Earlier today, Richard Lee-Sam talked about the future. Specifically, our large adult sons and actually having something to look forward to during this depressing-ass season.
The future is an unknown thing that we like to think about. It is a thing that we like to work towards. It’s a thing that we are constantly being forced into because that’s time’s way. It’s a thing that we hope isn’t like a John Carpenter movie. But, with some current political situations, it feels like one most days.
Now, there’s always the tomorrow that we hope for, the tomorrow that we plan for, but tomorrow always has its own way. If it wants to punch you in the nose and poke you in the eye, it will – some things we just can’t control.
It’s a mystery and that’s why we want to dive into it. It’s a David Lynch movie. But, hopefully you’re not lost on some dark highway. The future is cool – hopefully.
So, you might be asking yourself what the hell I am going on about. The truth is, I’ve definitely been listening to the Twin Peaks soundtrack more than usual lately, so there’s that. And I’ve definitely been thinking about the future of the Blue Jays more than usual this year, so there’s that too.
The future Jays have become my new drug to cope with the fact this season is completely lost and has gone more sideways than Dennis Hopper’s character Frank Booth in Blue Velvet. Maybe the future is the candy coloured clown they call the sandman? It’s definitely not Heineken. But, candy colours are cool. And a future Blue Jays parade would be cooler.
So now that I’m done with my purple prose introduction and all that bullshit, let’s cut to the damn chase here: who does the front office actually see on their future World Series roster?
I know that it is probably dumb to think about this stuff because the team is still in the middle of their 2018 shitty season, but this has to be a topic of conversation amongst the brass. I mean, how could it not be, right?
Whatever happens at the trade deadline happens and I’m sure that the organization will add to their farm system once a couple free-agents-to-be are traded, but what happens moving forward?
2019 isn’t going to be some kind of maybe-they-make-the-wild-card sort of thing. It’s going to be a fun year mixed with some growing pains, but the front office has their eyes focused on the 2020 decade. 2019 will be the bridge that crosses over to that new beginning, so what will the brass do with certain players in the organization? Who do they see as a part of the future?
The future rotation is definitely some sort of mystery. Who really knows what arms will make up the rotation in 2021? Everything is in the dark because it’s so many damn tomorrows away.
Do the brass see Stroman as a part of the future? Aaron Sanchez? Who the hell knows? But, if they don’t see them in the future rotation, then that means that they do see them as a part of future trades.
By 2021, when Sanchez and Stroman are free agents, Nate Pearson, Sean Reid-Foley, Thomas Pannone, Jordan Romano, T.J. Zeuch, Yennsy Diaz, and even Angel Perdomo could all possibly pitch in the rotation. And by 2022, the Brazilian kid Eric Pardinho could be ready, too. All of this is just fun talk kind of stuff, but what will the Jays rotation look like in 2021 or 2022? And what other prospect-y arms might they add to the farm system after this trade deadline. Does Marcus Stroman or Aaron Sanchez make any kind of future sense?
Regardless of what they do with Stroman and Sanchez, it’s all pretty damn good. If they trade either of these pitchers at the proper time, the return will be valuable for the future. If they re-sign either of them, that will be good as well. It’s hard to stare through the haze that is the future and predict what the rotation will be in 2021. But, I’d like to think that Ryan Borucki, Nate Pearson, and Sean Reid-Foley won’t go sideways and will be going every five days for the Jays.
Randal Grichuk, Kevin *trade him* Pillar, and Devon Travis are also 2021 free-agents-to-be, so there are some decisions to be made on a couple of these dudes. And let’s not forget about Smoak, who is going to be a free agent in 2020. Roberto Osuna is another player that can now be added to this what-will-the-organization-do list, as well.
The front office clearly has its eyes set on the future. Success might still be a couple years away. But, the organization is not that far off. It’s just that of the current roster of players, who the hell does Mark Shapiro, Ross Atkins and company see in this future they are trying to create?
The fact is that this future isn’t about Wild Cards or just making the postseason. This future is about hanging a World Series banner and having a parade down Yonge St. This future is about making the right moves now to set the team up for a possible 2021 or ’22 run for the golden flags.
The cash will be there for the organization to bring in a big free agent, the cash will be there to re-sign certain players, and the organization has enough talent in the system that will be ready by then. They also have enough talent in the system to use in future trades.
I guess I’m just thinking out loud here in this piece as I wonder about this mysterious future and what players could be a part of it. The one thing that I do know as I sit here typing this up on my old MacBook is that the Jays are in a good position moving forward as any sensible fan knows. The organization has quietly been rebuilding over the past couple of seasons. And they are only a couple trades and a draft away from having one of the top 3 farm systems in MLB.
It’s impossible to predict the future and a whole hell of a lot of stuff has to break right to win the World Series, but the Jays are building for the future and the direction they’re going in looks damn good.
The shitty Jays years of bad jerseys and losing are gone; there won’t be a big time dumb playoff drought in Toronto. And the Vladdy fun is around the corner. Let’s just hope that the proper plays are made, so that his years aren’t wasted in an empty Dome, full of losing and awful baseball like what happened with Delgado and Halladay. I don’t think that will happen though.
It’s nice to have great prospects without having to go through numerous 100-loss seasons.
Just to temper this hope for the future stuff… I don’t see the Astros, Red Sox or Yankees going anywhere by 2021-2022.
By 2021, the Sox will no longer have Pedroia (likely retired by then), and the following players will have had a run at free agency:
Martinez
Betts
Boagarts
Bradley Jr.
All their catchers
The entire starting rotation (including Sale)
Kimbrel
And they’ll have been a Dombrowski organization for 6 years.
I’d say by that point, they’re more likely to be expensive than either of the other two.
The Astros will be in the same boat, although they seem more likely to have at least a decent prospect pipeline.
Honestly, given the track records of their front office and/or current prospect pools, I’d say by that point, the top end of the AL is more likely to be:
Oakland, Texas, Chicago, New York, Tampa, Toronto with the Yankees about to hit the giant FA wall with Judge/Sanchez/Severino all due to get paid following the 2021 season.
I’m pretty sure that teams are going to be working the luxury tax scam until the next CBA, since exceeding it not only costs money now, but also draft position and bonus pools for both the Rule 4 draft and International market.
This is all great. I love reading this stuff, but it reminds me of pre-2015 when all we had to get excited about was the prospects and not the mlb team. Remember the Lansing 3? To be honest it’s a bit depressing to be at that stage again. Expecting all of these prospects to pan out to be good mlb players is not realistic…of course you never know…but who says Vladdy won’t turn into a big tub of goo and be derailed by ongoing knee problems due to his weight issues. Or maybe a superstar comes out of nowhere…who knows? That’s partly what makes baseball so fun – it’s sheer unpredictability. But man, there’s a large fan base out there that can’t take another 20 year run of mediocrity so let’s hope for the best.