Jays Roster Discussion

[Captain Canuck]

Travis just can't seem to stay healthy.

Ezequiel Carrera hurt now too and on the 10 day dl.
Jays just can't seem to get any relief on the injury front this year. Just when they get a player or two back from injury another one or two go on the dl. It's mid-June and they still haven't been able to field a full healthy roster this season.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Trade Osuna?  It's doable, plausible, even possible, but really...would you??

Robeto Osuna has been one of the best and biggest breakout stories in baseball. Gauge him by strikeouts, walks, home runs, groundball rate, hard-hit rate, and many other metrics, and he?s having the best season of his three-year major league career, and also one of the best for any reliever in the game.

He?s only 22 years old, making the league minimum, and can?t test free agency until after the 2020 season. By many different measures, he?s a blue-chip asset for any team to have.

And that?s exactly why the Blue Jays should trade him as soon as possible...

The "why" explained here:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/osunas-dominance-present-blue-jays-tempting-options/

 

[Captain Canuck]

Another day, another injury!
Joe Smith to the 10 DL with shoulder inflammation, Leonel Campos has been called up to take his spot. Smith has been one of the better arms in the Jays pen this season, so not good news. Tepera will slide into the set-up role while Smith is out.

 

[hockeyfan1]

In case it was missed...In Wednesday's game (June 21) a 7-5 win over the Texas Rangers...

[tweet]877742261160857601[/tweet]

 

[hockeyfan1]

To buy or sell, that is the question...posed to Jays' President Mark Shapiro:

[tweet]876487565502812160[/tweet]

With six weeks to go before the trade deadline, I asked Mark Shapiro about the Blue Jays' position. Here's what he had to say about it:

"We?re in a position where we have a lot of talent. The team will make the decision for us. Wish it would be clearer, but our only mindset right now is that we look at ourselves in the thick of things.

We?re hoping we separate ourselves because we have the talent to do it. That?ll make it certainly easier to make a decision. We?re looking for ways to get better.

Hasn?t been one thing consistently that?s been an issue. At times our defense hasn?t been good, starting pitching has been by and large pretty good, but we?ve had hiccups there, And offense hasn?t bee on track the way we wanted."

 

[Frank E]

So Grilli's out...

 

[Captain Canuck]

So Grilli's out...

Yeah just didn't have the results like he did last season so it was only a matter of time.
Might be the end of the line at age 40, was currently the oldest player in the A.L.
I did admire his passion though, always got jacked up after a big strikeout and everyone else fed off of it.

 

[cabber24]

Saunder's signs a minor league deal with the Jays. All Star to the minors in a hurry. Let's hope Toronto is the right fit for him and her returns to All Star form.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Ex-Blue Jay Munenori Kawasaki (remember him?) salutes Canada, Toronto, and the Blue Jays and a Fukuoka Canada Day party...

In an awesome Canada-themed video interview on Fukuoka Now earlier this week, Kawasaki reminisced about his time in Toronto and sent a heartfelt message to Blue Jays fans:

?Hi. How are you? I miss Toronto ? my favourite place. I don?t forget Toronto,? he said, hands to his heart.

?Don?t forget. See you soon, OK? Take care ? your body, your mental [health], your [happiness],? he said, ?I hope you enjoy your life.?

He also misses his former Blue Jays teammates.

?Ryan Goins, Kevin Pillar, Jose Bautista, Donaldson, Tulo, all the guys I miss,? he said, before breaking into the Jose! chant.

?Kevin Pillar, you?re the best, you?re Superman,? he added. ?I?m a good player, however, you?re the best.?


http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/ex-blue-jay-munenori-kawasaki-special-canada-day-message/

 

[L K]

5 runs over 3 games against the terrible Orioles starting pitching.  Useless team.

 

[hockeyfan1]

5 runs over 3 games against the terrible Orioles starting pitching.  Useless team.

Perhaps this year's Blue Jays motto should be...'We are the cure for the opposing team's ills'...

 

[hockeyfan1]

What is ailing the Blue Jays besides all these trips on the DL?  This article attempts to explain.  Buyers or sellers?  Dismantle "the oldest least sustainable roster" and rebuild the farm system?  What should they do?...

Until we know how this turns out, the Blue Jays are Schrodinger's cat ? simultaneously dead and alive.

Someone is going to have to decide which it is before they open the box in September. That someone will be Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro. Is he a deadline seller or a buyer?

This is the rare instance in which doing nothing is not a viable option. If Shapiro does nothing, he's effectively done something ? committed himself to one of the oldest, least sustainable rosters in baseball when he could have infused the farm system with badly needed new blood. If the Jays finish 12 games out of a playoff spot, giving up on your tomorrows for today will look terribly foolish.

Going the other way is less risky. If you call the season in July, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You're proved right by the result.

At a guess, that's the way the Jays are leaning. Shapiro was hinting as much back in mid-May.

If that's so, the time for treading water is ending. If the Jays clubhouse wants to be given the chance to see this thing through till the end, they have to start doing it right now. A good target would be crossing the threshold of .500 by the break, which begins July 10. That's the point at which most teams begin firing up their loudest game-theory generators.

It's harder to explain that you are cracking up a winner, both inside and outside the organization. But enough people will buy the explanation if the team is a loser when you begin dismantling it.


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/kelly-the-blue-jays-are-schrodingers-cat-so-whats-in-the-box/article35472937/

 

[Andy007]

So Steve Pearce is sitting for the 2nd game in a row for Ezequiel Carrera. This is a player who has been absolutely on fire the last month (1200+ OPS), has proven to be far, far superior than Carrera on a career basis, has better numbers this year, even considering Carrera's inflated avg and obp, and hits RHP significantly better than the lefty Carrera does. They may be a wash defensively, but, unlike the moronic Carrera, Pearce actually can hit a cutoff man.

I just can't wrap my head around this. Is Gibbons really dumb enough to use a LH hitter vs. RHP solely due to the fact that he's LH, despite the RH being way better?

 

[Kin]

I don't have a dog in the fight but bWAR has Pearce and Carrera as equally useless(-0.1) for the year.

 

[Andy007]

I don't have a dog in the fight but bWAR has Pearce and Carrera as equally useless(-0.1) for the year.

Well Pearce had a horrid start to the season and then got hurt but, as I said, he is raking at a plus 1200 OPS the past 30 games. He also has a much higher value than Carrera career-wise. It's a no-brainer really.

 

[Kin]

Well Pearce had a horrid start to the season and then got hurt but, as I said, he is raking at a plus 1200 OPS the past 30 games. He also has a much higher value than Carrera career-wise. It's a no-brainer really.

Both guys are having very good months, with Carrera over .900 OPS for the month in his own right. If I had to guess at a thought process it would be in trying to get some speed/OBP in the lineup combined with Carrera having slightly more success against Fister albeit in very small sample sizes.

 

[Andy007]

Argh, my long response totally got wiped out. I blame Gibbons! Here's the short of it:

Carrera's month constitutes only 15 games. Pearce has not only still been hitting at a much better rate but has done so for almost twice as many games. Pearce's career OBP is also ten points higher than Carrera's. The only thing favouring Carrera is, as you said, speed, but this is a team that never steals and only scores via home run. Carrera is also a dummy on the basepaths.

The Fister angle is silly to me (but to Gibbons I'm sure it's religion)- 2 hits in 9 at bats. I can't imagine that means anything. That's like scratching Kadri for Ben Smith because he has more goals against a particular goalie in a small sample size.

But this isn't a Carrera bash-fest. He's just a career mid-600 OPS guy who's playing above his head this year and has no business playing consecutive games, as well as pinch hitting, for a clearly superior player. And for a team that can't score runs to save its life, I'm not sure why they keep benching their hottest hitter.

 

[Kin]

Just in a general sense re: lineup construction I don't know how seriously I'd take career stats for something like OBP over year over year stats in dictating lineup selection. "How well did these guys get on base in 2012?" seems like information I'd struggle to see as relevant. Carrera is having a very good year in terms of OBP and that may outweigh historical or very recent information and I don't think it's entirely crazy to think that.

That said, I do think the more relevant point is that neither guy is very good. Pearce has a higher career value but almost 75% of his career value comes from one year. They're both basically replacement level guys.

So I guess I see it more like benching Ben Smith for Rich Clune because Rich Clune popped a few against a particular goalie. Maybe not the decision I'd make but sort of harmless in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Andy007]

Steve Pearce is akin to Richard Clune? Carrera's 150 at bats this year outweigh his consistently bad career totals? Okey dokey, that ends this discussion.

 

[Kin]

Steve Pearce is akin to Richard Clune?

Well, no. I mean, if you're going to be snarky about it in that particular analogy Pearce is Smith and Carrera is Clune.

Pearce has a career 8.3 WAR with 5.9 of it coming in one year. So I'm pretty comfortable saying he's a hell of a lot closer to Smith than he is Kadri.

Carrera's 150 at bats this year outweigh his consistently bad career totals?

I'd phrase it more as Carrerra's career with the Blue Jays vs Pearce's recent numbers being more or less a wash in that regard make the difference a small one as opposed to a large one.