The Blue Jays have non-tendered infielder Yangervis Solarte, per a club announcement. His $5.5MM option had already been declined, but Solarte still remained eligible for arbitration.
Given that Solarte projected to earn $5.9MM, this decision was inevitable. The 31-year-old will certainly draw looks as a reserve piece. He has certainly had his moments at the plate and is capable of playing second third base, as well as some shortstop if pressed. But Solarte is also coming off of the two least-productive seasons of his career as a hitter. In 2018, he slashed just .226/.277/.378.
Go back to the Padres. Fan favorite every sense of the word. Heck, come back to NYY. Wonderful human being and utility
No thanks
Wonderful human being is an understatement.
Welcome back to SD, Yangervis
Shapiro and Atkins are ahead of one of the worst front offices in baseball. And that’s coming from a Jays fan. This move doesn’t have anything to do with that, I just thought I’d state then obvious.
this was a given. not worth the money he’d get when they have a surplus of infielders already.
Like Josh Donaldson. King if the 23.5M DL. Troy Tulowitzki, a corpse waiting for a casket. Solarte played so much because of the junk hand the Blue Jays had it work with.
If their realistic goal is to compete by 2021 (which is what’s being said), with some homegrown talent and some money to spend, then I say give them that time to prove you wrong. If the never ending (except 2015/2016) race for fourth place one th ALE continues after that and beyond I’d agree with you. These things take time. And extending the aging free agents that they didn’t may have made the team better for the short term, in my eyes they missed out on MAYBE a few wildcard games and expedited the process of a full rebuild. If they hold true to their word the homer dome will be packed for years after 2021. If not, well…that’ll be that.
As for Solarte, I would be surprised if anyone is surprised.
How can you possibly say that now? How were they not backed into this corner by AA?
How? AA is the reason for all the over priced over the hill veterans (except Morales that is their fault), it’s not their fault Sanchez and Stroman keep getting blisters or their fault Donaldson was hurt all year. It’s also not their fault that Rogers won’t give them more money making them unable to sign big free agents. The only negative that can be blamed on them is Morales.
AA is also the reason they made the playoffs two straight seasons and gave the team, in 2015, its first legit shot at a WS title in more than two decades. He went for broke and it didn’t work out. At least he went for it. If not, that team is putzing around for 25 years and counting.
Sad for solarte
Hopefully he finds a team not named the padres
Replacement level offence and putrid Defense.. being versatile is only good when you can play the positions effectively… 5.5m is way too much.. someone will take him for a million or 2
As much as we loved him. I don’t see Preller bringing him back.
There some decent infielders on the market which could deflate salaries.
Jays fans need to move on from AA and give the new guys a chance. Fans influenced by sports writers who absolutely detest Atkins and Shapiro.
Finally someone who gets it. Everyone will soon enough anyway…
It is not just sportswriters that detest Shapiro and Atkins, it is people that know the game that detest Shapiro and Atkins.
The light will go on once the Jays board of directors light goes on and they notice how mostly bad the MLB level moves have been since these guys started running the MLB show.
Sure the they have been “building a farm system” andat the same time killing the MLB club with “also rans” and phoney “we can compete” garbage. They should have tanked at the end of 2015 season as called back then by me and many others in these pages.
But you’ve already been over this. And it’s been explained why they didn’t. Numerous times…
I do not accept those foolish explanations. I will continue to wave the flag of replacing the jays executives until we get an elite GM/Pres in the order of Cashman, Dombrowski, or Gillick.
None of them would have put up with this phoney “we can compete” trash.
Ok.
Hallelujah Jimmer! Let Shapkins “build a farm system” somewhere else and hire a real President & GM. 2017/2018 were completely wasted years, Jays got NOTHING of long term value from EE, Happ, Donaldson, etc… signed Morales & Pearce who didn’t work out for Toronto. 2019 is “year three” since the AA-built team last made the playoffs. Same amount of time Milwaukee and the Yankees took to rebuild/reload. And yet it will be another lost season in Toronto as these executives tinker at the edges, adding garbage reclamation projects and “we can compete” stiffs. It’s not like it’s a small market team payroll. #FireShapkins
At 1 milion is he a better bargain?
Torn between gimme new or old at 3rd ….yet 1 more round in SD would be fine with me…..love ya Solarte!
I cant wait to see what fans like you have to say in 3 years time. No long term deals to EE, Bautista, Jd, and no recent prospects traded. The Jays will be a beast in 2 or 3 yeats and thats all thanks to Shatkins.
Too many Jays fans act like Dallas Cowboys fans…. haven’t done anything in 25+ years, but optimism remains eternal! Your owners dumped the last front office that took you to the playoffs and hired two shucksters instead. Shameless!
Time for a little do-si-do down memory lane…
“I think this new contract is a great deal for him in terms security and stability for his family.”
“The contract gives him more than enough money to support his family, it keeps him in a great city, and allows him to do more or less what he wants. Maybe, just maybe, he is just not a greedy son of a gun like almost every other MLB player… money isn’t everything to everyone…”
know you’re a Solarte fan who thought he undersold himself with textbook definition of a “team-friendly” tend to agree. Let’s put our money where our mouths are, invest in Solarte stock. ;-) He has a deal with Fantex
Kidding ofc! I don’t think we’re allowed to Lol
Solarte will land somewhere. He is a better bat than utility and serviceable in the field. His energy and enthusiam is contagious.
He is not a fulltime player and was far overused in Toronto and I felt that is why he played poorly after the all-star break. Either that or he needs to find a switch inside him that allows to function at his high motor for the course of a whole baseball year and 500+ABs.
The bigger question is what do you do with tulo?
Padres love extending the wrong players after they have 1 above avg seaon. Imagine having both Myers and Solate making arbitration for the padres they would have some value instead of two overpriced guys who are avg at best.
Solarte’s extension was the epitome of team-friendly. It was almost entirely in club option form so that if he was injured or regressed they could just decline to pick up the options and owe him nothing. I’ll give you Myers tho.