The Angels announced that they have signed veteran outfielder Jon Jay to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported earlier that Jay was close to a deal with a club.
Jay, 36 next month, has appeared with six different teams since he first entered the majors as a Cardinal over a decade ago. His finest years came from 2010-14, all in St. Louis, as Jay overcame low power to post above-average batting averages and on-base percentages en route to a .295/.359/.396 line (112 wRC+) in 2,424 plate appearances.
Jay struggled during his final year as a Cardinal, 2015, but rebounded to log league-average numbers in the ensuing two seasons with the Padres and Cubs (Angels manager Joe Maddon was the Cubs’ skipper then). Since 2018, though, Jay’s output has fallen off a cliff. In a combined 1,258 PA with the Royals, White Sox and Diamondbacks, he batted an underwhelming .272/.337/.347 (86 wRC+). Last season was especially tough for Jay, who hit by far a career-worst .160/.211/.240 as a D-back, though that came over just 57 trips to the plate.
Jay, despite his difficulties in 2020, did parlay a minors deal into a big league roster spot then. He’ll hope to do the same this year as outfield depth for the Angels. The fact that Jay has extensive experience at all three outfield positions surely appealed to the Halos.
cant wait for the hate comments. dunno why this guy gets hammered so hard.
When the article states that Jay hit “an underwhelming .272” since 2018, that kinda sets up the haters. In my book .272 is pretty respectable for a journeyman OF.
Did you just ignore the .347 slug? Or do you not know what those number mean?
It’s where you oddly cut it off, but it’s not the .272 that is important in that sentence
“.337/.347 (86 wRC+)”
That is the problem when you’re a poor fielding OFer over the age of 35
Plus, hes been dramatically worse than even that the last 2 seasons
I agree with you… I mean no one’s claiming that he’s an Allstar caliber OF, in fact he’s not even really a passable regular at this point in his career. But he doesn’t need to be… he’s already had his peak and was quite solid for a time as a ML regular. But now he’s a reserve OF and everyone who’s jumping on the “he sucks and… what do you not even understand what his stats mean?” bandwagon are just being ignorant. Hes not a starter anymore nor is he even really a great part time OF. But he still puts together professional at bats and is a passable reserve. There’s no reason for people to be hating on him so hard… his role is just to fill in from time to time and hitting. 272, even without any power at all, is still a solid enough clip to provide some (albeit not a lot) of value just by allowing the starters to get rest and knowing that by giving a starter a day off you can plug this guy in and he’ll provide you with competitive, professional at bats
It’s probably due to his College of Criminal Justice. It’s the only thing I can think of.
Cue the tolling of the Law and Order percussive chords
Cornering the market on fringe OFers.
Does he pitch?
Dang it! You beat me to it…
Lol
Well, he does have a career 0.00 ERA in 1 IP…
Donnnggg … Donnnggg … wherrre is my autommooobille??
Beat me too
Jon Jay what you say!
John Jay? He’s gotta be 270 years old!
Beware the Ides of March.
35
cmon, he was the first chief justice. surely he’s at least 40!
Congrats darkside. I can’t believe other you and me (and the horses we rode in on) know how historic His name is.
He was in the room when it happened with Hamilton and Burr at White Sox camp. Which I believe was on the banks of the Delaware.
Room “where” it happened
He was good only 7 years ago so he fits right in. A veteran to help Marsh and Adell is not a bad thing. The Angels need that 8th inning guy. If they add him, this team’s chances improve dramatically. They have about a week.
Jay will platoon with Trout.
All seriousness not a bad move here.
I didn’t know he was still playing.
Signing Jay. K. Who’s next Elle?
Followed by Eminem, Opie Taylor, and Coach Joel Queneville (“Q”).
The Say Jay kid
Ok. So…Schleber, Jay, Ligares on minors deals. One gets the 4th outfielder spot, one makes the 5 man taxi squad for road games, one goes to AAA.
Let the Spring Training battle begin.
i’m excited for this and i’m not even an Angles fan
Angels having a killer off season if it was 2013-14.
If the Angels sign that 8th inning setup man, I’ll consider this a successful off season, but when they signed Claudio I had a feeling they were going to trial and error the pen again; like they have done for more than a decade and it has not worked even once during that span.
we know
First I am hearing of this
Really? You knew I thought it was a successful off season. Because when I said the Claudio signing was worrisome, not one poster agreed with me.
I am kidding Halo11. You have made you concerns, which are completely valid, abundantly clear.
Claudio has nothing to do with not signing anybody. If they wanted to sign another high priced RP they would of. Oh, and as far as an 8th inning guy, there’s no such thing. A teams best hitters might come up in the 7th, use your #2 accordingly.
Yeah the signing for Claudio was a lateral move from Noe. Same expected leverage situation, same salary, similar everything but HR rate (Claudio gives them up half as often). There was no reason to flip out over Claudio.
It was the move to grab Cobb when Odorizzi and Paxton were on the table. The lack of a move to grab Tanaka. Somebody, anybody to move the needle a bit more.
Quintana was fine as the B side addition to the rotation. When he became the A side, it sucked.
I’m still holding out hope for one more solid reliever. But that hope is fading.
You are dead wrong. Of course it showed something. You don’t fill the last man in your bullpen that early. Especially not in this market. Not in any market. It made no sense. He obviously thinks far too much of Claudio. How do you still not see this?
They got Cobb because they only have to pay him $5mil. And since it was a trade he couldn’t say no to their (likely) low offers to Paxton or Odorizzi
what good is $5 mil when it’s not making your team better? cobb is not better than canning or heaney.
Jabron. I would have rather added a riskier pitcher who had upside. We have other pitchers who are just as good.
Halo11, There is no such thing as “the last man in a bullpen”. I laugh hilariously every time you say this. Virtually Every relief pitcher in spring training (dozens) is competing for a spot on the 26 man opening day roster. Iglesias, based on his pay, probably has a spot locked up. That’s it!
I guess we have dozens of “last men in the pen”, competing for 8 last spot on the rosters. Lmao!
There is not last man in the pen? Lol. He’s the worst man in the pen. How about that? A loogy who has trouble getting RH out has historically been the last man in the pen. It has been debated that such a player has less value than the last position player. Bill James has a great article on this. With the three man minimum, the debate is now over.
Even now that signing doesn’t tell you something? Wow, you must be the Sargent Schultz of the message board.
Halo11 says, if you sign a LOOGY. You can’t sign another RP that off season. Hahahaha! Thanks for that insight 😉
I never said any such thing. At the time, It scared me that they signed someone like Claudio when the bullpen had such glaring needs.? Why get that guy so early..
That was two month ago and if you haven’t come around to what I have been saying you are either stupid or have been lying to yourself.
Since you had to distort my point of view, that tells me you know I was right. As Brian Kinney just said on his show, in this market, there is no excuse for having a bad pen. As Adams says on this site. I have no idea what the Angels are doing.
Wow! A little bull headed are you? Nobody’s wrong or right at this point, or might not be at all. Just because you’re the only one that thinks like you, doesn’t make all of us wrong.
Claudio is not the last guy in the pen, and for that matter, he’s not even going to be the worst in the pen either. He’s not terrible like you think, and you keep preaching consistency, he’s the 2nd best we have in that matter right now.
Career 3.44 era, dominant vs. Lefties. Even his line last year vs. RH hitters wasn’t that bad at a 268/.348/.390 slash line. He’s pitched a lot of multiple innings in his career, if the Angels do just use him as an LOOGY, his ERA next year will even be better than his career 3.44.
Last thing: the Angels jumped out and signed Claudio for one reason. When you find a good price on a pitcher you like, GRAB HIM! You don’t wait, or he’ll been gone. The reason they may or may not sign another top RP arm this off season is all about price, not because of Claudio. You put a price on the RP talent you’re looking at, and don’t go much over. There’s still a few good arms still left out there only for one reason, there asking to much.
I like bringing him and Pujols back together. 2011 Cardinals are one of my favorite teams of all time.
Milt Thompson too
I’m shocked we didn’t sign Yadi. It was a perfect Arte move.
Thank you Angels! I was afraid my Dbacks might sign him again.
He won’t make the team. I’m hoping he accepts a AAA assignment.
Manny Machado’s friend…
The band The Ides of March had a big hit with the song “Vehicle,” maybe from the early 70’s. John Jay was also, as has been mentioned in other posts, a Founding Father and the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and the second governor of New York state. The OFer Jon Jay has actually had some decent success as a major league player. He stole 19 bags for the Cards in 2012, scored 145 runs that season and 2013 combined, and had 74 runs and 141 hits for the Royals and D’Backs in 2018. It just seems like some of us feel he hasn’t made anything of his life. I just hope that Jay has something left in the tank while doing battle with the likes of Scott Schebler, Juan Lagares, Taylor Ward, Jared Walsh, Phil Gosselin, and maybe even Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh for AB’s. We’ll see in a few short weeks if Jon Jay is up to the task. But I do like this signing by the Angels even if it’s just because it’s a minor league deal.
This post is a bit long in the tooth
Why? Maddon owe him a favor?
Cub jinglemyer schmidt will sign next after jon jay.
Some players sign knowing they won’t make the team but rather to get work in and audition for other teams, this may be one of those situations
He might as well keep trying. Beats working a real job.
Jay ha rather quietly put together a very respectable career. He may not have much left in the tank now, but I wouldn’t count him out entirely just yet. He’s got solid plate discipline and good contact skills so I wouldn’t be surprised if he winds up making the team at some point this season and putting up respectable numbers as a reserve OF.
I know our new GM is peddling as hard as he can in this his first offseason, but the biggest headline the Angels have generated so far is Howie Kendrick’s retirement.