Jays Journal » Troy Glaus

How the Matt Garza Trade Affects the Blue Jays

Jared Macdonald — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:27:27 +0000

Officially announced on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays shipped out Matt Garza and his squirrel tail goatee, along with Fernando Perez and Zach Rosscup to the Chicago Cubs for Sam Fuld and minor-leaguers Christopher Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, and Hak-Ju-Lee.

The Blue Jays weren’t involved, and sure, eight player trades are more of a rarity nowadays, but why should Jays fans care about this deal?

Image courtesy of Bleacher Report

Reason #1

The first reason is the most obvious one: Matt Garza is no longer in the American League. Jays fans should be rejoicing and partying in the streets over this one, because Garza was one of the Jays’ biggest headaches on the Rays’ roster.

Outside of James Shields, no starting pitcher on the Rays’ staff had faced the Jays more. In Garza’s 13 starts against Toronto, the Jays mustered just a .294 on base percentage and .320 slugging percentage against him, good for a .615 OPS. The Jays posted their lowest OPS against Garza in his career over any of Garza’s teammates that included James Shields (.783 OPS), David Price (.663 OPS), Wade Davis (.667 OPS), and Jeff Niemann (.688 OPS). Garza had faced the Jays more than any other team aside from the Boston Red Sox, and to make matters worse, excluding his one appearance against the Phillies and Padres, the Jays had the lowest OPS against Garza out of all the teams he had faced in his career. (more…)

Reviewing Baseball America’s Top 30 Jays Prospects: 2007 Edition

Mat Germain — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:32:25 +0000

The reason I chose to review the 2007 edition of Baseball America’s Top 30 Jays prospects is because by now, most of these players have shown us what they are capable of. It’s always fun to do a “where are they now” type of article and to see if some have succeeded, some have lingered, and some have left baseball altogether. I think you’ll agree that the system, under JP Ricciardi, was extremely top heavy and thin, something I’m sure we all agree has changed under Alex “The Great” Anthopoulos. (more…)

Five Years Ago Today: Jays Acquired Troy Glaus, Dealt Orlando Hudson

Jared Macdonald — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:58:53 +0000

It was five years ago today, on December 27th, 2005, that the Toronto Blue Jays shipped Gold Glove second baseman and fan favorite Orlando Hudson, along with Miguel Batista to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos.

TORONTO

Image courtesy of tireball.com

The Jays got two full seasons of Troy Glaus. He came as advertised in his 2006 season, where he earned an All-Star appearance for his .252/.355/.513 line, along with his 38 HR, 104 RBI, 86 walks, and 134 strikeouts.

The next season, however, Glaus was hampered by foot injuries all year which caused his production to drop significantly. Jays fans started getting used to his griping about playing on turf, as well as seeing his tantrums after he struck out. He appeared in only 115 games in 2007, where he managed to club 20 home runs and drive in 62 runs, good for a .262/.366/.473 slash line. At the end of the year on December 13th, 2007, Glaus’ name emerged on the infamous Mitchell Report, but no disciplinary action was taken against him. One month later, the Jays shipped out Glaus out in a straight-up, one-for-one deal with the St. Louis Cardinals for Scott Rolen on January 14th, 2008. (more…)

The Remaining Right-Handed Hitting 1B/DH Options for the 2011 Blue Jays

Jared Macdonald — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:34:51 +0000

On Saturday, MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Blue Jays were one of six teams that were interested in Derrek Lee.

Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but Lee represents one of the best remaining options for the Jays as a 1B/DH. It was revealed that the Washington Nationals, however, are targeting Lee to replace Adam Dunn, who signed a 4-year/$56M deal with the White Sox earlier this month.

Below is a list of the remaining right-handed hitting 1B/DH options the Jays could sign for next season: (more…)