Off-Day Blues: Pompey, Bautista

I hate off-days.

Especially when the Jays are playing well. For the songwriters out there, I think there is a song there, the Off-Day Blues. I see it as the 12-bar blues. When I get a few free moments, I’m going to pull my guitar off the wall.

But, right now (well, after right now, right now is typing out a post) I’m running around getting last minute stuff together for my baseball trip. I’m flying out tomorrow for some baseball.

I’ll be in Chicago, for the series against the White Sox and then chasing the Jays to Denver for the series against the Rockies. I’m thinking it is time to check off some ballparks, if I’m going to get around to all of them. I’m a good part of the way through the AL parks, but I’m missing most of the AL parks.

My contributions to the site will be pretty slim over the next few days, so it would be a great time to write that FanPost that you have been saving up.

If you are going to be in Chicago or Denver, and would like to meet up for a beer or something, sent me a email.

It was mentioned in yesterday’s GameThread, but, in case you missed it, Dalton Pompey has been placed on the Bison’s DL list with a concussion (the press release didn’t even shade it by saying concussion like symptoms). Here is what it had to say:

Pompey ran into the outfield wall at Coca-Cola Park in the ninth inning of yesterday’s game one, making the catch on IronPigs’ Logan Moore’s foul out. He did not appear in Saturday’s game two. In 44 games with the Bisons, Pompey has hit .280 (47-168) with seven doubles, a home run, 14 RBI and a team-high 10 stolen bases.

Concussions worry me. You all likely remember that Corey Koskie’s career was shortened with ‘post concussion symptoms’. I hope the Jays are very careful with Dalton.

Speaking of Pompey, Baseball Prospectus’ Monday Morning Ten Pack talks about our favorite Bison outfielder (after a few words about the silliness of removing players from out prospects lists because they have a few too many MLB at bats):

So, going back to our sort-of-but-not-really-a-prospect. Pompey still does all of the Dalton Pompey things you remember from Dalton Pompey, Top 50 Prospect of 2015: Hits, runs, plays defense, has a really cool name. The power hasn’t materialized in-game yet, and it may never come to pass. Because Pompey jumped so quickly up the ladder in 2014, these past two seasons of consolidation in the high-minors don’t ding his stock all that much. He’s still only 23, rounding out his game in Triple-A while all the other prospects past try to revitalize careers gone horribly wrong. And we shouldn’t forget about him just because he won’t show up on our forthcoming midseason top 50 list.

Jeff Blair wonders if Jose Bautista’s free agent value is dropping.

But my guess is the number of teams willing to commit, say, $22 million to $25 million per year to Bautista for five years so that they’ll have a 41- or 42-year-old designated hitter on their hands has decreased along with his defensive range and batting average. History has shown us to never underestimate baseball owners – remember how Scott Boras and Chris Davis were pilloried this offseason for having overplayed their hand before he signed a seven-year, $161-million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, his first choice – but Bautista’s agent, Jay Alou, is no Boras. Funny, here we all thought that Encarnacion was the one with the most to lose this season heading into free agency. Turns out it might be Bautista.

I’ll admit, I think guaranteeing Bautista money into his 40’s is a bad move. I think if Jose wants a 4 or 5 year deal, he’ll have to make the last couple of year a team option of a vesting option.

I don’t see Jose playing in the outfield four more years. And, as much as I think first base would be a good spot for him, I’d want to see him play it some before I’d guarantee him a lot of money.

As much as Jose keeps himself in great shape, he does seem to pick up more than his share of minor injuries. I don’t think that is something that will change as he enters his late 30’s or his 40’s.

I would be sad to see him leave, but I’d be sadder to see 1/5 of our payroll going to him if he wasn’t able to keep up his level of play.

Shi Davidi has a nice profile of Max Penecost. There is still no timetable on when he can get back to catching.

And Brendan Kennedy tweets us some news: