Blockbuster Deals Usher in New Era Of Toronto Rebuild
Sept 18, 2023 15:14:32 GMT -5
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Post by dougiejays on Sept 18, 2023 15:14:32 GMT -5
The wait is over.
After enduring two years of heavy criticism from the Toronto media over an absence of trades even as the team put up middling results, the Blue Jays have pulled the trigger on back-to-back blockbuster trades which promise to entirely reshape their roster and their future. First, they dealt 28-year-old starter Cliff Lee, veteran slugger Pat Burrell and minor league reliever Matt Capps to Houston in exchange for third base/outfield prospect Alex Gordon and two first round picks, one of which was later used to select relief prospect Craig Kimbrel. Then they turned around and flipped fellow starter Jeff Austin to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for infield prospect B.J. Upton, starter Shawn Chacon, minor league shortstop Angel Berroa and a second-round draft pick.
“It’s really a question of windows,” explained GM Doug Davis during the news conference to introduce Chacon to the media. “With Upton and Gordon both being 22, 23 years of age, you know, I really think they line up well with our core. You’ve got Josh Johnson coming up this year who’s also 23, and then you add that to our four rookies who debuted last year who are all around 23 or 24 and I think everyone’s on the same timeline now. We didn’t necessarily have that before.”
‘Timeline’ is a fine word, but what of the other big t-word – talent?
“Oh, I think we got some elite talent in this deal – just look at where our farm system is ranked in all the latest polls.”
The Blue Jays have indeed vaulted to the #3 farm system in baseball in most of the latest polls, trailing just the San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins. Gordon is ranked the 37th-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America and 58th by Baseball Prospectus, while Upton ranks 63rd on both lists. Gordon has the more elite upside of the two, with a power bat and high-end defence at both third base and left-field, while Upton projects as more of a prototypical #9 hitter who combines elite speed with an average bat and competent defence at both second base and center field.
“Certainly we like the flexibility of both guys positionally,” Davis added. “Right now I’d project Gordon as a corner outfielder and Upton as a second baseman, but that could certainly change as things evolve. It’s just a question of moving parts and where all the chips fall in the end.
“This is what a rebuild should look like,” he continued. “You know, you go back two or three years, and sure, we wanted to rebuild, but it’s almost we didn’t even have the pieces to do that, you know, coming off the championship run and everything, we didn’t have the means to get these types of assets in our system. Now, you know, between the trades and a couple of the draft picks – both this year and the past couple of years – we’re starting to have a vision of how this roster could play out over the next five or ten years.”
Those assets didn’t come without a cost, however. In Austin, the Jays dealt away an innings-eater who finished 10th in the league in ERA last year, and in Lee and Burrell they shipped out two key players who had become faces of the franchise throughout Toronto’s rebuild process. Burrell hit 27 homers for a power-starved offence a season ago with a team-leading .881 OPS, while Lee had found his form over the past two seasons after some struggles earlier on in his MLB career.
When asked if he’s concerned that dealing away three featured players will alienate the fanbase, Davis was candid:
“You know, believe it or not, I’m really not too concerned about that. You look at those three guys and they’re all right in their prime – you know, that 28-30 range – and obviously, you know, it would have been great to build a winner around them right now, but that’s just not really where we’re at in our life-cycle. And when you start looking at these questions of how are we going to keep these guys here long-term, how are we going to extend them – losing them in free agency a year or two from now would have been a much worse outcome for us across the board. And I think there’s lots of reasons for the fans to come out. We’ll have Josh Johnson debuting this year, and you know that alone is the price of admission.”
But what about his guarantee of a .500 season at his postseason press conference?
“I think you guys all know that was a little tongue-in-cheek,” Davis said. “You know, obviously these deals weren’t on the table during the season, or last off-season, and you’ve got to go to war with the roster you’ve got. But that said, I don’t even think it’s all that crazy that we could see .500 this year. You look at Josh and – not to put too many expectations on the kid – but I think he’s more than capable of replicating and even exceeding what Cliff gave us last year. And both Alex and B.J. are probably also primed to make their big league debuts this year, and if Shawn can give us some version of Jeff Austin’s production last year, and then you add in some of the guys we’re pursuing in free agency with the money we’ve saved on the Burrell contract…I’m not saying we’re primed to win a title or anything, but I think this squad is going to be a little better than some of the pundits out there might think.”
We’ll believe it when we see it.
