Jays In 30…Thoughts
30 thoughts from the week that was for the Toronto Blue Jays
3/19/2016 – 3/25/2016
1) Not in the Plans? EE feels as if the team has no plans to have him as a Blue Jay going forward even though it sounds like they have offered him a contract – just not at the length he has requested. It is a real possibility that our #3 and our #4 hitters are gone for 2017. But really….
2) Should they sign him? He is often hurt, he is 33, he brings nothing defensively but the man can hit. In my opinion they can realistically only keep one of Bautista or EE, not because of money, but because they will both be full time DHs in the not too distant future. Part of the future core…
3) Tulo Socking Dingers Tulo can be a 30 home run man – especially playing 81 games at the hitter friendly Rogers Centre. That would be phenomenal production from the shortstop position. The main worry with Tulo is health and…
4) Tulo’s Hand Is, thankfully OK! After taking a pitch off the hand from Big Bart, X-Rays came back negative. We need all hands on deck to start the season. In other news Bartolo is looking as big as ever but it still getting people out at the age of 42…the last Expo in the MLB. While another old Dominican born player had something to say…
5) Ortiz Loves the Flippin Ortiz defended Bautista and the bat flip – that really should be old news by now – his defense was in classic Ortiz fashion with plenty of expletives dropped
6) Will it Ever End Now Mike Schmidt has weighed in on the “disrespectful” bat flip. Enough already. History can’t be changed – it was an emotional game and an emotional moment…let’s just drop it. Another story that is coming to an end involves…
7) Gavin Floyd #5 Floyd has been great this spring training. Everyone says he can’t pitch out of the bullpen and that it is rotation or bust. If he does start how long can he last?
8) Health? Can Floyd stay healthy? How much can that elbow really take? If he starts in the rotation that means Sanchez is in the bullpen all season as he won’t be stretched back out in season.
9) How Does Sanchez Feel? Really should we care? As a professional shouldn’t a person just do what is best for his or her organization? With a couple of important free agents potentially leaving after this season it really seems to be a “must win” season.
10) The Actual Best 5 As of this now I wouldn’t have Happ in my top 5 starters. In terms of talent my rotation would be Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada, Dickey, and Floyd. But Happ is making $12 million a year so he is in the rotation no matter what. I just hope his improvement in Pittsburgh can carry over to his 2nd stint with the Jays. Or….
11) Maybe it should be 6? If the rotation were to have 6 starters would that be the worst idea? Sanchez and Stroman will have their innings monitored while Estrada needs to be taken care of after a heavy workload last year. The oft-injured Floyd may not last that long anyways…I don’t recommend they go to a 6 man but it is an idea.
12) Devon Travis – Rumours he may not be back until August, or at all, this season. If Goins puts up decent offensive numbers it seems Travis is destined for Buffalo this season anyways – especially if he can’t get healthy until late in the season. Terrible circumstances dealt to the young second baseman.
13) Pillar gets defensive Says the only guys that walk are home run hitters as the pitchers are scared of them…looking at last year’s stats he really isn’t wrong. I hope he doesn’t change his approach much just because he is hitting leadoff.
14) Love for CC I don’t doubt that Colabello will have a strong season (I strongly believe he should be playing every day over Smoak) but will the opposition pay more attention to him and understand any weaknesses he may have?
15) Gibby Gets Restructured At first I felt terrible for Gibbons, I thought he may have been forced to lose his automatic extension clause in his contract, but it sounds like he had interest in doing this before the new regime came to town. Sounds like he got some extra cash out of the deal so that always helps.
16) No Surprise Stroman gets opening day…the worst kept secret has been made official!
17) Arnieeeee Arnold Leon, who came over from Oakland, has quietly put together a great spring and may have the inside track on a middle/long relief role with the team. There are still a few arms in the mix for bullpen jobs and because minor league options matter (Leon doesn’t have any), things are very much up in the air. Gibby, unsolicited, gave him a vote of confidence.
18) Holding onto Hutch and why wouldn’t they? 25 years old, with options, and coming off a tough year where his value would be very low. Let him try to work things out in Buffalo. Can you believe he was the opening day starter just one year ago…?
19) The Difference a Year Makes Last year at this time the Jays were scrambling to find guys to fill their rotation. The only carry over starter, from the original 2015 rotation, this year is Dickey. Heck we have a competition this year for a rotation spot!
20) The Worry at Catcher What a drop off from Martin to Thole. Thole is not a big league catcher and shouldn’t be on the roster. With Martin getting older you would think the Jays would have a little more insurance behind him but there is the whole RA Dickey personal catcher thing…maybe we could bring back JP to catch RA again, seemed to work out well the first time…
21) Delabar out of Options There is an ongoing rumour that the Tigers like Delabar and, if he doesn’t make the team, you have to wonder if there is a trade to be made. Likely for cash or a PTBNL. He just hasn’t been the same since his all-star appearance.
22) Joe Biagini The 25 year old has an arm. Does he have a legitimate chance at cracking the MLB roster? Doubtful. I hope we can keep him in the organization – hopefully something can be worked out with the Giants.
23) Donaldson’s Spring Hitting For the record I don’t think there is anything to worry about but it is kind of puzzling that he hasn’t had an extra base hit yet…
24) Kawasaki on FIRE! Muni has an average of .370 with an OPS of .966, yes you read that right, the fan favourite has been on fire with the Cubs this spring. With an injury to La Stella, and no timetable for his return, Muni may play his way onto the opening day roster which would be great for the 34 year old lightning rod! As for the someone who was almost a Jay [ed. note: I think he still is a “Jay”] …
25) Jay Bruce Trade (or lack thereof) had a new detail leaked – the Reds were going to pick up $8 million of his $12.5 salary – that would have made the deal more tolerable but at the same time I feel Bruce is just another Justin Smoak…Home Runs and Strikeouts. Hope Saunders can stay healthy…
26) Other Former Jays Navarro looks to be in a platoon situation with Avila in Chicago, we won’t talk about David Price, Mark Lowe is set to be K-Rods setup man in Detroit and Pennington has the utility job in Anaheim – sure that is a quick rundown but you are all caught up! Speaking of Price…
27) Price Early With the 2nd series of the year having Boston come to town we are sure to see David Price in the home-opening series. What will his reception be? He really wasn’t offered anything by the Jays so us fans can’t be that upset…can we? Someone else who won’t be getting any cheers is…
28) A-Rod is Calling it a Career…in 2 years? A-Rod says he is ready to be a Dad and then hours later he says he isn’t sure about retirement…only Rodriquez would announce his retirement 2 full seasons early. If he stays healthy over 2 years he has a very outside chance at Bonds’ home run record…very outside chance.
29) Choate Getting the Lefties With big lefties like David Ortiz and Chris Davis in the AL East, Choate really could become an invaluable member of the bullpen…if he can get out the lefties. He is 40 and it is tough to say how many more bullets he truly has left in his arm.
30) Spring Coming to a Close Soon the guys will be off to Montreal as a final tune-up for one of the most anticipated Blue Jays season in the history of the franchise…and I can’t wait!
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