I have to admit right off the bat that I don’t think we’ll ever know everything about how the Blue Jays’ (or any) front office works behind the scenes. There is a lot of information that the public just isn’t privy to but I’m getting the picture that the Blue Jays are bleeding players through MLB’s waiver system.
Here’s a quick list of players that the Blue Jays claimed on waivers since the end of last season:
December:
February:
March:
April:
May:
July:
Cole Gillespie
Nolan Reimold
Brad Mills
Of these players, none is currently on the Jays 25-man roster. Wilson is now in the A’s system, Tuiasosopo was traded for cash, Hendriks, Mills and Mastroianni are with Buffalo and Gillespie and Reimold are on the DL.
Players lost on waivers (or traded for cash after being designated for assignment):
February:
Brent Morel (Pittsburgh)
April:
Marcus Walden (Oakland)
Jeremy Jeffress (refused outright assignment, became free agent)
Kenny Wilson (Minnesota)
May:
Moises Sierra (Chicago White Sox)
June:
Matt Tuiasosopo (traded to Chicago White sox for cash)
July:
Kenny Wilson (Oakland)
Deck McGuire (traded to Oakland for cash)
You’ll notice that several names that appear on the first list also appear on the second. I find it utterly fascinating that the two players that the Blue Jays decided to put on the 40-man roster in November in order to protect them from being selected by another team in the Rule 5 Draft are no longer with the Blue Jays.
Back in November, the Blue Jays put Kenny Wilson and Deck McGuire on the 40-man roster and invited them to the rookie orientation in Toronto (along with other players like Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, Brad Glenn, Ryan Tepera and A.J. Jimenez) in January.
Now, just eight months later, neither Wilson nor McGuire is with the Blue Jays organization. The fact remains that McGuire wasn’t pitching all that well (after a great start in Double-A and in his first three starts in Triple-A) and Wilson wasn’t playing all that well but it doesn’t cancel out the fact that the Jays got essentially nothing for them (except for a bit of cash for McGuire).
Few of the other players that the Blue Jays claimed on waivers have given them anything of value at the big league level. Liam Hendriks, who is probably among the best of them, has given the Jays three starts of varying quality (mostly bad) at the big league level but has been outstanding in Buffalo. Brent Morel didn’t even suit up beyond spring training. Matt Tuiasosopo did very little. Reimold and Gillespie haven’t been able to play much at all due to injuries. And the Jays lost Marcus Walden who could, eventually, be a serviceable relief arm. Moises Sierra hasn’t been bad at all in a limited role with the White Sox.
Basically, they’ve picked up players who haven’t done anything for the major league team while losing some young players who have actually been able to contribute at the major league level. Is this just a case of bad luck in the waiver wire roulette or is there something systematic going on in player development and assessment in the Blue Jays’ office?
Who are these players? Find out in The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook, now available as an ebook at Smashwords.com for $7.99 US. It’s coming soon to Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo and other fine retailers. You can purchase and preview the book at our Smashwords.com page! If you like us here,“like” us on Facebook!
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