glory

I couldn't stand watching Dickey pitch and would rather find someone else to fill the last rotation spot, but if he comes cheap and doesn't require a below replacement man servant as his back up catcher, then the Jays can do a lot worse.

I think frequent role changes can have a negative impact on a pitcher. They are human after all. If they want him to be a starter and he doesn't win the #5 spot, then I say keep him in Buffalo until a need arises. He has options so they can get away with it. The difference between him in the pen and whoever they use in his place for how ever long he's in the minors will be marginal at best. Kinda wish the Jays were the team that signed Koehler for $2m instead of the Dodgers. He'd fit right in as the swing man and that cost is more appropriate for the type of pitcher he is.

I’d use him as a starter. Could be a decent #5 or swing man.

The pitching market is ass. It wouldn't surprise me if Shatkins just goes back to someone like Brett Anderson at the end of the day. Who the Jays get to fill one of the outfield spots will be critical. Whoever they sign can't be worse than 2017 Jose, but it needs to be a pretty decent player.

What hurt the team last season, in addition to injuries and underperforming, was lack of depth. Diaz and Solarte are now the back up infielders instead of Goins and Barney. Hernandez (if he doesn't win a spot) and Alford will be in AAA for outfield depth instead of Coghlan, DSJ, etc. Jansen and McGuire both on the 40 man and could serve as depth instead of Maile and the platter of crap the Jays rolled out at back up catcher last year. The Jays appear to be covered to where they won't be rolling out below replacement dog s*** if someone gets hurt, and that's going to be a big step forward. Of course the rotation could still use some work. Starting Biagini in AAA would be a good move to keep him stretched out and ready. The Buffalo rotation could be Biagini, Borucki, Upper Deck, Guerrieri, and maybe Pannone. I mean it's not great, but the Jays had Latos, Tepesch, Lawrence, Rowley, and Valdez start games for them last year. That's about as bad as you can get. I think they are a 2nd wild card possibility. Not on the level of the top 4 teams in the AL, but could realistically fight with the Angels, M's, Rangers, O's, Twins, etc, for the 2nd wild card.

I agree but I don't see them benching the vetrin Morales, and Pearce has no where else to play. They pretty much have to trade Pearce or start him in one of the corner outfield spots. No room on the bench with Solarte, Diaz, and Zeke there. Of course they could trade Morales, but that's a pipe dream.

No way Zeke starts on this team unless there are injuries. Atkins probably adds another outfielder, Pearce starts in left field, and then they allocate the rest of the money to the pitching side.

Turning $23m (Morales) of deadweight into $49m (Kennedy) or $44m (Gordon) of deadweight doesn't make a lot of sense. Might as well just keep Morales and hope he bounces back if those are the alternatives. If Alonso got 2/16, then no way any team trades for Morales except the derpy Royals who might have some sentimental attachment to him if they lose Hosmer, and even that's a reach (or a prayer).

Prospect porn is a powerful thing.

Who knows, if the Padres get Hosmer and the Royals want a DH/1B to kill time during their rebuilding, they might find Kendrys at 2/23 doable. They have to spend money on something. That’s a long shot though. The front office likes Pearce and with good reason but he loses a lot of value in LF. Maybe the Jays add someone like Dyson and stick him in RF. That would mitigate some of Pearce’s s*** D.

I guess this means Pearce is starting in the outfield again. The bench looks set with Solarte, Diaz, Zeke, and backup catcher. Pearce obviously won’t start over Smoak or Morales. I guess they will add a RF and that will be it for the position players.

Yep. Good asset management. They won’t (can’t) rebuild so just stockpile as many assets as possible and improvise. I like that strategy, .

Depth in 2018 and starting 3B in 2019 once JD leaves. Middle infield depth looks very good now, especially if Diaz bounces back. Just have to see what the Jays gave up.

If you acquire Salazar it’s to add to the 2018 team. Otherwise, trade Osuna for young prospects instead.

But HDMH is his own brand so I'm sure there is a level of attachment he has to that over Nike. Whether he was smart to f*** with his Nike deal in order to push his own stuff is a different story, but can't knock the guy for trying to make a side hustle when he knows people will buy his s*** if he promotes it. The fact that his career and "brand" has a shelf life is probably more reason to go all in while the money is available to him, at least in his mind.

Stroman is a douche for what he said after Goins was non tendered. Shilling his own brand makes him a good business man. Who wouldn't try to sell their own s*** on their social media page? That's just common sense. Of course, Nike has the right to do what they did because of it as well. That's the risk Stro was willing to take, I guess.

I think it's a combination of saving money for next winter, and also that more and more teams are hiring people who think the same way, so the perceived value of players is probably similar across every team. So in previous years where someone (I'm looking at you, Dumbrowski) would give a one dimensional player or a 30 year old starting pitcher a 7-10 year deal just because, that sort of thing won't happen now because front offices are filled with saber geeks. We just happen to have an off season where the best free agents are in their 30's or have significant flaws so that might explain some of the standstill, whereas next year with Harper, Machado, etc, there won't be any question about their value, it's just about giving them the most money.

The off season before 2014; the jays signed Fatty Navarro to a two year deal and then did not make another big league signing or trade until July 2014 (the Valencia blockbuster). Just waiver claims and minor league signings. Nothing can be more boring than that, at least from a Jays perspective.

The bullpen is the last place a team should be allocating so much money. If you can sign a Chapman or Jansen or Miller type, then that's understandable, but there's a chance that half of those guys they signed turn into s*** next season and it wouldn't be a surprise. That's how volatile the pen is.

Fixed.

Wow the Rockies are dumb as s***.

Yeah I don't think Shatkins trades Bo, and I don't expect the Marlins to be content with a package centered around Alford, though who the hell knows what the Marlins are doing. If the Jays agree to take Prado and/or Chen, then maybe they can get Yelich for less.

Yeah seriously. They can still faux contend and rebuild at the same time if they maximize their most expendable assets, and while Osuna is awesome, he's simply not going to have as much value to a .500-ish team than he would for a team planning to seriously contend. If the Jays can get 2-3 top prospects back, then they'd be setting up the future nicely, and may not even lose much in '18 given how unpredictable relievers are. Who knows when Osuna's arm will flake out.

Stro has three years of control left now, but regardless that one extra year should still be worth more than Cole, combined with putting up these numbers in the AL East.

Yeah, I'm a Shatkins fan and don't expect them to be involved with JDM (unless his price and term drops significantly), but after the Morales signing, we can't exactly talk about this FO not wanting to commit to old DH's. They have already.