Jays Revisiting '06 Draft with Morrow and Drabek

Back when names were first being speculated upon in the Roy Halladay trade among the Jays, Phillies and M's, righthander Brandon Morrow was one of the targeted pitchers that was bandied about as being in the mix. When all the trade dust had settled, it turned out, at the time, there was, in fact, no direct movement between the M's and Jays, making it more a case of the Phillies making two separate trades than a classic three-way deal. 

But on Tuesday, as soon as the results of the medicals are confirmed and approved, Morrow will be a Blue Jay and the uneven Brandon League will become a Mariner. The Jays will send one more player in the transaction. 

Morrow, 25, is the type of player that the Jays needed as part of the Halladay package. It now makes more sense. He is a talented youngster that has already been in the majors and can help the team in 2010. It's something that was missing in the original package.

The Jays also seem to be making up for lost time (and draft picks) they experienced in 2006, coming off a four-year ago winter in which they had signed A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan as free agents, forcing the team to offer draft choice compensation to the O's and Marlins. The Jays had only one selection in the first 119 picks of the June 2006 draft. That was an aberration for a team that insised it was to be built on scouting and player development. 

It was high school outfielder Travis Snider, chosen 14th overall. Morrow in that same draft was the fifth overall selection (June 2006) as a Cal (Berkeley) Golden Bear. He was chosen by the M's two spots behind Rays' third baseman Evan Longoria and six ahead of NL Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum of the Giants. Righthander Luke Hochevar was the first overall pick that year by the Royals.

Despite having only that Snider pick in the first 119 choices of '06, the Jays now have reached out for Morrow (5th overall) and righthander Kyle Drabek (18th overall), one of the two key players obtained for Halladay. The other was hitter Brett Wallace from the A's, in the flip for outfielder Michael Taylor. 

The Jays now have three of the top 18 picks in the June '06 draft and have openly coveted others. They wanted Clayton Kerhaw (#7) from the Dodgers. They wanted Joba Chamberlain (#41) from the Yankees. They talked about Daniel Bard (#28) from the Red Sox.

As a side note, the Marlins used the sandwich pick from the Jays in '06 awarded for A.J. Burnett to draft 2009 NL Rookie of the Year, left fielder Chris Coghlan. 

In hindsight, the Jays in that winter of 2005-06, signing Burnett and Ryan and trading for Lyle Overbay, were clearly targeting two years down the road, 2008, as their contending season. GM Alex Anthopoulos now is going back in time and re-capturing that draft via trades and looking ahead more realistically.   

  

Jays' Odds 'n Ends: Four 20-Game Winners on Roster

Just got a call that the Ramon Castro transaction, reported in some places as a sure-fire free-agent, one-year deal, $1 million contract with the Jays is not happening. That moves Raul Chavez back up to the No. 2 role behind John Buck. It looks like the two Jays' catchers would have trouble starting 162 games between them, so look for a further move behind the plate in the new year. 

After going through the Jays' post-Halladay roster, it seems the club has four 20-game winners among the 24 names on the pitching part of the roster. Err, that's not 20 games in the same season, that's 20 wins in their careers. The four guys and their career win totals are: Shaun Marcum (24), Scott Downs (22), Dustin McGowan (20) and Jesse Litsch (20). 

Combined, the 24 Jays' roster pitchers coming to spring training have combined for 204 career victories. That's 8.5 career victories per man. Further research is required, but two questions jump out. Is this the fewest ever on a Jays' 40-man roster, including 1977 and is it the fewest of any current major-league team? My guess is yes and yes. Anyone that can confirm such an obscure stat is welcome to comment, but what it does say is that this Jays' team is a long way from competing. But then again, we knew that.  

  

For Anthopoulos, His First Trade Will Define Him

As we wait impatiently for the official announcement of the Roy Halladay, nine-player, four-team deal and for the Phillies to announce a press conference time and place, here are random musings about how the whole thing will affect the 32-year old Alex Anthopoulos as he moves forward.

It's likely that no matter how long the Jays' rookie GM remains at his job, he will never make a bigger trade than the four-way he helped orchestrate among the Jays, Phillies, M's and A's.  

Last week, it was one of those days the media was congregated in an unidentified Indiana hotel room on a random floor at the Winter Meetings for the daily non-update with the GM. The conversation drifted to the enormity of having Anthopoulos' first winter meetings trade for Roy Halladay unfold in front of his peers and then the likelihood that it would forever be the biggest deal of Alex's GM career.

The young Caadian considered the idea, self-consciously, then changed directions and rushed past the issue like Alex Ovechkin blowing by a befuddled Brian McCabe during his what-the-hey-days with the Leafs, I came back to the point, asking the GM: "Is it sort of like bringing a porn star to your senior prom?"

It was a good question. At least, I thought so at the time.

After a short, thoughtful silence, with hints of a smile, the briefing moved on. Not so fast. There are, in fact, legitimate comparisons to be made between this kid, Anthopoulos dealing with Doc at the Meetings and the Kid in high school being overmatched at the Prom. Here' a list of the similarities for each event:

1-In both cases, when you enter the room all eyes are on you and who it is you're with.

2-In each case, you may have believed you were prepared for whatever was to come, then you find out later, with a smile, that there's always something more that you can learn. 

3-Although outwardly calm, your mind is constantly racing, wondering if you, in fact, like many had said, may be overmatched, always mapping out furiously in your head what your next move should be.

4-Whatever you get out of the moment, some will always say it wasn't enough. Others will be jealous.

5-Into the future, that adrenaline-fueled euphoria is something that will be hard to match.

6-If you pull it off smoothly in front of the world  you will always have the respect of your peers.

7-Finally, at the end of the day, it's likely an event you will never, ever forget.

In the case of Anthopoulos, the GM, we can only guess what went on behind closed doors because Alex will never kiss-and-tell regarding his dealings with other GMs. You may not agree with what he got in return, you may think you could have got more in this deal, but it is what it is. Rock on, Alex. Welcome to the major-leagues, kid.

      

Jays Need More for Halladay Than ESPN Says

The Roy Halladay deal, if it goes down as outlined by several sources, is not enough of a return for the Jays and the best pitcher in baseball to make it worthwhile.

The pieces are coming together:

The Jays will be sending Halladay plus $6 mllion (all figures U.S.) to the Phillies.

The Phillies will send Cliff Lee to the M's and Kyle Drabek (RHP), Travis D'Arnaud (c) and Michael Taylor (of) to the Jays. The Jays will turn Taylor around to the A's for Brett Wallace (1B/3B). The M's will send Phillippe Aumont and Tryson Gillies to the Phillies. Play Ball!

The Phillies' front-office smarts are being cast in doubt from a segment of their fan-base asking why they would be simply switching Cy Young hurlers in the mega-swap with the Jays and the M's while also giving up an armload of top prospects to the Jays, receiving just two in return.

The answer lies in the simple fact that Halladay is a significantly better pitcher than Lee and will be with them for a significantly longer time. Plus, if the Jays are indeed paying $6 million this year towards Halladay's contract, Doc = Cliff in cost at least for next year. That's a bonus.

The following is a brief, but telling Tale of the Tape in support of the Good Doctor.

Please don't bring up the issue of money. If it's not your money that's paying players and the organization isn't whining about cost, you shouldn't care. Fans should care simply about on-field results for the team they are purchasing tickets to see. That's it, that's all. If you must deal a player because you don't have financial resources, just make sure that you have replacements from the farm or in trade.

Halladay: 32-years-old, 6-6, 225 lbs; 148-76, 3.43 ERA lifetime. A healthy Halladay with a vesting option for 2014, would give the Phillies 1,200 innings for the next five years.

Lee: 31-years-old, 6-3, 190 lbs; 90-53, 3.97 ERA lifetime. Lee, signed through 2010, will give the M's about 220 innings, plus yield two June '11 compensation draft picks, next season.

Here are a couple of more Halladay-Lee comparisons of significance demonstrating Doc's better chances of helping his team to a World Series victory for the second time in three years.

Against the big boys of the AL East, the Red Sox and the Yankees: Halladay is 32-20, with a 3.59 ERA in 516-2/3 innings. Lee is 6-8, with a 4.69 ERA in 107.1 innings.

But against the sad-sack Kansas City Royals combined with the generally lighter-hitting lineups of the National League: Lee is 31-11, with a 3.65 ERA in 359-2/3 innings. Halladay is 26-11, with a 2.90 ERA in 322-1/3 innings. Doc's had stiffer career competition and excelled.

In the World Series last year, manager Charlie Manuel was unwilling to match his starting ace, Lee, up on three days rest because he had never done it before in his career. Halladay is 4-2, with a 2.79 ERA in six starts on short rest, averaging seven innings per outing. If the situation arises again in 2010, you know Halladay will be taking the ball and matching up against the opponent's ace on short rest.

Let's analyze the Jays trade return for the Jays and the impact or non-impact each player will have in terms of arrival date at the Rogers Centre with the major-league club.

Drabek, 22, clearly has a bigger upside than J.A. Happ. But the son of former Cy Young winner with the Pirates, Doug Drabek, is still considered to be a year away. He is coming off Tommy John surgery in 2007. No help for the 2010 Jays' rotation.

D'Arnaud, 20, is more of a defender at this point than he is an offensive threat and is still a few years away. With the Jays' re-signing of Raul Chavez to a minor-league deal, the signings of John Buck and Ramon Castro as free agents and the presence of highly-regarded backstops J.P. Arencibia and Brian Jeroloman high up in the system, the inclusion of the third man D'Arnaud in the Halladay deal it's like the mayor of Newcastle getting a great deal on more coal and thinking it's a good idea.

As for the late addition (does that make it a four-way?) of the former Cards' second-ranked Baseball America prospect, Wallace is a corner infielder with a potent bat. He's not a corner outfielder with good speed as Taylor, the guy that passed through from the Phillies on the way to the A's was.

Wallace is going to be in the 2010 Jays' lineup. If he plays third base, what do they do with Edwin Encarnacion? If he plays first base, what do they do with Lyle Overbay? Neither crisis is a deal-breaker because even a dump of one of the corner guys will save the Jays a little money.

But what it does mean is that the young Jays' starters are on their own, with a Top 2, right now, of Ricky Romero and Shaun Marcum. The Jays' clubhouse should include a shrine to Tommy John.

Jays' Buck Stops Here

The pending Blue Jays' one-year, $2 million contract offer to catcher John Buck reached mere hours after the 29-year-old was non-tendered by the Kansas City Royals may have been helped along considerably by a four-game series that the righthanded hitter had against Toronto at the end of April in the presence of then assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos at Kauffman Stadium. Having yourself influenced by what you see in a small sample size is not always a good idea in baseball acquisitions.

Buck, against the Jays in that April series, had three hits in 10 at-bats, with a double, two triples (yikes) five RBIs and a 1.133 OPS. As was often the case, A.A. was representing his boss J.P. Ricciardi, with some pitching roster promotions and demotions being made after the disastrous series for the Jays. Memories of Buck's temporary greatness may have lingered with Anthopoulos, but it's only sometimes a great notion to then turn around and sign guys like that. Example?

I remember the sad case of Jorge Roque with the Expos back in 1972-73. Roque was a 22-year-old Puerto Rican outfielder with maybe two-and-a-half tools (out of five). But on September 13, 1972, as a member of the Cardinals, Roque stepped to the plate at Jarry Park and slammed a two-out 11th inning pinch hit home run off Expos' reliever John Strohmayer, winning the game 5-4. In need of a good young outfielder to go with Pepe Mangual and Bombo Rivera, GM Jim Fanning, two months later traded catcher Tim McCarver to acquire the young Roque. There was no other reason than that homer at Jarry Park.

The youngster, installed as the starting right fielder, began the '73 season 2-for-24. He then ran off a 6-for-12 streak in three games then went 2-for-24. He was sent back to the minors on May 18 and never wore a major-league uniform again. Buck has a better track record, of course, but you get the point.

Hopefully, with Raul Chavez in reserve with a minor-league deal, Anthopoulos considers Buck this year's version of Michael Barrett and hopefully the Jays are still in serious search for a No. 1 catcher, perhaps as part of the package in return for Roy Halladay. Buck has had his games played drop or stay the same every year since 2005, while the opponents' stolen-base percentage has risen each year over that stretch. Last season, Buck threw out 16.3-percent of steal attempts, while his catcher ERA stood at 5.18. One thing he did well in '09 was his .347 average with runners in scoring position. Hey Vernon!!     

Jays Sign Four -- Including Car Jumping Gathright

The Jays responded quickly, within hours after the non-tender deadline, re-signing backup catcher Raul Chavez to a minor-league deal. The 36-year-old who impressed with his throwing arm in limited action will be invited to major-league camp and is a likely second catcher to an undetermined starter. He was the only one of nine arbitration-eligible Jays that was non-tendered, making him a temporary free-agent for about 12 hours. Clearly, a deal was already in place that had to be announced on Sunday.

In addition, the Jays signed outfielder Joey Gathright, whose true claim to fame thus far in his career is a YouTube video in which he takes a short run and leaps cleanly over a parked car or two (not at the same time). The 28-year-old signed a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. He has something the Jays desperately need. Speed. But he also has something far too many Jays already have. An inability to hit. He could make the team as a fifth outfielder. Last season the bench featured nobody with any specific skill. This guy could pinch run in late innings. John McDonald was not the answer as pinch-runner.

The Jays quickly moved to offer one-year contracts to Dustin McGowan ($500,000) and outfielder Jose Bautista ($2.4 million). The McGowan contract was a formality, with a slight raise, since he did not pitch at all in 2009. Meanwhile the Bautista contract looks like it was also arranged prior to the non-tender date because the dollar amount is exactly what Bautista earned in 2009. They likely told his agent that they would give him the same money for '10 but if he did not accept, they would non-tender him a contract and make him a free agent. The fact is that Bautista at this point in time is a better fit as a right fielder and a utility man than he might be with any other team. And in this economic climate, accepting the same contract and knowing where you're going to be was probably a good decision.

That leaves six arbitration eligible Jays, with nine players now under major-league contract for 2010 for a total of $63.15 million.

Love Me (non)Tender

The non-tender deadline came and went with merely a whimper from the Jays who despite wide-spread speculation of allowing more of its players to become free agents, encouraged in Indianapolis even if not directly by new GM Alex Anthopoulos, decided to offer contracts to all but one (catcher Raul Chavez) of their nine arbitration-eligible players, including the disgruntled reliever Jeremy Accardo. 

The free-spirited righthander has been jerked around by the organization ever since being acquired in the hastily put together dump of Shea Hillenbrand back in the summer of '06. Accardo found out this summer via his constant promotions and demotions that what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas -- and the other way around. In fact, in coming up a few days short of four full seasons of major-league service, it has tied him to whatever his major-league club for one extra season before reaching six years of service and real free agency. Major-league teams have often been known to manipulate these service days especially when a player has remaining options like Accardo did last summer. How do we know he's disgruntled? His agent told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com that he was hoping to not be sent a contract by Saturday at midnight (non-tendered) and there was that little incident in the Oakland clubhouse this summer when he was sent to Vegas before a game, was not available to speak to the media and his Jays' jersey was observed sitting in the garbage can. You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes.

In any case, the Jays clearly decided that they would rather have inventory in the form of players that could be traded or added into packages as the winter progresses. Besides none of these guys are real stiffs and all of the arbitration decisions in February should be quite reasonable. Besides, if they don't like any of the monetary decisions from an arbitrator as the season gets close they can still release that player and pay off approximately one-sixth of the 2010 contract or about 17-percent.

As for Chavez, there was no real reason to offer him arbitration considering the number of similar catchers that are out there in free-agency. The list of free agents catchers, besides Chavez, includes Brad Ausmus, Paul Bako, Rod Barajas, Josh Bard, John Buck, Ramon Castro, Jason LaRue, the Fabulous Molina Boys, Bengie and Jose, Miguel Olivo, Mike Redmond, Shawn Riggans, Mike Rivera and Yorvit Torrealba. In addition, the Jays may be getting a starting catcher back in the Roy Haladay deal. Although few are the major-league teams that have entered a new year with zero catchers on the roster which is what the Jays now have.  

The list of players that are arbitration eligible for the Jays and that were sent qualifying contracts at the deadline -- Jose Bautista, Jason Frasor, Brian Tallet, Accardo, Shawn Camp, Brandon League, Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum -- combined to earn just under $8.0 million in 2009. Give them a combined 20-percent bump in arbitration (Marcum and McGowan did not play) and the new commitment comes out to $9.6 million for the nine players. Add that to the committed $60.75 million that is already assigned to eight players -- Vernon Wells ($21.0), Halladay ($15.75), Lyle Overbay ($7.0), Edwin Encarnacion ($4.75), Scott Downs ($4.0), Aaron Hill ($4.0), Alex Gonzalez ($2.75) and John McDonald ($1.5) -- and you begin the 2010 off-season with a payroll of $70.35 million for 16 players. To come in at last season's payroll, that leaves about $10 million for 10 players (McGowan will be on the DL at the start of the season). That's reasonable enough and gives Anthopoulos some flexibility to make deals. Stay tuned.         

Rule 5 Draft Can't Keep Anthopoulos in Indy

Just as he had slid stealthily through the lobby on Sunday night without being noticed upon his arrival, Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos equally as quietly slipped out of Indianapolis on Thursday morning even before the Rule 5 draft at which his team chose righthander Zech Zinacola in the major-league portion and righthander Ruben DelaRosa in the Triple-A draft. A sign of the reduced strength of the farm system, they lost zero players to other teams in major, Triple-A and Double-A portions of the draft. 

The Rule 5 draft was instituted years ago to help players from being buried in one particular farm system for life. Any player that has been, three years for a college player or four years for a high schooler, in a team's farm system and has not been added to the 40-man roster is eligible to be chosen by another team as long as he is added to the new team's 40-man and is kept in the majors for the next season. The Jays used to be good at this, with guys like Willie Upshaw, George Bell, Jim Gott, Jim Acker, Kelly Gruber and Manny Lee being acquired this way.

On Thursday, both Jays' selections in the Rule 5 came from the Nationals' organization. It's no coincidence that Anthopoulos' first new hire, assistant GM Dana Brown, came from the Nats and knew both players very well.

"I'm very familiar with both players," Brown said. "I had a chance to see them for a few years. In particular Zinacola who we've seen (throw) from 90 to 96 (m.p.h.) with a plus-slider. So he was a really good guy to take a shot at and see if we could get a back end piece for the major-league bullpen."

*Primary A.A. sidekick, Tony LaCava hung around for the Rule 5 and said that reports of outfielder Joey Gathright having signed with the Jays are premature, an assertion confirmed by his agent.

"Gathright's a player that we're interested in," LaCava admitted. "That's all I can say. We haven't been able to secure him yet. A lot of teams are interested in Gathright. We haven't finished anything."

Andre Dawson is a Hall-of-Famer

On Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of the Indianapolis Marriott I saw Andre Dawson doing a MLB TV interview. I waited until he was done, shook his hand and hugged him. The conversation was short, because there was no need for words. We go back to 1976, his debut with the Expos at Jarry Park. He is a friend. He has borderline Hall-of-Fame numbers, but is a full-fledged Hall-of-Fame man and that combination should get him enshrined at Cooperstown with the announcement on Jan. 6.

I never understand readers and fans when I receive emails or read blogs making fun of media members because they write something nice about a truly nice man. It's almost as if it's a sign of weakness. Say something good about John McDonald and they point out his anemic offensive stats and say he doesn't deserve the praise and is only being written about because he's a nice guy. That is so bizarre. Life is more than OPS and WHIP and VORP and Range Factor. There's the human factor.

Andre Dawson is the kind of man that represents what is good about baseball. He's not perfect as none of us are, but he is profoundly human and understands his responsibility to his family, his team, his fans and the game. He tore up a knee as a kid in school and never complained, but never played a 100-percent healthy game in all his years in the majors, the first nine seasons on the rock hard, artificial turf of Olympic Stadium. Check his numbers in that light.

I remember Hawk as a rookie in 1977. He was shy and unsure of himself in dealing with media and the public. I was a young p.r. guy helping him with the media. I watched him grow. I saw him go from a borderline left fielder with a weak arm, to a Gold Glove centre fielder that runners feared to challenge.

I remember a short hop off the fence in deep left centre that bounced 30-feet straight up. Dawson waited patiently for the ball to come down, barehanded it and threw a flat-footed one hopper to third base, nailing a stunned Steve Sax. I remember Hawk coming out of the training room for post-game interviews with bags of ice on both knees the size of Volkswagen airbags. He never talked about his knees. I remember a game at Three Rivers Stadium with a triple and a swooping, graceful catch in the alley, then the bus was held for him because he needed extra ice time. He emerged and could not walk onto the bus without ratcheting himself up on the arm rails. He played the next night.

I remember a spring training where he reported to camp during a workout and came to the outer diamond in West Palm Beach in uniform ready to go. The workout stopped and teammates applauded and came over for their hug from their leader. On a team with Gary Carter, he was the leader.

The kid from Miami who in 1977 was too shy to do interviews emerged into a master of the "what-needed-to-be-said" interview by the time he left Montreal to seek his fortune with the Cubs. His smile lit up a room and his laugh got his teammates to stop and ask what was going on. When Tim Raines went to rehab after the 1982 season, it was Dawson that made sure he lockered next to his wayward teammate after that and that he remembered what needed to be done. Raines stayed on the straight and narrow and named his second son Andre.

Dawson is a man's man, never holier than thou, but more often better than thou. My youngest son was born in 1993, seven years after Dawson left the Expos. I named my son Patrick Andre, hoping that some of his namesake's quiet fortitude would rub off as he grew up. So far so good.

Hawk is a Hall-of-Famer, not just for the numbers.

Winter Meetings: And Now the End is Near

Following is a list of most of what was accomplished or officially announced Wednesday.

*The O's acquired starter Kevin Millwood from the Rangers along with cash considerations for reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later, likely to be awarded after the Rule 5 draft. 

*The Yankees, Tigers and Diamondbacks confirmed the seven-player deal that sees the Tigers moving to save payroll by sending Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks. The Granderson deal is ideally what the Jays would have done with Vernon Wells this winter except that his contract that was backend loaded is virtually un-tradable. Now they are stuck with an albatross deal unless Vernon opts out after 2011 -- which ain't gonna happen. 

*The Yankees confirmed that they signed Andy Pettitte to a guaranteed $11.75 million contract. It does not preclude them adding Roy Halladay later, but it drops them down the depth chart of suitors.

*Close to a deal are Randy Wolf and the Brewers for three years and $27 million. The surprising dollar value of this deal bumps the worth of others like Joel Pineiro and John Lackey and makes Halladay's $15.75 million contract for 2010 look like a bargain for what you are getting.  

*Catcher Yorvit Torrealba is close to returning to the Rockies on a two-year deal.

*Reliever LaTroy Hawkins has tentatively agreed to a two-year deal with the Brewers. Hawkins seems ageless and can be useful in setup innings in the NL.

*The Palm Beach Post reports that Mat Lindstrom is being shipped by the Marlins to the Aastros to be their new closer.

Remember when deals used to be announced as soon as the names were determined up in the suite. But that all changed. On January 14, 2001 Jays' GM Gord Ash traded a disgruntled David Wells to the White Sox in a big six-player deal. The Jays received lefty Mike Sirotka as the centrepiece in return. Unfortunately for Ash, Sirotka arrived with an injured shoulder likely from a Japanese series of exhibition games. The Jays were not happy, but not much was done about it. Sirotka did not pitch an inning for the Jays. Ever since that deal, medical information has had to be exchanged PRIOR to any deal being official. Which is why you get the leaks one day and the official announcement the next.