Jays Journal » Alex Gonzalez

Don’t Trade Travis Snider

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:55:53 +0000

Buy low, sell high. Alex Anthopoulos has followed this adage for much of his tenure as the Blue Jays’ general manager, and to rave reviews. Alex Gonzalez, Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky for Yunel Escobar and Jo-Jo Reyes. Brandon League for Brandon Morrow. Marc Rzepczynski, and Jason Frasor, among others, for Colby Rasmus. AA’s puzzling [...]

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Evaluating the Yunel Escobar and Jo-Jo Reyes for Alex Gonzalez, Tyler Pastornicky, and Tim Collins

Mat Germain — Sat, 21 May 2011 22:55:15 +0000

Last July, the Jays sent SS Alex Gonzalez, who was having a career year after signing with the Jays as a FA, as well as SS prospect Tyler Pastornicky and LHP relief prospect Tim Collins to the Braves in return for SS Yunel Escobar and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes. At the time, only 2 of the players were considered core pieces (Escobar and Gonzalez) because they were the only pieces playing full-time in the majors. Today, all of them aside from Pastornicky are in the majors, which allows for an interesting comparison of both sides of the deal.

In order to get a better grip on the deal altogether, I’ll separate it into 2 portions: the SS portion and the pitching portion.

Part 1: Yunel Escobar for Alex Gonzalez Tyler Pastornicky (more…)

Will the Jays Lineup be Better in ’11?

Mat Germain — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:48:34 +0000

With the players the Jays currently have under contract, will the Jays offense be better or worse in 2011? The Jays haven’t made too many moves, but then again, did they have to? The tinkering with the lineup that was done by Alex Anthopoulos can easily be seen as upgrades at the 1B, SS, DH, OF/Bench positions, as well as in the speed category. The Jays will also presumably have Jose Bautista at 3B instead of Edwin Encarnacion, making that a huge offensive upgrade. That’s nothing to shake a stick at when you ask me, because the 2010 offense did pack a whole lot of punch as it slugged its way through the season.

The Jays offense finished 2010 with the following rankings in all of MLB: (more…)

“Blue Jays 2010 Season Preview” Reviewed

Mat Germain — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:21:02 +0000

As we enjoy Christmas time and near the new year, it’s always fun to reflect on the year that has passed us by and to review our conquests and mistakes made. That’s the process we will be going through over the next week or so at Jays Journal.

On April 2nd 2010, I made some bold and “out of the norm” predictions about the upcoming season. Some people may have called them crazy, in fact some did, because I was one of a very few people who predicted that the Jays would finish off the 2010 season with a winning record. To make such a bold prediction after the Jays dealt the best pitcher in franchise history was not easy to do, but I truly saw the potential of the squad at the time. Sure, some of my assessments didn’t pan out, and I don’t have a crystal ball to look into. But, I did make a few calls that turned out just great. Here are the verdicts, with a link to the article itself available here.

1. Blue Jays Record: My overall record projection was 82-80. The actual record was 85-77. I was off by 3 games. (more…)

Jays Jots 12/06: Brett Cecil, Yunel Escobar, Dustin McGowan, Alomar

Jared Macdonald — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:25:29 +0000

With the Winter Meetings set to begin later on this morning, here are a few interesting links to get you by until the real news starts coming in:

Bleacher Report provides some extra information on Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil.
Talking Chop offers an interesting 2010 comparison between current Jays SS Yunel Escobar and the man that was traded for him, Alex Gonzalez. (more…)

What Jays Blogs Think of the Escobar-Gonzalez Deal

Mat Germain — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:47:36 +0000

Here’s a summary of what others are saying about the biggest impact deal the Jays have made since trading Scott Rolen to the Reds:

The Blue Jay Hunter finds it to be a “phenomonal” move and adds that fans seem angriest about losing Tim Collins, not Alex Gonzalez;
Drunk Jays Fans spent more time quoting and defending Keith Law than evaluating the trade, so I take that as a no comment. Way too much “KLaw” love there….let’s tone it down some guys. I always enjoy your stuff, but this is getting gross. If he needs to protect himself, I’m sure he’ll pop up and say boo. As for his opinion, it is biased as usual against the Jays – sorry, but it’s as close to being a fact as you can get. He’s more critical of the Jays than any other club, in my humble opinion of course. If he had used the “since I was there” line 1 more time, he would have sounded like a “disgruntled ex-employee” who had dreams of being a future GM but ended up elsewhere…..hmmm….;
Tom Dakers of Bluebird Banter provides a poll that shows (as I write this) that 52% of Jays fans agree that they won the deal overall while another 20% say both won. A total support of the deal of 72% is pretty nice overall. This article also provides quotes of support for the Jays end of the deal from Baseball Prospectus
MLBastien provides “Tweaction” of the deal;
Finally, and best of all, the guys at 1Blue Jays Way provide us with a very thorough and entertaining take on the deal and support my view that it’s no even a close call – the Jays “fleeced them” as they say.

Overall, I have to say that if it wasn’t for Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones retiring after this year, this deal would never have happened. Yunel’s upside outweighs Alex’s “big half” by a ton. Having said that, the Braves may indeed get better with Alex onboard, I’m not putting Alex down. He’ll most likely do well for them this year. But, next year he may be back to his 10-15 HRs and low .200 average, meaning that the Braves will have to replace Jones, Cox AND production from the SS position.

Enjoy!

Jays Deal With Braves: Escobar for Gonzalez

Mat Germain — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:31:06 +0000

I was really interested to see what Alex Anthopolous was going get in return for Alex Gonzalez, if he was dealt at all. Well, now we know, and I have to admit that the haul he got was as good as could be expected under the circumstances. When we look at this deal from afar, we can evaluate what came back for what. In my estimation, the Jays sent Alex Gonzalez and Tyler Pastornicky in return for Yunel Escobar, and then sent Tim Collins in return for Jo Jo Reyes. Therefore, I’ll evaluate the pitching swaps seperately.

Alex Gonzalez is joined by SS Tyler Pastornicky who will take his place in the Braves system. Pastornicky will provide the Braves with another option at SS once Alex Gonzalez‘s salary expires after 2011, assuming the Braves pick up his option for that season at a cost of $2.5 million. The Braves get one of the best defensive SS in MLB in Gonzalez and more pop, something they are dearly lacking. This should help both their pitchers and their runs driven in numbers, and makes them better contenders in the NL East as a result. A solid deal for them that looks after both the present and the future at the SS position. (more…)

Oh Jays Bats, Where Art Thou?

Mat Germain — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:38:59 +0000

This is exactly what the problem is with a team full of guys who swing for the fences every time they take a swing: they get in droughts. In this case, it just ends up being that all of them are in a drought simultaneously. When you go to Colorado and can’t get 1 run in against a pitcher like Jason Hammel, you know your club’s having run scoring issues. It has gotten so bad that Cito Gaston has even opted to play small ball – bunting guys from 1st to 2nd! Who would of thought that would ever happen?

Well, when the guy at the plate is Jose Molina, you really have no choice. So where are the Jays bats? Is this really a drought, or just a more accurate picture of what the Jays have than what we saw during the first 2 months of the season? Everyone knew that Jose Bautista and Alex Gonzalez couldn’t keep up the pace they were on, but most did believe that Adam Lind and Aaron Hill would pick up that slack and keep things going for the Jays as a result. Instead, all bats are quiet and hidden….in AAA! (more…)

Jays Win Series Vs Yanks in Extras

Mat Germain — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:30:14 +0000

It was a very well pitched and managed game that displayed the relentless dedication to winning that both teams have this season. The Jays didn’t get much from the top of their lineup until the winning hit was driven in for the win in the 14th inning, but that in itself is worthwhile. Instead, it was the middle of the lineup (Wells, Gonzalez, and Overbay) that produced most of the offense for the Jays. It was enough to ensure Ricky Romero‘s great efforts in the game – going 8 strong innings with only 1 mistake, a 2-run shot given up to Derek Jeter – were not wasted. Following his efforts, the pen took over and aside from a hiccup from Kevin Gregg, they were simply outstanding on this day. (more…)

AL East Leaders Tighten Up

Mat Germain — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:03:20 +0000

The Jays kicked off their 9 games versus the Rays and Yankees with a very well earned win. Everything the Jays did was done professionally. Whether it was Brandon Morrow snagging a dribbler to turn a double play, Jose Molina picking off Sean Rodriguez at 1B to stop the first “could have been a rally”, or Cito Gaston playing who’s pitching to who with Joe Maddon from the 7th on, the Jays seemed to have an answer for anything the Rays threw at them. I have to admit the game seemed to be slipping away a little in the 9th, but that’s what makes a closer like Kevin Gregg so valuable – he gets your team out of jams, including his own. I still can’t figure out why the Cubs didn’t want to sign him. (more…)