Blue Jays Discussion: Things happening this winter! (Jays sign Ryu, Shaw)

[Deen]

If Boston will eat the majority of that contract, it wouldn't take a great prospect for me to take Price. The guy can still pitch. He gives up hits but the metrics still suggest he can be a #3. Hes only a year removed from having a really good season and was better last year than some numbers suggest. He still gets K's and the FIP is still good.

You should go look how much he actually gets paid.... for three more years. I want Benintendi (obviously not). I want something good though.

 

[Eyedea]

I love Ryu, always been a fan. But he has one season with over 126 innings pitched in the last 5 years and is getting old.

I’ll put the over/under at 400 innings over the life of the contract.

but like others say, they have great payroll flexibility and don’t have to pay the kids until after this deal is up.

Meh, Hill got 48m from a 110 IP season after missing large parts of the previous 8 years.

 

[The Nemesis]

Steve Phillips says he believes the Jays are still in on David Price.

Steve Phillips says a lot of things.

 

[Kurtz]

Ryu's injuries the past few years have been a neck injury and a torn groin. So nothing arm-related.

 

[phillipmike]

Steve Phillips says a lot of things.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Puckstuff]

Read we are rumoured to have another 15M to work with this offseason.

Could trade Giles to clear 9M, could walk away from Shoemaker at 3.6M, or others.

I'm sure most of that or a large portion will go to our outfield.

Our infield is absolutely stacked long term with 6 big potentials bats in Gurrero Jr, Bichette, Biggio, Shaw, Groshans and Jansen. If one of Shaw/Groshans works out and is productive by 2021 that really makes things favourable for us, Biggio possibly goes to the outfield in that scenario, he can be our Ben Zobrist.

Rotation will have some questions marks, but a lot less then yesterday. We have an insane amount of depth of #4, #5 guys and some quality at the top if Pearson, Ryu work out.

If most of that money goes to outfield someone like Betts next year might not seem so insane. Unlikely... maybe a pipe dream, but possible. On the low or realistic end I hope they can find a good CF, maybe Marte or someone better.

2021

LF- Biggio
SS - Bichette
RF - Betts
1B - Gurrero Jr.
2B - Groshans
DH - Gurriel Jr.
3B - Shaw
C - Jansen
CF - Girchuck


1. Ryu
2. Pearson
3. Anderson
4. Roark
5. Kay

All of this without touching our farm and we have some nice pieces that will start to break out by 2021, 2022 and so on. Management is doing good.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

You should go look how much he actually gets paid.... for three more years. I want Benintendi (obviously not). I want something good though.

Which is why I said if Boston eats a big chunk of that deal, it may be worth it on our end.

 

[Deen]

Helping out our divisional rival with their cap takes compensation. That's Baseball.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

A much needed signing. With money to burn...a couple extra million and/or extra year should not stand in the way of getting it done. Well done.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Helping out our divisional rival with their cap takes compensation. That's Baseball.

Boston doesnt care about spending. They bought world series titles, just like the Yankees. Let them eat the majority of a contract like Price and we'll take him on a discount. Rogers will never spend as much as them, despite Rogers having never-ending cash flow. Boston and New York don't need to spend smart money, we do. I dont wanna pile on, but this is what happens when you have an ownership that is only interested in gouging.

 

[Eyedea]

Assuming we still have ~20m to work with I'd look for a lefty OF (Dickerson, Calhoun, Gordon), and some bullpen stuffers (Stammen, Rondon, Strop, Hirano). Or if we could add Harris to Giles that would be cool too.

 

[as Pure as Evil]

Toronto drafts 5th overall this year. They have a chance to pick up an impact player there and Nate Pearson is arguably the best pitching prospect in the entire MLB right now. The future is bright. Just know that is takes time to make a winning Baseball team. Ryu will make the games interesting, but don't expect playoffs... just yet.

It's amusing on all sorts of levels we just locked in a slick lefty and are currently lined up to grab a high end lhp 5th overall according to a couple mocks

Lefties galore

 

[hockeywiz542]

The Jays spent most of their off-season looking for starting pitching. They made previous attempts to sign Jake Odorizzi, Zack Wheeler and Kyle Gibson among others and didn’t come away with a successful bid. Ryu arguably was the last impact starter remaining on the market, and if he got away the Jays would have been in danger of coming away empty-handed.

There is risk here. A lot of it, actually. Prior to 2019, Ryu had not tossed more than 127 innings since 2014 and his medical history would give any doctor pause. There was surgery on his left shoulder in 2015, left elbow tendinitis in 2016, foot and hip issues the following year. In 2018, it was a strained groin. This year was the healthiest he has been in a long time and he still required two stints on the disabled list.

But here’s the thing. It’s a risk the Blue Jays can afford. They have a cheap young core of position players who won’t be eligible for large raises for approximately three more years. There is plenty of flexibility to spend significantly over the next couple of seasons without negatively impacting the ability to pay and add to the core down the road. Even with Ryu’s projected $20 million per season, Toronto’s projected payroll for 2020 remains a shade under $100 million. There is approximately $53.8 million on the books in guaranteed deals for 2021, and only $35.2 million the year after that.

Ryu will help in the short term but what the Jays are banking on is that he will be able to contribute in 2021-22 when Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and others really start to hit their stride. If Toronto didn’t add a long-term piece to the rotation now, it would have left even more work to do next year. It’s almost impossible to get everything done in one off-season and the Jays are well served to add a big piece now, see where it takes them and then reassess what holes need to be plugged.

The deal comes just a week after there were indications inside the Jays organization that the club didn’t expect to sign Ryu. The Angels, Twins and Dodgers were long rumoured as the presumed favourites and Toronto didn’t seem to like its chances about coming out on top. The possibility of a signing was downplayed and yet during the ensuing days something changed. Exactly what remains unclear, but whether another team dropped out or Toronto upped its offer even more, the only thing that matters is that the organization got its guy.

Atkins spent the last couple of years trying to raise the talent floor of his team. This latest move is all about raising the ceiling and that must be refreshing for the fan base to hear. The rebuild is still ongoing and it probably won’t end in 2020 either, but buying assets sounds a whole lot more appealing than trading them away.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

Good for them. Some will call it an overpayment (they're not wrong in a vacuum), but its good business. That capital had to be deployed on the rotation, and there's very little opportunity cost over the next four years.

As we outlined late last week, you're looking for the first two years to mirror his 2019, and then accepting the fact that the final two could be average to spotty. However by then, Pearson, SWR, Manoah, Kloff, Kay, Borucki have a decent likelihood of having broke in \\ sticking \\ excelling, allowing him to slide down the rotation (or be on the IL). The theoretical dead $20MM is offset by the min contract performance of the young pitcher. Always, always, always better than using said young pitcher as capital to secure a veteran pitcher through trade.

This should not necessarily stop them from being opportunistic when it comes to Price. If its Boston retaining ~$5-7MM per season for the remaining contract, and at a middling prospect cost (something like a Logan Warmoth; i.e. no one in the top-15 prospects in the org), I'd be comfortable pulling the trigger.

Dickerson is likely holding out for multiple years, but he's always been the obvious left handed bat signing.

Merry Christmas you filthy animals.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Getting a solid front end guy without giving up the comp pick is awesome. Totally fine with this deal. Hoping to see that they front loaded it.

 

[GoonieFace]

Jays fans - this front office is cheap, won’t sign any good free agents

Jays sign Ryu

Jays fans - this front office is clueless, they just overpaid for a free agent pitcher

no winning with some people

 

[613Leafer]

Any information on how the deal is structured? Front loaded would be preferable - give him more money while he's still good and while the rest of the roster is still cheap, and less money as he gets older and the rest of the roster gets more expensive.

 

[Anthrax442]

This will also take off pressure from the young pitchers. Pearson can take is time and not be rushed

 

[Cor]

Was not expecting to actually get Ryu.


Good job

 

[Merrrlin]

Jays fans - this front office is cheap, won’t sign any good free agents

Jays sign Ryu

Jays fans - this front office is clueless, they just overpaid for a free agent pitcher

no winning with some people

Most people seem really happy with it?

 

[Cor]

This will also take off pressure from the young pitchers. Pearson can take is time and not be rushed

Ive liked how they’ve built a veteran staff to almost surround Pearson.

Ryu, Roark, Anderson, Price/Waguespack/Shoemaker

 

[shaner8989]

This is f***ing awesome. Jays might surprise

Need outfield and bullpen help still

 

[Cor]

This is ****ing awesome. Jays might surprise

Need outfield and bullpen help still

We were linked to Kole Calhoun IIRC. Plays the corner, but pushes Grichuk to Cf id imagine. That’d be nice.

Bullpen wise, it’ll likely feature a lot of internal options. SRF will likely be in the pen. Shoemaker as well. Waguespack will either be in AAA rotation or the MLB pen.

I’d still like to see an signing first the pen if we can, but I’m not sure what options are out there right now that would be must-signs.

 

[Cor]

Shapiro and Atkins have done well with the moves they’ve made. Anderson, Roark, Shaw, Ryu all add some experience and potential to be real solid contributors (though none of them, for various reasons, are slam dunks).

If they knocked it off with the 1000 media appearances, they have quietly had a decent winter