mci13

Apparently Hoffman was the price for Upton. http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/baltimore-orioles-not-first-to-ask-toronto-blue-jays-for-jeff-hoffman/ I wonder what type of talent we could have gotten for a package of Hoffman, Pentecost, Nay.

I think the option might get picked up. Brett Anderson got traded for a few decent pieces. Morrow is just as good has been healthier than Anderson for the past couple of years. What I would prefer is if we could flip Morrow to another team that is out of contention this year and wants to pick up his option for next year. Maybe San Diego, Texas or Arizona.

Ya a lot of fanbases piss me off. The St. Louis Cardinals because they think Rasmus is garbage, the Red Sox and Yankees for obvious reasons. Though the worst fanbase has to be Orioles that think the Jays are full of PED users because of Melky (Even though they have Cruz), and every win is attributed to the "Man in White".

The Reds forum is up in arms saying that they lost because the Jays players are using steroids. http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?105827-Toronto-Blue-Jays/page2

Just recently read this article on the Athletic's Canadian Assistant GM Farhan Zaidi and thought it deserved its own thread. http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/A-s-exec-GM-Farhan-Zaidi-takes-old-and-5205023.php#page-1

Farm system has plenty of impact prospects. The #Jays will have seven arms in their top 10 (excluding Osuna), and six of the seven have role 6 grades (no. 3 starter) or higher. — Jason Parks (@ProfessorParks) I think I’d rather have the #Jays #11-20 prospects than the #1-10 prospects of several orgs. The short-season arms are ridiculous. — Jason Parks (@ProfessorParks)

d'Arnaud will hit in majors, the question for him is can he stay healthy. I think the consensus is that the bat is special for catcher, but his value decreases a lot if he has to move to first base. Syndergaard obviously made huge strides last year with his secondary pitches and was developed well by the Mets organization, but I'm still shocked that they traded him. Especially since he was apparently untouchable in the Gio Gonzalez trade talks.

I also think it is a little more defensible, especially if you consider the marginal value of wins. I think Dickey will rebound back to being a number #2/#3 with ace potential. He was only bad for half a season last year when he was pitching through a back injury where he clearly couldn't throw his strikeout pitch, control the ball, and was adjusting to the Rogers Center. In the second half we saw his K% go up and BB% drop significantly back to the levels during his Cy Young season. His HR/9 was still high, and its something he needs to adjust for in the Rogers Center, but you see him trying to understand whether to pitch with the roof open or closed and he made adjustments like no longer using the high knuckleball for strikeouts. I don't think the Dickey trade was as awful as its made out to be, especially if we were to believe in the Dickey Effect (+1.4 WAR), his defense (+0.7 WAR), 200 + IP/yearly, and control for 3 more years at Ricky Nolasco money.

It was clearly an overpay, but I think you can also argue that d'Arnaud has serious injury concerns and Syndergaard always had an elite fastball but had some concerns about his secondary pitches (Obviously he made huge strides last year). Either way, Dickey's value last year coming off a Cy Young and multiple ace quality seasons and willingness to sign an extension make him immensely more valuable than Shark this year. So the Cubs can't expect to get the same package as the Mets. Also, you have to consider that the only reason why the Mets got the package they did was because Dickey agreed to a below market extension. If Dickey hadn't agreed to the extension the Jays never would have made that trade. I doubt the Cubs offer the same negotiating opportunity, and even if they did Shark has rejected extension offers from them for the past couple of seasons.

I disagree. I would rather do Syndergaard+d'Arnaud for Dickey than Sanchez+Stroman for Samardzija. With Dickey you get an ace with a proven track record signed to a below market extension for 4 years (3 excellent seasons with over 200 IP except 2010). Samardzija only has 2 years of control and you likely pay a lot for the extension. Also, part of Samardzija's appeal is his potential to get better, which is also what AA was hoping for with Dickey. I remember during Dickey's press conference AA was talking about how he thought Dickey could be even better than his Cy Young season because he developed the ability to use knuckleball as a strikeout pitch. RA Dickey also has lots of defensive value, and of course the "RA Dickey effect" potential. The deal obviously wasn't great, but I think people are starting to underrate RA Dickey.

I don't know how to post tweets, but Jason Parks today: I think I’d rather have the #Jays #11-20 prospects than the #1-10 prospects of several orgs. The short-season arms are ridiculous. — Jason Parks (@ProfessorParks) December 2, 2013

There are some injury concerns about Votto’s knee and apparently Walt Jocketty wants Votto to walk less and become more aggressive (http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/42392/reds-think-joey-votto-walks-too-much). And Reds fans are complaining that Votto walks too much and doesn’t get enough RBIs (http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-reds&tid=77412). The main reason I thought the Reds would want to trade him is because I don’t see how they afford him. The Reds are a small-to-mid market team with a terrible TV contract. I thought the Reds would be willing to consider this deal since they don’t lose too much between Votto and Bautista over the next 3 years and get future financial flexibility. Also, Walt Jocketty is also an old school baseball guy that values scouting over sabermetrics maybe he’s more attracted to Bautista’s HR and RBI totals. Maybe we’re a couple of years away from a Votto trade since he makes $12, 14, and 20 million over the next 3 years, but I can’t imagine them paying him $25 million for his ages 34-39 seasons.

I was just wondering if Votto's deal was too rich for them. Apparently they only get $10 million/year from their TV contract.

What do you guys think about Votto + top pitcher (Bailey/Cueto/Chapman) + prospects for Bautista + Lind deal. A mid-market team like the Reds get out of Votto’s massive deal ($218 million/9 years) and get an equivalent player for a shorter term (Bautista) and a first base replacement. Jays are able to add and a pitcher without creating big hole in their lineup. The last couple of years on Votto’s contract are dead weight and that probably allows the Jays to get a pitcher (Bailey/Cueto/Chapman maybe expand the deal for Latos) and a prospect from the Reds. It also gives them flexibility to add short-term during their window since he only makes $12 million in 2014 and $14 million in 2015. Do you think it would be worthwhile taking on Votto’s contract or will it be an albatross like Fielder and Pujols? I always thought elite players with high walk rates were able age better. Fangraphs projects 41.5 WAR over the course of the deal (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joey-vottos-massive-extension-changes-the-game/).

What do you guys think about going after John Jaso? Read a rumor somewhere that he was available.