Tenders and Non-Tenders
The short list on the 40-man roster became even shorter late last night, as the Blue Jays whittled their roster down from 38 players to 37 after tendering contracts and non-tendering one … that of Raul Chavez.
He was the lone member of the purge, as Brian Tallet, Jeremy Accardo, Shaun Marcum, Shawn Camp, Jason Frasor, Dustin McGowan and Jose Bautista (NAILS!) were all tendered contracts by the Blue Jays.
Late yesterday, it seemed the Jeremy Accardo was all but gone, but it turns out the Blue Jays and his agent actually came to an agreement and he will stick around for at least one more season. I guess after packing up his stuff and threatening to move out of the house, Accardo will be staying in the clubhouse after all.
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The move (or lack thereof) to non-tender Raul Chavez was a little puzzling considering that he was only signed to a $500,000 dollar minor league contract last season, so it’s not like he was going to make $1 million next year. This vacates any starting or backup catching positions, so Alex Anthopoulos is likely cooking up something, whether it be via trade or free agent signing.
Wait! Late development tweeted by Jordan Bastian: Chavez will be back next year, and has signed another minor league deal.
Just by taking a peek at what scraps that other teams threw out in non-tenders yesterday, AA should probably take a peek at John Buck. While he lacks the defensive skills of Raul Chavez and power of Rod Barajas, John Buck would be a nice happy medium between to the two polar opposite catchers that the Blue Jays fielded last season.
This could also mean that J.P. Arencibia might finally get his chance to hit the big time. Last year in Las Vegas was more than disappointing, however AA could just have blind faith that Arencibia is ready to make the jump to the show right out of spring training.
Getting Chavez cheap is a good insurance move. He's pretty good defensively and controls the running game well. For the money you couldn't do much better.
The BAS lives on…
It's a great move – especially bringing him back on a minor league deal, which means if the Jays pick up another catcher via trade, then Chavez stays in LV just in case.
eyebleaf, I couldn't be happier! BAS 4 LIFE!
Good move. I was worried that AA was going to have a hole at catcher BUT judging from the Chavez signing that has been rectified. And adding Buck into the mix is a nice job as well. This morning I was quite concerned with AA's move BUT these two moves were well done.
Yeah, AA also had me nervous for a little bit there. When I saw on MLBTR this morning that the Royals non-tendered John Buck, I immediately thought he would be a good pickup for the Jays. And low and behold, they did exactly that.
All in all, I would say it was a very productive weekend for the Blue Jays front office.
Has AA said anything about Arencibia? I'm cool with this short term stuff, but just wondering if there is any possibility of a good catcher in the near future.
And J-Bau at the same price is great!
No, nothing yet – it's merely just speculation on my part. I guess it all depends on how Arencebia fares in Spring Training in the first couple of months on Vegas.