Atkins says there were conversations about Josh Donaldson with other teams, but hard for them to evaluate when he’s hurt. He adds Donaldson won’t need a long rehab assignment and he’s getting closer. #BlueJays
Random stuff worth mentioning after the trade deadline
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The Blue Jays sold five players prior to Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline — Steve Pearce, J.A. Happ, Roberto Osuna, John Axford, and Aaron Loup — but still have a handful of possible rental players left to move in August. Uhhhh six actually I completely forgot about The Final Boss. Whoops!
One of the major players the Jays didn’t move prior to the deadline was Josh Donaldson. This doesn’t really come as much of a surprise considering Donaldson hasn’t played since late-May and his value is at an all-time low. Still, given the fact there was interest, it seems likely Donaldson will end up getting dealt in August. Well, at the very least the Jays will try to trade him, but there’s no guarantee that another team won’t claim him on waivers and block it.
Granderson & Clippard drew interest ahead of the deadline per Atkins. "There are teams that would like to have them. Ultimately the price wasn't right. There could be more opportunities in August for those guys" #BlueJays
The other two guys I think we all expected to go that didn’t were Curtis Granderson and Tyler Clippard. Ross Atkins said that there was interest for both player but the Jays weren’t able to get the kind of return they were looking for. I imagine the plan now is to hang on to both of them until another team becomes more desperate closer to the end of August.
Ross Atkins to @ArashMadani: Marcus Stroman was asked about a great deal, Aaron Sanchez was asked about a great deal but we never really neared anything for players on that level. #BlueJays
This was interesting. I don’t think anybody actually expected the Jays to deal either Sanchez or Stroman at this stage given the fact both pitchers have multiple years of control left, but it sort of suggests where other teams believe the Jays are at in their rebuild. To be honest, I wouldn’t be shocked if either pitcher wasn’t with the team next season, but, if a deal is going to be made, it’ll be during the off-season, I imagine.
#BlueJays saved roughly $12m in remaining salary through trades of Happ, Osuna (including unpaid salary during DV suspension), Pearce, Oh, Loup and Axford, took on about $1.5m back for Giles and $220k back for Drury.
Another interesting note, the Jays saved a whole bunch of cash dumping the players that they did this summer. Last year, the Jays managed to get a nice return for Francisco Liriano because they flexed their financial muscle and took on Nori Aoki’s deal. Was that the same case this year? The team didn’t eat any of Happ’s remaining deal and perhaps that’s why they didn’t get as large of a return as we might have expected.
Atkins on not eating any money at the deadline: "It's a financial benefit, but we did not have any pressure to do that and we had the flexibility to use that strength if we needed it. We just didn't need it..." #BlueJays
Followed up that question with whether the saved money would be reallocated back into the team moving forward: "Absolutely, if that presents itself." #BlueJays
Atkins goes on to decline the notion, suggesting that there weren’t any instances in which flexing financial flexibility was necessary in a deal. The money will also apparently be sunk back into the team next season if the opportunity presents itself. That means there’s money to be spent on the team so long as they think it’s worthwhile. That, uh, doesn’t sound too promising.
Interesting tidbit from Brunt. He believes that Gibbons doesn't make it thru the rest of the season.
Stephen Brunt mentioned that he thinks John Gibbons is going to get fired before the end of the season. That would be, uh, shocking considering this team’s failure is in no way on his shoulders. I can’t see what the Jays would gain at this point from axing Gibbons, a manager who’s loved by the players, before the conclusion of the season. I could see him and the organization parting ways in the winter, but doing it in the season would be weird.
This is just a random tweet and it doesn’t really mean anything but I found the timing of it really funny. I don’t mean to poke fun at Arash Madani, or anything, but why the fuck was trading Aaron Loup of all guys the thing that triggered this?! Is Loup really the face that we attach to the 2015 and 2016 teams?!
Asked if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a path to the big-leagues in 2018, Ross Atkins said #BlueJays aren't focused on establishing timelines for their top prospect, want him focused on development & building strong routines
And finally, as Vlad Jr. is set to begin his career at Triple-A, here’s a quote setting up the inevitable “we have to keep him down to start the year for his, uh, development!” we’ll be seeing a bunch come spring training 2019.
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