Tulo’s time with Blue Jays is up, as it should be
With the holiday season in full swing, the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday shockingly decided in Las Vegas that they no longer had room for a ghost of Christmas past. The Jays released 34-year-old shortstop
Troy Tulowitzki and the huge US$38-million in salary still owed the five-time all-star for 2019-20, plus a buyout.
For general manager Ross Atkins, it was a business-slash-baseball decision based on reasons that could logically be argued as must-do for a rebuilding franchise.
First, there was absolutely no trade market among the other 29 teams for a former great shortstop who has not been in a Major League Baseball game since July 28, 2017. Any team that may become interested in Tulowitzki as their starting shortstop in ’19 would first have needed to see he was healthy and that his glove and bat were MLB ready again. Spring training for the Jays would have become a tryout camp for one man and at the same time a month of preparation for others.
That Tulo distraction at Dunedin, Fla., during the months of February and March would have been untenable for a team that has already closed the window on the veteran-laden playoff teams of 2015-16.
A primarily first-year coaching staff is responsible for deciding which among a large group of young prospects deserve playing time in ’19. There has seldom been a spring with more jobs up for grabs. They all need playing time.
That is their priority rather than helping Tulowitzki find his next job. Instead, the Jays briefly opened that already closed window and tossed out the last straggler. There is no salary cap in baseball, but the best they could have hoped for in trade is to eat the vast majority of the remaining $20 million —
$14 million and a $4-million buyout. Why not move him to another position and let him compete at second base or back up Justin Smoak at first?
The problem there is that the proud two-time Gold Glove winner made it clear when he visited the Jays on the final homestand in September at Rogers Centre that he was unwilling to be anything but a shortstop and that his plan was to report to camp and show the Jays he had come all the way back. Unfortunately, the Jays feel they need to see as many innings as possible out of
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., now their shortstop of the immediate future.
Don’t cry for Tulowitzki. He had nothing to lose by standing firm against suggestions of a position change. In baseball, money is guaranteed so he could stand by his dream. By the way, for those who believe the Jays were OK financially last season, be aware there was no insurance policy to help the team out in the $20 million the Jays were forced to eat when he played zero games due to double bone spurs and double surgery.
As for the long-term deal, recall that the original contract had been signed with the Colorado Rockies.
In hindsight, it should have been obvious the Jays’ intentions toward Tulowitzki last Wednesday when Atkins spent time at the Toronto baseball writers annual meeting. When he was asked about the chances of a
Tulo rebound to form by the oft injured Californian and his possible return as a key piece with a return to a meaningful leadership role.
“Performance is such a big part of leadership,” Atkins said. “It’s really hard to have a significant influence or impact if you’re not there every day and performing at some level. I think veteran leadership is more important when you’re in the World Series, for having the experience of having been there and having won before.”
Then the third-year GM, who inherited Tulowitzki’s contract in the winter of 2015-16, was asked the likelihood in his mind of a full return to health and the possibility he might be able to win his starting job back in the spring.
“Candidly, and I think that Troy would agree with me, that that is not likely,” Atkins said. “He would have to overachieve to play shortstop at above-average level with above-average offensive performance for 140 games. That would be unlikely based on what has occurred in the last 2½ years. But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to do it. But, candidly, I don’t think that’s likely.”
Not here, anyway. Bottom line becomes the Jays waited until they got to Las Vegas for the winter meetings to speak to Tulo, which is where he has his home. In fact, the Jays are doing him a favour by releasing him.
Once they realized no team was willing to offer prospects and would also require the Jays to eat the lion’s share of the remaining contract, Atkins just cut him loose which allows him to make his own deal.
So how much, in fact, did the trade in July 2015 executed by Alex Anthopoulos cost the Blue Jays in the long run? The answer is surprisingly little, dollar for dollar and in performance on the field. But they were in two American League Championship Series.
At the time the trade was made in July ’15, the Jays were around .500. One of the reasons had been the horrible play of shortstop Jose Reyes, who routinely allowed ground balls to squeeze by him for base hits and whose bat was not what was needed to earn a post-season berth.
So, in what became addition by subtraction, the Jays worked out the deal for Tulowitzki and balanced it by shipping out the struggling, expensive Reyes. The combination of Tulo and Ryan Goins for two months, plus David Price and the other acquisitions became the key.
Without the trade, Reyes was sabotaging that ship. In addition, the Reyes contract they inherited from the Marlins still had
$48 million remaining for 2016-17, including an option. He had now made himself untradeable — unless it was dollar for dollar, which is what the Rockies offered.
Make no mistake, Tulowitzki is not done as a major-league player, but it is best for all sides that he has moved on. Tulowitzki is a great teammate and a student of the game. He cares about his teammates and tries to make them better. He could be cantankerous but was gracious if you talked the game and knew the game.
But the story from sources was that when the Jays were in Oakland at the end of July, there was a players-only meeting. Tulowitzki spoke passionately about what needed to be done while many young players and newcomers who hadn’t been at spring training wondered, “Who is this guy?”
Time to go.