TwistedLogic

Page 9 of this thread

Something tells me the offense is going to wake up today.

Here are the names of the 24 players that have officially signed: Foley, Wells, Morgan, Thomas, Shafer, Metzler, Romano, Mallard, McBroom, D. Isaacs, Brantley, Attaway, Fisk, Wheatley, Carlson, Garcia, Pepe, Autrey, Wellbrock, Hinkle, Aquino, Kraft, Lynch, Miller Source: http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/index.php *Filter by Team: Toronto Blue Jays; Signed: Yes

The Art of the Sell by Tony Blengino - June 10, 2014 The draft is now behind us and the summer will soon be in full swing. For more than two-thirds of the population of baseball clubs, participation in a pennant race is currently a legitimate consideration, thanks both to general parity and the presence of a second wild card club in both leagues. What about the other teams? Some, like the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, likely suspected that this would be their fate, and likely long ago put summer roster management plans in place. Others, however, like the Tampa Bay Rays and – in their minds, at least – the Philadelphia Phillies expected to contend, and now find their reality to be much different. How might the summer progress for unexpected sellers such as these? It is a very difficult thing psychologically for an organization to pull the plug early in the season. Tickets have been sold with great expectation for the summer months. There comes a point, however, when a team must look in the mirror and see who they are, rather than what they wanted to be. A poor-starting team always believes they are one good streak away from getting back into it. In truth, as long as the calendar still says “May”, they’re probably right. Start moving into June, however, and bottom-feeders need to realistically assess their predicament. So many teams can look at the current standings right now and say, “Hey, we’re 5-6 games out of a wild card spot, let’s do this.” Realistically, however, they need to look at how many cumulative games they stand behind the leading club. For instance, the Rays woke up Sunday morning and found themselves 14 games behind the Blue Jays. Well, before they can even dream about catching them, they have to make up four games on the Red Sox and eight or so games on the Yankees and Orioles. The Rays found themselves a cumulative 34 1/2 games behind the division-leading Jays. Pretty daunting, when you look at it that way. Now they don’t have to win their division to make the playoffs, obviously, but they still have to jump 10 clubs to get a wild card spot, making up a cumulative 67 1/2 games over those clubs as of Monday AM. To put it still another way: to get from 24-39 to 87-75, a realistic record for a second wild card club, the Rays had to go 63-36 – not going to happen. It’s time for the Rays to sell. Now let’s look at the Phillies. They woke up on Sunday AM at 25-35, “only” seven games behind the Braves, who were leading NL East with a humble 32-28 record. Looking at it in terms of a cumulative deficit, however, the Phils were a total of 21 games behind – two behind the Mets, six each behind the Marlins and Nationals, plus those seven behind the Braves. Like the Rays, they also have 10 clubs ahead of them in the wild card race, though they are “only” a cumulative 32 games behind them. If it was three or four years ago and the Phils’ core players were in their prime, they might legitimately consider riding it out and trying to make a run. Instead, their core is old and fading, they’re 10th in the NL in runs scored and 13th in ERA, their farm is relatively barren – it’s a very easy call to sell. Once you’ve made the decision to sell, the question quickly turns to the identity of players being put on the market. Most of the time, the marketplace will tell you where the interest is – if you have to make calls to other clubs to put a particular player on the market, the player likely isn’t worth very much. Each and every club in major league baseball possesses valuable trade assets on their major league roster. Value, obviously, is not solely determined by a player’s talent and/or production. It is based upon that talent and/or production relative to their contract and years of control. If a player is significantly productive or legitimately projects to be so, and has many years of control remaining at a low and predictable level of cost — i.e., the Rays’ Wil Myers — then he isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be available for trade, except in the most unique trade scenario. Evan Longoria’s salary is finally beginning to creep upward, but he still is an immense bargain relative to his contract status, and would also appear to be untouchable. The Phillies, at this point, likely lack such an untouchable player, as their best, most productive players are very well compensated. Just because a player should be untouchable, however, doesn’t mean that other clubs won’t call to ask about him. Though this would appear to be obvious and self-evident, a club must clearly tell suitors that such players are off-limits. Though every player has a price in theory, even beginning to entertain mega-offers for such players is generally not a good idea. It leads to what I call “hare-brained schemes” in which a club spends significant time, resource and energy on trade concepts that are, A) very unlikely to be consummated, and are unlikely to result in a return commensurate with the value of the untouchable player you are considering dealing. While working for one of my previous employers, we annually received multiple inquiries on such a player, whom we had zero intention of ultimately moving. The distraction and time-consuming nature of this situation likely prevented us from cashing in on other opportunities that could have moved us forward. The Rays currently are in a very strong selling position with regard to David Price. You can rest assured that many clubs have checked in with the Rays regarding his availability, and will continue to do so. He rates at the top of the current production/talent scale, but his contract status will become more of a factor, decreasing his value as we head toward the offseason. A team trading for Price now will pay top dollar for his ability to affect two pennant races, this season and in 2015. That is worth a pretty penny. Once 2014 is over, his value and price both come down. The Phillies’ best lefthanded starter, Cliff Lee, has a similar track record and talent level compared to Price, but his contract and health situations are obviously much dicier. He’s on the DL with a strained elbow, and is locked into a $25M/year salary through at least next season. Lee is 35 years old, Price is 28. A team might look at Lee’s talent/production/health/contract equation and conclude that Lee isn’t worth his contract, and might offer little to nothing for him. Ryan Howard is totally, utterly worthless when his contract is taken into account. Ditto Jonathan Papelbon. Cole Hamels is currently healthy and effective, but is guaranteed $110M from 2015 through 2019. Chase Utley has some value, but has a full no-trade clause. The Phils have chances for modest returns for the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Burnett, and Marlon Byrd; each are mid-priced veterans who might catch the eye of clubs with very specific needs. All of the players discussed to this point are under contract through at least next season. That’s a good thing from the seller’s perspective, as the days of receiving generous trade packages for “rent-a-players” are pretty much over. This is due in part to the new free agency rules; more specifically the prohibition of the extension of a qualifying offer to a free agent that has not spent the full season in a club’s uniform. I worked for the Brewers when we swung arguably the most notable “rent-a-player” deal of the last decade, acquiring CC Sabathia for a package headlined by then top-prospect Matt LaPorta and player-to-be named-later Michael Brantley. That’s one of the best pitchers in the game at that time, fetching a return containing exactly zero proven major leaguers. And that was a good package. Trading a Sabathia-equivalent at the 2014 deadline would demand a lesser package, as the acquiring team would get no draft pick compensation at the end of the 2014 season, while Sabathia’s departure did net the Brewers a pick after he left for the Yankees following the season. The days of the Rangers getting Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia for a couple months of Mark Teixeira are over. The current environment is thus: more clubs are locking up their homegrown stars, preventing players from getting to free agency, making the few who do get there that much more valuable. Teams are valuing their prospects more highly, perhaps to a fault, as opportunities to improve a club via free agency are drying up. The qualifying offer rules have made it less enticing for a club to make a short-term trade play for a top talent; it’s like being unable to get “insurance” against a dealer’s blackjack when he has an ace showing. The combination of all of these circumstances conspire to make the good old-fashioned blockbuster trading deadline deal less prevalent than in previous eras. Will they ever disappear totally? Hell no. A good front office is always in “buy” and “sell” mode simultaneously. When a player’s perceived value exceeds his actual value, consider selling him. When the opposite is true, consider buying him. Quality information from an organization’s scouts and analysts, and a decision-making process that values both can put organizations in a position to make hay. Organizations are getting smarter all the time, however, making it more difficult to gain true competitive advantages in that regard. Almost every player and prospect in the game was available for trade at one moment in time – and it might have only been that one moment. He might be in a 5-for-60 slump, or he might have hit a bump in his development as a minor leaguer. The smart organizations pounce at that moment when a still-bright star has very temporarily dimmed. Next time, we’ll look at the mechanics of how these deals happen. How does an organization evaluate players throughout the game, including its own? What role does the existence of the trade deadline play, and how are trades still made after the deadline? The draft — each club’s best, least expensive means of obtaining impact talent — is now behind us, but opportunities to buttress a playoff charge or kickstart an organizational rebuild will present themselves as potential buyers and sellers pair off in the coming weeks. Another great piece by FanGraphs' Tony Blengino. This guy puts out so much quality stuff on a consistent basis, it's definitely worth following and checking out.

Perseverance lands Autrey in pro baseball By BRAD KEITH, Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 5:00 am J.T. Autrey always kept his head up, his eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel. Through a pair of shoulder surgeries that took years to overcome, the 2010 Stephenville High School graduate believed in his potential. He believed he was destined to be a professional baseball player. On Saturday, that dream became reality. Autrey was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays as the 954th pick in the 32nd round of Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft Saturday. He will be working out as a pro by noon on Wednesday. "The whole experience has been awesome. I had quite a few teams talking to me throughout the year. The Angels, Indians and Tigers were all on me hard," said Autrey, a right-handed pitcher coming out of Lamar University in Beaumont. "I hadn't really communicated with the Blue Jays, but I got a phone call from them in the 32nd round saying they were about to pick me. It was really exciting." Autrey flies out of Dallas today and by noon Wednesday will be in Dunedin, Florida to begin working out in Blue Jays Minor League system. "I have to take a physical (Wednesday) morning, then I'll get all my gear and start working out right away," said Autrey. "One journey ends and another begins." The journey certainly had its ups and downs. In fact, Stephenville fans may struggle to recall ever seeing Autrey pitch for the Yellow Jackets thanks to the shoulder injuries that could have wrecked his budding career. "I had shoulder surgery in the fall of 2010, then I rehabbed, got the shoulder back near full strength and was throwing up to 93, 94 miles per hour," Autrey said. But only a few weeks passed before familiar feelings of discomfort returned. "I went back to the Texas Rangers doctor who did my first surgery and he sent me to a neurologist," Autrey explained. "It turns out I had nerve damage and had to had to have another surgery to fix that." Autrey could have given up, but instead he went to Navarro College - where older brothers Leighton, a 2004 pick of the Seattle Mariners and currently the head baseball coach at Corsicana High School, and Garrett also played - and ultimately on to Lamar, which competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Southland Conference. "I'm a competitor. I think you have to have a bulldog mentality to be a successful pitcher, and I definitely have that. It's how I was raised," Autrey said. "If you get knocked down, you always get right back up and keep fighting. "The rehab was tough," he added. "But I knew I had the potential, and I knew I wasn't a quitter." And this spring, he was finally healthy enough to make serious contributions from the hill. He fired 40 strikeouts over 42.2 innings in 20 appearances for Lamar, five of them starts. He was 6-2 with a 3.59 earned run average, allowing just 31 hits and 17 walks, for a ratio of just 1.35 hits plus walks per inning pitched. Opposing batters hit just .215 against him. "There was nothing better than just getting the chance to play the game again," Autrey said. "And not just play, but to play it to the level I know I'm capable of." Nothing better. Until being drafted, that is. "I had hopes, and I knew I had put in the hard work that was necessary, but you never know for sure until you get that call," Autrey said. "It really was a dream come true." JT Autrey is signing.

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/47966 "It's really a blessing. I just thank God for the opportunity," said Isaacs Jr. "A lot of people were not selected, and even though it was late, I'm just glad that I was chosen. The work is just beginning for me. I'm just glad to be in the system and to have an opportunity to show the world what I'm made of and what The Bahamas is made of. I'm excited to start playing and get this journey started. Right now, I think the hitting is the hardest part of the game, but I'm ready to work and get going." Todd Isaacs Jr. is signing.

Or if the Jays are willing to go 5% over their budget (no penalty other than $ tax), that gives them an additional $472,925 of slot money, and that more than covers Lane completely on its own.

I'm not taking time at 2:40 am to find articles that have already been posted to settle some arbitrary debate about the word "multi". The point is, he received insurance and settled a suit and became a millionaire, something of which I doubt there are many of on this forum. Now that that fact has been established and you've acknowledged it, I don't really care what your feelings are on the matter beyond that. It doesn't matter if it was one million or multi millions, the keyword here is "million". People can make smug jokes all they want about where the guy works, he still has (had?) more money than they, or I, for that matter, will probably ever make.

No offense, but it doesn't really matter what you think. It's already documented and written about. What you think won't change that.

I love how people keep on with the jokes about Harrington making $11.50 an hour at Costco, when the guy still ended up a multi-millionaire by putting in a claim on his insurance and subsequently suing his agent. The guy likes his job and is at peace with his life, I don't see the need to constantly ridicule and mock him.

The answer to that question will always be the same answer as this question: "Have the Jays given up a run, a hit, a walk, or a ball yet?"

If you re-arrange the letters in "Dozier", you get "Roidez". Coincidence? I think not.

If you're one of the people that has a hard time getting RogersOnDemand to work (for streaming the game online), try using an "Incognito" window in Google Chrome or a "Private Browsing" window in FireFox. They act as completely different browsers, and since they don't save cookies, whatever it is that screws the RoD stream in regular Chrome doesn't always mess it up in Incognito. It's been working for me so far. If you still can't get it to work, or don't have a Rogers account and still need an online stream, use this or this. *Right click your Chrome window in your task bar to open an Incognito window (or use the menu in the top right): http://i.gyazo.com/94e7ce7e71096f60381e2874fb389c7f.png And this is the quality of the other streams I posted. Not great, not terrible.

We love you fatcow! *shakes titties*

2011, Blue Jays fail to sign first round selection, Tyler Beede | Blue Jays receive compensation selection in 2012 draft (Round 1; Pick 22) - Blue Jays select Marcus Stroman with the 22nd overall pick of the 2012 MLB draft | Money saved results in signing of second round selection, Daniel Norris 2013, Blue Jays fail to sign first round selection, Phil Bickford | Blue Jays receive compensation selection in 2014 draft (Round 1; Pick 11) - As a result of flexibility due to having two picks, Blue Jays select Jeff Hoffman with the 9th overall pick of the 2014 MLB draft

http://i.gyazo.com/4b045afbcedb85343cff1015d063e31e.png LOL, f*** YOU ZZ!

Local products Lugbauer, McKeon taken in MLB draft Dan Pietrafesa, Poughkeepsie Journal 9:56 p.m. EDT June 7, 2014 A pair of local products were selected on Saturday in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Arlington High School senior Drew Lugbauer was selected in the 21st round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Alex McKeon, a John Jay High School graduate who recently completed his junior season playing for Texas A&M International University, was selected in the 31st round by the Boston Red Sox. "It's probably the greatest feeling in the world. I couldn't be more excited," said Lugbauer, who added he's still planning to play next season at the University of Michigan. "I hope in three years I can take the two off that number and be a first-rounder." Lugbauer, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound catcher, signed a National Letter of Intent and is scheduled to be a catcher next season at Michigan. "We spoke to the Blue Jays before the draft and they knew I was going to school. I'm really thankful they selected me," Lugbauer said. "I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing and try to develop as a player to the best of my ability (at Michigan)." McKeon, a 6-2, 200-pound catcher, hit .354 with 28 runs, 21 RBI and three home runs for the Dustdevils, appearing in 47 of 50 games, to earn First-Team All-Heartland Conference honors. f*** you, Lugbauer

Of course he is, it doesn't look good for someone to act like a shameless scavenger out in public and then call themselves an MLB insider.

You actually think he's going to tell him? Who knows, he hasn't told any big writer or news site yet, would be kinda weird if he told an 18 year old kid. ...or maybe that's where Cotillo has an advantage, he's the same age as the kids being drafted.

http://i.gyazo.com/0288f60e64a40924458ed504b428135a.png Looks like he got his follow-back.

f***ing scavenger. He wants to be the one to break the exact number. The guy declined to give an amount, get a clue and go do your Math 101 homework.

I've read it. He said "slot" but we don't know if it's exact slot or not. He's declining to say the actual amount. BA or someone would have posted the number by now had it been confirmed. There's no rush needed to update the OP, we've got him as signing, that's good enough until we get something concrete Even BBB don't have a number in their table, all they have is "Near/at slot". Sorry got so many pages open, hard to keep track.

Zehner, Reilly follow Torres on second day of Major League Draft BY JOSHUA D. SCROGGIN Zehner hit .316 with seven doubles, three triples, three home runs and 16 RBI, platooning in left field for the first two months of the season before earning the starting job full-time in mid April. He was nowhere to be found on Baseball America’s top 500. Now, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior left fielder from San Diego will have to decide between a lucrative bonus for signing this year or coming back to potentially bat third for a Mustangs team looking to defend its first Big West Conference title next season. “Everyone wants to get drafted,” Zehner said. “You want to play pro ball. I think I’m just going to have to sit down with my parents and talk about the opportunities I have on both sides and make the best decision for my career and my family.” MLB’s assigned bonus value for the pick is $192,400. The Blue Jays are not locked into offering Zehner that amount, which is negotiable, and the former Santa Barbara City College transfer could improve his draft stock by returning for another year and moving up in the draft. Seniors, however, traditionally command significantly lower bonuses, and only two seniors were selected in the first three rounds this year.

Unless I missed something, there still isn't anything concrete on Wells' actual signing number. The Miller and Wellbrock signings are also not confirmed (that article didn't really say anything about Miller actually having signed, and Wellbrock's tweet could mean he's just going to Dunedin to get a physical). That being said, I'll put Miller and Wellbrock down as signing for now, but not gonna put a number on Wells till it's official.

Nothing actually. I don't know why I wrote that. The tards at HFBoards for whatever reason were under the impression that Zehner isn't a sure sign, and for some reason I thought I had read something about it myself, but when I checked I couldn't find anything. So I went back in this thread and realized that I hadn't read anything about Zehner and that I was actually thinking about Wellbrock (who isn't an issue, since he's after the first ten rounds): So that's my bad. Still, for whatever reason, people on HF believe that he's undecided. This is the exact quote: "The surprise to me is that the 7th pick Zack Zehner is undecided on whether he's going to sign or not. That's almost 200k in slot money. I just find it odd that a punt pick would be undecided. Seems like the 7 through 10 should be automatics on the cheap so we can sign guys like Thomas over slot." I don't know what they're basing that off of, but I'm coming up with nothing, maybe you can find something? Regardless, I really hope it isn't true.