Even after locking up righty Marco Estrada to a one-year extension, the Blue Jays are planning to pursue starters over the offseason, GM Ross Atkins tells Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Toronto aims to line up eight or nine hurlers capable of taking the ball in the majors, Atkins says.
If it wasn’t clear already that the Jays won’t be entering a rebuilding phase, the move yesterday to re-up Estrada for $13MM seemingly decides the matter. Toronto already has about $90MM committed after that contract hit the books, and will zoom quickly past $100MM as it settles out some significant arbitration cases — including Josh Donaldson, Marcus Stroman, Kevin Pillar, and Roberto Osuna.
Given the array of commitments, it makes sense that the Jays won’t stop with the return of Estrada. Four rotation jobs are locked up already, presuming health, with Estrada re-joining Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, and J.A. Happ. Beyond that, though, there are some questions.
Joe Biagini failed to run with his rotation opportunity this year but remains an option. Toronto has received good innings of from summer acquisition Tom Koehler in a relief role, but he’d be a risky tender given his $5.75MM salary this year and struggles from the Marlins’ rotation. Brett Anderson has had some quality outings down the stretch, though he’ll be a free agent (and was bombed tonight). As Steve Adams noted in discussing the Sanchez signing, youngster Ryan Borucki has flown up the system this year, though it might be optimistic to expect him to take a job out of camp.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of hurler the Jays end up pursuing. The club could compete the job between in-house options and some non-guaranteed or cheaper veterans. Alternatively, it might promise the fifth slot as a means of drawing in a preferred player. If there’s more willingness to spend, perhaps Toronto could go somewhat bigger for a mid-range starter, as it did in its most recent contracts with Estrada and Happ.
They sure are doing a lot of research on Otani. Might be an option for them, however unlikely that he’d go there.
Getting 3 vets on 1 year deals would be the ideal scenario in my mind, 2 to fill/compete for 2 spots and 1 as a backup in case Sanchez continues having finger issues. If they catch lightning in a bottle and are competing, great, but having 2 potential rentals to pair with Happ and Estrada to flip at the deadline would help strengthen an already up and coming farm system.
As much has I’d like to see them compete next year, they just have too many holes to fill(3 rotation spots, an entire bench, LF, RF) and too many spots with huge question marks(Sanchez, Tulo, Travis).
In my honest opinion, Jays just need to buy a year or two so the really talented parts of the farm are at or near MLB ready.
I think the Jays need to buy at least 3 years maybe 4 before the farm will generate its stars. Having said that, I hear Sanchez finger is still an issue and he might end up in the pen regardless of what is being said by the media and Blue Jays press. That means signing an elite #1 starter, and healthy #3 starter, replacement for Tulo at shortstop, trade donaldson, move Tulo to third, trade Travis he won’t likely make it on turf, Biagini to the pen, cut loose Barney and all the so called depth they have been using, sign a very good right fielder and a better than backup catcher not named Lopez, Maile or Montero that can carry 30% of the catching workload. Lots of work to do.
Give it up, Big Jimmie!
Jimmie, here we go again!
So, Jimmer, the Jays should get a whole new team, basically?
Yeah, that is basically it. That is the ultimate goal of Shapiro/Adkins through the farm system, putting old patches on the old wineskin along the way.
Everyone needs to keep in mind that Shapiro’s long term competative strategy thing took 14 years for the Indians to reach the world series. He took over in 2002 and it was 2016 before the world series appearance and that was after the current Indians regime cleaned up some leftover messes [bourne, swisher etc].
The indians had one other sniff at greatness in 2007 but it was shortlived. Do you want to wait that long for the Jays to be champions again?
good god man. do you just cut and paste the same comment and apply it to every Jays thread. you’re brutal. come up with some new material or take a hike.
Except the material I keep posting is correct and exactly what the Jays need to do. All these what if’s or they are going to be good’s are just nonsense unless the core issues which I keep listing are resolved.
Big Jimmie, you need to call the Toronto front office, present your credentials & ideas. They would hire you on the spot for an outrageous amount of money for your genius. I have seen a lot of phonies man, & you are right at the top. You must have an outstanding life. I wish I were you. Give it up,because no one is buying what you are trying pathetically to sell.
Seriously Jimmy, for the love of god and all things good in baseball just shut up. JD, assuming things go well in the offseason (as he is arb eligible), will be at third. Travis and Tulo will likely be at their respective positions as well. I agree with Doc, 2-3 starters, bench, corner of, add a couple lefties in the lineup and maybe add a ‘pen arm or two. It’s a lot to ask for and will be a very busy offseason for the management team there. That I don’t envy, I just hope they don’t get caught up in too many bad bidding wars that result in bad contracts. 2-3 years should prove to be very good for the first wave of prospects coming up.
Jim just stop trolling, please.
as much as i hate saying it, i think they need to move sanchez to the bullpen. just isn’t working as a starter. which is too bad bc he’s great
I think they need to give him one more shot. He has shown that he can be an ERA champ and has had flashes of brilliance. At the first sign of an injury problem though, I’d agree that he needs to get moved, and should probably get stashed in the bullpen for good.
You must off missed last year
I don’t know why you would want to move Aaron to the pen. Sure, he hasn’t had a great season this year (mainly because of injuries), but in 2016, he led the league in ERA, won 15 games, and was an all-star. Not to mention his 224 opponent average that year as well.
It’s not that I would want to move Aaron to the pen, from what I am hearing it is a case that he will have to go to the pen until they or he can sort out the finger injury issues which is not sorted out yet.
You guys are crazy. Sanchez isn’t going to the pen, he had surgery on the finger and was a Cy Young candidate last season.
I’d love to see the Jays go after Lance Lynn. He’d be a good addition to that staff
You guys are nuts Sanchez isn’t going to be given one more shot or going to the pen. He had blister issues and hopefully the surgery worked but he’s a starter and a damn good one.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they had some interest in Andrew Cashner, and Jeremy Hellickson (Hellickson, just one year removed from a solid 2016). I could see them having some interest in Alex Cobb.
If hellickson is the pitcher they end up signing I might cry.
I understand why you would be upset if The Jays signed Hellickson, but like I said, he is just a year removed from 2016. He faired well, posting a 3 3.71 ERA, with a 1.15 WHIP.
I’m telling y’all the Jays needs to go after Derek Holland. He mighta had a bad year this year but this kid is worth it. He needs more playing time and he is a workhorse. He will have a great season in 18
Can Toronto put together a package for Fulmer similar to the Chris Sale one ?
That’s almost a moronic question. Fulmer is no Sale yet. So ridiculous are the things I read sometimes.
Joel Sherman would like to know that you consider him maronic. He said “they could ask for a Chris Sale type trade two Elite players and a prospect”.
So your original question was just you trying to look smart barfing up someone else’s query?
Sorry you thought it was a trap so you could say something moronic. I don’t believe I need to have footnotes regarding my questions. I was looking for an unbiased dialogue.
I think one veteran pitcher they could look into is Jason Vargas.
i would move sanchez to the pen more because i worry about Osuna. you are seeing kinks in the armour and while he is still a top 15 closer, it would be good to have Sanchez set him up again and jump into the role if necessary.
as for the jays rotation, don’t be surprised if they look to their old stomping grounds. carrasco, Salazar, kluber, Bauer, clevenger, Merritt, tomlin. something has to give and I could see this regime being interested in tomlin as a 5.
Great summary of the Jays starting pitching goals. Hey MLBTR as spring training approaches, how about more Jays articles on possible prospects filling 25 man roster MLB roles this year? thanks.
Jimmer? They won’t listen to that request either because you are a fraudulent in every way.