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2012 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos enjoys having a little cash to burn

He has significantly more money to work with as he prepares to mine the free-agent market for starting pitchers this winter.

?It?s not a bottomless pit,? the Toronto Blue Jays general manager said. ?It doesn?t mean we can have everyone we want. We?re going to have to be creative and make some things fit, but it?s definitely more to work with than we did last year and that will certainly be exciting.?


...

?If there?s a little more flexibility from a payroll standpoint, free agency might make more sense,? he said. ?If you look at the return and you can say we get to save these four players in a trade and spend the dollars on a free agent, that ultimately might make more sense.

?It will have to be a combination. If that rotation can be shored up, and it needs to be, that?s really going to dictate where this team goes.?


Already posted on OKBlueJays.com, but I figured I'd put it up here.

Jays have 61.3m committed for 2013, with the three major contracts coming off the books being Johnson, Lyon and (incredibly) Teahen, for a total savings of 17.375m. Also a few relievers are eligible for FA which will weaken the bullpen, especially if Oliver opts to retire.

So the question then becomes, how do they fill the holes at DH (can't keep trotting Lind out there), LF and maybe 2B (though I think Hechavarria would be ok in that role) while still adding the plethora of arms that AA wants to acquire? MLB FA is expensive and the talent isn't terribly overwhelming and I can't imagine Rogers giving AA much more than 95m to improve the team.
 
Potvin29 said:
Although I did think he was pretty good after coming back from AAA.  His 2nd half splits on Baseball Reference have him with a 2nd half OPS+ of 116.

Keep in mind though that all OPS+ does is measure a player against the average major league hitter, including your light hitting shortstops and catchers.  An OPS+ of around 116 for a first baseman isn't very good, Justin Morneau had a 113 for the season and his oWAR ended up as only 1.1. At DH it's worse. Travis Hafner had a 121 OPS+ and in about half a season had an oWAR of 0.7.
 
I think we have enough data on Lind to predict what kind of season he'll most likely have. I mean three years of consistent under-performance can't be erased by a half season of decent performance. It should be noted too that he plays 1B/DH so there is more expected out of him offensively, than say a SS.

I suppose I wouldn't be terribly opposed to putting him in LF and taking some of the pressure of him to perform offensively, but that's about the only acceptable way I could see Lind returning as a full time member of this lineup. 
 
Nik? said:
Potvin29 said:
Although I did think he was pretty good after coming back from AAA.  His 2nd half splits on Baseball Reference have him with a 2nd half OPS+ of 116.

Keep in mind though that all OPS+ does is measure a player against the average major league hitter, including your light hitting shortstops and catchers.  An OPS+ of around 116 for a first baseman isn't very good, Justin Morneau had a 113 for the season and his oWAR ended up as only 1.1. At DH it's worse. Travis Hafner had a 121 OPS+ and in about half a season had an oWAR of 0.7.

Interesting, thanks for the context.
 
Bob McCowan was babbling endlessly last night about how if Boston wants Ferrell so bad, the Jays should *trade* him there and demand Clay Buckholtz in return.  Has this ever happened in baseball?  It seems rather far fetched, but maybe it's been done.  We used to see it in hockey but it was cut off.

Jays could go after Francona (would be rather ironic) or promote one of Lovullo, Wakamatsu or Butterfield since all three are supposed to be due. 

That's one way to get a front line pitcher.
 
Corn Flake said:
Bob McCowan was babbling endlessly last night about how if Boston wants Ferrell so bad, the Jays should *trade* him there and demand Clay Buckholtz in return.  Has this ever happened in baseball?  It seems rather far fetched, but maybe it's been done.  We used to see it in hockey but it was cut off.

Jays could go after Francona (would be rather ironic) or promote one of Lovullo, Wakamatsu or Butterfield since all three are supposed to be due. 

That's one way to get a front line pitcher.

Well, there is a recent, though rather underwhelming, precedent:

According to Miami Herald sources, Loria is mulling a decision on whether to fire Guillen. It was Loria who not only traded two minor-league players to the Chicago White Sox to obtain Guillen, but also then gave him a team-record four-year deal worth $10 million.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/10/05/4226204/espn-miami-marlins-aggressively.html#storylink=cpy
 
The Cubs also had to give up a prospect, albeit an underwhelming one, to hire Theo Epstein away from Boston. Also, I'm blanking on the particulars but I think in the annals of baseball history managers have been traded for each other.

I still don't think the Jays should let Farrell go though. No matter how more prestigious the Boston job may be, it's pretty second rate to have to tell your fans your manager left for another team in your division.
 
Corn Flake said:
Bob McCowan was babbling endlessly last night about how if Boston wants Ferrell so bad, the Jays should *trade* him there and demand Clay Buckholtz in return.  Has this ever happened in baseball?  It seems rather far fetched, but maybe it's been done.  We used to see it in hockey but it was cut off.

Jays could go after Francona (would be rather ironic) or promote one of Lovullo, Wakamatsu or Butterfield since all three are supposed to be due. 

That's one way to get a front line pitcher.

Trading assets for coaches is not unprecedented, and the rumour last off season was that the Jays were asking for Buckholtz when the Red Sox approached them about Farrell. So, in this case, McCowan isn't so much off his rocker as much as he's repeating old news.
 
The Sarge said:
Personally, I think if the Red Sox want him bad enough and the Jays can get something that can help them then, see 'ya.

If they can pry a quality major league piece like Buchholz or a top prospect on cusp of becoming an MLB regular, then, yeah, that's something I think you can probably sell to the fans fairly easily. But, for the types of prospects/players normally involved in these kinds of moves, not so much.
 
Nik? said:
The Cubs also had to give up a prospect, albeit an underwhelming one, to hire Theo Epstein away from Boston. Also, I'm blanking on the particulars but I think in the annals of baseball history managers have been traded for each other.

The prospect the Cubs gave up was Chris Carpenter, who pitched relatively decently in limited appearances out of the Sox bullpen this season until meeting up with the Yankees on the final day of the season.
 
bustaheims said:
The Sarge said:
Personally, I think if the Red Sox want him bad enough and the Jays can get something that can help them then, see 'ya.

If they can pry a quality major league piece like Buchholz or a top prospect on cusp of becoming an MLB regular, then, yeah, that's something I think you can probably sell to the fans fairly easily. But, for the types of prospects/players normally involved in these kinds of moves, not so much.

Well, that's the thing. I guess it depends on perceived value of both Ferrel and whatever asset is coming back. I'm sure there's a whack of people in Boston who feel that Ferrel might not be worth giving up anything for either.
 
bustaheims said:
Corn Flake said:
Bob McCowan was babbling endlessly last night about how if Boston wants Ferrell so bad, the Jays should *trade* him there and demand Clay Buckholtz in return.  Has this ever happened in baseball?  It seems rather far fetched, but maybe it's been done.  We used to see it in hockey but it was cut off.

Jays could go after Francona (would be rather ironic) or promote one of Lovullo, Wakamatsu or Butterfield since all three are supposed to be due. 

That's one way to get a front line pitcher.

Trading assets for coaches is not unprecedented, and the rumour last off season was that the Jays were asking for Buckholtz when the Red Sox approached them about Farrell. So, in this case, McCowan isn't so much off his rocker as much as he's repeating old news.

Interesting. Thanks.

I agree with Nik and the idea they should hang on to JF... but they should put their money where their mouth is and extend him ASAP.  It would quiet a lot of what will be an entire winter, and spring of speculation.

THEN if the Red Sox still keep calling and dangle Buckholtz, maybe you let it happen. 
 
The Sarge said:
bustaheims said:
The Sarge said:
Personally, I think if the Red Sox want him bad enough and the Jays can get something that can help them then, see 'ya.

If they can pry a quality major league piece like Buchholz or a top prospect on cusp of becoming an MLB regular, then, yeah, that's something I think you can probably sell to the fans fairly easily. But, for the types of prospects/players normally involved in these kinds of moves, not so much.

Well, that's the thing. I guess it depends on perceived value of both Ferrel and whatever asset is coming back. I'm sure there's a whack of people in Boston who feel that Ferrel might not be worth giving up anything for either.

What is the better choice for the organization to get that front half starting pitcher ... trade your manager within your division, who most seem fairly happy that he is doing a solid job, has his head on his shoulders and can handle the mob of sports media in this town ..... or .... trade four higher end prospects (see: Gio Gonzalez trade).

Given the revolving door that has been the Manager position in Toronto over the last... ever... I'd say it might be better to sacrifice the prospects at this point and hope you can replace them slowly via a few follow up deals.  Not to mention drafting top 10 this year is going to help re-fill the cupboard a bit. 

 

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