Ugh. Really? Rajai Davis? He who couldn't even be considered a regular on a miserable Oakland offense? He who got regula at bats only due to injuries?
Don't get me wrong. He will be an excellent 4th OF. He will likely even grab some extra at bats when Jose Bautista moves to 3B. Just don't ask me to be excited about this move.
I'm not even mad about what we gave up. We only lost two fringey middle relievers, so I'm not really all that upset. I just had so much more hope that these meetings would lead to Anthopoulos fleecing yet another GM who'll sell low on a young guy with a ton of upside (Alex Gordon, Justin Upton, Colby Rasmus.) What's worse, is thanks to our old loud-mouthed friend Ricciardi, nobody in the Jays current front office is allowed to even let out a peep of what's happening regarding trade or free agent discussions. This makes the hot-stove season pretty boring.
In other news, Alex continues to crap on my favourite scrap-heap players, granting Shawn Hill his unconditional release yesterday. I really was hoping that he could get a look as the 5th starter, or as a swingman in the 'pen. His upside justifies it. Instead, he's going to go and catch on with an NL club, and if he's healthy, he should have a solid year. Let's all pull for him to get his injury woes behind him and salvage his career.
The point of the GM Meetings is to lay the foundation for the Winter Meetings and the rest of the offseason. In fact this was a very busy GM Meetings. Usually not much happens, but quite a lot went on this year in terms of transactions and a lot of stuff that we're not privy to yet. This is going to be a wild offseason.
ReplyDeleteDavis is an excellent pick up if he's used as a 4th OF with 300 to 400 PA, as well as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. He's the type of player AA's talked about since he took over. He's just a bench version of the prototype.
Don't expect him to fleece GMs every time out. All I ask is that he doesn't get burned too badly in too many deals. Given that he seems to be a bit of a riverboat gambler, he will get burned once in a while, but he'll also hit some homeruns in trades. Hopefully we get more of the latter than the former.
I would expect Gordon to be available in a buy low situation, but acquiring Rasmus or Upton is going to cost and it's going to cost a lot. Maybe Drabek/Perez + ??
I am in complete agreement with AA's cone of silence with regards to trade talk. Did you find it more exciting as a kid to know what you were getting on Christmas morning well in advance or did you prefer to be surprised? I know what my answer is and this hot stove season will be far from boring because there will be plenty of surprises. It feels like all 30 teams are "all in" and anybody is available in trade. This will be a blockbuster offseason, particularly if we can temporarily remove the Blue Jay-centric glasses and watch the MLB wide feeding frenzy.
I like Shawn Hill, but I suspect he looked ahead to 2011, saw that he was number 7 or number 8 on the SP depth chart and wanted out. Can't say I blame him. He deserves another shot in the majors, which he (fingers crossed) most likely wouldn't have gotten here. AA is just clearing space on the 40 man roster, so he can put the prospects that he wants long term on there. What about that goes against what he's said since taking over? Consistency in the implementation of his vision (I refuse to use the word "plan" for obvious reasons ;) ) is all I ask for and I think it's all any of us can ask for after the previous two regimes. There will be other Blue Jay reclamation projects to root for in 2011.
Patience grasshopper. Spring Training is still three months away. A lot is going to happen between now and then. "Better buckle up" as Frank Thomas once said. Hopefully there are better results this time around. ;) :)