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R.A. Dickey Undecided On Retirement

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With the end of the regular season approaching, right-hander R.A. Dickey realizes that the start he made Friday could be his last with the Blue Jays, he told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The knuckleballer threw five shutout innings against the Angels, yielding seven hits and one walk against five strikeouts in a 5-0 victory.

“When I came out I kind of ruminated over what that might be because there’s a chance that could be my last start as a Blue Jay. That’s somewhat emotional,” Dickey said. “But I have one singular goal, and I’ve made no secret about what that is: I just want to be on a championship ball club. That’s all I care about.”

At 81-67, The Blue Jays have a three-game cushion in the American League wild-card race. If they hold on and make the playoffs, Dickey is unlikely to factor into their October rotation plans. In the meantime, left-hander Francisco Liriano is expected to start the two regular-season games in which Toronto hasn’t officially scheduled a starter, writes Davidi. With that in mind, Dickey’s tenure as a Jays starter could indeed be over.

Looking beyond this season, Dickey is set to hit the free agent market as a 42-year-old during the winter. Dickey is unsure if he’ll pitch in 2017, however. While he has “never felt better” physically and believes he’s still capable of contributing, whether Dickey continues his career is “going to be a family decision.”

Dickey’s days as a front-line starter are long gone, but the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner with the Mets has at least shown the ability to chew up innings this year. Dickey has tossed 169 1/3 frames, and his 4.46 ERA isn’t significantly worse than the AL league-average mark of 4.25. Entering 2016, he went five straight campaigns with 200-plus innings and posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the previous two years.

In the aggregate, Dickey has been much closer to average than great since Toronto surrendered a haul to the Mets to acquire him after the 2012 season. The Jays traded now-ace Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis d’Arnaud in the package for Dickey, who has pitched to an unspectacular 4.05 ERA in 824 innings with the fifth major league team of his unique career. Dickey is cognizant of what Toronto gave up for him, of course.

“It’s been a real balancing act for me to walk the line between what people might expect of me because of past successes and what I was traded for,” he said.

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Cafardo: Potential Replacements For John Gibbons

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  • In the event the Blue Jays move on from manager John Gibbons after the season, Cafardo lists Torey Lovullo, Eric Wedge and Bud Black as potential successors. Lovullo, Boston’s bench coach, was an assistant in Toronto from 2011-12. Wedge, who previously managed the Indians and Mariners, now works in player development with the Jays. Black managed the Padres from 2007-15 and is currently a special assistant to Angels GM Billy Eppler.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • In the event the Blue Jays move on from manager John Gibbons after the season, Cafardo lists Torey Lovullo, Eric Wedge and Bud Black as potential successors. Lovullo, Boston’s bench coach, was an assistant in Toronto from 2011-12. Wedge, who previously managed the Indians and Mariners, now works in player development with the Jays. Black managed the Padres from 2007-15 and is currently a special assistant to Angels GM Billy Eppler.

Blue Jays Notes: Encarnacion, Offseason Plans, Gibbons

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  • Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is fourth on Dierkes’s most recent list — he rates Aroldis Chapman and Jansen higher — while Heyman rates him second to Cespedes. But the veteran slugger is headed for a monster contract regardless, and Heyman notes that the continued belief around the game is that Toronto won’t extend itself to retain him. Instead, the Jays seem to be angling to put together a younger roster.
  • Whether Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons is interested in staying on with more change possibly afoot remains to be seen, but Heyman says that the club has been impressed with his work. An internal team source suggests that the team will attempt to retain him — at least as long as a postseason berth is secured — and sources with ties to the skipper say that he likely prefers to stick in the position rather than hunting for another opportunity elsewhere.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is fourth on Dierkes’s most recent list — he rates Aroldis Chapman and Jansen higher — while Heyman rates him second to Cespedes. But the veteran slugger is headed for a monster contract regardless, and Heyman notes that the continued belief around the game is that Toronto won’t extend itself to retain him. Instead, the Jays seem to be angling to put together a younger roster.
  • Whether Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons is interested in staying on with more change possibly afoot remains to be seen, but Heyman says that the club has been impressed with his work. An internal team source suggests that the team will attempt to retain him — at least as long as a postseason berth is secured — and sources with ties to the skipper say that he likely prefers to stick in the position rather than hunting for another opportunity elsewhere.

Marco Estrada Pitching Through Herniated Disk In Back

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Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada has seen his effectiveness decline in the season’s second half, and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com sheds some light on his struggles, reporting that Estrada has been pitching through a herniated disk in his back (Twitter link). Estrada has previously received cortisone injections in his lower back this season, though at the time, he was only reported to be dealing with inflammation.

Originally acquired by the Blue Jays after the 2014 season in a trade that sent Adam Lind to the Brewers, the now-33-year-old Estrada broke out with a career year in 2015 and re-signed in Toronto on a two-year, $26MM pact this offseason. The first half of the season looked to be a continuation of Estrada’s excellence, as he pitched to a 2.93 ERA with a 99-to-39 K/BB ratio in 104 1/3 innings of work, but he’s stumbled to a 5.47 ERA since the All-Star break as his home run rate has increased and his average innings per start has decreased. Estrada has completed six innings just twice in his past eight starts and, overall, has averaged fewer than 5 1/3 innings per start since the Midsummer Classic.

It’s not yet clear how (or if) the Blue Jays plan to address the injury in-season. Estrada surrendered four runs in 5 1/3 innings last night but is still listed as the team’s probable starter when his spot in the rotation arises again on Sept. 19 in Seattle. But, Estrada’s condition certainly represents another rotation problem for a Blue Jays team that has made a well-publicized effort to limit Aaron Sanchez’s innings and is currently deploying a six-man rotation.

Liriano, Sanchez and Estrada are joined in the starting corps right now by J.A. Happ, Marcus Stroman and R.A. Dickey, so certainly the team has the depth to put together a solid playoff rotation even if Estrada isn’t well enough to be a part of it. However, getting to the postseason, at this point, isn’t a given. The Jays currently hold the second Wild Card spot in the American League and trail the Red Sox by two games in the division (with the Orioles one game up on Toronto as well). The Blue Jays largely control their own destiny, though, as their final six games of the regular season will be a three-game home set against the Orioles before traveling to Fenway for their final three contests.

Blue Jays Hire Ben Cherington As VP Of Baseball Ops

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The Blue Jays have announced the hiring of Ben Cherington as vice president of baseball operations, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca first reported. Cherington was speaking with other organizations about other roles before deciding to head to Toronto, per the report.

Ben Cherington

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro has been hard at work revamping his team’s front office, and he’s now set to hire a familiar face. Cherington is best known for his time as the Red Sox general manager, but got his start in baseball under Shapiro when the latter was in charge of the Indians.

Ross Atkins is already in place as the Toronto GM — he’s also an executive VP — and he won’t be supplanted. Instead, Cherington will “work closely” with player development director Gil Kim and report to Atkins, the team says. The “emphasis” will be on the player development side, Davidi writes.

There were both successes and failures for Cherington during his time at the helm of the powerful Boston organization. He helped deliver a World Series after taking over for Theo Epstein before the 2012 campaign, but also oversaw some disappointing seasons. Cherington decided to leave the organization after it hired Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations in the middle of 2015 and has not worked for another team since — instead serving as an “executive in residence” at Columbia University.

Cherington still commands broad respect around the game, making him an intriguing addition for the Jays. It doesn’t hurt that some of the seemingly poor moves he made with the Red Sox look better at this point than they have in the past. More important, though, are the deals he didn’t make. Players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. were often mentioned as trade candidates in years past, but they are now providing immense value to the Sox. Cherington’s ability to assess and develop young talent will no doubt provide an asset to his new club.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Aaron Sanchez Bothered By Blister Problem

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  • A nagging blister problem bothered right-hander Aaron Sanchez during his rough outing against the Red Sox today, the Blue Jays ace told reporters (including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm).  Sanchez has been dealing with the sore spot on his middle right finger since Spring Training, with the affected area going from “hot spot” to blister at various times during the season.  While Sanchez’s performance obviously hasn’t been much hampered by his minor injury for much of the season, one need only look at Rich Hill’s problems over the last few months to note how a blister can develop into a major issue.  Sanchez’s next start was expected to be at least a couple of days later than normal anyways, Chisholm notes, as part of the Jays’ plan to monitor their young star’s innings.
  • Newly-acquired relievers are playing a huge role in this season’s pennant races, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com writes, ranging from the blockbuster deals at the trade deadline to less-heralded deals like the Blue Jays’ trades for Jason Grilli and Joaquin Benoit.  With the cost of relief pitching so high, an AL manager and AL general manager both suggest to Gammons that clubs could focus more on drafting pitchers they specifically groom as relievers or even old-school “fireman” types who can pitch multiple innings in any game situation.

Blue Jays Outright Matt Dominguez, Release Quintin Berry

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  • The Blue Jays outrighted third baseman Matt Dominguez to Triple-A, the club announced last week.  Dominguez was designated for assignment on September 2.  He owns a .269/.315/.421 slash line and 18 homers over 514 PA for Triple-A Buffalo this season, plus he also appeared in five games for the Jays to clock his first big league action since 2014.  Once a well-regarded prospect, Dominguez enjoyed a 21-homer season with Houston in 2013 but has hit only .231/.273/.371 in 1369 career PA in the majors.
  • The Blue Jays released outfielder Quintin Berry.  The base-stealing specialist just signed a minor league pact with the Jays on August 31, potentially putting him in line for a reprise of his past role (with the Tigers and Red Sox) as postseason pinch-running depth.  Berry appeared in just 31 MLB games in 2013-15 and he hasn’t played in the bigs in 2016, spending much of the year with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • The Blue Jays outrighted third baseman Matt Dominguez to Triple-A, the club announced last week.  Dominguez was designated for assignment on September 2.  He owns a .269/.315/.421 slash line and 18 homers over 514 PA for Triple-A Buffalo this season, plus he also appeared in five games for the Jays to clock his first big league action since 2014.  Once a well-regarded prospect, Dominguez enjoyed a 21-homer season with Houston in 2013 but has hit only .231/.273/.371 in 1369 career PA in the majors.
  • The Blue Jays released outfielder Quintin Berry.  The base-stealing specialist just signed a minor league pact with the Jays on August 31, potentially putting him in line for a reprise of his past role (with the Tigers and Red Sox) as postseason pinch-running depth.  Berry appeared in just 31 MLB games in 2013-15 and he hasn’t played in the bigs in 2016, spending much of the year with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate.

Cafardo: Jays Could Pursue Joey Votto In Offseason

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  • Even though the Blue Jays have undergone a regime change since they tried to acquire first baseman Joey Votto from the Reds last summer, talks could restart if Toronto loses both Encarnacion and Bautista in free agency. Cincinnati would also have to eat some of the $192MM left on Votto’s contract to make a deal possible, according to Cafardo. Votto, a Toronto native, is enjoying yet another brilliant season, having slashed .315/.433/.525 with 23 homers in 589 plate appearances.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • Even though the Blue Jays have undergone a regime change since they tried to acquire first baseman Joey Votto from the Reds last summer, talks could restart if Toronto loses both Encarnacion and Bautista in free agency. Cincinnati would also have to eat some of the $192MM left on Votto’s contract to make a deal possible, according to Cafardo. Votto, a Toronto native, is enjoying yet another brilliant season, having slashed .315/.433/.525 with 23 homers in 589 plate appearances.

Will Blue Jays Make QO To Michael Saunders?

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FanRag’s Jon Heyman kicks off his weekly notes column by ranking the 20 best trades in the past two years, with the Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson acquisition topping the list. Certainly a good deal of hindsight is used when crafting any such list, and the development of certain prospects could change the way we perceive some of these still-fresh deals, but many of the swaps listed do indeed look lopsided one way or another at the moment.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • The Blue Jays will make the obvious decisions to extend qualifying offers to Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista, and they’re also considering a QO for Michael Saunders. While that might’ve seemed like a highly implausible scenario a few months back, Saunders has been quite good in a full, healthy season. In 500 plate appearances, the 29-year-old is slashing .266/.348/.505 with 23 homers — though he hasn’t been as good in the season’s second half. Saunders’ injury history could at least create some pause, but given his quality offensive output and lack of a platoon split in 2016, I think he’d be able to secure a nice multi-year pact even if he turned down the sizable one-year offer.

Gavin Floyd's Season Likely Over

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  • The sprained right shoulder capsule that has kept Blue Jays reliever Gavin Floyd out since late June will likely end his season, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The injury, which was initially diagnosed as a torn lat muscle, shouldn’t affect Floyd’s ability to pitch in 2017. The impending free agent turned in a respectable performance this year as part of Toronto’s bullpen, recording a 4.06 ERA, 8.31 K/9 and 2.32 BB/9 in 31 innings.
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