4:50 PM Eastern
Scott (the Greatest Blue Jay Of All Time) Rolen was the only Blue Jay to get moved at today’s non-waiver trade deadline, going to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, reliever Josh Roenicke and minor-league reliever Zachary Stewart, according to published reports.
The Jays rid themselves (hopefully – we’ll get more from J.P. Ricciardi at 5:00) of a $15 million obligation to Rolen – though I expect they’re paying some of what remains this year – and pick up two young arms plus a replacement third baseman who is a little bit better than OK.
Encarnacion is 26 years old and under contract through 2010 (in which he’ll make $4.75 million), and he’s really going through it this year, hitting just .209/.333/.374. He’s a poor defensive third baseman -, so if he plays every day, get used to remembering how good Rolen was – but he has some pop, having hit 26 homers last year (Great American Ballpark alert). He walks and doesn’t strike out a ton. Like I said, he’s a little bit better than OK, and one hopes he won’t be the Jays’ starting third baseman for the rest of this year and next. He’s not eligible for free agency until after the 2011 season.
Roenicke, whose dad Gary played for the Orioles in the ’80s, turns 27 next week and is in his first extended look in the bigs, pitching pretty well out of the Reds bullpen this past month and change. In 13 1/3 innings, he’s allowed 13 hits, walked four and struck out 14. He has put up some ridiculous minor-league strikeout numbers, having struck out over a batter per inning in every pro season he’s played, and for his minor-league career allowed 7.8 hits per nine innings with only 3.8 walks and an eye-popping 10.9 strikeouts.
Stewart was the Reds’ third-round pick last year and has already made it to AAA. The 22 year-old out of Texas Tech had a solid seven starts in the Florida State (A) League and a dominating seven starts in the Southern (AA) League before being moved up to AAA, where he’s been used out of the bullpen. He was a closer last year in A-ball as well.
If the Jays don’t pick up any money (and taking Encarnacion back may in fact be the money in this trade), they’re getting two good arms for Rolen when his value will never be higher. He remains an injury risk, and will be 35 next season, but man was he fun to watch while he was here. He plays baseball the way it should be played, which is about the greatest compliment a player can get. He had eight great months as a Blue Jay in a season-and-2/3, and he’ll be missed.
Is it a good trade for the Jays? That depends on what they get out of Roenicke and Stewart, and those returns won’t be known for a couple of years, at least. It would have been a better trade if the Jays had wound up with first baseman Yonder Alonso, a young slugging first baseman, as had earlier been reported.
Can the Jays still try to “go for it” next year even without Rolen? They can if Jose Bautista or Encarnacion can be a solid everyday third baseman, but since neither of those guys is likely to do that, they can if they use the extra $6 million they just freed up to go and get some help, or deal some of the excess arms in the off-season.
There was word right at the deadline that Roy Halladay had been traded to the Angels, but that turned out not to be true.
There are a lot of comments in the queue, and I’m sure more are coming, I’ll get to them during the game tonight.
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Hey Mike…
what happened to the Yonder Alonso headline you talked about.. the slugging 1B. I told all my friends we got a great player for Rolen. BOO!
MW: Yeah, that was a shame.
- ed CheeLooks like a good trade by the Jays. I have been waiting for Rolen to go down with an injury, that shoulder of his gave me shivers everytime he would dive for a ball. Yes the power is gone but the leadership and defense will be missed, good luck Scott!
- AdnanMike,
Sorry to see Rolen go, but you’re right about his value being high right now, he makes alot of money and now is the time to deal him.
Hopefully, the pitchers work out for the club down the road.
Lyle’s going to miss the perfect throws from Scotty….guess he’ll have to get a bigger glove.
What do you think of the talk of “Charlie Hustle” potentially being considered for the Hall of Fame? Do you think he should be in the Hall?
I do.
Go Jays!!!
MW: I think Rose should be in the Hall, too.
- DJJAYmr wilner.
Well i see the jays pulled another move that i mentioned just days earlier.
i was correct in saying the jays needed to rid themselves of bj ryan, and now im right again on the moving of scott rolen,
this is one time where i applaud JP for moving a horrible contract. Getting what he could for him was a wise move forward. Now if he can get rid of wells and rios and rebuild for the future, the jays may yet see a playoff run in their near future.
ahhh. Ryan and rolen gone= 2 for 2 in predicted moves the jays should have and ended up doing.
Man i hate being right.
MW: You should send your resume to the Jays.
- mark in caledonia“Rolen asked to be traded for personal reasons.” Hmmm. Maybe his parents were fed up with the garbage and Toronto life and told their son they wanted to move back to the US.
You are bang on Mike – Rolen was a real treat for Jay fans and he WILL be missed.
- RezHi Mike,
I maybe wrong but I thought I heard or read that JP said weeks ago “I won’t talk about trading Haladay anymore in the media.” Or something to that general idea. In the past few weeks I read and heard him speaking to Fox Sports Radio, Emailing ESPN, etc…Am I wrong? Even if I AM wrong, why is it he seems to speak to the US national media and not to you or one of your co-horts in the local media? It seems JP has turned his back on the TO media for a bigger stage. I at one time was a big fan of his and agree with you on all you say he has done and accomplished. However, I am now starting to tire of him and though he may not deserve it, I am hoping they will make a change and start the off season with a fresh approach. I don’t want to see them tear down but what has happened so far – is not working. I would say tell me if I am wrong but I know you will anyways. I hope I am in an odd way.
Great work Michael,
Dave
MW: He may not deserve it, but fire him anyway? Not really a compelling reason there. Ricciardi has always leaked info to the national media in the U.S. and almost never done so to the local media in Toronto. It’s nothing new.
- DaveHey, Mike,
J.P. blew his chance. He’ll never get more for Halladay than he would have this year. The Jays can’t compete with Halladay this year or next, especially now that Rolen’s gone. Watch out, Jays fans, here comes fifth place! Orioles are rebuilding with youth, exactly what the Jays should have done. Those four players the Phillies sent to Cleveland would have helped Toronto. And J.P. could have had Happ or Drabek in that mix. Amaro had much better advice from Gillick and Dallas Green, and he didn’t panic like Riccardi who obviously set a ridiculous self-imposed deadline that meant nothing. The sooner J.P.’s out of here, the better.
MW: What makes you think that the Jays could have had Happ or Drabek if they’d traded Halladay to Philly?
- JohnMike,
I just read a terrific article about how JP botched the Halladay trade. I encourage you to read it. Apparently, every executive in baseball laughed at what JP was asking for from the Phillies.
You have said many times that the Jays were under no pressure to trade Doc. It’s true, he is under contract for next year, but the fact is he will never have the value that he has right now. When the Jays trade him in the off season or at next year’s deadline, they won’t get even close to what they could have got now.
There is nothing wrong with asking for a lot. Who knows? Maybe the other guy will be stupid and give it to you. But when it becomes obvious that the other guy isn’t going to budge, you have to reevaluate your strategy and lower your asking price.
Horrible job by JP. Let me know what you think of the article.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-firericciardi073109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
MW: I think the whole idea of “sell high, but settle for a lot less than what you want” is counter-intuitive. Halladay will more than likely still be the best pitcher in baseball next year and will still have several suitors if they choose to try to deal him next summer. Why should they have taken less than what they wanted now, when they can get less than what they wanted next summer and have a year of Halladay in between?
- MartyI don’t think that too many really appreciated how good Rolen was a 3rd and we may not see that again in TO for a lot of years.
He was just a pro, period and I like your line “He plays baseball the way it should be played”.
I couldn’t agree more, good luck to you Scott Rolen.
- GaryThe Rolen trade probably hinges on how well Stewart turns out. Seems like a good arm, and of course he’s young and cheap.
Encarnacion…I don’t know. There’s talent in that bat, but check out his career home/road splits: nearly 100 points OPS higher at home, so he’s been helped playing in that park.
Seems like a weird deal to make. Keeping Doc, apparently going for it in 2010, but then trade Rolen? I heard that he requested to dealt, though.
MW: He did. Rolen is expensive, injury-prone and a declining asset and they got two good arms for him.
- Flaming MoeJeff Passan of Yahoo sports tore a strip out of JP and says he should be fired right now for not trading Halladay for a boatload of talent that will make the team much better in the years to come, I am one of Roy’s biggest fans, but seeing he will not resign for 2011 I agree, this was a huge miss (JP did the same thing with AJ Burnett). We are DOOMED!
MW: Passan’s article is linked above.
- RoyMike. All I want to say is that watching Sportscentre and Connected this evening is that the MLB trade deadline is not the televison event that the NHL trade deadline has become in this country. The trades covered the first 5-10 minutes of the shows, then moved on to other stuff. I don’t know what ESPN does but I don’t think they devote 10 hours of programming to trades. Both TSN and Sportsnet covered the deadline the way trade deadlines should be covered.
On the other hand, the NFL trade deadline is the biggest non-event in sports since no in-season trades are ever made in that league.
Peter, St.Catharines
MW: Hockey drives the bus in this country, have you not noticed that?
- PeterOk been a JP supporter for awhile but what is he thinking! Either deal the likes of Overbay, Downs, Fraser, Halladay, Rolen, Tallet, and Barajas and re stock. Now only dealing one of those guys is a huge opportunity lost. I don’t get the direction of the team, and I have inside knowledge after my trip to Seattle that a lot of “people” within the team thought as I did it was time to blow it up. Now if JP and the organization plans to spend in the offseason to better the team, than I understand not dealing a lot of the above mentioned players. However if they think they can win next year with the lineup as is, he is fooling himself. Taking one of the 3 rocks out of the lineup does not make it better for next year. So unless they load up on FA’s in the offseason, this team has leadership which needs to be questioned. They missed a HUGE opportunity to reload for the future with a great young core already here. I really don’t get it???? What are your thoughts!
MW: See above. I’d love to know why members of the Jays’ front office were compelled to tell you their thoughts about the team, by the way.
- tony43Do you think that the Jays will be active in the offseason?
I like the Rolen trade as we got a couple good young pitchers and a third baseman for him.
What do you think would put the Jays into a team that could compete with the Yankees and Red Sox?
Just some questions I’ve been thinking about asking.
You do a great job with the Jays Talk I listen to it often after the Jays game!
So hello from Kitchener :)
MW: Thanks! Sorry about your no-hitter. Encarnacion, it appears, is a third baseman only by the strictest definition of the term. In order to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees, the Jays need to get their bullpen straightened out, quit messing around with left field, get Wells and Rios performing to their capabilities and start getting some hits with runners in scoring position. Also, they need a third baseman.
- Matt YoungHey Mike. Scott Rolen is my second favorate Blue Jay of all time behind Doc! This move depresses me because even when this team was playing bad, he made me proud to be a Jays fan! I hope he goes on an even bigger hot streak with the Reds to show everybody how bad this move was for Toronto!
- Matt from BCHey Mike. One more thing. what do you think of my all time top 5 favorate Jays in order?
1. Roy Halladay
2. Scott Rolen
3. Joe Carter
4. Frank Catalanotto
5. Paul Quantrill
MW: I think you need to learn how to spell favourite, but I like all those guys.
- Matt from BCI don”T think the “THE GREATEST BLUEJAY OF ALL TIME”would ask to be traded.Get real mike!
MW: Sigh.
- GuyI heard today on rod Dribbles show Rolen requested a trade for personal reasons, have you heard this? With Rolen gone I am now convinced that first the Jays cannot compete next year and second there is something bad going on in their clubhouse (ie look at last year).
MW: Rod Dribble?
- jason c wNice trade, both from a financial and prospect point of view. We have been hurt by sitting on the fence in the past, and this is how teams secure their future (ie. the Marlins).
- JohnEncarnacion? Another merely serviceable ball player. What is it with J.P. and the Millars, the Delluccis, the Bautistas and such. He’d better expect to move some of his young pitching for bats–that is, if he has in fact realized it takes offense to win in the East. You have to be able to put up a 5-spot in the bottom of the eighth from time to time. With or without Halladay, they’re going nowhere next year with the current cast of offensive players.
MW: Once the pitching gets healthy, the opportunity to move it for bats will arise. Encarnacion, I think, was necessary to take back in order to balance the money in the deal, as I said in the post to which you’re commenting.
- Will, OshawaWhen you see what the Padres got for Peavy, would have taken that for Halladay? They get Poreda and Richard — their top two pitching prospects (according to BA)–and some guy named Dexter who has 232K & 54BB in 186 minor league innings (!!). That’s quite a haul. Plus Russell.
MW: Peavy is worth more than Halladay. He’s younger and is under contract through 2013.
- edGroan. What a total let-down for the Jays. First, they make signs of gearing up for a re-tooling. Then they stink up the playing field since the All-Star break. And then they trade the only exciting player they have for a re-tread, regressing player and some RP fodder.
MW: RP fodder? Good thing you looked into the players the Jays got.
- JonathanMike,
I’ll miss Rolen too. When I went to see the Jays play last year and this year, I just loved watching Rolen play defence. I’ve been watching baseball since the mid-80s and Rolen is the best defensive 3B, I’ve seen. His hitting was good although his power numbers were down. With this trade, the Jays minor-league system is loaded with good young arms. How are the other positions looking like in the Jays minor league systems, especially:
C
SS
3B
These 3 seem to be the place where we need players next year and beyond.
MW: The Jays have a couple of good, young catchers in the system in J.P. Arencibia and Brian Jeroloman, though Arencibia has stubbed his toe in AAA this season. Brad Emaus and Scott Campbell were promising young infielders (for 3B, or 2B, with Hill moving to 3b), but neither has hit well this season. The shortstop of the future, Justin Jackson, is still a couple of years away.
- JoeMichael,
Do you think Harry Leroy Halladay III’s refusal to go to the Texas Ranger’s has more to do with his ambivalence about joining them or his ambivalence about leaving Toronto?
MW: The former, because he would have had no problem going to the Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, Brewers or any number of other teams.
- Uncle Bentrade overbay for prospects in the offseason…even if marginal prospects.
Hill moves to third.
use the money freed up to sign hudson who will play second.
lind to 1b
resign scoot.
snider to left field
encarnacion goes to DH/ platoon righty
MW: I want someone better than Encarnacion to DH. It’ll take more than Overbay’s money to sign Hudson, I think.
- General ZodMaybe that really was Swirsky yesterday and he knew something, but on the other hand if you get enough people throwing out random names odds are someone will be close eventually. Don’t worry we wont tell Encarnacion you called him a poor hitter who can’t defend.
MW: You can tell him – it’s true.
- Chris ThompsonAs someone a bit more ‘in the loop’ than any of us, do you know if any other Jays may have been on the trade menu today (i.e., Rios, Wells, Scutaro, Overbay)? Thanks.
MW: I don’t know, because they were so caught up in the Halladay thing, but I’d be very surprised if they didn’t have discussions on at least Overbay, Scutaro and some of the relievers.
- BrentHi Mike…..Good for Scott Rolen….He never complained and was a steady a fielder as anybody the Jays have had. will miss his business like approach…wish Wells and Rios could could pick up some of Scott’s mannerisms….after watching Rios mis play a routine flyball tonight…maybe we traded the wrong guy…..here’s hoping Scott’s personal reasons for asking for this trade that everything is okay on the homefront…..Wasn’t Encarnacion a top prospect a few years back? Thanks
MW: Encarnacion was a top prospect, but he’s not a good third baseman. Rolen never complained, but he asked to be traded. Isn’t that worse?
- Mark FeeleyI am absolutely ecstatic that Halladay was not traded. Words cannot describe how happy I am that he wasn’t moved. He is the best Blue Jay ever and that is no disrespect to Alomar, Bell or Delgado. In a perfect world the Jays contend next season and Halladay signs an extension but if he is going to leave anyways I would rather see him stay the entire year and have the Jays receive 2 compensatory picks. I don’t like Edwin Encarnacion at all. He’s a terrible fielder and he will really look bad especially since we have been watching Rolen. It may surprise alot of people but last season Troy Glaus led the NL 3B in fielding percentage and was 3rd in the AL in 2007. Despite his limited range, Glaus was a slightly above average 3B and Rolen’s outstanding defence has made Glaus appear below average in comparison. Can you imagine how bad Encarnacion will appear after watching Rolen for a year and a half. His 26HR`s in 2008 are intriguing and he does walk alot but his poor defence may too much of a liability. Tony Batista hit 41 bombs and still was liability because he was so bad at everything else. I absolutely agree that Rolen`s value will never be higher and I am surprised that he has been healthy all year. The true jewel of this deal may lie with Zach Stewart. Everybody knows that Hill has beat Alomar`s record for homeruns by a second baseman but most people don`t know that Batista holds a record that may take decades to break and that is homeruns by a Blue Jay shortstop with the 41 he hit in 2000. Ask that trivia question in 10 years and see how many people can answer that.
MW: Glaus’ fielding percentage pretty much shows why it’s such a flawed stat. He’s terrific at fielding balls he can get to, but he doesn’t get to many at all.
- DomenickMike, Speaking of Tony Batista, I do miss that guy. He seemed like a real funny guy. Watch this clip of when he played in Japan. It’s hilarious. It’s on youtube under the heading Tony Batista scares pitcher.
Tony Batista Scares Pitcher
- Domenick GalluzzoThis is one of the funnier baseball situations I have seen. This is one of TV’s Greatest Moments
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The Jays aren’t competing in this division if the have All Star years from their 3rd baseman? Wells is a bust at what they paid for him – Rios has had an awful year. Outsire of Hill and wonderful young lefty there’s not much to get excited about…actually, I have missed a wonderful year from Lind…but Scutero, Overbay, Encarnacion and an aging catcher—that’s not going to compete – the Jays are stuck in indecision and once again will be the tweeners headed to mediocrity. Make up your mind JP!
MW: Sigh.
- GaryI will miss watching Rolen too. It’s strange the Reds gave up two decent pitching prospects when they are clearly out of the race. But that just goes to show you how valuable Rolen’s abilities and leadership are to a young team like the Reds.
MW: It shows, I think, that the Reds think they can win next year and Rolen can help with that.
- SteveMike -
You keep bringing up the fact the Jays have recently had many 1 run losses and also that many losses were games the “Jays could have won”. These are just excuses. A loss is a loss, obviously, and many times the true calibre of a team is revealed when they lose games :they could have won”. Besides, many teams suffer one run losses. Just more excuses for a team that seems to be in disarray thanks to a dismal job by JP.
Rene
MW: Not true.
- ReneMike
The latest non trade of Halliday just highlights the lousy job the classless JP Ricciardi has done for the Jays. Why advertise the fact that Roys is for sale and then not trade him? Why bring up the point that he (Roy) “forced” the Jays into this by saying he would pursue free agency after 2010? Even if it were true, why can’t JP show a little class for once and not say anything out of sheer respect for what Roy has done for this team in his tenure. Instead he throws Roy under ths bus in an attempt to exonerate himself from the mess he created. I think it is now a surety that Roy will leave after 2010 and who can blame him?
Rene
MW: It was never advertised that Halladay was for sale, nor did Ricciardi ever say that Halladay forced the Jays into shopping him – since he was never shopped.
- ReneHi Mike,
I hate to join the list of Vernon Wells whingers, but I cannot believe how easily he’s been getting out lately. I know he’s a first pitch hitter, but lately he seems to be getting out almost all the time on the first pitch…meekly as well.
At some point, do you think the batting coach or somebody feels the need to step in and say “Vernon, your system isn’t working”????
For a solid player, he just looks awful at the plate right now. It’s as if he’s in a hurry to get back in the dugout.
Also…what is it with the Jays and 3rd baseman. 2nd one in a row who asked politely to be moved!
MW: I’m sure the hitting coaches have had countless discussions with Wells.
- OzRobI don’t know if you have time to research but it is a very short list of players who have hit as many homeruns in a single season at the short stop position that Tony Batista hit. He hit 41HR in 2000 and 40 of them were as a short stop. AROD had 57HR’s in 2002 and 51HR’s in 2001 as a shortstop with Texas. Ernie Banks had 47HR’s in 1958 and 41 HR’s in 1960. Unless I am mistaken, Tony Batista is third on the list. WOW!!! Only AROD and Banks have hit more homeruns in a single season as a shortstop then Tony Batista. Rico Petrocelli had 40HR’s in 1969. He played every game at SS that season with the exception of one game at 3B. Unless he homered at 3B he shares 3rd place with Btista. Other notables with their season highs in parenthesis. Cal Ripken(34), Barry Larkin(33), Robin Yount(29), Alan Trammell(28), Vern Stephens(39), Nomar Garciaparra(35), Miguel Tejada(34) Don’t you find this shocking? I do.
MW: I find it shocking that your eyebrow’s not raised at Batista’s big power years and subsequent disappearance. Petrocelli hit all his homers as a shortstop in ’69, by the way.
- DomenickMike
I did a little analysis. Since 2002 the Jays win loss percentage is about 0.498 (not counting Oakland series). If you subtract Hallidays win-loss record during that time the Jays won/win at about a 0.464 clip. The fact that the Jays win-loss record is so much worse when Roy is not pitching indicates that JP has done NOTHING to build a winner. JPs legacy will likely be that he inherited the best Jays player and then lost the best Jays player (in 2010). In between he just didn’t ever put the winning pieces together (rather opposite).
Rene
PS Other teams like the Bosox still have a winning record when you subtract their best pitchers wins and losses from the total.
MW: Do other teams’ winning percentages decrease by about .034 when you subtract their best pitcher’s wins and losses?
- ReneHey Mike. Have to agree with your synopsis of the Rolen deal except for 1 thing. Encarnacion better be the third basemen for the remainder of this year and next, or this deal makes no sense. On paper, he looks like he could be fine, he is coming off wrist surgery. But according to several reports out of Cincinnati, his work ethic, love of the game, and defense has been questioned a multitude of times. That’s funny, because according to JP, he and his staff know way more about players than the casual fan, remember the Adam Dunn rant. What I don’t understand is why Cinci wants Rolen, they don’t appear to be a contender, which is where I thought Rolen would go. To me, on paper, its a good deal, I just hope we don’t have another Rios on our team, one per team is more than enough. Also, quite a debut for Cliff Lee, complete game and 2 hits for good measure. I know its only 1 game, but his record in interleague was 13-2. The first year gm for the Phillies breathed a heavy sigh of relief after that start, you know if it had gone bad, the Phillie faithful would be ready to lynch him for not selling the future for Halladay.
MW: The deal makes sense just for the two arms the Jays got back, and probably would have made more sense had Encarnacion not been involved, but I’m thinking that the Reds insisted that the Jays take him in the deal. Lee threw awfully well tonight, but San Francisco is a vastly different place to pitch than Philly.
- daveWhew! Thank God they didn’t trade Doc for a guy who wasn’t hitting his own weight, they only traded Rolen for a guy not hitting his own weight. It’s incredible to me how every club seems to get value in these trades except the Jays. I’m just plain underwhelmed by this one.
MW: OK. But the trade wasn’t Rolen for Encarnacion.
- Jim in OhioHello Mike,
I phoned in today from Saskatoon and said that JP “lied” and you said he didn’t. When he came on the Fan with you he said this would be the last day he will talk about the rumors.Everyday after that he talked about the rumors to some American media outlet. That is where he lied. He has some urge to get his name out to the American media.
MW: He may have some sort of thing about talking to national media in the U.S., it’s true. I don’t remember him saying that he wasn’t going to talk about Halladay after he talked to me that day, though.
- andrewHey Mike. I heard you say it again, Scutaro having a big year in his contract year. 2014, here come the Blue Jays, Wells and Rios will rake. I guess you still won’t hold those long term contracts against JP.
MW: Sigh
- daveHello Mike,
I want to start off by addressing the people that reply to your blog with Halliday or Ryos. Do you not see these names on the back of there jerseys every night. Especially for HALLADAY he is one of the best pitchers in Baseball.
Do you think Yankee fans call their Captain, Derek Jeetor
As for Wells, I am just as disappointed at Wells’ production this year but I wonder how many of you were hoping and praying that he would re-sign with the Jays when he signed that big contract.
Try and be a little more objective, plus it will keep Mr. Wilner from sighing so much
- JamieMike,
Thanks for taking the time to reply to all these comments (at least the reasonable and rationale ones).
From this list of 100+ athletes who’ve tested positive in 2003, around 10 names have been released. But since this list is supposed to be confidential, and the union aren’t confirming and denying anything, can’t a random reporter just throw some names out? The union isn’t gonna come out and say “you’re wrong”, and you could get a player to come out of the closest after they’ve been busted, etc.
MW: One hopes there’s still such a thing as journalistic ethics, though.
- James from MississaugaHi Mike-
- PaulI am really sorry to see Rolen go but it was a necessary move.He was first class all the way but his salary along with others like BJ Ryan,Vernon Wells or even Doc Halliday are unfortunately not affordable on a team with a $80 million salary budget.It leaves too little to acquire or keep the other 22 or so good players you need to be a winning team.I am afraid we need a new plan and it will not include massive long term contracts unless Rogers puts more money in the pot.
Hi Mike,
The Passan article brings up some interesting points. He sees Halladay as a withering asset, rather than the Jays still having the best pitcher in the world. I agree with Passan on the absurd thinking that the Jays would want more in return for Halladay if he would go to the inner-division Yankees or Red Sox. Trading Halladay for prospects would likely mean the Jays wouldn’t contend in 2010, so Halladay wouldn’t be coming back to haunt them any way. I’d go even further: The jays would actually be better off trading Halladay inner-division. Better for them to weaken the farm system of Boston or New York than Philadelphia. Plus, Halladay comes back to pitch at Rogers Centre more often, likely drawing bigger crowds on the nights he pitches. (Not that the sox and the Yankees don’t draw bigger crowds here to begin with.)
- Evan WhiteMy question: Why did JP feel the need to be “blown away” by a trade offer? Yes, Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball, but why isn’t fair value enough? The only answer that makes sense is that he feels the Jays may be able to contend in 2010 with Halladay, and if you trade him, that chance is lost. That’s a huge decision, writing off a season, so in that sense, needing to be blown way makes that decision a little easier to make.
I enjoy the show.
Do you think the Jays will play Encarnation at third because “he’s a third baseman,” like Wells “is a centre fielder” and Jeter “is a shortstop,” or will they consider hiding his brutal defense in LF/DH (I don’t know who’d be worse in LF, Lind or Encarnation) and putting Bautista a third? Bautista has always seemed like a decent defensive third baseman to my untrained eye.
MW: Bautista is a decent defensive third baseman, but Encarnacion could wind up being the better hitter, so he’ll likely play third when he plays.
- ColinMike, I was being tactful when I said that our viewpoints were different. I realize that your job, although interesting, can be quite stressful as you have to interract with a large number of fans. There are times when I find you very arrogant and condescending in the way you respond to some ‘callers’. Also, quite often you come across as an apologist for J.P. Having watched the Jays as an interested observer for many years, I find J.P. to be equally as average a GM as Ash. The best example I can give you is J.P.’s cricticism of the Delgado contract when he arrived. I find the Wells’ contract to be just as bad if not worse. To me, they were/are both very average GM’s. Personally, I think that a ‘breath of fresh air’ is required at the GM position. One of the ESPN announcers remarked after 4 p.m. yesterday that Hallady’s trade value dropped 30%. I think the Jays have painted themselves in a corner as his value will drop even more and I would be shocked if he was in Toronto after 2010.
MW: I appreciate your tact. Halladay’s trade value didn’t drop 30% at 4:01 pm on Friday. He’s still Roy Halladay – the only way his trade value drops that significantly is if he gets badly hurt.
- br8anPosting very late here…
Rolen was by far my fav player on the Jays….amazing glove…..great bat (this year anyways) and I from my perception really led by example on and off the field through actions…
Has been missed by me the last couple weeks!
- Cory