When the Blue Jays brass met to discuss the offseason, Adam Lind was at the top of the list, writes John Lott of the National Post. The first baseman’s presence on the roster impeded flexibility, which is why the club dealt him for pitcher Marco Estrada earlier today. GM Alex Anthopoulos expressed hope that the trade would be the first domino in a series of moves. Here’s more from north of the border.
- FOXSports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets that the White Sox were also interested in Lind but did not make a substantial offer. I’m not surprised the Sox did not match the Brewers’ offer. With the possible exception of Dayan Viciedo, the White Sox don’t possess a player like Estrada, i.e. an established major leaguer coming off a disappointing season.
- The Jays and free agent Melky Cabrera are far apart in contract negotiations, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Anthopoulos was forthcoming about the talks, comparing the situation to some arbitration cases. “Sometimes you need to have that third party, which is the market…so they truly know what they are worth.” Based on those comments, it appears likely that Cabrera will test the market. We at MLBTR pegged Cabrera for a five-year, $70MM contract, but he’s obviously among the hardest players to gauge due to his history with performance enhancing drugs and a lost season in 2013 from a back injury. For what it’s worth, I consider the $70MM estimate to be conservative in today’s offensively anemic game.
- Toronto declined Dustin McGowan’s $4MM option because the contract was too rich for his projected role, says Davidi (Twitter link). Anthopoulos did not rule out a reunion with McGowan at a lesser rate, per Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star (via Twitter).
- Anthopoulos confirmed that the club views prospect Aaron Sanchez as a starter long term, tweets Kennedy. However, there may not be a spot in the rotation. My observation from strolling around the internet is that many fans hope to see Sanchez installed as the closer. No plans have been made at this time.
- The Blue Jays will not make a qualifying offer to Colby Rasmus or Casey Janssen, tweets Davidi. He referred to the news as “confirming the obvious,” since neither player was viewed as a candidate for an offer.
I know it was from another article on the site but how realistic would it be for the Orioles to sign Scherzer? I was shocked to see my O’s on the list of teams that could be interested in him. It was in the top 50 f/a predictions article but the comment section is really crowded so I asked here.
I think it’s unrealistic, however not impossible. The fact is, their budget isn’t as high as other interested teams so a deal like that would cripple them greatly and, the O’s are usually smart with their money. Also, I’m not 100% familiar with the O’s roster so correct me if I’m wrong but, I’m pretty sure their SP spots are filled so, all they need is a bit of depth to fulfil this minor need. If I’m the O’s, they’re best to target an OF or maybe two, as that is their biggest need. I’d say they’re most likely to resign Cruz or Markakis and De Aza. So, they’d have Weiters at C (assuming he is healthy), Machado at 3rd, Hardy at SS, Schoop at 2B, Flaherty as Utility, and Davis/Pearce at 1st. Then in the OF, De Aza in LF, Jones in CF, and Pearce/Cruz in RF, while Lough serves as Back-up. The DH role will probably be spread out with several players, with Cruz/Pearce/Davis spending the most time in that role. So all in all, the O’s don’t have much work to do this offseason IMO and, they’re offence is certainly a force to be wreckened with. Just hope my Red Sox are above you guys at the end of next year 🙂
Yeah their 5 starters are pretty good but I’m not sold on Norris yet.
There’s no way on planet earth the O’s are even remotely in on Max.
Given what he turned down from the Tigers extension wise and backing his Cy Young up with another excellent campaign, I can’t see the bidding starting much lower than 6/150 (he snubbed 6/144) and it’ll no doubt need to rise to get him.
It would utterly cripple the O’s for a long time as someone already said so in summary no, no chance in the slightest and im struggling to see why anybody would link the two.
Estrada is not a good fit for that stadium
I still can’t believe we gave up one of the elite RHP killers for a longman/#5 starter who gives up a good amount of homeruns in the NL.
Adam Lind 2014 vs RHP: .354AVG/.409OBP/.533SLG/.942OPS
Adam Lind 2013 vs RHP: .309/AVG/.385OBP/.539SLG/.924OPS
Even with the power decline, he’s one of the very few people in the game who knows how to beat the shift on a constant basis which has lead to him mauling RHP the last few seasons. Unless we sign Martinez, LaRoache, or even Nelson Cruz this was a bad move. Even a return of Melky Cabrera with the allocated funds wouldn’t replace the dark hole of who’s going to hit #5 in the Blue Jays lineup… Justin Smoak.
smoak is not going to hit 5th except in a pinch (if he even makes it out of Buffalo to begin with).
Edwin’s not playing 1B everyday when there’s no permanent DH, I have zero clue where you’re coming up with that analysis. Mayberry and Smoak are probable platoon partners at the moment.
The other option is Navarro, who while was good with the bat, shouldn’t be batting anywhere near the top 5 spots of the order given he offers zero baserunning, has a low OBP and has relatively low power numbers. He’s not the guy I want on base to start an inning given he’s a base-clogger and it’s almost impossible to drive him in with anything but a homerun. He scored 36 of his 40 runs batting 4-5-6(423PA) last year. That’s reflective on either the guys who are horrible hitting behind him or the fact he’s too slow to score on a 2-out hit.
If one of Edwin, Bautista or Reyes gets hurt this team is finished given it’s lack of actual run producers now that Lind is gone and Melky’s unlikely to re-sign.
I still am somewhat shocked by the deal they made, it was terrible value for them…… You guys are definately gonna need to re-sign Melky to compete, or sign Cruz for the #5 spot, which’ll take even more money. If not, I’d say the Jays should consider trading some of their pieces because it isn’t looking great thus far…..
It has nothing to do with his production, it’s the fact the Jays don’t want to have a part-time DH taking up a roster spot. They would rather cycle DH AB’s between useful bench players and some of their regulars. They were going to decline Lind’s option if they couldn’t work out a trade, that makes it pretty clear they didn’t want him at that price for what he brings to the team, and why they were happy to get something in return, even if others are considering it low-value. It’s not like there was some big bidding war for him.
I’m sorry but once LaRoache signs with someone Lind’s the logical next best fit for a team given the lack of depth on the market. Jays pulled the string on this one way too soon and everyone knows it.
This is also the Blue Jays, they rarely sign free agents and haven’t signed a impact free agent since Roger Clemens in 96. This team has no production depth once the injuries come down, which is a realistic expectation given nobody’s been injury free on this team over the last three seasons. We’re suppose to be competing, not hoping that Brett Lawrie will finally compile an entire season under his belt or that Jose Bautista won’t decline in the near future.
Is anyone happy with the implication that Justin Smoak is going to be hitting 5th in the Jays lineup next season? We’re putting our season in the hands of a guy who MIGHT rebound in a hitter friendly division? Oh, how can anyone defend this trade is beyond me?
Nonsense about “impact free agents”. Can’t compare others to Clemens. Free agents only worth it when you have others to build on. In 1990s were hindered by 62-cent Canadian dollar. Now have re-built farm system and position of strength to build from. Lind had to go. In a year in which you want to be active you get all the easy things done quickly so you have time for the harder stuff. They’ve cleared the payroll shoals and are ready to bid on free agents this week. They’ll give Melky a good shot but have eyes for others, too. Prepare to say goodbye to others in trades.
Those of us who have followed baseball for 4 or 5 decades perhaps have better context to understand from…
4 or 5 decades? Free Agency didn’t exist until the early 90’s due to collusion, so your vast knowledge can’t be accounted for when the majority of the off-season deals the last 2 decades have happened because of Free Agency.
I don’t disagree with getting rid of Lind but like I’ve said they got rid of him for nothing but a long man/5th starter who’s going to get eaten alive in the AL East. A 2WAR+ player who gets 500PA(if healthy) is worth a lot more than that, they could’ve at least gotten some of Estrada’s salary eaten.
Also, anyone who thinks Smoak is better at half the price is lying to themselves. Smoak is a unproven commodity who has done nothing to prove otherwise. Jays don’t want a unproven commodity batting 5th/probably 4th when Edwin or Bautista get hurt because of our horrible cement field. How many guys want to play on cement?
They had to get rid of Lind. Could only hit righties and only when he wasn’t injured. Marginal defensively. Not worth the roster spot. Smoak better at half the price.
I think the Sox can target somebody better than Lind. Although nice pickup for MIL
This coming from a Braves fan (myself), Evan Gattis would be a perfect match for the White Sox in my opinion. Can DH most days then when Abreu DH’s just slide Gattis to Catcher or LF.
It’s okay, take Viciedo! We don’t need Lind! Pleeease, just take him.
For the White Sox this development was interesting because it kind of puts a damper maybe on how they view someone like Martinez.
I think you need to stroll around a little harder. There are a lot of us out there that want Sanchez to start the year in AAA working on being able to pitch through a batting order more than 1 time. His minor league numbers were terrible the second and third time through the order. Until he gets better secondary pitches, he shouldn’t be pitching in the majors while there is still a chance he can be starter. Putting him in the bullpen will only set back his development, and unless he can somehow show that he has it in Spring (which will be tough because until the final couple games, he won’t see much lineup turnover), he should be starting in AAA.