Colby Lewis’ playing career seemed to end back in November when he accepted a job as a special assistant to Rangers GM Jon Daniels, and the veteran righty confirmed to reporters (including MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan) that he has indeed hung up his glove. Drafted 38th overall by the Rangers in the 1999 draft, Lewis spent nine of his 11 MLB seasons with Texas, also notching brief stints with the A’s, Tigers, and the Hiroshima Carp. He didn’t pitch in 2017 after declining to accept anything but a Major League contract last winter in free agency. Lewis finishes his career with a 4.70 ERA over 1215 career innings, three times topping the 200-inning plateau as a durable member of the Texas rotation. We at MLBTR wish Lewis the best on his retirement and on the next stage of his baseball career.
Here’s more from around the American League…
- The Twins’ acquisition of Addison Reed is chronicled by Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who writes that Reed put a high priority on joining a team in the Midwest, close to his wife’s hometown of Akron, Ohio. The Indians “were high on” a short list of preferred destinations Reed gave to his agent, though Cleveland didn’t have the payroll space to add to its bullpen. Sensing an opportunity to further reinforce their bullpen, the Twins circled back to Reed (an early offseason target) and were ultimately convinced after Minnesota special assistant Michael Cuddyer heavily endorsed Reed due to their time together on the 2015 Mets. Reed turned down at least one three-year deal to sign his two-year, $16.75MM deal with the Twins.
- The Blue Jays roster is broken down by Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi, who feels that another move or two might be in the offing given a lack of 25-man spots. Aledmys Diaz, for instance, may have to start the year in the minors if the Jays are to fit five outfielders and Kendrys Morales on the roster. Moving an outfielder is a more realistic option than trading Morales, as a rival executive “couldn’t envision a possible landing spot” for the veteran hitter. Morales is coming off a sub-replacement season (-0.6 fWAR) last year and is owed $23MM through 2019, giving him very little trade value. Toronto still has some more moves to come on the pitching side, and Davidi speculates that Seung-hwan Oh or Tyler Clippard could fit the Jays’ needs in the bullpen.
- In a set of 18 predictions about the 2018 Royals, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star opines that Eric Hosmer will re-sign with his former club due to a lack of clear rival suitors for the free agent first baseman. There is maybe only a 30-40 percent chance of a reunion between the two sides, “but for now, that might make the Royals the favorite” in Dodd’s view. Other predictions include Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas signing elsewhere, and the Royals suffering a 90-loss season as they begin a rebuilding phase.
LOL, probably half of the teams in MLB are closer to Akron than Minnesota. I guess the Twins do play 9-10 games per year at Cleveland though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You beat me to it!
And?…He didn’t day it was the only priority.
Addison Reed can sign where ever he wants, of course, and there are probably various reasons for him signing with the Twins—but Minneapolis being close to Akron, Ohio just because it’s in the Midwest isn’t one of them. Akron is about 300 miles farther from Akron than New York or Philadelphia…
Poor People of Akron. Got to drive 300 miles just to shop at their local grocery store
That was funny JD …. it must be one hell of a large city …
It’s closer than West Coast, Texas, etc.
most people get what he meant…
You start with Cleveland and work your way out, consider g the other things
Colby Lewis! He is an awesome dude! I lived near him in East Bakersfield
I live near him in NW bako! Agreed awesome dude
FACT.
East Bakersfield also near Akron.
FACT.
Bears eat beets
Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica
Close is a relative term. Most people get that.
One time zone away and CLOSE enough to fly there and back in a day, without problems etc.
I guess you aren’t most people.
All the luck to you in your post baseball career Colby!
Indians could afford the 7 million or so to sign Reed? Not good.
Is it just me or does Colby Lewis look like a younger Dennis Quaid
So what would it take to rid ourselves of Morales?
We eat all the salary plus give up a lottery ticket or two?
And if so. To who? Marlins? Pirates? Any other retooling clubs looking for some lotto tickets?
I’m thinking the White Sox would make the most sense seeing as how they have pretty much completed the “tear down” part of the rebuild and are simply waiting for the prospects to come up now, and have been willing to take on contracts like Soria.
To facilitate a deal, the Jays could throw in some cash, maybe pay it down to like $10,000,000 total. I’m thinking Andre Wheeler for Kendry Morales and $13,000,000
Overall, the White Sox are getting an inexpensive veteran power bat coming off of a 28 home run season, who could be flipped for prospects if he figures it out, and the Jays save $10,000,000, get that open roster spot, and get a lottery ticket.
The Jays shouldn’t give up a prospect just to get rid of a $23m commitment over two years who just hit 28 home runs with a roughly league average .753 OPS (I understand there are extreme defensive limitations, however why dump prospects)
Well. The sense is if Morales were a FA he wouldn’t get anything but a minor league deal.
So IF that were true. No team would want his contract even for “free”
Therefore we would have to entice someone via at minimum low level lottery prospects
See the Pitt/Toronto trade last year for Lariano
Good point on Morales having to likely sign a minor league contract if he were to be a free agent right now. He is yet another example of a high priced free agent becoming all but a waste of space & payroll for a team. No wonder this offseason is so slow. The success rate of these ‘big’ signings is pretty anemic.
That contract was dumb from the moment it was signed, he should have had a 1 year deal or a 2 year max. Trading a player with little/no value with a big deal will cost you a top 10 prospect while still retaining some $, the Jays are stuck in a bad spot with him
Kendrys Morales, Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez for Drew Hutchison’s old jersey.
Two possible landing spots for Morales are actually within the division in my opinion. Both the yanks and sox have bad money. Ellsbury and Hanley. Now Ellsbury has no trade protection either a full no trade or restricted list so he might have to waive it and the jays don’t really have room in the OF so he’s less likely. Now the Redsox are also up against the 197 cap. Yes I know you can go over but every team wants to get under this year for obvious reasons. Hanley isn’t guaranteed money next yr he needs a certain amount of at bats. I could see a scenario in which the jays take back Hanley for this year giving Redsox much needed salary relief this year and just cut Morales. They would save 7 mil or so I think. 7 mil looks like it can buy you some quality depth pieces this yr. jays get rid of Morales. Down side is it makes them even more RH but I’ll take my chances with Hanley over Morales.
Hanley idea doesn’t really save anything for the Jays. $11m worth of a gamble? $22m in 2018, and if he plays enough, he gets $22m again 2019, or else replacement makes $0.5m. Total $22.5-$44m range for 2 year span where Morales would cost $23m. The lower cost range would likely mean poor production from Hanley, and the high end risk doesn’t seem too worth it. A team such as the Padres would be a good fit for Hanley and the Redsox off top of my head. Money and/or prospects to tempt a team into it, but they definitely have the room is my main logic.
Ellsbury contract would require adding a top prospect to take any offer seriously. $84+m remains?! The Yanks would be better off trying to trade him for Zimmermann or something.
Similar train of thought to Hanley would be Victor Martinez. That would save Jays a bit and based on replacing Victor 2019 anyway, it probably saves the Tigers a bit overall. Victor can and probably would veto that though?
KC also comes to mind, and it wouldn’t be hard to even out a match involving Moss.
Kind of a stretch finding a match considering cost and position.
Just DFA him ….
Last year the Cubs walked everybody! I wanted Reed because he’s good young affordable late inning bullpen guy. When I saw the contract he got I was upset. Now I see he wanted a Midwest team and CHI still couldn’t get it done. I just hope the Cubs didn’t offer him a year 19-21 mil dollar deal. Sounds like my lowballin Cubs. 2 years 17/18 or 3 years 24/25 million would’ve been a great sign
If I’m not mistaken, Reed is one of the few free agents who signed who actually signed for less than expected (at this point).
Colby Lewis was my go-to tomato can for MLB’s Beat the Streak.
Lol. Anytime my stream got to around 10 games I’d always pick Altuve against a trash pitcher, and every time Altuve went hitless
I really think Oh has fallen further from grace than he really should’ve. While his second year was not good, with his ERA and FIP being high, he still had some inviting numbers. His BABIP was decently high, his K/9 was still decent, etc.. Some of his struggles also could be related to heavy misusage. One stat I find interesting was his IBBs was triple what it was the previous season (3 to 9). That to me, asks why that is, being if he was doing what had done most his career and that was shutdown one inning, there isn’t a huge need for IBBs, especially 9. He came in a lot with runners already on, so being out of his element may have caused some of the more poor numbers (more hits) to be a result. I know that’s somewhat of a convoluted way to look at it, not like IBBs = poor success or even poor management, I just find it interesting that he had so many.
Plus he may need a year to adjust to everyone else’s new adjustments. He had a stellar rookie season, so everyone assumes his success was simply being new and nothing more. Sophomore year arrives, does poorly, that idea is cemented, but I wouldn’t count on him being the same player, until it happens. He can’t adjust to players who he has never seen make adjustments. This goes for any new player really with second year struggles. But being he has a track record (even though its not in MLB) I’d put more stock in him adjusting that the average amazing rookie gone poor sophomore.
I’ve been thinking the same things with him obviously he’s not very good for a big deal but I’d love to have him in my bullpen
Tyler Clippard apparently has mental issues mid season I think might die sad……
Oh please, Davidi doesn’t have a clue about the Jays 2018 needs. Tyler Clippard? Seung-hwan Oh? These suggestions are just pieces and will not help a championship run. The core needs to be changed.
Put Biagini back in the pen. Sanchez will be forced to go there if my source is correct. That means they need at least 3 starters, especially with Estrada’s wonky back. Over the course of 3 consecutive starts I wonder if he can get over the top of his delivery to maintain the pinpoint control that he needs? Answer: no he can’t.
It’s a broken record, but the Jays need a #1, #3, 40% catcher, lefty shutdown releiver and a new SS. Move Tulo to third or preferably first in order to maintain his health longterm. SS is too demanding for his age or more injury will come. That move means getting rid of Smoak or Morales or both however they do it. Donaldson is gone in a trade, that is already a given, do it now and move Tulo to third if they can’t make a spot for him at first. The heck with Tulo’s “feelings”.
I am tired of reading the Jays only have so much to spend. This owner is the weathiest in all of baseball and makes a gazillion dollars every year. I say their budget should be #1 or #2 in the majors, not just top ten. #scoutseyes
@jimmertree
Here you go on one of your rants again. Albeit some things I do agree on with you (hate to say it). In one of your other threads you said bring back AA? Fact is AA left the cupboard bare at the time he left. By giving up all of the Jays top prospects Atkins and Shapiro were left in an unenviable position. That’s just the facts! Now they are stuck with Tulo and his unmovable contract. The only way the Jays can challenge for the playoffs is if they empty their prospects cupboard again (not in favour of) or get creative and I think they have been. They still have some $ left and are hopefully not done yet. PS Baseball America just came out with their top 100 prospects and have 19 year old Bo Bichette at #8. The same guy you said was not going to be a good player or something to that extent. No offense but I’ll take Baseball America’s word over yours
And Btw Encarnacion and Bautista are gone so their core is now led by Donaldson. It is a lot easier to empty your prospect pool in trades to compete than do what Atkins has done he’s added 4 upgrades from last year without selling the farm. The Jays are no more guaranteed to compete for a wild card this year by trading all of their top assets then by doing what Atkins has done.
Unless the BlueJays rotation has 3 quality upgrades and one of which is elite, this team is going nowhere. If it makes you guys feel better continue to call me names, but as you are doing that watch and see how the season plays out. I said similar last year and was right-on but I believe this year will play out differently – A good start to the season but age, injuries and lack of quality depth and elite talent will cause the BlueJays to be out of it by allStar break.
I wish I could say otherwise, but the 20+ years of intuitive based scouting training that I have had sees this poor BlueJay performance in 2018. Anyone can hold a radar gun or lookup fantasy stats like war, but the stats look back; only the intuitive based scout looks forward.
And baseball america has made many mistakes over the years, far too many to list. They are reporters and web/magazine publishers not baseball people. #scoutseyes
@jimmertree
Buddy I live in Northern Ontario and we got 2 feet of snow on the ground and I would put my baseball knowledge or intuition up against yours any day of the week and twice on Sundays! It’s easy to sit back and criticize. The fact is your on here saying the Jays should do this and that. I’ll agree a lot has to go right for the Jays to compete but by emptying their prospect pool again may get them a wildcard? I’m not saying you know nothing about baseball but your “opinions” are easy to disprove. Don’t talk to me about stats? War? You apparently are a little sensitive when it comes to somebody pushing back? Sorry muffin! If the Jays staff is healthy only the Astros have a better starting 4! Sure cherry pick and say they won’t be give me a break. If you want to bad mouth my team come prepared.
I hope your feeling better after the rant and personal attack. Mind if I not do the same to you and take the high road?
Stats are for looking back, intuitive scouting is looking forward. If you have been trained as an intuitive decision maker, good on you it is a rare skill.
Like last year in 2016-2017, most of the stuff I have said for this upcoming year will play out as I have said. Wait for it. If I thought the team was going to compete this year I would say so and be positive. But it won’t happen. It is false hope fans are holding onto for the Jays to win this year.
In fact, at the end of 2016, I called for a total tear down and rebuild of the Jays in these pages, but the current Mgmt regime totally failed in their analysis of what this team acutally is. that is directly connected to professional scouting or quality of it.
So if Shaprio and Atkins are trying to sell Kool-Aid that this team can compete, they better be backing it up with top quality and elite acquisitions, not the retreads and cast offs from other clubs like they did in most of 2017.
The bottom line is the truth of what is happening in Blue Jay land. This organization is being led for money to be sold to the highest bidder and the Mgmt has been told to keep the status quo, try to appear to win even though there is no shot and sell the phoney compete message to the fans. I ain’t buying that phoney message and I am going to shout to all who can hear, read and get it that what they are doing is just crap and won’t work and time will bare out what I am saying as accurate.
It is not criticism, it is truth.
When you have so much money tied up in vets and still sell so many tickets it’s hard to commit to rebuild. How is that so tough to see?
Some questions for jimmer that I might have overlooked response already stated in previous threads:
1- What are you seeing with Happ outside of the drop in innings? Missing 6 weeks is alarming for a pitcher of Happ’s age, but the 4 months after injury showed me nothing to worry about. I’m just a pitcher, not a scout, so maybe it’s obvious and I’ll feel foolish when shown the light but I saw no difference aside from run support and luck once he came back to health. 190IP of 3 spot caliber pitching is a safe bet from what I saw in the last 4 months. The last game in Fenway was a nice exclamation point!
2- Even if they spend, I don’t see much out there for a backup catcher that’s much more exciting than Maile. What’s the play there? Can’t rebuild now, they’re clearly not gonna do it. Work with reality a bit here. I’m going with Maile and spending every last cent on pitching if I’m king.
3- In the case that every other team is lowballing and no trade can happen, how to improve pitching? I personally think they’ll spend more than the $10mill they state. Feels like big trade or minor trades will still happen to add arms or free up money to add arms. The 40 man is too uneven right now, feels very unfinished. Adding arms is definitely key. Everything else so far has kinda been fluff but it adds up to improvement in my eyes.
4- Tulo’s feelings come with some of the best fielding and hitting stats for all shortstops ever. He’s lost a step and clearly worn down from the altitude years and now the time on turf. The injury last year was gruesome and he will never be back to old form, but I’ll take his potential with the bat and glove over any other option out there. If he can’t make it, the team can rebuild, but for now, assume he’ll play and be at least average feels safe. Diaz hopefully isn’t needed much, and Solarte as Travis insurance feels fine to me.
A lot of your points are spot on and hard to argue, but the condescending tone and the broken record approach can be unbearable. Not a popularity contest so shout it all you like, just realize how frequently the ignore rate is rising lately. Give it a few months and come back for the told ya so parade, but for now let’s have some fun and speculate based on what the team might actually consider?.
Deancull- don’t forget the Indians, I think they might still be the cream of the crop. Kluber/Carrasco is killer. Plus Bauer/Salazar/Tomlin/Clevenger- pick 3, they have some dreamy depth in Cleveland. Hoping they’ll trade the Jays one of them in my daydreams.
AL doesn’t have a lot of great looking staffs but there’s still some decent looking ones out there. Angels staff is much improved on one year ago, and the RedSox/Yankees have a lot of interesting options that are tough to deny. Question marks in these places as well though. The A’s and Rays intrigue me and I feel like the Mariners and/or Rangers will still make a splash but they all have question marks too.
Jays definitely need depth and they’ll probably go cheap on adding it, but I have faith that we’ll be surprised still. 2015 Jays’ staff was patchwork and a midseason trade put them over. This year looks stronger to start just because Stroman plus there’s still time and room to add more depth. Remember the WBC! Stroman is an ace and can carry a staff. Extra year removed from missing a large chunk of time should help him finish stronger this year. I’m expecting big things from Stroman and cautiously optimistic about Sanchez. Go Jays!
@filthy rich
Thanks for your post. Your absolutely right about the Indians staff. I was just worked up about jimmertrees #scouts eyes and intuitive thinking lol. Pitching and defense (especially up the middle) wins championships. I’m not naive in thinking the Jays have built a championship team. I completely agree with you that there will be an upgrade when it comes to the staff. They are stuck with Tulo’s contract but when healthy Tulo is a very capable and reliable defender. Here’s to hoping he stays healthy and his bat rebounds modestly. Instead of trading all of their prospects again I’m for what they’ve done to this point. Let’s see how it all plays out then go from there
Great incites and questions. Sorry to sound so negative. I honestly wish I could be positive about the big picture for the Jays shorterm. Longterm with Shaprio and Atkins they are going to be competative, but at the moment….
Sorry if it sounds so repetative and condescending, I don’t mean it too. I am not shouting at the bloggers or MLBTR, I am shouting at the Jays. I have very little patience with baseball executives who spew one thing and then do another. I know Shaprio and Atkins are trying but to be very honest, Atkins was a terrible hire for the Jays. He appears to have little professional scouting gifting other than the numbers.
As for Shaprio he is a very good leader, and his 12 years or so of his cleveland efforts shows he can draft and develop but not win. Again the issue with Shaprio appears to be discerning talent and correct assessment of the MLB level team.
I would be in favor of a total tear down and rebuild since they are not going to have the pieces they need this year, Let’s speed up this process and to heck with the selling tickets.
Regarding Happ, I see old and declining. I don’t see his arm going over 140 innings.
As for catcher, there were a few decent lower priced guys available, but they have been signed. I will groan healvily if I see a Maile, Salty, Lopez, or Montero. The guy that I wanted them to keep last year was Juan Graterol. They sold him to the Angels. He was cheap, could call a game, good clubhouse guy etc and since I didn’t see them winnign he was my best choice. In 2018, if the Jays are going with a re-tread, might as well run out the kids from the minors to see if one can stick.
Unless the Jays can trade a MLB level piece or elite prospects for at quality arm, I don’t see much pitching rotation improvement. I would offer Bischette in a heartbeat if an young controllable starter or near ready starter was available. I don’t think that there are many MLB level pieces they can offer up for a trade – perhaps Pillar or Smoak or Donaldson, but no one is taking Morales, Carrera, Diaz, Solarte, Tulo, Travis or Martin for a controllable starter.
You are correct that there is at least one more major move to do with this 40 man. But if they get just a piece to fill a hole, and not move them towards a championship, you’ll hear me groan loud. Don’t take it personal. My goal is to hold Shapiro and Stkins accountable for their repeated poor decision making. #scoutseyes #truth
The issue with Shapiro not getting the Indians over the top is fair!? The beauty for Shapiro now is if the Jays can get to where the Indians are then once the contracts of Tulo and Martin are off the books he will have the flexibility to add the final pieces. Can’t remember which year it was but the Cardinals won the World Series squeaking in with an 83-79 record. Anything is possible!
Led league in attendance. Huge tv numbers, lots of merch sales. The blue jays are a business, not your fantasy team. They will ride this wave as long as possible, hoping to compete and rebuild at the same time. #logiceyes
I look at it like Atkins knows his role and does it well, much like Gibbons. So they get to keep a sweet job. No pots stirred gets you places in a large business like this. I’m only speculating based on how other large businesses that I’ve encountered seem to work, no insider stuff from this guy.
Shapiro truly captains the ship in all phases from how I look at things. Atkins is good at media spin and numbers. Gibbons is good at media spin and keeping the guys loose for whatever that might be worth. Figureheads that know how to do what is expected of them. Serving kool-aid if you wanna be brutally honest about it. Being good at finding silver linings and helping row in the direction that the captain wants is how I try to look at it.
Let Shapiro have a budget to go with his philosophy and he might build a dynasty is the hope. There are enough wild cards in place that it’s hard to hate them for giving us extra false hope by avoiding the full rebuild. Not signing Edwin and Cecil felt like the start of it but they seemed to backtrack. The system keeps blossoming and the big league roster has similar questions that it had during the playoff runs. Handful of guys already rostered that could be the difference makers. They say $10m available, but last year they started big, so there’s hope they might DFA someone and/or just decide to spend bigger than intended on some FA splash. They cut Upton at the end of spring last year and that could still be in play for Pearce/Zeke/Morales due to the crowded lineup. Lots of time and still way early for worry. Plenty of flexibility to trade for an ace or sell anyone expensive throughout the summer if they don’t decide to get aggressive before the season.
Here’s hoping….
I think we are in agreement, in riding this “business” wave[prioritizing money over winning], the Jay’s mgmt is going to extend mediocrity on and on, like we saw in Cleveland all those years 2002-2014, that’s a given. That is why many clubs do a total rebuild and trade tradeable pieces to maximize return not sell false hopes for a wildcard playoff spot that is going nowhere.
For example, the Jays had no hope of winning anything last year and many baseball people knew it. At the trade deadline, Atkins admitted he had 15 deals offered to him. I know from inside info one of the offers was for Bautista and it was a good to very good prospect, yet the trigger on that deal wasn’t pulled to maximize “the competativeness” balance of year. Well there was little competativeness and most competent people in the industry knew it.
In effect by not doing the deal it weakened the organization because no prospect was obtained. They would have had to eat chunk of money as well in the deal.
Rebuilds don’t happen “at the same time”. At some point a club has to tank or trade away good pieces. Look at the cubs or the Yankees. Cashman and Epstein know what they are doing.
#BULLSHITEYES! You are not
a scout
> I know from inside info one of the offers was for Bautista and it was a good to very good prospect, yet the trigger on that deal wasn’t pulled to maximize “the competativeness” balance of year
Nothing you say is true. Bautista had full 5/10 no-trade rights. Atkins did not block a trade like that, especially for one of the worst players in MLB in 2017.