The Rays’ decision to option Nate Lowe back to Triple-A Durham following the trade deadline was a “very tough call,” manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With the acquisition of Jesus Aguilar, however, the Rays had three first basemen on the roster and Ji-Man Choi’s lack of minor league options once again came into play. Tampa Bay seems loath to risk losing Choi on waivers, but Lowe has handily outperformed him at the plate so far, hitting .294/.362/.510 to Choi’s .265/.361/.423. Choi has shown better knowledge of the strike zone, but Lowe nevertheless appears to be the better offensive option between the two (even if he’s had some good fortune in terms of a .362 average on balls in play). Cash expects that Lowe will be back up with the club “soon,” but that redundancy will eventually be an issue the Rays need to address.
More out of the AL East…
- Trey Mancini remains in Baltimore after the trade deadline, but the decision not to move him doesn’t mean an extension is the next step for the slugger. “Looking at contract extensions is just not at the forefront of my plate right now,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, “but certainly he’s an attractive guy to have here for a while.” It’s not the first time that Elias, hired to spearhead the Orioles’ rebuild this offseason, has suggested that he views Mancini as a potential long-term piece. But Mancini is already controlled through 2022 — his age-30 season. Given that he won’t even reach arbitration until this winter, there’s simply not much urgency to extend Mancini, even if he’s in the midst of the best season of his young career. Through 443 plate appearances, Mancini has posted a robust .282/.343/.539 slash (130 OPS+) with a career-high 25 home runs. Elias also praised the recent play of outfielder Anthony Santander the manner in which he has begun to establish himself as a viable big league hitter.
- The Blue Jays have a crowded outfield mix, but newly acquired Derek Fisher is going to get regular playing time and an opportunity to establish himself as a fixture in the Toronto outfield, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet writes. Most of Fisher’s reps will come in center or right field, as Toronto doesn’t want to disrupt Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s transition to left field (or his offensive breakout). That leaves Fisher, Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk and Billy McKinney vying for playing time between center, right and occasional reps at DH. Hernandez has been on an otherworldly tear, clubbing seven homers and three doubles in his past 15 games, which should help to keep him in the lineup. If there’s to be an odd man out, McKinney seems the likeliest candidate, given that he has minor league options remaining. But the semi logjam also serves as a reminder that Randal Grichuk hasn’t performed anywhere near as well as hoped in the first season of the head-scratching extension to which the Jays signed him back in April. He’s played solid defense, but Grichuk hasn’t exactly seized an everyday role with his .232/.290/.418 batting line.
Jays have really been on a roll lately..
Playing the Royals and Orioles, anyone would be.
Not the Tigers.
I was curious if the Tigers had a winning record against anyone… Teams the Tigers have a winning record against this year… Orioles, Royals and Yankees.
WOW… they have a winning record against someone.
The Yankees is just cuz of their good first 2 weeks ha.
The Grichuk extension was yet another mistake by this front office, which now seems to be making more and more of them as time goes on. He would be on the trade block too except that he’s one of the Shatkins signature moves.
Some Jays fans will disagree (not me). It was a big mistake. He’s one guy that should be moved.
Yep. The trade that they made to acquire him was really good. Then they went on to destroy all his value by offering him that terrible extension.
This ☝️
WIth no August trade deadline, it seems to me more likely the Rays could lose Choi via waivers that it would have been had they sent him through in last few days before July 31.
Yeah but it’s August and they are tied for the 2nd wildcard, if you want to win you need to play your best players at this point.
N Lowe is better than Ji man Choi. We aren’t playing our best players
“Yeah but it’s August and they are tied for the 2nd wildcard, if you want to win you need to play your best players at this point.”
This is the Rays we are talking about. They put “losing a potential young / aging inexpensive player” over “winning”. They would rather put the better player at AAA than send down a player that is like third on the depth chart for 1B at risk of someone claiming him. Someone you probably have no plans for using in the future. Why didn’t they try and trade him for something before the deadline? I mean, cash considerations is always a good thing. Anything. This is playoff crunch time. Get your best players out there and try and get in.
That’s not the Rays way. I’m only happy Kolarek is gone. That Miami trade was terrible though
I don’t think it was bad at all they got a power reliever who is controllable a young starter whose record would be better if not in Miami for a relief pitcher who can’t pitch at the back end and a minor league outfielder who while may have some pop has terribly high strikeout numbers and even if he does pan out you have to give up some real value to get young arms I disagree it was a savvy move that will help this team going forward.
I agree, kleppy12. Lowe should be at 1B. The Rays should have sent Choi through waivers right before the July 31 deadline, when teams engaged in trade talks would have been less likely to tie up 40-man spots to claim someone with Choi’s middling production.
Choi’s wRC+ is 113 which is above the MLB average of 105 for 1B.
This is what makes the Fisher trade even more fun to analyze.
You have to start Gurroel & Hernandez because they are good hitters.
Grichuk probably starts because he gets paid so much.
So TO is moving from McKinney to an almost identical Fisher. And they gave up Biagini and Sanchez to essentially replace two $5 bills with a $10 bill?
Fisher is far better than McKinney, he was just not given a fair shot in Houston due to them having greater talent. However, the trade from Toronto’s side is a head scratcher.
McKinney is way over rated. Fisher is a better option for the Jays.
Hernandez shouldn’t be guaranteed a spot. He has picked it up at the plate and is actually somehow playing good defense in CF, but his bat just hasn’t been good enough to lock down a spot. Hopefully these guys can perform and have a good logjam but all four of the non Gurriel OF’s will need to pick it up.
I agree with JD. Gurriel is the only guarantee for next year. Hernandez has not hit well enough to justify a permanent starting role. Hernandez, Grichuk, McKinney, Fisher and Anthony Alford will all play for spots next year. There may be a trade in the offseason to unload one OF. Won’t be Fisher or Grichuk.
Extending Grichuk was a bad idea. Had they not have extended him, he might have been moved at the deadline. The Jays should’ve saved their money to later extend a few of those rookies who become stars. Of that bunch, at least three of them will be extension worthy.
More Jays fans are recognizing this. Trading Grichuk at the deadline should have been a no-brainer heading into Spring Training.
Orioles probably a little leery giving a power hitting 1B a huge contract. There is no hurry to extend him now.
I doubt if Davis’ contract comes into play other than it’s money they don’t have to spend on another player. I think the bigger thing is that their best offensive prospect Ryan Mountcastle is defensively challenged, and might have to end up at 1B. Since Mancini isn’t a generational talent like Machado, there really isn’t any interest or need to sign him to an extension right now. Let the arbitration process play out for a year, maybe sign him to an extension after 2020.
I agree there’s very little risk in waiting to talk extension for Mancini. If he regresses next year you either won’t give him one or the dollar value drops significantly. Given his age and time he’d hit FA I don’t think he’d be opposed to talking again next summer. I guess the offers just weren’t there at the deadline though. You’d think this was the time to extract peak value from him if we were ever going to trade him.
Im glad we held onto Givens because any trade there would’ve been an absolute giveaway. Hopefully he rebuilds value next year and we can send him packing in July for an actual prospect.
This is why the Rays can’t have good things. Hottest 1B? Send him down for Choi and a guy who has been below average (Aguilar). Choi is playing for his life and finally looks decent. But I guarantee this type of back and forth doesnt sit well w guys like Lowe and McKay.
I really don’t understand the Aguilar deal… his splits aren’t all that great against left handed pitchers. This year especially. They have Diaz, d”Arnaud and Duffy that can play 1B if needed.
“But I guarantee this type of back and forth doesnt sit well w guys like Lowe and McKay.”
It shouldn’t sit well with any young talented player. Once you’ve made it, you want to stay and never go back. If you’re a fringe player, then you might be ok riding the shuttle, but someone who is considered a potential major league regular should always expect that he’s shown enough to stay.
Grichuk’s awful foul tip to the mouth last night might give some immediate playing time to Fisher. That was hard to watch. If he was a hockey player he would be back in the lineup tonight minus a few chicklets. Let’s see tonight.
Who guys down for the Rays when Diaz and Brandon Lowe come back. I see Broussaru coming down even though he has hit, then who else Wendle? I always see Cash leaning toward moving Duffy to short and Diaz at third since we have a right handed first baseman. I hope he keeps playing Adames on the road because the trop lights are killing him and he can hit.
Ever notice that evaluators (everyone-management, fans, journalists) use descriptors for good players that sound like they’re evaluating their appearance? “he’s an attractive guy to have here for a while,” “good looking player,” “good looking young player,” “carries a big stick,” “put good wood on it”
Next logical step for position players on the jays would have to be getting s third baseman. Their youth is in full swing. Seems like they got their middle infielders of the future getting set in, their left fielder, and their dh.
It remains to be seen if Bichette can take on the SS role. Very athletic but an errors machine. He deserves the rest of the season to showcase himself. I think he can do it. As for 3B, I want to see if Vlad Jr will cut 10-15 this offseason. If he does and shows improvement he may stick at 3B. If not then you are a correct; the Jays will need a 3B.
If I’m the team Mancini is an extension candidate, if I’m Mancini I’m a year to year guy betting on myself. I think he’s still developing and while he probably won’t be worth $30MM+ a season he could be a solid Teixeira/Berkman/Jim Edmonds archetype career-wise. Worth $20-30M in today’s Dollars but perhaps not on the longest term deal.
I envision an extension in the 3 years/$40MM range. Someone will give him around 4 years/$110M when he hits FA but he should be in a more hitter friendly home park like Colorado
Isn’t Fisher’s arm pretty weak? If anything he seems like he should be put into left field with Hernandez in centre (where he’s looked far better than when he’s been played in left) and Grichuk in right.