Blue Jays Discussion: Alright, we have a manager now. So it's back to patiently waiting for Vlad Jr.

[Cor]

I know none of the remaining 4 candidates.


Probably a good thing though

 

[phillipmike]

I loved Baldelli as a player... for some reason. Probably mostly because of his name.

Also there have been worse teams to get a Manager from (the Rays).

Baldelli sounds like a smart guy too;

Rocco Dan Baldelli was born to Dan and Michele Baldelli in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.[3] Rocco Baldelli attended the PEGASUS Gifted and Talented middle-school program at La Salle Academy in Providence. He played baseball for the Rhode Island Tides, an AAU ball club. Then he switched to Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island, for high school.[4] During his senior year at Bishop Hendricken High School, he pulled his oblique muscle, but still managed to hit .531-5-13 with nine steals in only 32 at-bats. Not only did Baldelli excel at sports but excelled in the classroom as well.[3] There he posted a 4.25 grade point average. On the SAT, he scored 1300, and considered attending UNC, Wake Forest, Princeton and Yale.[3] He was also a four sport star, earning all-state honors in baseball, indoor track, basketball, and volleyball.[5][6]

If the Jays want him then you have to think they move fast. He has interviewed with the Reds and Rangers so far.

 

[phillipmike]

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. named AFL Player of Week

 

[Discoverer]

If the Jays want him then you have to think they move fast. He has interviewed with the Reds and Rangers so far.

It seems like there's a lot of overlap between candidates for the open positions. If they go with someone like Baldelli, it would be interesting to see if any of the minor league candidates we've heard about (Clapp, Schneider, Meacham) end up getting a different position with the Jays.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

I know none of the remaining 4 candidates.


Probably a good thing though

Espada is this year's Cora. I imagine he's #1 on a few team's lists.

I like Hyde as well. Mostly just trying to poach anyone the two smartest GM's in baseball (Epstein and Luhnow) have hired.

 

[Discoverer]

Espada is this year's Cora. I imagine he's #1 on a few team's lists.

I like Hyde as well. Mostly just trying to poach anyone the two smartest GM's in baseball (Epstein and Luhnow) have hired.

And someone from the Rays' organization wouldn't be a bad option, either.

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

Found this quote interesting. Hopefully we can get in that top group eventually.

Joser
2:34

What teams are doing the coolest, 'you wouldn't believe me if I told you' stuff with the minors and player development?

Kiley McDaniel
2:36

I actually talked to some guys this week that are really on top of this stuff and we tried to make a list of the teams that are clearly doing a good job, really making progress, more good than bad, etc. and we came up with like 6 teams? Trying to recall the list, but LAD, NYY, CLE, MIL, SD, HOU (notice a trend?) were all on there. Just as many are clearly doing poorly and I'd say more than 5 are in the middle of a concerted effort to overhaul (like double digit personnel changes) what they have to catch up with that top group
2:37
Trust me, GMs that aren't running one of those top 5-6 or however many teams are in the top tier are acutely aware that they are behind and most of them are actively trying to get there. Some are still in denial, but not that many.

 

[Discoverer]

Found this quote interesting. Hopefully we can get in that top group eventually.

I can't imagine they're too far off since the guy in charge of the organization right now was responsible for putting one of those teams on the list.

 

[NeverGoingToWin]

Osuna with a great game. Only 5 runs allowed.

 

[canucksfan]

Not surprising, Vlad is just raking in the AFL. Batting .591 with an OPS of 1.433.

Him alone, will make next years season more enjoyable to watch compared to this year.

 

[SubyDubyTML]

Anyone collect baseball cards? I've been toying with the idea of buying a Guerrero Jr Bowman auto and I think I've decided to get one. Yay or Nay?

 

[trellaine201]

Machado is a chump. Trying to injure a player. Idiot.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Blue Jays' off-season roadmap: Who to acquire, who to cut loose - Sportsnet.ca

More realistically speaking, here’s what I believe a successful off-season would look like in Toronto…
1.) Decline Yangervis Solarte’s option, exercise Justin Smoak’s option


2.) DFA Dalton Pompey

Once the Blue Jays need to clear 40-man space for Rule 5-eligible prospects, it makes sense to part with Pompey, who’s clearly no longer part of the team’s plans. Don’t expect much of a return for the switch-hitter, who might benefit from a fresh start.
3.) Trade Russell Martin and $16 of his $20 million to a contender for a C prospect

4.) Trade Kendrys Morales and $10 of $12 million for a D prospect

5.) Listen to trade offers for Kevin Pillar, Randal Grichuk, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Ken Giles


6.) Trade Aledmys Diaz to a contender for pitching

7.) Sign a starting pitcher to a short-term deal

.) Tender most arbitration-eligible players

There’s a case to be made for tendering every arbitration eligible player except Solarte and reliever Jake Petricka. Credit Petricka for putting together a bounce-back season, but his projected $1.7 million salary looks high.
9.) Add more starting pitching

10.) Slow-play the free agent relief market


Results

Additions: Sonny Gray, Trevor Cahill, Adam Conley, two veteran relievers, one starting pitcher on a minor-league deal, three low-level prospects
Subtractions: Yangervis Solarte, Dalton Pompey, Russell Martin, Kendrys Morales, Aledmys Diaz, Jake Petricka, Max Pentecost, Justin Shafer
That’s a lot of departures, but the Blue Jays keep all their top prospects and controllable players in this scenario. The resulting team would have more playing time for young players looking to establish themselves at the MLB level, and from Giles on down, there would also be lots of interesting pitching to trade next summer. All told, this version of the Blue Jays would likely cost $125-130 million.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

Blue Jays' off-season roadmap: Who to acquire, who to cut loose - Sportsnet.ca

More realistically speaking, here’s what I believe a successful off-season would look like in Toronto…
1.) Decline Yangervis Solarte’s option, exercise Justin Smoak’s option


2.) DFA Dalton Pompey

Once the Blue Jays need to clear 40-man space for Rule 5-eligible prospects, it makes sense to part with Pompey, who’s clearly no longer part of the team’s plans. Don’t expect much of a return for the switch-hitter, who might benefit from a fresh start.
3.) Trade Russell Martin and $16 of his $20 million to a contender for a C prospect

4.) Trade Kendrys Morales and $10 of $12 million for a D prospect

5.) Listen to trade offers for Kevin Pillar, Randal Grichuk, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Ken Giles


6.) Trade Aledmys Diaz to a contender for pitching

7.) Sign a starting pitcher to a short-term deal

.) Tender most arbitration-eligible players

There’s a case to be made for tendering every arbitration eligible player except Solarte and reliever Jake Petricka. Credit Petricka for putting together a bounce-back season, but his projected $1.7 million salary looks high.
9.) Add more starting pitching

10.) Slow-play the free agent relief market


Results

Additions: Sonny Gray, Trevor Cahill, Adam Conley, two veteran relievers, one starting pitcher on a minor-league deal, three low-level prospects
Subtractions: Yangervis Solarte, Dalton Pompey, Russell Martin, Kendrys Morales, Aledmys Diaz, Jake Petricka, Max Pentecost, Justin Shafer
That’s a lot of departures, but the Blue Jays keep all their top prospects and controllable players in this scenario. The resulting team would have more playing time for young players looking to establish themselves at the MLB level, and from Giles on down, there would also be lots of interesting pitching to trade next summer. All told, this version of the Blue Jays would likely cost $125-130 million.

The idea of adding Gray (buy-low), or other veteran pitchers, while trading Stroman\Sanchez\Giles (sell-low) is profoundly counter intuitive, bordering on nonsensical.

The author has the right idea (kind of), with simply poor hypothetical execution. You're willing to deal those players (less than 3 years of control), but would be wise to do so after they perform back to there career averages\ceilings. You could fetch tremendous packages with a '17 Stroman, '17 Giles, '16 Sanchez, and if you were to acquire him, '17 Gray at the TDL in 2019.

The rest is rather elementary. Solarte goes, Pompey goes to ease the 40 man crunch. Smoak is exercised, while you shop Morales\Martin (likely with limited success of finding deals). Dealing Diaz\Grichuk is unnecessary, while Pillar you shop.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

And someone from the Rays' organization wouldn't be a bad option, either.

Oh yeah. Cash himself would be a tremendous candidate, and is connected to the Jays (obviously former prospect/player, former scout) and Cherington (via Francona/Brad Mills) and Shapiro (Indians scout and coach). The Rays locked him up likely with this in mind.

Fun, random fact: he’s the reason the Indians got Yan Gomes from the Jays

 

[Discoverer]

The idea of adding Gray (buy-low), or other veteran pitchers, while trading Stroman\Sanchez\Giles (sell-low) is profoundly counter intuitive, bordering on nonsensical.

The author has the right idea (kind of), with simply poor hypothetical execution. You're willing to deal those players (less than 3 years of control), but would be wise to do so after they perform back to there career averages\ceilings. You could fetch tremendous packages with a '17 Stroman, '17 Giles, '16 Sanchez, and if you were to acquire him, '17 Gray at the TDL in 2019.

The rest is rather elementary. Solarte goes, Pompey goes to ease the 40 man crunch. Smoak is exercised, while you shop Morales\Martin (likely with limited success of finding deals). Dealing Diaz\Grichuk is unnecessary, while Pillar you shop.

This pretty much sums up my response, too.

Not that you don't look for deals to move Stroman/Sanchez/Giles, but the only move you actually make is one where the acquiring team is willing to pay a price commensurate with the 2016-17 versions of those players. That's extremely unlikely given what they each did in 2018, so chances are they're all around to start 2019.

I don't care which of Smoak or Morales gets moved at this point - I tend to lean Smoak because he would have more value in a trade - but they need to move one. With the number of guys needing reps in the majors this year, having two 1B/DH only players makes less sense than ever. I still think it'll be Smoak because they like Morales for his veteran leadership with the number of young Spanish-speaking players on the team.

I fully expect Martin to be moved. Lots of contenders need catchers and he's exactly what contending teams look for in a veteran backup, except he still hits more like a starter.

I kind of thought Pompey would be moved for a similar post-hype former prospect, but given the way his season ended... yeah, just cutting bait wouldn't be much of a surprise.

 

[Discoverer]

Oh yeah. Cash himself would be a tremendous candidate, and is connected to the Jays (obviously former prospect/player, former scout) and Cherington (via Francona/Brad Mills) and Shapiro (Indians scout and coach). The Rays locked him up likely with this in mind.

Fun, random fact: he’s the reason the Indians got Yan Gomes from the Jays

With teams generally allowing front office staff to interview for jobs that include a promotion and subsequently escalating job titles in order to offer those promotions, how long before a team creates a position called Mega Manager and poaches another team's manager?

Or Mr. Manager.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

With teams generally allowing front office staff to interview for jobs that include a promotion and subsequently escalating job titles in order to offer those promotions, how long before a team creates a position called Mega Manager and poaches another team's manager?

Or Mr. Manager.

Not sure why I lol'd at Mr. Manager...but I did.

 

[IceColdBear]

With teams generally allowing front office staff to interview for jobs that include a promotion and subsequently escalating job titles in order to offer those promotions, how long before a team creates a position called Mega Manager and poaches another team's manager?

Or Mr. Manager.

I would love to get George-Michael Bluth on board.

 

[Discoverer]

I would love to get George-Michael Bluth on board.

"It's up to me now. I'm Mr. Manager."

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[phillipmike]

Seunghwan Oh’s option for the 2019 season already vested when he appeared in his 70th game of the season, but the Rockies right-hander told reporters in his native South Korea on Wednesday that he is considering a return to the Korea Baseball Organization (link via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency).

“I am a bit exhausted after spending five seasons in Japan and the United States,” said Oh, who pitched for Japan’s Hanshin Tigers in 2014-15, the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016-17 and the Blue Jays and Rockies in 2018. “I feel like I want to return to the KBO while I still have the energy to help the team and pitch in front of home fans. I can’t make this decision alone. I’ll have to speak with my agency about the next season.”

 

[Kurtz]

"It's up to me now. I'm Mr. Manager."

"Manager. We would just say Manager."

 

[Discoverer]

"Manager. We would just say Manager."

Doesn't matter who.

 

[dredeye]

The idea of adding Gray (buy-low), or other veteran pitchers, while trading Stroman\Sanchez\Giles (sell-low) is profoundly counter intuitive, bordering on nonsensical.

The author has the right idea (kind of), with simply poor hypothetical execution. You're willing to deal those players (less than 3 years of control), but would be wise to do so after they perform back to there career averages\ceilings. You could fetch tremendous packages with a '17 Stroman, '17 Giles, '16 Sanchez, and if you were to acquire him, '17 Gray at the TDL in 2019.

The rest is rather elementary. Solarte goes, Pompey goes to ease the 40 man crunch. Smoak is exercised, while you shop Morales\Martin (likely with limited success of finding deals). Dealing Diaz\Grichuk is unnecessary, while Pillar you shop.

Agreed that article is a bunch of Randomness that seems poorly thought out. Eating a shit ton of contract for garbage return doesn’t make a world of sense to me either. I know we want to open up some roster spots but jeez don’t just throw money and quality players away to do it.