Making Roster Space for Brett Lawrie
by Tom Dakers on Aug 2, 2011 11:42 AM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Opinions
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PrintJohn Lott has a story up at the National Post talking about how Alex Anthopoulos will be looking to make space on the active roster for Brett Lawrie. Soon, I hope. Today would be ok.
The GM has no easy options unless he waits until rosters expand on Sept. 1. For what it's worth, manager John Farrell has said he would prefer that Lawrie make his debut in August before minor-league callups dilute the September competition.
Undoubtedly, Anthopoulos will try to swing a waiver deal, with Edwin Encarnacion seemingly a prime candidate. Otherwise, he would likely have to send an outfielder - Eric Thames or Travis Snider - to the minors until rosters expand.
I kind of think a waiver deal is unlikely, just because it would have been so much easier to have traded EE, or whoever, two days ago and it didn't happen them. Waiver trades can happen, we got Bautista through one, but it is tougher than a non-waiver deal.
On the other hand, I'd be sad if they sent Travis Snider or Eric Thames back to the minors. I know it would be easy enough to do, since they each have been up and down already this season, it wouldn't cost the team an option. And with both of them here we would have extra outfielders, but then having extra decent players isn't that bad an idea. We do have a couple of players that I wouldn't mind seeing Farrell pitch hit for, in the right spots. Let's say we have runners on and right-handed pitch facing Aaron Hill. Wouldn't you like to have Thames or Snider available to sub for him? McDonald could come into the game and we really wouldn't be losing anything.
What would I do? Outright Mark Teahen to Vegas. I know he would have to clear waivers, but he is owed $5.5 million next year, no out is going to claim him. It would be a lot to pay a minor leaguer, but then it is a lot to pay a guy sitting on the bench.
The flaw in the idea? He has more than 5 years in the majors, he could refuse to be sent down, but I think if the Jays were to say 'hey you got a choice, go down to Vegas, play everyday for a month, and we'll call you back up September 1'. He's not going to get much, if any, playing time with the Jays anyway. Maybe they could sweeten the pot, tell him they will cover his gambling losses.
If he won't go? Release him. It is a lot of money to eat, but we aren't going to play him enough for him to earn the money anyway, we aren't going to get value for the money. We just took the contract as a way to send some cash to the White Sox. He doesn't fit into the team's plans.
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Bye Bye Teahan
We could have sent cash to Chicago. We took back Teahan instead. There could have been a reason for it, but it wasn’t to play him (as we have witnessed to date). Maybe they didn’t want to wait on the commisioners office to approve the deal (a necessity if cash is involved).
At any rate, Teahan’s salary for this year and next is a sunk cost. They can float him through waivers and see if anybody will take on any portion of his salary, otherwise he will likely become a free agent or a 51.
I think it would make slightly more sense to just leave Lawrie down in AAA until Sept rather than demote Snider or Thames at this point. Teahan is the clear target if we want Lawrie to come up, unless AA can work some magic and get some value for Edwin and his hot bat right now
Want Lawrie to face better competition
Like the article says, the competition is a bit diluted in September and I want Lawrie to see the most MLB pitching to prepare him for next year. If they add a wild card spot, that could be the Blue Jays.
i don't think the problem is the roster spot
rather its the playing time. Snider, Thames, EE, and Lawrie can’t all be given everyday playing time. One’s either gonna have to bench or two will have to platoon. I hope to see a Thames/EE platoon at DH, but not sure if farrell will do that.
COLBY RASMUS
I don't have a problem with having a good player on the bench for a change
set up a rotation where one of them and Lind sits once every 5 or 6 days. We have 2 months left. Each would miss 8 games? Odds are there is an injury or something in the future.
Bingo Tom...
Up to now we’ve been trying to get 9 guys that weren’t bums…NOW…when Lawrie comes up we’ve 8 serious bats (Escobar, Rasmus, Bautista, Lind, EE, Thames, Snider, Arencibia) + Hill, Davis, JMac and others.
IF we’re gonna be a serious team in 2012 we need a serious bench and EE would be a seriously impressive right handed bat to come off the bench – maybe Loewen from the left from the bench and with Davis as a late inning baserunner – and we’d be starting to resemble – offensively and defensively – an honest to goodness AL East contender.
the bench is not the biggest concern
the biggest concerns are:
2B
DH (maybe)
4th and 5th starters (or 5th at least, if you think Drabek will be fine)
bullpen
WAR... WAR never changes.
also possibly
a Lind/EE platoon at 1B. That gives Thames a bit of action against lefties.
Looking at it from Thames' pov
I think he can take a bunch of starts at DH against righties, then come into the lineup whenever Lind, Snider, Rasmus, Bautista or Lawrie are given a day off. I bet that means EE & Thames both start 3/4 of the remaining games, which is pretty good playing time.
Good baseball decision, bad business decision?
Or vice versa perhaps? Perception matters in the majors, and the Jays have put some effort into being seen as giving a fair shake to veteran players they may not particularly want. Juan Rivera was given some playing time, and was found a home in LA; Patterson wasn’t DFA’d, but thrown into the Rasmus deal. This sort of “fairness” gambit hurts them a little on the field, but probably helps the club’s reputation, making it easier to land free agents, and have players w/no-trade clauses accept trades to Toronto. It’s all part of the “classy organization strategy”.
I’ll bet Teahen stays on the active roster for the rest of the year (it’s only a month until the rosters expand anyway).
Teahen isn't going to get at bats no matter what.
Having him sit on the bench isn’t going to cause free agents to say ‘hey I’d like to play there’. Players aren’t idiots, they understand some guys don’t deserve a roster spot
by Tom Dakers on Aug 2, 2011 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Nor are all players complete rationalists, either. Dumping a veteran a week after acquiring him would, I think, not be fondly regarded among at least some. You’re right that he doesn’t have a role on the team, and DFAing him isn’t going to utterly destroy the Jays’ reputation – but it doesn’t help, and it seems contrary to de facto policy of the club.
I can't see it at all
If I’m a good player, watching the jays sit a lousy one on the bench won’t make me think I should sign with them.
If this is remotely true, then maybe they should play the young guys because draft picks trying to decent whether to sign with the jays or go to school will pick school because the team keeps showing they would rather have lousy vets than good young guys. Same argument….just as bad, but same argument.
he's a crap veteran
lyle overbay is a veteran, and he’s been DFA’d. and really, the way we treat our DFA candidates will not affect the minds of players who are good enough to have no trade clauses or top FAs.
COLBY RASMUS
I'd imagine showing you will do what is needed to win would have more of affect in the mind of a free agent.
Other than money, I’d think that would be the most important thing on a free agent’s mind
by Tom Dakers on Aug 2, 2011 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
If I were Teahen,
I think I’d rather be DFA’d, perhaps with a chance to play somewhere as opposed to sitting on the bench rotting
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
I wouldn't want to give up the brilliance that EE is showing in a deal that doesn't pay serious dividents down the road.
He showing potential to be a very valuable bat with very good glovework. Drawing rave reviews about it actually. I know there’s a track record, but shouldn’t the emphasis be on recent performance?
If we’re going on a playoff run next year, Teahen isn’t going to be factored into the plans. After Lawrie is with the club, there’s a surplus of talent fighting for playing spots. This was the same situation with Litch. This isn’t a bad thing. It’s an extremely good one.
but 2 months of stellar play
can’t be focused on over 2 months of very poor play, which is what his season has been thus far
WAR... WAR never changes.
I do wonder what Edwin's year would have been like
if the Jays hadn’t suddenly decided he was going to play 3rd at the last moment of spring training.
Someone also brought up his bereavement leave from early in the season in a thread here recently.
I have to admit, I had completely forgotten about that, but that could certainly have had a big impact on his play early in the season.
But yeah, that sudden switch at the last second in the spring was just bizarre.
you trade EE now
you still aren’t going to get a return thats equal to his absolute potential, a good bat at 3B with below average defence (a wilson betemit type).
COLBY RASMUS
Edwin's actually better than Betemit
as long as you think the first 15 games were an outlier (which I do, but they might not be). Edwin’s a better hitter, particularly if you discount his 2010 when he had a .361 BABIP with a LD rate under 15%
WAR... WAR never changes.
stupid vagueness
The last point (high BABIP low LD%) is about Betemit, to be clear
WAR... WAR never changes.
by benk on Aug 2, 2011 2:05 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Agreed
EE is still a possibly very valuable big bat. He’s been showing his talent the last two months, which is to be an above-average DH who can reasonably fill in at 3rd and 1st. That’s a fair bit more useful than what we can expect in a trade at the moment. If he continues to do well, he may be a more valuable trade asset in the offseason – and he’s potentially quite useful to us next season. Even if we sign Thome or Berkman to DH for us next year, EE is a better option than McCoy or Teahen to be a bench hitter and backup 3rd.
Plus he likes DH
It seems lately that hitters in their prime seem to react poorly to being put at DH. Fielder says he doesn’t want to DH, Dunn has been atrocious, Lind last season was brutal.
It takes a certain kind of mindset to sit on the bench and just bat 4 times a game. Edwin seems to have that mindset.
I like Edwin where he is at.
There She Gooooooes!
Hey, Edwin,
don’t mean to damn you with the faintest praise . . .
It takes a certain kind of mindset to sit on the bench and just bat 4 times a game. Edwin seems to have that mindset.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
edwin is not an above average DH
Assuming this year and last are his true talent (110 wRC+) he’s a replacement level everyday DH. Hed be competent as a lefty mashing DH with spot starts at corner IF but he’s definitely not better than average at DH (which is 365 wOBA)
WAR... WAR never changes.
by benk on Aug 2, 2011 12:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
edwin is an above-average DH
9 of the 14 AL clubs are getting less than a 110 wRC+ out of their DH spot. Maybe you want to split hairs, and call him average – but that’s still a fair bit above replacement. I’d also argue that his true talent is still a little above his season numbers so far – ZIPS, for example projects a slightly higher wOBA going forward.
well actually
That indicates he’s above median, not above average.
WAR... WAR never changes.
by benk on Aug 2, 2011 1:13 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
And a back-of-the-envelope calculation...
gives the mean AL DH a wRC+ of 107.
And, if we’re going for pedantry, the median is a useful shortcut when you have a fairly regular distribution. Moreover, when baseball people talk about ‘the average’ they are usually, I think, thinking of the mode – the most common type of player.
And, if we’re going for pedantry
When are we not going for pedantry? =)
I think you make a good point that plenty of teams are doing worse, though being 3% better than the average DH is pretty much the definition of average. The Jays should try to do better at DH for next season, but Edwin’s really not a bad fallback, particularly given his ability to fill in at the corners. Probably more valuable than his current trade value, though of course you never know. If he had the chance to play more third base and played it well, he’d have a chance to substantially increase his trade value.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I actually wasn't trying to be pedantic
It seems to me it would be a right-skewed distribution; some guys at 400 and higher wOBA and a bunch around replacement level – that’s why I didn’t think median is a great estimator. Though you’ve shown that mean and median are pretty close, so that’s fine. And hugo’s right that we could definitely do worse than EE at DH, but I’d still love to see usd do better
WAR... WAR never changes.
by benk on Aug 2, 2011 2:00 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Don’t worry, pedantry isn’t a horrible crime by me. I’m an EE optimist, and tend to think that his last 2 months (131/155 wRC+, tolerable defence) are more indicative of his skill level than the first two months (which I endeavour to toss into the memory hole).
I’d suggest that EE’s positional flexibility has an added value of its own – EE, both in potentially freeing up a roster spot (no need for a backup 3B/1B) and in providing superior replacement production should either Lawrie or Lind miss time.
right for sure
he’s definitely a useful piece. I’m not as convinced that he’s as good as he’s looked though, which is pretty much entirely subjective
WAR... WAR never changes.
better numbers
So, something looked odd to me with the fangraphs numbers, so I took another look, and they aren’t proper splits, but add up all those players who are classified as DHs on the team, I think. I don’t know where else I’d find wRC+ splits, but the numbers at mlb.com have the mean DH OPS at .7575, and Encarnacion is at .758; so dead on the mean.
makes sense
but it again comes down to which you think is the real Edwin – the first 1/3 Edwin or second 1/3 Edwin (or somewhere in between)
WAR... WAR never changes.
not to split hairs
but median, like mean, is a measure of average.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
they're measures of central tendency
mean means average.
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
Unless you really really want to split hairs
In which case, technically the median is the average of the 50th percentile, but that’s silly.
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
I don't think so
and neither does Stephen Jay Gould
Statistics recognizes different measures of an “average,” or central tendency. The mean is our usual concept of an overall average . . . . The median, a different measure of central tendency, is the halfway point.
http://people.umass.edu/biep540w/pdf/Stephen%20Jay%20Gould.pdf
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
By, the way,
by “think so,” I mean think “think that mean means average” . . . I think mean is one way of describing the average (or central tendency, as you mentioned) the same way “median” is.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
I presumed
we were taking mean to mean the arithmetic mean (ie what we consider to be the “average” in everyday-speak), since there are a few different means.
Also, I take his use of quotes around “average” to indicate that he is using the word simply as a way to colloquialize the term “central tendency”
**Upon actually reading a bit of the link rather than just the quote, he doesn’t actually state the median as being a measure of average, and indeed recognizes the median as another measure of central tendency (which, per wiki is “the way in which quantitative data is clustered around some value.”), not of average.
By definition though, the median is the value that falls at the 50th percentile (or, when n is even, the average of the two values immediately surrounding the 50th percentile) in a distribution, which is what he said and what you quoted, while the mean (be it geometric, arithmetic or harmonic) is a measure of some average of the distribution (you’ll note I didn’t say “mean means the average” in the original post, just “mean means average”).
/pedantic’d
//These tangentially baseball-related threads with you and others are kinda my favourite
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
Just to clarify
the excessive explanations and quoting definitions and such isn’t to show you up or anything like that (since I’m sure you’re familiar with most of the stuff), they’re just to make it a bit more non-stat-head-friendly.
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
no worries at all, mate
however, I think that the colloquial use of the term “average” implies that it should not simply be the mean. For example, at 5’ 8" tall, I’d say that I’m of “average” height for an American male, however, that’s technically slightly below the mean (5’ 9").
Getting even further pedantic, even though the precision of our measurements is limited by our instruments, given the number of factors that control the continuous distribution of height, I’m sure we’d agree that it is a virtual impossibility for any person to be the exact “mean” height.
Our actual usage of the word “average” sometimes implies the “mean” but also often (and, I’d argue, more correctly) implies a position within a scope of central tendency (i.e., mean + 1 standard deviation, 40th – 50th percentile, etc.).
Talk about pedantic!
Also, I’m with you, I enjoy this kind of stuff. The devils are in the details!
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
Yup
That’s certainly true when you’re dealing with a population that’s close enough to infinite (and thus it really is a continuous distribution), since the goal is more to approximate than to find a definite answer. I would argue, though, that it’s already accounted for that the tools are not 100% precise, and that what we’re really attempting to qualify is value relative to the perceived average, since it’s the best information we have.
Here though, we’re dealing with a sample size of at most, say, 35 players, and a closed system. Even though our tools are likely not exactly precise, 1) everyone is being measured on the same (possibly) flawed scale, and 2) n is small enough that the data set is not unwieldy. We can probably draw reasonable, worthwhile conclusions about the relative value of each data point (ie player).
Kinda forget where else I was going with that point…Moving on
Anyway, yes, the goal here is certainly not to find and compare people against what is precisely average – I would never claim that Edwin being 3% better makes him above average, for example – but a range of +/-Z is way way too big to call central. The first standard deviation in each direction contains over 34% of the data points- I certainly wouldn’t think of the middle 68% of a distribution as being essentially average. I do agree with generally considering the middle 20-ish % of a distribution to be average enough though.
Aside: I’m kinda surprised that the median wRC+ outpaces the mean for DHs. You would think that of all positions, it would be least likely here since teams don’t have to worry about finding a well-rounded player. I’d have expected a couple world beaters and then a bunch of above average hitters (which would be slightly below average DH) rather than a bunch of average to above average hitters and a few black holes of (relative) suck.
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
How about the pitching shuffle?
With Litsch as a long-man in the bullpen, do we really need a permanent 7-man pen? You can sort of maintain a rotation for a couple weeks, where Ledezma, Litsch, Perez and Janssen are moving between Toronto and Vegas. Mills could be sent down if he has a bad start, and we could live on a 4-man rotation for a week as well.
you send a guy down he's down for 10 days.
and we aren’t going to 4 men when we are worried about limiting innings on some of the guys.
Perfectly aware
Send Ledezma down, recall Perez when you need a fresh arm in the pen, sending down Mills or Litsch. This would, of course, break the rule of having a 7-man bullpen, but I tend to think that you generally don’t need a 7-man pen all the time.
Seems to me we have more of a long term problem here...
So Lawrie gets the call up and he’s inserted as the everyday 3B. Bautista back to RF, Snider permanent in LF, Rasmus CF obviously.
Where does that leave Thames? Everyone is saying “platoon DH with EE”, but that doesn’t strike me as a particularly efficient setup, even short term. Thames is a young guy, he needs regular at bats to develop, and the team needs to figure out what kind of fielder he might become. Even if we trade EE and make Thames full time DH, it still doesn’t give him a chance in the field. Plus then we have to deal with playing time for whoever comes back in the trade.
You can have puzzle pieces made of gold, but if they don’t fit together…
Thames has never been a good fielder
and FWIW (which is nothing) he’s -5 UZR/150 in the outfield. Thames is a decent hitting prospect, but he strikes out way too much and doesn’t walk enough – at least not yet – to be a really useful hitting corner OF. Snider’s still the better prospect, Bautista is the best player of all-time, Lawrie is the best prospect since… well, Travis Snider, and EE is a solid, lefty-mashing DH/corner IF. Thames DHing against righties and getting the occasional start against a lefty is probably the best option. I know Thames has looked great, but I’m very worried about how he’ll look next year when the pitchers know to throw him balls
WAR... WAR never changes.
Thames has admitted to neglecting his glove work, but he's working on it.
Though his bat would carry him to the bigs. Wasn’t wrong, be now he’s taking defence into account.
uhmmm
Thames doesn’t strike out way too much. Snider strikes out more often, and has also been swinging at more pitches off the plate lately.
Lawrie is a better prospect than Snider was.
Also, you’re using a ridiculously small sample to indicate Thames’ defense is supposedly very bad. Even though he’s only recently made the switch to RF when he was a LF in the minors.
that's why I said the uzr sample
Isn’t worth anything. Snider strikes out more, but he’s also been playing in the Majors since 21, and Thames is “already” 24 (not that that’s old). I don’t think Lawrie’s abetter prospect than Snider, Travis was a consensus top-10 prospect, no? I might be wrong
WAR... WAR never changes.
by benk on Aug 2, 2011 1:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Perhaps
But Snider’s high K% should’ve been enough of a red flag to keep him out of the absolute top. Not saying he wasn’t a good prospect, but not as much of a sure bet as Lawrie is now. He also didn’t project to have the defensive value Lawrie might have (if you believe Sickels’ report like I do) as a third baseman if he can play adequate D.
I dunno
he was a high school pick who utterly pummeled Minors pitching straight out of the gate, and (while it wasn’t clear he would) plays pretty good corner OF defense. it seems to me that there didn’t seem to be anything for Snider to prove in the Minors at 21, even though he might have been well served spending a full year at AAA to deal with the ups and downs of a full season
WAR... WAR never changes.
nothing to prove?
if you’re striking out at a rate like that, and haven’t played at AAA for any significant amount of time, you first need to prove that there are no “holes in your swing”. I personally prefer the guy without any question marks, and it’s far from certain Snider would have done as well as Lawrie has at age 21 in AAA. No doubt he would’ve hit for a lot of power, but Lawrie has been an absolute monster.
You're advocating that the Jays sign Albert Pujols
I personally prefer the guy without any question marks
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
should've commented on this one, oops
it’s far from certain Snider would have done as well as Lawrie has at age 21 in AAA
it’s not just certain, that’s exactly what happened. 18 points higher OBA, 9 points higher SLG at 21 in AAA in Las Vegas for Snider than for Lawrie
WAR... WAR never changes.
Pretty sure you're wrong about this
by Baseball America
Snider, 2007: 11th best prospect in baseball; 2008: 6th best prospect in baseball
Lawrie, 2010: 59th best prospect in baseball; 2011: 40th best prospect in baseball
Lawrie’s stock his risen this year, but he has not been regarded as highly as Snider in the past.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
well I guess BA's pretty good at this stuff
But even though I really, really like Snider and want him to succeed very badly, I don’t think his limited skillset warranted a top 10 inclusion. Lawrie’s had a breakout year and should definitely be top 20 now.
when he was a prospect though
he was viewed as a 1B/DH type. I don’t think too many people expected solid outfield defense from him (but might be wrong)
WAR... WAR never changes.
I mean power, just that.
he wasn’t making contact very well and his walk rate was not that impressive, considering power guys like Snider will get pitched around a lot.
he was beating even Lawrie's numbers
albeit in a smaller sample, at the same age and the same league… and probably the same defensive value, considering a slightly-above-average defensive corner OF is probably about as hard to find as a maybe-average defensive 3B
WAR... WAR never changes.
Anthopoulis is a stubborn mule
The Brett Lawrie saga has gone on farrrrrr too long!!!! Anthopoulis has held Lawrie to a completely different standard than anyother minor league player in the history of baseball in my eyes. Let’s see, he had no qualms about keeping Drabek on the major league roster from the onset (who never played in Triple-A) and completely
ruining him and his confidence. It will be very lucky if Drabek recovers his ability.
I don’t see Anthopoulos hold any member of the current Jays to the
standard of plate discipline that he dictates for Lawrie! I guess John Olerud’s career would have been better served if he had played in the minor leagues.
You failed to mention that Rajai Davis is also totally expendable and they could drop him and keep both Thames (another of my favs lol) and Snider (who will never pan out) on the team. But then again, for Anthopoulis this is all about money and future arbitration dates and not on fielding the best team possible!!
true, and yet
A valid point. Rajai Davis is perhaps the kind of player that is traded through waivers in August. I don’t see him being DFA’d, but I’d put him right after EE as possibilities to be traded among our position players.
In all fairness...
It does seem that it is ONLY AA holding Lawrie back now. I started to question this a long time ago, not it seems others are starting to as well.
by TrueBlue4Ever! on Aug 2, 2011 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Rajai Davis is not completely expendable. He has some value stealing bases.
by Political Machine on Aug 2, 2011 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
and as a late inning defensive replacement
for your the OP’s fave Thames
Davis has got to be the one to go
I like Rajai and I was one of the few that thought trading for him was a good idea, but he has been a major disappointment and with Rasmus on board, he is the most redundant player on the team. The Jays may have bought low on Rasmus, but they still gave up 5 players to get him. They are fully committed to him. As a 24 year old, third year player, he doesn’t need a backup. The idea of keeping a guy who has trouble getting on base, has no power and no position merely becasue he can pinch run is kind of ludicrous. You can’t use up a roster space for that. And as for defensive replacement? For who? How does replacing Rasmus or Bautista for defensive purposes improve our chances of winning? The only guy who you can replace him with and improve your defense (enough to risk the offensive downgrade) is Thames – and he is going to be the 4th oufielder quite soon. IMO Davis has been starting the past couple of games to showcase him. EE has more value to the team because he has some power, gets on base sometimes and has a position. Teahan is still owed around $7M (I think) and plays a position that is going to be manned by a rookie. Although he has pretty much sucked this year, he has a better history than other possible backups McDonald, McCoy and Nix.
To every complex problem, there is an answer that is simple, easy to understand and wrong
huh?
How does replacing Rasmus or Bautista for defensive purposes improve our chances of winning? The only guy who you can replace him with and improve your defense (enough to risk the offensive downgrade) is Thames – and he is going to be the 4th oufielder quite soon.
Thames, Rasmus and Bautista are all below average defensively. Davis is not. therefore, Davis is a good defensive sub
WAR... WAR never changes.
To be fair
the point he made is that the defensive upgrade from Rasmus or Bautista is outweighed by the offensive downgrade.
Would you really replace Jose Bautista or Colby Rasmus late in the game with Rajai Davis? I wouldn’t, thus — in my opinion — he is a poor defensive substitution for either of them.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
I certainly wouldn't
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
We should move Lawrie back to second base!!1!
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
In keeping with that logic
move Thames to 2nd
Also
We should trade this Anthopoulis fellow for Johan Franzen
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
in the history of baseball?????????
have you ever heard of the Tampa Bay Rays? Check out their promotions.
Incidentally, John Sickels posted his in-season review of our top prospects
You can find it here: http://sbn.to/n153G6
Not really
It’s just a line or two about most of them to the tune of “trending up” or “trending down”. No new rankings, and nothing that we don’t really know on a holistic level.
Lawrie is not going to play 2B. McGowan is not going to close. Enough.
Incidentally, is this the best way to report typos and other little errors?
Not that it seems to happen all the time or anything – just wondering if a public comment is the way to do it.
I don't see why Teahen would accept a demotion
If I were him, I’d just demand to be released – either a major-league team signs you (likely, since they wouldn’t have to pick up his salary), or you end up in the minors anyway. Either way you’re getting paid.
At the same time, I don’t see how it would send a bad message to a vet to cut ties after acquiring him. Just be (somewhat) honest, if diplomatic – his former team insisted he be included for cash reasons, he doesn’t fit into the team’s plans, and the Jays want to give him a chance to catch on some place else rather than having him sit the bench. I’d think vets would appreciate that.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Not saying he won't get dumped
but I’d rather hang on to him for now. The Jays will have to pay him regardless and he plays the same position as rookie-to-be Lawrie. People need to dampen their expectations somewhat on Lawrie and understand that he is going to go through the same struggles that all rookies (not named Albert Pujols) go through. having a back-up at his position isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I don’t like Teahen in the role, but he has a better hitting history than any of McDonald, McCoy and Nix. If we’re paying him anyway, let’s see if there is any potential value. I like Davis a lot more, but he is also more redundant than Teahen right now.
To every complex problem, there is an answer that is simple, easy to understand and wrong
Looking at Teahan’s declining numbers I would just as much rather see our backup infielder (Ala a MacDonald or McCoy type) takes spots at 3rd in case of a Lawrie meltdown.
I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult.
Twitter is the thing with all the tweets...
Believe it or not, I don’t really have that high of expectations for Lawrie when he first comes up, because I think he will have trouble when pitchers pound him in with fastballs then low and away, because his batting stance is very open, and I think they’ll go right in on his hands..not really sure how it’ll turn out, but we’ll see.
Colby Rasmus is pretty good at baseball..
Meh, I’d probably just option someone (Probably Thames or Snider) to Vegas with a promise that they’ll be on the first flight back come September. It’s the easiest resolution and it get’s whomever it is more work then they’d get on the big club in the interim.
makes a lot of sense
^ this. both players have flaws which really can be improved at vegas. snider seems to be regressing again and thames could sure use some time in the outfield regularly. eventually they will be up. dfa-ing 5 million this yr and next is no small feat and is a lot of faith to show in young players who if we are truly honest have yet to show any real reason to deserve it. but i guess it is getting to the time to go broke or go home.
by AjayinNigeria on Aug 2, 2011 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions
OT: Dont know if ppl saw this but Jo Jo Reyes was claimed by the O's
lol i dont even know what to say, why in the world does the O’s want Reyes. I guess he can long relief Britton who cant even get out of the 1st inning, the last 2 startes
because the O's are terrible
and JoJo might be slightly better than terrible
WAR... WAR never changes.
Slow July
July was a brutal month. We only played 6 games against teams who if the playoffs started today, wouldn’t be in and we were 5-1 in those games. We played Texas a lot, Philly, Boston, New York and Cleveland. I think we will see Lawrie in a few more weeks when the schedule gets soft but i can’t blame AA for not bringing him up in July against all the beast teams.
If that's the case,
then maybe Lawrie will be in Baltimore on Friday (schedule looks to get softer to me).
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