Blue Jays Discussion: Off-season Edition 5.0 - The Winter Meeting Chronicles

[Kurtz]

Bickford 50 game suspension for 2nd positive test for drug of abuse

We literally dodged a bullet with that one.

 

[Mitchy]

Bickford 50 game suspension for 2nd positive test for drug of abuse

Yikes.

Dodged a bullet for sure.

 

[Eyedea]

I don't know, our second pick of that draft was Hollon and we used the compensatory pick to select Pentecost.

 

[AllDay28]

In addition, Toronto right-hander Pedro Loficial was suspended for 72 games following a positive test for metabolites of Stanozolol and Miami outfielder Casey Soltis was banned 50 games following a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

damn u Pedro Loficial!!!

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

I don't know, our second pick of that draft was Hollon and we used the compensatory pick to select Pentecost.

With Turner on the board, and being a rumoured target for the Jays. I remember most of us being pissed we'd take a player with 45-50 fv across the board except for his 70-80 fv speed. Boy were we wrong .

 

[hockeywiz542]

oxon hill, md. — dave dombrowski noted wednesday night that the red sox had spent the day fielding calls from teams interested in some of their starting pitchers. specifically, the president of baseball operations noted, the focus from other clubs were on eduardo rodriguez, drew pomeranz, steven wright and clay buchholz.

But, according to teams talking with the red sox, dombrowski has seemingly prioritized dealing buchholz over pomeranz. In fact, one source suggested the sox aren’t currently showing any inclination that they want to move pomeranz.

pomeranz would most likely result in a bigger haul for the red sox considering the lefty’s age (28), affordability (he will make around $4 million in arbitration), and potential (the southpaw finished with a 3.32 era in 30 starts in 2016).

Considering buchholz’s strong finish to his 2016 season – managing a 2.98 era in his final eight starts after a return to the rotation – there would appear to be some interest in the 32-year-old. The roadblock in moving the righty, however, might be the $13.5 million he is slated to make in 2017, the final year of his deal.

 

[Eyedea]

With Turner on the board, and being a rumoured target for the Jays. I remember most of us being pissed we'd take a player with 45-50 fv across the board except for his 70-80 fv speed. Boy were we wrong .

I can't take a look back right now but I'm pretty sure I was comfortable with either Turner or Pentecost. I definitely wanted Hoffman at 9 though.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports joins Tim and Sid to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals signing of Dexter Fowler and what outfield options remain for the Toronto Blue Jays.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/shows/tim-and-sid-show/ts-jay-bruce-curtis-granderson-options-jays/

 

[Canada4Gold]

I can't take a look back right now but I'm pretty sure I was comfortable with either Turner or Pentecost. I definitely wanted Hoffman at 9 though.

Quick look back you were high on Touissant(must lol at Dave Stewart again while we still can) as well. Probably 1. Hoffman, 2. Touissant, 3. Pentecost but yeah you defended Turner quite a bit.

 

[Eyedea]

True, I was high on some Touki. He might not make it as a starter (maybe in the backend) but that dude could be a wicked weapon in the pen with that curve.

 

[hockeywiz542]

it appears baseball has got smart at the worst-possible moment for bautista’s less prickly doppelganger. Nobody wants to pay $125-million for a one-dimensional soon-to-be middle-aged player.

One by one, encarnacion’s likeliest suitors have opted for budget versions of what he does. With each new signing, a little of the shine comes off encarnacion.

Part of the point of dropping nine figures on a player is generating excitement and selling tickets. Encarnacion has been sitting on the mlb shelf for weeks now, getting mouldy. Once somebody does sign him, it’s shaping up as one of those “we paid how much for whom?†disappointments.

Of course, the best fit for encarnacion is returning to toronto at something substantially less than his initial demand. That’d make everybody (except bautista) happy.

With that pr and performance gift being dangled in front of them, the jays instead signed steve pearce. You’ll be forgiven for being unfamiliar with his oeuvre, perhaps because he’s not very good at baseball.

Pearce is also a one-dimensional soon-to-be middle-aged player, but far less impressive in that one dimension and often injured. It’s subtraction by addition.

While the jays drift backward, their opponents are making ambitious leaps forward. The boston red sox flipped three years of chris sale for a cuban kid they’d paid $63-million in signing bonuses and resultant penalties.

in toronto, that money is a way to pad the bottom line. The team might occasionally be in, but not all the way. Not any year. They’re going to hope to get lucky and do it on the cheap. If it works, great. And if it doesn’t, well, we can fail to try our utmost again next year. The jays’ only gamble right now is that, having created so much new interest in the past couple of years, the inertia of 2015 and 2016 will carry them through to the end of 2018.

That’s when josh donaldson leaves and toronto re-enters its habitual baseball funk.

For just a moment there, this team and everyone connected to it were buoyed by an unfamiliar feeling of hope. That things were not just possible, but sustainable over the long term. You can’t win every year, but you can be in with a shot – st. Louis cardinals-style.

 

[Kurtz]

Come on, Cathal, at least do a little research on Pearce before bashing him...

 

[Canada4Gold]

You even mentioned SRF in 1 post for 1 of those picks, which we all know worked out great for us anyway

 

[Eyedea]

You even mentioned SRF in 1 post for 1 of those picks, which we all know worked out great for us anyway

It's too bad we couldn't get Tanner Houck. Wouldn't surprise me if he lands top 5 next year.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports joins Tim and Sid to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals signing of Dexter Fowler and what outfield options remain for the Toronto Blue Jays.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/shows/tim-and-sid-show/ts-jay-bruce-curtis-granderson-options-jays/

I just don't see Saunders improving this team enough to justify the cost

 

[Discoverer]

Come on, Cathal, at least do a little research on Pearce before bashing him...

I guarantee the only thing he knows about Pearce is that he's not Edwin Encarnacion.

I like how he thinks not signing the top free agents has ruined the Jays ability to create a "sustainable" winner.

His target audience is the most uninformed, casual section of the fanbase, and it shows.

 

[trellaine201]

Old but I take Granderson of the three mentioned.

 

[ShaneFalco]

 

[dredeye]

I can't take a look back right now but I'm pretty sure I was comfortable with either Turner or Pentecost. I definitely wanted Hoffman at 9 though.

I can't remember who I was big on. I want to say I wanted Turner but then I think I was worried about something with him. I was ok with Pentecost because I wanted us to draft positional players.

 

[dredeye]

Not at all with the contract he got. At the original offer sure it would hurt

 

[dredeye]

Yikes.

Dodged a bullet for sure.

I wouldn't say we dodged a bullet. He got suspended for weed. If he was on a 40 man roster he wouldn't have even been suspended. That's a rule they'll have to revisit because its legal in so many places in the states now. If it was coke or something like that then it would be cause for concern

 

[Hoverhand]

Why hasn't anybody brought up Angel Pagan, He's still in the board and he's better than Saunders and probably Bruce.

Can play left and bat leadoff

 

[veedubn1]

The Jays missed their window... Red Sox looking beastly this year.. NY is going to reload next offseason... it was fun while it lasted.

 

[shaner8989]

Basically

We lost
Encarnation
Bautista
Cecil
Benoit

We signed
Morales
Pearce

Bringing back Saunders would be a joke. Guy was garbage after April.

We are sooooooooo much worse while others improved

 

[veedubn1]

Basically

We lost
Encarnation
Bautista
Cecil
Benoit

We signed
Morales
Pearce

Bringing back Saunders would be a joke. Guy was garbage after April.

We are sooooooooo much worse while others improved

The Toronto sports fan is being taken advantage of once again. They're really overestimating the draw of baseball in this city... it's like they've forgotten it was just a short time ago they could barely draw 19,000 to the Dome.