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Blue Jays showing interest in Howie Kendrick

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The Blue Jays have contacted the Angels on the availability of Howie Kendrick.

The Blue Jays have contacted the Angels in regards to a potential trade involving Howie Kendrickaccording to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. As Nicholson-Smith notes, the talks are just preliminary, but it does show that the Blue Jays have genuine interest in acquiring Kendrick.

Nicholson-Smith reported earlier in the week that Kendrick's contract includes a no-trade clause that allows him to block trades to four teams: the Mets, Rays, Marlins and Blue Jays. It is currently unclear if he would be willing to waive the no-trade clause to accept a deal to Toronto, so that could be an obstacle in getting a deal completed.

Kendrick will be entering the final year of his four-year, $33.5 million contract in 2015, and will be paid $9.5 million for the 2015 season. For the 2014 season, Kendrick posted a .293/.347/.397 slash line. The .347 OBP was his highest since 2007, thanks to a career best 7.1% BB rate this past season. Since 2006, Kendrick's 9.1 defensive WAR ranks third in the American League, according to Fangraphs.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays have some question marks regarding their infield heading into 2015. Nicholson-Smith notes that the Jays could get creative thanks to the versatility of Brett Lawrie. One option could be to sign Pablo Sandoval and move Lawrie over to second base, but Sandoval could be out of their price range.

Some other in-house options could be utility infielders Maicer Izturis or Ryan Goins, but both would offensive liabilities. Izturis missed most of 2014 with injuries, and his 2013 OPS was just .598. Goins, a 26 year-old left-handed hitting infielder, has a career OPS of .531 in just 100 games.. Needless to say, the Jays will have to find help for the 2015 infield.


Should the Blue Jays give Dalton Pompey the center field job?

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John Gibbons, in an interview last week, said that 'if the season were starting now', Dalton Pompey would be his center fielder.

It has been a much debated question if that is a good plan or not.

Those against it will point out that Dalton started last season in Dunedin and played 70 games there, then moved to New Hampshire, played just 31 games there, then moved to Buffalo and played 12 games, before being a September call up to the Jays. Being the presumed starting center fielder, after playing just 43 games above A-ball is pretty aggressive promotion. He is just 21 (22 next month). For a top draft pick, it wouldn't be all that unusual, but for someone picked in the 16th round, that's a much more unusual. Those types usually have to prove themselves at each level on the way up the ladder.

In recent times, the Jays have been very leery about moving prospects quickly through the system, not wanting to cause problems with their development. For some reason, I tend to think that's more of a worry with pitchers than batters, but it has been the way the Jays have been doing things, at least until this past season. To me, moving guys up quickly isn't that much of a worry as long as they show good things.

What worries me is,  if they install him as the starting center fielder,  the Jays don't have a great track record of patience. I'd be worried that Dalton will have a handful of bad at bats and get sent back down. In Gibby's first time with the Jays, they brought Adam Lind up, he went 1 for 19 and he was send back down. If the Jays start the season with Pompey in CF, I hope they will have the strength of conviction to keep playing him for at least 300 at bats. I don't want him learning to worry that any time he has a  bad game or two,  he'll be sent back to the minors. Last season

Lind, Travis Snider and others were brought up and sent down far too often. It had to be hard on their self-esteem and confidence. I hope we don't do the same with Pompey. If they decide to give him the job, I hope they say to him 'don't worry about your stats, we promise to keep you in the lineup at least until June, just go out there and play, we have faith in you'. And then stick to their word.

Course, maybe the Jays are saying that Dalton has the job to light a fire under Anthony Gose.  Make Gose work hard all winter and then come to spring training ready to fight for the job. I do think that Gose and Pillar could make a decent enough platoon in CF that the Jays could give Pompey a couple of months in Buffalo to be sure he is ready.

Anyway let's have a poll.

Poll
Should the Jays start the season with Dalton Pompey as their center fielder?

  412 votes |Results

A look at the roster as it currently stands

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With the offseason being only being a few weeks old there is obviously a long way to go before the roster comes into its final form. With that being said, there has already been a fair bit of turnover with the Blue Jays as a number of mainstays on the roster, including Brandon Morrow, Adam Lind, and Dustin McGowan have all been shown the door. On the flip side, a number of waiver claims and Marco Estrada have been added to the team and look to have a solid shot to break camp with the team in April next year.

Catchers

The catcher situation currently sits unchanged from last season, which may begin to upset a few people if the 2015 season starts with Dioner Navarro and Josh Thole still on the roster. While there's talk that Navarro may not have been the best framer in the league and certainly wasn't the best defensively overall, he wasn't as bad as previous Blue Jays catchers and that's at least a positive. The Venezuelan has one more year on his deal where he will get paid $5 million in 2015. Josh Thole had his option picked up recently and will come back as R.A. Dickey's personal catcher for $1.75 million. Overall, the team could do worse than these two catchers although there's certainly room for an upgrade if it came along.

Infield

The left side of the infield could be locked up for a very long time with Brett Lawrie just be entering his first year of arbitration in 2015, while Jose Reyes' contract runs until at least 2017 with $22 million being owed each season. Second base would currently be manned by Maicer Izturis on his final guaranteed year with the Blue Jays worth $3 million. First base would once again be held down by slugger Edwin Encarnacion who will most certainly earn his $10 million paycheque in 2015. In terms of back-ups, Ryan Goins would likely return as a utility infielder or possibly Steve Tolleson while Justin Smoak could be a suitable back-up at first base assuming he is tendered a contract. It seems like Danny Valencia would currently beat out Juan Francisco for the third base back-up job as he provides a solid amount of value against left-handed pitchers.

Outfield

The outfield currently sits in a pretty unclear situation with Jose Bautista in right field being the only guarantee at this point in the offseason. John Gibbons recently said Dalton Pompey would start in centre field, which doesn't seem like too bad of an idea although certainly not ideal. If the season started today, some combination of Kevin Pillar, Andy Dirks, Anthony Gose, and John Mayberry Jr. would form the left field position. If I were to guess, I think Gose and Mayberry Jr. would form the platoon at this point in time unless Melky Cabrera comes back to the team or Andy Dirks impresses in Spring Training. The outfield obviously has room for a fair bit of improvement, but the Blue Jays don't seem too worried about giving some of their young guys an opportunity to sink or swim straight from Opening Day in 2015.

Starting Rotation

The easiest part of the roster to pick at this point in time is the starting rotation, which likely is the same one which ended last season. R.A. Dickey enters the final guaranteed year of his contract ($12 million), as do fellow veterans Mark Buehrle ($20 million) and J.A. Happ (option picked up for $6.7 million). Drew Hutchison just missed out on super-two status thankfully, while Marcus Stroman will also enter 2015 as another pre-arbitration player. There isn't a lot of wiggle room in the starting rotation at this point, with the only possible shakeup coming by way of a trade involving one of the three veterans (likely J.A. Happ).

Bullpen

The bullpen will undergo a fair bit of change before the team opens Spring Training in March, but currently Aaron Loup, Marco Estrada, Steve Delabar, and Brett Cecil are almost sure things to have a relief role at this point in time. The three remaining spots (yes three, not four) could end up going to anyone including Chad Jenkins, Liam Hendriks, Aaron Sanchez, Kyle Drabek, Todd Redmond, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin, Daniel Norris. The bullpen has a chance to be solid once again in 2015 if the younger guys continue to perform like everyone expects them to in 2015.

Designated Hitter

Most people expect the designated hitter role to be shared at this point in time to give the star players more rest than they got in 2015. This would mean that the bench players in Smoak, Mayberry Jr., Valencia, and Goins would spell the starters in the field in a rotating type of deal, while guys like Encarnacion, Lawrie, Reyes, and Bautista would occupy the DH role to rest their legs.

That brings the roster to 25 players with three infield bench players and only one outfield substitute, which may not be what the Blue Jays want to do considering all the inexperience in the outfield. The clear holes in the team are at second base, left and centre field, plus the high-leverage spots in the bullpen. There's a long way to go in the offseason but the Blue Jays don't look horrible at this point and still have a small amount of payroll to work with if the reports are to be believed. What do you folks disagree with? Should Andy Dirks be the left fielder instead of the platoon I outlined or should Ryan Goins start over Maicer Izturis?

Help us choose the Blue Jays best defensive play of 2014

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The next of the SB Nations Awards.

Our third of the SB Nation awards posts is the Best Defensive play. If you missed them, the poll for the 'most regrettable Blue Jays moment' is here and the poll for the 'funniest Blue Jays moment' is here.

I've spent an enjoyable morning watching clips of great defensive plays. Trying to pick out the top few is an impossible task. Hope you enjoy looking at the clips as much as I did.

Our first is Casey Janssen making a catch with his hat:

No, I'm kidding...but that was pretty great.

The real picks:

1. Anthony Gose making a catch against the right field wall.

2.Ryan Goins makes barehanded catch to get the last out of Marcus Stroman's shutout.

3. Ryan Goins goes deep into the hole to make a play. Let's face it, I could fill the page with Goins plays.

4. Jose Bautista throws out Billy Butler at first base. He would throw out another runner at first 2 days later.

5. Jose doubles up Nori Aoki.

6. Dalton Pompey runs a mile to make an amazing catch.

7. Brett Lawrie jump throw.

8. Brett Lawrie makes a diving stop and great throw from right field.

9. Colby Rasmus running catch.

10. Jose Reyes goes to his right.

11. Diving play and throw from knees from Munenori Kawasaki.

12. Anthony Gose running catch

.

You know, for a team whose defense wasn't very good, there are no end to the great plays, but let's stop there. 12 is too many, but I like them all.

Poll
Which is the Blue Jays best defensive play of 2014?

  154 votes |Results

Blue Jays to have 'serious discussion' with Russell Martin

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Bruce Levine, of CBS Chicago, writes that Russell Martin is having 'serious discussions' with 4 teams: the Pirates, Dodgers, Cubs and Blue Jays.

Martin is apparently looking for a 5-year deal (thank goodness, 6 years and we'd be out, stupid self imposed rules). Levine suggests the $75 million that Brian McCann got as  a rough idea of what Martin will be looking at.

The Jays might be thinking about moving Dioner Navarro to DH and getting someone with a better glove to catch. Martin played 111 games last year, that would leave 50 for Navarro to catch. Hopefully one of them would learn to catch Dickey and we could let Josh Thole go.

I really don't see it happening. I don't want to start into the 'cheap Rogers stuff' but it does seem to me that the Jays are already paying a catcher, it seems against their philosophy to be paying for another one. Maybe they have looked at the 'framing stats' and think Russell would help out the pitchers.

I wouldn't be giving a 5 year contract for a catcher who will be 32 before next season. I guess, if the team really wants to contend this year and really wants to prove to us fans that they are going all in, signing Russell would be a good start.

Would Melky Cabrera be worth the Blue Jays limited amount of money?

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The horse is getting pretty close to beaten to death by now, but it's an issue that's going to keep being talked about all offseason. The Blue Jays have a ceiling on their payroll and although we don't know what the exact number is, we do know that they're not going to throw cash at every free agent. With the current 2015 payroll sitting somewhere between$125-$130 million, there is only so much Alex Anthopoulos has to work with in the coming months when trying to upgrade this team. It seems like almost a unanimous opinion around Blue Jays land that the team should make a run at bringing back Melky Cabrera on a free agent contract. To me it seems like the limited cash might be better used upgrading larger holes in the team than a left field which is currently up for grabs between Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, Anthony Gose, and John Mayberry Jr.

With all of the steroid and tumour issues in Cabrera's past, it's pretty hard to get an accurate feel for what the switch-hitter will bring to the table in the future, not to mention he is now on the bad side of 30-years-old. Getting a WAR of 2.6 per year for the entirety of his free agent contract would be mighty nice, but you could also end up with the garden gnome we saw in left field during the 2013 year if his body begins to break down. In my eyes, the marginal upgrade that Cabrera would provide over some sort of combination of the existing options with the additional risk isn't sufficient enough to spend the small amount of money that the Blue Jays have to work with.

With a platoon of John Mayberry Jr. and Anthony Gose, the Blue Jays would have two superior defenders to Cabrera, while their combined hitting against left and right-handed hitters respectively would be an obvious drop-off, it might not be as bad as you would think. Mayberry has a career slash line against lefties of .269/.324/.533, while Gose hits righties to the tune of .241/.316/.350 with an OBP that has been trending upward. If Gose continues to sputter at the plate, Dirks is another option from the left side who doesn't have massive platoon splits, but is still superior against righties with a slash line of .278/.333/.418. The absence of Melky would certainly be felt on the offensive side of the ball, but a mash-up of these three guys wouldn't produce that large of a black hole in the lineup and would provide much better defence.

The money side of the equation is when it really starts to look like a good idea to let Cabrera be on his merry way to a team with more money to spend. Anthony Gose will be paid the league minimum (around $500k), while Mayberry Jr. and Dirks will go to arbitration with projected totals of $1.9 million and $1.63 million respectively. With Dave Cameron of FanGraphs recently projecting that Cabrera will get three years and $39 million in free agency, the cost savings would obviously be massive by not signing Melky. That's ignoring the fact that it seems likely, to me at least, that Cabrera will get more than that projected total from a team willing to bet that he can continue his 2014 post-steroid, post-tumour performance. In addition, the qualifying offer extended to Melky means that the Blue Jays will get a draft pick if he signs for another team. When a team is working with limited financial flexibility these things unfortunately matter a fair bit and the amount of money (plus the draft pick) start to tip the scales in the "don't sign Melky" direction.

If the Blue Jays could save about $10 million by throwing together a platoon in left field, that money could go to upgrading second base and the bullpen in less flashy, but more effective deals. It won't make the casual fan happy and it could look extremely stupid if the platoon ends up falling flat while Cabrera continues his 2014 form, but it's worth the risk in my eyes. Unfortunately it looks like this offseason won't be about where the Blue Jays spend their money, it will be about where they don't spend it.

Poll
Should the Blue Jays use their limited amount of money to make a run at Melky Cabrera?

  454 votes |Results

Casey Janssen could be a useful bullpen piece for the Tigers in 2015

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The former Blue Jays closer isn't expected to make a ton of money in free agency. Could he be an upgrade for the Tigers' bullpen?

It's not often that a successful closer hits the free agent market with less fanfare than Casey Janssen. The Toronto Blue Jays' closer for the past three seasons, Janssen is getting nowhere near the publicity of pitchers like David Robertson and Andrew Miller. Janssen has provided some spectacular innings for the Jays over the last several years, but a lengthy medical history and lackluster 2014 season cloud an otherwise sunny profile.

YearIPW-LSVERAWHIPFIPxFIPK/9BB/9HR/9SIERAfWAR
201445.23-3253.941.184.144.225.521.381.183.940.1
Steamer*1.00-004.021.274.13-6.802.021.19-0.0
Career493.029-24903.521.223.743.836.722.210.863.636.4

*2015 Steamer projection

Who is he?

Janssen is a 33 year old right-hander who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 4th round of the 2004 draft. A UCLA product, Janssen rose quickly through the minors. He made his MLB debut as a starter in April 2006, and made 17 starts in 19 appearances for an injury riddled Blue Jays rotation. He missed all of the 2008 season after undergoing labrum repair surgery on his right shoulder, and transitioned to full-time bullpen duty in 2010. He took over the closer role in 2012 after Sergio Santos underwent a similar surgery on his shoulder labrum. Janssen kept the job for three years, converting 81 of 91 save chances, and is now a free agent.

Why should we care?

Janssen has put up some excellent numbers with the Blue Jays over the past four years. He has allowed a 2.77 ERA and 3.06 FIP in 217 2/3 innings since the start of the 2011 season. He has been worth 3.7 WAR during that stretch, including three seasons of 1.1 WAR or more. Janssen tallied 170 strikeouts in 172 innings while allowing just 38 walks from 2011 to 2013. He has been equally effective against righties and lefties in his career, holding both under a .700 OPS.

One thing that jumps out about Janssen's numbers is his extremely low walk rate. He has only issued 121 walks in 493 innings, a rate of 2.21 per nine innings. He was even better in his three years as the Blue Jays' closer, walking 1.72 batters per nine innings. This has resulted in a career 1.22 WHIP, and a 0.99 WHIP in the past three years.

Despite having the "proven closer" label attached to his name, Janssen probably will not fetch a "proven closer" price this offseason. This is partially due to some of the concerns addressed below, but also because he is not viewed as a "dominant closer." His fastball rests in the low 90s and he doesn't generate the gaudy strikeout numbers of the top closers in the game. Janssen did not receive a qualifying offer from the Blue Jays, and will not have any draft pick compensation tied to his name this winter.

Why should we stay away?

While he has been very good over the past few years, Janssen is already approaching his mid-30s and has a significant injury history. The fact that he is still pitching at such a high level after a labrum repair is impressive in itself, but Janssen also had surgery to remove bone spurs from his right shoulder in 2012. He has also spent time on the disabled list due to elbow tightness in the past.

Concerns over his shoulder have become amplified over the past couple years as his fastball velocity has declined sharply. He averaged 92 miles per hour with his fastball in 2012, but that average velocity dipped all the way to 89 miles per hour in 2014. This coincided with a sharp decline in his swinging strike percentage and strikeout rate. As you might expect, Janssen's overall numbers also suffered. He allowed a 3.94 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 45 2/3 innings last season, well above the 2.46 ERA and 2.77 FIP he posted from 2011 to 2013.

Will he end up in Detroit?

I would like the idea of bringing Janssen in a lot better if his shoulder weren't held together with paper clips and bubble gum, but odds are a lot of other teams would too. A healthy Janssen is one of the most underrated relievers in baseball, and his excellent command would be a nice addition to the bullpen. While he doesn't necessarily need a high strikeout rate to be successful -- his WHIP was still just 1.18 in 2014 -- he showed that there is a significant difference in his results when he can generate the occasional whiff. Odds are a team looking for a cheap closer or setup man will get preference over the Tigers, who will look to shoehorn him into a sixth or seventh inning role.

Blue Jays to talk to Pablo Sandoval

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We are knee deep in rumor season.

Over at the SB Nation rumors site, MLB Daily Dish, young Mr. Chris Cotillo informs us that Pablo Sandoval's agents are planning to meet with GM's of four clubs at the GM's meeting in Phoenix next week. One of those four teams are our Blue Jays. The other three are the Giants, Red Sox and White Sox.

I know that Alex talks to everyone and I have real doubts that the Jays could land him, but I'd really love to get to see him in a Blue Jays uniform.

Chris writes this:

Though reports this week have stated that Sandoval would prefer a six-year deal, agent Gustavo Vasquez told me earlier in the week that he is not setting a mininum-contract length requirement and is simply "looking for the best deal for Pablo".

I wouldn't want to give him more than a 5 year contract, he is 28 now and I'd have questions on how well he'll age. I also think that if he's signing a longer term contract, an AL team might be a better choice, so that he could play some DH. Fangraphs has him at a 3.5 UZR/150, so he's not terrible at third base. He seems to move pretty well for a guy his size.

If the Jays were to sign Pablo, Brett Lawrie would be moving to second base.

So that makes 3 big time free agents that the Jays have been connected to, Melky Cabrera, Russell Martin and, now, Pablo. I thought we could have a poll asking, if we could only have one of the three, which one would you pick?

Poll
All things equal, which of these free agents would you prefer the Blue Jays to sign?

  1702 votes |Results


Orioles asked Blue Jays about Adam Lind trade, rejected price of Steve Pearce

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The Blue Jays tried to sign Steve Pearce when he was a free agent after his DFA. They tried to trade Adam Lind for him recently. The Orioles weren't playing ball.

With both Nelson Cruz and Delmon Young now free agents, the Orioles could possibly be without two crucial bats next season. Little surprise that Dan Duquette is perusing the trade market to see what he can find. Before Adam Lind was traded to the Brewers, the Orioles checked in with the Blue Jays to see if they could work out a deal. According to MASN's Roch Kubatko, Toronto asked for Steve Pearce in return. That was the end of the trade discussions.

The 31-year-old Lind was ultimately traded to Milwaukee for Marco Estrada. Lind will make $7.5 million in 2015, with an available team option for $8 million for 2016. That's not a bad price in and of itself for a guy coming off a season where he batted .321/.381/.479. Who knew a player was allowed to have an on-base percentage that high? The problem with the lefty-batting Lind is that he's played fewer than 100 games in two of the last three seasons.

Well, that's one problem. Another problem is that in a three-year stretch from 2010-2012, during which Lind was in his age 26-28 seasons, Lind put up a batting line of .246/.296/.428, good for an OPS+ of 94. He rebounded for two good seasons in 2013 and 2014, with the '14 campaign being abbreviated by injuries. How could the Orioles have known which of these players they'd be getting?

Still another problem is that Lind has a career OPS of .588 against left-handed pitchers, and he reached the point this past season where he was buried against LHP: he only had 37 appearances against lefties all year and managed a mere two singles. He might have made an interesting, if expensive, platoon partner for Pearce. Swapping the two of them would have made no sense for the Orioles.

Roch muses about how this trade might have impacted Chris Davis. If Lind would have made Davis expendable in their eyes, so that they could deal him without worrying about finding his replacement, that could have been interesting. Not if the Jays wanted Pearce, though.

There must be something the Jays really like about Pearce; they also tried to get him while Pearce was briefly a free agent following his DFA. Pearce spurned that offer to return to Baltimore in the wake of Davis' trip to the disabled list.

It's telling that Lind ended up being traded for Estrada, a pitcher who's coming off a season in which he had a 4.36 ERA over 150.2 innings, in the National League, while gave up home runs at a Matuszian pace. That guy is going to go pitch in Toronto? Good luck with that one, Jays. You're going to need it. That's the kind of value Lind has to the rest of the league, which doesn't sound like much value at all.

As Buck Showalter likes to say, "I like our guys." Pearce is undoubtedly one of our guys. If the Jays would like to get their hands on him, they're going to have to do better than that.

The Season that Was: Munenori Kawasaki

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A look at Munenori Kawasaki's 2014 season.

In 2013 we found out that Munenori Kawasaki was a) great fun to have around and b) not really a great player, but see a.

Muni was a breath of fresh air in a season that really really needed it. Minor Leaguer started up a write-in campaign to get him to the All-Star game and raised a huge mount of money with the Kawasaki Super PAC, which he went on to spend on wine and women (the rest he just wasted).

Kawasaki gave us the best moment of the 2013 season.

As much as he was fun to have around, I really didn't want to see him on the field much in 2014. As normal, I didn't get what I wanted:

Year   Lg  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG OPS+
2013   AL 96 240 27 55  6  5  1  24  7  1 32 41 .229 .326 .308   76
2014   AL 82 240 31 62  7  1  0  17  1  0 22 49 .258 .327 .296   77

Provided by "Baseball-Reference.com"

He had pretty much the exact same season as he had in 2013.

Fangraphs had him at a 0.4 WAR (down from 0.8 last year), giving him a value of $2.3 million to the Blue Jays. Baseball Reference had him at a 0.7 WAR.

Kawasaki had a .280 wOBA and a 74 wRC+.

Compared to 2013, Munenori walked less often (8.0%, down from 11.1) and struck out more often (17.9%, up from 14.2). I imagine that pitchers figured out that Muni wasn't going to hurt them with the bat, so throw him strikes. He had more line drives (29.6%, up from 21.8), few ground balls (55.4%, down from 58.0) and few fly balls (15.1%, down from 20.2).

His BABIP was .323, up from his .269 of last year. I don't know how he worked that, but I wouldn't expect it to happen again.

He really didn't have much for left/right splits, hitting lefties .283/.340/.304 and RHP .253/.324/.294.

And he hit much the same on at home(.261/.325/.278) as on the road (.256/.329/.312).

With RISP, surprise, he hit much the same as he did at any other time, .269/.324/.299.

He hit better in the first half of the season (.284/.344/.330) than in the second half (.243/.318/.276).

Munenori by month:

April: .250/.308/.333, with 1 RBI in 3 games.

May he was in Buffalo.

June: .262/.340/.310 with 1 RBI in 13 games.

July: .307/.338/.347 with 6 RBI in 22 games.

August: .254/.312/.282 with 4 RBI in 24 games.

September: .175/.327/.200 with 5 RBI in 20 games.

On defense Kawasaki played 444 innings at second base. Fangraphs has him at a -6.6 UZR/150. He made 5 errors and had a .977 fielding average. I think he's pretty average at the position. I expected him to be better. He played 132 innings at third, Fangraphs had him at a 20.3 UZR/150, but I'd think that was a sample size issue. I didn't think he had the arm for the position but he made some good throws, maybe I was wrong. He also played 15 innings at short.

Fangraphs has him 0.7 runs better than the average base runner.

His longest hitting streak was 8 games, running from July 7 to July 20. The team was 30-39 in games he started.

I like that Kawasaki reminds me that the game is entertainment. He is fun to watch.

As a baseball player.....he isn't going to help you win. He's played way too much for us. If you have to have a replacement level player out on the field, it might as well be Munenori, but I'm hoping that, next season, we don't have to have a replacement level player on the field. I'm ok with him being a back up infielder, as long as he doesn't play much, but I'm hoping we can do better.

He does take a lot of pitches, a nice ability. He saw 4.14 pitcher per plate appearance, best on the team, ahead of Edwin Encarnacion (4.13) and Jose Bautista (4.08). There is a value to that, but I'd still rather a guy that did something with one of those pitches.

Every now and then, someone on Twitter tells me that Kawasaki is a great leader. I can't wrap my mind around the leap of logic to come up with that. I'm sure his teammates like him, and he does keep them smiling. But a leader...no. I'd think a leader would have to be able to speak one of the languages spoken in the clubhouse.

And, of course, there is once in awhile when someone tells me he is the most valuable player on the team. You really would have to have a different understanding of baseball than I do to believe something like that.

He's one of a kind, I enjoy watching him, let's not pretend he is something he isn't.

Help us choose the most important Yankees hit of 2014

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As we continue our installments of the SB Nation MLB GIF Awards, you can help us determine the most important hit of the Yankees 2014 season. Here are another five GIFs that represent the most important hits of the season; your mission is to choose the most important one. Go.

Derek Jeter's last stand

Of course this happened. It was amazing. Maybe you laughed, maybe you cheered, maybe you cried. Maybe you felt every emotion at the same time. Whatever you felt, it was a spectacular and appropriate way to cap off the Derek Jeter Era and it will live forever as a Yankees Classic.

Chase Headley arrives

The Yankees were hanging around at the trade deadline and they finally made their move for Chase Headley. He arrived midway through the game to provide some game-winning heroics that had us all believing that maybe this was the beginning of a magical run. That didn't happen, but it was still a beautiful moment, if only for Headley's sake.

Brian McCann comes to life

After the terrible season he and the Yankees had been having, Brian McCann really came to life in the summer months. His game-winning home run capped off his comeback as a useful baseball player and was part of the team's run for a five-game win streak, their longest of the season. It seemed like everything was clicking right then and there and McCann showed it.

Carlos Beltran saves the day

At the time the Blue Jays were still in first place in the division and the Yankees were only 1.5 games out of first. The Orioles were gaining on the competition and were in reach to overtake the Yankees, but Beltran's home run hampered their plans for one more day. Baltimore ended up taking the series, but at least they needed an extra day to take over second place in the division.

Chris Young mania

Remember that time Chris Young was amazing? The man hit three home runs in three days and hit .417 that week and it looked like it would never end. By this point in the season it was already too late to hope on anything, but at least Chris Young gave us something to be excited about for a little while. It got him a new contract, so maybe we can see it again next year.

Tell us who had the most important hit of the Yankees season so we can pick the very best one and put it up against the best from every other SBN blog on the network. Pick a good one!

Poll
Who had the most important hit of the season?

  74 votes |Results

Russell Martin seeking $75-$80 million over five years

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The prized backstop is looking for an enormous payday, and may very well receive it.

Top free agent catcher Russell Martin is reportedly seeking a five-year deal in the range of $75 to $80 million, according to Jeff Blair of SportsNet.ca, who also reports that the 31-year-old is said to "already be leaning in the Chicago Cubs direction."

Martin's contract demands seem to line up with the five-year, $85 million deal Brian McCann received from the Yankees last winter, and rightfully so, considering Martin is thought to be far and away the best catching option available this offseason (David Ross and Geovany Soto may be his closest competition). He is coming off a career-year in which he hit .290/.402/.430 with a .370 wOBA, 140 wRC+, and 5.3 WAR, not to mention top-notch pitch framing skills from behind the plate.

Reports have connected Martin to a quartet of teams in the Dodgers, Cubs, Pirates, and Blue Jays. Of those clubs, the Cubs are expected to be the most serious players for Martin, who rejected the Pirates' $15.3 million qualifying offer on Sunday. The Blue Jays are also expected to "take a shot at signing" him, per Blair.

Coveting Michael Saunders

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The Mariners hate their young outfielder and the Twins need a new left fielder. Kismet.

I'm a simple man. I have simple tastes. Now that Paul Molitor has been chosen to lead the Twins and is assembling his elite coaching staff of what I assume will be former Brewers and Blue Jays, all I really want from the Twins this offseason is a new left fielder.

I think, or at least I hope, we can all agree that Jordan Schafer is not a long term solution to any outfield position. As much fun as it was to watch him run all over the field in defiance of his lengthy and awful history in the major leagues, it is exceptionally rare for 27 year olds with over 1000 plate appearances and a 71 career OPS+ to make a meaningful leap to become serviceable. So while we all should thank Schafer for making the end of 2014 a little less awful to endure, that shouldn't have any bearing on where the Twins turn in 2015 and beyond.

Likewise, it's hard to envision a similar leap forward for Aaron Hicks, at least enough to make seeing him in left field next year at all palatable. Assuming that Danny Santana really does start the year at shortstop, Hicks and Schafer will be needed to man center field anyway until Buxton is ready (assuming he is not hit a falling piece of Skylab before that day). The Twins need someone in left field, then, who can at least fill the hole admirably until they figure out a longer term solution, be that Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, or a finally on track Hicks.

A little over the month ago, I mused that having Torii back wouldn't necessarily be so bad. Then, of course, Torii cut a campaign ad for a bigot running for Governor in Arkansas, and now we're fighting again. I don't need the players I root for to be good people, necessarily, but I do need to be able to pretend they don't hold noxious beliefs, and frankly I'd like it if they could play a whole lot better than Hunter is likely going to provide in 2015.

So it is that I have turned my attentions west, and to Michael Saunders, of the Seattle Mariners. Saunders, a 28 year old former center fielder, has fallen far out of favor with the Mariners, who have publicly criticized his conditioning and are said to be pushing hard to trade him. Neither side is happy with each other, and it seems like a change of scenery is entirely in order.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has said that Saunders could do more to improve his durability, while manager Lloyd McClendon has said he should spend more time in the weight room. I'm not really in position to dispute them, though Saunders' agent is, and he strongly takes issue with this characterization, saying "Michael was never told that there is something that needed to be changed. If there was, Michael Saunders would do it. These comments don't reflect Michael Saunders' work habits. They imply that he's lackadaisical."

Saunders has also been pretty stretched over his career as the Mariners' primary center fielder, a position he's mostly been forced into by the continuing and horrific health problems of Franklin Gutierrez. When he wasn't out with an oblique or a shoulder injury over the past year, Saunders hit .273/.341/.450. Freed from center field, Saunders also showed that he had enough range at the outfield corners to be an asset there. In half of a season, he was worth somewhere between two and two-and-a-half wins for the surprisingly competitive Mariners.

Perhaps best of all, Saunders also has two more years of team control, which would buy the Twins time to either develop a proper replacement, or sign Saunders to fill that gap over the long term. Plus, with such a short commitment, should Rosario, Sano, or Hicks prove the better option, Saunders would still be highly tradable, especially if his franchise doesn't spend the offseason tearing him down in the media.

So what do you need Seattle? A plucky shortstop like Eduardo Escobar? A youngish team-controlled starter like Kyle Gibson? A defensively challenged catcher/DH like Josmil Pinto? (Ooh, sorry, Jesus Montero. You have one of those, don't you?)  Bring me the head of Michael Saunders, I say, so long as it is still attached to the rest of him.

MLB rumors: Tigers' interest in Melky Cabrera is 'very, very real'

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According to a radio host in Toronto, the Tigers' interest in left fielder Melky Cabrera is "very, very real".

According to a report by sports radio host Greg Brady of Toronto's 590 AM station, the Tigers are showing interest in the Blue Jays' left fielder, Melky Cabrera. Brady tweeted a series of comments about the Tigers' apparent interest in Cabrera, but was quick to report that there were not any talks going on as of yet.

Naturally, the news spread like wildfire on Twitter. Reddit had earlier tweeted that Toronto Blue Jays' general manager Alex Anthopolous had said that there was a good chance that Cabrera may not return to the Jays. It is worth noting that none of the big MLB writers -- Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, and the like -- had picked up this rumor by the time we posted this article.

Cabrera has just rejected the Blue Jays' qualifying offer of $15.3 million for one season, meaning that if the Tigers were to sign him, Detroit would lose their own first round draft pick in next June's amateur player draft. However, the Tigers stand to gain one or two picks in the supplemental first round if Max Scherzer and/ or Victor Martinez sign with other clubs. Both players also rejected qualifying offers from the Tigers on Monday.

The 30 year old Cabrera is a switch hitting left fielder who hit .301 with a .351 on-base percentage in 2014. He also hit 16 home runs and drove in 81 RBI for the Jays. He is a career .286 hitter with a .754 OPS in 10 seasons.

Defensively, Cabrera is rated slightly below average at -6 defensive runs saved (DRS), and a -5.8 UZR for the 2014 season. He has played all three outfield positions, but has been limited mainly to left field in recent seasons. Cabrera has just finished a two year, $16 million contract with Toronto.

News that the Tigers are not interested in Colby Rasmus -- also tweeted by Brady earlier this evening -- will be music to the ears of most Tigers fans.

Cabrera is best known for his involvement with the drug scandal that resulted in twelve players being suspended for 50 games each for use of performance enhancing drugs. The former San Francisco Giants' outfielder had tested positive for PED's during the 2012 season and did not participate in the post season. The number of players involved grew during the 2013 season, and included Tigers' shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

Cabrera would adequately replace Torii Hunter in the lineup, and would add another good bat with some improvement over Hunter defensively, but the Tigers would still need to find a platoon partner for Rajai Davis, who should neither be starting against right handed pitchers, nor playing center field on a full time basis.

Here's a comparison chart, just for fun

Player
PA
AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
wOBA
HR
RBI
SB
DRS
UZR
fWAR
SALARY
Hunter
586
.286
.319
.446
.765
.335
17
83
4
-18
-18.3
0.3
14 million
Cabrera
621
.301
.351
.458
.809
.354
16
73
6
-6
-5.8
2.6
8.0 million

Jed Lowrie and the Blue Jays: BBB Staff Free Agent Picks

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The BBB Staff Free Agent Picks did not result in any signings last year, but hope endures. First up is Nick's pick.

For readers who missed the first "BBB Staff Free Agent Picks" last year, the idea is simple. Writers from Bluebird Banter were asked which free agent they would most like the Blue Jays to sign in order to improve the team and give some rationale as to why. The only restriction is that the pick has to be "within reason" financially, so don't expect anyone advocating for Jon Lester, although he would undoubtedly be a great guy to have.

Last year, I made the case for Scott Kazmir, but apparently Alex Anthopoulos wasn't listening. I'm sure he's become a loyal BBB reader since then so the plea for Jed Lowrie should be more successful.

When choosing my preferred free agent the first thing I looked at was the Blue Jays' biggest holes.

With the impending departure of Melky Cabrera, outfield is a definite concern, but they do have some young bodies there that could potentially do the job. No one is thrilled about a potential Anthony Gose/Kevin Pillar platoon, but it's cheap and has potential to be surprisingly serviceable, especially if there is more in Pillar's bat than he's shown.

Where the Jays have absolutely no talent to speak of is at second base. In theory, they could move Lawrie there if they picked up a quality third baseman, but I personally don't like the idea of wasting his arm and putting him in the line of fire with sliding runners. If the season started today the Jays would probably use Maicer Izturis at the keystone.

Izturis is 34-years-old, he's coming off a serious knee injury, and the last time he was healthy he was arguably the worst player in the league (-2.2 WAR). Let that information sink in.

It's pretty clear that the team needs a new second baseman. While Lowrie is more of a shortstop, he's played at second in the past and is willing to do so going forward. In previous years he had a reputation for being fragile and the type of guy who wasn't quite an everyday player, but he's appeared in 290 games over the last two years with the A's.

When he has played he's produced. The table below show's Lowrie's numbers over the last three years and where they would rank among MLB second basemen during that period.

BB%

K%

ISO

AVG

OBP

SLG

wRC+

WAR

8.9% (10th)

14.6% (13th)

.147 (12th)

.265 (17th)

.333 (13th)

.412 (10th)

108 (10th)

7.9 (12th)

These are not the numbers of a star, but they are the numbers of an above-average starter. They compare rather favorably to what the Jays have got from the position over the last three years.

Player

BB%

K%

ISO

AVG

OBP

SLG

wRC+

WAR

Jed Lowrie

8.9%

14.6%

.147

.265

.333

.412

108

7.9

Jays' Second Basemen

6.8%

20.8%

.104

.231

.288

.335

70

-0.3

These hitting numbers also come with a glove that UZR likes as about average at SS (-0.3/150) and second (1.6/150) over the course of Lowrie's career, which isn't Goinsian, but will do just fine.

While these numbers look ideal, free agent deals buy future performance, not past performance. As Lowrie enters his thirties he is likely to decline and 7.9 WAR is not a fair projection for him over the next three years.

However, with the free agent market humming along at approximately $7 million per win, Lowrie's price tag will not reflect a 7.9 WAR projection over the next three years. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs has him signing a 2-year $22 million deal (with the Jays as it happens) and the prognosticators at CBS Sports peg him at three years and $27-30 million.

I would pay either of those prices. If you give Lowrie $30 million over three years you are hoping a guy who produced just under eight WAR in his last three seasons can give you just over four in his next three. That strikes me as a pretty good bet.

The 30-year-old may be a slight injury risk, but he's proven in his tenure with Oakland that the "fragile" tag that has followed him around might be inaccurate at this point. He isn't necessarily an impact player, but considering what the Jays have at second base he would be an impact upgrade.

Lowrie is a player whose value could be unfairly depressed by a perception about his durability that may not be reflected in recent reality. Additionally, coming off a so-so year (93 wRC+, 1.9 WAR) he's something of a buy-low candidate. Perhaps more than anything else it would be fun to have Lowrie and Lawrie in the same infield.

My opening offer: I would be happy to offer Lowrie the 2-year $22 million that Dave Cameron predicts he'd sign for, but I suspect he will need a third year on the table and I'd go as high as three years and $29 million relatively early in negotiations to show I'm serious.

I'm not tipping my hand as to exactly how much farther I'd go, but it's safe to say there is a little bit of wiggle room there on my end.

Poll
Should the Blue Jays sign Jed Lowrie to complete the Lawrie-Lowrie infield?

  553 votes |Results


Wednesday Bantering: rumors

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There's a bunch of Blue Jays rumors today:

Bob Elliot and Shi Davidi tell us that the Jays are talking to Brook Jacoby about their open batting coach job. Shi says that he is 'similar in approach to Kevin Seitzer'. Jacoby was the Reds hitting coach for 7 seasons, starting in2007 and, last year, was the Rangers assistant hitting coordinator. Jacoby hit .270/.334/.405 with 120 home runs in 11 major league seasons, mostly with the Indians. I have no idea if he would be a good choice or not.

MLB Trade Rumors has a quick mention that the Blue Jays (and other teams) are interested in Nick Markakis. So far the Jays have been interested in everyone.

Jon Morosi tells us that the Jays haven't signed any big free agents in the past and, therefor are unlikely to sign anyone in this year.  I don't know that that is necessarily true. He goes on to say that:

It's difficult to know whether that conservatism is solely Anthopoulos' philosophical bent, or if ownership has encouraged him to take that approach. For the record, no one can accuse the Blue Jays of being cheap. According to USA Today figures, the Blue Jays had the ninth-largest Opening Day payroll this year: $129.4 million, just ahead of the Los Angeles Angels.

At least he isn't on the 'cheap Rogers' bandwagon.

Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Jays interest in Pablo Sandoval is "limited". I think we all knew that.

In the same Bob Elliott piece that was linked to above, Elliot tells us:

  • the Jays talked to the Mariners about Michael Saunders, back before the trade deadline.
  • that the Jays, if they don't get Russell Martin, they could trade for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Man, I hope not. I can't understand Elliott's reasoning there at all. Saltalamacchia hit .220/.320/.362 with 11 home runs in 114 games for the Marlins last year. He isn't considered a good defensive catcher.
  • And that the Jays signed minor league free agents Scott Copeland, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Mike Lee and Bobby Korecky.

Blue Jays Spring Training Schedule

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Here is the Jays spring training schedule:

Dunedin sounds like such a great idea, right now, looking at the snow outside my window.

Help us choose the most important Blue Jays hit of 2014

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The fourth in the SB Nations baseball awards is 'the most important hit' of the season.

So far we voted on the funniest moment, the most regrettable moment and the best defensive play of the Blue Jays 2014 season.

This one? I don't know, our most important hit? That's a particularly tough assignment.

1. Well, maybe it was Ryan (thanks buck) Dalton Pompey first career home run, on September 23rd.

2. Jose Bautista's game winning hit in the 19 inning against the Tigers, on August 10th. Here is the interview after the game.

3. Anthony Gose puts down a walk-off bunt single, on May 28th.

4. Brett Lawrie hits a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th, against the Orioles, back on April 22, changing a 3-3 tie, to a 6-3 Jays lead. Melky Cabrera would hit another 3-run home that inning.

Poll
The most important Blue Jays hit of 2014 is

  148 votes |Results

Anthony Gose traded to Tigers for 2B Devon Travis

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When Blue Jays fans were just snuggling into their warm beds for the evening, news broke that centre fielder of the future Anthony Gose had been traded to Detroit for Devon Travis. The move comes amidst swirling talk that Toronto was sold on Dalton Pompey becoming Colby Rasmus' replacement in 2015, with Gose on the outside looking in. He no longer has to look in as he has gone the way of Rajai Davis and become another speedster with platoon splits in the Tigers outfield. The news was broken by a number of sources, but here's the Shi Davidi tweet that came out fairly early:

Devon Travis on the other hand is a 23-year-old second baseman who was drafted in the 13th round of the 2012 draft out of Florida State University. He was recently named the top Tigers prospect by Baseball America, although the Detroit system is pretty weak so this isn't exactly a groundbreaking move. The Florida native was going to be blocked by Ian Kinsler for the foreseeable future so GM Dave Dombrowski must have decided to try and cash in when Travis' value was still high. The right-handed hitting second baseman played in Double-A Erie in 2014 hitting .298/.358/.460 with 10 home runs and 16 stolen bases.

In the prospect rankings from FanGraphs last year, the Tigers seventh-rated prospect Travis was described as follows:

Travis shares some similarities to Houston’s Jose Altuve as a smaller second baseman with surprising pop for his size. Although he hit double-digit homers in 2013, the Tigers prospect will possess more gap pop in the Majors. His short swing and willingness to spray the ball around helps him hit for average. His patient approach allows him to get on-base a lot and he doesn’t strike out much. He also has good speed and is a smart base runner. Defensively, he could be above-average at second base with good range and solid actions.

Here's a video of Travis from 2013 as well as an excerpt from a post about the small second baseman from Minor League Ball last year:

Devon Travis has, to this point in his career, destroyed minor league pitching, hitting for average and power and controlling the strike zone well. Despite a lack of natural speed, he's been successful as a stealer. He doesn't have the pure defensive tools for shortstop, but is very good at second base. He's not too old at age 22, and is about to get a chance to show off his abilities in the Arizona Fall League.

There's more to come with this story, but feel free to discuss the trade here.

Tigers acquire Anthony Gose from Blue Jays

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Infield prospect Devon Travis was sent to Toronto.

The Detroit Tigers made a move trying to add to their outfield depth on Wednesday, acquiring Anthony Gose from the Toronto Blue Jays for second base prospect Devon Travis.

Gose, 24, hit just .226/.311/.293 with 11 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases in 94 games for Toronto in 2014, and in his three-year career has hit .234/.301/.332. Gose, perhaps best known as one of three prospects traded by the Phillies to the Houston Astros for Roy Oswalt in 2010, is more regarded for his defense, especially in center field, and it sounds like the Tigers are counting on that defense from Gose.

"Anthony is a true center fielder that can provide us with above average defense in center field with a good arm," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a press release. "He possesses above average speed and can steal bases at the major league level. He swings the bat from the left side and we feel that he will continue to improve his offensive game."

After trading center fielder Austin Jackson in July in the David Price trade, the Tigers down the stretch played mostly with a starting outfield of J.D. Martinez in left field, Rajai Davis in center field, and Torii Hunter in right. Hunter is now a free agent, but Martinez and Davis will be back in 2015. Davis and Gose were teammates in Toronto in 2013.

To get Gose, the Tigers gave up Travis, who will turn 24 in February. The 2012 13th-round draft pick hit .298/.358/.460 with 10 home runs, 37 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases in 100 games for Class-A Erie in 2014. Travis was rated the No. 1 prospect in a weak Detroit farm system by Baseball America, and last year, the publication ranked Travis as the No. 84 prospect in baseball.

But the Tigers, winners of four straight American League Central titles, are in win-now mode, evident with the $68 million they gave to designated hitter Victor Martinez on Wednesday for his ages 36-39 years. Detroit is unconcerned with giving up a prospect for helping the major league team, but it is unclear whether Gose will help much at all.

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