The Blue Jays have non-tendered corner infielder Travis Shaw and reliever A.J. Cole, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star tweets.
Formerly a productive third baseman with the Brewers, Shaw endured a terrible 2019 in his final season with the club. The Blue Jays still signed him to a $4MM guarantee last offseason, and while Shaw did post much better numbers, they weren’t enough for him to remain in their plans at a similar salary for 2021. The 30-year-old ended the season as a .239/.306/.411 hitter with six home runs in 180 plate appearances.
Cole has struggled with home runs at times, though he only yielded them on 9.7 percent of fly balls in 2020, helping him to a terrific 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings. But some of Cole’s other numbers, including a 4.31 FIP, 7.71 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9, were less impressive. He’d have only made around $1MM via arbitration, but the Blue Jays weren’t willing to keep him around for that.
Next headline:
“Blue Jays Showing Interest in Free Agents Travis Shaw, A.J. Cole”
Lmao
* slow clap *
Exactly the first thing I thought when I saw the headline lol
Ok
That is funny!
Well played
Lol
Would have kept Cole. No need for Waguespack. Why is Fisher still on the roster? This is not a league of jugglers.
I hope Fisher is gone if/when the jays add an OF. Sign springer bye bye Fisher. Fingers crossed!
He should have been cut after that Yankee game.
Will be interesting how the roster is handled if Springer is signed. They have to deal Grichuk but Teoscar gets you pitching. And then 2022 the Jays will need to make a decision if Austin Martin is ready. Groshans too.
Does Shaw wind up in Tampa now for his next reemergence?
Brewers overpay him to return.
Uh no.
John – I would not be surprised to see Travis Shaw in Tampa for 4 month next season then get flipped for prospects…..
Tampa has a logjam at the 3b/1b positions.
Between Ji Man Choi, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Yandy Diaz, Michael Brosseau, and Nate Lowe I can’t see Shaw getting any playing time nor would he even be filling a depth need as the players listed are all comparable or better. And for a team that isn’t looking to spend money unnecessarily. More likely to see Shaw in Baltimore where they cut ties with Nunez.
Cole isn’t great but it’s a bit surprising since they don’t have much behind Romano and Dolis. Hopefully it just means they’ll be active in the relief market.
Romano, Dolis, Borucki, Merryweather, Hatch, Stripling, Murphy and 1 more I guess. Probably missing more arms. Hatch is supposedly starting but that remains to be seen.
Sean Reid-Foley could be intriguing as a reliever too.
Interesting is a word to describe him.
I hope he is but he really needs to get the walks under control, which has been a problem for years now.
Wow, pretty surprised that Cole wasn’t retained considering it wasn’t for a bunch of money (relatively speaking). He was great for most of this season. I doubt he’d have put up 2021 numbers that were as solid as his 2020 numbers, but it would be worth the gamble to keep him in my opinion.
Was surprised Cole wasnt brought back either. Only would have been around 800k.
Might be able to bring back Cole on a minor league deal with $1-1.2 million guaranteed if he makes the majors with a player opt out date. Just opening room for 2 FA signings with Fisher getting DFA’d after they sign OF.
That would be more than he was going to get awarded in arbitration! He signs somewhere for $700-$800K.
I’ve heard it speculated that there might be more guys betting on themselves by signing minor league deals with end of spring opt outs at higher salaries if they make a team instead of cheaper guarantees. Cole seems like a guy who could make that kind of play.
Good to see the Jays got rid of Shaw and Cole. Neither one of them belong on a championship team. The Bluejays still have lots of work to do on this roster. FIsher and arguably Espinal should be gone.
Let’s see if Shapiro/Atkins can find a gem in rule 5. I am not hopeful since the BlueJays scouting of other teams minor league organizations is so poor.
Let’s add Springer. That means Grichuk is RF where he should be. Gurriel Jr is in left. Hernandez is a DH/1B. Wait so is Vlad Jr and Rowdy. Who goes?
2nd belongs to Biggio and SS is Bo Bichette until he breaks down again. That leaves 3B and infield/outfield depth to shore up. I suppose Hernandez can be a 4th outfielder. Arenado would look good at 3rd base. Time to trade.
Ryu is a lock. Pearson needs to be in the rotation and brought slowly along. Borucki and Hatch need to ben tried in the rotation. Roark is likely released not far into the season. Stripling is long relief and an opener. Thornton is likely gone too. The rest are poor depth. The need is one more front of the rotation guy like a Bauer or trade.
I’ve suddenly got Oscar Colas tied with Kim atop my wishlist.
Couple arms but wait for an ace to hit the trade market and sign top relief options for now would be my personal preference.
By July, I feel like one of the Mets/Phils/Nats will be falling out of the NL East race and we might see Syndergaard, Nola, or Scherzer hit the trade market.
Save them trade chips!
The perfect fit for blue Jays rotation is one that needs a sneaky middleman.
If Toronto can partner with someone without letting the rays know, you GO GET SNELL.
It’s relatively simple. Team b trades for snell, then once they’ve got him, flips him to TOR on a prearranged deal. Gets around the intradivision reservations and prospect premium, but, the control, years remaining, ability to pitch in the east, all a good fit.
GASox, you’re hired. Take Atkins laptop and make it happen.
Cole has an ERA/FIP of 3.47/4.05 over the past two years.
I consider him mediocre, but the only important question is, now that you saved $800k, what type of RP can you get to replace him, using that $800k? That’s why the RS and NYY retained Braiser & Cessa. Not because they are great, but because they fill a role at a really cheap cost.
Unless you think that Cole is not good enough to make the team, then I don’t understand saving $800k here.