3:04 pm: The Jays will, however, exercise their $1.5MM club option on reliever Rafael Dolis, per various reporters (including Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star). The 32-year-old Dolis pitched to a 1.50 ERA/3.02 FIP in his first season in Toronto after returning from NPB.
1:05 pm: The Blue Jays have declined their $9.5MM club option on right-hander Chase Anderson, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). He’ll receive a $500K buyout and hit free agency.
Anderson, who turns 33 in November, lasted just one season in Toronto after coming over in a trade from the Brewers. He tossed 33.2 innings with a 7.22 ERA in his only season as a Jay, thanks largely to a shocking eleven home runs allowed in that time. On the plus side, Anderson did manage solid strikeout (24.7%) and walk (6.5%) rates in that small sample.
The veteran started at least 27 games every season from 2015-19, so he’ll likely attract interest from teams seeking durable back-of-the-rotation depth.
still think he can be a viable SP option
If you put him in a park that doesn’t give up many home runs, maybe.
Crazy to think he never pitched for the Jays in Toronto.
I think he may have pitched a game or two in summer camp, both for against the Jays in Toronto.
Still gotta pay Tanner Roark $12 million next year. 🙁
Shapiro/Atkins team has done a shockingly bad job getting pitching help. They’re basically right back where they were a year ago other than Ryu, still need basically a whole rotation.
Ryu, Pearson, Stripling, Merryweather, Roark, Kay, Hatch, Zeuch, Murphy, and possibly one or more of Walker, Ray or Shoemaker.
Ken Rose you basically proved his point. After Pearson you have a staff ready for 4th place next year.
Kind of easy to say this after the fact, especially when the Jays couldn’t of predicted Anderson getting injured during Spring Training, and COVID shutting down Spring Training so Anderson could never get proper rehab.
While they weren’t big moves by the Jays, they got Anderson and Roark as proven inning eaters. Can’t fault them for taking a chance on them.
Well said
You obviously haven’t been paying attention my guy. That or you’re just extremely ignorant to the point where you mention and then disregard two additions to the Blue Jays rotation in the span of 3 sentences. That’s some world class mental gymnastics right there. Gold medal material.
Also does Ross Strpling’s name ring a bell? How about Julian Merryweather who shined in his first taste of MLB action after a much maligned 1 for 1 trade for JD? He should get a shot in earnest to stick in the rotation next year I would assume.
This Shatkins hate needs to stop. The boys, albeit in an expanded playoff format, made the playoffs in their first full year together, without Bichette most of the way mind you. What more could you possibly ask for other than for a higher power to magically grant you some much needed patience?
This core is so young we have soooo much time for player development to dictate our future plans as far as bringing in FA help. Martin/Groshans/Kloffenstein/Manoah/SWR are on the horizon and I don’t think you’ll see any marquee additions until we get a better picture of how they fit into the mix. Ryu, Pearson, Stripling, Roark are basically guaranteed spots in the rotation as it stands now and there’s no point in fretting over what are basically still just developmental seasons for this young extremely talented group of players. Give them some time to blossom and you’ll soon see the pocketbooks open up and witness what will most likely be a perennial contender.
Wow do you have rose-coloured glasses, lol. You are so wrong on so many fronts I’m not even going to start laying out the arguments cause you couldn’t possibly see how wrong you are. Best indicator is just to look at all the negative comments in here. Shatkins has been and will continue to be a complete failure. And the man they rode out of town is now leading a team that will win many WS titles in the next decade. Hopefully the jays will be able to make the playoffs once in the next decade in a real season. Cause there won’t be anymore of these 62 game seasons.
shatkins < AA.
That said, I don't think they're totally inept or totally at fault. Me thinks Rogers is doing a little penny pinching. But, they aren't without some faults either.
Tell us how you really feel hersch
I like your spirit Janus.
Disagree about the soooo much time part. I don’t even know if I’d give it a so with one ‘o’.
2021 is the year.
Remember Pearson was only used for 24 and then 28 pitches in his 2 appearances after returning from injury.
He could be stretched out for opening day but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a month or two in the minors to manage his workload and work on getting through lineups two or more times.
Also Thornton will apparently be ready by opening day but definitely has to earn a chance again. Has options too.
Ryu, Roark, Pearson, Stripling, Thornton, Hatch, Zeuch all had starts in a non-opener role in 2020.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Zeuch get a chance to start the year. Or Hatch. Both with options.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Merryweather tried as a starter either. Doesn’t have option, Give him the first shot at the #5 spot. Even as an opener to start the year. Stretch him out in the majors considering the lack of option.
For April:
1. Ryu
2. imaginary pitcher that hasn’t signed yet…
3. Stripling
4. Roark
5. Merryweather
AAA to start out… Hatch, Zeuch, Thornton, stretch Borucki/Kay?, keep Waguespack around?
Advance some younger that are more lined up for 2022 at best?
For May Pearson can bump someone.
For July an ace type can be a trade target.
1. traded ace of my daydreams
2. Ryu
3. Pearson
4. the imaginary signing
5 can be any mix of Stripling/Roark/Merryweather or whichever guys are excelling in the minors.
Likely to see a couple injuries so adding any depth possible now would be great.
Bumping everyone down by 2-4 slots right now would feel much better, but there is definitely some time to let a few things shake out.
I like your imaginary calls.
Stripling is about done as a starter. Roark is done period and Merryweather is a reliever but there are lots of arms like Hatch or Borucki that can hopefully step up.
Kay is a reliever or a poor 4th guy in the rotation. Thornton might be done. Waguespack can throw innings but likely isn’t on a championship level club.
Zeuch is what he is.
More imaginary trades and signings please.
Zeuch only had a late start against Baltimore so he’d definitely need a couple months in the minors.
Hatch and Borucki were transitioned to relief and would probably need a couple months in the minors to adjust again.
Merryweather as an opener for a month and if he’s electric, let him go a 2nd time through orders for a bit. Why not try it?
Kay needs work on control, however he ends up being used.
Thornton had strong outings as a rookie against Yankees, Red Sox and Astros tough offenses and is hard to count out for 2021. Needs a couple months to work back up anyway.
Stripling had a couple successful starts as a Dodger. The Jays used him sporadically so it’s really tough to judge him in my view.
Roark might perform better in a flex role if he was willing. Overpaid flex guy for sure, but maybe able to maximize his value early in the season this way. Don’t have to use him against the Yankees or Red Sox in a full season if he’s a flex guy.
I really think signing high upside, high risk guys would be the best strategy considering there is some untapped depth to call upon if the high risk part wins out.
Paxton, Kluber, Richards, Giles, Smyly, Hill, Wood, Rosenthal standing out for me.
Janus until they do something worthwhile that amounts to more than an 8-seed in a league that typically takes only 5 teams to the post-season, expect more hate toward the regime. You also laid out facts suggesting they deserve ridicule. Stripling isn’t good, Merryweather is 30 and can’t stay healthy, you have zero SP depth and minimal talent after Pearson at this time.
If you want to measure baseball mentality I’d say you need to hit the gym hard. What you said made a nice case for 4th place in the AL East.
Yes, especially considering there were some brainless people who didn’t even think they’d be competing for the playoffs last year, much less making them.
He was shockingly bad as a Blue Jay.
I see an incentive loaded Mets contract in his future…
Has anybody picked up an option yet?
Marlins picked up Marte’s and Yankees picked up Brittons.
That’s a Positive move, next trade Roark & Grichuk to clear they’re contracts, then sign Walker, He’s stated he would like to return. Roark will be hard to get rid of.
Keep Roark. He’s obviously overpaid, but he’s somebody you can count on to be healthy if injuries decimate the rotation, and he’s not as terrible as the microseason made him look. Buy low, sell high, not the opposite… especially since you’d have to pay most of his salary to get somebody to take Roark.
2020 was all about maximizing bullpen use in a short season because you can. 2021 is going to be full of injuries due to everyone getting a huge jump in innings, so you need an innings eater like him.
Dude, teams are turning down options below $10 million for quality players right now. There’s no way any team takes GRichuk or Roark unless the Jay eat nearly all of their contracts.
Or take a huge contract in return?!
I thought Jose Reyes was absolutely untradeable at one point.
Arenado, Longoria, Heyward, Votto, Moustakas, MCarpenter, Fowler, Cano, McCutchen, Upton, KSeager, KDavis, CDavis are contracts that teams might consider swaps involving Grichuk and/or Roark plus varying level of prospects depending on the player.
Orioles would need to include Rutschmann for a Chris Davis move while a Khris Davis might not even need to involve prospects at all.
Jays would need to include a few prospects if it was Arenado.
There are some high cost names there that I wouldn’t hate to see the Jays trade for, but also some names that make me appreciate the value of Grichuk and Roark a bit more.
The only hope is Arte Moreno. He inexplicably took the Vernon Wells contract, so let’s hope he’s a big Grichuk/Roark fan.
Anderson was bad and called so from Day 1.
It is time to cut Roark and Stripling or bullpen them. Do NOT resign Shoemaker.
That leaves Ryu, Pearson, Hatch, and Borucki internally for starting pitching,
I would take a run at Tanaka, Taijuan W, Jake Odorizzi, Marcus Stroman, Brad Keller, and Jake Arrieta, and see who is obtainable.
The rest of the internal options are bullpen/long relief until they mature and prove themselves worthy of a start.
stro-show isn’t (or very unlikely) coming back. too much bad blood, on talent alone he makes sense, smart money says hot-lanta before the jays.
Keller’s going to be expensive
If you’re putting Arrieta in you ought to include Paxton. Paxton was arguably better than Stroman a year ago. He could be had for less than he would normally command if-healthy. And if-healthy he’s a darn good arm.
Deal Roark for a bad, expiring contract at 3B or 2B. Blue Jays have already declared Borucki a bullpen arm and have quit on him as a starter. Hypocritical considering they are exploring Kay, Merryweather and Hatch as starters.
I like Paxton but I wonder about his health, that is reason I wouldn’t go for him unless it was a dirt cheap contract.
Borucki could be a money starter. Yes he is a very good reliever but to write him off from starting is silly. Kay has a long way to go to be a consistent starter and then he is a #4. Merryweather could be an allstar setup guy. I don’t think his arm lasts through more than one turn of the batting order. Hatch has a bright future.
Paxton would be a base plus incentives with an option kicked in if benchmarks are met. If healthy he would be a #2. If healthy he’s potentially the best option behind Bauer.
I feel like Anderson could be a solid bounce-back candidate this off-season, but not for a $10 million price tag.
What was Dolis doing for 6 years?
NPB
NPB: “Not Playing Baseball”? No wait, that was Daniel Bard!
The first order of business is complete.