Blue Jays: What to do with Ryan Goins

Veteran utility man, Ryan Goins has been playing some of the best baseball of his career over the last few weeks, filling in admirably for the injured Troy Tulowitzki.

Despite the fact that the Blue Jays’ disabled list is reading like their starting lineup card, the club won another series on Wednesday night on the strength of a walk-off victory against the Cleveland Indians. Last night’s game was the rubber match in the return of Edwin Encarnacion, and the Blue Jays’ patched together lineup came through for another win, moving their record to 13-21.

With the likes of Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, and Kendrys Morales missing from the batting lineup, the Blue Jays have been very fortunate to receive solid play from their depth players. Darwin Barney, Chris Coghlan, and especially Ryan Goins have been playing great as they’ve received regular playing time, contributing on both sides of the ball and helping keep the boat on the water while the injured stars watch from the sidelines.

In Goins’ case, he was close to being designated for assignment or traded at the start of the year, but the club elected to keep him around in favour of Melvin Upton for the 25th roster spot. The decision has paid off in spades, as Goins has been needed with the mounting injuries, and he’s played quite well well to boot.

Troy Tulowitzki is expected to be the first position player to return from the DL, hopefully coming back next week. With his return, the question becomes, what should the Blue Jays do with Ryan Goins? We’ll take a look at a few options, from likely, to not so much.

Ease Tulowitzki back into the lineup at designated hitter. 

We don’t know for sure how long Kendrys Morales is going to be out, but chances are he’ll spend the minimum on the disabled list if history repeats itself this year. With that, the Blue Jays need to fill the DH role, something that Jose Bautista occupied on Wednesday night.

One option to keep Goins in the lineup and take advantage of his defensive abilities is to place Tulo at DH until Morales returns, riding the hot hand at shortstop and easing the 5 time All-Star back into the lineup from his hamstring issues. It should be beneficial for both parties, even if it’s a short term solution.

As the season continues, Tulowitzki’s bat is important to keep around, so it might make sense to start Goins at short on a semi-regular basis, at least a little more than they have in the past. Again, Tulo could slot into DH, especially with Morales having shown himself to be somewhat capable at first base, at least for the odd game here and there.

Goins’ glove has always played at the major league level but it’s been his bat that’s been a detriment. With the way he’s been swinging the stick with regular playing time, it would be a shame in some ways to relegate him back to a seldom used role player. Which brings us to option two…

Should the Blue Jays consider starting Goins at second base?

With Tulowitzki’s impending return, eventually Ryan Goins won’t be the full time starter at shortstop. Yes, he’s incredible on defence, but frankly, so is Tulo and moving him from there isn’t an option at this stage of his career.

However, Goins has proven himself more than capable at pretty much any defensive position he plays, with second base being his other most common position. As we all know, Devon Travis currently occupies the starting second base gig, and has started to look better at the plate lately as well. That said, should the Blue Jays consider bumping him in favour of Goins?

Travis’ defence is pretty solid and seems to be improving all the time, but he’s no Ryan Goins with the glove. If he’s not going to hit the way he has over the last two seasons (when healthy), then it makes it more and more difficult to keep Goins and/or Darwin Barney on the bench in his favour.

Ideally for the Jays, Travis will start to swing the bat like he has in the past, but if he continues to struggle it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see Goins see more time at second. He was the regular starter in 2015 after Travis’ season-ending injury, and hit .252 that season. While that’s nothing to write home about, it’s more than adequate if you play defence the way he does.

If he could hit .250 or better on a consistent basis there are plenty of teams around baseball that would start him on a regular basis. And on that note….

Should the Blue Jays look to trade him while he’s relevant?

As we mentioned earlier, Goins was on the bubble for even making the team out of spring training, as he was out of options and likely wouldn’t have passed through the waiver process. The Blue Jays elected to cut Melvin Upton instead and the rest is history.

There were reports that part of the reason for selecting Goins over Upton was the trade market for each player. Upton reportedly had next to no interest, while Goins had a few teams that were interested in his services. With the Blue Jays having to juggle the 25 and 40 man rosters, it made sense that they figured they could at least bring back an asset for Goins, if the right offer presented itself. Fortunately for John Gibbons and the Jays’ brass, that trade never happened prior to all the injuries.

However, should the Blue Jays gauge the trade market, now that Tulowitzki is almost back from injury? Not that you want to get rid of an asset like Goins with an infield that has spent as much time on the DL as the Blue Jays’, but is it worth checking to see what he might fetch?

He’s had a great audition lately and he’s answered the call in a big way, so it’s entirely possible there are rival GMs viewing him as a possible starting option in the infield. He wouldn’t cost a great deal in trade, and he will definitely hold his own on defence in a worst case scenario.

All that said, the Blue Jays may decide to hang on to him in the event they need injury fill-ins again, or of course there’s always the possibility…..

It’s a long season, and we’ll likely need everyone

The Blue Jays have been very fortunate to receive the solid play they have from Goins, Barney and others in the absence of their stars. While it’s tempting to think about whether they need everyone or not, and what a trade could fetch, the smart play is likely keeping as much depth as possible, especially with Donaldson and Tulowitzki’s injury history.

The only thing that would make Goins a better depth piece would be if he still had options, as he did over the last number of seasons, but unfortunately that doesn’t last forever. Between he and Barney, they’ve both proven capable of starting in the short term, and they could be called upon later in the year as well. In addition to Tulo and JD, Devon Travis has struggled with shoulder and knee injuries in his short career, and is no guarantee to stay healthy all year either.

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They’ve been crucial in turning the Blue Jays’ horrific start around, as the club has won two series in a row on the strength of their heroics, including Goins’ walk-off hit on Wednesday against Cleveland.

He’s always been a fan favourite, and if he continues to play like this as a starter then John Gibbons will find ways to get him into the lineup, especially in the short term. For now, he’ll continue to see regular playing time at least until Tulo returns, and will likely get pencilled in a fair amount even after that.

Whomever made the final decision to keep Goins over Melvin Upton likely deserves a raise right about now. As bad as things look for the injury depleted Blue Jays at the moment, they could be a whole lot worse without the play of their depth pieces.

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