1:15 AM Eastern
The Blue Jays got plenty of homework done on Thursday night, settling up with five of their six remaining arbitration-eligibles, and a multi-year deal with Alex Rios (and maybe Aaron Hill, too!) is still to come.
The big shocker in the bunch is Scott Downs getting a three-year deal (worth $10 million). Downs will be 32 by Opening Day, and – the Jays hope – is the classic late bloomer. Miscast as a starter early in his career, the Jays picked him up after he was released by the Expationals in 2004 (they were in the process of moving, OK?) and slowly he found his niche with Toronto in the ‘pen.
Downs was one of only three reliable relievers the Jays had for a long stretch in the first half of last season, along with Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo. The walks (24 in 58 IP) are still a bit of a concern, but he doesn’t give up many hits (.223 opp ba), keeps the ball in the yard and is durable as all get out. He led the league in appearances by pitching in every other game last season, and made a miraculous comeback after missing just ONE day with a case of the gout.
Gout, by the way, is one of my favourite diseases because you get to use a definite article in front of it. Nobody says that they’ve come down with The Bronchitis or The Pneumonia, but you get to have The Gout. Cool. With apologies to those who have suffered from it, because I’m sure it’s a real pain. And evidently you don’t get it by drinking too much wine or eating too much red meat. A lot of it is seafood, vegetables like cauliflower, spinach and asparagus (who knew asparagus did something ELSE to you?) and…….organ meat!
Anyway, the thing with Downs is the same as the thing with any career-inconsistent reliever, especially one in his 30s. You have absolutely no idea what you’re going to get year-to-year. We learned this with the Kerry Ligtenberg-Terry Adams-Jeff Tam experiments back in the day. Downs has had two good years in a row, which may mean he’s going to blow up real good in 2008. It may not. If the Jays get two years like ’06-’07 out of Downs over the course of the three-year deal, it’ll be fine. Remember, he goes back to being the second lefty once B.J. Ryan comes back, used for an out or two in the seventh or eighth. I really hope he starts talking to the media again, though.
Since we’re in the bullpen, Jason Frasor and Brian Tallet got one-year deals. It’s nice to see Frasor jump over the million-dollar mark, because he’s really been jerked around by the team the last couple of years. He’s been like the Josh Towers of the bullpen, except with results. He pitches well, but the leash is incredibly short. He’ll have two or three poor outings in a row and then won’t pitch for three weeks, and when he’s back, he’s terrific again. Despite the fact that most think Frasor had a crappy year in 2007, he allowed only 70 baserunners in 57 innings with 59 strikeouts and allowed 3 homers. To contrast, Downs allowed 71 baserunners in 58 innings with 57 strikeouts and 3 homers. There’s some sort of parallel here, if we could only see it…….
Yes, Downs pitched in higher-leverage situations most of the season, but Frasor can be a very helpful piece as a guy to throw in the 6th or 7th, setting up for Downs/Accardo/Ryan.
That Marco Scutaro got a two-year deal isn’t a surprise. He’s a decent back-up infielder, and a solid if unspectacular bat off the bench with a knack for the big hit. I know, I know, there’s no such thing as a clutch hitter, and I firmly believe that to be true, but it warrants mentioning that over the past four seasons, Scutaro has been the guy at the plate for the final at-bat in NINE walk-off wins. Included among those big hits are game-winning homers off of Mariano Rivera and B.J. Ryan. And this from a guy who’s never even been a regular. Pretty impressive, as is the fact that he hit .348/.464/.565 with runners in scoring position and two outs last season.
Of course, before last season, his career average with runners in scoring position and two outs was .207, but we don’t need to bring that up, right? He’s a clutch hitter! His career OPS with runners in scoring position is almost 50 points higher than it is the rest of the time! So what if it’s not really statistically significant. Anyway, he has had a few big hits in his day, he’s about the same against righties or lefties, and he’s a better back-up option at third than last year’s Jason Smith/Johnny Mac/Howie (say it ain’t so) Clark combo. And he’s only making $1.325 a year. Not bad.
That leaves Tallet and Gustavo Chacin. It’s nice to see Tallet get a little bit of security ($640,000 worth). He did a very good job for the Jays in that long/middle relief job last season, and he managed to cut his walk total while raising his innings pitched, despite not making the team out of Spring Training. He’s as solid an 11th man on the staff as you’ll find. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, by the way.
And what can we say about dear old Gus? At least he continues to smell good. And it tells you all you need to know about baseball’s messed up salary arbitration system that Chacin can throw 27 1/3 well below-average major-league innings, not pitch outside the month of April and still almost double his salary. If he’s healthy, he will get every chance to unseat Jesse Litsch or Casey Janssen as the 5th starter, but he’ll best serve the team as injury insurance in Syracuse. And if he pitches well down there, hey, everyone can use a lefty starter, maybe they can get something for him.
As always, your comments are welcome, and the e-mail address remains wilner590@hotmail.com
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If there’s one place the Jays have any depth, it’s in their bullpen. Ryan Accardo Janssen Downs Frasor Tallet Wolfe and League have all produced at the major league level, and 2 Romeros and Purcey aren’t that far off. This being said, I question the decision to lock up Downs now. With another decent season under his belt he would have retained type A status and the Jays could have received 2 top picks for him. That being said, in today’s market where JC Romero’s get 3/12, a 3/10 deal for Downs isn’t bad and he will most likely retain trade value throughout, so we will see where this goes.
- AriCome on mike do a mail bag or something its been like a week and a half since you posted and i’ve been checking back 15 times a day,
- Dan MooreI know you have a family but think of us, your loyal reader/listeners for once. You selfish (censored) lol just joking love you Mike
J.P. talks about still possibly making a small move or two before the season. The two guys who I can’t understand why they haven’t been on the radar are Mark Sweeney and Johnny Estrada. Sweeney has been a consistent left handed bat off the bench for a long time, he maintains a solid .700 – .800 OPS and could be had for under $1M. Estrada would likely become the starting C for the Jays, but at worst, would be a VERY competent #2 catcher behind Zaun. The way the market has played out, J.P. could scoop in and do a 1 year Molina like signing. Both signings would make the team instantly better. BUTTT, if the team wants to make a late splash, assuming they can’t muster up the talent to trade for Santana, the Jays could grab the best OPS hitter of our generation, Mr. Bonds himself. Even if he could only muster 400 plate appearances as the teams LF / DH, he would contribute FAR more than Reed Johnson could ever do in 500+ AB’s. It ain’t gonna happen, but J.P. needs to roll the dice this year once or twice if he has any thoughts of competing this year (possibly his last year as Jays G.M. if he’s unsuccessful yet again).
- Fernando