OT: Toronto Blue Jays v3.0: MLB Free Agency

[Lunatik]

I'm not big into baseball, but I caught on the radio that his contract stipulated that he wouldn't have the final say in player personnel movements, etc. Is this regular in baseball? Are GM's just talking heads or...?

It's common in most sports. It's not even so much they are talking heads as the President can nix a move that doesn't fit for whatever reason, be it financial or otherwise. In the case of Shapiro, since he is a former GM so he is more likely to nix a deal if he feels the Jays are overpaying be it in dollars or assets to acquire someone.

AA has made some poor trades as GM, he hit some home runs at the deadline but it doesn't eliminate all the poor decisions prior to that. There is a good reason there was talk of him not being renewed before the deadline.

 

[Lunatik]

to add what I said, in an interview on TSN1050 with Neal Huntington the GM of the Pirates and was assistant GM to Shapiro. He states outright that no GM in has complete autonomy and they always have to answer to someone.

 

[Lunatik]

Also the Bob McCown/Anthopoulos interview yesterday was fantastic. McCown really pushes for answers for the tough questions.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Yeah I don't see what the big deal is. Sure he was a pretty good GM, but he's nothing special IMO.

AA has had TONS of prospects come in the last five years. That's more on the scouting staff then him. That's why they have been able to acquire all these players.

While gutting most of your teams prospects in order to acquire a ton of veterans may look flashy, it is yet to be seen if those are going to be good for the long-term success of the Blue Jays.

 

[Volica]

Yeah I don't see what the big deal is. Sure he was a pretty good GM, but he's nothing special IMO.

AA has had TONS of prospects come in the last five years. That's more on the scouting staff then him. That's why they have been able to acquire all these players.

While gutting most of your teams prospects in order to acquire a ton of veterans may look flashy, it is yet to be seen if those are going to be good for the long-term success of the Blue Jays.

AA was a decent GM, but he was nothing special. You have to keep in mind here... He shipped out Doc for a bunch of nothing, shipped out a small fortune for Dickey, including Thor; who would have been an excellent addition to our rotation. He also did that horrendous Marlins deal, literally 3 years ago, 4 players, 0 of which will be with the team next year.

He did awesome this year, there's no doubt. The only reason he was able to do awesome this year was because of his love of getting extra picks in the draft... overall, I mean, it's not like there aren't capable GM's out there.

 

[Lunatik]

Congrats to Josh Donaldson! 2015 Hank Aaron award winner!

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Much deserved!!

 

[Lunatik]

The presentation is in the link and in the q and a he explains the bringer of rain

Spoiler: he's a big ass geek like us haha

 

[Lunatik]

The Royals won the World Series on Sunday night in 5 games. We took the World Series Champs closer to the brink than the NL Champs did, so that's something.

 

[Anglesmith]

Tony LaCava named Interim GM. John Gibbons will return as manager.

 

[Lunatik]

Tony LaCava named Interim GM. John Gibbons will return as manager.

I was really hoping Francona would use his out and we'd get him as the manager, lol

LaCava has been with the Jays a while as AGM/AVP and worked for the Indians for a while before that so Shapiro would know him from there.

 

[Lunatik]

Even if we are able to bring Price back, I would like to add another LH starting pitcher and a LH reliever.

I also wouldn't be opposed to bringing in a closer and trying Osuna in the rotation.

edit: Wei-Yin Chen & Brett Anderson would definitely interest me as LH starting pitchers. Also would not be opposed to bringing JA Happ back to put near the back of the rotation

 

[Lunatik]

The Blue Jays have:

• Exercised the club options for RA Dickey, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
• Declined the club option for Maicer Izturis
• Made a qualifying offer to Marco Estrada. He has until November 13th to accept the offer, if he does not and signs with another team the Jays will get a compensatory draft pick.
• LaTroy Hawkins officially retired.

 

[Lunatik]

No Gold Gloves for the boys, but Donaldson was won a Silver Slugger and Player's Choice award.

 

[Lunatik]

OP dedicated to free agency now.
In addition it is believed that Colby Rasmus has accepted his qualifying offer from the Astros.

Free Agent Tracker
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/hot_stove/y2015/free_agent_tracker.jsp

Player | Pos | Old Club | New Club | Date | Notes
Hayes, Brett | C | CLE | ARI | 26-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Herrmann, Chris | C | MIN | ARI | 10-Nov-15 | Traded for Daniel Palka
Loewen, Adam | RP | PHI | ARI | 30-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Aybar, Erick | SS | LAA | ATL | 12-Nov-15 | Traded with two Minor Leaguers and cash for Andrelton Simmons and a Minor Leaguer
Brignac, Reid | IF | MIA | ATL | 23-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Pierzynski, A.J. | C | ATL | ATL | 12-Nov-15 | One-year contract
Cabral, Cesar | RP | BAL | BAL | 22-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Buchholz, Clay | SP | BOS | BOS | 03-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Castro, Simon | RP | COL | COL | 19-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Lombardozzi, Steve | IF | PIT | CWS | 26-Oct-15 | Minor League contract
Escobar, Alcides | SS | KC | KC | 05-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Davis, Wade | RP | KC | KC | 05-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Simmons, Andrelton | SS | ATL | LAA | 12-Nov-15 | Traded with a Minor Leaguer for Erick Aybar, two Minor Leaguers and cash
Howell, J.P. | RP | LAD | LAD | 04-Nov-15 | Player option exercised
Murphy, John Ryan | C | NYY | MIN | 11-Nov-15 | Traded for Aaron Hicks
Ryan, Brendan | IF | NYY | NYY | 03-Nov-15 | Player option exercised
Hicks, Aaron | OF | MIN | NYY | 11-Nov-15 | Traded for John Ryan Murphy
Russell, James | RP | CHC | PHI | 12-Nov-15 | Minor League contract
Pirela, Jose | 2B | NYY | SD | 11-Nov-15 | Traded for Ronald Herrera
Riefenhauser, C.J. | RP | TB | SEA | 05-Nov-15 | Part of six-player trade
Benoit, Joaquin | RP | SD | SEA | 12-Nov-15 | Traded for two minor leaguers
Karns, Nathan | SP | TB | SEA | 05-Nov-15 | Part of six-player trade
Gutierrez, Franklin | OF | SEA | SEA | 11-Nov-15 | One-year contract
Garcia, Jaime | SP | STL | STL | 02-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Farquhar, Danny | RP | SEA | TB | 05-Nov-15 | Part of six-player trade
Miller, Brad | IF | SEA | TB | 05-Nov-15 | Part of six-player trade
Morrison, Logan | 1B | SEA | TB | 05-Nov-15 | Part of six-player trade
Dickey, R.A. | SP | TOR | TOR | 03-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Bautista, Jose | OF | TOR | TOR | 03-Nov-15 | Club option exercised
Encarnacion, Edwin | 1B | TOR | TOR | 03-Nov-15 | Club option exercised

 

[Lunatik]

Marco Estrada has signed a 2 year/$26 million deal.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Marco Estrada has signed a 2 year/$26 million deal.

Fantastic, so underrated!

 

[Lunatik]

Fantastic, so underrated!

Makes me feel a whole lot better heading into next season. He and Dickey are a fantastic 3/4 for our rotation. So we're looking at.....

1. Stroman
2. _________ (Free Agent)
3. Estrada
4. Dickey
5. Hutchinson (?)

 

[GAMO1992]

I'm guessing at this point Price is all but going to FA.

 

[Anglesmith]

Makes me feel a whole lot better heading into next season. He and Dickey are a fantastic 3/4 for our rotation. So we're looking at.....

1. Stroman
2. _________ (Free Agent)
3. Estrada
4. Dickey
5. Hutchinson (?)

I got a notification the other day saying the Jays were thinking of giving Osuna and Sanchez the opportunity to start next season.

 

[Lunatik]

I got a notification the other day saying the Jays were thinking of giving Osuna and Sanchez the opportunity to start next season.

Letting them try and win a spot while putting Hutch in the pen would give us a deadly rotation if we can pick up a good free agent (hopefully Price)

 

[Lunatik]

What do you guys think about going after Wei-Yin Chen or Scott Kazmir? I think picking up a lefty for the rotation is important.

 

[Anglesmith]

Forgot to mention, Hendricks will also get a chance to win a starter spot.

 

[Lunatik]

Forgot to mention, Hendricks will also get a chance to win a starter spot.

they always say these things, but Hendricks is so much better out of the pen. The increased velocity he has in the pen is a godsend for him.

 

[Volica]

There were rumours the Jays would be in on Chapman if he were made available by the Reds. They were originally in on him when he came over from Cuba, they lost out by a few million.

That'd be a quick way to really secure the bullpen and let Sanchez or Osuna move into the rotation. I still think it'd be a good idea to send Greinke an offer, really need some upper rotation help. Estrada has a miracle season, Dickey's up there and is probably more of a .500 depth pitcher... The rotation is a Stro injury away from being really bad.