Over the weekend we learned that the Blue Jays are looking to upgrade their rotation as the deal with a rash of injuries. Toronto recently sent multiple scouts to at least two of Wandy Rodriguez’s starts and has also maintained contact with the Cubs about Matt Garza. Here's more on the Blue Jays and the rest of the AL East..
- Jose Bautista told Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com that he wants to see the club make a big push at the deadline. "Let’s go for it,” Bautista said. “Hopefully, the change is made now. We’re in a position, in the middle of the season, to compete for a playoff spot. A lot of people maybe have forgotten about the extra wild card, but I certainly haven’t. There was a lot of talk about it in spring training, and I haven’t heard much since."
- The Rays signed Dominican catcher Erick Maria for $300K, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Maria was known as Eric Otanez when he signed with Tampa Bay last year before the deal was declared ineligible thanks to an inaccurate birthdate. Maria has developed into a better prospect than he was a year ago but he appears to have remained loyal to the Rays to honor his original deal.
- No one realized exactly how important the Hiroki Kuroda signing would be for the Yankees this season, writes David Lennon of Newsday. Kuroda, who signed a one-year, $10MM deal with the Bombers, has stepped up for the club in the wake of the ill-fated Michael Pineda trade.
Bautista is right Blue Jays should make a push for it. I don’t agree with the extra wild card but since it’s in place might as well try to take advantage of it.
Players aren;t logical in terms of when is a good time to go for it. With a rotation of scraps , no trade will catapult the Jays into the playoffs. It would be silly to sell the farm to go for it this year.
It depends on whether they get a guy that’s controllable for several more seasons. The thing with the Jays right now is their attendance is up respectably and the TV Ratings on Rogers Sportsnet are up dramatically. That’s a lot of money in the pocket of the Rogers, and I can see a push from ownership to keep this momentum going.
Even if they ultimately miss out, the amount of money and interest the team could generate by being in an honest-to-goodness playoff race come early September might make this the right time for the Jays to make a move. It could also send a message to free agents that Toronto is a team to listen to if the phone rings — something I doubt is the case right now.
Agreed.
One of the reasons to add an additional wild card spot was to help teams stay longer in the playoff race, thus boosting interest, attendance and TV Ratings.
If the Blue Jays can grab some short term help for some low end prospects, then yeah I’ll all for it. Sometimes,
Money will get you FA players but not prospects.
AA will have to trade a boatload of his valuable prospects for above average to elite players to even compete for the second wildcard.
Morrow and most likely Hutch will be back by seasons end. Why not go for it? The 5th starter won’t be needed for the playoffs anyway. So you have Romero, Morrow, Alvarez/Hutch and whoever else you acquire.
It’s certainly asking alot and I dont know if I would even do it if I were AA but Greinke sure makes alot of sense in Toronto. A Greinke-Morrow-Romero playoff rotation matches up with just about any other team. And if Santos is to ever return to 2011 form, that’s another acquisition.
Other upgrades would be at 2B and 1B/DH depending on where they prefer to play Encarnacion.
the more i think about it, the more i like greinke in toronto. as a fan of baseball, that is. not as a fan of a team that will have to face him
LT? grienke would be a perfect fit in Toronto. I just don’t see them paying what his likely cost will be when figures broke off at a *rumored* 5/85m and grienke looking at what Cain got as his next contract value.
It would be nice to see a guy like Grienke play for a team where people think he fits, rather than chasing the hugest contract, much like Lee did.
Greinke would be great in toronto , but only if it didnt cost prospects.
really it depends on how open greinke would be to staying in toronto for reasonable ace money
Would he accept 5 years 95 million with an option for a 6th year? I doubt it because he’ll likely get 6 gauranteed from a club worth at least 110+. Also would Rogers actually pony up? Not likely.
sounds like he has turned down 5/85 from milwaukee, so it will likely take 6 years or maybe 5/100 with a vesting option
that would take him through his age 33 season. really not that bad. not good, granted, but eventually you have to pony up for a pitcher of that caliber. the odds of producing one through the farm – even a great farm – just are not good
I think they will eventually pony up the cash. I mean, they once agreed to sign Vernon Wells to a 7yr/$126m contract.
Isn’t that why they probably won’t pony up ther cash?
My point is that, if Beeston and AA can make a good case to ownership to spend the money, then they will spend.
Looking back, the Vernon Wells contract was an ill-advised move, but at the time, Ricciardi and Godfrey were able to convince the ownership. At the time, it seemed somewhat understandable (though I personally disagreed with it).
It makes alot of sense for all parties involved. The Blue Jays system is loaded with talent, Toronto is a big city but not one where you would expect Greinke’s anxiety problems would become a problem, and the Blue Jays need a front-line starter to contend in the AL east.
If such a deal does happen it will be because AA knows he can sign Greinke long term. Other teams may be willing to take the 3 month rental, the Blue Jays will not
the jays tried to trade for greinke before he was dealt to the brewers. he said we would not waive his no trade clause to go to the jays. not sure if a lot has changed since then.
That was before the 2011 season. Alot has changed since then for Toronto. Lawrie, Bautista, Encarnacion, Rasmus and Farrell are just the start.
Toronto has made enough on-field changes to be taken off most guys “no way in hell I’m going to play for that team” lists
i would not list farrell as a positive, he is not a good manager.
Said the guy with 2 Raptors (one who no longer plays there) as his Avatar.
I am torn here. I liked John Farrell when he was the Sox pitching coach but now I want the Jays to fall apart so the Sox have a better shot at the playoffs. If they miss the playoffs again the Jays are gonna be the team I root for in the playoffs…
That is of course IF either of them make the playoffs.
I don’t understand how anyone could have overlooked the Kuroda signing. Have people not been watching him the last couple of years?
I thought you didn’t like Japanese players, namely Hideki Irabu?
Especially in the wake of trading Buhner. He had a cannon for an arm!
his point is not “no one knew it was a good signing”; everyone knew that. the point is no one foresaw the rest of the rotation all getting injured at once and kuroda being the left to hold down the fort
kuroda was a very solid #2 for the dodgers, for the Yankees to get him for 1 year at $10M, thats a steal compared to contracts other players have been getting recently.
As a Dodgers fan i always thought he was greatly underrated, very consistent but dumb people just looked at the record and overlooked him, it wasnt his faulth that the dodgers had a little league offense when he started for them.
Would be a shame if the Jays don’t capitalize on having a player like Bautista in his prime on such a team-friendly deal. I feel like they may be taking him for granted, when he really can only be expected to perform at this level for a couple more seasons.
Like the royals are wasting butler’s time? Or Giancarlo on the Marlins, or mauer and morneau. Or tulo on the rockies. It is just the fact of life that it takes more than one good player to win alot of games.
Of course Bautista wants the team to make a push for it but it really does not make much sense. The Jays have been hit hard by injuries and they are simply just not one starting pitcher away from making the playoffs as I would still rank the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees ahead of them.
That’s where the Gutherie deal kicks in.
Drabek is gone to TJ surgery, have Gutherie play in his spot for the remainder of the year. As long as the Blue Jays remain within 4GB of the second wild card spot in early Setpember, then anything is possible.
And regardless of whether the Blue Jays actually clinch a wild card spot, as long as they can remain ‘competitive’ throughout the entire season, it’ll help boost attendance and TV Ratings. It might also send a positive message to free agents.
Just my opinion.
Right now, every single team in the AL east has a chance to make the playoffs. They are all struggling, looking for pitching. The team that makes the big move should make the playoffs. No reason the Jays can’t be that team.