Man, I'm going to watch a lot more Jays games next year.
I had been losing interest in them over the years, but they finally have a team that could make the playoffs, they could even win it all.
And they aren't done yet, they have one too many catchers, so there will be at least one more trade.
Also it seems like they could sign one more pretty good free agent, which wont be hard. (who wouldn't want to sign with Toronto now?)
Ugh, Melky Cabrera. Lazy mofo. As a Braves fan I followed him pretty closely during his time in ATL and he was a complete waste of roster space before he hit the roids. Hope for the Jays sake he's past that.
Great trade, though. Saw a lot of Reyes with the Mets and Marlins in Atlanta's division - just an amazing player. And the pitching coming back speaks for itself. Arencibia has some upside too. Glad to have a reason to have interest in the Jays again.
Ugh, Melky Cabrera. Lazy mofo. As a Braves fan I followed him pretty closely during his time in ATL and he was a complete waste of roster space before he hit the roids. Hope for the Jays sake he's past that.
Great trade, though. Saw a lot of Reyes with the Mets and Marlins in Atlanta's division - just an amazing player. And the pitching coming back speaks for itself. Arencibia has some upside too. Glad to have a reason to have interest in the Jays again.
He got better in Kansas...
And he was very good in San Francisco.
Being on a third team in 3 years would do that for you.
People are not sure what he is on.
They just detected a high amount of testosterone.
It's nice to see the baseball fans in Canada come out of the woodwork...
Even cooler to see baseball getting some attention even from non-fans.
Hopefully the season turns out well, and the Jays continue this momentum.
I'm kind of on hockey-snooze right now, so I'm glad to see some solid baseball discussion. Since baseball is like my 6th favourite sport and in its offseason, a vacuum is clearly being filled.
Thoughts:
-Dan Haren is a lousy fit. Guy finishes with a +WAR every year, but for the dollars I think the Jays are now two starters deeper with a mostly-intact starting-day 2012 rotation that was middling at worst. If the Jays need starter depth, one wonders if Shaun Marcum might like to come home.
-Melky Cabrera is a totally worthwhile gamble, because the lineup is solid without him.
I got lazy on quoting, but y2k and arsmaster have already done the math:
SS - Jose Reyes
3B - Brett Lawrie
RF - Jose Bautista
1B - Edwin Encarnacion/Cooper
LF - Melky Cabrera/Davis
CF - Colby Rasmus/Gose
C - JP Arencibia/Buck/D'Arnaud/Wilson
DH - Adam Lind
2B - Maicer Izturis/Bonifacio
SP - Josh Johnson
SP - Ricky Romero
SP - Mark Buehrle
SP - Brandon Morrow
SP - JA Happ
very solid lineup.
------------------------------------------------
-Lind, Buck, Rasmus and Arencibia are (as a group) at the very least average or better hitting in the 5-7 slots, making a bad Cabrera season easier to swallow.
-The pitching staff goes deep too, with guys like Drabek, Cecil and Morrow able to start games if need be. If they can keep healthy arms, the staff is very good.
-Josh Hamilton is an effing monster, but that's probably not happening.
-The Basketball/Football combo is better than nothing
SS - Jose Reyes
3B - Brett Lawrie
RF - Jose Bautista
1B - Edwin Encarnacion
LF - Melky Cabrera
CF - Colby Rasmus
C - JP Arencibia
DH - Adam Lind
2B - Maicer Izturis
SP - Josh Johnson
SP - Ricky Romero
SP - Mark Buehrle
SP - Brandon Morrow
SP - JA Happ
very solid lineup.
Melky will hit 2nd. There's no way Melky hit 350 because of testosterone last year. It would have helped some -- esp for a dude that has a hard time staying in shape -- but it was more driven by an unsustainable BABIP. However, Melky does make hard contact, so a slightly higher BABIP isn't unreasonable. Plus playing on turf will help him.
To earn 8 million he has to basically provide league average offense/defense. I think he should be slightly better than that with a chance to be significantly better. He's going to see very good pitches with Reyes on base quite a bit and Joey and EE right behind him.
If the Jays stay healthy, they have a shot at making some noise, provided they find a replacement for dough boy Adam Lind, who has been a below average player the past three seasons. JP Arencibia should be moved before the end of May if TDA is healthy. Can't keep that kid in the minors.
Melky will hit 2nd. There's no way Melky hit 350 because of testosterone last year. It would have helped some -- esp for a dude that has a hard time staying in shape -- but it was more driven by an unsustainable BABIP. However, Melky does make hard contact, so a slightly higher BABIP isn't unreasonable. Plus playing on turf will help him.
To earn 8 million he has to basically provide league average offense/defense. I think he should be slightly better than that with a chance to be significantly better. He's going to see very good pitches with Reyes on base quite a bit and Joey and EE right behind him.
If the Jays stay healthy, they have a shot at making some noise, provided they find a replacement for dough boy Adam Lind, who has been a below average player the past three seasons. JP Arencibia should be moved before the end of May if TDA is healthy. Can't keep that kid in the minors.
Great coment before last paragraph. Lind will be one of the most important players for the offense. Left handed power is not coming from anywhere else. The only reason to trade the catcher is if the prospect is ready to defend and hit as a rookie. Possible but hard to risk the season on it. Would be great if a couple prospects stepped up though.
Great coment before last paragraph. Lind will be one of the most important players for the offense. Left handed power is not coming from anywhere else. The only reason to trade the catcher is if the prospect is ready to defend and hit as a rookie. Possible but hard to risk the season on it. Would be great if a couple prospects stepped up though.
Fair enough. Lind has been a below average player for three years though, statistically. He just seems like a guy that doesn't have the mentality to maintain his performance from 2009. I don't know what it is about him, but there's something missing. Hopefully he can be upgraded and the Jays can slot someone else in at DH (EE is okay at 1b).
JPA is about a 2.0 WAR hitter as a catcher, but if you factor in some new/interesting metrics like "pitch-framing" (which, again, is new and perhaps quite volatile), his defense is so questionable that his value might even be negative. I wouldn't mind seeing him moved in a deal for another starter.
D'Arnaud is the best catching prospect in all of baseball and he's 23 years old. If he's ready, splitting time with John Buck would make a lot of sense I think.
I am beyond excited about what's going to happen in the remainder off season and the 2013 season. I watched 90% of the Jays game last year and invested a lot of time in this team. If not for the freak injuries in that one week where Morrow, Drabek, and Hutchinson went down, we could've finished the season .500 but hey, what can you do.
Anyways, this is the best opportunity for the Jays to go all in really. Red Sox is at their lowest, Orioles are the Orioles (last year was fluke), Rays don't have any offence at all, and Yankees seem to be declining. I would love for the Jays to make the playoffs, but being competitive throughout the season will do. There is certainly a lot of buzz about the Jays with NHL being **** as usual.
You guys who live in Vancouver area should go down to Seattle to watch a Jays game next season if you're interested. I went to a game last season and it was like a home stadium for the Jays, truly an amazing feel.
Completley insane trade. I've been a big Jays' fan since 1987. Most excited I've been since about 1994. Will be a very exciting team to watch and right in the mix. Get into the Jays this year!
Great coment before last paragraph. Lind will be one of the most important players for the offense. Left handed power is not coming from anywhere else. The only reason to trade the catcher is if the prospect is ready to defend and hit as a rookie. Possible but hard to risk the season on it. Would be great if a couple prospects stepped up though.
Rasmus is left handed.. 23 Hr's from your center fielder is more than decent.
They need to upgrade the DH position if Lind can't get back to his old ways. You need more production from DH. It's the easiest postion to have legit power.
Too bad Ortiz re-signed with the Bosox, he would be perfect.
AA had a really good relationship with Gibbons, so that likely played a huge factor in him coming back. It's quite an interesting hiring, but I'll judge it once we see what Gibbons can accomplish with this roster.
Ya Gibbons is AA's buddy and a player's manager. He doesn't take any ****, but he's fair and stands up for his players and team. He's a snoose chewing Texan, but he loves the Blue Jays. I like it.
