The Blue Jays have claimed outfielder Andy Dirks off waivers, the Tigers announced via press release.
Dirks, 28, was expected to serve as Detroit’s primary left fielder this season in a platoon with Rajai Davis, but a back injury required surgery and wound up costing him the entire year. Dirks has a solid career slash line of .276/.332/.413, and he grades out as an excellent defender in left field, having compiled 16 Defensive Runs Saved and an UZR/150 mark of +5.1 in 1569 innings in left field.
With Melky Cabrera and Colby Rasmus both hitting the open market, Dirks makes for a very nice add to the team’s outfield depth if he can return to health in 2015 and beyond. He’s projected to earn $1.63MM in his first time through arbitration this offseason, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and he can be controlled through 2017 via the arb process.
Claiming guys that could, however unlikely, potentially be productive isn’t a bad move.
Not a bad move but when AA is living on only the waiver wire the last couple seasons, it really is a bit annoying.
He’s a defensive wizard apparently. Did have a few good offensive seasons too.
“Defensive wizard” is an intense exaggeration. He’s a plus defender, but don’t expect web gems every night.
Sorry guys, I look at positive defensive metrics and I gush because my team doesn’t have any.
Goins, Gose, Lawrie…..
Small sample sizes from part time players, 2 of those guys might not even be on the 25 man roster to start next season. Also, it was somewhat meant to be a joke.
Wizard is a very strong word to use regarding Dirks. I am surprised Detroit let him go since one of their off season goals is to get more left handed bats. They also sent Don Kelly (another lefty) to AAA. Dirks is an average to slightly above average defender who can be a very good platoon man in left and a possible bat off the bench. Jay fans will like his hustle. Good Luck Andy, sorry to see you go.
Well its hard to play good when your always injured. Dirks was always injured I think a new place will be good for him .
This makes me nervous. Possible Dirks/Mayberry platoon in LF in case they can’t re-sign Melky?
With the slim outfield market this season, Melky is gone my friend. No chance he stays. Sad but true.
Not completely true. 5/75 seems the most he’ll get. If the Jays offer him anything close to that I think he might take the offer. He’s friends with a lot of Jays players and the Dominican Republic broadcasting every Jays game live because they consider it their “team”, might sway a decision for him to stay with his fellow countrymen.
Right now I sure doubt it.
I do too, trust me I have zero faith in the Blue Jays as a organization.
So….DET Is just handing out stud players around the league for free now…
Stud is a strong word
Strong potential though.
Not really. He’ll be 29 in January. He’s a capable platoon.
Ok
I don’t get the notion that Dirks is a great player. He’s been a platoon outfielder, and the one time he was an everyday player, he batted .256 with 9 home runs over 130+ games. He has a decent arm, somewhat speedy, and he plays an okay outfield defensively. He’s literally average.
hes not a stud, but he is capable.
Once again AA’s on the waiver wire but I sure hope he’s got a lot more up his sleeve.
The contents of his sleeves are directly proportional to the amount of players placed on waivers, it’s math and you can’t argue with math!
Well I guess because he’s not allowed to trade any more assets and Rogers have shut the wallet, there’s only one option.
They did raise prices for seats next season, could mean numerous things of course.
They need a bullpen, they need a starter and a 2B. With these pieces they could compete. But I don’t see it happening.
Why do they need a starter? They have more starting depth than they’ve had over a decade. Happ, Dickey, Buherle, Hutchinson, Stroman and throw in Sanchez and potentially Daniel Norris. Redmond’s also pretty competent at starting if they need him to.
Their only needs are a 2B/3B as Lawrie can play one position until he gets hurt, Izturis is coming back as insurance for when that injury happens.
Bullpen arms are easy to sign as very few get long term commitments. Since Toronto isn’t a prime destination, they offer an extra year in a bidding war and they likely land a few bullpen arms.
If they signed an actual producing 3B who could put up 2-3WAR and resigned Cabrera, I’d say they win the division even with all the usual injuries. They have a ton of depth for once, guess it only took the Jays 2 years to figure out that everyone on the team is injury prone.
Happ, Redmond, Hutch… all amazingly inconsistent. Getting a guy like Shields would be incredible. Sanchez should close this year in my opinion. It’d be nice for the jays to decline Morrow’s option and bring him back in a pen role too.
Well Hutchinson’s struggles had to do with him tipping off his pitches(changeup), he was dominate against teams that didn’t have a deep scouting report on him and especially when his slider was good. Happ’s inconsistent but still a 1.0+WAR pitcher in the AL East who’s a #5 pitcher, compare him to Dan Haren who Dodger fans are defending for some odd reason right now. Redmond is depth who could give you a few spot starts, I wouldn’t count on him for anything more than that.
I’d love for Sanchez to close as well, wouldn’t mind bringing in a guy like Rafael Soriano who’s probably going to get something like $16M/2yr and might even take less if he’s guaranteed the closing role.
Freese to TOR for a couple prospects could really go a long way
Yeah they really mishandled things up there, they pushed hard with that one big offseason and it just didn’t pan out. Now they pay for it.
We took a chance on Melky and it turned out okay…..
If Dirks is healthy and can return to form, this may be huge.
He’s a career .276 hitter with a .332 OBP
You signed Melky Cabrera personally? AA is that you?
Looks like Tigers were planning or maybe have been forced into a trade or FA acquisition here.
Without doubt.
This has forced DD’s hand big time.
DD just spoke about the financial limitations this offseason, and then lets go a player, projected at 1.5 MM, who at the very least is an upgrade over Don Kelly, at the most, a solid platoon with Raja. I just don’t understand letting him go for nothing.
Tomas.
As a Tiger fan, sad to see him go.
Had his injury troubles but hes proven when healthy he can be a viable big league hitter, Toronto might just be getting themselves a steal.
Same. :(
Ive always liked Dirks, but Tigers are moving on to bigger and better things apparently
Dirks is funny. We’re from the same home area, and I coached against him a few times. It’s a funny game…I NEVER would have projected him as a major league hitter. He’s about the 7th best batter I’ve seen from the area….there’s been some arms and.bats come out of Kansas. Detroit scouts there very heavily. Same area that Nate Robertson, and Nate Cornejo are from..some milb players as well for them
Can a deal be made to keep Dirks? I forgot exactly how this works.
Toronto still has to make him an offer… correct? How does arbitration work in this case?
He is now Toronto property, for FREE. (or the price of a waiver claim).
So Toronto will now have to go through the Arbitration process with him?
Yes.
Did the tigers wave Dirks? How did Toronto make a claim?
AA rang DD up and asked for a piece of AD.
Simple really.
Placed on outright waivers. It just means they were going to non-tender him and moved now.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Andy Dirks and Donnie Kelly were my random favorite Tigers.
But, I like the Blue Jays.
Still kind of surprised.
Hope Dirks does well in a Blue Jays uniform.
Dirks was better than some of the other stiffs the Tiger put in the outfield this year
The only way Dirks could turn his career around and be a decent player is if he stays off the disable list. Its hard to battle for a job when your injured and dirks plays his best ball when hes playing every day.