Ehjays

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/big-hype-prospects-rodriguez-volpe-mervis-bae-macko.html Big Hype Prospects: Rodriguez, Volpe, Mervis, Bae, Macko With the Rule 5 Draft looming, we’ll touch on a few more names who could find themselves with a new organization in the next few days. We’ll also start our pivot to offseason mode, highlighting prospects who are in the news. Five BHPs In The News Grayson Rodriguez, 22, SP, BAL (AAA) 69.2 IP, 12.53 K/9, 2.71 BB/9, 2.20 ERA If not for a lat strain, Rodriguez would have graduated from prospect lists. The Orioles are in the market for multiple starting pitchers, but Rodriguez reportedly has an inside path to an Opening Day role, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. The consensus top pitching prospect in the league wields upwards of five above-average offerings with a superstar-caliber changeup as his headliner. Rodriguez’s rookie campaign will go a long way toward determining if the Orioles can build upon their surprising 2022 success. Anthony Volpe, 21, SS, NYY (AAA) (AA/AAA) 511 PA, 21 HR, 50 SB, .249/.342/.460 The Yankees aren’t expected to be active participants in the shortstop market this winter largely because Volpe and Oswald Peraza await in the wings. Peraza already has a successful 57 plate appearance stint in the Majors, albeit with worrisome exit velocities. Getting back to Volpe, he only has 99 plate appearances of experience in Triple-A and might merit further seasoning. He hit just .236/.313/.404 in the minor’s highest level, good for only a 91 wRC+. His swing is geared for extreme fly ball rates. As a result, his batting average might play below his raw tools. If he continues hitting over 50 percent fly balls, he profiles as a future 40-homer threat as he ages into more strength. Initially, he might frustrate with too many softly hit flies and pop-outs. There’s also potential for him to tighten up his launch angle to sacrifice a few home runs for better outcomes on average. Volpe has multiple pathways to superstardom. Matt Mervis, 24, 1B, CHC (AAA) (A+/AA/AAA) 512 PA, 36 HR, 2 SB, .309/.379/.606 A frequent guest of this column in recent months, Mervis charged through three levels while greatly improving his contact rate and plate discipline at each stop. For icing on the cake, he turned in a quality performance in the AFL. He’s very much in consideration for an Opening Day role as the Cubs first baseman or designated hitter. Chicago is reportedly on the hunt for a first baseman, but that won’t necessarily affect Mervis since designated hitter is also vacant. He profiles as a way-too-early frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year. Ji Hwan Bae, 23, 2B/OF, PIT (MLB) (AAA) 473 PA, 8 HR, 30 SB, .289/.362/.430 Bae turned in 37 solid plate appearances in the Majors. Like Peraza above, Bae posted an above-average batting line despite worrisome quality of contact. He mostly played second base and shortstop in the minors with some time in center field too. Outfield might be his best path forward on the Major League roster. There’s a whiff of Tommy Edman to Bae. He has defensive utility, a speed-first profile, and makes low-angle contact leading to high BABIPs and rare home runs. The Pirates are said to be considering middle infield additions which could affect Bae’s Opening Day assignment. Adam Macko, 21, SP, TOR (A+) 38.1 IP, 14.09 K/9, 4.70 BB/9, 3.99 ERA The Blue Jays acquired Macko as half of the return for Teoscar Hernandez. A mystery injury prevented Macko from working much this season, though he did appear in the AFL. The upcoming season is his Rule 5 evaluation year which might push him toward a bullpen role. He has the stuff to start – a three-pitch repertoire of average or better offerings. The southpaw is inconsistent, often losing command of his secondary offerings. Predictably, his fastball plays down when this happens. When he’s on, he mows through low-minors hitters as evidenced by 14.09 K/9 and a 15.8 percent swinging strike rate.

I just thought this was funny.

More Rainer Nunez

Wow!!

Yeah I saw an interview with the Manager as well, and he said if you cant play as a team, you cant play at all. It was messy. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-trade-candidates-rafael-devers-corbin-burnes-among-20-players-who-could-move-shohei-ohtani-staying-put/ There is more to this than Winker having a disappointing season after coming over in a trade with the Reds last winter. Ryan Divish, the plugged-in Mariners beat writer for the Seattle Times, detailed some behind the scenes issues with Winker. Here's what Divish said during an appearance on the "Brock & Salk Show" last month: "I think he was home (during the postseason). I was curious because he didn't make the trip when we went to Toronto and then Houston, and I asked. And they said, 'Well, he wanted to get a second opinion on his neck.' … I think they probably just told him to go home. I mean, it speaks to that. I think by the end of the season, it's what scouts call a tired act. I just think some of his teammates were done with him, were just tired of putting up with him. I think the team is frustrated with him. Everything that Mitch Haniger does to prepare for a game to get ready, Jesse Winker's kind of the opposite. I mean -- I can say it, he may not like it -- I think he's not very physically strong. I don't think he puts in the time to be better defensively or to have a better arm or any of the work that should be done. And really it is counter to what has made this team great. The last few years, this team prepares more than any team I've ever seen on a daily basis to be ready to play that day, and he doesn't. He doesn't always. It's just not there. And it's noticeable. Players notice it. I think part of it is, too, when he didn't post for that doubleheader (on Oct. 4) and guys were having to play 18 straight innings, I think that bothered some players. And once you lose your teammates, why be there? So there's gonna be some hard conversations either with Jesse from this front office, or they're just gonna move on. And (manager) Scott Servais has said that a lot of times like, 'We have a plan. We have a way we play. We have a way to prepare. If you don't like it, we'll find somebody else that does.' If you can, do it. And I mean Scott's preached it, all the time. But it takes all these guys to embrace it … They do it, they believe that's why they're good. And Jesse Winker just hasn't followed through on that a lot." Yeesh, that ain't good. Winker had by far his worst offensive season as a big leaguer in 2022, with concerning drops in exit velocity and hard-hit ability in addition to underwhelming surface stats. He's also a poor defensive outfielder, one of the very worst in the game, so Winker is essentially a DH who didn't H this past season. The Mariners signed Winker to a two-year, $14.5 million contract last offseason that will pay him $8.25 million in 2023. Without that, there's a chance Seattle simply would have non-tendered him and made a clean break. Ultimately, once you've lost the clubhouse, there's no turning back. The Mariners essentially have to trade Winker, but it won't be easy given his lack of production and the contract.

Bellinger working on that swing with Matt Holliday

This is from The Mariners Beat writer: * Players are tired of Winker’s act. Tired of putting up with him. The team was frustrated with him. *He wasn’t even with the team and didn’t go to Toronto or Houston. The Mariners likely told him to just go home. *Haniger and Winker are opposites. Haniger puts in all the work, and Winker puts in none. Not to improve defense or his arm, and just isn’t strong enough. *Expected to play just by showing up. *If he didn’t get to play DH, he would essentially pout, causing other players to have to play all 18 innings. * The team puts in a ton of work to get ready, and he does nothing. Doesn’t follow through with what his responsibilities are. *There are going to be hard conversations with him, or they are just going to move on.

Apparently Winker pissed off half the clubhouse, and didnt want to play certain games, complained about non-existant ijuries, etc. They wanted him gone bad. He has some issues for sure.

I agree with all of this.

Here is the latest article Ive read on the upcoming meetings https://theathletic.com/3958668/2022/12/01/blue-jays-winter-meetings/ Where the Blue Jays stand as baseball’s winter meetings approach TORONTO — Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings are set to begin next week in San Diego. It’ll be the first time the event has been held in person since 2019 after the pandemic moved the 2020 meetings to a virtual setting and last year’s meetings were canceled because of the lockout. As has become the norm, MLB’s offseason has been slow to develop so far, but there is a chance the pace of transactions picks up once the baseball industry is gathered in one spot. Back in 2019, several top free agents signed at the Winter Meetings including Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg, all represented by Scott Boras. The mega-agent is once again representing some of the top free agents, including Xander Bogaerts and Carlos Correa and Brandon Nimmo — who could be of interest to Toronto. Speaking to the Toronto media this week in anticipation of the upcoming meetings, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said he expected the market to begin moving in San Diego while adding the Blue Jays won’t feel obligated to get something done next week just for the sake of it. “Everyone is maximizing those windows with other teams,” Atkins said. “We don’t spend much time just (as) the Toronto Blue Jays talking about opportunities. We spend the bulk of our time with representatives of other players, with other players and with other teams, so that does push things to the forefront. I would expect that there will be some news coming out of the Winter Meetings. Having said that, there is no deadline Thursday.” The Blue Jays haven’t been completely stagnant this offseason, however. They made their first big move by trading Teoscar Hernández to the Seattle Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That first domino falling gave the Blue Jays additional financial and roster flexibility and while it’s not written in stone what their next move will be, Atkins said the Blue Jays have an idea of paths they could take. “We don’t have the full picture painted on exactly how to do A, B and C to make our team better, but we do have a very clear understanding of where we could take our next strategic step,” the GM said. Let’s look ahead at where the Blue Jays could go at next week’s Winter Meetings. Roster needs The Blue Jays need another starter to fill out their rotation after the departure of Ross Stripling in free agency. There are also openings in the outfield now that the team has moved on from Hernández, Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer, the latter two having been designated for assignment and then non-tendered, making them both free agents. And, even with Swanson added to the bullpen, they could still continue to look to complement their relief staff with more swing-and-miss potential. Those appear to be the clear roster needs and if there is an over-arching organizational focus this winter, it skews toward improving at run prevention — pitching and defence — considering they already boast one of the best offences in the league. (Although, getting better offensively is on the table, too, of course.) Under Atkins, the club has always placed a great value on flexibility when it comes to building its roster, so it was no surprise when asked what positions Toronto is targeting this winter, the Blue Jays GM kept his answer wide open, with the exception of saying a starter was as close to a “definite” need as they have. “This is really as honest as I can possibly say it is we’re just looking for good players,” Atkins said. “It’s not definitely a left-handed hitting right fielder to fill the role of Teoscar Hernández. Would that work? Sure. Can we consider a centre fielder as well? Sure. Can we think about it in a completely different way depending on the potential of trades? How do we think about run prevention? Is it just a starter and then thinking about complementing the bullpen? Is it some other combination of run prevention? “We have had a lot of dialogue about a lot of different permutations of how we can make our team better and see a lot of opportunity to do that. And feel like our starting point is as good as any other teams in baseball from where our 40-man and 26-man (roster) is.” In terms of starting pitchers, Atkins didn’t rule out shopping at the top of the market, which is headlined by Jacob deGrom, Carlos Rodón and Justin Verlander, although the GM acknowledged if they devoted substantial resources on a starter then “we need to think through what that means for other areas of needs and opportunities.” Of those three names, Verlander is the most interesting because the Blue Jays pursued him a year ago and came close to signing him, according to a report from ESPN. In terms of outfield options, we looked at a few players who could be fits for Toronto and they include the aforementioned Nimmo, Cody Bellinger and Andrew Benintendi, all of whom have been linked to the Blue Jays in some way. Trade market The Blue Jays have already tapped into the trade market to address some of their roster needs, with the aforementioned Hernández-Swanson deal. Could the Blue Jays make another trade before the season begins? It’s possible, with their trio of MLB-calibre catchers — Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno — drawing considerable interest from other clubs, especially with a shallow free-agent catching market. The Blue Jays have been open to listening to offers from other teams, but they also believe they’re not in a position where they absolutely have to trade one of them if they don’t get an offer that benefits their club. In other words, the team is comfortable rostering all three of their backstops next season, a decision that’s made easier by both Jansen’s and Kirk’s ability to DH, while Moreno can also play other positions such as third base or left field. We previously surveyed several The Athletic beat writers to gauge what the Blue Jays catchers could fetch on the trade market. Heading into the meetings, however, Atkins did say the team’s focus is “probably more” so on free agency than trade at the moment. Financial picture The Blue Jays’ estimated 2023 payroll is $176 million with a luxury tax payroll estimate coming in at just over $201 million. The Blue Jays never disclose their year-to-year budget, but Atkins has repeatedly pointed to the support the club has received from owners, Rogers Communications, in pursuit of building a winning ball club. “We are in a great position and we understand from a business and practical standpoint what we think is ideal for the Toronto Blue Jays organization. And (Rogers chairman) Edward Rogers and (Rogers CEO) Tony Staffieri are 100 percent on board,” Atkins said. “We have an understanding, a mutual understanding, of where that range is and if we need to go past it, I’m sure that they will answer the phone when (Blue Jays president) Mark (Shapiro) calls.” It’s fair to wonder, however, just how high Rogers will be willing to go, especially as their young players begin to enter their more extensive arbitration years. The Blue Jays have historically not been a team willing to go above the Competitive Balance Tax, which is set at $233 million for 2023. Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is set to take place on Wednesday. The draft allows teams to select certain non-40-man-roster players from other clubs for a $100,000 fee. A drafted player has to go on his new club’s 40-man roster and during the season, must remain on its 26-man roster all season, barring an injury. If the player doesn’t, he has to be offered back to his original club for $50,000. Players eligible for the Rule 5 draft this year include those who were 19 or older and signed in 2019 or earlier or players who were 18 or younger and signed in 2018 or earlier. Generally speaking, the Rule 5 draft offers an opportunity for mature prospects who may be blocked from graduating to the majors for whatever reason in their own organization a chance to stick with another. Last month, teams had the chance to protect Rule-5 eligible players by adding them to their 40-man roster. The Blue Jays protected four prospects, including pitcher Yosver Zulueta and infielders Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Spencer Horwitz. Prospects the Blue Jays left unprotected who could garner some interest in the draft include 22-year-old right-handed reliever Adrián Hernández, who had a 4.96 ERA in Triple A last year but has a plus-changeup that could be a weapon in the majors. Gabriel Martinez, a 20-year-old outfielder, was also left off their 40-man. He’s the team’s No. 14 prospect, per Baseball America, but he’s never played above A-ball so there’s probably a slim chance he’s taken.

I think odds are slim on the trade front as Ross said he's more focused on free agency right at the moment. So unless a club comes and blows him away, I would bet if anything happens, it will be a signing.

This is what I posted the other day. Each team has a bonus $30 mil

I think the Disney money came into this decision.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/with-market-poised-to-shift-blue-jays-ready-to-move/ With market poised to shift, Blue Jays ready to move TORONTO – For now, it’s all still in play. Nearly four weeks into the MLB off-season, all of the elite free agents are available, most mid-tier players remain unsigned and the biggest trade chips can still be had. That doesn’t mean baseball operations departments around the game have been idle – far from it. But the work they’ve done so far is designed to pay off later, maybe as soon as next week, when baseball’s biggest off-season gathering resumes in-person for the first time since 2019. "I would expect that there will be some news coming out of the Winter Meetings,” Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins told the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America Wednesday. “Having said that, there is no deadline (next) Thursday and I think 10, 15 years ago there was a little bit more of a (self-imposed) deadline. Even maybe five years ago … it doesn't feel like something needs to get done by Thursday. But I would expect across the industry there will be some significant moves.” Aaron Judge to the Yankees? Trea Turner to the Phillies? Justin Verlander to the Dodgers? Any of those moves would have major implications across the industry, including in Toronto. And at some point, the Blue Jays will drive their share of the action, too. Their needs are clear: add a starting pitcher, maybe two; add a position player, probably an outfielder and ideally one who bats left-handed or switch hits; weigh offers on their three young catchers; and remain open to further upgrades to a bullpen that’s already added Erik Swanson (if the Blue Jays add here, it would likely be a high-end option with a subsequent trade possible to free up space). In other words, there’s a lot for the Blue Jays to consider. But if nothing else, they’re prepared to spend with Atkins saying the team’s in “a great position” financially because of support from Rogers Communications Inc., which also owns Sportsnet. While the Blue Jays are actively pursuing both trades and free-agent acquisitions, Atkins said there’s now “probably more” focus on free agency compared to trade talks. Of course one call can change that and there continues to be substantial interest in catchers Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno. On that front, the Blue Jays will have plenty of choices, and may be able to time things as they please. Meanwhile, in free agency, players and agents can control the pace, which contributes to the slow-developing market so far. "We're just looking for good players,” Atkins said. “It's not definitely a left-handed hitting right fielder to fill the role of Teoscar Hernandez. Would that work? Sure. Can we consider centre field as well? Sure. Can we think about it a completely different way, depending on the potential of trades? How do we think about run prevention? Is it just a starter? And then thinking about complementing the bullpen? Is it some other combination of run prevention? We have had a lot of dialogue about a lot of different permutations of how we can make our team better and see a lot of opportunities to do that and feel like our starting point is as good as any other teams in baseball.” Granted, there’s still a lot of work ahead for a team whose splashiest off-season addition yet is bench coach Don Mattingly. In fact, the current edition of the Blue Jays is undeniably a lesser version of the team that finished the 2022 season, as Hernandez, Ross Stripling, Jackie Bradley Jr., Raimel Tapia and David Phelps have all departed. Many moves will be needed, and the same can be said for the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. At this point, being open-minded makes sense. Push for Verlander, as they did last winter. Explore the possibility of a deal with Cody Bellinger, who Mattingly knows from Los Angeles. Engage with Stripling and Andrew Heaney, with Brandon Nimmo and Kevin Kiermaier, with the Cardinals and the Guardians. See where it leads. And sometime soon, it’ll be time to narrow the focus and shift from possibilities to concrete moves. "We don't have the full picture painted on exactly how to do A, B and C to make our team better,” Atkins said. “But we do have a very clear understanding of where we could take our next strategic step.”