Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Randal Grichuk

Blue Jays, Rockies Swap Randal Grichuk For Raimel Tapia

By | at

3:32PM: Toronto will send Colorado $9,716,333, according to Rob Gillies of The Associated Press.  Those payments are split up as $5,383,333 this season and $4,333,333 for the 2023 season.

1:57PM: Both clubs have officially announced the trade.

12:01PM: The Blue Jays and Rockies have agreed to a trade sending outfielder Randal Grichuk from Toronto to Colorado in exchange for outfielder Raimel Tapia, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Jays will acquire infield prospect Adrian Pinto from the Rockies, and they’ll also send cash to Colorado to help cover Grichuk’s contract, Feinsand adds.

Grichuk, 30, has been viewed as a trade candidate for more than a year now as the Rockies have deepened their outfield mix and Grichuk’s performance has slipped. Signed to a five-year contract covering the 2019-23 seasons, Grichuk is still owed $9.33MM both this season and next, while Tapia and the Rox settled on a $3.95MM salary earlier this week. He’s arbitration-eligible and controlled through the 2023 season himself. The difference in salary between the two players clocks in at about $14.7MM.

Randal Grichuk | David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Grichuk signed a five-year, $52MM contract back on April 2, 2019 — fresh off a 2018 season in which he’d batted .245/.301/.502 with what was then a career-high 25 home runs in 462 plate appearances. It was something of a head-scratching deal even at the time, as Grichuk’s perennial OBP struggles worked to offset his power and solid glovework in the outfield. That’s not to say he wasn’t a useful player, but the Jays already controlled Grichuk for two seasons and were effectively committing about $39-40MM on top of what he might’ve earned in arbitration to buy out his first three free-agent seasons.

Since putting pen to paper, Grichuk has posted a .242/.286/.448 batting line with 65 home runs in 1414 plate appearances. Among the 159 players with at least 1000 plate appearances in that three-year stretch, he ranks 158th in on-base percentage. To his credit, Grichuk curbed his strikeout rate from 26.4% in 2018 all the way down to 20.9% in 2021, but the gains in contact didn’t result in a better average and his walk rate dipped to a career-low 5.0%. It’s clear that there’s above-average pop in his bat, but defensive metrics have also soured on Grichuk’s work in center over the past couple seasons. Meanwhile, the Jays have signed George Springer and received breakouts from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez since signing Grichuk to that long-term pact.

There were reports even while the lockout was still ongoing that Tapia could be on the move when transactions resumed. Adding Kris Bryant as the new primary left fielder surely only hastened the Rockies’ efforts to move Tapia, who’d previously occupied that position. Grichuk can serve as a primary center fielder or right fielder in Colorado, and he’ll bring the Rox quite a bit more power than Tapia ever offered — albeit at the expense of some speed, on-base percentage and (arguably) defensive value.

Raimel Tapia | Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

In Tapia, the Jays will get a much-needed lefty bat to help balance out an entirely right-handed outfield mix (and a generally right-leaning lineup overall). The 28-year-old has served as Colorado’s primary left fielder since 2019, logging a .282/.327/.394  slash line that appears solid on the surface but falls well shy of average after weighting for home park and league (79 wRC+). Tapia has strong bat-to-ball skills but an extreme ground-ball approach that has resulted in just 16 home runs through 1186 plate appearances since 2019. He can swipe a base when needed (37 steals with a 77.1% success rate across the past three seasons. Like Grichuk, he’s not one to take many walks (6.3% since ’19), but he’s also a tough strikeout, evidenced by last year’s career-best 13.1% mark.

Tapia has received solid marks in left field from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (4), Ultimate Zone Rating (6.0) and Outs Above Average (7) since emerging as a regular in the lineup at Coors Field. He’s at least capable of playing center in a pinch, having logged 189 innings there in his career (15 this past season, none in 2020, 83 in 2019). Those ratings, plus his left-handed bat, make him a better fit for Toronto’s roster than the right-handed-hitting Grichuk was.

While Tapia may not be the star the Rockies envisioned when he ranked among the sport’s 50 best prospects in the 2016-17 offseason, he’s emerged as a solid defensive outfielder with better-than-average speed and bat-to-ball skills. The Jays will likely hope to coax some more fly-balls out of Tapia, thus generating some extra power, but even if his batted-ball profile remains unchanged, he can be a useful fourth outfielder for a club that is deep in slugging right-handed options.

As for the 19-year-old Pinto, he’ll give the Jays something of a prospect wild card to plug into the low levels of their farm system. Baseball America rated Pinto 19th in a fairly thin Rockies system this spring, labeling the 5’6″ second baseman as a “breakout candidate” who could take substantial steps forward as he moves from the Dominican Summer League to a full-season affiliate.

Pinto hit .360/.486/.543 in 224 DSL plate appearances last season, walking at a massive 17% clip against just an 8% strikeout rate while leading the league with 41 stolen bases. BA’s scouting report lauds his “outstanding” hand-eye coordination, advanced pitch recognition skills and plus-plus speed. Players of his size and stature will always have their share of skeptics, but the Jays probably feel better about paying Grichuk to play elsewhere if they’re viewing part of the transaction as an effective purchase of Pinto from the Rockies.

Trade Candidate: Randal Grichuk

By | at

Just over one year ago, the Toronto Blue Jays signed George Springer to a six-year, $150MM contract, the largest deal in franchise history. After that signing, it was speculated by many that a trade could follow, given that they already had three other capable outfielders in Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk. Instead, they ended up hanging onto all four players, which may have been the wise choice, as Springer spent significant time on the IL, appearing in just 78 games and only playing center field in 40 of those.

In his absence, center field was largely manned by Grichuk, who spent parts of 96 games there, including 87 starts. Unfortunately, he had arguably the worst season of his career. He’s never been an on-base guy, with a 6.3% walk rate back in 2015 marking his career high. But he slipped even lower in 2021, landing at 5.0%, his lowest since his debut season in 2014. On the positive side, he dropped his strikeout rate to 20.9%, a career best. He also still showed some power by hitting 22 home runs. His center field defense was passable, being rated as just below average by all three of DRS, UZR and OAA. But in the end, his line for the season was .241/.281/.423. His wRC+ of 85 was five points lower than his previous career low, and his 0.4 fWAR was his lowest since his 47-game debut in 2014.

Back in early December, it was reported that the Blue Jays and Brewers had discussions on a trade centered around Grichuk and Jackie Bradley Jr.,  before the Brewers and Red Sox agreed to a deal with a framework of Bradley and Hunter Renfroe. This suggests the Jays have at least some openness to moving on from the two years and $20.67MM remaining on the extension they inked with Grichuk in April of 2019.

Trading Grichuk now is awkward for a couple reasons, even beyond the lockout. His value is surely at a low ebb, given the disappointing season he just had in 2021. There’s also the fact that the club would be lacking in outfield depth without him. Outside of the aforementioned group of Springer, Gurriel and Hernandez, the only other regular outfielder on the 40-man roster is Josh Palacios, who also missed significant time with injury last year and has only played 16 career Triple-A games and 13 MLB games. Cavan Biggio has seen a bit of time in the outfield, but he’s still pencilled in for significant infield time at the moment. He also dealt with injuries last year, appearing in just 79 games. However, the team could also add some outfield depth after a Grichuk trade, perhaps by bringing back Corey Dickerson, who recently spoke highly of his time with the Jays last year.

One thing that could potentially work in the Jays’ favour is the lack of available free agent center fielders, with the best remaining options being bench/platoon types like Brett Gardner or Kevin Pillar. Grichuk’s poor 2021 notwithstanding, center fielders who play cromulent defense and reliably hit 20-plus home runs per season don’t grow on trees. Teams with designs on competing and questions in center field could perhaps take a chance on him, especially considering he isn’t likely to demand much of a return. The Phillies need help in the outfield and elsewhere, but likely don’t have a ton of money or young talent to trade. The Rockies have designs on competing and need outfield upgrades, having been connected to Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber this offseason. If they fail to lure in one of those high profile options, they’ll have to consider alternatives. The Marlins are known to be looking for center field help and don’t usually throw around big bucks in free agency, making them theoretical suitors for a lower-cost option like Grichuk.

Given Grichuk’s contract and mediocre 2021 season, it’s unlikely the Jays are able to line up a trade during what will surely be a frenzy of transactions between the theoretical end of the lockout and the beginning of the season. However, if they can, it would free up some payroll space for them to upgrade their infield and pitching staff, as they look to build off a 91-win campaign in 2021.

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Grichuk, Cubs, Gausman, Matz, Pirates

By | at

The Brewers had talks with the Blue Jays about a trade that would have seen Randal Grichuk head to Milwaukee in a straight-up exchange for Jackie Bradley Jr., The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  This was one of multiple alternate Bradley-for-outfielder deals explored by the Brewers before finally acquiring Hunter Renfroe from the Red Sox on Wednesday.

While the Brew Crew had to surrender two prospects along with Bradley in that deal, Renfroe is both less expensive than Grichuk and has been a better player over the last three seasons — Renfroe had a 3.5 fWAR since the start of the 2019 campaign, while Grichuk has been worth 1.5 fWAR.  The Brewers’ outfield mix now consists of Renfroe, Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, and Tyrone Taylor, so barring any other transactions to shift some money around, Grichuk may no longer be on Milwaukee’s radar.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Cubs “were on the periphery” of the Kevin Gausman hunt and “were heavily involved” in trying to sign Steven Matz, according to The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma.  However, Chicago weren’t willing to sign either pitcher to as lengthy of a commitment as the five-year deal Gausman received from the Blue Jays or the four-year deal Matz got from the Cardinals.  While the Cubs are aiming for shorter-term deals for quality starting pitchers, they have thus far been successful on that front, landing Marcus Stroman on a three-year contract and claiming Wade Miley off waivers from the Reds.  Along these same lines, Sharma suggests that Danny Duffy could be a target for the Cubs, as Duffy can likely be had for a one-year pact given his injury-shortened 2021.  The team also needs more strikeout pitchers, either in the rotation via the trade market or in the bullpen.
  • Though the Pirates signed Jose Quintana and traded for Zach Thompson as part of the Jacob Stallings deal, GM Ben Cherington told reporters (including The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Kevin Gorman) before the lockout commenced that the Bucs are still looking to add another starting pitcher to their mix.  There isn’t much settled in a rotation that is short on experience apart from Quintana, and Cherington feels the Pirates’ incumbent arms will have to translate their promise into performance to win jobs during Spring Training.  “There was nobody that we assumed is in our rotation, but there are a lot of guys who have a chance to be,” Cherington said.

Blue Jays Notes: Pearson, Grichuk, Moreno

By | at

Toronto’s top decision-makers talked with reporters to discuss a number of ways they hope to improve upon a 91-win club that came incredibly close to a playoff berth. While a good deal of attention has been paid to who the Blue Jays stand to lose this offseason, executives are rightfully pointing to improvement from within as a reason for optimism.

Chief among those internal improvements is getting a healthy season out of highly touted right-hander Nate Pearson. First he’ll have to recover from offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia that plagued the 25-year-old’s most recent season. Fortunately, GM Ross Atkins expects the surgery to be a blip in the pitcher’s offseason routine and won’t impact his Spring Training availability, stating “He should be fine — he should not be disrupted at all” (per Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling).

Anything resembling a full return to health for Pearson will surely be a welcome sight for Toronto brass, as the talented pitcher has tossed just 33 innings at the highest level owing to groin and elbow injuries. These recurring maladies very well may have contributed to what’s been a rough Major League tenure so far, as evidenced by a career 5.18 ERA and bloated 16.5% walk rate. Toronto will accordingly proceed with some caution, though Atkins reiterated his hope for Pearson to build his strength back up as a starter and provide “the impact of someone that can punch people out and pitch deeper and deeper into games.”

Other improvements, Atkins notes (via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi), can come in the form of simply giving left-handed batters more playing time. For context, Toronto lefties stepped to the plate less than any other team last season, combining to produce a .653 OPS that ranked 28th in baseball. While both Atkins and president Mark Shapiro were tight-lipped about players who could help strike a better lineup balance, the latter did speak to the ability of trades that could “take an addition by subtraction.”

Speculatively, any left-handed addition could come from the trade of oft-rumored trade candidates Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk, both of whom hit from the right side. While Grichuk’s underperformance this past season (.241/.281/.423 through 149 games) — to say nothing of the remaining two years and $20.7MM on his contract — hampers his value, Davidi does note the outfielder drew interest at the most recent trade deadline. Achieving more left-handed opportunities in the lineup might not stem directly from a return in any hypothetical Grichuk trade but may be done so by simply freeing up the at-bats of a previously entrenched right-handed hitter.

The Jays also boast an enviable crop of Major League-ready catchers in their system and could subtract from this group to achieve Shapiro’s aforementioned addition. Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk provided strong offensive production from the position last year, posting nearly identical OPS marks of .772 and .764 from the right side. But either could prove expendable given the similar production of the other.

Further crowding the catching picture is the presence of prospect Gabriel Moreno, who had a huge showing in limited action at Double-A this year and continues to mash in the Arizona Fall League. Then again, farm director Gil Kim notes Moreno has done “a lot of work at third base at the Player Development Complex. While that’s not his primary position, it is an option that maybe down the road will be in play. Right now we’re focused on catching but as we’ve seen, maximizing versatility is huge.” With Moreno also batting from the right side, it’s possible his presence affects the status of other righties around the infield, like breakout infielder Santiago Espinal. Whatever transactions are made to address the Jays’ perceived lack of lineup balance and desire to build on last year’s record, the front office surely has room to maneuver with both Major League trade chips and payroll space at their disposal.

Quick Hits: Pujols, Blue Jays, Kennedy, Santana

By and | at

There was a brief flurry of speculation about Albert Pujols’ future earlier this week when Deirdre Pujols, the Angels veteran’s wife, created an Instagram post that seemed to hint that the future Hall-of-Famer would call it a career after the 2021 season.  Deirdre clarified her online statement soon after posting, and her husband also addressed the matter in speaking with media (including The Associated Press) today at Spring Training.

“This thing just got blown out of proportion,” Pujols said.  “My mind is not even there.  My mind is on staying focused, healthy, and hopefully trying to help this ballclub win this year, and that’s it.  If I feel at the end of the year that that’s it, I’ll announce it [and] go home.  But I’m not even there yet.”

Pujols is entering the final season of his ten-year, $240MM deal with the Angels, and 2021 will be the slugger’s 21st MLB campaign.  After four years of subpar offensive production, it would certainly seem like the 41-year-old is nearing the end of the line, though it seems we won’t know for certain until the season is through.

More from around baseball…

  • George Springer will surely play every day in the Blue Jays’ outfield, so his addition means the team’s other starting outfielders from 2020 will see their playing time either reduced or somewhat altered.  Both Randal Grichuk and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith) that they wondered if they’d be traded, yet as Spring Training continues, that duo and Teoscar Hernandez are all still on the roster.  It remains to be seen exactly how the Jays will arrange their lineup to get everyone at-bats, though Gurriel could find an opening with a return to part-time infield duty, as manager Charlie Montoyo is having Gurriel work out as a first baseman and third baseman.  The Jays already have Cavan Biggio lined up for the bulk of the action at the hot corner, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also hopeful of getting some third base time while sharing first base/DH duty with Rowdy Tellez.  Getting at least one other position under his belt can only help Gurriel, however, especially after his defensive struggles as an infielder earlier in his career.
  • Ian Kennedy debated signing with two other teams before settling on the Rangers’ minor league offer, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).  The Royals, Kennedy’s former team, were one of the two other suitors, though Kennedy seems to have a clearer path to regular bullpen work in Texas.  A starter for all but two of his first 291 MLB games from 2007-18, Kennedy enjoyed a stellar season as the Royals’ closer in 2019, but he is out to re-establish himself after a difficult 2020.  Kennedy posted a 9.00 ERA over 14 innings before a left calf strain brought a premature end to his season.
  • Danny Santana is also coming off an injury-plagued season, as the super-utilityman amassed just 63 plate appearances over 15 games with the Rangers.  After undergoing elbow surgery in September, Santana is now set to hold a showcase for scouts on Thursday, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports, and Santana has also been holding private workouts for teams.  The 30-year-old has played all over the diamond over his seven years with the Twins, Braves, and Rangers, and was a revelation for Texas in 2019 — he hit .283/.324/.534 with 28 home runs, with by far his best wRC+ (111) since a 132 wRC+ over 430 PA as a rookie with Minnesota back in 2014.

AL East Notes: Vazquez, Angels, Tanaka, Blue Jays, Taillon

By | at

The Angels signed Kurt Suzuki this offseason, and with a catching corps of Suzuki, Max Stassi, and Anthony Bemboom, adding an upper-tier backstop “would be a luxury and not a necessity” for the team, FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  However, the Halos have at least checked in on some prominent catchers, including Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox.  No deal appears to be close, as the Sox naturally want quite a lot for Vazquez and “there are doubts whether the Red Sox will entertain trading him” whatsoever.

Vazquez is entering his final guaranteed year of the contract extension he signed in March 2018.  He’ll earn $6.25MM in 2021, and the Red Sox hold a $7MM club option ($250K buyout) on his services for 2022.  It’s a very affordable price for one of the game’s better defensive catchers, not to mention a catcher who has swung an increasingly dangerous bat — Vazquez has hit .278/.327/.472 with 30 homers in 710 plate appearances since the start of the 2019 season.  He does turn 31 in August, so the Sox could think about moving him at a high point in his trade value, but the Angels or any suitor would have to step up with a very big offer to get Boston’s attention.

More from the AL East…

  • In a press conference announcing his return to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Masahiro Tanaka implied that he could return to Major League Baseball even before his two-year deal with the Eagles is up.  “I feel I have unfinished business in America, and I haven’t given up on that, so they agreed on terms that would keep those options open,” Tanaka said.  This could seem to hint at an opt-out clause after the 2021 season, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post notes, and quite possibly a return to the Yankees in 2022.  With the Yankees intent on resetting their luxury tax penalty limit this winter, the team opted to spend its resources elsewhere rather than re-sign Tanaka at his desired asking price.  Come next offseason, however, the Yankees might well be willing to exceed the tax threshold (and pay only a first-timer penalty fee) in order to acquire Tanaka and other roster upgrades.
  • Also from Robert Murray, Blue Jays outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk are drawing trade interest.  The addition of George Springer has created a surplus in Toronto’s outfield, with Grichuk seemingly relegated to fourth outfielder duty as Gurriel and Teoscar Hernandez are slated for the corners.  It’s safe to guess that Gurriel is the more sought-after player, since Gurriel is over two years younger than Grichuk and has a less-expensive contract — Gurriel is owed $13.4MM through the 2023 season, while Grichuk is owed $29MM.  One of the outfielders could be dangled a way of obtaining pitching, since the Jays continue to look for both rotation and bullpen help.
  • The Rays were one of the other suitors trying to obtain Jameson Taillon from the Pirates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Taillon ended up traded to the Yankees, and as Topkin points out, the Rays had interest in both Taillon and Corey Kluber, New York’s two main pitching acquisitions of the offseason.

Quick Hits: Padres, Weathers, Cardinals, Blue Jays

By | at

Left-hander Ryan Weathers was something of a surprise inclusion on the Padres’ NLDS roster, as the 20-year-old had yet to pitch in even a Double-A game, let alone a Major League contest.  Still, Weather made his MLB debut in tonight’s Game 1 and impressed, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing two walks but no hits.

Earlier today, general manager A.J. Preller told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters that Weathers has “always been a strike thrower, and he’s continued to get better over the last few months….Honestly, it’s just giving another quality arm to [manager Jayce Tingler] and see how he wants to use him.”  The seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft, Weathers has a 3.78 ERA, 4.91 K/BB rate, and 8.5 K/9 over his 114 1/3 pro innings.  Working out at the Padres’ alternate training site, Weathers has seen his fastball velocity jump from 91mph last season to the 96-97mph range this year.  He topped out at 96.4mph tonight, working a steady array of fastballs, sliders, and sinkers to six members of the fearsome Dodgers lineup.

More from around the majors…

  • The Cardinals rank 23rd of 30 teams in home runs since the start of the 2017 season, and their 51 homers in 2020 was a league low.  There’s no easy way to correct this power shortage, leaving The Athletic’s Mark Saxon to speculate that St. Louis might need to make some tough choices to get some more pop into the lineup without drastically (or at all) increasing payroll.  For instance, could the Cards again trade from their depth of pitching prospects for a bat, even while their need for additional arms might be greater in 2021?  Or, a more drastic option could be to decline Kolten Wong’s $12.5MM option for 2021 and install Tommy Edman at second base, freeing up some money to land a slugger.
  • The Blue Jays face a lot of possibilities as they look to upgrade their roster this offseason, and the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm explores several of those options as part of a reader mailbag piece.  In Chisholm’s opinion, the Jays should consider trying to move Randal Grichuk in order to improve the outfield defense and to get some of Grichuk’s contract off the books — Grichuk is owed $29MM through the 2023 season.  Grichuk is an imperfect fit as a center fielder but he did rebound from a tough 2019 to hit .273/.312/.481 with 12 homers (112 wRC+, 114 OPS+) over 231 PA this season, so that offensive production could attract some trade suitors.

The Blue Jays’ Uncertain Outfield Mix

By | at

When the Blue Jays were at their peak in 2015-16, the outfield wasn’t much of an issue. Jose Bautista was holding down right field as one of MLB’s most feared hitters — the brash owner of a .243/.372/.499 slash line that underscored his patience at the plate and his thunderous power. In center field, Kevin Pillar was a staple on highlight reels thanks to a superhuman defensive prowess that led to his gaudy 38 Defensive Runs Saved in that two-year stretch. Pillar’s .272/.309/.388 slash wasn’t particularly impressive, but paired with his world-beating defense, that made him a plenty valuable player on the whole.

Left field was a bit shakier, if only because of persistent injury troubles for the since-retired Michael Saunders. More often than not, Saunders was in the lineup, though the Jays also trotted out Ben Revere, Ezequiel Carrera and Danny Valencia at times. That was the closest they’ve come to any real inconsistency in that time.

That continuity feels like a distant memory now, as the Jays have since turned over their entire outfield mix on multiple occasions and yet still don’t have much certainty. It appears likely that 2019 breakout slugger Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will get the first look in left field whenever play resumes. His 2019 season at the plate was undeniably impressive — .277/.327/.541, 20 homers in 343 PAs — but it also came in a season that was skewed by a juiced ball. Gurriel’s glovework didn’t rate well, either, though he’s a converted infielder so perhaps there’ll be an uptick with more experience.

Center field seems likely to go to Randal Grichuk, though at this point that’s because of his contract more than his recent play. The Jays signed Grichuk to a surprising extension last spring, and Grichuk responded with a career-worst .232/.280/.457 slash. That .280 OBP was the worst in baseball among qualified hitters. Even without a 2020 season, Grichuk would still be owed $29MM from 2021-23, so he’s sure to get a chance (or multiple chances) at redemption — but a replacement-level showing in year one of the deal isn’t what the Jays had in mind.

The remaining outfield options (in alphabetical order):

  • Anthony Alford, drafted in third round (2012): A two-sport star who could’ve pursued a career in football as well, Alford has received just 59 plate appearances in the past three seasons and now finds himself out of minor league options. Alford was a top 100 prospect each year from 2016-18, but he’s yet to even hit in Triple-A and now has no clear path to playing time in such a crowded mix.
  • Jonathan Davis, drafted in the 15th round (2013): Davis will turn 28 in a few weeks and has just 122 MLB plate appearances to his credit (with a .185/.264/.259 slash). Davis runs well and has shown a patient eye at the plate in the upper minors, but he’s been a roughly average bat in Triple-A and seems more like a fourth outfielder than a big league regular.
  • Brandon Drury, acquired from Yankees in exchange for J.A. Happ: As recently as 2016-17, Drury looked like a solid multi-positional piece with the D-backs. Since hitting .275/.323/.453 in that stretch, though, he’s been traded to the Yankees and then the Jays, hitting just .210/.261/.362 in 533 plate appearances along the way. Drury popped up an astonishing 21 times in just 447 plate appearances this past season, and his strikeout rate has risen from 20 percent in ’16 to 25.3 percent in ’19.
  • Derek Fisher, acquired from the Astros in exchange for Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini: With George Springer, Josh Reddick, Michael Brantley, Jake Marisnick and Kyle Tucker all ahead of him during his time with Houston, Fisher never got much of a chance. Like McKinney, he’s not fooled by Triple-A pitching (career .289/.379/.520), but Fisher has whiffed in nearly 37 percent of his 419 Major League plate appearances — including a 40.2 percent mark in 107 PAs with Toronto. He, too, is out of minor league options.
  • Teoscar Hernandez, acquired from the Astros in exchange for Francisco Liriano: Hernandez came to the Jays as an exit-velocity darling and still makes plenty of good contact, but his hard-hit rate and average exit velo did trend in the wrong direction last year. His strikeout issues aren’t as pronounced as those of Fisher, but Hernandez has punched out at a 32 percent clip in just shy of 1000 Blue Jays plate appearances.
  • Billy McKinney, acquired from Yankees in exchange for J.A. Happ: A former first-round pick (Athletics, 2013), McKinney has been traded from Oakland to Chicago to New York to Toronto — never receiving a real big league opportunity prior to Toronto. He’s since appeared in 120 games and taken 404 plate appearances with the Jays, but he’s mustered a tepid .227/.289/.437 slash in that stretch. McKinney has consistently hit Triple-A pitching, but that hasn’t stopped the Jays from acquiring new outfield options to join the competition.

The Jays have a potential breakout candidate in left field (Gurriel), a rebound candidate in center (Grichuk) and what seems competition brewing in a make-or-break year for many of their remaining players. The DH spot will give them some extra opportunities to evaluate all of their options from an offensive standpoint, but they’ll also want to get a look at Rowdy Tellez in that spot.

Both Alford and Fisher need to remain on the big league roster or else be exposed to waiver, while Hernandez and McKinney each have just one option year remaining. Drury is more of a utility option than an everyday piece in the outfield, but he was already in danger of being non-tendered this winter and is down to his final option year as well.

On the whole, it’s a rather underwhelming cast of characters despite the club’s considerable efforts to bring together a mix of intriguing, often post-hype outfield candidates. Between this group’s eroding minor league options and talk of Cavan Biggio eventually moving to the outfield — although defensive metrics thought his work at second base was plenty good in ’19 — it’s possible that no one from this set of players will be a part of the next contending outfield unit in Toronto.

The Jays already made one aggressive, win-now move this winter when they signed Hyun-Jin Ryu, and team president Mark Shapiro recently indicated that the Jays could use a center field upgrade. If this group can’t get it done whenever play resumes, it seems likely that Shapiro, GM Ross Atkins and the rest of the front office will be left with little choice other than pursuing more established options now that the club is moving away from its rebuilding phase.

Quick Hits: Shapiro, Blue Jays, Ryu, Draft, Payrolls

By | at

It was on this day in 1916 that one of the biggest trades in early baseball history was finalized, as the Indians acquired superstar center fielder Tris Speaker from the Red Sox for right-hander “Sad” Sam Jones, minor leaguer Fred Thomas, and $55K in cash considerations.  A salary dispute prompted the move, as the Sox wanted Speaker to take a pay cut following something of a down year (.322/.416/411 over 653 PA) by his huge standards in 1915.  While the two teams agreed to the swap a few days prior to April 12, it wasn’t officially completed until Speaker received a reported $10K bonus to agree to play for Cleveland, a bonus Speaker demanded be personally paid by Red Sox owner Joseph Lannin.

While the Sox were criticized for the trade, they weren’t exactly hurt in the short term, as Boston went on to win the World Series in both 1916 and 1918 — Jones posting a 2.25 ERA in the latter season to play a big role in the championship run.  Speaker, meanwhile, had plenty of great baseball left in him, as he hit .354/.444/.520 over 6634 plate appearances with the Tribe from 1916-26, and also served as Cleveland’s manager for the last eight of those seasons.  Speaker’s time with the Indians was highlighted by a World Series victory in 1920, the first title in franchise history.

Some notes from around the modern baseball world…

  • Though the Blue Jays loaded up on arms this offseason, team president/CEO Mark Shapiro still feels “pitching, pitching and more pitching” is his club’s biggest need.  In a Q&A conversation with The Athletic’s Jim Bowden (subscription required), Shapiro noted that Toronto’s splashy $80MM signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu was partially based on that need, since “we have more position players than pitchers that are major-league ready to impact and we needed more balance.”  Another factor, however, was the internal confidence amongst the Jays’ current core roster “that they are closer to winning than people think.”  This is one of many topics addressed during the interview, as Shapiro also discussed issues as rule changes, how baseball could adapt to a shortened season, and how he is coping with trying to run an organization with everyone staying at home.
  • Also of note was Shapiro’s mention that “more of a traditional center fielder” was the Blue Jays’ second-biggest need, though “we have lots of outfielders and we would like to give them an opportunity before adding to that mix.”  Randal Grichuk is slated for the bulk of center field duty, though Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Anthony Alford, and perhaps even Cavan Biggio could all get some time up the middle.  While Grichuk is mostly thought of as a right fielder, he has actually amassed almost as many innings in center (1988 1/3) as he has in right (2196 2/3) over his MLB career, though defensive metrics are somewhat split on which is his better position.  UZR/150 and Statcast’s Outs Above Average favor Grichuk’s work in right field, while the Defensive Runs Saved metric prefers his glovework in center field.
  • With this year’s amateur draft slated for only between 5-10 rounds, many top high school prospects could opt to attend college or junior college, while some college seniors could take their renewed year of NCAA eligibility and instead enter the 2021 draft.  Other youngsters, however, will opt to begin their pro careers, which MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo notes will likely lead to a huge free agent market of available amateur talent.  Teams can’t spend more than $20K to sign any undrafted amateur, so a host of other factors could impact whether or not a player chooses one particular team over others offering the same dollar figure, as executives, agents, and players tell Cotillo.  These factors range from the relationship between a team’s scout and the player, a player choosing a team close to his hometown and family, or perhaps even a club strategically drafting one prospect in order to draft another.  As one scouting director put it, “If we draft a kid in the fourth round, do we have a better shot at signing his buddy?“
  • “Team officials and player agents are bracing for what they expect to be a dramatic shift in the financial landscape if the sport is shut down for the season,” ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required), which could mean particular concern for teams with major long-term salary commitments on their books.  Clubs like the Angels, Padres, and Rockies are in this camp, while teams with less money committed beyond the next season or two — such as the Giants, Rangers, Mariners, or Dodgers — are in a bit better position.  Of course, the coming Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations are “the industry X factor” in all financial forecasts.

AL East Notes: Grichuk, McKay, Bleier

By | at

We’ll kick off the weekend with a few notes from the AL East:

  • The Blue Jays are likely to enter 2020 with Randal Grichuk as their top option in center field, GM Ross Atkins confirmed (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). That’s not terribly surprising, as the always-sparse free agent market for center fielders has been almost completely picked over. Grichuk is coming off a disappointing 2019, the first season of a five-year extension he inked last April. Despite a career-high 31 home runs, he managed only a .232/.280/.457 line (90 wRC+) over 628 plate appearances. That at least seemed to open the door for an outside addition for the Jays, who have made some improvements around the roster this offseason. Between Grichuk’s right-handed pop and favorable Statcast ratings defensively, it seems he’s earned another opportunity to improve upon his lackluster plate discipline.
  • Brendan McKay is entering 2020 with a slightly more aggressive pitching plan than he had previously, reports Juan Toribio of MLB.com. McKay will work every fifth day this spring in hopes of carrying that schedule into the regular season, Toribio notes. Last season, he was limited to mound work every six days as he worked up to a career-high 122.2 innings across three levels. A two-way star at the University of Louisville, McKay will continue to see some action at DH and perhaps at first base, Toribio notes, although that’ll be worked in judiciously around his pitching schedule to keep him fresh. From the outside, Tampa’s rotation looks to be spoken for by Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough. Teams can’t rely on the same five starters to take them through an entire season, of course. So while an initial bullpen role or demotion to Triple-A Durham is still on the table for McKay, Toribio notes, the southpaw seems a good bet to start for manager Kevin Cash at some point next season.
  • Orioles reliever Richard Bleier is at full strength entering spring training, reports Roch Kubatko of MASN. The 32-year-old was sidelined by shoulder soreness early in 2019, perhaps contributing to his career-worst 5.37 ERA in 53 appearances last year. Kubatko unsurprisingly characterizes the soft-tossing ground-ball specialist as an essential lock to make Baltimore’s Opening Day roster. If Bleier can regain the form that saw him post a sub-2.00 ERA in both 2017 and 2018 (albeit with less inspiring peripherals), he’d be a solid trade chip for the rebuilding club. Bleier is making just $915K this season and comes with two additional years of team control.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top