Blue Jays Morning Brew: Young Guns & Melky Cabrera

Good Morning. Wipe the sleep from your eyes because we’ve brewed up a fresh pot of Blue Jays goodness to start your day. Here’s your Blue Jays Morning Brew. It has been really quiet lately with the Toronto Blue Jays. But, there have been a few nuggets that are worth looking at.

Recently, MLBTR.com put out their Offseason Outlook for the Blue Jays. Of note are a couple interesting ideas. A name that is suggested as a possible fit at 2B is the Cubs’ Luis Valbuena. Hmmm. His offensive numbers are ok. But, his defensive UZR at 2B and 3B are…not jaw dropping. They also suggest that Melky Cabrera may not have such a large array of options this off season due to the potential first round pick attached to him (if he rejects the Blue Jays’ $15.3M qualifying offer) and his previous PED suspension.

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They may have an argument when they suggest his glove is below-average. But, this PED issue should not be a factor. I think he’s served his time and proven himself since then. Let’s move on.

Ian Hunter (Blue Jays Hunter.com) takes a look at what Melky Cabrera and the blue Jays are facing coming into the off season. He argues that the Blue Jays need Melky more than he does them. While Kevin Pillar, Anthony Gose and Dalton Pompey appear to be the only options if a deal doesn’t get worked out, I’d agree with his assessment. And, if he can get just one more year than the stupid 5 years the Blue Jays will stick to, at 30 yrs old, Melky could be as good as gone.

120 Sports discusses how the Blue Jays have been impacted by their young guys in the farm system. I was on board with everything he said until he throws out there that Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris could all be trade bait to land a proven veteran. Um…wow.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not so sure I’m OK with these young guys being traded away. Not that they are so close now. What do you say? Check out the Poll below.

At MLB.com, Gregor Chisholm thinks that there is a chance the Blue Jays can actually deal away a starter. Despite what GM, Alex Anthopoulos has said regarding hording depth, Chisholm says that even though Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan appear to be on their way out, it’s OK. He feels good about having Aaron Sanchez, Daniel Norris, Sean Nolin and Kendall Graveman at the ready.

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Chisholm is realistic in his thoughts that a top tier free agent starter is probably not going to happen for Toronto, so they will probably have to look within for improvements.

Finally, according to Mike Mordecai, Blue Jays minor league coach, if baseball wants to cut down on the length of games, they could eliminate walk up music. Brendan Kennedy at The Star tells us that Mordecai is currently working with prospects in the Arizona Fall League. Apparently, the AFL is the sight of MLB’s testing of several time saving ideas. Some of which include a pitch clock.

Another idea that is being considered is the inning clock, “which requires batters to be in the box one minute and 45 seconds after the previous half-inning, and pitchers to throw within the next 20 seconds.” Personally, I think they really need to cut down on is the trips to the mound and the walks around it a pitcher may take. But, the worst waste of time right now is the “check back to the bench to decide if they will appeal” shenanigans.

Young Starter Poll: