Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos addressed a number of topics concerning the club's future in 2013 and beyond tonight and Chris Toman of MLB.com has the goods..
- Anthopoulos is hoping to see more out of Adam Lind going forward, but noted that the Blue Jays won't be afraid to look elsewhere for better production. Toronto is on the hook for $5MM in 2013 with club options on him from 2014-16 totaling $22.5MM.
- Even if the Blue Jays don't find an out-of-house upgrade at first baseman/designated hitter, Lind could face competition Travis d'Arnaud, who could be in the mix with J.P. Arencibia as the starting catcher. David Cooper, a 2008 first-round pick who has hit .300/.324/.464 in 45 games this year, could also factor in.
- The Blue Jays still aren't sure if they see impending free agent Carlos Villanueva holding up as a starter for an entire season. The right-hander has made 13 starts for the Blue Jays this year, posting a 3.58 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in that role. Recently, Villanueva told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet that he wants to continue as a starting pitcher.
“David Cooper, a 2008 first-round pick who has hit .324/.464./.788 in 45 games this year, could also factor in.”
As absolutely freaking INSANE as that would be, he’s actually hitting .300/.324/.464.
Some people show OBP/SLG/OPS instead of BA/OBP/SLG.
Well obviously some people do, but it’s still common practice, especially around here, to do BA/OBP/SLG. I wish the former was standard practice, and I’m sure it will be one day.
There are buyouts at 2.5M, so really they are on the hook for Lind for 7.5M not 22.5M
They didn’t say they were on the hook for 22.5 mill…that’s the amount of the options (2014 – 7, 2015 – 7.5, 2016 – 8).
“David Cooper, a 2008 first-round pick who has hit .324/.464./.788 in 45 games this year, could also factor in.” This statement is absolutely ridiculous. If they decide to go with Cooper it will be a very long year. Cooper is like taking your sister to the prom. NO THANKS
Going on with Lind must be like taking your brother.
AA needs to start watching jays games if he doesn’t realize lind is useless and carlos is his number 2 starter next year behind morrow. lind is just as pathetic with his glove as with his bat, what a waste of a roster spot.
Any chance D’Arnaud gets traded to the Mets this offseason? They have parts to deal and are open for trading.
There’s almost no chance they trade him. They coveted him for years even before the Halladay trade.
Arencibia might be obtainable though.
I’d take either one at this point honestly lol Mets need a catcher badly and some OFs as well….
JPA is one of JPR’s guys so it would kind of make sense. JPA/Sierra/Jenkins for Niese?
overpay.
ok.
carlos a #2??? so we don’t want to make the playoffs ever?
1b/DH is where a real upgrade needs to happen, it is their one opportunity. And we’re not talking David Ortiz. Villanueva is a nice no.5 starter, Jays need to add two more MLB arms if they’re serious about 2013 – Romero is a wastebasket, Morrow is OK, Happ is OK, Alvarez is not ready for MLB, and everyone else is hurt.
morrow is just ok?
That’s impossible! He pitched well enough to get us free pizza last week. :p
why the hate for cooper. he hits near average and that OBP will return close to his career OBP once he shows he can hit MLB pitching. sure his slugging is < .550 but he does hit his share of doubles along with a low K rate and decent OBP, plus hes cheap.
i believe he deserves a shot if we don't get one through trade.
I wouldn’t mind seeing D’arnaud at DH. He could spend some time backing up at C as well, if necessary.
As for Villaneuva he will have a IP limit, probably around 155 – 160 IP.
One solution might be to set Villaneuva as a starter from April to August, and put him in the bullpen for September.
That should be around 27 starts. Give him a strict 6 IP per start, and hopefully he averages out around 5.5 IP per start, for a total of 149 IP. After that he could pitch in the bullpen in September.
Just one thought.
Grienke, Drew(2B) and Ortiz would make this team an instant contender
or trade route, Choo, Masterson is more reasonable but less effective..
reality is, if AA doesn’t significantly improve this team going in to next season. he’s better of selling off some of the veterans and waiting for the Lansing 3 to develop.
I think what he was saying is that one good pitcher isn’t enough to fix the rotation, that he would want multiple aces.
that would be a tall order, 90% of the teams in the league are looking for starting pitching. Its going to be interested to see how AA goes about it.
Personally I’d look at cleaveland, I’d take ubaldo, masterson and choo, give up some young prospects to get them, sign ortiz to DH.
As much as starting pitching is a problem, I just can’t see us going in to next year with 2 of hechavarria, gose or sierra getting 500 Ab’s
I didn’t interpret it that way. My understanding was having a No. 1 quality starting pitcher on the staff did not prohibit him from acquiring another one if available.
A more realistic conclusion to draw from his comments is AA won’t be adverse to having a starting rotation of No. 2 & No. 3 starters similar to Tampa. He does have the prospects to achieve that goal in a few years years time.
I’d rather the Jays sign Haren if the Angels don’t pick up the option, or trade for a pitcher like Brett Anderson if he, or a similar pitcher were made available.
I don’t know what it is about Greinke, but I just don’t see him succeeding in the AL East.
Those are actually really good suggestions.
Do you think Torii Hunter would also be a fit?
I would love Brandon McCarthy…however, guy can never seem to stay healthy even with his current misfortunate aside. Not sure if I would want Stephen Drew…always seems more hyped than he truly plays. I’m fine with taking the gamble with Hech. Ortiz is another guy I would love, would provide great protection for EE and Bautista, but once again, another question mark in terms of health. Definitely need to attack pitching as the number one priority this offseason. Morrow and Romero even despite his year are the only locks for the rotation. Villanueva if resigned will be a fine #5, but acquiring two quality at the least starters are the top priority of this offseason.
Davis to the bench, Rasmus to left, Gose in center, Bautista in right. Sierra gets demoted as insurance.
I’d rather see morneau too, but the reality it those are other teams players and its going to cost to get them. ortiz may cost only a 1-2 year deal.
arencibia as DH? yikes. he is a below average hitter
For JPA and D’arnaud, this is what I’m thinking.
In 2013, have JPA at C and D’arnaud at the main DH and some backup C.
If Darnaud’s bat is Major-League worthy, then trade JPA in the next
off-season. JPA will have more value as a C than a DH.
In 2014 it will be D’arnaud at C and DH will hopefully go to Mike McDade. Or if McDade is not ready, GM AA can perhaps package someone in a trade for a big bat.
Alvarez is all stuff, but no command. That is a big problem in my opinion. If the Blue Jays’ AAA club moves to Buffalo, I would prefer that Alvarez spends another year in the minors. The INT league is much more pitching-friendly than the PCL so it can also be a bit of a confidence booster as well.
Don’t forget that Alvarez is only 22 yrs-old; he can afford to spend another year in the minors.
Thus that opens a roster spot for Villaneuva. If Villaneuva is limited to an 150 to 160 IP limit, then expect an 8 man bullpen. I really, REALLY want Villaneuva to return.
For this off-season, GM AA needs to improve his bench (e.g. Scutaro, Keppinger, Jones) and grab a strong starter (e.g. Greinke)
An argument can be made for Price being No. 1 quality. However, the conventional criteria for No. 1 is at least two Plus (above average) pitches; 3rd pitch at least avg; and Plus-Plus (exceptional) command. Price’s command is somewhere between Solid (in between Avg & Above Avg) & Plus.
Which leads us to Ricky Romero. Last year, he had a Plus change-up and Solid fastball. But, his command was between Fringy (short of avg) and Average. With the conventional criteria, that placed him in between No. 2 & No. 3 SPer. Not No. 1 (or Ace) as proclaimed by many fans and media.
I’d put him in immediately. The game is still baseball in the minors too, so it’s not like Gose is inexperienced (defensively). Simply put, Rasmus has decent tools to play CF pretty solidly, but Gose is just so much better defensively that the Jays would be crazy not to at least consider it. His bat is still a question mark, but he’s made some strides lately.
Rasmus would have an offensive skillset for LF if he’d stop popping up – 13.8% is just insane.
I doubt the angels let him walk though.
Thats the problem though.. Rasmus and Gose both (as of now) dont have the bat for a corner outfield position.
so i agree, gose has to play CF, because thats the only place he’ll be a positive WAR player. . but the same could be said for rasmus.
Yep, we are fairly well in synch. I must add, Alvarez projects as a third starter and has options. Romero and Happ also have options but must clear revocable waivers to be optioned. AA also alluded, when first acquiring Happ, that Happ could become the team’s swing man in the future. Perhaps, in 2014, he gets pushed into the bullpen.
The guys on the DL project well. Drabek has two plus pitches and his poor command probably was a result of his torn ligament. McGowan also has two plus pitches making both of them potential No. 2 starters. Hutchison projects as a third starter. I don’t expect Drabek and Hutchison to be back at full form until 2014.
In AA, Stilson projects as a third starter while in Low A Sanchez and Syndergaard project as a No. 2 while Nicolino projects as a No. 3.
If AA signs a free agent starter. I doubt it will be one who costs him a draft pick. Even if it is only a second round pick. I suspect AA will only do a two or three year contract for a starter in order to bridge the team to 2014.