Disney script full of twists with many holes to fill
The Blue Jays, similar to 29 other MLB teams, will head to the Disney resort in suburban Orlando, Fla. on Sunday — gathering at the Swan and Dolphin hotels, setting up shop in organization suites, arranging home and road meetings with their peers, cagily keeping cards close to the vest in terms of free-agent signings and imagining trades to bolster areas of need. Much money will be committed and team rosters may look vastly different by the end on Thursday.
Attending these annual winter meetings as a general manager, you never want your operations to look Mickey Mouse or do anything even slightly Goofy. Major-league fans are more informed, smarter than they ever have been in history, thanks to the mountain of detailed analytics and prospect information on the internet.
A certain amount of clarity has already played itself out this past week, beginning with Shohei Ohtani’s decision on Friday to join the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as a DH and right-handed pitcher. Now, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is headed to the Yankees pending a physical. As soon as that is made official, the early logjam fuelled by the futile hopes of many MLB teams will be broken and those GMs who felt they were in on either the Japanese youngster or the slugging Miami outfielder will look elsewhere.
The Blue Jays will never confirm their interest in specific free agents or discussions on deals with other teams until there is something definite to announce, so this column is more of an educated primer on what GM Ross Atkins should do to make his team better. The meetings are like watching a duck swim. Most of the action is taking place below the surface.
ROTATION
The starting five in 2017 demonstrated its lack of depth and after repeated finger issues for Aaron Sanchez, a failure by Francisco Liriano, an early injury to J.A. Happ and a two-month swoon by Marco Estrada. With only converted reliever Joe Biagini to step in even remotely reliably, hopes were dashed.
The Jays would love to upgrade on Biagini as No. 5, but are reluctantly willing to go with him until one of their young prospects develops some time after the all-star break. Even if Atkins is able to acquire a mid-rotation starter (his goal) this winter, Biagini would remain if Sanchez’s blister and ligament problems continue.
With Biagini, the former Rule 5 draft selection, still having minorleague options, the addition of another starter and a healthy Sanchez would allow the flaky Californian to hone his skills at Triple-A Buffalo or return to a setup role.
“We definitely feel better about our depth overall. We feel like we have a solid Triple-A rotation already. There’s the acquisition of Taylor Guerrieri (off waivers from the Rays). We re-signed Luis Santos. (Chris) Rowley is back. We will have Ryan Borucki, Tom Pannone and then Sean Reid-Foley, Conner Greene.
Those are solid alternatives that are all going to be starting the year in the minor leagues.
“We have a five-man rotation already. Depending on which of those other names emerge over the course of the season, we feel like, amongst the seven of them, we’re going to have options and we’re going to look to complement them further.”
Free-agent left-hander Brett Anderson might have been a consideration, except it is rumoured that part of his demands are that he be guaranteed a spot in the majorleague rotation before he signs. That won’t happen.
Other intriguing free-agent starters include Andrew Cashner, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, Wade Miley, Drew Smyly, Jason Vargas and Hector Santiago.
OUTFIELD
At this moment the Blue Jays may have the worst outfield in the American League in terms of overall abilities and contributions. Consider Kevin Pillar, Teoscar Hernandez, Ezequiel Carrera and Steve Pearce. Where’s the beef?
Atkins described the projected Triple-A Bisons’ outfield as Anthony Alford, Dalton Pompey and Dwight Smith Jr. He admitted that internally they have discussed the possibility of oft-injured second baseman Devon Travis adding outfield to his resume, but not without asking and evaluating his health, and added that recently acquired Aledmys Diaz is athletic enough to join the garden party.
On the free-agent outfield front, Jay Bruce does not fill the need for someone young and athletic, while former Royals all-star Lorenzo Cain would be a good fit using money saved on the contract of the departed Jose Bautista. The Jays would love to add an outfielder who could bat leadoff or hit 20 to 30 homers. Christian Yelich (Marlins), Brett Gardner (Yankees), Kole Calhoun (Angels), Billy Hamilton (Reds), Nick Markakis (Braves) plus others on the rich rosters of the Twins and Brewers have been mentioned as available in trade.
INFIELD
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was pessimistic about his chances of being ready for opening day after a horrible ankle injury ended his year. Despite an optimistic update by Atkins, it seems likely the Jays’ clubhouse leader will spend the entire spring working his way back. As for Travis, who knows how many games he can play? That’s a lot of indecision up the middle for a team that thinks it will contend.
The off-season trade for 2016 allstar shortstop Diaz, giving up just second-year outfielder J.B. Woodman, seems sage, but Atkins needs to add another middle infielder with upside and control. A fallback could be re-signing slick-fielding Ryan Goins, a Marcus Stroman favourite non-tendered because the Jays did not want to go through arbitration that would have bumped his $1.8million U.S. salary.
Prospects Richard Urena and Lourdes Gurriel are internal options, but Atkins would rather see them both start the season at Triple-A Buffalo.
Not even Atkins knows how this week will unfold for his Blue Jays, but he is arriving with high hopes of getting something done.