Well, here’s something interesting: MLBTR passes along news out of Honduras that pitcher– or “launcher,” if you believe Google Translate– Denis Villatoro has decided to sign with the Blue Jays, over a number of interested clubs.
The news comes from Saúl Carranza of Diez, who reports that the 18-year-old has signed a five-year deal.
Through Google Translate, he explains (his bold):
So much for Tommy Hottovy, as according to a team release he has been designated for assignment in order to make room on the Jays’ 40-man for catcher Henry Blanco, who has been signed to a non-guaranteed $750,000 Major League contract.
The fact that it’s a big league deal means that the veteran of fifteen seasons won’t find himself riding minor league buses for Buffalo. So… what the hell does it mean?
The endless cycle of demotions and waiver claims continues for some– namely Chad Beck– as the Jays announced in an official release this afternoon that the reliever has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man for incoming lefty reliever Tommy Hottovy– a 31-year-old with 13.1 innings of big league experience– who is familiar with the drill himself, having just been placed on waivers by Texas, who dropped him to clear space for Lance Berkman. (He had been traded there earlier in the off-season from Kansas City for a PTBNL or cash).
The idea here is, quite obviously, to build some bullpen depth at Buffalo by sneaking guys through waivers. Beck was briefly a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization this winter, but was picked back up by the Jays last week. Now his fate is in limbo, kind of like Hottovy’s, despite the fact that he currently holds a spot on the 40-man.
If the Jays manage to sneak Hottovy through, they’ll actually be getting a somewhat intriguing pitcher– though not necessarily an effective one.
Not Stubby Clapp
The Jays sent out a press release this afternoon announcing their full slate of minor league coaches and development staff for 2013, including some new hires and ones we’d already heard about– even though some of us *COUGH* may have not bothered to post anything about them (sorry, maple boners)– being made official.
It’s… interesting? Mildly?
I don’t know. But here’s what’s worth noting:
Most interestingly, I think, is the fact that Sal Fasano will no longer be managing the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, as he takes becomes the club’s minor league catching coordinator– a position that didn’t exist last year (according to the club’s as-yet-to-be-updated front office directory).
Mike Wilner quashes everybody’s initial thought, saying that he’s been told it’s not a demotion for Fasano, who until today appeared to have been moving up the organization’s managerial ranks. After a successful year with Lansing in 2010, Fasano moved up to New Hampshire, where he stayed the last two seasons, winning the Eastern League’s Manager of the Year award in 2011.
Remember when we thought it was possible, though maybe not ideal and hardly a slam dunk, to have waiver pick-up Russ Canzler platoon with Adam Lind as the Jays’ DH this season?
Yeah… about that:
The Russ Canzler era is over. #Bluejays tried to sneak him back through waivers and he was taken by #Indians. Oh, well. #Jays
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) January 2, 2013
Because I’m still pretty close to full-on in lazy holiday mode, let’s just have a looksie at what I wrote about him two weeks ago:
Potential HOF #TimRaines will be an outfield and base-running coach for the #Blue Jays in 2013, Raines says.#MLB
— Mel Antonen (@MelAntonen) December 31, 2012
According to Mel Antonen of assorted baseball writings, Tim Raines is set to join the Blue Jays coaching staff. The former Expos great and poster boy for Hall of Fame arguments involving Jack Morris will be the outfield and base-running coach for the club in 2013. As far as the one 15 second google search I did about the position tells me, the position didn’t exist previously in the organization before this.
Between the gifs, the instagram accounts, R.A. Dickey’s nerditry and now pre-stat-revolution victim-of-circumstance Raines, the Jays 2012 off-season plan clearly included appealing to as many different demographics of fans on the internet as possible.
!!! Dammit do I have to be a Jays fan now? RT @melantonen Potential HOF Tim Raines will be OF/baserunning coach for Jays in ’13, Raines says
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) December 31, 2012
Got ‘em.
LATE UPDATE: Happy New Year
HANGOVER UPDATE: According to Wilner, Raines is going to be working mostly at the minor league level and will only be helping the Jays big leaguers during Spring Training. STILL THO.
Good ol’ Rusty Canz
Well here’s a tidy piece of business: according to a team release, the Jays have outrighted Mickey Storey to Buffalo in order to claim 1B/DH/OF Russ Canzler from the Clevelands.
Yes, it’s a decidedly minor move, but it works– for me, at least– in a couple of ways.
