The Blue Jays officially added newly-acquired outfielder Derek Fisher to the roster, while also activating right-hander Trent Thornton from the injured list. Thornton is scheduled to start tonight’s game against the Orioles. Right-hander Jason Adam also had his contract selected from Triple-A.
It was a brief IL stay for Thornton, whose placement with inflammation in his throwing elbow was retroactive to July 21. Acquired from the Astros for Aledmys Diaz last winter, Thornton has shown some flashes of promise within an inconsistent season, posting a 5.45 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 2.22 K/BB rate over 99 innings in Toronto’s rotation. He’ll continue to receive a long look at the Jays figure out their future pitching plans now that Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez have both been dealt.
Adam was acquired in a minor deal with the Royals in March, though injuries have limited to just 13 1/3 total innings in the minors this season. The righty has a 4.24 ERA, 2.87 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9 rate over 579 1/3 career frames in the minor leagues, working almost exclusively as a relief pitcher in the last three seasons. Adam made his MLB debut last season, tossing 32 1/3 innings for Kansas City while posting a 6.12 ERA, as he allowed a whopping nine homers over his brief stint in a Royal uniform.
This guy better hit three home runs and throw out ten runners tonight, considering what Shatkins paid for him.
“Shatkins, hahaha man! How old are you, 4?
Please tell me this isn’t the first time you have seen Shatkins before.
It’s a combination of Shapiro and Atkins. Mark Shapiro, the president. Ross Atkins, the GM. What’s so childish about that?
When they were in Cleveland, it was Shapanetti. This one is a little funnier though.
Lol not many scouts or executives see him as more than a triple A outfielder and seems he has had 3 kicks at the can in the majors an stunk all 3 times I agree with them
cool to see adam get another chance. great story.
Watching the Jays from now on should be funny. All this was predicted at the end of 2016. Can everyone see it now???
Atkins and Shapiro have to go.
Jimmer they aren’t great but I’m in between on the Sanchez deal. people make it seem like the team could ha e gpt a great prospect for him and biagini and while I agree fisher is a weird get (especially since this team is deep in the OF though not in CF), I feel like the lack of return on stroman is why people feel the Sanchez deal needed to be a HR but apart from like 3 starts this year, he is simply a bullpen guy.
exact reason they should not have sold low. they could move him to the pen and he could be a valuable target in the offseason.
The added prospect in Stevenson is the biggest slap in the face. Atkins has no clue how to make trades or manage his assets.
Completely agree, I didn’t like the deal before the trade but I could at least accept it. Seeing Stevenson in this deal makes zero sense.
Agreed. I wanted Sanchez in the pen for a while. I think he could have been elite. So then why not wait it out? The Astros knew the Jays wanted Fisher in a bad way. They basically forced them to overpay for him. It think the Jays at least need someone better at negotiating trades/deals.
Let’s hope Fisher is not what everyone says and he can really rake.
Atkins better hope so too, otherwise he’ll be the one raking…raking the leaves outside the Rogers Center as a junior member of the maintenance crew.
I think they definitely overpaid for Fisher relative to what his current value should’ve been. But I like him. I think he could be a solid starting OF if given the chance. He never really got a full shot in Houston. But they really better hope thats the case.
Fisher has certianly shown spurts to the point where id say Fisher for Stevenson wouldnt be a terrible deal given Stevenson is a bit farther away from the majors and less tested.
Lol
It makes you wonder how a bunch of baseball minds could come together and say, let’s make this deal? I mean seriously.
happens all the time. funny how people criticise “armchair gms” when the guys who actually make the deals are bad at their own darn jobs.
While I’m not too happy about the recent trades, it’s not Shapiro’s or Atkins’ fault the team they inherited in 2016 was old, past it’s prime, full of albatrosses contracts (Martin, Tulo) and no prospects knocking on the door at the time (Dickey trade, Tulo trade).
Stroman and Sanchez were neither old nor past their prime, and Biagini has three more seasons of control. The prospect the Jays gave up in the Fisher deal has better numbers than Fisher does. They embarrassed themselves and the organization.
I said I wasn’t happy about the recent trades. The point was about the team they received in 2016, which was constructed to have a couple of good years and then crash and burn, like it did. I’m also happy I don’t have too see Sanchez toss 5 competitive walks per start and then blame it on the weather and whatnot.
Well said GB85
Pepe, they inherited a team 2 wins away from reaching the World Series. That’s a damn good situation to be in. In 2016 the MLB luxury tax was $189-mil and the Jays had a self-imposed payroll at $145. They wound up around $153 by the end. That means Rogers requested penny pinching Shapiro to hire a penny pinching, creative GM. He got Atkins. The big moves were made by LaCava as the acting GM.
I do not buy the AA “dumped all the prospects” excuse. The Blue Jays could have continue their dominance if Rogers cared to stomp on throats. They don’t. They blew too many millions on their hockey TV deal and used their entities (baseball, cable packages, downsizing) to cover the losses.
And if you are right, they should have blew the whole thing up 2 years and a week ago.
A pitcher throws a baseball with his hand and manipulates the ball flight with his fingers. Aaron Sanchez led the American League in ERA and had 15 wins before fingers and hand problems derailed his last 2 seasons. It wasn’t like the guy doesn’t have talent or the ability to bounce back, maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but Fisher spent parts of 3 seasons NOT establishing himself at all. They didn’t need to throw in Biagini or Stevenson in my opinion.
Oh, I’m not criticizing AA for the trades, this team really needed to get some relevance and I enjoyed those 2 years as much as anyone, but that team was just not built to last, we had no prospects ready to fill in for the aging guys. Look at the Astros, Rays, Dodgers, Indians… that’s the model we should follow, now whether Atkins is doing it the right way or not is up for debate.
Excuse me, but even in his good season, Sanchez’s command was a disaster. Sure, he made up for it with movement and velocity, but volocity is not the same now. He’s been on the league for 4-5 years now and still can’t throw a consistent curveball. His fingers can’t handle pitching? Well, call it quits then.
Wow werealljustguests, you called it. besides most of the prospects they “dumped” came to nothing. Boyd has a good year this year and only this year. It was worth the run. This methodology is how Dombrowkski and Cashman are going to the Hall of Fame. You won’t see Atkins or Shapiro there. lol.
The Jays have a lot of young talent and very little near ready pitching. Next year they should open the bank and buy a rotation, otherwise I will be considering another service provider for my cell phone.
Dombrowkski? I mean, Dombrowkski?? Have you seen the state he left the Tigers in???? If we had Dombrowkski as GM 2 years ago we would be paying 30 million a year to Bautista until 2057.
Well Sanchez’s ceiling is an ERA title in the AL east, and 15 wins. What is Fishers ceiling?
He still has lively stuff, and a good arm and he’s what? 27, Fisher is 26 right? I’m not looking back at Aaron’s stats, I’ve watched him pitch. He has a good arm. Roger Clemens was done in Boston too once, remember how that turned out.
Roger Clemens and Aaron Sanchez on the same sentence, yeah I’m done, you win buddy!
Dombrowski spends too much for too long on player contracts,no disagreement there. But he wins and that is why he is going to the HOF.
2× World Series champion (1997, 2018)
National League champion (1997)
3× American League champion (2006, 2012, 2018)
1990 UPI Executive of the Year
2× Baseball America Executive of the Year (2006, 2018)
2011 co-Sporting News Executive of the Year (with Doug Melvin)
Andrew “Rube” Foster Award
Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame inductee
I like Roger Clemens but Sanchez does not belong in the same sentence as Rocket Roger. Perhaps Sanchez can clean Roger’s old cleats.
That’s not to say the Clemons didn’t have chemical help after he left Boston. The evidence seems to suggest that, but he still worked his butt off.
Lol that was bait
And I looked it up, 63 walks in 192 innings. Disaster.
ok bud, again, you win, Sanchez is the second coming of Rogers Clemens, now go listen to Pat some more, bet you loved it when he mentioned how big and strong Sanchez is.
Apparently you did.
Dombrowski wins rings. If you are complaining about a guy who wins championships then I suggest you put your Maple Leafs jersey on.
They didn’t HAVE to trade any of them, really, I mean, if you gave them up for less than fair value why not use them for the rest of this year and next. The only thing I’ll say is, Stroman was outspoken and on many occasions slighted upper management publicly. Sanchez also made kind of a statement when he left, when he thanked the previous management , but not the current.
Something is seriously amiss here and everyone in the industry is a bit perplexed. I’m a die hard jays fan and I’ll watch them anyway, but somebody needs to be fired in Toronto, and very soon.
You are all a bunch of morons with nothing better to do than speculate. When the Jays are contending in two years I want to you all to come on here and say you were hopelessly wrong.
Okay
You’re the moron sitting here calling everyone a moron. You must like Atkins flushing away assets for third-tier prospects. If these pitchers don’t develop above expectations and quickly, the only thing the Jays will be contending for is third place in the AL East.
There are a number of “what if?” scenarios after the MLB trade deadline, and one might have been costly for the Toronto Blue Jays.
On Sunday, the Blue Jays traded ace Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets for two pitching prospects: Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson.
The Minnesota Twins were disappointed when Toronto didn’t give them a chance to match the Mets’ package for Stroman, one the team believes it could have outdone, sources told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes.
During initial discussions about Stroman, the Twins rebuffed the Blue Jays when Toronto asked for either Royce Lewis or Alex Kirilloff, two of the club’s top prospects. But the Jays didn’t call Minnesota back before accepting the Mets’ offer.
The Blue Jays drew criticism for their return on Stroman after the deal was completed, but general manager Ross Atkins brushed that aside on Wednesday, saying the organization is pleased with the players it received.
“I think people look at industry rankings, and industry rankings have become a big thing,” Atkins told Sportsnet’s Arash Madani. “For us, we love Simeon Woods Richardson and we love Anthony Kay. So we don’t feel that way and we feel very good about the return.”
Along with Lewis and Kiriloff, the Twins’ farm system also features youngsters Brusdar Graterol, Jordan Balazovic, and Trevor Larnach, all of whom rank ahead of Kay and Woods Richardson among MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects.
Yep. Atkins decided to deliver a big screw you to the Twins and others for not upping the ante rather than truly putting the future needs first. He needs to go. But first the fans need to let Rogers know they want new owners. It starts there.
Having a large corporate owned, shareholder run club is good in some ways, and bad in other ways, there is no passion for baseball, it’s about numbers and dividends. They own the sports channel, the stadium and any other blue jay platforms, I’m not sure an independently rich owner will work in this scenario.
Agreed Jaysfan.
I should also apologize to Jeff Todd, I felt he slighted the franchise in a post a few weeks ago, and I called him out hard.
I apologize Jeff where ever you are.
You may slag the Jays organization all you want, they deserve it.
Good move jaysfan77.
Class act. I mean it.
Sorry seems to be the hardest word…..
Sanchez was statistically the very worst starting pitcher in the major leagues the last two seasons. We owe nothing to athletes who will make more money in a year than we make in a lifetime. He sucked, no one wanted him, his agent will not let him move to the bullpen, sayonara, move on. Stroman’s attitude was not wanted near all the young players. Time to move on.
Shouldn’t it say Jason Adam released?
Zach Jackson, Ty Tice, Kirby Snead, Taylor Saucedo, Bryan Baker. One of them surely deserved a chance to play in Toronto? Was Adam’s performance in KC this year too good to pass up? I’m sure Toronto fans will take me to task. Wilmer Font and Brock Stewart can be put of the level of excellent before Bautista and Edwin.
You don’t clog up your 40 man roster by adding fringe guys early. You ought to know that. Adam can easily be DFA’d if he fails. Im sure they don’t want to give up on a guy like Ty Tice if he gets nuked in August.
Agree 100%. Now is the time for the Wagesback’s, the Pannone’s, the Brock Stewart’s. If they fail, no big deal and maybe one of them turns into Marco Estrada. He was of that level when the Jays picked him up. Maybe a little higher but not much.
Ya that makes sense. Most fringe guys would be the first on the DFA block when roster spots are needed. It’s probably best to just wait until they need to be added to the roster unless they’re elite like Pearson or Bichette etc
If they are elite, JD, they’d be dwindling in the minors to preserve team control. At some point the Blue Jays need to find and nurture growth. These recycled arms will not provide that.
Yeah, it’s a balance. You can’t clog the 40 man w guys you don’t want to lose before it’s time. Ty Tice was drafted 2 years ago and has a bit of a walk issue. Let him figure that out first before sending him up and requiring a 40 man slot for the next few years.
You definitely don’t want to limit your roster flexibility by throwing too many guys on the 40 man early. Now, Tice is in AAA and performing pretty decently so I expect him to make the 40 man before he’s required. Likely at some point next year.
But you have to maintain some flexibility for claims and to assure you don’t lose anyone internally. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Jays pick another Luciano in the rule 5 draft. Have to keep your options open. It should be Saucedo next because he must be protected this offseason. But it could be a Tice/Baker called up. But it makes little to no sense not to see if Adam has anything before them. All rebuilding teams do this. You have to maximize your assets.
Jbigz we have established you do not watch baseball and as an O’s fan we know you do not know what real baseball is. You talk about fringe guys? Jason Adams is nothing more than a fringe guy. Ty Tice nuked? Keep him on the roster for the next two months. Struggling? Everyone struggles. Perseverance in the major leagues is how a young player grows. Let him gain major league experience with the best of the best along with major leaguers and major league coaches guiding him along the way. Your loser mentality might work in Baltimore. Until then just feed us some stats. That is all you are good for.
Lmao, what’s up Trim?
Thanks for confirming. Guess you felt the need to change the account after your abysmal deadline predictions.
You give guys like Adam the first crack before adding your fringe prospects who aren’t required to be on the 40 man yet. Simple concept here. Adam is 27 years old and throws 95 so I’m not sure why he’s significantly worse than the guys you listed. He got a cup of coffee in KC last year and that was it. He gets blown up then you can DFA him and move on. If Tice gets blown up you can’t DFA him. You’d have to DFA someone else currently on the 40 man.
W Tice you’ve committed a 40 man roster spot for the next year +. W Adam you’ve committed a 40 man slot for the next week, if it goes bad. If it goes well, then you might have something.
Huh?
Maximize assets. We agree. Jason Adam is not an asset. Jays might have an asset in AAA. They might not. If they remain in AAA they will not have any opportunity to show they could become an asset. Jordan Romano struggled all year in AAA and after 1 week in the major leagues the fans and media gave him high praise. Although quite premature as its a small sample. There are guys who have outperformed Romano and haven’t been given the call. Isn’t that why teams have minor league instruction? To take 95 mph throwers, turn them into pitchers and develop them? Showcase them. Not the Jason Adam’s of the world. He hasn’t earned the right to cut in-front of the line.
Not sure what your point is? You are arguing about who the 13th pitcher should be? Get a life. Zachary Jackson has huge control issues. he has walked almost a batter an inning up until a month or so ago. Let these guys have some success in the minors. Now is the time to see what the career minor leaguers, like Adam, can do. Let them get lit up.
Get a life? How about you figure out how to properly write. Your comments are borderline insane with a hint of tool. Now is not the time to see journeyman garbage like Adam or Font. It is time to bring up guys the last two months to showcase themselves for next year. Allowing guys with no future to take time in the present means you have no future.
You’re a bit of a knob but you already know that. This is just a way to mess with everyone here. When you get a clue it will be the first in your life.
After hearing the twins story of the jays not calling back after getting the Mets offer, confirms my thought,,,,,,those 2 twirps were out to screw Stroman, send him to a non contender even if it means sacrificing a better deal. I truly believe that’s the reason he went to the Mets! Complete insanity if those 2 morons survive into next year
So you would screw around with a kids confidence by having them come up before they have experienced even a bit of minor league success? That is why they have minor leagues, dipshit. You are out of your league. Please stay off these discussion groups. You have no clue!
Saucedo and Baker are two pitchers who would be destroyed by major league hitters but you know that, correct?
Baker might be able to be good. I’d be surprised if he isn’t up at some point in September. It does look like Saucedo’s numbers are a lot of smoke and mirrors though.
Dalrob I do not care. Jason Adam gave up a nice bomb to Mancini. Any of the names I mentioned could have done that. Every player mentioned will also have a rude awakening and realize they will need to work on things. Getting by in AAA and finding success gives them false hope. The real test is the MLB. Lessons will be learned there and not in AAA.
If bringing them up messes with confidence then there are bigger issues in play. A guy at 30 can lose confidence just as easy as a guy at 23. You may want to see players coddled. I do not. These players all want to be in the big leagues. Let them play if they earn it. Stop that confidence and “bring them up too soon” bull.
Nice but that is not how it works. Some of the players you mentioned, if not all, are projects who need time at AAA. The vets have been there, done that. They called up a kid today from AA because he has way more upside than anyone they have st AAA. You make your point well, however, and I apologize for being rude to you. That was uncalled for.
No need to apologize. As for the Diaz callup today, I like it. The problem with the projects argument is I can make the exact same case for Adam, Font, Hauschild, Kingham, Drake and all the other bushers the organization has brought in. Romano is the best example; deserved to be in AAA midseason last year, wasn’t put on the 40-man (Leiter was), comes up this year (didn’t deserve it) and pitched very well (short stint). I would expect 1 of the 4 or 5 names I mentioned to make it, and no single person can truly say they are ready or not. Mainly I want to see the lower level college guys (22-23) to move up a level if they are performing. That only happens when you promote from within. That’s a great motivational tool for every young player when they know they have a real chance to make it. Blue Jays have refused to create that environment or culture within the organization.