With 62 days left until Spring Training and just under 100 days until Opening Day 2023, the Toronto Blue Jays continue to radically alter their lineup this offseason, trading starting left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a blockbuster deal for 26 year old, left-handed hitting outfielder/catcher Daulton Varsho.
BREAKING: The Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement on a trade that will send outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays for a package that includes top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno, sources tell ESPN.
Could this be a move similar to the December 1990 trade made by then-General Manager Pat Gillick for OF Devon White, who went on to win five Gold Gloves and two World Series championships as a Blue Jay?
The move continues the clear pattern this offseason of upgrading the Blue Jays run prevention ability – at the expense of offense. Right fielder Teoscar Hernández (2.8 bWAR in 2022 with an OPS+ of 127, BABIP .335 and wRC+ of 129) was traded last month to Seattle for reliever Erik Swanson, who can generate ‘swing and miss’ to the tune of 70 strikeouts in only 53.2 innings pitched in 2022. He struck out 34% of batters faced this season (11.7/9 innings) versus the MLB average of only 22.1%, and only walked 4.9% of hitters faced, with a minuscule 1.68 ERA.
Free agent Chris Bassitt was signed to be the No. 3 starter in the rotation. He’s elite at generating weak contact, with an average exit velocity off the opponents’ bat of only 85.7mph – good for 95th percentile in MLB – and a hard hit percentage of only 32.8% versus the MLB average 35.8%. While his ERA and FIP at 3.42 and 3.66, respectively, were higher in 2022 than the starter he replaces in the Jays’ rotation, Ross Stripling (3.01, 3.11), he’s also been more consistent in pitching 5.9 innings per start on average since 2020 over 68 starts, and 6.1 innings on average in his 30 starts in 2022; Strip only averaged just over 5 innings per start this year, and averaged 4.8 innings/start over 45 starts as a Blue Jay since 2020.
Free agent center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (2022 bWAR 1.1, OPS+ 89, BABIP .290, wRC+ 90) was signed to a one year, $9M deal to bring his three-time Gold Glove winning platinum glove to Toronto. He’ll likely push George Springer to a corner outfield spot, which will be an upgrade over both Hernández and Gurriel defensively.
Hernández had a -3 defensive runs saved (DRS) in 2022 and a cumulative -8 since 2020. He was a -5 in terms of outs above average (OAA) in 2022. Gurriel posted a DRS of +3 over 896.2 innings played in LF this year after +6 last season. Springer is a cumulative -5 DRS for Toronto in CF since 2021, but has a cumulative DRS of +12 in RF since his rookie season in 2014. He’ll likely be shifted to an outfield corner more often in 2023 to reduce the wear-and-tear on his joints, allowing Kiermaier to patrol center, where he has a cumulative DRS of +134 since his rookie year in 2014, including +25 since 2020. He’s been good for total OAA of +71 since 2016.
And now the Jays have acquired OF/C Daulton Varsho from the Diamondbacks, which further strengthens the outfield defense. Varsho, who was a finalist for the NL Gold Glove in RF, tied for second among MLB outfielders with a DRS of +19 this season, including +14 in 541.2 innings played in RF (OAA +10) and +5 in 378.2 innings played in CF (OAA +8). His OAA of +18 led all MLB outfielders. He fills a big need in the hitting lineup as well with his left-handedness, and was good for a bWAR of 4.9 in 2022, with an OPS+ of 109, BABIP of .269 and wRC+ of 106 with 27 home runs in a much weaker Arizona lineup. He should benefit from better protection in the Jays’ batting lineup, where he replaces Gurriel’s 2.2 bWAR, OPS+ 113, BABIP .346 and wRC+ of 114.
By subtracting the one year and $5.8M left on the Gurriel contract, of which the AAV of $3.1M counts against the luxury tax payroll, RosterResource puts the updated Blue Jays luxury tax payroll just above the CBT threshold of $233M. Varsho qualified for Super Two status this offseason with his 2.128 years of MLB service time, which makes him eligible for arbitration this offseason even though he hasn’t accumulated three years of service time yet. Per RosterResource, he’s projected to earn $2.8M in 2023.
Amongst teams in the AL East, the Blue Jays trail only the NY Yankees’ $292M estimated CBT payroll. Arguably the Jays front office have done exactly what they said they would at the beginning of the offseason in focusing on run prevention and pitching, as well as on improving the balance in the Blue Jays batting lineup. But including in Gurriel in the trade for Varsho could be construed as a luxury tax driven move?
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia cornerback Daniel Harris was arrested on a reckless driving charge after police said he was driving 106 mph, the latest player on the top-ranked Bulldogs to run afoul of the law behind the wheel.
The sophomore from Miami was stopped by Athens-Clarke County police and booked into jail on five misdemeanor charges at 10:40 p.m. Thursday, according to an online report. He was released about an hour later on a total of $50 in bonds.
In addition to reckless driving, Harris was charged with no proof of insurance, driving an unregistered vehicle, failing to use safety belts and illegal tinting of the windows.
According to an incident report obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald, Harris was stopped near the Georgia campus after passing two other vehicles on a rainy evening in a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. He was clocked doing 41 mph over the speed limit of 65 mph.
The arrest came less than 48 hours before Georgia (2-0) played its first Southeastern Conference game at Kentucky.
Coach Kirby Smart has acknowledged struggling to get his players to drive safely — an issue that took on heightened importance since a crash that killed a player and a recruiting staffer in January 2023, shortly after the team celebrated its second straight national championship.
Football players at the school have been involved in at least two dozen driving-related violations such as DUI, reckless driving or speeding, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has reported. Offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in the crash that occurred while LeCroy and defensive tackle Jalen Carter were racing.
Smart has steadfastly declined to comment on any punishment that his players receive, though past history would indicate that Harris will be suspended for the game Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky.
Running back Trevor Etienne did not play in a season-opening victory over Clemson after an offseason arrest. He did play this past Saturday against Tennessee Tech.
Without providing specifics, Smart has said that players are disciplined with suspensions and fines through the collective that provides name, image and likeness payments to the school’s athletes.
“The incidents that have been happening off the field are not something we condone,” Smart said this summer before taking the stage at SEC Media Days in Dallas. “It’s very unfortunate, disappointing, I guess is the best word.”
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