Happy Monday.
I watched the Oscars last night, it is the first time in a long time that I saw most of the movies up for awards, which made it more interesting. I was hoping Jo Ho Rabbit would win best picture, but Parasite is an excellent movie. My only problem with it was that I was focusing on the bottom of the screen to read the subtitles and sometimes I missed out on how well it was filmed. I liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood too. Ford v Ferrari I enjoyed but there are only so many scenes of a guy shifting gears that I can watch without starting to check my watch.
There was a bit of Blue Jays news yesterday. The team officially announced the Rafael Dolis signing (1-year, $1 million) and announced that Breyvic Valera has been DFAed to make room on the 40-man. We seem to be up to our arm pits in possible utility infielders. The thing I don’t understand is how Valera out lasted Richard Urena.
The Mookie Betts trade is back on. I think the Red Sox have found a new way to do things, crowd source their trade analysis. Announce a trade and when everyone and their hamster says that they got screwed, renegotiate.
Now the Red Sox get Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs (namesake of former Jays reliever Scott Downs and some other guy) and Conner Wong.
The Dodgers get Mookie Betts, David Price and money to cover half of Price’s contract.
And, now in a separate trade with the Twins:
The Dodgers get Brusdar Graterol, OFer Luke Raley and the 67th pick in the 2020 draft.
The Twins get RHP Kenta Maeda and “a minor leaguer” (presumably not our Minor Leaguer) and cash.
I don’t know if the Red Sox did that better in the second version of the deal. I think I’d take Graterol first.
In the fallout of the changes, the Dodgers/Angels deal has come apart and the Dodgers still have Joc Pederson.
So the question is “Should the Jays be inquiring about what it would take to get Pederson?” Pederson has been a center fielder in the past, but he’s likely about as good defensively as Teoscar Hernandez. Well, maybe a little better than that. But his back would be great to have. He hit .249/.339/.538 with 36 home runs last year (and Dodger Stadium is a much tougher hitter’s park than Rogers Centre). I don’t know what the Dodgers would be wanting in return for him, but getting another middle of the order bat and getting an outfielder who is sure to be better than average would be a nice thing.
Shi Davdi has a post up talking about the Jays off-season and how it all came about. It is a good read.
Former Jay Aaron Loup has signed with the Rays, a minor league deal. I hope he wins himself a major league job.
Players have started to show up in Dunedin, this is the true first sign of spring. We’ll soon will hear about who has come to camp in the best shape ever. I can’t wait.
Hyun Jin Ryu getting his work in at his first spring training camp with his new team.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/8nIdyhx1TP
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) February 10, 2020