Blue Jays Discussion: Winter Meetings: Because there's no more fitting time to talk baseball than December

[hockeywiz542]

and petit goes to the nats

****.

 

[Eyedea]

I think the jays only have one borass client? Or none?

They haven't had a Boras client since Brad Wilkerson in 2008.

 

[JS19]

I think his high ground ball rate would be great on this turf and with this infield defense behind him. He would be the type of player you target as he has short and long term potential.

Don Meehan on steroids.

Pardon the pun.

 

[Woodman19]

Looks like they will probably somewhere in the middle of $150-200M

Sounds more to me like they plan on using the exchange rate against it.

 

[Cor]

There's still bullpen options so we'll see.

Hopefully Shapiro can leave Nashville with something

 

[Cor]

Source: White Sox have acquired 3B Brett Lawrie from Oakland. Only I-dotting and T-crossing left. @susanslusser was on it.

Edit: that's from Jeff Passan.

Not sure why Twitter isn't copying the tweet name anymore

 

[hockeywiz542]

source: White sox have acquired 3b brett lawrie from oakland. Only i-dotting and t-crossing left. @susanslusser was on it.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

 

[Blitzkrug]

Oakland is going full scorched earth. Those guys aren't even top 20 in the White Sox system.

Yeesh Oakland got hosed.

Edit: One is apparently 16 in the system. Still seems like a meh return for a guy with potential.

 

[trellaine201]

Lawrie the journeyman. The player nobody wants. Tossed around like no tomorrow.

 

[LaCarriere]

So in a year Oakland goes from having Donaldson, to Lawrie, to Valencia / Lowrie at 3B. Yikes. Try being a fan of that team.

 

[JS19]

Still amazing how AA turned Lawrie into Donaldson.

 

[Cor]

Get Sonny Gray!

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[The Nemesis]

Still amazing how AA turned Lawrie into Donaldson.

Barreto better end up as baseball Jesus for them

 

[Blitzkrug]

Get Sonny Gray!

It's possible.

Oakland loves moving guys before they have to re-sign them, though i do believe they still have a significant amount of control on him.

And then comes the price tag...

 

[TF97]

So in a year Oakland goes from having Donaldson, to Lawrie, to Valencia / Lowrie at 3B. Yikes. Try being a fan of that team.

Go ahead and judge me but I've been a fan of Oakland since long before I was a Blue Jays fan. Valencia was great in his stint with the A's last year and Brett really didn't contribute much last season offensively or defensively. If Danny Boy can keep up last seasons pace then Oakland will not miss Brett at all. Lowrie will be at 2B with Semien at SS. Although, I personally would've dealt Semien before I dealt Lawrie as I believe there is more upside there.

 

[p.l.f.]

valencia made lawrie expendable
who would have thought

 

[hockeywiz542]

“we know it’s in there,†assistant gm tony lacava said last month. “if you look at his peripherals, his walk rate’s good, his strikeout rate is solid, he’s had success in the past and for some reason it just didn’t manifest itself in era.â€

while the blue jays are open to the possibility of trades, that doesn’t mean they want to deal hutchison, who’s projected by mlb trade rumors to earn $2.6 million in arbitration. In fact, he represents a key player for the blue jays, who continue pursuing pitching via trade and free agency.

When the off-season began and shapiro started looking at the blue jays’ pitching depth, he soon realized the club needed considerable depth, particularly in the triple-a rotation.

“there were five guys named blank,†shapiro said. “the guys named blank don’t contribute many innings. We had to deal with that challenge and we’re creatively trying to address it.â€

at the big league level the blue jays have re-signed marco estrada, traded for jesse chavez and signed j.a. Happ. Those arms reinforce the big-league rotation and push others down the depth chart, but the blue jays continue looking for more.

“it could be trades — we could add some guys to the buffalo rotation in trades — it could be non-roster invites, it could be guys that slide in the free agent market and end up going for a period of time to buffalo, or it could be guys that have been big league starters before that we decide to option out,†shapiro said. “we’ve got to solve that.â€

not all of the arms the blue jays acquire for buffalo will be expected to pitch at the mlb level in 2016, though some of them inevitably will. Since hutchison doesn’t have a guaranteed rotation spot, he’s conceivably the kind of pitcher who could provide meaningful rotation depth beyond the starting five.

the blue jays are focused on mid-range pitchers rather than high-end free agent targets, shapiro said. Given the unpredictability of relievers, the front office will approach the free agent bullpen market cautiously.

“it’s such a tough market to wade into and allocate so many of your resources to, but we know we’ve got to find some alternatives and we know we’ve got to play in that market,†shapiro said. “to play in the upper ends of that market it’s a dangerous place to play. You’d better have a lot of flexibility and your threshold for risk had better be very high.â€

whether it’s hutchison, minor league starting depth or big league relief, the blue jays want and need all the pitching they can get.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Joining Tim and Sid from the winter meetings, Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro talks about roster moves and addresses the news about Edwin Encarnacion wanting a new contract.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/ts-we-want-to-upgrade-and-get-more-depth-mark-shapiro/

Toronto Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro speaks to media about his day at GM meetings and action with free agents.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/shapiro-significant-progress-made-with-free-agents/

 

[Woodman19]

With how much teams are trading for talent, I would listen to offers on Hutchison.

 

[tml19]

Wow Lawrie was basically given away. At that price we might as well have picked him up to play at 2nd for a month then flip him for more.

 

[Mitchy]

That seems like an awful return for Lawrie. I like him, so I really hope he bounces back.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Considering what Oakland gave up to acquire Lawrie, you would think he would have been given more than a year to reach his potential. The optics of the Donaldson trade from their standpoint are even worse now. In essence, they gave up the AL MVP for scraps.

 

[TootooTrain]

With how much teams are trading for talent, I would listen to offers on Hutchison.

The thing is in dealing a Hutchison, we're likely trying to get back a Hutchison. Young, controllable, projectable, cheap, major league experience. Unless he's part of a package with Pompey for something bigger.