2K24: Toronto Blue Jays

[wannabegriffey]

AA traded away a ton to florida and the mets, made one post season in 6 tries, and now hits the road when shapiro comes in? I am not surprised and I live in Toronto.

That said, I like his 'no more than 5 year contract' rule and I know this costs the Jays a lot of free agents.

Who ever comes in, please bring some starting pitching for next year or every contender shall be hitting the jays up for hitting at the trade deadline (EE and Joey Bats are both in final year contracts in 2016).

[TranaGreg]

so while AA is on a telecon with the media this hour announcing that he will not remain with the Blue Jays, this ...

Sporting News @sportingnews 15m15 minutes ago

Congrats to Alex Anthopoulos, voted @SN_Baseball's MLB Executive of the Year by his peers. http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb-news...SOC/Twi/SNMain …

[TranaGreg]

It sounds like the Jays are about to lock Estrada in to a two year deal for mid-to-upper $20M - nice payday for Marco, and nice for the Jays to be able to keep it to two years. Not final yet but sounds like it's about to get done.

That would leaves the rotation Stroman, Estrada, Dickey, Sanchez, and Hutchinson. We don't have an ace, but the more I see the feeding frenzy lining up for the top tier starting pitchers, the more I think the Jays should stay out of it. There are about to be some ridiculous contracts handed out.

With our offense we can compete with that rotation ... and try to trade for an ace next July the way we got Price this year. I don't know if we'll have the minor leaguers to pull it off but who knows what will happen by next summer.

Having said that, we have Buehrle ($19M), Navarro ($5M), and half a year of Price ($9.9M) coming off the books - that's $35M less than 2015. Nice problem to have. I hope we can beef up the bullpen with a couple of reliable arms.

[TranaGreg]

report that Estrada deal is done.

[TranaGreg]

Devon Travis (who I had hoped for good things from) is now going to miss spring training - 16-20 weeks is the estimate - due to shoulder surgery today, which included screws to stabilize his shoulder (!).

[Hornsby]

Well now, that's a hell of a way to waste money...yuck.

Gregor ChisholmVerified account

@gregorMLB

#BlueJays announce they have signed JA Happ to a three-year deal worth 36 million.

[revo]

Well now, that's a hell of a way to waste money...yuck.

Not a fan of Happ's, but he was pretty damn dominant in his stint with PIT. If Rich Hill can get $6m for 30 IP after starting the year with the LI Ducks and not having pitched more than 60 innings in any season since 2007, this doesn't seem so bad.

[Hornsby]

Not a fan of Happ's, but he was pretty damn dominant in his stint with PIT. If Rich Hill can get $6m for 30 IP after starting the year with the LI Ducks and not having pitched more than 60 innings in any season since 2007, this doesn't seem so bad.

6 million for one year is a far cry from trying up 36 million for 3 seasons, IMO. And he's not going to have Ray Searage to babysit him anymore...it could work out, but I don't like the odds. Adding Jess Chavez and Happ in the past couple of days seems like going in the wrong direction to me.

[virgonomic]

A rotation of

Stroman
Sanchez
Estrada
Dickey
Chavez/Happ

can compete in the majors.

I imagine Sanchez is destined for the bullpen, at least to start the season, but I think they need him in the rotation if they don't sign one of Price/Greinke/Zimmerman, which seems unlikely but I won't rule out completely.

[Mithrandir]

Last year was the very first time in J.A. Happ's career that his FIP has been under 4.00. He's also never thrown 200 IP in a season. Hell, he hasn't even thrown 180 in a season.

Pretty brutal deal, imo. I'd take a gamble on a smallish one year deal for Rich Hill a thousand times before guaranteeing Happ this kind of money and, god forbid, a three year deal.

Agreed. Stupid deal. Man these GM's never cease to amaze me with their horrible signings.

But as long as the suckers, I mean fans, continue to shell out the money, why not??

[virgonomic]

Agreed. Stupid deal. Man these GM's never cease to amaze me with their horrible signings.

But as long as the suckers, I mean fans, continue to shell out the money, why not??

MVP Donaldson can help us overcome anything, including Happ in our rotation.

[Hornsby]

MVP Donaldson can help us overcome anything, including Happ in our rotation.

Nope, that's just not true...they might sneak into the playoffs again with their hitting, but they're not going anywhere with those 5 as a rotation. And there's really not even 3 for the playoffs. Relying on Estrada to repeat his performance last year is a really bad gamble.

[Grinch]

Nope, that's just not true...they might sneak into the playoffs again with their hitting, but they're not going anywhere with those 5 as a rotation. And there's really not even 3 for the playoffs. Relying on Estrada to repeat his performance last year is a really bad gamble.

If they are in the running for the playoffs, they can get a 'rent-an-arm' again for the stretch run/playoffs. Although the pickings are noticeably slimmer this year (potentially, Strassberg, Gio,Shields and anybody this year who takes a one-year deal)

[Hornsby]

If they are in the running for the playoffs, they can get a 'rent-an-arm' again for the stretch run/playoffs. Although the pickings are noticeably slimmer this year (potentially, Strassberg, Gio,Shields and anybody this year who takes a one-year deal)

But the system is MUCH thinner now. They spent a whole lot of player capital for last years run that they have little left for this season...it can be done, but it's a whole lot harder now.

[Sharky]

There was talk about Castro to the rotation for 2016. Where does that stand?

Btw look at the cost of LHP relievers. Happ could daily be moved to the pen at some point.