The Blue Jays have sent right-handed pitching prospect Kevin Comer to the Astros to the complete last month's ten player trade, the team announced. The original deal included Francisco Cordero, Ben Francisco, Brandon Lyon, and J.A. Happ, among others.
Comer, 20, was the 57th overall pick in the 2011 draft. He's pitched to a 3.95 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 43 1/3 innings in the low levels of Toronto's farm system this year. ESPN's Keith Law says (on Twitter) that Comer's fastball velocity has been down into the upper-80s this season. Baseball America ranked him as the 17th best prospect in the Blue Jays' system in their Prospect Handbook before the season.
Wow the Astros did GREAT. Comer, Musgrove, Wojciechowski and Carlos Perez.
Very great.
This is an absolute joke. They paid the guy 1.65 mill to sign away from Vanderbilt and now hes part of a package with Musgrove for JA Happ and two relievers. Unless they have completely soured on these guys, this makes no sense. AA’s last few trades (Snider, Happ/Lyon) have been questionable to say the least.
I’m pretty sure its safe to say that all the slack that AA built up acquiring Escobar, Morrow, Rasmus and trading Wells… is officially gone.
awww, muffin
AA has been unable to build a decent pen through FA, so it has now taking his top focus, he’s moved what 3-4 first round picks for relievers?
Why not use prospects to acquire starters and then push guys like Villanueva, Cecil, laffey in the pen.
If you look back to his trade history, he clearly over values relievers. cough, mike napoli, cough
the round the player was picked in surprisingly no longer matters after the draft, especially when that player’s talents diminish shortly thereafter. When a single one of these prospects contributes in the majors maybe i’ll re-evaluate this built up slack
thats a comment that is perfectly valid, something I would say myself IF he acquired something, ANYTHING that was going to contribute in the future… all he did was bring in relievers.
and also, if they had diminished that much after your staff picked them with your first 3 picks, thats a whole nother issue.
make no mistake, I’m not opposed to trading prospects, I expect it to happen. But expect the Gm to bring back something of value.
and also, pedigree matters, there is a reason why first round picks get a lot more chances then a 41st round pick. pedigree matters.
Once again.. Shame no inter division trades within the AL East. Boston still has a full pen, even with Atchison, Padilla and Hill on the DL and could have moved a couple of effective releivers to Toronto easily without suffering.
Red Sox have a strong a bullpen. But, in my opinion, they are looking for the same thing as Toronto. MLB ready players with options to gain depth on the 40-man roster. Of course, Toronto is looking for a few other things as well. Boston too probably.
In the old days (pre 1990) inter AL East teams looked at just defeating the Yankees as Job #1 and would trade to each other. It was quite common, they just would not help NY.
I wish during this season Boston would have helped Baltimore by sending them Youkilis, they could have helped Toronto with their pen as well.
Both areas were strong suits on an other wise ho-hum Sox team that had other weaknesses too numerous to fix and it would have allowed several younger BP arms Boston was forced to keep on the Pawtucket shuttle all year (Tazawa, Mortenson) to stay on the roster all year and even now? let Carpenter be on the 25 man roster.
Way too many injuries for Sox to sustain a charge. Frankly, before the season started, I saw this year as a transition year for Boston. Mainly because I could foresee Youkilis being swapped out for Middlebrooks. Also, management had to make decisions on several good pitching prospects who were out of options (hello bullpen).
The Reddick and Lowrie trades were head scratchers for me given the apparent plan/intent for transitioning the team. I can understand the “making the most of 2012” logic behind the trades. But, if that was the case, Boston management set itself up to do the splits between transitioning the team while making a charge for 2012.
It will be interesting to see how they regroup for 2013. A lot of talent on the 25-man roster and in the farm system. In your opinion, how does the current management team stack up to Theo Epstein?
I thought personally they could be competitive, at least for a WC with the extra one added, then the injuries mounted up and it was pretty much game over by June and if it was me? began selling off the people have been naming for awhile here: Aviles, Salty )when he had max value) and Ells after he returned from the DL and has shown is healthy and productive. lester also if he has decent value and more if he starts to produce better results.
Reddick didn’t have a lot of value when was swapped, Francona saw to that as he was one of those youngsters he kept buried in hi always play the washed up retread/veteran type (McDonald) 1st. One of the reasons am glad Francona is gone.. he had to be forced pretty much to give a rookie any kind of an extended chance, preferring to give washed up veterans far more of a look/playing time, unless there just wasn’t anyone left.
The deal for reddick to me was worse 9even then) losing Miles head than reddick as I thought Reddick could be a decent RF, but still think Head has a chance.
Lowrie also, but he probably also never would have had a chance.
Me? I would hold onto Lester and Ellsbury. Bosox have the talent to contend. Worst case scenario, Lester & Ellsbury turn into draft pick compensation.
BTW, I completely forgot about Head. I remember you guys complaining on the day of the trade about losing him.
Like a new manager?
I’m believing Comer was being soured on. Apparently his velocity is down this year, as is his ability to miss bats.
I know this trade looks rather bad, and it still kinda is, but I’m guessing the Jays’ army of scouts saw red flags in all of these guys that may have made it difficult for them to become serviceable major leaguers one day.
As of right now though, Astros got a good haul of prospects for rubbish.
I get that theory… so you have some prospects that values could go lower.
but what I can get my head around is not being able to trade Comer, Musgrove, Perek, Worje^%&^%hoski and Snider for anything substantial..
I mean you take those 5 to the cubs and they aren’t going to give you Garza? and I don’t even like Garza that much, be he makes a lot more sense than Happ, lincoln and Lyon. (note I actually love Lyon, but he’s an FA so moot.)
Nope. Those prospects wouldn’t have given you Garza. I’m a Jays fan and I do this too, as does all fans with bias. We tend to overrate our own.
Its 4 top 20 organizational prospects plus Snider. ..
but fine, substitute one arm out and include one of the lansing 3.. but atleast you bring something back thats useful.
again I have no issue with AA trading prospects, but he didn’t bring anything back of importance. these trades are just so pointless.
Others than Woj were that high? I find that hard to believe.
I think Lincoln will be tried as a starter again. We weren’t so pissed when Anthopoulos made a trade for Morrow – also a reliever when the trade happened. The Happ trade was fairly brutal, and I’ve already done a ctrl+alt+del on it.
but both AA and JF said that lincoln is staying a reliever..
Morrow when they brought him in it was to start, he’s never come out of the pen as a Jay.
Even Happ, I know he’s now starting.. but when they first acquired him and said he’ll be coming out of the pen I was like seriously? what is the point of this..
I’m clearly still bent on the Snider trade, but it think I’m making a little bit of sense.
THe reality is, going in to 2012, we had question marks at 1B,2B, LF and Rotation.
and going in to 2013, we have question marks at 1B,2B,LF and rotation. feels like he wasted a year ensuring that the jays wouldn’t lose any late leads.
The Morrow trade also happened in the winter, where it’s easier to make the reliever-starter transition. I’m expecting the Jays to move Lincoln to the rotation after the season is over.
Also, 1B has been terrific this year. Last I checked, Edwin had the highest OPS and fWAR of all 1B in the AL.
EDIT: I’m also unsure as to why my comment above was deleted as I didn’t say anything that was even G rated lol.
well EE was supposed to DH.
so either you need to bring in someone who plays 1B or someone to DH.
either way, Lind isn’t cutting it.
Garza is out for the season which also doesn’t bode well for next year.
hypothetical scenario.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the comments. I made a couple replies to you which are getting deleted for no reason, but here’s the synopsis:
• 1B has been great for the Jays
• I think Lincoln will be tried as a starter next year
• Bunch of other stuff I’ve forgotten lol
lol east coast bias is prob messing with you just for kicks.
I have to say i disagree. You dont sour on a hs arm that fast. His velocity being down in his first year of pro ball after not pitching alot last year seems pretty natural. Its much easier to give up a 19 yr old in rookie ball than it is to give up a AA pitcher. Especially when the jays drafted even more pitching depth this year. Comer’s k/bb numbers r pretty good for a guy who “doesnt miss bats”we got extra talent because we were willing to take cordero and francisco to open up room for the jays.
Keith Law says Comer’s velocity has been down this year(upper 80s) but its still a pretty steep price for what the Jays got. Good thing is that they still have a great system.
Wake me up when any of these guys receive Top 100 votes for Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects. They certainly all are decent prospects who provide depth to a farm system. But, they are not great prospects.
Smart move on Astros part to add depth to their system. As for the Blue Jays, now their fans know the price for acquiring a 4th starting pitcher and and two relief pitchers. Let’s see if they still want to clamour for a trade to get a front of the rotation starting pitcher.
still in my team’s system? emphasize upside and ceiling
traded away? emphasize risk and odds against
this reply was meant to be posted further upthread. you are at least acknowledging that the astros won here. but to you i say yes, the blue jays should still pay up for a top starter
Ha Ha. The changing landscape of perspective. I like to keep the state of the farm system as the backdrop when sizing things up. Doing this trade when Toronto had the 29th best farm system would have been foolish.
Doing it when you have the 2nd best farm system and still maintaining the 2nd best farm system is not a big deal. After all, it is the prospect funnel that produces the talent.
Astros definitely did well in this trade by adding depth to their farm system. The odds of their prospect funnel yielding more talent went up. We just don’t know who it will be.
Blue Jays gained a back of the rotation starter for two years to “bridge” themselves to when they expect their top pitching prospects arrive. They also acquired a marginal reliever with options. Given the injuries this year, people should gain appreciation of bolstering your 40-man roster as opposed to vigourously focusing on your Top 15 roster spots. Finally, Lyon is one of their free agent targets. This acquisition improves their chances of signing him.
In my opinion, the fan disappoint comes from not having any big splash.
There is no way anyone expects the lansing 3 to be contributing major leaguers in 2 years.
Maybe you don’t expect it. Which is fine by me and an argument I accept has merit.
But, there are scouting reports projecting them on the Blue Jays 2015 starting rotation. So, we can’t say “no way anyone expects”.
okay well thats 3 years away.. and I didn’t say I didn’t expect them to be major leaguers, i said contributing major leaguers.
look how long it took romero, and morrow to figure things out, even guys like verlander and halladay don’t reach the bigs at 21-22 and dominate.
They won’t hit their prime for like 5-7 years.So if the GM is waiting for those 3 to solidify his rotation, he may not be around long enough to watch it.
I am sure “3 years away” and “two years to bridge” don’t conflict with each other. By 2015, Nicolino will be 23; and 22 for Sanchez and Syndergaard. It is not unrealistic to believe one of them will make the back of the rotation. At the very least, be able to fill in for an injured starter.
I dont doubt that.
Jays fans turning on AA already?
LOL Yep
I’m glad – no group of fans should love their GM the way Jays fans loved Anthopoulos. They seemed to think he was infallible… you should always have a love/hate relationship with your team’s GM, similar to how you should with a spouse. They never know better than you, man.
3 years isn’t that quick
Keith Law’s dislike of anything Astros is widely known and extremely obvious. It is no surprise that in his eyes, Comer is damaged, disabled, underperforming, and has poor fashion sense. His opinions are worthless.
Ha Ha. You forgot to include “and eats at Olive Garden”. Never the less, I would check into Comer’s fastball velocity. That being said, it is anything but harmful adding four quality prospects to your farm system.
But he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Sad, AA has been a disappointment this year and last.
Jays didn’t have a choice. After they sent Cordero to Houston who’s ERA is higher than Brian Bogusevic’s ERA.
Wow, Blue Jays got hosed. Musgrove, Comer, Perez and Wojciechowski for a mediocre #5, a rental reliever and a flash-in-the-pan reliever? Wow. A decade from now this has an outside shot of being remembered as one of the biggest trade blunders in recent memory.
Dont forget Asher ( his last name is insane lol) an Carlos Perez. They got a potentielly good RP in Carpenter an Happ is ok but the combo wasnt worth giving up 4 good prospects. Asher will atleast be a good bottom of the rotation guy or ML-SU RP. Musgrove has good upside an Perez is one of the better young C in the lower minors right now who has good upside. Comer is having a drop in velocity an mybe not living up to the team expectations but he still carried more value imo then just a throw in. Awful deal for the Jays made no sense. They could of packaged all those guys up an gotten a way better P or two.
everyone needs to relax. what good is having so many pitching prospects when our starting rotation/BP is no better then our AAA one.