The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Gift Ngoepe from the Pirates, per club announcements. The talented defender changes hands as the clubs go about trimming their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. A player to be named later or cash will head to Pittsburgh in return.
Ngoepe, 27, became the first African-born player to reach the majors when he debuted in 2017. Though he moved around in Pittsburgh, Ngoepe has spent the bulk of his minor-league time at shortstop and is regarded as a proficient middle infielder.
Ngoepe could function as an optionable utility piece in Toronto. But he’ll need to boost his offensive production to hold down a steady job in the bigs. In his first 63 MLB plate appearances, Ngoepe slashed just .222/.323/.296. He has never shown all that much punch in the minors, either, with a .221/.295/.362 composite batting line over three seasons at Triple-A, but clearly some major-league organizations still think there’s some hope for improvement.
You know it’s the holiday season when teams start exchanging Gift
Ba dum chh
> when teams start exchanging Gift
Oh, who down-voted that? Sure, it was an inevitable joke, but…how many good jokes can one make while setting a 40-man roster in anticipation of the Rule 5 draft?
Blue Jays got hosed. Pay cash for a Gift?
hope they got a gift receipt…………………………… I’ll show myself out
Solid depth pickup for Toronto. Ngoepe will be able to step in for the inevitable Tulo or Devon Travis DL stint. From the Pirates perspective this now makes Sean Rodriguez the de facto backup SS, sure hope that changes before the season starts.
You and me both.
There are many things that Sean Rodriguez does well, and playing SS is absolutely not one of them. Same with Josh Harrison. They absolutely have to find another backup INF.
Not that Mercer is anything more than average. Not that it matters now, but this is the guy they moved Jung Ho for
never look a gift horse in the mouth.
phonetic spelling pls.
His last name is pronounced “en-GO-pay”
Yeah,,, en-GO-pay elsewhere
The Gift that keep on not giving…
Should they trade him will it be stated that he was regifted? Not my fault…you guys started it.
He’s a Darwin Barney type. Light hitter, great defense. Probably take over Barney’s role, if they don’t resign him.
As a Torontonian, I am totally fine with a glove guy to replace Barney. If the Jays also sign Nunez, as many predict, that’s a much stronger bench.
OUT: Barney, Goins
IN: Ngoepe, Nunez
Think of the best fielder and the worst hitter you can think of, then multiply each of those abilities by 2. That’s Gift Ngoepe. If his offensive and defensive capabilities were comparable, his defense would be a Hall of Famer and his offense would be high school JV.
Mark Belanger
Ray Oyler, perhaps
You knew he was gone when the Pirates didn’t plan out a Gift bobblehead night for 2018.
This move is the Jays are rearranging a deck chair on the titanic. The Jays need elite, players not also-rands and cast offs from other organizations. Yawn..
I’ll buy another vowel Pat….
clearly no one here knows who Richard Urena is. He is Barneys replacement and Goins had a career year as he will be the guy behind Travis and Tulo.
Urena isn’t going to replace Barney. He’ll start the year in triple-A most likely. I don’t know where you’re getting the “Goins had a career year”, because if a career year for him is a 237 average, and negative WAR, I’d release, or DFA him. Only redeemable thing about him is his slightly above average defense.