Jays Sign David Eckstein

Little albino piece of crap.....

Classic.

He has the same career OPS as Marco Scutaro. Why was this necessary?

bah looked at the wrong Eckstien stats forget what I said

this move should solidify the jays order:

ss - eckstein
lf - stairs
rf - rios
dh - thomas
cf - wells
3b - glaus
1b - overbay
2b - hill
c - zaun

if healthy (as if Jays fans need to hear that anymore), that could be a lethal offensive attack

In addition to solidifying the line up, this move may open up a few rosters spots so J.P. is not constantly stocking up on shitty little infield guys like Howie Clark, Russ Adams, Joe Inglett, Hector Luna, Jason Smith, Ray Olmedo an so on.....

The Jays can now bring out a lineup of the best defensive team in the majors (easily, bar none) of...

Reed
Rios
Wells
Thomas
Glaus
Overbay
Hill
Zaun/Olivo maybe?
Mac

when the pitch Halladay or Burnett or Mcgowan (ground ballers bigtime. Especially Doc)

Or they can put out a pure offensive lineup of

Eckstein
Rios
Wells
Thomas
Glaus
Overbay
Hill
Stairs
Zaun

It's a nice bench now too. If Ecks is cheap enough, it's a good sign.. This makes the bench probably

Reed/Stairs
Scutaro (very useful backup)
Mac (best defensive AL SS)
And hopefully someone like Olivo who can hit lefties hard and throws out 33% of runners.. defenite upgrade on Fasano lol.

I like that Jays are acquiring "glue" guys, but Scutaro, McDonald, Eckstein, and Hill all on the same team seems like an excessive amount (and an expensive set) of middle infielders to have on your major league roster. It just seems like a strange mix of players on that roster.

But hey, if Burnett and Ryan are healthy this year the Blue Jays are stacked. I could see a Ana/Det/Bos/Tor playoffs, but everything would have to go right for Toronto. The AL is ridiculously loaded this year.

What happened to that four year deal? Some of the concessions on these recent contracts have me puzzled.

"Little albino piece of crap," as the first poster called him, is the classic overachiever. He should be appauded not denigrated. Also, just think...all you would have to do is change his skin color and you would be called a racist!

if Rios is still on the Jays i doubt hes hitting 2nd. hes more likely to hit 5th behind Thomas. id prefer to have Rios hit 3rd and Wells hit 5th, but i dont think the Jays do that.

with Eckstein on board the 1-2 spots will likely be either Johnson/Eckstein or Eckstein/Johnson.

"Perhaps the Jays can go for some kind of offense/defense platoon. If a groundballer like Jesse Litsch or Jeremy Accardo happens to be on the mound, the Jays could opt for defense."

So Eckstein gets to play when Marcum is on the mound? The rest of the Jays staff is HEAVILY groundball oriented.

having Rios that high in the lineup would move alot of the offense at the top of the lineup .Rios at 5th or 6th is better

God damn it !

I hate Geekstein, and now i have to watch him every game.

This is brutal news ! They should have used that cash to get some pitcher, or , i don't know anything but this !

"Also, just think...all you would have to do is change his skin color and you would be called a racist!"

That goes to the point that many have made that he gets so much hype, and credit because he is white. How "gritty", "grinders", and "gamers" always seem to be not that talented white guys.

Why would the Jays need Olivo vs. Lefties, Zaun has hit .302 vs. lefties from 05-07?

is there any rumors about the glaus for figgins? cause that would be a sickkk trade

has the jays and angels even talked about that possible trade? if so than the jays will turn into more of a running team and you will even see wells steal alot more bases.
The Jays could deffinetely be world series contenderes this year!:)

I love all these "I hate Eckstein" statements. I mean, is that how you build your baseball team? If you *like* the guy or not? Last time I checked, that doesn't help you win games.

This is an extremely solid move for the Jays. The take an auto out and turn him into a very viable resource w/o taking much of a defensive hit. With his decent onbase skills and speed, a healthy Jays lineup should be able to plate him 100+ times. The AL East should be looking very interesting next year with a ramped up Rays team and a healthy and improved Jays team.

It's certainly a strange move being that Mac is such a good shortstop.But Eckstein is a winning player and he is a spark plug and maybe this is what this organization needs to get to the next level.I think the playoffs might be NY/Tor/Anaheim/Cle and it might finally be Toronto's year.I can't wait to see Eckstein hit a leadoff homerun off of Mr 7 ERA at Fenway ,Santana, if he becomes a Sox!

alot of people seem to be confident that not only Stairs starts in LF but that he can repeat his 07 numbers.. im not so sure. i think its more likely Stairs comes back down to the numbers he had in 2006, 2005, 2004.
im guessing Reed Johnson will be the starter in LF, pushing Stairs as the LH bat off the bench. that favours the Jays more than having Stairs start and Johnson coming off the bench.
Johnson and Eckstein are good OBP guys at the top of the order for the rest of the order Wells, Thomas, Rios, Overbay, Glaus, Hill, and Zaun.. who walks alot and can get on base to turn the lineup over for the top of the order.

"I love all these "I hate Eckstein" statements. I mean, is that how you build your baseball team? If you *like* the guy or not? Last time I checked, that doesn't help you win games. "

Neither does David Eckstein. Can't field, can't throw, can't hit, but he's a gamer. Wait he's been averaging 120 games a year the past two, so he's not even that.

ArodSucksAtLife did you happen to even look at the stats? cant hit?
i post the stats again..
07- .309 AVG/ .356 OBP
06- .292 AVG/ .350 OBP
05- .294 AVG/ .363 OBP
he hits and he gets on base.. which is what you want from someone at the top of the order.

maybe you were confused and looked at McDonald's stats, because theres someone who cant hit.. which is why Eckstein was signed.

David Eckstein has no business being on a major league roster making more than league minimum. His on the field performance can be easily replaced or at least closely matched by a minor leaguer. You are basically paying 4.2 million dollars for a perceived grittiness or veteran leadership. That is just not a smart move when you are trying to compete with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Teams that have the financial flexibility to pay 9 million dollars for a SS with a negative VORP.

ARodsucks, you are simply a moron for posting slugging stats for a leadoff guy. You think they hired him for his ability to drive in runs. He gets onbase and is fast. That's all they need out of him. McDonald simply blew at that. Jays have more than enough rbi power. If things don't pan out for the Yankees "future hall of famer" young arms, they'll be sucking wind in 3rd behind the Jays.

"a side note tho, a lot of fellow Jays fans seem to be saying this move puts us in the playoffs or something. I agree it improves our chances but I think its still going to take some luck."

Sorry Blue Jay fans, you actually have a fantastic team, but you don't stand a chance. Considering that the Angels will probably win the West, the Tigers win the Central and the Red Sox win the East, that'd leave the Indians, Yankees, Blue Jays, Twins, and Mariners to fight for the wild card. Sorry but in a league so stacked with good teams, you're probably the 6th or 7th best, which won't get it done.

Assuming the offence comes back healthy next year, Toronto is a better team than both Seattle and Minnesota and I do not see how everyone is so high on the Tigers who although will have a juggernaut of an offence, still have no bullpên to speak of and a very unproven rotation.

Since I am a Jays fan, assuming everyone is healthy next year, I predict a Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Anaheim playoff.

I do not consider the Tigers a playoff threat for the above reason that I mentioned and if the Yankees do not land Santana then the younger players will still need another year to adjust to the big leagues in my opinion before they can be fully dominate which opens up a window for Toronto.

Will not make a bit of difference. Whatever they do they will finish 3rd, conunt on that.

Don't get how anyone can hate Eckstein. All he's ever done is win.

And for those pushing to move Troy Glaus to the Angels, I'd be surprised if that happened. They parted on bad terms... the Angels upset with him for electing to have surgery during his final season in Anaheim, when they believed he could tough it out and have off-season surgery. They believed Glaus made the choice to enhance his free agency at the expense of the team.

And Arte Moreno has so publicly condemned steroid users, it's unlikely he'd acquire anyone named in the Mitchell report.

For everyone who is saying they feel bad for the jays, do not. Toronto does not need slugging, we have Frank Thomas, Troy Glaus, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill, Lyle Overbay, Matt Stairs, and Adam Lind who are all sluggers and can all hit 20+ home runs.

Toronto had a problem that was fixed with a cheap signing of David Eckstein for his lead off abilities incase Reed Johnson is not able to return to his 06 form and at the same time making a significant offensive upgrade at shortstop.

If you do not see why this move was so good for the Blue Jays then you do not understand their organizational needs, simple as that.

A bad signing is Kaz Matsui for the Astros, not David Eckstein for the Blue Jays.