Daily Duce: Checking in on Yasmani Grandal, Hyun-Jin Ryu as a possible fit, and Thin Vlad
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November 2019 - Page 2
Ben Cherington to be named Pirates’ general manager
A significant part of the Blue Jays’ front office is set to move on. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ben Cherington, the senior vice president of baseball operations, has accepted the Pittsburgh Pirates’ general manager role.
You can cross Jake Odorizzi off your free agent wish list
One of the names the Blue Jays had been linked to early on this off-season — and a name many fans had been talking about for months as an ideal fit — is off the free-agent list before things even got rolling. Jake Odorizzi has reportedly accepted his qualifying offer from the Minnesota Twins.
Did the Astros steal signs against the Jays? You be the judge
The Houston Astros sold their soul for a World Series. They won it all in 2017, but haven’t won a championship since, despite playoff berths in four of the last five seasons. The Astros proved they’ll stop at nothing short of cheating to help them win a World Championship. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic unearthed…
Daily Duce: Ross Atkins speaks at the General Managers Meetings, updates on Shoemaker, Smoak, and Giles, and more!
Major League Baseball’s annual General Managers Meetings in Arizona kicked off this week, so we’re starting to get an idea as to how things are going to play out this off-season. Ross Atkins had quite a bit to say about what the Jays might be up to, so let’s get into all of it.
Thomas Hatch’s spinning fastball and new cutter
The Rule 5 draft is just around the corner and with that comes decisions on what players should be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being selected. The deadline to add a player to the 40-man to be protected from the Rule 5 is November 20th. The Blue Jays have at least 22 players…
The Shapkins Defender – The Résumé, Resumed
Welcome to The Shapkins Defender, where I inhale your toxic screeds and spit out the fresh oxygen of optimism, like a tree that kind of understands WAR. (Just don’t ask me to explain it.) Let’s get to it! Now, I’ve talked about Shapiro’s track record before. But it looks like I’m going to have to…
Apparently the Blue Jays could be open to moving Lourdes Gurriel for pitching
When I wrote earlier today about Shi Davidi mentioning how teams around the league are kicking tires on Toronto’s young crop of catchers, I briefly mentioned how he cryptically brought up Lourdes Gurriel’s name in the discussion.
The Blue Jays have a lot of catcher depth they could capitalize on
According to Shi Davidi, the Blue Jays could be exploring other avenues beyond free agency in order to upgrade their starting rotation. Specifically, they could sell high from a position of strength, such as their bevy of young catchers, in order to find more pitching.
Devon Travis, Dalton Pompey, Socrates Brito, and others become free agents
Over at Baseball America, Matt Eddy did some incredibly heavy lifting for all the rest of us by compiling a list of all 510 minor-league players who have become free agents. Seriously, what a grind that must have been.
2020 World Series Odds: Opening Betting Futures
by OddsShark (@OddsShark) Coming close to a championship helps shape World Series futures for the following autumn, but it is not necessarily a predictor of success. One week after the Washington Nationals raised the Commissioner’s Trophy, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees have opened as +600 co-favorites on the 2020 World Series odds at…