The Blue Jays’ signing of Kendrys Morales became official yesterday, and GM Ross Atkins met with reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith) to discuss both Morales and other hot stove-related items…
- Though Morales has almost exclusively been a designated hitter over the last two seasons, Atkins said the veteran could receive a “good deal” of time at first base, or at least some time at first or in the outfield depending on other possible acquisitions. Morales has played 16 games at first and five games as a right fielder since the start of the 2015 season, and he has primarily served as a DH since infamously breaking his ankle celebrating a walkoff homer during the 2010 season. Given that Morales didn’t acquit himself well in his brief stint in the outfield, one would think Toronto would only use him as an emergency right fielder rather than even a part-time option for the position.
- Morales’ signing makes it “slightly less likely” that the Jays will re-sign Edwin Encarnacion, “but it by no means eliminates that possibility,” Atkins said. The Morales signing “doesn’t impact us on Jose [Bautista] in any way,” Atkins noted, as there is less of a positional overlap between Bautista and Morales as there is with Encarnacion. It didn’t seem likely that both free agents would return to Toronto even prior to Morales’ acquisition, though Atkins said that “we still feel that both are realistic for us.”
- Michael Saunders, another internal free agent, is still “squarely” on the Jays’ radar as the club looks to address its outfield situation. “We are going to be aggressive in trying to add one or two pieces to our outfield depending upon what’s available,” Atkins said. “We’re extremely active in trade discussions and free agent discussions…The outfield is certainly a need for us.” With Bautista and Saunders in free agency, the Blue Jays are left with Melvin Upton Jr., Ezequiel Carrera and Dalton Pompey as part-time or bench candidates in the corner outfield slots (plus defensive standout Kevin Pillar presumably continuing in center.)
- International signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could also be a candidate for the outfield when he’s ready for the majors, though Atkins said that Gurriel will probably be used at second, third and shortstop as he begins 2017 in the minors. “He’s a very, very good athlete and a lot of the (positional) decision will come down to how we view his athleticism once we get a more objective view of that,” Atkins said.
I really hope Saunders doesn’t return to the Jays. Nothing against him but anytime a ball was hit to him in the OF, it felt like an adventure and not in a good way. If Morales wasn’t here, I would’ve entertained the idea of Saunders playing DH 80% of the time but with Morales in the fold and the Jays need to upgrade the defense, Saunders just doesn’t fit.
Hi!What do you think of my post?
What post?
I see only one or none of Bautista and Saunders signing. With Morales signed, Bautista is An OF more than a DH, they can’t afford to have an OF with Bautista and Saunders. I would prefer to let both go and sign EE.
The Blue Jays better sign EE AND Joey.
The Jays better stop acting like they’re poor.
That organization has money
.
I may do a franchise with them in MLB 16:The Show and I added Carlos Gomez to play left while adding Kendrys and keeping both Dominicans.
There aren’t any other moves for Toronto to make!
Well get used to it. Shapiro is your GM, and he doesn’t throw money around, which is smart. He will invest in the farm system and international prospects that will keep this organization competitive for years to come. He built the Indians that way. They’re stupid if they overpay for both Joey and Edwin. Both are aging and unless they can keep a deal to three or four years, both deals could turn sour. If they only bring back one Edwin is obvious choice.
And there are plenty of other moves for Toronto to make.
Such as?
Corner OF’ers (Bautista shouldn’t be there anymore even if re-signed), SP depth after the front 5, RP (especially with Cecil to the Cards) and working on a deal with Donaldson long term….
If their not signed it’s not not case of Rogers being cheap. Those comments are getting old and are not factual. EE was offered 4y 80 mil before signing Morales. It’s a case of do we want to be spending on EE and Bautista a few years down the road when we already have Martin’s back loaded contract, same with Tulo and Donaldson coming up next year. Also, you can only have one DH which is where Morales is, Bautista should be and EE in a year.
Paying encarnacion for 5 years makes no sense though. That’s how you cripple future teams
5 years for Edwin or anything more than 2 years for Bautista makes no sense for the Jays. As much as I’d love to have EE back, paying him $20 million a year into his late-30’s just isn’t fiscally responsible. Especially with Morales here at such a cheap rate. I saw a chart of all of Morales’ fly balls from 2016 and had he played the majority of his games in the AL East in 2016, he could have finished with 35-40 HR. Playing just his home games at Rogers Centre would have added an additional 5-10 HR instead of playing his games in KC.
Companies are in the business of making money and have shareholders to answer to. Just because Rogers is a wealthy company doesn’t mean they will just sink money into the team. They run it responsibly, like any other division.
Ultimately they are in the entertainment business. A winning team means butts in the seats and eyes on the tube and they own the network that broadcasts the games. The executive in charge of the Jays at the highest level may not know a thing about baseball, but knows numbers and how to please shareholders who also may not be “fans”. Unfortunately that is the reality of the Jays anyway. While winning a championship would be great and profitable, the overall corporate goal might just be to continuously field a competitive team, and if they make the playoffs or win a WS even better. Let’s just hope the bean counter sitting in the corner office at Rogers is a fan too. Toronto fans can be fickle when it comes to the Jays. They don’t support a loser like they do the Leafs for some reason.
Could see Melky going to Toronto if the White Sox decide to blow it all the way up.
Melky makes sense for the lineup but man his defense has been bad. I wouldn’t oppose OF a trade provided the cost isn’t outrageous and the Jays get a solid defensive RF.
Yeah a loaf
Excuse this. Was supposed to be a text message lol
A loaf you say? We’re listening…
Yeah Doc, if the price is right. His D is no worse than Saunders was. But I could live with our current Cabrera and Upton JR in LF if we get a good RF. I would take a chance on Bruce. Kinda glad Reddick is of the market. Was in the fence about him the closer I looked at him
As far as the offense is concerned, I would be pleased if the Jays could sign Fowler ($16m AAV), Saunders ($8m AAV), and Pearce ($6m AAV), and then run out a lineup that looks like this:
RF Fowler
2B Travis
3B Donaldson
DH Morales
SS Tulowitzki
LF Saunders / Upton
C Martin
1B Pearce / Smoak
CF Pillar
Yes, I’d be sorry to see Bau and EE move on, but our offense clearly needs to diversify, and the addition of a bit more speed along with some lefty bats would give the lineup a different look.
I’m not a fan of this Smoak/Pearce platoon that’s been floated around. Pearce is the better hitter against both righties and lefties. In fact, Pearce has out-OPS’d Smoak vs Righties 3 straight years and by a fairly wide margin. I’d be fine with a non-traditional platoon of Pearce playing 7 innings everyday and Smoak coming in as a defensive replacement for the final few innings. Other than that, it just makes no sense to bench the superior bat just for the sake of platooning.
That’s a nice looking lineup, but I’m not sure of Fowler or Saunders. Fowler is going to want term and $$$, so I’d rather look at trades. Atlanta has Inciarte and Markakis, or the Dodgers have Ethier all of which could be had for a reasonable price. I would then target Sean Rodriguez to platoon at 1B and he gives you the positional flexibility. I would then target Cecil in free agency and kick the tires on Watson Pittsburgh and Capps from San Diego. Just a thought
Inciarte is going to cost a lot. A young, controllable OF with really good D is not going to be had for the same price as Ethier or Markakis.
Never hear anything about Chris Collabello anymore. Does he have any chance of making this team or is he stuck in Triple A
He was awful in AAA last year so he’s probably stuck there
He will never be part of the solution in Toronto. If he’s on the roster opening day, that is just sad and will be a huge disappointment. Smoak and Collabello to Mil for C Carter
Why would Milwaukee make a deal like that