Votto with Jays a good idea? Not so fast

Can you imagine Joey Votto in a Blue Jays uniform? It seems that the Blue Jays, under Alex Anthopoulos, closed their eyes and had that dream. There are reports that at last year’s trade deadline, Anthopolous inquired on what it would take to acquire the former National League MVP. The discussions didn’t get anywhere. But it is a thought that intrigues many Jays fans.

At the end of this season, Votto will have eight years and $179 million remaining on the 10-year, $225 million contract he signed with the Reds a couple of years ago. The deal includes an option for $20 million in 2024 with a $7 million buyout. The first baseman turns 33 on September 10.

Votto is still a very productive offensive player. He has a career slash line of .311/.424/.519. His 2016 performance, .951 OPS, is close to his career average of .957. The big question is how will Votto age and can he maintain his production?

Votto is a complicated player. Sabrematricians love his OPS while baseball people wish he would walk less, swing more and contribute greater run production. He is a more than adequate defensive first baseman as well.

If the Reds decide they want to trade Votto the challenge will be finding a trade partner that is willing to take on so much money for a player heading to the back-end of his career. Plus the Reds would want talent in return for the star slugger.

Personally if I were running the Reds I would move Votto. Cincinnati is rebuilding. They can come in 4th or 5th place with him or without him. The Reds can’t afford to pay one player $25 million of a $93 million payroll.

They are several years away from being competitive again. Plus they are in a division with the Cubs who look like they will be good for years to come. It’s a no-brainer for me.

So how much money do the Reds eat on the contract? How much talent should they demand in return? The answer is easy for me: cut your losses; eat what needs to be eaten; get what you can get, but don’t blow the deal over coveting an extra prospect. Commit to rebuilding.

As for the Jays, I would not assume the risk of the aging Votto. I know it would be great to add a national hero, but he will soon decline in performance. It’s not about the prospects, it’s about the money. Spend the money on a shorter-term deal for Encarnacion or for younger players in their prime.

Snake Struggles

There is growing speculation that the Arizona Diamondbacks' ownership may make a change at the top of the baseball operations department. General manager Dave Stewart has an option for the 2017 season that has to be exercised by August 31, if he is to be retained. Chief Baseball Officer Tony LaRussa has a contract that is due to expire at the end of the year. But he has made it clear he wants to finish the rebuilding process in Arizona.

Diamondbacks president Derek Hall, who just signed an eight-year contract, has said they are evaluating what to do. That is a far cry from a ringing endorsement. If a change is made it would be the seventh such move in eleven years.

A recent article from Keith Law of ESPN.com called the Diamondbacks' front office the laughingstock of baseball because of the lopsided trade for Shelby Miller, not understanding major league rules, free agent signings, etc. Bob Nightengale of USA Today said that LaRussa and Stewart have earned another season to see what they can do to turn things around. He said ownership would be a laughingstock if they fired the pair.

Let’s be clear: nobody is a laughingstock in this situation. It’s tough being a general manager. You make decisions you think are best in that time and place. You rely upon the information and evaluations of people you trust. Many decisions will turn out well and some will not. Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, the big trade they made to acquire Miller from the Atlanta Braves has gone horribly wrong.

This season has gone poorly as well. After a competitive 2015 the D-Backs believed they were close to competing for a playoff spot. The big free-agent signing of Zack Grienke hasn’t paid the dividends they had hoped. They took a big risk with the six-year, $206.5 million deal to begin with. You give a contract like that with the anticipation to win immediately.

Instead, everything has fallen apart this year. There have been rumours that Stewart and LaRussa wanted to replace manager Chip Hale with Phil Nevin, the organization’s triple-A manager, but were stopped by ownership from proceeding.

I don’t think making a sweeping change makes any sense right now. They need some stability and direction. General managers make mistakes. They make bad deals. If it sounds like they have learned from their mistakes, then ownership is better served to keep moving forward with the same group. Sure they can fire them and move on but it will be another step backwards when they really need to take two steps forward.  
 
Dave Stewart and Tony LaRussa are smart baseball guys. They made a mistake on the trade. They misread where they were as an organization. They now have new scars from being an executive to go with all of the scars they accumulated in their other roles in baseball. I never bet against LaRussa and Stewart is one of the toughest competitors ever. I would give them another year to get things on track.  

The Power of Six

Ever since the Blue Jays moved to a six-man rotation, it has created an opportunity for the “I told you so” people to speak up. As soon as any of the six pitchers struggled it was due to the new structure of the rotation in many fans and media members’ minds.

John Gibbons’ post-game interview on Wednesday showed his frustration over those voices. He said multiple times that he didn’t know. He said no one really knows, not even Marco Estrada, if it was cause and effect. Estrada has struggled his last several starts since the transition to the six-man rotation. So the assumption is that he must be suffering the effects of a change in routine. Estrada saying he felt rusty played in to the reaction. But he made it clear on Thursday that the extra rest is not his problem. He said he just needs to pitch better.

I honestly don’t think extra rest is the problem either. I am concerned with Estrada’s back issues. He spent close to 20 days on the disabled list in July with back soreness. He looks a bit balky when he pitches now. He has not been finishing his pitches since coming back. He just doesn’t seem to get the same extension that he had last year and earlier this season.

The extra rest doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone else in the rotation. R.A. Dickey has a 3.13 ERA in August, while Marcus Stroman is at 2.10 and J.A. Happ 2.33. Francisco Liriano, acquired at the deadline, has a 3.57 ERA. It is actually Sanchez (5.29) and Estrada (6.00) who have had the toughest months. Sanchez has been optioned to the minor leagues to give him rest and allow the club to use his roster spot for someone else. Estrada is just struggling. If he isn’t blaming the six-man rotation then why should we?

The Jays will likely ride this structure through at least mid-September. It is the right thing to do.

Spitting Seeds

It is a shame the Texas Rangers released Josh Hamilton, but it is understandable. He had another knee surgery on June 8, this time to reconstruct his ACL and to clean up some other issues. It was his third surgery since September.

The release actually gives Hamilton a chance to be a Ranger when the season begins next year. If they had waited to release him until after August 31, he wouldn’t have been able to play in the majors with Texas until May 15, per MLB rules.

My hope is that Josh can maintain structure in his life as he continues his recovery while living a life of recovery for his addictions.

The Chicago White Sox are changing the name of their stadium in November. It will go from being called U.S. Cellular Field to Guaranteed Rate Field. Yikes! That is a mouthful. I guess it could be worse...actually no it couldn’t. The logo for the company is an arrow pointing down. Say it ain’t so Joe!

Yankee fans are going crazy for the Baby Bombers. The rebuilding process has won everyone over, especially since rookie catcher Gary Sanchez has nine homers already in the month of August, tying the Yankee rookie record for homers in a month. Some guy named Joe Dimaggio also hit nine back in 1936.

Aaron Judge, one of the young outfielders called up by the Yankees, looks like “The Rock” in a baseball uniform. He is a beast.

New York Mets outfielder Yeonis Cespedes said he doesn’t plan to opt out of his deal with the Mets. He signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Mets last offseason but he has an opt-out clause after this year. In such a down year for free agents, thoughts were that Cespedes would opt out to exploit the market. His staying put weakens the market even more.

Remember, he has the right to change his mind. And he probably will.

The Nationals made a deal with the Oakland A’s to acquire Marc Rzepczynski, a left-handed reliever. Although his walks are high this year, he was worth a shot.

He would have been a nice fit for the Jays. Despite his high WHIP (1.72) he is a nice catch-lightning-in-a-bottle candidate. He started his career with the Jays after being drafted in 2007. He has a 3.00 ERA and averages more than a strikeout per inning.

If the Jays had put in a claim on him they would have been awarded the claim ahead of the Nationals. The Jays must not have thought he was worth a shot, since they didn’t submit a waiver claim.

Poor AJ Ellis! The long-time Dodger catcher was traded Thursday to the Phillies for fellow backstop Carlos Ruiz. Ellis just dropped 12 games in the standings. Plus he will no longer be able to pad his catcher's ERA by calling games for Clayton Kershaw.

There are reports that Kershaw cried with Ellis when they heard the news. It is already a bad deal for the Dodgers. Anything that makes your best most important superstar cry on August 25 is a mistake.

There will be a pretty substantial learning curve now for Ruiz in joining his new club: there's a lot to learn in a short period of time.

The Dodgers are amazing. They have seven starting pitchers on the DL, including Kershaw, and yet they keep winning. Dave Roberts should win the NL Manager of the Year award.

Danny Valencia and Billy Butler may both find themselves out of baseball next year if they aren’t careful. Their fight in the Oakland A’s clubhouse, which left Butler with a concussion, reinforces what other clubs think of them. Valencia is thought to be a hot-head and trouble-maker. Butler is known to be a bit of a loudmouth. Neither of them is good enough anymore to cause problems. Maybe MMA or WWE is in their futures.