Blue Jays Discussion: Winter Meetings: Because there's no more fitting time to talk baseball than December

[Longshot]

#BlueJays Shapiro says he's getting several calls on availability of Drew Hutchison.

I hope he's hanging up. Hutch is still young. He's under control. I wouldn't want to see them give up on him, unless there is a great deal to be made.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

You jest, but that series was pretty close. Smoak had 2 at bats against KC, and did nothing with them other than stranding 4 runners. If Valencia is in there instead of Smoak, perhaps he does do something.

But even ignoring the playoffs, who would you rather have as a utility man/pinch-hitter next year, Valencia at about $1 mil or Smoak at $4 mil?

And that's ignoring the fact that Valencia could have ALSO been a good backup option at 3B for us. Because at the moment, our backup 3B is....Kawasaki?

Is he now? (Irish accent)

 

[Cor]

I hope he's hanging up. Hutch is still young. He's under control. I wouldn't want to see them give up on him, unless there is a great deal to be made.

It also seems like Shapiro is running things if teams are calling him and not Atkins

 

[Kurtz]

JD has played 158 games in each of the last 3 seasons. dear god who is going to play those other 4 games?

Funky logic. He hasn't been seriously injured in the past 3 seasons, so he doesn't need a backup. And it's not like he was traded in part because he asked Billy Boy for a day off or anything...And it's not like he plays a high-flying high-injury risk game that's taken down guys like Lawrie...

But let's not worry about any of that. After all, the Jays do have a history of playing injured guys. If he's injured, we can just play him anyway (hey, didn't we kinda do that just this past year?).

And hey, if anything does go down...I'm sure Andy Burns' got us.

 

[Longshot]

It also seems like Shapiro is running things if teams are calling him and not Atkins

Not sure that's a big deal. I'm sure senior executives of all the teams are in contact with each other all the time.

And him saying "I'm getting calls" might be no different than if he said "we're getting calls."

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

Don't really get this panic from so many of you's. Our position players are all intact, and basically the reason we made it to the playoffs, so we're good there.

We need some bullpen arms, and Shapiro is already looking into that as reports suggest. The only thing left really, is a top of the rotation guy. If we face reality, it's pretty obvious that guy will come through a trade, or internally, if Stroman starts killing it. Happ is a good investment for #4/#5 with the lineup we have.

True contenders, like the Jays, don't make earth shattering moves in the off season. The Royals didn't do anything Earth shattering last season either.

Trading for an ace now >> Signing one, since we can pick one that fits our financial/age requirments. Not saying its easy, or it will happen, but it makes more sense than signing what's out there.

 

[TootooTrain]

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi
Sources: #BlueJays and INF Darwin Barney have agreement on major-league deal pending physical.

Good stuff. Was hoping he'd be back. There's your utility guy.

 

[Longshot]

When I heard Brett Lawrie might be traded, I played this game with myself.

Is there a "gettable" player out there, under contract (no free agents) that might be had for cheap in deal because their team is rebuilding, or cutting salary, etc.

I was thinking of the teams that are tearing things down and rebuilding and thought about Milwaukee and the name Ryan Braun popped into my head.

Awful, awful contract. Injury risk. But how awesome would he look in this lineup, hitting in the Skydome?

Any other names out there in similar situations that make you think: "wouldn't that be awesome?"

 

[TootooTrain]

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
Numerous teams have inquired on Drew Hutchison per Mark Shapiro. #BlueJays say they expect bounce-back season.

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
Mark Shapiro said #BlueJays' 2016 payroll will be up from 2015

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
#BlueJays "focused more on mid-range guys" in bullpen per Shapiro

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
#BlueJays are interested in keeping both EE & Bautista per Shapiro. They met with EE's agents in Nashville. Those talks aren't front-burner.

 

[The Nemesis]

Don't need no stinking back up. JD is Thor. He is a gamer.

Our current backup is Andy Burns. He could be a Valencia type player as he mashes LHP and can play multiple positions.

Burns isn't on the 40-man. It seems reasonable that he might be snatched up by someone in the rule 5 draft.

 

[The Nemesis]

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
Numerous teams have inquired on Drew Hutchison per Mark Shapiro. #BlueJays say they expect bounce-back season.

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith
Mark Shapiro said #BlueJays' 2016 payroll will be up from 2015

*gasp!*

 

[TF97]

Good to see Barney brought back. He's no Diaz but I can live with it

 

[Bad News Benning]

Funky logic. He hasn't been seriously injured in the past 3 seasons, so he doesn't need a backup. And it's not like he was traded in part because he asked Billy Boy for a day off or anything...And it's not like he plays a high-flying high-injury risk game that's taken down guys like Lawrie...

But let's not worry about any of that. After all, the Jays do have a history of playing injured guys. If he's injured, we can just play him anyway (hey, didn't we kinda do that just this past year?).

And hey, if anything does go down...I'm sure Andy Burns' got us.

Because the angels can easily replace Mike Trout....No team has another Trout or JD waiting in the wings to fill in. Every team would be using replacement level players if a star goes down.

I don't think it really matters who is backing up JD. If you're MVP gets injured you won't replace him. Valencia was a replacement level player when he was here and you can easily find another one off the scrap heap.

 

[Habsfan18]

So..

 

[Longshot]

Good to see Barney brought back. He's no Diaz but I can live with it

Did he re-sign? I haven't seen anything.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

*gasp!*

Lies!

 

[Bad News Benning]

Burns isn't on the 40-man. It seems reasonable that he might be snatched up by someone in the rule 5 draft.

there are plenty of Andy Burns floating around. He is just an example of replacement level players that are generally what you find backing up an MVP. If the jays had a stud 3b backup or MLB ready prospect they would be dealt for other areas of need. No point keeping an asset just in case the unlikely event that JD gets injured for a long period of time.

 

[trellaine201]

I love Barney.

 

[The Nemesis]

So I was thinking

Why the hell is Matt Dominguez on the 40-man and not burns?

Dominguez hits like hot garbage at the MLB level and only plays 3rd.

Burns is a year younger, his bat can't possibly be any worse, and he has greater positional versatility.

Aside from the fact that Dominguez has 357 unexciting games of MLB experience, I can't figure out why he's preferable to Burns when the team just showed they could go out and get Barney back or, god forbid, still turn to Kawasaki if they were really desperate for a non-Burns IF call-up option.

I mean, there are some janky pitcher names on the 40-man as well (Ben Rowen, Brady Dragmire, Blake McFarland. I might even make a case for Pat Venditte because there's a hype-vs-results gulf that owes a lot to the novelty value of his switch-pitcher ways) but I at least halfway understand them being there because they show maybe some potential.

Matt Dominguez is Matt Dominguez. the greatest value he has seems to be remember "hey, didn't he play 3rd for those really super-awful Astros teams?"

 

[tml19]

I am surprised Sipp hasn't signed yet.

 

[Cor]

Apparently Shapiro said we were about to sign one FA (Barney) and closing in on another.

I'm assuming that's Petit.

Solid addition if it happens. I would say he's an upgrade over Mark Lowe

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[The Nemesis]

there are plenty of Andy Burns floating around. He is just an example of replacement level players that are generally what you find backing up an MVP. If the jays had a stud 3b backup or MLB ready prospect they would be dealt for other areas of need. No point keeping an asset just in case the unlikely event that JD gets injured for a long period of time.

As I noted in the post below yours and above this one, I personally don't get why Matt Dominguez gets preference over Burns on the 40-man. He may be a replacement-level backup, but I'll take one of those who can play 3-5 positions reasonably well if I can get it.

the rest of your post I already knew/concur. I was just pointing out the Burns situation because you used his name specifically and it didn't appear to be a "for instance" inference, so I figured you were intending to pencil in Burns as the actual presumptive backup.

 

[Cor]

From Wilner: Source: #Bluejays very likely to make at least one selection in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft, though picking 21st will be a hindrance. #Jays

Hmmmmm. Any quality players available?

 

[tml19]

Our old pal Bonifacio signed with the Braves for 1.25. How did he manage to get more then league minimum??