Blue Jays, Like Competition, Quiet On Trade Deadline

There were some unhappy Toronto Blue Jays fans lighting up their twitter feeds with negative feedback towards the brass for not being more active on the trade front.  The Blue Jays did not complete a deadline day deal and given the quality (or lack thereof) of players being moved today I am not really all that disappointed.

Fans were already upset seeing their #meatsdontclash superstar in the making Travis Snider dealt away but in reality the Blue Jays added one of the better arms moved over the past two days in Brad Lincoln.  Featuring a blazing 94-96 MPH fastball Lincoln has seen a rebirth in his role as an effective shutdown reliever for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 59.1 innings, Lincoln has a 2.73 ERA, 3.45 xFIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 1.10 WHIP.  Adding him to Casey Janssen and Darren Oliver and there might not be a better trio in terms of bullpen dominance on one team.

That is a welcome sight for a bullpen that has been in shambles almost from the first pitch of the season.  It is also comforting knowing he will be around to help the relief core for next year as well.  Lincoln will be under Blue Jays control until 2018. 

There have been many Travis Snider’s that could just never hack it in the bigs and while I wish Travis well in the next phase of his career I am not overly optimistic he will ever reach that once lofty potential we read about for years in Pittsburgh either.

The jury is definitely out on this trade for the Blue Jays and Alex Anthopoulos and maybe we don’t know all the back story or if Snider approached the team looking to be moved?  Is it possible there is an attitude problem or some other blemish that we will never hear about? 

All in all I have never been a huge Travis Snider fan and am not all that concerned he was moved.  I see him [Snider] more as the next Jeremy Hermida than Josh Hamilton. 

In other words, relax.

No the Blue Jays didn’t acquire Matt Garza or Josh Johnson but funny thing is nobody else did either.  It is extremely hard to envision either of those players being traded at the deadline for anything less than a king’s ransom of top prospects.

Given the fuzzy health records of both hurlers there is probably a reason no other team anted up either.  Sometimes the best deal you make is the one you don’t, especially at the pressure packed trade deadline when prices become inflated.

Am I a tad disappointed?  Absolutely, but again, neither of the arms worth targeting were traded at all so what is there to be upset about?  Nobody wants to hear it I know but the ‘p’ word is the essential word for Blue Jays fans, patience.

Anthopoulos said it’s more important the Blue Jays make the right trade.

“At the end of the day I think fans understand we’re ultimately doing what we think is best for the long- and short-term of the club,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wants us to make a bad deal.

“I think the fans realize and certainly follow along in terms of making the right deal and I think that’s all they really care about. As long as we continue to improve the club and again I don’t know they ever want us to necessarily do it at the expense of doing a bad deal.”

Blue Jays Trade Deadline Rumour Thread – July 31, 2012

Check back for the latest trades, rumours and updates.

Update (4:15 pm) It appears deadline will pass without a Blue Jays deal.

-Toronto traded fan favorite OF Travis “lunchbox” Snider to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RP Brad Lincoln.

Quick Take: I know fans are disappointed but the reality is that Snider’s value was just never that high league wide. Last year the team would have been lucky to get a bag of balls so adding a big dependable RP (59 ip, 2.73 era, 9.1 k/9, 2.1 bb/9) has to be considered a positive.

-Toronto trades Eric Thames to the Seattle Mariners for RP Steve Delabar.

Quick take: Getting anything useful for Thames at this juncture is nice. Delabar has a big arm with a 10.9 k/9 in 43 career innings.

-Blue Jays are still reportedly interested in adding SP Matt Garza from the Cubs. Ken Rosenthal says Jays are a good fit for trade.

Blue Jays Prospect Report – July 31, 2012

Trade deadline day, a thread will be going up shortly.

Hitters:

LoA (CF) Michael Crouse, 1-3, .224, 2b (2), 2 BB (6)
LoA (RF) Chris Hawkins, 3-5, 1 RBI, .283, 2b (16)
R (RF) Jake Anderson, 2-4, 1 RBI, .235, 2 2b (5)

Pitchers:

LoA (SP) Aaron Sanchez, 5 ip, 7 h, 1 er, 1 bb – 2 k, 2.36
R (SP) Daniel Norris, 5 ip, 5 h, 3 er, 1 bb – 4 k, 4.97

Blue Jays Trade Rumours – July 30, 2012

Well as the deadline comes down to the wire (July 31) it appears trade talks involving the Blue Jays are cooling on almost all reported players linked to the team at one point.  Here are a few updates:

-Peter Gammons of MLB Network reported today that the Athletics have backed off their pursuit of Drew and Yunel Escobar for now, (Twitter link). 

Oakland is reluctant to match Toronto’s asking price on Escobar, according to Rosenthal. Drew and Escobar are Oakland’s top two choices for a shortstop upgrade, Jon Heyman reported today.

Quick Take: Good, I would hope the price for a decent shortsop signed to a team friendly deal coming off of a 4+ win season would be relatively high.  You would have to think the Blue Jays would love to poach a starting pitcher they could plug directly into their rotation as well as a prospect (at any position) to move Yunel.

-The Blue Jays are unlikely to complete a trade for Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). The Marlins expect to keep Johnson instead of trading him.

Quick Take: This deal seemed like a long shot when hearing the reported asking price from the Marlins.  If they were hoping to land a guy like Jurickson Profar from the Texas Rangers (possibly the best prospect in all of baseball) they are likely starting at Travis dArnaud + at least one of our top pitching prospects (Aaron Sanchez or Derek Norris) plus more, but that is pure speculation.

-The Yankees haven’t contacted the Rockies about Rafael Betancourt, and it’s doubtful the Rockies will trade him at all, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter). The Orioles, Athletics, Rangers,Braves, Red Sox and Blue Jays have all been linked to Betancourt.

Blue Jays Prospect Report – July 30, 2012

Hitters:

MAJ (RF) Anthony Gose, 1-4, .192, SB (2); needs to get on-base more to utilize speed
AAA (SS) Adeiny Hechavarria, 1-5, .313
HiA (LF) Marcus Knecht, 2-3, .204, BB (41)
LoA (RF) Chris Hawkins, 2-6, .279
R (RF) Jake Anderson, 3-4, 1 RBI, .223
R (2B) Christian Lopes, 2-4, 3 RBI, .239, 2 2b (10), BB (11), SB (3)
R (CF) Dwight Smith, 2-5, .230
R (SS) Dickie Thon, 2-5, 1 RBI, .204, HR (2), SB (3)

Pitchers:

AA (SP) Chad Jenkins, 7.1 ip, 7 h, 1 er, 1 bb – 6 k, 4.96; need more outings like this

Blue Jays Series Recap – Jays Take 2/3 From Detroit

Well if nothing else at least the Toronto Blue Jays beat up an old rival and took a big series win over a club that is fighting for the AL Central crown.  The Detroit Tigers have been playing some decent baseball of late but without the gem thrown by Doug Fister would have been swept away by the Jays, who even out hit the Tigers in the final game of the series.

I took in the game on Friday and watched as Omar Vizquel shocked the entire crowd (and Tigers shoddy defense) with a stand-up triple!  It was a huge 8-3 victory and the big hit in that game came from Jeff Mathis who cleared the bases with a rocket double to left field.

The Tigers defense played a factor in both defeats as they had a few fielders really fighting the ball, with Prince Fielder looking downright awful on a few ground balls.  The Detroit Tigers have a great chance to make the postseason thanks to a rather weak division and in fact have a worse run differential (+11) than the Blue Jays (+23).  Switch divisions and I think the Jays have a shot at the title (especially with any reasonable amount of injury luck).

It was a great series victory overall and hopefully the Blue Jays can use this as a momentum builder.

CURRENT RECORD: 51-50 (+23 run differential), 3.5 games behind the Oakland A’s for the wildcard.

Here are the quick recaps and boxscores:

Game 1 – Blue Jays 8, Tigers 3 – Villanueva good enough over five innings, Mathis with big 3-RBI game.

Game 2 – Blue Jays 5, Tigers 1 – Encarnacion welcomes Anibal Sanchez to the American League with his 28th HR.

Game 3 – Tigers 4, Blue Jays 1 – Doug Fister proves to be too much for the Jays bats.

UP NEXT: Heading out west to face the Seattle Mariners (47-57, -8 run differential) in a three game set.

Blue Jays Prospect Report – July 27, 2012

Tons of updates today, I’ll be recovering from carpal tunnel after completing the daily report!

I’ll be at the Dome today for the Blue Jays / Tigers game, see you all there!

Hitters:

AAA (1B) David Cooper, 2-4, .312, 2b (26), BB (36)
AAA (SS) Adeiny Hechavarria, 3-4, .312, BB (34)
AAA (RF) Moises Sierra, 1-3, 1 RBI, .295
LoA (RF) Chris Hawkins, 1-2, .279, 2 BB (35)
R (RF) Jake Anderson, 1-3, 1 RBI, .209, 2b (3)
R (3B) Matt Dean, 4-4, 3 RBI, .244, HR (1)
R (2B) Christian Lopes, 1-4, 1 RBI, .248, 2b (8), BB (9)
R (CF) Dwight Smith, 1-5, .222
R (DH) Daniel Devonshire, 1-3, 1 RBI, .333
R (SS) Dickie Thon, 1-3, .198, BB (11)

Pitchers:

LoA (SP) Noah Syndergaard, 5 ip, 4 h, 3 er, 4 bb – 6 k, 2.90
R (SP) Adonys Cardona, 3 ip, 1 h, 1 er, 2 bb – 6 k, 6.32
R (SP) Kevin Comer, 5 ip, 6 h, 1 er, 0 bb – 1 k, 4.34

Blue Jays Trade Rumours – July 26, 2012

It is basically status quo on the trade market as far as the Toronto Blue Jays rumours go. 

Here is a quick rundown on today’s news.

-Josh Johnson continues to be a hot target among MLB teams, and the Blue Jays are still being linked as a possible landing spot.

Baseball executives seem divided on the Marlins’ plans for Josh Johnson, but it’s clear the right-hander is drawing considerable interest as the trade deadline approaches. One official told Jayson Stark there’s a 95% chance the 28-year-old stays put. But other executives told Joel Sherman they’d be shocked if the Marlins don’t trade him. The Rangers, Angels, Orioles and Blue Jays appear to have interest in Johnson, who earns $13.75MM per season through 2013. Here’s the latest on Johnson, with the most recent rumors up top:

Johnson would prefer to be near his home in Oklahoma or his wife’s home in Orange County, California, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (on Twitter).

The Marlins are seeking a Mark Teixeira-like package for Johnson, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Miami seeks at least three good young pieces for Johnson, Heyman writes. The Rangers, of course, obtained Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia when they traded Teixeira five years ago.

QUICK TAKE:  If the Marlins think they are going to receive a package comparable to the ‘Tex’ deal I think they are destined to be disappointed.  I also feel the Blue Jays would go nowhere near that type of package for a pitcher they would only control for one  more season. 

UPDATE: 9:50pm – The Blue Jays are undeterred by their series loss to the A’s and are still pursuing Johnson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

-It doesn’t appear the Toronto Blue Jays are serious suitors for the services of Zack Greinke, here is the latest from MLB trade rumours:

The market for Zack Greinke appears to consist of the Rangers, Angels, White Sox and Braves, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. Rival teams say the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers aren’t involved on Greinke, and the Indians and Orioles have limited interest in pitchers headed for free agency, Stark writes.

–Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar remains a possible option for the A’s, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. However, the shortstop says he likes playing in Toronto and doesn’t want to be traded, according to Slusser.

Blue Jays Prospect Report – July 26, 2012

Coming off a pathetic 16-0 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland A’s, plus losing our catcher for six weeks Jays fans need something positive this morning. Let’s take a look at the daily prospect update, maybe it will help.

Hitters:

MAJ (RF) Anthony Gose, 1-3, .143, 2b (1); showed off stellar arm strength
AAA (DH) David Cooper, 2-3, .309, 2b (25)
AAA (SS) Adeiny Hechavarria, 2-4, .307
AA (CF) Jake Marisnick, 1-1, .243, 2 BB (5), 2 SB (5); still intriguing talents
LoA (LF) Michael Crouse, 4-7, 3 RBI, .229, HR (1)
LoA (RF) Chris Hawkins, 4-7, 2 RBI, .277, 2b (15), SB (9)
R (2B) Rolando Segovia, 1-3, .243, BB (11)

Pitchers:

LoA (SP) Aaron Sanchez, 4,1 ip, 3 h, 5 er, 5 bb – 7 k, 2.27; battled control
SS (RP) Marcus Stroman, 2 ip, 1 h, 0 er, 1 bb – 2 k, 4.91

JP Arencibia To Miss Up To Six Weeks With Fractured Hand

File this story under WTF.

As if losing a game 16-0 (and setting a franchise record for worse loss in history) isn’t bad enough it was also a case of injury added to insult.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia is expected to miss up to six weeks with a fractured right hand.  It appeared the injury occurred on a foul tip by Brandon Inge.

Arencibia is hitting .242 with 16 HRs on the season.