The latest on the AL East, as teams turn their attention to arbitration eligible players and possible bargains on the free agent market…
- A Yankees source told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com that the team's optimism about Andy Pettitte's potential return has diminished in the past week. The team has been in touch with Pettitte, but they aren't counting on him to return.
- Despite the suggestion that the Yankees' deal with Rafael Soriano was ownership-driven, the Yankees have "full confidence" in GM Brian Cashman, a senior Yankees executive told Matthews. We heard over the weekend that Cashman has full backing from the Steinbrenner family.
- Blue Jays manager John Farrell confirmed to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm that the Blue Jays are interested in Eric Chavez. Farrell says he heard good things about the third baseman, who worked out for the Blue Jays recently.
- Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe suggests we'll see a flurry of signings today, since teams would prefer not to exchange figures with their arbitration eligible players. Jonathan Papelbon and Jacoby Ellsbury are Boston's unsigned arbitration eligible players.
i thought it was reported he’s not returning. now he’s undecided again?
he reported he would not start the season.
Until the next NY reporter calls and asks him for the one millionth time
Id be suprised to see Jacoby Ellsbury to get over $2.25 mil missing most of this past season has of cost him around $2.5-$3 mil. I wonder if the redsox will give him a low ball offer to buy out his remaining arbitration years, as a Scott Boras client i cant imagine him giving up any of his free agent years.
I would love to see them low ball Papelbon, tell him they want to pay him 7, and have him be the first player in Theo’s timeline to go to arbitration and he gets reamed by the arbitrators, he is good at blowing things, leads,saves, arbitration hearings, you name it. Ellsbury will get around 3 million.
Simple. They should, and likely will, plan as if he’s not coming back. If he changes his mind and comes back, then the Yankees have a surplus. Never a bad thing.
Any surplus of pitching is only temporary.
the jays should sign chavez and manny, and have chavez/encarnacion/lind/manny split the 3b/1b/dh position
only 1 of those guys can play 3B though…
Encarnacion is a 3B
The Jays signed him with the restriction that he goes no where near 3B when the opposing team is batting.
i think that could change if they sign a full time DH type. AA is all about flexibility, i dont see him closing the door on a potential impact signing because EE has to play DH/1B, and i doubt EE would say no either.
I’m not arguing the possibility. I’m arguing the effectiveness.. No matter what DH you sign, having EE play 3B would be counter productive to the added offense.
His arm is terrible and inaccurate, especially without an established defensive 1B across the diamond, it would just be disastrous.
I’m loving your posts and the unique brand of humor. hahaa
Let us also remember his buddy Roger goes on trial soon and he might not have some flattering things to say about poor old Andy.
I would be very surprised if more comes out other than what already has about Pettitte. I would also be very disappointed.
I would love to see Chavez in a Jays uni. First off it would be a low risk signing that would cost very little, secondly, it would allow Bautista to stay in the OF where he has stated he wants to be. I know that wouldn’t allow Davis to play every day, but you can’t look past chavez and his solid D. The only I would be worried about is his proneness to injury and playing on the turf.
So lets say Chavez is healthy enough to start the season at 3B for the Jays..
Jbau moves to RF. … Who the heck leads off?? I would hate to move Esco out of the 2 spot.
I agree. I thought we signed Davis with the intent of playing him regularly in the OF. If we sign Chavez, Jbau moves to the OF, relegating Davis to the bench as the 4th OF. What, then, becomes of Patterson?
How does Patterson factor in at all? He was signed to a minor league deal, the jays are hardly obligated to have him on the big league roster. Either way he could be a fifth OF I guess.
Oops, sorry, I had thought it was a guaranteed major league deal. Thanks for the correction.
patterson is this years dewayne wise, i dont think he plays a huge role no matter the makeup of the rest of the team. hes a nice pinch runner/defensive replacement.
hmmm. good question. I know I’m going to get ripped for this comment from many Jays fans, but to me, the only player that has any resemblence of a lead off hitter is Wells. Decent OBP, speed and can run the bases well. If Lind and Hill bounce back, you could have an order of Wells, Escobar, Lind, Bautisa, Hill…..I dunno.
Wells just doesn’t see enough pitches, doesn’t have a good selection at the plate to be a lead off batter.. plus I highly object to you calling his obp decent lol.. plus that contract haha..
I think they would be forced to lead off escobar, which isn’t the worst thing, he gets on base a lot, I just love his ability to move runners along and sacrifice himself in the 2 hole, something that no one else on the team can do.
yeah, i guess is should make the statement that when I say “resembles, or is “decent”, it’s in relation to the rest of the line-up.
I get what your saying, I’m not ripping on you. I just don’t see them asking Wells to step in to that role.
The Jays need a legitimate lead off batter… I still think the Jays should try to pry Figgins out of Seattle, but we shall see… I’m not exactly sold on Davis as a lead off batter either…
I’m really interested to see how the opening day lineup will look.. having a new manager, I expect to see a lot of shaking up.. including cleaning up the middle of the order and hopefully a stronger emphasis on getting on base.
I hope Mastroianni comes into spring training tearing the cover off the ball. He’s really the only hope of a true lead-off hitter the Jays have.
He was a little old for AA last year, but did have a really impressive year.
If you see him cracking the team, I imagine they move Bautista to 3B and give Darin a corner outfield position?
Mastroianni has a line of .365/.449/.460 in winter ball as well.
Ideally, if he did make the team, I’d have the Master in CF and move Wells to RF, but yeah, Bautista would be a third.
Having Mastroianni playing everyday, and a guy like Davis on your bench gives you dynamite speed!
I don’t like Jbau as a 3rb baseman… I know its a waste of his arm, but I think the best lineup would come from signing or acquiring a 3rd baseman, moving bautista to 1st and lind to DH.>> Imagine we got Figgins and did this
Figgins (3B)
Esco (SS)
Lind (DH)
JBau (1b)
Wells (C)
Snider (RF)
Arencibia (C)
Hill (2b)
Mastroianni/ Davis (LF)
Looks like a pretty decent lineup to me.
I’ve actually thought the same thing, moving Bats to 1B, but It’ll never happen until the Jays figure out what they have with Lind and E3 (positionally).
I would prefer to keep Escobar at that 2 hole but if Chavez starts then it’s most likely him. Hill takes back that 2 spot assuming he returns to form. Bautista, Wells, Lind, EE, Snider, Arencibia/Chavez, Chavez/Arencibia.
With Davis: Davis, Escobar, Bauista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Snider, EE, Arencibia.
I could see Jays doing a platoon situation until one of them truly earn a starting spot.
JBau… really? JBau?! Not cool, man. Not cool..
A Blue Jays Chavez signing would be a horrible decision, unless they just see him as a bat coming off the bench. This guy shouldn’t play 3B anymore given his shoulder problems, and is a lesser hitter now than Encarnacion, Lind, and even Rajai Davis.
I’m not against a Chavez signing at all. Let him see if he can be the everyday 3B, and if not, he’s a bench player. The best part about the current Jays lineup is that most players can play multiple positions. The only players that do not move around are Hill, Snider, and the catching duo. E5, Bautista, MacDonald, and Lind can cover 1st, SS and 3rd. Wells, Davis, Bautista, Lind, and MacDonald can cover CF and RF. Addign Chavez will not really hurt anything.
I don’t think Chavez is a good fit as a bench player, as we have Johnny Mac and McCoy backing up the infield. Chavez would only be useful to back up 3B.
I agree. No one should even consider Chavez as a third baseman. After having rotator cuff surgery on BOTH shoulders, the guy doesn’t have the arm strength to make those throws from third anymore, and expecting him to dive for the ball to make those GG plays he used to make is just pure wishful thinking. Chavez would be a backup DH/1B option against LHP incase Farrell decides that he wants either him or Encarnacion manning 1st with the other DHing in case Lind continues to be terrible against lefties next year.
I don’t know how anyone can make the claim of “the guy doesn’t have the arm strength to make those throws from third anymore” without seeing him play. This is the exact reason why Chavez is “working out” for the Jays. So they can determine if he can or can’t play the position.
What are you talking about? having him work out? what a waste of team, clearly if a poster on mlbtr says that he can no longer play defense then its true.
My bad. Next time I’ll use my noggin before i post.
Papelbon will get a cha ching and Ellsbury just a cha. His ching will come after 2011 if he has a return to form. Meantime he’ll have to get by on subsistence wages of around 2M.
Pettitte is now in a personal limbo. He appears not ready for a full time commitment. Sounds familar guys? That NY needs him is a given.
It’s a universal law of sports that when ownership says they have “full confidence” in a GM, said GM is close to getting fired.
The same is true of when a GM says he has “full confidence” in a coach/manager.
In fact, the more the ownership emphasizes the point, the more imminent said firing is.