Blue Jays Discussion: The waiting game sucks, so things are happening (Jays acquire Donaldson for Lawrie+)

[Amadeus]

From a SportsNet tweet

@Sportsnet: Lawrie on trade: "This is a team that likes to win. I haven’t been on that side of the coin."

Glad one of the main cancers is gone.

I was upset we trade him, until now.

 

[sabresEH]

Yes we did, Lupul and a 2nd for Votto

Another steal from AA .

You can't believe anything GM's say. AA has mentioned he is okay going into the season with Izturis at 2b yet he has already traded away two guys who can't stay healthy. He'll definitely be going after a cheap 2b option.
I think his main concern is the bullpen right now. My guess is one guy via FA and one through the Dioner trade.
That leaves LF. I always had a feeling inside that Melky would stay. But lately I've been preparing myself for him not returning. I'm not sure what other options are out there(for some reason I don't think they're interested in Aoki) but I'm sure that spot won't be filled internally.

 

[weems]

Is anyone really suprised he would say something like that?

I was prolly the biggest Lawrie fan early but didnt take long to realize he was a total *********.

 

[p.l.f.]

You think Lawrie is on the juice ?

 

[Bad News Benning]

other funny thing I took from that is that a few weeks ago he was on the radio after we signed Martin talking about how the injuries were freak injuries and how some of them happened on the road. Now he pretty much blames the turf as the reason he hasn't been able to stay healthy.

 

[Epictetus]

last year by WAR (fangraphs):

Offense: 5th MLB
Rotation: 7th MLB

Bullpen: 22nd MLB
Defense: 24th MLB

AA has already made some bigtime defensive upgrades, which is nice, especially since ut hasn't cost us any offense.

now he has to fix the bullpen.

It's fairly hard to predict starting pitching consistently. Performance-wise, I think it is fair to predict regression.

Markakis is mediocre in the proper use of the word (where it means "average" and not "averageish, but in a negative context"). He looked so promising as a rookie, but he's basically been the same player since then. Decent OF D, hitting in the .270-.280 range, OBPing around .350-.360, 10-15 HRs, a lot of walks, few strikeouts, and remarkable consistency in a bland, flavorless sort of way. He's the vanilla ice cream of MLB players.

On the cheap, he'd be a nice piece to add to plug into an OF hole. But if the Jays (or any team, really) is gonna spend $13m+ on a free agent outfielder, I would want a guy that at least does something better than average that can be leveraged for value. A guy like Markakis you would sign and then bat like 7th in the Jays' lineup and just sort of be there, not sucking but not really heavily contributing.

Those numbers are most definitely not 'average'.

Maybe not worth 13+ million, but a lot of teams, including the Jays, would be happy with that production.

 

[Woodman19]

You think Lawrie is on the juice ?

He should probably consider it, it might be the only way he can stay healthy and hit for power again.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I was upset we trade him, until now.

me too.
seriously, can't people leave with class? seriously shut your trap and get out of here.

 

[trellaine201]

He's very immature.

 

[Mitchy]

MLB Network's Mike Lowell's best 3B in the AL East.

1. Donaldson
2. Longo
3. Panda
4. Machado
5. A-Rod

 

[Mitchy]

I'm a fan of Markakis. He's one of those jack of all trades, master of none players. If we can't re-sign Melky, I'd gladly give Markakis 12M per.

 

[zeke]

It's fairly hard to predict starting pitching consistently. Performance-wise, I think it is fair to predict regression.

why?

Those numbers are most definitely not 'average'.

Maybe not worth 13+ million, but a lot of teams, including the Jays, would be happy with that production.

meh, it's been a long while since markakis was better than average. most likely that's a league average bat with poor corner defense....that's a 1-2 win player that is nowhere near the contract he's gonna get.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

The most annoying thing with regards to Lawrie is that he had every ability to have the city (and country) by the palm of his hands. A young, Canadian kid, who could have potentially spent his entire career as a Blue Jay, that played the game the way many Canadians enjoy their athletes to play. A complete energy guy with an enthusiasm that shows on the field and in the dugout. And on top of that, he has the looks that won over female fans.

In the end he turned out to be a major knob who I would believe many on the team and in the front office aren't sad to see him go. He quickly became a favourite of mine, many of the reasons I describe above, but now I wish no good to him (seriously...where can I get his name and number un stitched from my jersey?).

 

[weems]

I'm a fan of Markakis. He's one of those jack of all trades, master of none players. If we can't re-sign Melky, I'd gladly give Markakis 12M per.

Same.
Very professional hitter who would look excellant at like 5-7 in our lineup and drastically improve the D in left field over last season. Actually putting Martin at C, Donaldson at 3rd and Markakis in LF, would be a massive upgrade in the team D department over last season.

 

[weems]

why?





meh, it's been a long while since markakis was better than average. most likely that's a league average bat with poor corner defense....that's a 1-2 win player that is nowhere near the contract he's gonna get.

How did you get poor corner D?

Didnt he rank as like the 4th best defensive RF'er and now he would be shifted over to a much easier defensive position in LF.

If hes a poor corner OF defender, what the heck is Melky?

 

[Daisy Jane]

The most annoying thing with regards to Lawrie is that he had every ability to have the city (and country) by the palm of his hands. A young, Canadian kid, who could have potentially spent his entire career as a Blue Jay, that played the game the way many Canadians enjoy their athletes to play. A complete energy guy with an enthusiasm that shows on the field and in the dugout. And on top of that, he has the looks that won over female fans.

In the end he turned out to be a major knob who I would believe many on the team and in the front office aren't sad to see him go. He quickly became a favourite of mine, many of the reasons I describe above, but now I wish no good to him (seriously...where can I get his name and number un stitched from my jersey?).

i think any store that can sew it on - can unstitch it. worst case scenario try to find alocal tailor/seamstress.

this was actually on the radio (Brian Hayes Show). It takes a lot of talent to be the ONLY Canadian on the ONLY Canadian baseball team and people hate you/don't like you.

i'm with you, i liked him and the commericials, and as a girl -i didn't find him 'pretty' but he had that 'rootablity' factor. now i'm all piss off, bub

 

[zeke]

How did you get poor corner D?

Didnt he rank as like the 4th best defensive RF'er and now he would be shifted over to a much easier defensive position in LF.

If hes a poor corner OF defender, what the heck is Melky?

his D has been every bit as bad as melky's, and his bat nowhere near as good.

 

[weems]

his D has been every bit as bad as melky's, and his bat nowhere near as good.

Can you post stats please?

 

[zeke]

..and melky's probably not going to be a great signing himself.

 

[weems]

I must either be looking at this wrong or not fully understanding it

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...4&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

Was better in RF defensively than Bautista.

 

[Mitchy]

i think any store that can sew it on - can unstitch it. worst case scenario try to find alocal tailor/seamstress.

this was actually on the radio (Brian Hayes Show). It takes a lot of talent to be the ONLY Canadian on the ONLY Canadian baseball team and people hate you/don't like you.

i'm with you, i liked him and the commericials, and as a girl -i didn't find him 'pretty' but he had that 'rootablity' factor. now i'm all piss off, bub

I'm still a Lawrie fan, so I'll defend him right here.

Those comments by him were pretty bad, but I think that has more to do with how much he wanted to be a Jay. He keeps bringing up how he was a Canadian and how honoured he was to be playing for his favourite team and representing his country. I just think he wanted to badly be part of a Jays team that was a contender. He seems really disappointed and as a result bitter. I'll cut him a bit of slack.

 

[Puckstuff]

MLB Network's Mike Lowell's best 3B in the AL East.

1. Donaldson
2. Longo
3. Panda
4. Machado
5. A-Rod

I can't believe we have a better third basemen then Evan Longoria... that guy is the definition of franchise player (even with his slightly declining numbers) guy is a gamer. If you told me we could add a franchise player in the offseason for Lawrie and prospects I just wouldn't believe it.

 

[Eyedea]

This was only the second time he has posted a positive DRS since the 2008 season. His range seems to be the main culprit, and he even spent a couple of starts at first last season (for whatever that's worth).

I'm not exactly sure how defensive metrics are calculated, but I wonder if Adam Jones is somewhat responsible for the previously poor results? It's odd because Adam Jones finally put up a good season defensively, and it seems Markakis did along with him. I definitely think Markakis would be a better defensive option than Melky in LF though, for sure.

 

[weems]

Now heres Melkys defensive stats from last season

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...4&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

[Woodman19]

Its refreshing to see such a focus by fans on defense. Its almost like our team traumatized fans to how costly bad defense can be.