Jays Journal » Trystan Magnuson

Jays Notes: Oakland A’s, Tony LaCava, J.P. Arencibia, Trystan Magnuson

Jared Macdonald — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:05:45 +0000

Some Jays notes worth bringing up on this Friday afternoon:

According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Oakland A’s will listen to offers on almost everybody on their roster except for Jemile Weeks as they wait on MLB for a ruling about their potential move to San Jose. Why’s this on our site then? Because the A’s have an excess of starting pitching, and two of their starters in particular could be nice fits for the Jays. Articles to follow later this weekend.

Jays Avoid Arbitration With 7 Players

Jared Macdonald — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:40:14 +0000

The Blue Jays entered the month with the most arbitration-eligible players in the Majors with nine, and were ultimately able to come to agreements with seven of those nine players.

Yunel Escobar, who managed a .275 average and .696 OPS in 60 games since coming over to the Jays in a mid-season trade, received a 1-year, $2.9M contract in his first arbitration eligible season, which was a $2.465M raise over his 2010 salary. Out of the players that were able to avoid arbitration, Escobar received the highest salary, and the Jays are likely hoping for him to return to his 2009 form, when he hit .299/.377/.436 in 141 games for the Atlanta Braves.

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Top 50 Jays Prospects, Jays Journal Edition: #37 Alan Farina (With Video)

Jared Macdonald — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 04:40:16 +0000

Image courtesy of waatp.com

After #38 Mitchell Taylor, a promising young lefty to definitely watch closely next season, comes the highest ranked relief pitcher on our list at #37…

#37: Alan Robert Farina

Pitcher / 24 years old / 5′11″ 195 lbs

Born: August 9th, 1986 in Chuluota, Florida

Bats: Right Throws: Right

High School Team: Oviedo Lions

College: Clemson University

Drafted by: The Toronto Blue Jays in the 3rd round (115th overall) of the 2007 First-Year-Player Draft for $254,250

Jersey Number: #10 for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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Top 50 Blue Jays Prospects, Jays Journal Edition: #47 Nestor Molina

Jared Macdonald — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:20:37 +0000

With numbers 50, 49, and 48 in the books, here is #47 on our Top 50 Blue Jays Prospect list!

Image courtesy of Joel Dinda

#47: Nestor Alberto Molina

Relief Pitcher / 21 years old / 6′1″ 179 lbs

Born: January 9th, 1989 in Valencia, Venezuela

Bats: Right Throws: Right

High School Team: N/A

College: N/A

Drafted: Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2006

Jersey Number: #20 for the Lansing Lugnuts, #60 for the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2010

Quick Facts:

Made his professional debut as a 17-year-old in the Venezuelan Summer League
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Jays Acquire Rajai Davis From A’s For Trystan Magnuson & Daniel Farquhar

Jared Macdonald — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:57:40 +0000

(6:57pm EST) The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired speedy outfielder Rajai Davis from the Oakland Athletics for Double-A relief pitchers Daniel Farquhar and Trystan Magnuson according to new Jays MLB.com reporter Gregor Chisholm (via Twitter). The announcement was also confirmed via a team press release on the official Jays website.

Davis, whose only knock would be his age (30), is a career .281/.330/.383 hitter in stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics. He is entering his 2nd year of arbitration eligibility and will surely receive a raise from the $1.35M he made in 2010, but he is under team control until the end of the 2013 season. Rajai Davis isn’t the type of name that screams blockbuster trade, but after a more in depth look, he should help the Jays in 2011 and beyond. (more…)

Jays Secure One Fifth of Rotation Through 2016

Mat Germain — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:32:36 +0000

Ricky Romero has blossomed into the ace that the Jays knew they were going to need to take a step forward after losing Roy Halladay this off-season. His demeanor and take-no-prisoner attitude have really set the standard for the rotation and he, along with Shaun Marcum, has taken the rotation under his wing as he gains maturity and experience. The Jays and Alex Anthopolous recognize what they have in Romero, moved to secure him long term in order to provide stability in the front of the rotation, and now have one fifth of the rotation secured through 2016. Well done Alex.

If the Jays are really going to bring a new swagger to the team and claim to compete in the AL East, they’re going to need to make Toronto a place where players clamour to come to. What better way to do this than to secure players such as Romero who help the team compete year after year. Also, remember that earlier this year the Jays also secured Adam Lind’s services through 2016, giving the team control over another of its core players through that time. (more…)

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…)

Jays Rebound, Marcum Sets The Tone

Mat Germain — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:15:39 +0000

Shaun Marcum knows exactly what he;s got and knows exactly how to use it. His devastating change up is so awesome that hitters are in a constant state of flux about when to swing. Early swings, pop ups, and ground outs are the direct result of this pitch and it worked for Shaun all day long – with 1 exception being a pitch Ryan Howard recognized enough to tattoo into the center-right field stands. The Jays needed this win to get back on track some and will now be able to concentrate on winning the rubber match.The fact that Marcum was effective set the tone for the Jays in this game and allowed the offense to get things going, slowly but surely.To score 5 runs and have 3 HRs in a game is becoming pretty standard for the Jays as it still seems to be their strategy to knock the snot out of the baseball, regardless of averages that result from this approach.

Brett Cecil has had plenty of time to prepare and watch the Phillies hit, so hopefully he took the right notes. I really do like how Cito set up the lineup yesterday, although I’m not sure it will last. Batting Lind and Hill lower in the lineup gives them more RBI opportunities and is definitely the change of pace both needed to get back on track and motivated.It’ll be interesting to see if he uses a similar lineup today. (more…)

Eveland The Pirate, Uviedo The Bonus

Mat Germain — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:17:27 +0000

The Jays got a decent minors pitcher for Dana Eveland but could have easily lost him for nothing – which is pretty much what they gave up to get him from Oakland in February. They had promised cash or a player to be named for Eveland and he did provide the Jays with some solid starts mixed in with some horrifying starts. The Jays have known all along that their rotation was going to include Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski, or Brian Tallet, and that Eveland was merely a fill in until those guys return to action. It’s surprising that the Pirates had to give up as much as they did for Eveland, because there is some real potential value in RHP Ronald Uviedo that still has a chance to benefit the Jays in a year or two. (more…)

Jays Prospects Review

Mat Germain — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:13:10 +0000

Before we head into the draft, I thought it was important to take a gander at what we currently have on board and how well players are doing in the Jays minors. Here is the first of many instalments of the Jays Prospects Review, where I’ll list the Hot, Cold, Trailing off the map, and Skyrocketing prospects in the Jays system.

Hot Jays Prospects:

2B Jarrett Hoffpauir AAA - Hit for the cycle for the second time this season in AAA and is hitting .353 with 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 3 HRs over his last 10 games. He’s doing everything in his power to get the call to the bigs and could actually become some pretty decent trade bait. (more…)