Archive for the ‘Jon Heyman’ Category

It’s Official: Izturis Signs With the Blue Jays

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Jon Heyman, Macier Izturis on Nov 08, 2012

Jon Heyman has the official word on the coming-to-fruition of what Ken Rosenthal was sniffing around last night…

However, there’s a slight hiccup: Shi Davidi says Heyman doesn’t quite have the accounting right:

That could possibly change things, but the fact that Davidi is telling us it’s “similar” probably means we don’t have to change much of how we think of this… which is rather positive, frankly.

(UPDATE: A team release announces that the deal is for three years at $3-million per, with a $3-million option for a fourth.)

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Heyman: More Hanley, Jays “In On Everything”

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Jon Heyman, Talkin' Trades on Jul 24, 2012

Not to be outdone by Jon Morosi’s masterful attempts at baiting traffic from the very web-engaged Toronto fan base, John Heyman has tossed the Jays into the Hanley Ramirez mix in his latest from CBS Sports.

Listing clubs who might have an interest in Hanley Ramirez, the Jays come up. This is because they could a third baseman or shortstop, apparently– which is primarily because “word is they are ready to move on from shortstop Yunel Escobar.”

Of course, part of the reason that the Jays might be willing to move Escobar– might– is the fact that they have Adeiny Hechavarria waiting in the wings. So… where would that leave him if we’re still talking about Hanley? (And… um… aren’t we?)

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Heyman: More Escobar Innuendo

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Jon Heyman, Talkin' Trades, Yunel Escobar on Jul 18, 2012

I don’t know why we’re hearing so much of this stuff, except perhaps because we know the Jays are neither going to confirm it or deny it, but today we have yet another rumour-mongering involving Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar, this time from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Now, it’s undeniable that it makes a little bit of sense to think the Jays might see the value in dealing Escobar and his very friendly contract. Adeiny Hechavarria may be more ready with the bat than I generally tend to believe, and this week’s promotion of Anthony Gose may indicate that we should believe even less about a prospect’s weak PCL stats than we already do. And though I don’t think I’m wrong in believing that the defensive value Hechavarria could provide probably isn’t nearly enough to offset the gulf between his bat and Escobar’s when he’s going well, it’s pointed out to me every time we’ve gone through this exercise that there may be more value in having Hechavarria plus whatever Escobar can be traded for, than there is in either shifting the younger Cuban to second base or slating him for the minors as a redundant piece.

And right now Escobar’s bat doesn’t look anything close to what it has at his peak.

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Are the Jays Really in the Jorge Soler Mix?

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Jon Heyman, Jorge Soler on Jun 11, 2012

As we’re well aware of by now, the Jays– thanks to their all-encompassing no comment policy when it comes to anything resembling a transaction– have their name dragged into the mix for just about any player available and sought after by MLB clubs, and apparently that’s no different when it comes to the last international amateur free agent to hit the market before the CBA changes, Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler (not pictured, since most pictures purportedly of him appear to be mislabelled).

Take it away, Jon Heyman…

Of course, simply dismissing these rumors as the product of the ability for anybody to claim that the Jays are involved, without it being shot down by the club, would be a bit premature, I think.

We know that the Jays have viewed the amateur free agent market as a cost-effective way to acquire assets, and that they’ve dipped in it to sign high-profile Cuban Adeiny Hechavarria, and came up just short on Aroldis Chapman. We also know that Alex Anthopoulos watched Soler work out back in February.

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Votto You Talking About?: Jon Heyman Edition

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Joey Votto, Jon Heyman on Mar 19, 2012

“It would be tough for a [top] position player to sign for five years. No matter how fond a person is of the city, players have to maximize the number of years,” says Joey Votto of the Reds, after having once again been insufferably asked about the possibility of him going to the Jays once he hits free agency after the 2013 season– y’know, assuming he doesn’t ink an extension with Cincinnati prior to that, or get traded and extend wherever he lands.

The quote comes from Jon Heyman’s latest for CBS Sports, with the explanation that “if the Blue Jays stick to their five-year maximum policy for player contracts, they can forget luring Reds superstar Joey Votto back home to Toronto when he’s a free agent.”

Neither Heyman nor Votto is wrong, it’s just… yeah, we know.

Clearly the Jays aren’t getting any sort of major free agent with the ridiculous self-imposed handcuffing of their inflexible five-year max policy. Paul Beeston has told us that the club held to this principle in previous negotiations– as in, with Jose Bautista– so, unless we want to piss off Jose, we’d better keep our mouths shut.

And while we’re at it, I guess we should all just forget that Bautista was coming off a crazy outlier season, and still had a year of team control left, when he signed his extension, and that going beyond five guaranteed years with him probably wasn’t going to happen, ridiculous self-imposed rule or not.

Of course, to get all that upset about the rule means that you have to believe that it actually exists and wasn’t just the most convenient PR cover the Jays could find to hide behind when fans started going apeshit over their lack of spending this off-season. I tend to think there will come a time to break the ridiculous rule, and they’ll figure out how to explain it away when that happens.

Perhaps even more ridiculous than the rule itself, though, is the constant baiting of Joey Votto with questions about what he’s going to do as a free agent, two whole goddamn seasons from now. He tells Heyman that he’s proud to play for the Reds and that he definitely would like to stay.

What the hell else is he going to say?

Are we seriously in for two more years of this?

 

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