GURRIEL JR. LOOKS A LOCK AT SHORTSTOP
Blue Jays GM Atkins offers clear support for youngster, writes Rob Longley.
As the Toronto Blue Jays continue to fast-track to the future — and whatever that may hold — it’s clear the team is willing to further distance itself from the recent past if and when it makes sense.
Speaking at the annual luncheon of the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday, Jays general manager Ross Atkins left no doubt that he’s open for business.
For starters, despite veteran Troy Tulowitzki’s claim last summer that if he wasn’t the team’s everyday shortstop he’d “pack my bags and go home,” Atkins suggested the job is youngster Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s to lose when training camp opens in February.
Atkins said that Tulowitzki, who is coming off a complete season missed due to surgery on both of his heels, would have to “overachieve” to regain his everyday starting spot, despite the fact he’s slated to earn US$20 million in 2019.
“If we were playing tomorrow (Gurriel) is playing short,” Atkins said. “(Tulowitzki) would have to overachieve to play shortstop at an above-average level with above-average performance for 140 games.
“That would be unlikely based on what has occurred over the last two and half years. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to, but candidly, I don’t think that’s likely.”
Atkins backtracked to caution that he isn’t writing off the 34-year-old veteran, who has been working out and practising in California with his former college team, Long Beach State. He says Tulowitzki will get the opportunity to prove himself during spring training and that he understands the shortstop’s desire.
“That’s what we want him to be thinking,” Atkins said. “Any professional athlete, especially one who has his track record, is not going to be thinking of being a pinch-hitter or DH or someone that could from time to time play shortstop. He’s not at that point in his career.
“We’ll see. At this point we’re just focused on what we can control.”
Moving around the infield, Atkins stopped just short of confirming what has been widely speculated around the industry: that veteran catcher Russell Martin is actively being shopped.
With rookie Danny Jansen cementing his status as the team’s catcher of the future late in the 2018 season, Martin is certainly expendable.
“Any team that is looking for catching would have interest in Russ,” Atkins said. “The market is certainly there.”
The Jays are willing to eat a large portion of Martin’s contract — he too is scheduled to earn $20 million in 2019 — to move him, but Atkins said that the most important factor in a potential deal would be what the team would get in return.
While the team might not be aggressively shopping starting pitchers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, Atkins said there is a strong market for either young pitcher, both of whom regressed significantly this past season due to injury.
“I think there’s lot of teams that would love to have either guy,” Atkins said.
So is there potentially enough interest to tempt the Jays to make a move for either hurler if the price is right?
“Yes, absolutely,” the GM said.
NOTES AND QUOTES
The Atkins meeting with the media in advance of next week’s Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas touched on a number of areas surrounding the young, re-tooling team.
Some of the highlights: With Vlad Guerrero Jr. due to be positioned at third base by May (rather than opening day to manipulate his service time), Atkins didn’t sound like he’s anxious to trade for someone at the hot corner. As it stands today, the GM said Brandon Drury (acquired from the Yankees in the J.A. Happ deal last summer) would be the starter at third for the team’s season opener on March 28.
Speaking of Happ, the Jays’ lone representative at the 2018 all- star game, Atkins said he has spoken with Happ’s representatives about the (long-shot) possibility of having him return in 2019.
“I think the world of J.A. and he would be a great fit,” Atkins said. “We’d love to have him back here at some level.”
While the team was pleased with the way Devon Travis remained healthy in 2018 — a big challenge for the oft-injured second baseman — and with the way he picked up his game late in the season, Atkins said the personable infielder will have to seize the opportunity to keep the spot.
“He’s got to come in and be the best guy for second base for us,” Atkins said. “He’s got to come and win that job.”
According to the GM, Sanchez is “in a great position mentally and physically” after off-season surgery on his finger. That said, Atkins said that assuming Sanchez returns to form, his workload will be closely monitored given the struggles of the past two seasons.
“The last couple of years, his workload has been down just making sure that we’re thoughtful if he had a potential 200-inning season after two years of a smaller workload, that might not be ideal,” Atkins said.
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
First baseman Justin Smoak was unanimously selected as the Jays’ player of the year in voting by the Toronto chapter of the BBWAA.
The 2017 all-star led the team with 77 RBIs and was the top defensive first baseman in the AL with a .999 fielding percentage. Smoak hit the 25-homer mark for a second consecutive year.
Other winners included Happ as the team’s pitcher of the year, left-handed starter Ryan Borucki as rookie of the year and backup catcher Luke Maile as most improved.
As well, former manager John Gibbons was named the 2018 recipient of the John Cerutti Award given to “a person associated with the day-to-day workings of Blue Jays’ baseball who displays goodwill, co-operation and character as exemplified by the late left-hander and broadcaster.”