Blue Jays Trade for Sergio Santos

more i think about it I like it – command specialist who dominated the minors for a power closer already having success and not a lot of miles on his arm…seems fair.

With the amount of pitching depth and the comments Farrell made about Molina being a potential future closer anyways why not get a ‘cheap’ and controlled closer now rather then one maybe 2-3 years from now…

Alex did well to keep this one quiet…

One thing that makes a big difference for pitchers in the majors is control, and Molina had it. Sergio is a wild man.

I think its a solid deal for the Jays. A bit surprised it didnt take something more considering Santos contract.

I hate to lose Molina because he has so much upside but this guy is under control for 6 years, already has one good year of closing and still some upside. Molina is 2 years away.

I like it

They must know about his personality given that he played 3 years with New Hampshire and Syracuse as a short stop. Hopefully he’s a convert as successful as Dave Stieb!!

If so I like it considering we dont have to worry about that spot for 6 yrs and can develop our other prospects with an eye towards starting

That Molina was seen as one of our top propsects by some and yet others are saying he doesn’t have the stuff of a starter. Just taking those opinions through the masher sort of implies we don’t have a potential starter in our system?

Cost controlled not-old closer with experience available via a trade and signed to a deal that looks a lot like the kind AA would sign.

Molina was one of my favourite prospects. I didn’t think he was the best, it was more a sentimental value. That said Santos has already proven he can pitch in the majors so in a straight up trade like this I think it’ll work out just fine for the Jays.

I hate this trade. A lot. There is no way any reliever should be valued at the cost of a top prospect, period.

I look forward to not having panic attacks when taking a 4 run lead into the ninth!

Molina had a lot of promise and an utterly sick year at A+ and AA last year. But this was a guy they were profiling as a possible closer already. You have to think that the organization did not see him being able to dominate as a starter with just one plus pitch. Considering the likely development timelines and the usually rookie hitches, maybe we’re two-three years away from him as an effective closer if his stuff translates into the MLB.

Santos has already done it, he’s relatively young, cost effective and controlled for six years. He’s a win now player for a possibly win later prospect. Especially with the class of pitching prospects around Molina in the organization, this looks like a classic value deal.

Santos is really good. Molina is a good pitching prospect and the Jays are brimming with those at this point. No brainer.

Look at it this way- Go with Santos who’s under control for a couple more years but give up a good pitching prospect or pay $10 mill per year for an old closer. Take your pick.

my take on this
I view as a fair trade for both teams!
We have a lot good young arms in our system, yes Molina looked to be a great prospect based on his stats alone

Santos is a MLB closer and he is very good at it with control years just like AA likes at below value market.
I like this move because we filled a a position of need and gave up a player in we have a surplus of them in the minors.
We avoided going for FA close which at the rate they’re going its ridiculous to pay for someone who is only going to pitch 60-70 innings.
Its a good move for both…WS farm gets a great prospect and we get our closer

I wish we had thought of converting you at New Hampshire in 2008. It would have been cheaper than giving up Molina. But that’s what happens when you have depth at a position, you can give up top end prospects to fill a hole you badly need to fill.

maybe its just the way i look at trades. but i see the jays giving up a 22 year old for a 28 year old. and when you see that you have to ask, when this 22 year old progresses, what will he be at age 28. And I’m sorry, but I just see alot more potential in Molina being better then Santos at age 28.

am i excited about this deal, of course, we need a closer, jays clearly weren’t just talking when they said they needed & wanted a closer, and they found a very good one. And a deal that makes sense for both teams. And I’m happy as a jays fan to be adding to our major league squad now & gm showing that not everything is a waiting game for the future, that we will take some risk to win now.

But whenever your asking me to judge whos going to be the winner of a trade I am always going to pick who I think is going to get the best player out of it, i think the sox will end up getting the better player out of it. We’ll have to wait until molina is age 26-30 to determine that though lol

Undecided on this trade right now. I was excited about Molina, and hoping to see him have another outstanding year in the jays system. On the bright side Santos is proven and cost controlled, and hopefully can develop a bit more command. I guess these are they types of moves you can make when you have as much organizational depth as we do. AA is a million times smarter than me, so I shouldn’t even be doubting this deal to be honest. In AA I trust!

I’m undecided at this point. When I saw “Blue Jays Trade for Sergio Santos”, I got excited… Then when I saw that Nestor Molina was the player going the other way, I felt a bit deflated.

I think the thing that comforts me is that we all know how deep the pitching is in the Jays system and, at some point, AA has to utilize those assets to improve the big club as they won’t all fit in the rotation/bullpen (granted, they won’t all develop as we hope either). Santos being under team control at a reasonable price for 6 years… that’s the difference maker for me. It isn’t like he’s here for a year or two.

You have to give in order to get, but I think we may have given too much.

see where the team is at now.

Molina might have netted us more in another trade – you have to consider opportunity cost. We did trade a prospect for a reliever, which I’m normally loathe to agree with.

However, there is value in that contract. IF we spend that value on other parts of the team, it will be a good trade.

Blue Jays are dealing from a position of strength here, lots of promising young pitchers. I think people tend to overvalue our young pitchers, pitching is hard to develop, there are no guarantees (look at Drabek for example). So much of it is mental, you never know when one of your prospects might flame out.

So giving up a young prospect for a controllable MLB ready closer is not a bad deal. It’s a calculated risk. Not every deal is going to be as one-sided as Rasmus and Wells deals.

In this case, instead of trading for a troubled player, he’s trading with a troubled franchise.

1) WS have a mandate to cut future payroll.
2) Their farm system is almost as barren as Milwaukee’s.
3) Took a bath in red ink this year as they were expected to contend but failed horribly.

Also… remember the Mike Sirotka deal? Yeah, I do. Damn you, Gord Ash.

I’ve been in the we need a closer camp since Day 1. So I’m very happy this got done.

What’s Molina’s likely case scenario? A proven closer with say Santos’ ceiling, although they are different pitchers.

Anyone else find it funny how Jays fans suddenly understand all the prospects’ faults the minute they get traded away.

One minute Molina is a future top of the rotation starter and anyone who disagrees is an idiot who can’t understand his numbers, now he’s suddenly a reliever at best. Same thing happened when the Jays traded Stewart.

Everybody is talking about how good Molina will be, with varying evaluations. But my question is: when? If it’s in, say, 4 years, how good will Bautista be then? I don’t think that all the Jays’ moves should be made with Bautista’s abilities in mind. But it should be part of the equation. And the Jays’ opening is in the next couple of years, not 5 years down the line. Good trade.