Bobthe4th

4.37 = Stroman's ERA i.e. he must be rubbish

For position players, next year isn't significantly better than now. It's in starting pitching that there's much better options. Darvish, Arrieta, Cueto (player option) and Tanaka (player option), could all be top tier. The second tier (where we'd be more likely to be looking IMO) includes Liriano, Estrada, Cobb, Ross, Tillman, Pineda, Lance Lynn, Hellickson, Eovaldi and Duffy.

They haven't said yet. However considering the 7 year contract investment I'd expect them to see if he can stick at one position with the aim of him starting by 2019. He's played SS, 2B, 3B and LF so I'd guess a utility role is the backup plan.

He should get a chance to play SS at AAA, hopefully it works for him.

Anyone would think you've been busy with family at some sort of annual celebration!

This is old news man, it's referring to a tweet Terminator posted in the offseason roster thread from Jon Morosi and there was a 2 page discussion on whether it would be a good deal or not.

Maybe a September call up. If he has a good season, he could be a potential replacement for Barney on the roster next year. Long term I assume they'll be hoping he can replace Tulo and then they can trade Tulo.

It's not motivation that is incorrect, obv a player wants to play well in a contract year or they won't get as good a contract. It's that unlike in say basketball, you can't do things like stat boost as easily, you can't make sure you're more involved in the game, and you aren't going to have much time for extra practice (like a basketball player spending an off day in the gym shooting 3's).

Bird, Judge and Sanchez all look like good young players who could all make big contributions over a full season. I think if they don't make it, it'll be down to their rotation. If Tanaka gets injured, it looks pretty weak compared to the Red Sox, Rays and Jays.

With no EE, potentially no Bautista, and a light hitting outfield (at the moment), we could see his walk rate go up, especially if he starts the season well. He's potentially our 2nd best player with the bat on the current roster (though some would argue 3rd behind Travis). Edit: imagine some may also argue for Pearce, however he's going to be platooning with Smoak according to Gibbons.

I think Tulo is going to have a big impact on the success or otherwise of 2017. Hopefully he has a better start to the season than last year, and avoids major injuries.

Exactly. We've a chance to improve the team in 2017, while only giving up (the chance) of a 2nd comp pick. That's a price worth paying IMO compared to the alternatives.

I don't see any reason to write off 2017 before it's even started. With luck we can still make the playoffs, a solid rotation, Donaldson, Osuna, Tulo, Travis, Martin, Pillar's defence is a good foundation. And if it all goes wrong and we are terrible - we have lots of assets to sell, which would get much higher returns than a pick in the 31-40 range of the draft.

We already have a comp pick from EE, and IMO you're putting too much emphasis on a second one. Using baseball reference for picks since 1996 (i.e. the last 20 years) in the 31 to 40 range (where comp picks usually occur), only 20 players have amassed over 5 career bWAR. That's roughly 10% (could rise by a couple of percent when some of the picks in the last few drafts make the majors). The best pick was number 38, had 6 includes Thor, David Wright, Gio Gonzalez: Pick 38 history So being generous you can put a 15% chance on a supplemental pick contributing anything significant (not even taking in to account the possibility that they don't even sign) and even when they do, the chances of them being all star level is obv even less. An extra comp pick is very unlikely to have any significant effect on establishing a "dynasty" in 2022. Signing Jose Bautista makes our team significantly better in 2017 compared to the alternatives - i.e. signing a free agent from the limited remaining pool, or trading assets for a good OF.

And don't forget there's a pick attached too - if it wasn't us signing him for 1B/DH the signing team would want a longer deal to offset the value of the pick. But we don't want him on a longer deal as 1B/DH is already filled. As you rightly say, JB isn't a good OF but a one year risk is manageable, not a longer deal though for us.

No one is giving Bautista a $18-20m one year deal to play 1B/DH.

Ideally yes, but realistically no. For a one year commitment it's worth the risk IMO compared to the alternatives.

If this is true we have to get it done. He can play OF for one year without tanking his value too much. All the available superior fielders are likely significant worse with the bat next year. We've secured a comp pick from EE signing with Cleveland so giving up a hypothetical second comp pick shouldn't be a deal breaker.

A .500 team at the deadline likely still has a shot at the 2nd wildcard. Saying that, an Estrada trade (as his contract is just for 2017) at that point would make sense if a contender (Astros?) needed to shore up their pitching for the playoffs.

To provide some balance - 20 correct decisions from the front office in no particular order: 1. Not resigning David Price. 2. Not resigning Mark Lowe. 3. Signing Marco Estrada to a team friendly extension (roughly $12.5m surplus value last year). 4. Signing JA Happ to a team friendly free agent deal (roughly $15.6m surplus value last year). 5. Signing Darwin Barney for barely above minimum to cover most of the infield in 2016. 6. Signing Darwin Barney in arbitration for barely above minimum to cover most of the infield in 2017. 7. Keeping Ezequiel Carrera for barely above minimum to be the 4th outfielder in 2016. 8. Signing Ezequiel Carrera in arbitration for barely above minimum to be the 4th outfielder in 2017. 9. Trading Drew Hutchison for a better starter and 2 mid to high prospects. 10. Extending Josh Donaldson to cover his peak years without committing to his potentially decline years. 11. Signing Steve Pearce to a team friendly deal to play 1B and potentially cover the outfield. 12. Refusing to sign Jose Bautista to a long term deal when we already have Morales, and Pearce at 1B/DH, and Donaldson, Tulo and Martin who should all get 10-15 DH games in an ideal world. 13. Taking a long term deal off the table for EE when we already have Morales, and Pearce at 1B/DH, and Donaldson, Tulo and Martin who should all get 10-15 DH games in an ideal world. 14. Signing Joe Biagini as a rule 5 draft pick. 15. Not rushing prospects to the majors. 16. Signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to a team friendly 7 year contract. 17. Not trading any of the valuable veterans (Tulo, Martin etc) for prospects and therefore not giving up on 2017 before it begins. 18. Not trading any significant prospects. 19. Trading a non prospect for Jason Grilli. 20. Picking up Jason Grilli's $3m option for 2017. I'm probably missing some.

I think it's too early to tell. Stroman and Liriano could make up for any loss from Happ and Estrada. Conversely a significant injury to any of the rotation could seriously damage our chances. I'd agree I'm a lot less confident of making the playoffs than last year, but as you say the off season has a long way to go.

Would have preferred EE to Morales + pick + cash, but as a B option I'm satisfied. Without the flexibility of the additional cash we prob don't sign Pearce, and the open spots (RF, bullpen and backup catcher) are likely all very low salary guys. Plus if we are anywhere near the playoffs at the deadline we have the flexibility to pull off another Liriano type trade taking on salary.

Thanks EE for everything, a big part of Jays history. Hope he gets a good reception in his first game back (May 8th).

Carlos Tevez, a very good Argentinian player but now 32 and no longer an international is signing for a Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, and will be paid $60m a year - more than Messi or Ronaldo (who get around $40m). Quite a few decent players are moving to China as the wages are astronomical.

A bit random wasn't it!