glory

Gose is definitely an ideal fourth OF. If he could hit a little better he'd be a poor man's Jarrod Dyson, but his offense really drags his value down. I'd still be OK with a Gose/Pillar platoon to begin 2015, until Pompey is ready.

The Jays should not trade Dickey or Buehrle. How are they going to replace those innings? They can't and won't. Just hold on to them and fix the actual problems with the team. My guess is Happ will be traded and Sanchez will be pencilled in for the #5 spot, which is why Estrada was probably attractive to AA since he can be used as insurance in case Sanchez struggles/gets hurt/needs more time in AAA. If you're going to have at least 2, if not 3, young starters in the rotation, guys like Dickey and Buehrle are that much more valuable. I'd actually prefer adding one more 200 IP league average type guy instead of using Sanchez (think, Jeremy Guthrie type) to put in the #5 spot, but not too many of those floating around. If AA has any last gasp miracle in him, he can turn Happ into a quality 2B. I don't know how he could possibly pull that off, but there has to be some malcontent 2B with talent somewhere that another team wants to dump, or a team with an extra 2B they could move. The Cubs are too smart to do Valbuena for Happ but something along those lines is sorely needed. I could live with the Bautista/Pompey/Gose/Pillar/Dirks OF in that case.

If Gose is out of options, then play him at CF and have Pompey in the minors. I think Gose has the potential to be a useful player due to his defense and base running. Platoon him with Pillar at CF until a need arises. That's when you bring Pompey up.

I think Alex would view 2B above the OF in terms of need.

The Jays need to trade Happ for the next Brian Dozier. There has to be some undervalued minor league player out there that hasn't gotten a chance yet despite performing in the minors.

Dombrowski let him go for health reasons so I'm not optimistic about him returning to that level, especially since his main issues I believe were with his back and hamstrings, which are two things turf is not going to help. Regardless, it's probably worth it to try. He won't be expensive and is controllable for a few years. He doesn't have to be platooned and was a plus defensive player in LF prior to 2014, but yes, we can't assume he will regain that defensive form.

Dirks missed all of 2014 with injuries. I wouldn't count on him until he proves he is healthy. At least we know when he is healthy, he can be a 1.5-2.0 WAR player, so for that alone he's worth keeping around at ~$1.5M and three years of control. The real key is what they do for 2B. Add someone like Valbuena, and I'm more comfortable going cheap in the outfield. However, if it's more of the same (Goins, Kawasaki, Izturis, etc) then we are in trouble.

Yeah I don't see Mayberry coming back now that Lind is traded. Pillar is far more useful making the team, especially if Gose starts in CF.

Do you really want AA trading with Epstein/Hoyer? Valbuena would be a great fit but knowing the Cubs they will get Sanchez and Pompey in return.

What would it take to get Valbuena from the Cubs? He seems like a good fit, but not sure how the Jays and Cubs line up in terms of need. On that second thought, I don't want AA trading with those guys. Nevermind.

Non-tendering Estrada to avoid paying Lind's buyout would be hysterical. I actually agree with trading Lind, and am not particularly fond of Estrada, but that would be such a Rogers/AA thing to do.

I wouldn't be surprised if that were true. A platoon DH with injury concerns and an $8M salary probably isn't going to have a huge market.

Who do you replace Buehrle with, though? When you are slashing payroll and trying to win at the same time (which I'm assuming is AA's goal...hard to tell with the moves he is making), then it is best to trade replaceable expensive players rather than expensive players that will be near impossible to replace without spending more money. The only exception to that would be Reyes since his contract is so bad that trading him will help short and long-term, but Buehrle is harmless with a one year commitment. I hope AA has enough common sense not to trade him, unless he has a back-up plan that can throw 200 IP (in other words, not Estrada).

Why do people think Buehrle will get traded? As good as he was in 2014, he makes nearly $20M in 2015. That won't be easy to move. It would be more logical to trade Happ and then slide Estrada into the 5th starter role. At least then you are keeping the better starter (Buehrle), hopefully saving some money, and not losing much (going from Happ to Estrada). Going from Buehrle to Estrada is a 3 win drop. I think even AA would know how foolish that is.

Wilner is such a blind homer that it's almost refreshing to read his stuff on days where your team just made an awful trade.

I miss JP Ricciardi. One of those days where one GM's incompetence makes me long for the days of an average GM.

If Lind stayed healthy all season I doubt he would have been as valuable. His BABIP was like .380 I think. He seemed like a prime candidate to regress badly, but got hurt before he could.

Yeah, I hate this trade (mostly because it means we are expecting Hendriks to contribute at the big league level), but it's a fairly insignificant deal as far as the off-season. Of course, when Nessy becomes a good MLB catcher for the Royals, it will look worse.

Wilner just tweeted that Hendriks is out of options so forget Buffalo unless they can sneak him down.

Damn, it will be Chung, won't it? The Royals emphasize defense so it makes sense.

I'm guessing they expect one or more of the projected AAA starters (Sanchez, Norris, Nolin, Graveman, Romero) to make the Majors out of ST and Hendriks is Buffalo depth. I never want to see that guy pitch for the Jays again so that better be the reason, and the catcher better be bad.

Hopefully the catcher is Thole. Otherwise that's an overpayment, and I don't even know who the catcher is yet.

I've been saying to hire Mercedes for over a year now. Or at least bring him in as an advisor or something. They've spent a ton of money and resources into the Latin market, both for MLB and minor league players. Maybe some of them working with Mercedes could help. As far as his alcoholic and hooker obsessed ways, all that means is he'll be Gregg Zaun's favorite coach.

I think Smoak's salary will probably be closer to $3M than $4M, but regardless, every little bit helps. If it opens up some payroll flexibility to sign someone like Headley, then I'd probably take the trade-off. Of course, if the cost savings are used on negligible improvements at 2B and the bullpen, then I would agree that it was pointless. AA really needs to add a true impact talent if he is going to risk Smoak's bat at 1B full-time.

If Smoak is going to start at 1B (still too early to speculate on that, I guess), then I would assume they would get rid of Mayberry, as Smoak's splits are not extreme enough to play him one side over the other. If he is the guy at 1B, then he is the everyday guy, most likely, for better or worse. When you figure that Lind makes $7.5M and Mayberry will probably get $2-2.5M, then the cost savings might be beneficial if it's used on other improvements. I'm not sure I trust AA to make the right improvements, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.