER 11. Braves OVER 12. Toronto OVER

I wonder if they would want to play together. One team could end up with both of them.

I understand the desire to stack the MLB team as much as possible to start the season but you have to think about depth. 2 weeks in to the season changes to the Major League roster are going to happen due to injury and ineffectiveness. But let's go with that you have said. Chavez moves from longman to starter when we need another starter. But then what? Who would your first callup starter from AAA be when you inevitably need one? Scott Diamond? Then what about when we inevitably need our second one? I can't even think of a name unless one of Penny/LeBlanc/Hernandez actually stick around in Buffalo after spring training. Scott Copeland I guess? With your strategy of stacking the bullpen with capable starters we are probably looking at a minimum of 20+ starts from the likes of Diamond/Copeland/etc. Yuck.

We need a minimum of 9 starters, probably more. We used 12 last season and we were relatively healthy. Taking 3 potential starters and burning them all up in the bullpen kills our depth. With what you have proposed who would be or 6th starter? Diamond?

Yeah he's probably the long man. He probably could have signed anywhere on a minor league deal so giving him a 1 mil MLB deal was the carrot to entice him to come here. 1. Stroman 2. Estrada 3. Dickey 4. Happ 5. Chavez LR. Floyd AAA- Hutchison AAA- Sanchez AAA- Diamond ST Guys- Hernandez, LeBlanc, Penny That's not half bad considering only Stroman, Dickey, Hutchison and Sanchez were the only 4 under contract entering the offseason. Teams used on average 11 starting pitchers and 21 relief pitchers in 2015 so the more depth the better.

Signed Aardsma too. These signing aren't anything special but are necessary when you have zero talent at AAA.

I agree. I see Bautista being able to get a lot more than Zobrist. 40 dingers commands a lot of dough.

I just don't have any idea whether it would be the smart move or not. His mechanics and ability to avoid injury is something I don't really know much about. Does he project to be a good starter? I am sure the FO has discussed it internally.

I thought this one was a pretty good read as we often criticized AA for not building any depth. This article explains some pretty good ways to manage a roster. http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/14668192/were-managing-major-league-roster _______________________________________ #MLBFrontOffice: If I were managing a major league roster ... Jason Martinez Special to ESPN.com After years of tracking how MLB general managers utilize and tweak their 25-man big league rosters as the founder of MLBDepthCharts.com and now RosterResource.com, Jason Martinez now gets the opportunity to be his own GM and lay out some of what he has learned. He passes along some of the tools of the trade and how HE would manage a big league roster throughout the course of a season. One of the most underrated aspects of finishing MLB's 162-game marathon with a playoff berth is the contribution of those players who didn't start the season in a significant role and, in many cases, weren't even expected to reach the majors. Once spring training arrives and in the weeks that follow, we will be reminded again and again that while baseball isn't a true contact or collision sport, injuries do happen. Even by mid-March, several players will be questionable for Opening Day with muscle strains, and many of them are placed on the disabled list for the first few weeks of the season. Others won't be so lucky. The Tommy John surgery epidemic, which normally knocks a pitcher out of action anywhere from 12-18 months, is sure to continue to wreak havoc on major league pitching staffs. By the end of April 2015, a dozen MLB players (11 pitchers, 1 catcher) who had been seemingly healthy heading into spring training were recovering from season-ending Tommy John surgery. Several others would join them by season's end. So why do we scratch our heads in disbelief when a team like the Dodgers fills out their roster with pitching to the point that a proven MLB starting pitcher like Alex Wood could possibly begin the season at Triple-A? Well, because we tend to think of an MLB roster as having just 25 players, with room for only five starting pitchers. The fact that at least one of those starting pitchers will probably miss time with an injury and at least one other will pitch poorly enough to be removed from the rotation can get lost on us. But it's rare for a team to go through a season in which both of those scenarios do not occur. Let's look at 2015 as an example: How many teams used only five starting pitchers? None. How about six starting pitchers? None. Seven? If only a team could be that lucky; again the answer is zero. Two teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles, used "only" eight starting pitchers. The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the list with 16, while the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies each used 14 different starting pitchers. On average, an MLB team used 11 different starting pitchers during the regular season in 2015. While the bottom six of that group accounted for only 22 percent of a team's starts as opposed to 78 percent for the top five, that's still 36 starts made by an assortment of pitchers that most people didn't expect to see at all. And how many relievers does it take to get through the season? It's hard enough to find seven reliable ones, but try finding three times that amount. That's right, on average, teams used 21 different relief pitchers during the 2015 season, with the bottom 14 accounting for 135 relief appearances. While losing position players for more than a 15- to 30-day period is much less likely than it is for pitchers, teams still used an average of 23 position players in 2015, with the bottom 10 players logging an average of 554 at-bats. So we're talking about many players each season who couldn't crack a starting lineup at Triple-A to begin the season reaching the major league club at some point. I present these averages (36 starts, 135 relief appearances and 554 at-bats) only to give you a general idea of how much a team's "depth" can be expected to cover. It could be much more or less depending on injuries and the level of impact an injured or underperforming player was expected to have on a team. So with that in mind, here are my keys to building a team that can endure all of the bumps, bruises, twists and turns of a major league season: 1. Always have an innings-eater -- or three The primary focus of this story is to stress the necessity of having good depth beyond the "go-to" 25-man roster, but the reality is you don't want these guys picking up too many innings or at-bats. After all, there's probably a reason they didn't make the Opening Day roster. As such, targeting starting pitchers who are proven innings-eaters for the back end of your rotation, even if they're not top-of-a-rotation caliber, can pay off in a big way. The "steady yet unspectacular" starter will also be much more affordable. The Kansas City Royals and general manager Dayton Moore have taken this route in back-to-back seasons. Jeremy Guthrie (202 2/3 IP, 4.13 ERA, $8 million salary) and Jason Vargas (187 IP, 3.71 ERA, $7M salary) played major roles in helping the 2014 team to their first playoff berth in 19 seasons. In 2015, with Guthrie having his worst season, Vargas lost to Tommy John surgery and youngster Yordano Ventura struggling with consistency, it was Edinson Volquez (200 1/3 IP, 3.55 ERA, $7.5M) to the rescue. His signing last offseason was heavily criticized at the time, but proved to be one of the savviest moves of the entire offseason. Even if Mark Buehrle is sticking with his "St. Louis Cardinals or retirement" plan, there are plenty of guys out there who are a pretty good bet to give you close to 200 innings and come at a reasonable rate. While the price is rising for this type of pitcher, the Cubs didn't exactly break the bank for John Lackey at two years and $32 million. Neither did the Rangers to bring back Colby Lewis at one year and $6 million. And there's a good chance that each team will get 200 solid innings for their investment. The Blue Jays spent a total of $62 million to lock up Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ over the next two and three years, respectively. My guess is that they will give the Jays about 325 quality innings in 2016. If that were to happen and the Jays return to the playoffs, signing that duo for less than the cost of Wei-Yin Chen, Ian Kennedy or Mike Leake could be the savvy move we're talking about next offseason. Yovani Gallardo, who has seven consecutive seasons with at least 30 starts, is still available on the free-agent market. With his K/9 rate having dropped in three consecutive seasons, his price tag could also be much lower than expected, making him a bargain if he can be had on a shorter team deal of $12-14 million per season. And what about this year's version of Volquez? Look no further than Mat Latos, who had a 3.27 ERA while averaging 32 starts and 200 innings for the Padres and Reds from 2010-2013. He'll be cheap and motivated after a disastrous 2015 season. Take lots and lots of flyers When a team "takes a flyer" on a player whose value has plummeted to the point his only option is to sign a minor league deal, there's almost no risk involved. Claiming a player off waivers who has been designated for assignment, assuming that player doesn't have a big salary, also involves no risk. Now, these rarely result in much success, but if things break right, they'll give a team a few good weeks and help it win a game or two. The more of these low-risk acquisitions a team makes, the better the chances of one paying off. You know who the master of this is -- or rather was: former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Of course, he also placed a lot of players on waivers. But he was always tweaking/upgrading his organizational depth, which I support fully. Here's his strategy: Place a claim on just about every player who comes across the waiver wire. If awarded a waiver claim, clear a spot by designating another player on the 40-man roster for assignment. If that designated player makes it through waivers unclaimed, most players can be "outrighted" to the minors. That player now becomes valuable roster depth while no longer taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. This was the path that Chris Colabello took to becoming a major part of the Blue Jays' powerful offense last season. He was claimed off waivers from the Twins in December and designated for assignment in February. After passing through waivers unclaimed, he was outrighted to Triple-A, where he remained until early May, when his contract was purchased. Colabello went on to post an .886 OPS with 15 homers in 101 MLB games. He was available to the Blue Jays because they took a flyer on him in December and 29 teams decided not to take a flyer when he was available two months later. Remember that time the Tigers took a flyer on J.D. Martinez prior to the 2014 season, signing him to a minor league deal shortly after he was released by the Astros? That seems to have worked out. How about that flyer the Rangers took on Shawn Tolleson when they claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers two offseasons ago? Surely they knew he would be the closer for a bullpen that would be dominant during their playoff run in 2015. The Astros once took a flyer on Collin McHugh, claiming him off waivers from the pitching-starved Rockies. Yes, that really happened. And my favorite flyer of all was the Royals' signing of Chris Young, a 35-year-old who was really good in 2007 and mostly injured since. A month before the 2015 season started, the Royals decided to give the 6-foot-10 right-hander a one-year major league deal for $675,000. Sure enough, Young would inexplicably return to his pre-2008 form to become one of the most reliable pitchers on his World Series-champion roster. Shrewd move, Dayton Moore. Target advanced hitting prospects in the draft and keep them in the minors as long as possible Once you get past the first 10-15 or so picks in the MLB amateur draft, it's tough to find that rare player who has both star potential and is close to MLB-ready. A lot of the players with the highest ceilings will also have a low floor, meaning there is a good chance they'll never come close to their potential, not to mention they'll take years to develop even if they do. Then there are the players who have little chance of becoming anything more than an average MLB regular, but aren't far from being able to hold their own against big league competition. In reality, there are so many rounds that teams can usually take a good share of both types of players. I'd lean toward the advanced hitters being my main area of focus, though. If called upon to help out a depleted roster early in their pro careers, these are the guys who won't be overwhelmed. Greg Bird and Stephen Piscotty were those guys in 2015. A.J. Reed of the Astros could be that guy in 2016. Meanwhile, that prospect with the loud tools and high ceiling that was drafted a few rounds earlier will still be learning how to hit a curveball down at high-A Rancho Cucamonga. Sign, heal and deliver You know which players fall off the MLB radar the fastest and the furthest? Free-agent pitchers who are recovering from Tommy John surgery. Because they're out of commission for so long, we forget these guys even exist, let alone used to be effective major league pitchers. Many teams will hold off on signing a Tommy John surgery returnee until they're throwing at full strength and holding showcases in front of several other interested teams. Here's the thing, though: While shoulder injuries can indeed derail pitching careers, a high percentage of pitchers who have Tommy John (elbow) surgery come back as strong as ever. Sure, it might take 18 months, but it's a near certainty that they'll return at least closer to their previous form. Kris Medlen was mostly outta-sight, outta-mind after having his second Tommy John surgery in March 2014. John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS/Getty Images So when a good MLB pitcher like Kris Medlen was available as a free agent last winter at a discounted rate because he was only nine months removed from Tommy John surgery, the cost-conscious Royals pounced. By guaranteeing him $2 million in 2015 to possibly help in the second half -- he ended up winning five of his eight late-season starts -- they were able to lock him in at a bargain rate of $5.5 million in 2016 when he's likely to be back at full strength and able to help in the rotation or bullpen. Prior to his elbow injury, Medlen was on the verge of stardom after going 25-13 with a 2.47 ERA, 1.9 BB/9 and 7.4 K/9 in 42 starts and 39 relief appearances for the Braves in 2012-13. Um, anyone have Greg Holland's phone number? And finally, the versatile lefty-mashing super-utility player If MLB teams held a local tryout camp, here's a conversation I could see happening: Scout at the sign-in table: Can you hit right-handed pitching? Player: Not too well. Scout: Sorry, son. A majority of major league pitchers are right-handed. You're never going to be a major leaguer. Have a nice day. MLB hopeful walks away with his dreams crushed.) Scout: Wait, hold on! By any chance, are you a plus defender at catcher, center field or shortstop? Player: Not really. Scout: OK, never mind. You could never be a major league regular. Carry on. (MLB hopeful walks away with his dreams shattered.) Scout: Wait, I just thought of something. Can you hit lefties well? Player: Now that I can do. Scout: Can you play at least adequate defense at multiple positions? Player: Sure. Scout: OK, great. We might have something for you. It won't pay much, but it's a gig. You ever heard of a super-utilityman? OK, so I realize that's not how things work. But the point of this exercise is to show that big league teams don't fill out their bench with future MLB regulars. Most AL teams have only four bench spots and NL teams only five -- that's when everybody is healthy -- and it's very helpful if one bench option can do the job of two. There's not a lot of room for a one-trick pony, such as Royals pinch-running specialist Terrance Gore, at least not until rosters expand in September. Meanwhile, MLB teams tend to have one or two lefties in their lineup who struggle versus left-handed pitching. As such, GMs target versatile players who can hit left-handed pitching and play multiple positions but are undervalued because they don't possess the skills to become a big league regular. Take a look at what a pair of rookies, Enrique Hernandez and Kelby Tomlinson, did in 2015. Hernandez: .593 OPS in 124 at-bats vs. RHPs; 1.215 OPS in 78 at-bats vs. LHPs; played CF, 2B, SS, LF, 3B, RF Tomlinson: .682 OPS in 116 at-bats vs. RHPs; .913 OPS in 62 at-bats vs LHP; played 2B in MLB but has also played SS in the minors and should be able to handle 3B and LF That's tremendous value out of two guys who weren't on anybody's radar heading into the season. When second baseman Howie Kendrick suffered a hamstring injury and with Joc Pederson mired in a second-half slump, it was Hernandez who stepped in to pick up the slack for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, Tomlinson was helping the Giants stay afloat in the playoff race while filling in for the injured Joe Panik. Super-utility is not to be confused with super hero, but every playoff contender tends to have at least one of 'em.

Well I've got them at the top of the order or in the middle of the order. I've tried not make it too wacky for them by having Bautista bat leadoff and also play it by The Book by putting a lesser hitter in the 3rd spot which isn't as important as 1-2-4 or 5.

This is a good answer. The one thing I might tweak is to see if Bautista would be willing to bat 4th instead. So something like this: 1. Tulo 2. Donaldson 3. Martin 4. Bautista 5. EE 6. Smoakabello (S) 7. Saunders (L) 8. Pillar 9. Goins (L) Would it be worth putting Smoak/Cola or Saunders in the #3 spot to split up the righties? Then putting Martin 6th?

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