Earlier this afternoon, we checked in with the Nationals to hear about the Ben Revere / Drew Storen trade from their perspective. Also this afternoon, new Jays GM Ross Atkins and Storen spoke to the media about the deal.
- Atkins says the team will be flexible at closer, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets. The team isn’t yet committing to either Storen or Roberto Osuna to close games. Osuna, of course, was quite successful in his rookie season in 2015, posting a 2.58 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 while saving 20 regular season games.
- According to Atkins (via Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star on Twitter), one factor in the deal was that it allowed the Jays to “better maximize” their roster. The Jays felt that both Revere and Michael Saunders were “everyday players,” and while they didn’t mind having depth in the outfield (with Revere and Saunders potentially joining a group of outfielders that included Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey), they felt they could deal an outfielder for additional pitching.
- The team feels that Saunders, who missed much of the 2015 season with knee trouble, will be ready to go at the beginning of Spring Training, Kennedy tweets. “We feel great about him,” says Atkins.
- Storen says he would have been fine remaining in Washington, but he’s excited to be headed to Toronto, James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets. Via John Lott of the National Post (on Twitter), Storen says he struggled down the stretch last season with getting enough rest between outings, and feels he would be fine if placed in a setup role, as long as he has enough days off.
Poor Storen; victim to Matt Williams’ BRUTAL bullpen management.
Poor Storen; victim to the National’s BRUTAL treatment
I’m happy to hear Storen will be ok with being the setup man. As long as he performs well I can see him being the closer at some point next year if Osuna doesn’t perform like he did in 2015.
Osuna is the next Revera, if kept in the closers role the sky is the limit. Storen as a set up with Cecil and Sanchez in the mix is a sick bull pen.
Woah woah woah. The next Mariano Rivera may be setting the bar WAY too high. Your talking about a converted starter who still hasn’t really fully developed his secondary pitches
Hasn’t developed his secondary pitches? Rivera had one pitch. Not saying Osuna is Rivera, but good relievers don’t need secondary pitches if their main offering is great.
Rivera’s one pitch was absolutely filthy and is probably one of the best pitches ever. Everyone knew he was throwing the cutter, but the location and movement made it almost impossible to hit. I don’t think Osuna has a pitch yet that is unhittable.
Also to add in reply to AndyM’s comment, Rivera was a converted starter so being a converted starter doesn’t mean that he can’t be good.
“Osuna is the next Revera, if kept in the closers role the sky is the limit.”
Let’s not exaggerate things.
Rivera did it for 15+ seasons; Osuna’s only been around for 1 year. Tons of closers with a lot of promise end up ‘flaming out’ within a decade’s time.
Ridiculous comparing Osuna to the greatest closer of all time. Simply absurd.
Completely agree.
If I were John Gibbons, I would keep Osuna in the closer’s role where he excelled. Feel bad for Storen though if he gets thrust into the 8th inning role.
Then it’s a good thing that Storen is okay with being the setup man.
A big motivation for Nationals keeping Storen in setup is it kept his arbitration price tag down. Sure he would like to become a FA coming off of a successful season as closer, but if he has a dominant year as setup he probably makes closer money anyway on next contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jays pull same thing, Osuna as setup to keep his future earning down while under team control.
Feeling great about Saunders is wonderful. Expecting him to stay healthy enough to be considered a full time player is delusional at this point.
Agreed. I’m hoping they know a lot more than we do about his overall health though. From an outside perspective, the seriousness of his injury last season and given his injury history, the cards are certainly stacked against him being an ‘everyday’ player.
I never liked the saunders trade to begin with. Even when healthy he isnt that great. Do we still have andy dirks in the system?
dont understand how teams can keep expecting something out of Saunders; if he does get on the field, age 29, .230, 301 on base, 50 homers and 50 steals; why would you want him out there full-time if he was capable of it?
They still have Bautista, Pillar, Pompey, Colabello, and Saunders. Their outfield is fine.
I guess you can call Colabello an outfielder. I don’t think anyone wants him anywhere near the outfield, though.
I would have liked to have seen the Mets take a run at Revere, rather than signing De Aza.
They could have maybe gotten him for Robles. It could be argued that Robles has more value than Storen. With his 98 mph fast ball, he has more upside, more years of cheap control, and slightly less baggage than Storen.
Augh, the jays have begun to get rid of the fat …. Nice to see Storen on board: welcome. You are needed in the Jays bullpen, shoring up an already formidable duo, who hopefully will stay in the bullpen for one more year.
As far, as that lineup looks, who cares who starts off! nevertheless, Tulo may better serve the team further on down. Storen and Cecil, if mindfully managed, will do wondrous things in the jays’ bp this year. More post-Christmas slimming to come for sure.
However, the rumour of Dickey being traded may have come, methinks, from Dickey himself, esp after last year’s mindless removal during that play-off game. Geez, Dickey has helped to hold the team together during his tenure with the jays, kept the team in many of the games he started, won his share, lost several he should have won, which pitcher hasn’t!, has done tremendous work in the community, and if he were also mindfully managed, will serve the Jays even better than in his previous years. So, I am somewhat dubious about this latest news bite.
They have a hole in CF and leadoff now that Revere is gone.
Bet they sign Fowler to fill the hole.
Pillar is their center fielder, Saunders will be in left Bautista in right, it’s not that hard.