Toronto/New York Reach a Deal – Is Lyle Overbay on his way Out?
In a deal with the New York Mets, the Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has acquired another homerun slugger to add to his already potent offense. This time in the form of 29-year-old slugger Mike Jacobs.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Californian, has shown an ability to knock the ball out of the park as his career stats indicate (556 games/100 home runs/310 RBIs). Going the other way is…well, we don’t know yet – but the deal cites “a player to be named later” – most likely a lower level prospect.
The highlights of Jacobs career would be topping 20 homeruns twice in 5-big league seasons, peaking at 32HR/93rbi in 2008.
Only 2 seasons removed from a 32HR campaign, the 2010 version of Jacobs has demonstrated that his power is still there, batting .260 with 15 home runs and 57 RBIs in 86 games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.
With a new power hitting 1B in the mix, many fans may be wondering if this move is a precursor to another move that will see current 1B Lyle Overbay on his way out of the Jays nest – the odds are – yes.
Stay tuned!
Jays a Part of Phillies/Astros Deal – Flip Wallace for Gose
The Toronto Blue Jays have finally acquired their man, but the cost was steep.
Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulos, has moved major league-ready 1B prospect Brett Wallace to the Houston Astros for the pure speed and raw talent of CF Anthony Gose (Who the Astros acquired via the Roy Oswalt deal).
Gose has long been a target of Anthopoulos, stemming back to the Roy Halladay deal that saw the Jays acquire Brett Wallace. However, it took today’s three-team trade to finally nab the 19-year old speedster.
Regardless of becomming the 3rd team to give up on top-prospect Brett Wallace, it was a steep price, especially since he looked to be ready to replace Lyle Overbay this year, or at worst, to be the Jays first baseman beginning next season.
The up-side of the deal may be the difficulty of acquiring top-flight centre fielders that have Carl Crawford-esq ability.
Although a Carl Crawford-esq player is the ideal end product, as of today, Anthony Gose is hitting .263/4hr/20rbi/36sb at Class-A Clearwater, but the expectation is that he will give the Blue Jays more in the long run than Wallace.
Anthony Gose Facts:
- Turns 20 next month (August),
- 6’1″/190 pounds,
- A 2nd-round pick in 2008,
- Is in his third season of pro ball
Phillies and Jays in Serious talks for Jose Bautista, but don’t count out the Giants, White Sox and Tigers
The Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays may be trade partners once again.
Consumating a major deal last year for former Toronto Ace, Roy Halladay, the Jays and Phillies have had multiple conversations, in addition to scouting each others target players - a lot (6 games in a row – at last count).
The obvious target for Philadelphia is the major league homerun leader, Jose Bautista, who if acquired, would be moved to 3B, with Placido Polanco moving over to 2B – while Chase Utley remains on the DL.
Once Utley returns from injury, Phillies fans should expect to see Bautista slide into the field (possibly to replace a departed Jayson Werth).
It is believed that Toronto is interested in young phenom CF Domonic Brown, who the Phillies have just called up, as well as SP J.A Happ and possibly 18 year old – 1B Jonathan Singleton. As a power hitting left-handed first baseman in low-A Lakewood, Singleton’s average has hovered around the .315 mark, while his bat has knocked out 11 homers and 55 RBI. The comparisons to a young Ryan Howard, indicate that Singleton has a very high ceiling – something that obviously would interest the Jays.
It is not known if the Phillies would discuss Domonic Brown, however his recent call-up may be an indication that he is now being showcased. However, with SP Jamie Moyer out with an injury and nearing the end of his career, the Phillies will also want a package of players that would include a young Jays pitcher in return for a package of Brown, Happ and Singleton.
The most likely candidates to be packaged en route to the “win now” Philadelphia club would be Bautista, Jesse Litsch or Brad Mills (who may have been auditioning last night – and it should be added he did so brilliantly) and possibly Scott Downs, as well as a lesser prospect.
If the Phillies and Jays can’t work out a deal, look for the San Francisco Giants to try and bolster their clubs offense with Bautista. The Giants offense is the only real weakness on the team that boasts a pitching staff of perennial Cy Young contender in Tim Lincecum, as well as top-tier stud Matt Cain, break-through stud Jonathan Sanchez, rookie sensation Madison Bumgarner, the solid veteran Barry Zito and a lights-out closer in Brian Wilson. A potential package of young fireballer Sergio Romo and/or possibly RHP Zack Wheeler, in addition to a few other pieces could force the Jays to take notice.
Other teams to have inquired or scouted Toronto recently, include the Chicago White Sox – who may look at Bautista if they fail to land Adam Dunn from Washington – and the Detroit Tigers, who need to replace Magglio Ordonez.
Stay tuned!
Rumour Mill: Yankees/Red Sox, Among Others, Battling For Jays Scott Downs with Big Time Names Being Dangled!
SportsIllustrated.com is stating that the Toronto Blue Jays rookie GM, Alex Anthopoulos has asked the New York Yankees for super prospect Jesus Montero in exchange for left-handed relief pitcher Scott Downs. While the New York Post is reporting that the Yankees are more inclined to send struggling power pitcher Joba Chamberlain as compensation for the 34-year-old Toronto relief pitcher.
As per usual, the main competition to the Yankees landing the top-tier Jays reliever is their old nemesis the Boston Red Sox. However, the New York Post is reporting that Jays GM s seeking the highly regarded infield prospect Casey Kelly in any deal with Toronto – a price the Red Sox are contemplating, but not biting…yet. If Casey Kelly is considered too steep a price to pay for the dominant RP Scott Downs, look for Boston to counter the offer with IF Jose Iglesias.
If some of you are wondering why Boston, New York or even the rumoured Cincinatti (believed to be dangling Travis Wood or Nick Masset), Minnesota (may be willing to move Brian Duensing), Colorado (apparently offering Jorge De La Rosa, Jeff Francis or Christian Friederich) and Philadelphia (who may look to move Kyle Kendrick or Travis D’Arnaud) would be interested in Scott Downs, the fact cannot be disputed that Downs has been dominant this year (and in past years). In addition, Scott is the consensus choice for best available lefty on the market as a result of his strong track record against the “AL BEAST” teams of Tampa, New York and Boston. Furthermore, he comes cheap – at an affordable $4.4million dollar deal that ends this year and can be re-signed with a reasonable raise.
The Blue Jays Win Streak Over the Orioles Now at 11! Plus our BlueJaysRant Reader Poll
With the Toronto Blue Jays dominating another game over the Orioles last night - extending their win streak to 11 games in a row - the question posed to you is…
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The Toronto Blue Jays, Brandon Morrow and RHP David Purcey Come Out Winners? Plus our BlueJaysRant Reader Poll.
The Toronto Blue Jays (51-49) defeated the Baltimore Orioles (31-68) by the comfortable score of 9-5 in yesterday evening’s AL East bottom dweller battle.
The winning pitcher was Blue Jays “Ace in the making” – Brandon Morrow (7-6) – who managed to strike out his fair share of Orioles (6) and work his way out of a few minor problem innings to secure the victory.
The third winner on the evening may have been young starter-turned-reliever, David Purcey.
With an 8-0 lead being slowly chewed away at, Jays manager Cito Gaston opted to replace Morrow with Casey Janssen. Janssen immediately showed he was going to have an off-night, looked unsteady in the eighth inning, and allowed the Orioles to eek within three runs at 8-5.
However, instead of calling on Jason Frasor, or Kevin Gregg, Gaston summoned the young-one, David Purcey.
Approaching the mound with a confidence you could see as a fan, Purcey calmly stifled the Orioles rally and pitched a perfect 1.1IP to preserve the Jays’ victory and his first save as a pro.
What is interesting to take note of, is with the trade deadline looming (just 4-days away), Purcey may have positioned himself as the potential replacement for Gregg, if Gregg gets moved.
With Purcey looking good all-season, sporting an era of 1.74, a whip of 1.02 and keeping the batting average of his opponents at a measly .176, while looking especially confident as a closing pitcher, the question is posed to you…
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BlueJaysRant Reader Poll: What American League East Team Would You Like to Take Over as GM?
The American League East is generally considered the toughest division in baseball. The two most dominant franchises (Yankees and Red Sox) seemed to have a death grip over the other teams (Rays, Orioles and Jays), but now the landscape is starting to change…a bit.
New York Yankees: They have the money, the cache and the star players we all want - but the heart and soul of the team is slowly fading. Age is catching up to Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Alex Rodriguez has always been a me first player, despite recent good behaviour, what do you think he will do when he passes 600 career homeruns and is on the march for the all-time record? I say fall into his old selfish ways. Finally, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera are also closer to the end, than the beginning of their illustrious careers.
Boston Red Sox: The writing is on the wall…their team has shown this year that they are falling behind the free-spending Yankees (again) and that the Rays are too talented in every position to keep pace with. Their first string starters have all experienced long-term injuries (Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek) and their other stars (David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield and Jonathan Papelbon) aren’t living up to the hype. Although, Josh Bard looks legit to replace Papelbon as closer, Jon Lester is as solid a pitcher as you can get, Clay Buchholz seems to have finally broken through and looks very good, while Adrian Beltre has remade himself into a top-tier 3B.
Tampa Bay Rays: Solid depth at every position, and a pitching staff in the majors and minors that can compete with any MLB team. The problem is that some of those players (e.g. Carl Crawford) are ready to get hefty pay days – something Tampa Bay still can’t do. Also, the likes of a B.J Upton, Jason Bartlett and even Ben Zobrist have regressed or can’t remain consistent. So, the Rays will continue to build’em and eventually ship’em…to another team.
Baltimore Orioles: They can compete financially with the Red Sox and Yankees to some degree (when they need to), however, poor showings by their top pitching prospects (Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman) has seriously derailed any opportunity to be competetive. Furthermore, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Kevin Millwood are starting to show their age or prowess for injury far too often. On the plus side, Adam Jones seems to be on pace to repeat his break-out season and possibly surpass his offensive numbers from last year.
Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays are never good enough to spend the money they want, in order to compete with New York and Boston. Their perennial third place position has been overtaken by either Tampa Bay or Boston (depending on the year). The Jays traded their former staff Ace (Roy Halladay) and are slowly turning over a roster of older players for a new batch of young guns. They still have a long road ahead before they can compete with the other teams in the AL East, but with young players such as Yunel Escobar, Travis Snider, Brett Wallace, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill on offense, and Kyle Drabek, Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil and Shawn Marcum on the mound, the future is bright.
Despite our take on the AL East the question reamins…
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Blue Jays Lose Another Series to the Royals in Kansas City…Plus our BlueJaysRant Reader Poll
Zach Greinke and the Kansas City Royals (41-53) are the latest incarnation of the team to beat the Blue Jays (48-47) in a series in Missouri.
While Greinke (6-9), a superstar on any other team, had a superb night on the mound – young pitcher Marc Rzepczynski (0-1) of Toronto was pulled after giving up 5 earned in 4.2IP.
On the plus side for the Jays and their bullpen, both Cam Janssen and David Purcey continued their strong seasons each shutting the door to any insurance runs by the Royals.
As for the Blue Jays bats, they seemed to have dried up after the hit fest two nights ago. Only Vernon Wells was able to have a multi-hit game, going 3 for 4 and raising his average to .271.
The Jays have not been able to beat the Royals at Kauffman Stadium since 2003 and will not get another chance until next year.
So that leaves the question…
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Blue Jays Crush the Royals 13-1, Bautista Smashes Another Home Run…Plus our BlueJaysRant Reader Poll
Everything went right last night for the Blue Jays (48-46), as they sought and gained their revenge over Kansas City (40-53) for an extra innings loss two nights ago.
Jesse Litsch (1-4) managed to secure his first victory of the season with a solid 5.2IP in which he gave up 8 hits, but only 1 earned run. Although Litsch did not record a strikeout, he managed to avoid giving up a base on balls before being pulled for talented young reliever David Purcey.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Jays beat up KC pitcher, Anthony Lerew, with 4 earned runs in 1.1IP before he was pulled.
With Lerew getting an early shower, the Jays proceeded to knock in two or more runs against each member the Royals bullpen that faced them from that point on – including Kanekoa Texiera, Dusty Hughes, Blake Wood and Victor Marte.
The majority of runs were scored by Toronto’s offensive juggernaut – Jose Bautista – who finished the night with 3hits/2runs/5rbi and 1 hr, his 26th of the year.
With Bautista continuing his hot bat, the question for you is…
If you were the Blue Jays GM –
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Blue Jays Lose to Royals in Extra Innings as Scouts Fill the Stands…Plus our BlueJaysRant Reader Poll
The Toronto Blue Jays (47-46) finally lost a game after the All-Star break, but it took extra innings and the top-tier speed of Kansas City speedster, Scott Podsednik, to beat them 4-3 in 10 innings.
Despite the entertaining game on the field, the big story may have been off the field – more specifically in the stands – as scouts from the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinatti Reds and Detroit Tigers were all in attendance at the game.
The Jays are going to be sellers at the fast approaching non-waiver trade deadline on July 31, and the big boys of baseball are lining up to select their items of choice.
Those items appear to be John Buck, Scott Downs, Kevin Gregg and Jason Frasor.
If you were the GM of one of the contending teams mentioned above – the question is posed to you…
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