While Blue Jays reliever Ken Giles looks like an obvious offseason trade candidate, general manager Ross Atkins indicated Tuesday it’s not a sure thing the team will deal him. “We’ve been really focused on acquiring players. We really haven’t engaged on trading players away much at all,” Atkins said in regards to Giles (per Jon Morosi of MLB.com). The flamethrowing Giles may have been out of Toronto by now had he been healthy at the July 31 deadline, but elbow issues helped prevent a trade from coming together. The 29-year-old was utterly brilliant in 2019, though, as he recorded a 1.87 ERA/2.27 FIP with 14.09 K/9, 2.89 BB/9 and 23 saves on 24 tries over 53 innings. Giles is now going into his final season of arbitration, in which he’s projected to make an affordable $8.4MM.
Here’s more on Toronto, all of which comes courtesy of Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4)
- The Blue Jays have interest in Japanese free agents (or soon-to-be free agents) Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Shogo Akiyama and Ryosuke Kikuchi, Atkins revealed. Tsutsugo’s a 27-year-old corner outfielder who has smacked 205 home runs in exactly 4,000 plate appearances in Nippon Professional Baseball. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars intend to post him by Dec. 5. Akiyama will try to parlay a strong nine-year run with the Seibu Lions of NPB into a major league contract. The 31-year-old center fielder, who won’t be subjected to the posting system, may have the highest upside of the three when it comes to earning power, as MLBTR projects he’ll rake in a two-year, $6MM guarantee this offseason. Kikuchi, a member of NPB’s Hiroshima Carp, will be posted after eight seasons with the club. The 29-year-old second baseman has not been an offensive standout in Japan, but he has thrived defensively.
- Toronto’s at least considering using outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez in the infield next season, per Atkins. Gurriel began his career as a middle infielder, but he struggled enough there that the team shifted him to left field in 2019. That experiment paid off, though it’s reportedly possible Gurriel could be an offseason trade chip for the club. As for Hernandez, although the .230/.306/.472 line he put up in 464 plate appearances this year doesn’t look great, he did go on a second-half tear and finish with 26 home runs. But Hernandez had difficulty in center field, where he accounted for minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-7.7 Ultimate Zone Rating. Going forward, he might see time at first and/or second, Atkins suggested. Toronto looks to be in fine shape at the keystone, where Cavan Biggio enjoyed a terrific rookie season, though first is a question mark. Justin Smoak’s a free agent, and Rowdy Tellez didn’t have an especially successful year.
So basically the Jays stink so bad they prefer to waste money outside to see what happens vs payateention to why they can’t compete.
@Eightball611 It is way too early to worry about the Blue Jays being competitive. They are at the nadir of a rebuild with a bottom 3 payroll in 2020 and a talented inexpensive infield. There are much worse spots to be in. Hopefully, Shatkins does not botch it.
Omg thank u so much
It’s been 3 years. Their work has been bad or worse to date
How long do you think rebuilds take?
How long is the Diamondbacks’ rebuild taking?
The A’s have competed with zero money for a half decade, the Rays have had one non-competitive season the past 5. You give a front office 4 years to build a roster and they better have more to show than that sad state of affairs.
The A’s has three straight losing seasons before making the playoffs the past two. The Rays has four straight losing seasons before winning 90 the past two. Arizona hasn’t rebuilt recently. Even when they kind of did, they ended up trading their top pick and prospect away for a nothing starting pitcher. None of these are exactly good examples yet. Their blueprints suggest Toronto will be contending either this year or next. That’s not entirely unrealistic.
Look at teams that actually committed to full rebuilds. San Diego, CWS, KC, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati, etc. They are either way ahead, or look to have completed their building much faster than any of these teams. I highly doubt there is any GM or executive that would’ve had them ready to compete before this year.
Had* sorry
Still they need to start signing pitchers who are going to be here for 2-3 seasons guys like Dallas, Roark and maybe even Madbum. Do it while they have the money get a CF a backup SS get rid of Gritchuk, call up young starters to supplement bullpen while getting a taste of the bigs and you’ve got yourself a team that can start playing competitively this year and contend following years. Definitely don’t think jays can be contenders this year unless Boston completely sells off every asset they have and Tampa takes a huge step back. If I as a random fan can understand that’s all they need to do to be competitive then shatkins shouldn’t be doing the complete opposite. I have 0 faith so far in Jays management going forward.
The DBacks never entered a rebuild. They traded Goldy for MLB ready prospects, a couple of whom had already reached the majors (Weaver and Kelly)
The Dbacks are a rare example of a team that never fully entered a rebuild. They aren’t contenders now either though. Hazen has done a world class job to get them to this point but that team still needs a lot to be a championship contender.
Gurriel played quite well when he moved to the outfield. It was like a burden was lifted off his shoulders. Why move him from there? The Jays are fine at the infield positions Gurriel would play. Things are less certain in the outfield, where the Jays have a lot of outfielders, but not a lot of quality outfielders. They should keep Gurriel and keep him in the outfield.
Give Gurriel reps at first base and see how he develops. That would solidify the Jays infield.
Why waste his athleticism, great arm and general good play in left field (for non-Jays watchers who think I’m nuts, trust me he was great in left when he moved over) just to “solidify the Jays infield”? I’m not saying that he’s the next Jackie Bradley Jr or Kevin Kiermaier with the glove, but he’s shown himself to be an asset out there since the move. Yeah they’re going to need a first baseman, but I’d be fine bringing back Smoak for another year to platoon with Tellez, and by 2022 I’d expect they to have shifted Vlad across the diamond with Groshans (or someone outside of the organization) to play the hot corner.
Also I’d want Gurriel in the outfield because the Jays’ outfield depth on the Major League roster is garbage (excuse my cynicism for not thinking that Derek “Call me ‘Riley Reid’ with all these balls to the face” Fisher and Billy McKinney are the future for a team that even dreams about sniffing October baseball). Alford is someone I lost hope for like two years ago, it feels like I lost hope in Pompey about a decade ago at this point, Toescar playing the outfield is like my mom playing the outfield (for reference, she hobbles around with a cane), and on top of this their best three or so outfield prospects haven’t even played an inning in AA (one has only played Rookie Ball).
Looking at his family tree he is not going to be foreign to playing LF and 1B. So while I agree that Vlad appears to be the one that will move to first base eventually, maybe until then gurriel moves to 1st and takes it over. Dont preclude moving back to LF short or long term. Jays have frequently talked about positional flexibility.
So move Vlad Jr to RF since we’re talking family tree?
Another straw man…you’re on fire this morning!
Jordan Groshans is in A ball. Let’s not go penciling him into lineups lol
Vladdy is not an outfielder. If Teoscar can’t make it out there, Guerrero has no dang chance.
Sinker I was referring to Beer’s remark about Gurriel. Vlad needs to lose serious weight to play RF. I wouldn’t completely discount the idea due to Vlad’s cannon of an arm. If Gurriel can play decent LF I’d give Vlad a fighting chance.
No reason to make that move anyway with Grichuk holding RF for the next few years.
Vlad’s body could not survive the outfield. He’s too big. It’s not even worth trying. Trim him down and let him try 3B one more year. If he still
can’t move laterally then plant him at 1B and let him whack.
I never said that Groshans was a sure thing or anything. I know that it’s a bit optimistic, and that’s why I was sure to include that it may be someone else from outside the Toronto organization who would be playing there. It’s not outlandish in my view though that he could come up early in that season assuming that things continue to follow its course.
I thought you were joking about moving Gurriel to 1B. Wow.
Anyway…for 2020 at least, Rowdy will get a shot at being the fulltime first baseman. They Jays need to know if he should be around for the Vladdy Era of Total Goodness, or if he is just minors depth.
But I wouldn’t object to seeing Teoscar gets some reps at 1B. His speed and arm would be great in the OF, but he has struggled with the glove. If he can be a power bat off the bench, pinch hit, pinch run, and back up OF-1B, that is something. It’s a disappointment not having him start, with all that physical talent, but he could be a dangerous bench guy.
Gurriel Junior belongs in the outfield. He is the Jay’s best outfielder. Hernandez belongs at DH. He’ll never be a plus defender in the outfield.
Vlad Junior belongs at first base or DH. He can share that with Tellez or Hernandez. Vlad jr won’t last at third, too many errors, fitness level is irrelevant.
The fact that the Jays are considering these bonehead moves reinforces my beliefs that someone high inter organization doesn’t have a clue.
How many guys you want playing DH?
Relax a little.
That’s a question you should pose to Ross and Mark. They seem to enjoy acquiring DH-first players.
Of the 3 players named they acquired 1 of them. Nice straw man.
Morales (DH), Pearce (DH), Bautista (turning 37) – all needed to DH, all acquired in the same offseason. Way to forget all that. History is important.
Past is the past, the future is now. Focus on 2020 to start. And lose the pretentious attitude. It’s a forum not your personal country club.
Lol so you were wrong and you switched to talking about his attitude. Nice.
McKinney can’t defend, Teoscar can’t defend, Gurriel isn’t a great defender, Fisher can’t defend, Morales/Pearce..
Coldbeer tells a guy to relax a little and turns to talk about being pretentious. Nice work. Go to bed.
You guys consistently miss the points being made to suit your own opinions like it’s a competition. Lol. Get a grip. Have a discussion.
Relax a little….
Wow…it’s not often I agree with jimmertree but I totally agree that Gurriel is the Jays best outfielder and shouldn’t be moved. Hernandez should be moved, I can’t take his “use the force” method of outfield I get and his continued undisciplined approach at the plate. I’d rather see Davis play and hit .150 than to see Teoscar stumbling around the outfield again. McKinney and Fisher I swear are the same guy and neither are very good 5th OF in my mind.
There is a need for bullpen arms by some top teams. Giles is near the top, or at the top, of the list of right handed relievers. Trade him. Stop the hyperbole. If you want to keep Giles you better go hard for the best free agents and be serious. Ken Giles can be leveraged for for a good return.
More OFs? Sure.
Teoscar and Gurriel to the INF? Sure.
Tellez deserves another year to prove himself. Otherwise if the Jays quit on him they may as well quit/trade Grichuk.
I’ve never understood what people see in Tellez. He’s a poor hitter, a poor base runner, and a mediocre fielding 1st basemen.
Its a fair point. Not sure what to make of the Blue Jays, if they want to win or give the rebuild another year. If it’s the latter they need to give Tellez one more year. Otherwise they might consider Gurriel at 1B to make way for Fisher to start in CF with Teoscar in LF. Not sure if that makes things better,
Power.
Howie Kendrick would be a terrific addition as a 1B option and savvy vet that could show this young squad how to be professionals. They would probably have to seriously overpay to entice him to go north of the boarder however. Rick Procello and Michael Wacha would be cheap yet serviceable rotation plugs and Billy Hamilton and his amazing baserunning and fielding metrics would be a good 4th outfielder on a team that lacks a true CF. I wrote in a previous post that I believe the Jay’s aren’t as far off as some may perceive.
Pitching prevents the Jays from being close. Cheap and serviceable won’t get it done. Pearson might be an ace, might not.
You are correct about the true CF. Jays really need a boost at pitching.
Why would Porcello or Kendrick wanna come to Toronto. They’ve made tons of money. They’re championship hunting.
Like I said, they’d have to grossly overpay but the veteran presence and serviceable production would be a real asset to a team like the Jays
Shogo Akiyama
” MLBTR projects he’ll rake in a two-year, $6MM guarantee this offseason”
That’s it? If he’s legit in CF I’d snap him up. On base skill and pop in his bat. With the Super Ball they’re using that lets Ozzie Albies go 405 feet the other way he’ll fully translate.
So we have a thin skillset of outfielders and the solution is to potentially move two OFs to the infield?
Lmao this front office kills me. I remember Buck preaching to be patient with Hernandez and Fisher. They need 1500ab and regular playing in the OF before we can see what they really are. Nobody knows what this front office is doing. Not even the front office smh
maybe Giles can come back to philly. we need a closer and he knows philly. should have not been traded in the 1st place GM Matt k can undo this mistake with a trade to bring him back. I think it will only cost a mid level prospect. just do it matty.