Blue Jays Front Office - General Evaluation

The past 2019 season has given Jays fans lots to think about. Tons of new rookies made their debuts (Guerrero Jr., Bichette, Biggio), we got a better look at many young players (McGuire, Jansen, Gurriel Jr., etc.), and many trades went down (Stroman, Sanchez, Pillar, etc.). The team is almost unrecognizable from last years opening day, and many Jays fans have some mixed feelings about what the front office has done. Here I will be reviewing how the front office has been performing.

The first thing I would like to dig into is the shuffling of the coaching staff. This was arguably the first major move made by the front office.

Newly hired this past offseason was manager Charlie Montoyo, bench coach Dave Hudgens, hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, and first base coach Mark Budzinski. Montoyo is a rookie manager who worked his way through the system with the Rays. He seemed to do well with the team, and the players seem to really like him. Many people are concerned with his overuse of bunting, but that seems to have taken a dip through the season, as more and more young players come up. All in all, I would consider Montoyo to be a good hire for the front office. Secondly is bench coach Dave Hudgens. He is someone that the front office really likes, and I could see him lasting at least as long as Atkins and Shapiro. I don't really think anything great of him, but nothing poor comes to mind either. For some reason, many people are talking about his possible dismissal. I'm not too sure what that's about, but I'll discuss this more later on. First base coach Budzinski I just don't know enough about to give a true evaluation. Lastly, hitting coach Martinez. He is one person I'm extremely concerned about, and for good reason. Several Blue Jays players have had offensive dips compared to previous seasons since the beginning of this year, under Martinez. The long list includes Jansen, Tellez, Hernandez, Smoak, Maile, McKinney, and others. They all have a common problem, which is contact. Clearly Martinez is shifting all of them towards a power focus, and although the home runs are increasing, it just isn't working out. The huge dip in batting averages is too big a sacrifice, and if Martinez can't handle teaching one without sacrificing the other, than I am afraid of what the new wave of rookies might look like after working with him from the beginning of their major league career (ie. Bichette, Biggio, Guerrero).

Overall, I think the front office did well in selecting the staff, other than Martinez. I give them a grade of B+, although it would be much higher if they moved on from Martinez.

Now, the trades. The front offices has possibly had more pressure then any Jays executives before them. There has never really been such good, young, hyped up talent before in the organizations history, and this was a critical season, as they went full throttle rebuild, moving all remaining assets for prospects to fill the field along with their current prized prospects. The main trades I wanted to evaluate were Stroman, Sanchez, Donaldson, and Martin.

The Martin and Donaldson trades came over the off season (Martin), and at last years trade deadline (Donaldson). To say the least, I wasn't too thrilled. I'm fine with our return for Martin (a pitching prospect [Andrew Sopko] and an 18 year old short stop prospect [Ronny Brito]). I was surprised they managed to get an 18 year old, although the quality of the prospects wasn't very high. With the Donaldson trade, I was extremely disappointed. All we managed to get was Julian Merryweather. Sure, he doesn't look too bad now in AAA, but how could they not get more? Merryweather was 26 years old, showed little to no success in the upper minor league levels (pre-trade), and was coming off a big injury. The fact that they couldn't get another prospect blows me away.

The trades made by the front office is a huge problem for the Jays. It isn't a one time thing to do something like the Merryweather trade (overvalue prospects and settle for less than they could get). Same case went for the Stroman, and Sanchez trade. For Stroman, we can't be furious at the front office, as they brought back Anthony Kay, and 18 year old Woods-Richardson, who have been very good since joining the organization. HOWEVER, before joining the Blue Jays, they didn't seem like anything special. The Jays over valued the prospects, and settled for the deal, despite the fact that they could have and should have yielded more. Same goes for the Sanchez trade. The Jays sole return was Derek Fisher, who at the time owned a .201 career average, and was already 25. The Atkins stated in an interview that they really liked the athleticism in Fisher, which was why they were so interested in getting him. However, if the deal isn't good, don't take it. They overpaid once again, just because they like what they saw. They could have gotten more.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed in the Jays trades. I can't give them too bad a rating, as they seem to be trading for players who are turning out better than we expected (Kay, Merryweather, etc.), although I can blame them for taking "good enough" offers. They need to push the boundaries, and get the full value back. I don't regret the players we traded for, I just wish that we got more players alongside them to equate the trade.

Overall trade rating: C

Now, possibly the most important section. Here I will be discussing the future of the front office. This is things that They should be doing, or things that they've indicated, as well as my stance on their views.

First things first, the pitching and outfield problems need to be addressed. I believe that the Jays are only 2-3 years from being a playoff team/serious contender, meaning that these are holes that need to be fixed asap. In my point of view, pitching looks better than the outfield. If Borucki can stay healthy, I believe he has a chance to be a solid number 2 pitcher in the rotation. Nate Pearson is also a guy to watch for, as he is expected to debut next season. Other pitchers, such as Trent Thornton, Anthony Kay, and Thomas Pannone are also likely candidates to be solid rotation arms in the future, leaving only one or two spots to be concerned about, which could be filled by future prospects, or through free agency, leading to why the outfield is a bigger concern.

Many people aren't as worried about the outfield as I am. Being that Gurriel Jr. seems like a lock, Grichuk was extended long term, and our depth filled with young players, most people don't see any problem. Although for me, Gurriel is the only player I'm not concerned about. Grichuk means nothing to me. The extension is not worth it so far, despite a career high 31 home runs this past season. As impressive as 31 home runs sounds, it's really not nowadays with the extreme power surges. 31 home runs ties him for the 49th spot in the MLB. Doesn't sound very significant any more, does it? Now consider his .232 average (career low), as well as his lack of base running skill, and below average fielding, and does this still sound like a great player for the future? Not exactly.

Other than Grichuk and Gurriel, other Jays outfielders include Hernandez, Fisher, Alford, Davis, McKinney, and occasionally Drury. However, Hernandez is the only player who had an average above .220 (with 100+ at bats), which is pretty pathetic. It will be key for the front office to look for an upgrade here, and I wouldn't mind packaging several of these guys in a quantity for quality deal if it came to it.

One deal that I had in mind to solve our problems could come in a Giles trade. If the front office manages to turn Giles into a young outfielder, it could really prove that they are making good moves, especially if they manage to get someone like Alex Kirilloff (Twins prospect), or Estevan Florial (Yankees prospect) for him. If a trade like that is made, then we can finally settle down and trust the front office. The prospects I named are top level prospects, which the Jays need to be targeting this time around. They have failed to do so time and time again, which is why their trade rating was so low.

One thing that I must say about the front office is that I'm impressed, and pleased with so far is their patience to make big moves. I've seen so much pressure from fans and media saying that the Jays need to target players like David Price, Gerrit Cole, JD Martinez, etc. I personally think signing/trading for guys like this would blow up the whole blueprint, and I'm so thrilled that the front office is resisting. I would be devastated if they went with it, as they truly aren't ready to contend yet. A 2020 contention attempt would be a disaster, and for several reasons. It takes tons to field a contending team. I do believe that the Jays could contend as early as 2021, but will certainly not be ready in 2020. It is too important a year to try and blow it up anyway. Right now they have so many young players who don't know their roles. You need to have plans for players, you can't just be testing them out. With so many young players who don't have roles, you need at least a year to test them out, see where they fit, and/or make positional and lineup changes. So many players haven't even been up for a whole season yet. They are 100% doing the right thing by taking their time, and I thank them for it.

The next big change I'll be watching for is how they handle coaching openings in the future. I have read about a lot of controversy around bench coach Dave Hudgens possibly getting replace, and as I mentioned earlier, I don't really like the idea of hitting coach Martinez remaining with the team because of the young core. Therefore, I will only be talking about the bench coach and hitting coach positions.

When it comes to Dave Hudgens, I don't really think that he needs to be moved out. We brought him over from the championship Astros staff, and he hasn't really done anything negative that's been obvious. I am not sure why so many people are writing about the idea of letting him go, especially being that he if a guy the front office really seems to like. However, if he is let go, I have a perfect candidate who would be willing to take on the role, and his name is John Farrell. Yes, this is the same Farrell that managed the Jays just a few years back. Farrell would like to get back into managing, and is reportedly willing to take on a lesser role if that's what it takes. I was always a fan of his as the manager of the team, and would love to have his experience backing Montoyo going forward. If we do move on from Hudgens, I think Farrell will be our guy. Other possible candidates could include former Blue Jay infielder John McDonald, as well as a possible promotion of third base coach Luis Rivera. I think both would be great fits, but I won't go too in depth with those right now, especially with how inconsistent these rumors surrounding Hudgens are.

Martinez is the guy I really want Toronto to move on from. I think the Jays need an experienced coach, or a successful former major leaguer to take on this role. It is key to get a good hitting coach to train the young wave of players. I have come up with a couple candidates that I think would be great fits.

The first person that I find would be a good fit as the hitting coach would be Vladimir Guerrero Sr. I know there are some issues with that, but I think it would be a great fit. I think he would be the perfect person to train his own son, as well as the other prospects. Just seeing how good he was able to train his son gives me hope that he is a good coach, and knows how to teach. Once you include that he is a hall of fame player himself, and has always been known for mechanics, he really seems like the perfect candidate. I personally only see two issues. First, I'm unsure if he would want to get into coaching. I'm sure he would at least think about it being that his son is on the team, but I think he is really enjoying retirement. The second issue is that during his playing days, he was known for some "interesting" mechanics to say the least. It might not be the best idea to get everyone attempting to hit like he used to, but I think it's worth the risk. I would love for this to happen.

The next candidate I look at for this role is another former player. He is also a Blue Jays legend. This would be Jose Bautista. I think he would be a great fit. You know that he would be able to teach from his experiences simply based on how he was able to transition his career from someone who struggled to remain in the league, to absolute stardom. You can't just make that kind of transition and learn nothing. I also think that he would be a great fit among the spanish players, and that he would be well respected by the players and coaching staff. Although the attitude might not be the best, I think it would be worth it. I believe he would make a great coach. I'm just afraid he won't be ready to give up on his playing career, despite being without a contract since the 2018 season. Being offered a coaching role from Toronto might just be able to convince him.

The last topic I'll be touching on is how the Jays started this offseason. The only notable moves so far have been the Chase Anderson trade, as well as some released players.

For anyone who doesn't know already, we traded a young, but low level first base prospect to the Brewers for SP Chase Anderson. Now, I don't like the trade, but before judging, let me explain. The Jays obviously need pitching badly, especially starting pitching. The reason I don't like the trade, isn't because of the pitcher or position we got in return. The problem isn't even the player we gave up! The problem for me is trading for our needs at this point. Right now, the Jays are in the position to rake up as many prospects as possible, and it is perfectly ok if it results in more losses. So, why would we trade? Sure, we got a better option for cheap off the trade market, but I would actually rather sign an aging pitcher on a one year deal, no matter how badly they perform. It isn't worth giving up prospects at this moment in time.

My second problem with this trade is that we would actually be better of with signing somebody terrible. Within the first month or so, we will have enough young arms to be ready. Some names to consider for starting roles are Kay, Thornton, Pannone, Reid-Foley, Borucki, Waguespack and Zeuch. See the problem? These guys are close to ready, if not ready currently to take on a starting rotation role. The problem will become fitting them into the rotation now. You can easily remove a 36 year old with a 5.60 ERA or something, but you can't just remove Chase Anderson! He is actually a good player, and will be taking the spots of the young guys.

Although I'm not a fan of trading for pitching (which is why I didn't like the trade), I am actually satisfied with what we got. Anderson has been a very solid pitcher the last view seasons, posting a career 3.94 ERA, while pitching around 150 innings a year. He has been a consistent guy, and could be a good vet for guys to learn from. I don't think we overpaid at all either. Knowing the Jays, they were going to make a trade either way, and knowing that, I guess I'm happy that this is the move they made. Just keep in mind that if I had the choice, I wouldn't have considered a trade at all.

Next up, the players we let go of. There are really only 3 notable names here, them being Ryan Tepera, Dalton Pompey, and Devon Travis. These 3 really hit a nerve with a lot of Jays fans, as they are the last of the 2015 team, and with their releasing, it is officially the end of an era. Travis being let go made a lot of sense to me, as much as it hurts to say it. Although being a good player, he just doesn't play enough to hold any value, especially after not playing in a single game in the entire 2019 campaign. His injuries made him almost untradable, and the Jays just didn't have any more room left for him with all the young guns coming up.

Tepera was let go on the same day as Travis. This didn't make much sense to me. Tepera is a long time Jay who fans like, and is actually a player that provides a lot of use to the team. The Jays really need pitching, and despite a rough 2019, he was, and would be really valuable to the team. Prior to 2019, he had never had an ERA above 3.62. Last year he finished with a 4.98 ERA, however, most of the negatives from the season came before his injury. Upon his return, he actually significantly improved his stats. Clearly he has been a dependable option, and in a bullpen who's only locks are Giles, Law, and Font, he could really be useful in 2020. Fortunately, the front office hasn't ruled out a return, but I can't see a reunion happening. Poor decision overall.

Lastly, Dalton Pompey. The Toronto native and former fan favourite didn't make an MLB appearance last season unfortunately. I would have like the Jays to give him another shot with the team, but they just don't have room with all their young outfielders. He was arguably the best option to release simply based on his age, and how prone he is to injuries.

Overall, I would give the front office a B- grade. They haven't been bad, but really haven't shown any spectacular either. I would like them to show a little more life, and be a bit more risky, like Anthopoulos used to be. The main think to watch for this offseason will be how they handle the Ken Giles trade, and what they do to fix their bullpen. This could be the most important offseason in their career, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.