Blue Jays Morning Brew: Podcast, Jacoby, Sanchez and more

In today’s cup of the Blue JaysMorning Brew we feature the Jays Nest Podcast with coverage from around the web on hitting coach Brook Jacoby, Aaron Sanchez and more

All is quiet on the northern front for another morning, so with that, it’s time to put on another pot of the Morning Brew. Kicking off the Brew is this week’s Jays Nest Podcast, which is now hosted by Shaun Doyle over at Jays From The Couch.

Though it’s changed website homes, you’ll still find myself and Shaun providing the same style of show weekly, which you can subscribe to on iTunes or Stitcher. Your subscription could be the best calorie-free decision you make today.

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Podcast Episode 54  –  On the Roberto Osuna edition of the Jays Nest Podcast, Shaun and I look at the possibility of Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista signing elsewhere (Boston?). It’s far-off fluff right now, but is the pressure to re-sign the two longtime Jays something that Mark Shapiro et al will be feeling in the front office?

We also banter about The People’s Champion, John Gibbons, whose contract option for 2017 was triggered on New Years Day. With some deeper discussion on the coming season and another story about myself struggling to adapt to big-city life, Episode 54 is guaranteed to be a top-50 episode.

Playing GM with Bautista  –  Here’s a great conversation to join over at Blue Bird Banter by Tom Dakers: What would you offer Jose Bautista in contract negotiations? Tom suggests two years with an average value of $22 million with a team option for the third year, which is right down the alley of what I’d be comfortable with given his age. All it takes is one team to outbid the Blue Jays, though…

Some love for Jacoby  –  I was glad to see Blue Jays hitting coach Brook Jacoby getting some credit here from FanGraphs’ Owen Watson over at Fox Sports, where he analyzes his impact on Toronto’s hitters. Especially big bats like Donaldson and Bautista, who became noticeably more aggressive to the pull side this past season.

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Jacoby is interesting because he seems to take a more hands-off approach to his projects, which we saw working with Ryan Goins throughout the season. Owen describes the strategy as such: “Let hitters be who they naturally want to be, and deal with any minor mechanical adjustments as they come up. Don’t try to mold them into someone they’re not.”

Sanchez’s role  –  Ryan Andrews over at Jays From The Couch took a look at reliever (starter?) Aaron Sanchez on Monday, and Ryan’s in the camp of bullpen-Sanchez. There’s a leg to stand on there, too, as Sanchez must still develop his complimentary pitches to a more consistent level. This may be difficult for him to achieve until Toronto lets him take some more lumps in a starting role, but his pitching role will be a story to watch as we approach the spring.