Archive for Toronto Blue Jays

In a move that sent approximately zero shock waves through the baseball world, the Red Sox signed former Jays left-handed reliever Jesse Carlson to a split contract this week. It was such a big story that it wasn’t even reported on MLB Trade Rumors for well over a day after the news of the signing first broke. While this transaction has flown under the radar for obvious reasons, it could pay dividends for the Red Sox.

For his career, Carlson has thrown 141.1 innings with a FIP of 4.11, good for 1.1 WAR. This obviously isn’t much to get excited about, and neither is the fact that he has only pitched 13.2 innings in the big leagues since the end of the 2009 season. After two solid seasons in the Blue Jays pen, Carlson was sent to the minors before the 2010 season, and stayed there until he was recalled on August 15th. He then missed the entire 2011 campaign after undergoing left rotator cuff surgery. Read the rest of this entry »

Pat Hentgen had a lot of success against American League hitters in the 1990s, but he couldn’t solve Cecil. The Blue Jays right-hander had 19- and 20-win seasons, earned three All-Star berths, and won a Cy Young award. Against Cecil Fielder, he was a replacement-level stiff. Prince’s old man punished him to the tune of .360/.429/.880 in 57 plate appearances.

Why did the hard-throwing Jay struggle against Fielder, and to a lesser extent against Brady Anderson, Wade Boggs and Nomar Garciaparra? Conversely, why did he have success against Ken Griffey, Jr., Paul Molitor and Rafael Palmeiro? Hentgen — now a member of the Blue Jays coaching staff — did his best to answer those questions.

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David Laurila: How did you get hitters out?

Pat Hentgen: I was primarily a fastball pitcher. I elevated the ball at times, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident.

Coming up through the minor leagues, I was a fastball-curveball guy. They always instilled in us to practice throwing changeups, but that was always my third-best pitch.

When I broke into the big leagues, I realized that my fastball command was probably my best asset. For five years, I pitched with just a fastball and a curveball. In 1996, our pitching coach, Mel Queen, taught me a cut fastball. That made me a fastball, cut-fastball, curveball guy. Toward the end of my career, I started throwing my changeup more, so I was a four-pitch pitcher, with the changeup being my fourth pitch.

DL: How much did individual hitters dictate your approach?

Read the rest of this entry »

Kelly Johnson may or may not be a Toronto Blue Jay next season, but wherever he ends up, he promises to have a better year with the bat — regardless of how many times he strikes out. The free-agent-to-be second baseman hit a respectable .270/.364/.417 after coming over from the Diamondbacks in a late-August trade — but his overall campaign was a huge disappointment. Fresh off a season in which he hit 284/.370/.496, he saw his numbers plummet to .222/.304/.413. He went deep 21 times — his second consecutive year with 20-plus — but he struck out a whopping 163 times.

During a late-season visit to Fenway Park, Johnson talked about his approach to hitting, including his K rate, his extensive use of video and how Toronto compares to Atlanta and Arizona.

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David Laurila: What type of season have you had?

Kelly Johnson: One of those learning seasons that you kind of wish you were over. It’s been up and down — mostly down. At my age [29], you feel like you should have ironed out some of the ups and downs and be a bit more consistent. It’s not been the year I wanted.

DL: Why has it been such a down year?

KJ: I don’t know. It’s just been an inconsistent year, feeling for my swing. More times than not, I’ve been 0-2 and feeling like I’m in an uphill battle. It’s been a struggle to find something that’s clicked — that’s worked — and I’ve been coming here thinking more about my swing than just playing the game of baseball.

DL: Is there anything about your hitting style that makes you prone to inconsistency? Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a big week for Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopolous. Obviously, I’m referring to the bonanza earlier in the week in which Anthopolous filled out his 2010 catcher corps by signing John Buck for one year and two million dollars moments after he was non-tendered by the Kansas City Royals (all set with Jason Kendall), veteran Ramon Castro for one year and one million dollars, and Raul Chavez to a minor league deal.

[NB: I usually prefer referring to multiple projections, but since I’m discussing more than one player, I’ll keep things simple by sticking with CHONE for both offense and defense. When I averaged various different projections, the overall values I came up with were about the same, anyway.]

On CHONE’s original list of free agents, Ramon Castro rated as the best catcher per 150 games. His projected offensive line is .230/.292/.412, or 10 runs below average per 150 games. His defensive projection is two runs above average. Adding in the positional adjustment, per 150 games Castro projects as a 2.4 WAR catcher. However, Castro also comes cheaply because not only do catchers almost never play 150 games, but the 34-year-old Castro has never played 100 games, and has only played more than 2009’s 57 once, in 2005.

Although I’m personally excited that I might get to see John Buck play in-person, many Royals fans hate him for being part of the return in the 2004 Carlos Beltran trade as much as for his numerous strikeouts and poor defense. The latter is reflected in his -5 defensive projection. As for the former, his offense looks a lot like Castro’s — low average, decent walk rate, above-average power. CHONE projects Buck at .227/.296/.398, or -9/150 for 2010. Together, this puts Buck just below average at 1.8 WAR. Again, catchers typically play much less than that, and Buck spent time on the DL in 2009.

Raul Chavez is a veteran defensive catcher who actually lives up to his reputation with the glove. Offensively, CHONE projects him at .226/.262/.319; -37/150. However, Chavez avoids being replacement level due to his glove (+9). He projects at 0.4 WAR per 150.

The Blue Jays are at the beginning of a rebuild. Before Buck signed, Toronto had zero catchers on their 40-man roster. Someone has to play catcher, and according to CHONE, the only free agent catcher in the same league with Castro and Buck is departing Blue Jay Rod Barajas, who’s seeking a much bigger deal. While neither Buck nor Castro is an iron man, if they each play half of the season, that still projects as around a league average player (2 WAR). Given that the cost of one marginal win on the open market is likely at least four million dollars, the Jays are paying three million for at least eight million dollars worth of (projected) production. Well done by the Jays.

In a way, Chavez’s contract is the most interesting, and not because he’s good. Rather, it’s because Toronto, unlike other clubs this winter, gave a near-replacement level catcher a contract appropriate to his likely contribution rather than six million dollars over two years. It’s a Festivus Miracle!

If you want to enter your own projection for Toronto’s 2010 catchers, click here.

I have to admit that I have not been a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ moves in recent years, but things are beginning to change. The Manny Ramirez deal, which the Pirates were involved in as the third team in, netted the organization some interesting players, as did the Xavier Nady trade with the New York Yankees.

After dealing with two powerhouse AL East teams, the Pirates made a smaller deal with another team in the division, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Pirates sent underachieving Jose Bautista, a former Rule 5 player who was playing at Triple-A and is eligible for arbitration after the season, to the Jays for a player to be named later. Bautista will help fill in for the perennially-injured Scott Rolen at third base.

The player-to-be-named-later was named yesterday, and it was Triple-A catcher Robinzon Diaz. I don’t like the trade from the Jays’ perspective because general manager J.P. Ricciardi – once again – sold low on a player. Diaz is a bad-ball hitter who has excellent hand-eye coordination and is a .300-plus career hitter (.306 in seven seasons), albeit with no power. He had been struggling at Triple-A, but had also missed a good portion of the season due to a severe ankle sprain.

Diaz was made expendable for Toronto because of the emergence of catcher Brian Jeroloman (Triple-A), and J.P. Arencibia (Double-A), both of whom were drafted and acquired under the Ricciardi tenure, while Diaz was not (Ricciardi seems to have a large bias for his own players).

The soon-to-be 25 year old catcher is very athletic and can play just about any where but shortstop and center field. He has an average arm for a catcher and pretty good catching skills, but his game calling has been criticized by Jays’ minor league pitchers. He should make a great third-string catcher and back-up at third base and second base.

Diaz will not be a superstar but he will be a solid addition to a National League club in rebuilding mode. With both of Toronto’s catching facing free agency this winter, he is also someone that organization could have used more than an arbitration-eligible utility player who cannot hit above .250.