Blue Jays designated hitter Kendrys Morales and right-hander Marco Estrada have both gone unclaimed on revocable trade waivers and are now eligible to be traded to any team, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports (on Twitter). It’s not a surprise to see either player clear, given the relatively sizable amounts remaining on each player’s contract.
Morales is in the second season of a three-year, $33MM contract in Toronto. While he’s recently gone through a near-historic hot streak at the plate, homering in seven consecutive games to boost his overall batting line to a strong .261/.342/.480 with 21 long balls, he’s still a 35-year-old DH owed about $13MM through the end of the 2019 season.
As for Estrada, he’s struggled through back issues and performed poorly of late, pitching to a 6.53 ERA with a 19-to-15 K/BB ratio across eight starts (30 1/3 innings). He’s on a one-year, $13MM contract and is owed about $2.36MM of that total through the end of the year — a hefty sum for perhaps six starts from an ailing 35-year-old.
The Blue Jays could always add some cash in order to help facilitate a trade involving either player, though it’d require a rather sizable sum in the case of Morales — recent hot streak notwithstanding. The Brewers and Mariners are among the teams that have been connected to rotation upgrades in recent weeks, though it’s not clear whether either organization will ultimately find a deal to their liking. It’s tougher to see any sort of market for Morales developing, though the Jays certainly figure to gauge interest over the next couple of days.
News Flash! Players that aren’t good aren’t claimed on waivers
Stop the presses! This just in! Pud who doesn’t understand nuances of waiver process and surrounding factors makes stupid comment!
Except pud who thinks he knows everything doesn’t realize that Morales has a contract next year for $13m that nobody is touching. Plus nobody contending needs a DH. So putting him through waivers is completely pointless. I’m not sure who would want Marco either. He’s battling back problems and is getting lit up. His fastball was down to 84 last start. He’s done.
Now that’s a different argument lol talent and value are different
Yaaaa you don’t get the process. No one claimed him because they weren’t willing to pick up the rest of his salary if the Jays said “okay take him”. They can now make a deal with anyone and I bet teams would take Morales as a bench option for a lottery ticket prospect if the Jays covered some salary.
unlikely. if he was an FA oncoukd certainly see it but yes got a full year left. so he’s essentially AL limited and Oakland, Hou, Bos, NYY and cle all have Dhs former yearm
Pay half to 3/4 of Morales salary, pay the entirety of Marco salary. You could get a few lotto tickets and open much needed roster flexibility
Funny how the Braves and Indians are going to the playoffs. Hope for the Jays once Shapiro/Atkins are fired and AA comes back?
We’re not letting you have him back.
Keep him. He didn’t build Atlanta’s team anyway.
No he didn’t, but he has made solid moves to supplement the young core. Gausman trade has looked real nice so far, bringing Venters back, Anibal, Culberson….
Yes they’ve been nice moves. But let’s stop pretending he was the catalyst this Braves team. People want to point to him as the reason for the recent success to stick it to Toronto fans. It’s total bull.
I am very happy with what he has done with Atlanta. I didn’t say he was the reason for the success, but he has made very creative moves that have worked out like getting Kemp money off the books for next year by picking up expiring contracts of McCarthy and AGon. Regardless of Kemp playing well this year, it was a solid move for a potentially huge offseason…plus the international market restrictions we have. I think he’s done great with his smaller moves plus the moves he didn’t make. We haven’t traded the farm for a Tulo or Price player. Perhaps he’s aware that we have a big window, compared to Toronto who had a small window with Edwin and Jose’s team friendly contracts.
Yet AA left us with this roster and you’re saying he should come back?
AA drafted all the guys that are now top ML players. Yes he went for the home run a few times but homers win games these days. Shapiro/Adkins I like because they are making moves like smaller market teams. They made one big mistake with Morales contract. The next test is if they give Donaldson a QO. if they do then I will agree that they need to go. Look at their latest move to lose Smoak. That opens up first base to Solarte for example.
Name the players. Good luck. To help you out, Vlad wasn’t drafted so scratch him from your list. Go….
AA left in 2015. It’s 2018. Lots can change, look at the Yankees… and Boston… and Cleveland… the current Jays mess is on Shapiro/Atkins, not AA. He was with LA in 2016-17 and Atlanta since last fall.
AA’s 2010 draft: Sanchez, Syndergaard, Kris Bryant
2011: DeSclafani, Aaron Nola, Pillar
2012: Stroman, Alford
2013: Tellez
2014: Reid-Foley
2015: Harris
He also traded for Donaldson, Tulo, Price, Travis, got Smoak off waivers, resigned EE in 2010, traded away Halladay and Wells, etc.
What have Shapiro/Atkins done?
^Kris Bryant – unsigned
Aaron Nola – unsigned
Anthony Alford – Can’t hit AAA pitching.
Rowdy Tellez – Unknown if he is major league material
Kevin Pillar – Was behind Gose, Saunders and Pompey on AA’s depth chart. Nearly cut loose before 2015 due to FO’s lack of faith in Pillar’s ability.
Jon Harris – Isn’t performing
…You forgot Jenkins in the 2010 draft. Imagine that.
Tigers fan said draft, not signings or trades. AA had some great ones, some not so great. But he did hit on a bunch.
Not defending Shapiro/Atkins. Just saying that AA’s drafting wasn’t as good as people thought.
“What have Shatkins done?”
Gave Smoak an amazing extension that people like you would’ve ridiculed at the time. Built a league wide top farm by adding Bichette, Smith, Jansen, Paradhino, Pearson etc. onto AA’s homerun in Vlad. He got Liriano plus prospects for nothing who was a big part of the 2016 run and won the wild card game. He then turned that same struggling pitcher into a promising bat. And I’m not even going to go any further because you’re clearly delusional. Yes, AA traded for guys and drafted guys. Just like every other freaking front office in baseball.
I agree with you on AA but I think you are a little harsh on Shapiro/Atkins. They are doing the best they can given their situation. .OK they are stuck with 40 million on Tulo and Martin in 2019. Smoak is a reasonable 6 million but they are trying to deal him. Smart move. Now they can move Solarte to first base in 2019. Their next test is Pillar. Let him go please. Bet you they do just that.
Solarte moves on to another team. Jays should not be picking up his option. QO Donaldson, and if he declines you offer him 1 yr + option with incentives and he moves to 1B. Or it’s Rowdy Tellez/Vlad Jr time at 1B.
And yet the Jays haven’t won any playoff series and won’t be competitive again for at least 2-3 years… Shapkins to blame. The only thing that matters is playoff success. AA in 2015 with the Jays, last year with LA, and now Hotlanta… coincidence?
And yet his teams go to the playoffs, which is all that matters. You can’t win the WS when you’re in 4th place in your division and 32 GB. Farm team doesn’t win the WS either !
AA left in 2015. It’s 2018. Lots can change, look at the Yankees… and Boston… and Cleveland… the current Jays mess is on Shapiro/Atkins, not AA
Shapiro left Cleveland with a playoff caliber roster. AA left Shapiro with a terribly small window and badly built team. AA walked into the team with maybe the best farm and a slew of young, MLB ready players.
But keep your agenda going here, whatever fits your narrative, however farfetched it is.
Shaprio’s MLB level mess in Cleveland had to be cleaned up by the current regime to make them “playoff calibre” or have you forgotten about Bourne and Swisher and their contracts and acquiring Miller etc?
AA did not leave the Jays as a badly built team. They repeated to reach the playoffs in 2016 despite Shaprio/Atkins incompetence.
Yeeesh.
At the time, the Miller signing wasn’t bad IF he was the fulltime closer. Bourne and Swisher yes. The worst signing would have been Justin Masterson had he accepted the extension. Masterson and his agent screwed that one up.
Cleveland wasn’t a huge mess; it can’t be when at least two teams in the AL Central seem to be rebuilding every year. All they needed were good starting pitchers and they’d be fine dominating the bottom-feeders. Up until this season the AL East could not do that.
But, like AA, Shapiro/Antonetti had their good and bad. Not horrible executives, not great.
Man, I wish AA would’ve left them with a mess that featured Ramirez, Lindor, Kluber, Carrasco, Brantley, Bauer, Clevinger, and Allen.
And jimmer, can you please name me a team that doesn’t have any bad contracts on them. Maybe the Pirates? Maybe the Rays? Maybe the A’s? And then the list should probably end right there. Swisher and Bourn were obviously bad contracts, but they don’t come anywhere close to the Ellsbury’s, the Sandoval’s, the Samardzija’s of the world.
JD, you are correct. I’d even add Kipnis to your list despite the downturn in his career. When he signed an extension he was regarded as one of the top 2B around.
Heck, Danny Salazar was good up until a couple years ago. Add him to the list too.
Why not the guy AA didn’t see as a future Catcher, or better than Arencibia: Yan Gomes. That was a win for Cleveland over the Jays on that trade. On top of that, Roberto Perez the backup catcher.
Shaw and McAllister could still pitch in the bullpen back then.
Can’t forget Carlos Santana.
I buy what you’re saying, JDGoat.
I wholeheartedly agree that most teams have a bad contract or two. But the history of Shapiro is that he cannot win at the MLB level. He could never get Cleveland out of competative land into winning land.
Shapirois great at building a farm system. Always has been good at it. But he can’t win. His correct job is the director of the minor leagues or director of scouting, not Pres, GM or CEO of a whole organization.
In business terms it is called the Peter principle. Everyone rises to the level of their own incompetence. 12 years of no winning in Cleveland and the misjudging of the 2017 and 2018 Blue Jays is more than enough evidence to me that proves he is not a Dombrowski, Cashman, Gillick or Epstein type.
There are few few executives like these guys in MLB. We had Gillick and we need another one of Him. I want to Jays to do well, but it is clear to me that they will never win anything with Shaprio at the helm.
Rogers can afford to hire the best, have the #1 budget in the majors etc etc. I say bring back Beeston and let’s get this thing turned around quickly.
Jays made playoffs AA’s last season and then the following year with the team he’d built. LA went to the World Series, now Atlanta is on their way to the playoffs and Cleveland is resurgent after the new management cleaned up the Shapiro/Atkins mess. No need to defend the Jays brass, they’ve won nothing since 1993. 25 years of futility and counting.
AA did little for LA and virtually nothing in Atlanta.
And yet his teams go to the playoffs, which is all that matters. You can’t win the WS when you’re in 4th place in your division and 32 GB. Farm team doesn’t win the WS either !