Blue Jays: What signing Freddy Galvis means for the other shortstops

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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 29: Freddy Galvis #13 of the San Diego Padres hits an RBI single during the ninth inning on Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers at PETCO Park on March 29, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

At first glance the signing of Freddy Galvis looks like a solid move to shore up the infield depth, but there could be more to it than that.

Earlier this offseason Ross Atkins made it clear that he wanted to bring in another infielder to help shore up the depth chart for new manager Charlie Montoyo. This statement was made after the Blue Jays had already traded Aledmys Diaz to Houston, and released Troy Tulowitzki and the two years remaining on his contract.

Those moves were each made for valid reasons, with the former bringing back Trent Thornton in trade, and the latter cutting loose a veteran that was taking space on the 40 man roster, and wouldn’t be a part of the rebuild, or likely even the 25 man roster. And while each departure made sense, it left the Blue Jays a little vulnerable at shortstop. They have Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was assumed to be the starter, and beyond that were names like Richard Urena and MiLB signing Eric Sogard. Bringing in another veteran made sense.

Only in this case, the Blue Jays were able to snag a pretty significant veteran. I’m not talking about someone on an All-Star level by any means, but Freddy Galvis is a pretty decent fit for a lot of teams up the middle, and it sounds like there was a lot of interest. In fact, there may have been as many as 12 teams that were interested in his services, which makes me wonder what he was promised in order to come to Toronto.

Wherever the conversation went, there’s no doubt that Galvis liked the Blue Jays offer enough to sign his next contract in Toronto, and I sincerely doubt it was the five million in guaranteed money, including an option for next year. More likely it had something to do with playing time, and let’s have a look at how that could effect the other shortstop options in Toronto.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Prior to Galvis’ signing, it was widely assumed that Lourdes Gurriel Jr. would take over as the starting shortstop next season, and at least given an opportunity to show whether or not he belongs at the position long term. He’s an athletic defender with a rocket arm, so he could certainly be an asset at shortstop even if he didn’t flourish there last season in a relatively small sample size.

He made 40 starts (46 appearances) there at the big league level last year, and 20 starts (24 appearances) at second base. There’s no doubt that he was better at second, but when you consider his defensive skillset he seems like he should be utilized somewhere else, especially where his arm can shine.

Once Diaz and Tulowitzki were out of the picture it looked like Gurriel Jr. had a clear path to as many starts at short as he could handle. However, now there’s a good chance that he’ll share the position with Galvis, who has been a mainstay for the Padres and the Phillies over the past two seasons. In fact, last year he started every single day, with 157 games at shortstop and other five at second, and in 2017 he started 155 games at short. He’s also a plus defender at the position, rating as a 1.6 dWAR according to baseball reference.

I have no doubt that Galvis will see a reduced number of starts this season in Toronto, but if Ross Atkins was able to convince him to come North over the offers or interest from nearly a dozen other teams then he must have said something to the new acquisition’s liking. I have no idea how that conversation went, but my guess is it results in less starts at shortstop for Gurriel Jr. than we thought he’d get a week ago, and personally I’ll be a little disappointed if that’s the case.

https://twitter.com/FAN590/status/1090635581628006400

Gurriel Jr. will definitely get to start on a regular basis, and it’s possible that we see him all over the diamond including at second base as we witnessed last year, and also at positions like third base, or maybe even in the corner outfield. He was once viewed as a potential super-utility type of player, and with Galvis’ arrival it’s possible the Blue Jays may now experiment with the idea a little more.

None of this is for certain of course, but what we do know is that the path to shortstop is less clear for Gurriel Jr. than it was a few days ago.

Richard Urena

Aside from Gurriel Jr. the player that might be most directly affected by Galvis’ signing could be Richard Urena.

My assumption was that Urena would start the season as the back-up infielder in Toronto next year, especially because of his ability to play shortstop. The infield should also include guys like Brandon Drury, Devon Travis, and first basemen like Justin Smoak and maybe even Rowdy Tellez. Urena is capable and experienced at shortstop, third, and second base, so he’s a decent fit as the extra infielder.

However, he could certainly benefit from a little more time served in the minor leagues as well, even if his best performances have come at the highest level. Last season he slashed .293/.340/.364 in 108 plate appearances with the Blue Jays, but that was a pretty small sample size. In 2017, he hit .206/.270/.309 in 78 plate appearances, which is probably closer to his reality at this point. For example, last year in Triple-A Buffalo he slashed .216/.250/.344, so there’s work to be done on offence.

Now that Galvis is in the fold it’s likely that Urena starts the season in Buffalo and has to wait for an injury before getting called up. That could be best for his long term development, but I’m sure he’ll be a little disappointed. Still, it’s a long season over the course of 162 games, so he’ll get another chance in 2019 at some point I’m sure. It’s probably just not coming on Opening Day.

Devon Travis

I snuck Devon Travis into this article, even though he’s not a shortstop. I did that because I believe there’s potential that he could be greatly affected by Galvis’ signing as well, just like the rest of the players mentioned on this list.

What’s working against the four-year Blue Jay is his injury history, and his lack of positional flexibility. We’ve already talked about how Gurriel Jr. and Urena can move around the diamond, and the same can be said for Brandon Drury as well. The 26 year old played both second and third base last season, and he also has some experience in the outfield in the past as well. Unfortunately it’s not a resume piece that Travis can bring to the table like his other infield counterparts.

To start the year the Blue Jays are going to have room for either 12 or 13 position players on their 25 man roster, depending on how many bullpen arms they choose to carry. Let’s assume they go with 13, and that no major trades happen before the season opens. They’ll need to have room for:

C– Danny Jansen, Luke Maile (or maybe Reese McGuire)

1B– Justin Smoak (and maybe Rowdy Tellez)

2B– Travis, Drury, Galvis, Urena

SS– Gurriel Jr., Galvis, Urena

3B– Drury

OF– Kevin Pillar, Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, Billy McKinney

DH– Kendrys Morales

Right now that 25th roster spot likely comes down to a decision between carrying Urena, Tellez, or maybe a fifth outfielder like Dalton Pompey, Dwight Smith Jr., or Jonathan Davis. Pompey is out of minor league options and remains on the 40 man roster, so the club could lean in his direction if they don’t make a different move before Opening Day.

I see no space for Devon Travis anymore. At least with Vlad, Lourdes, Drury and Galvis there shouldn't be.
— adge (@AdrianCrisostim) January 30, 2019

Where it gets more complicated, especially for Travis, is when Vladimir Guerrero Jr, arrives in the big leagues. The #1 prospect in baseball is going to take over full-time duties at third base when he’s promoted, and that’s going to lead to a logjam up the middle and a situation where Travis could be watching from the bench a lot more than he’d like, or maybe worse.

Bo Bichette

If Lourdes Gurriel Jr. isn’t going to be the shortstop of the future in Toronto, there’s a good chance that job will eventually fall to Bo Bichette. By most scouting reports he’s expected to arrive in the big leagues sometimes in 2019, but that will depend on a lot of factors.

To be fair, Bichette hasn’t played a single game at Triple-A yet, and it’s likely the Blue Jays will want him to experience that level for a while and prove he’s ready for the big leagues. He was quietly excellent last season with a line of .286/.343/.453 with 43 doubles in New Hampshire in 2018, but some people were a little underwhelmed with his performance for two reasons.

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The first is because Bichette hit a staggering .384 in Lansing in 2017, and finished the year with a slash line of .362/.423/.565 between Low and High-A. His performance had the baseball world talking even as he was just 19 years old at the time, and while he was impressive in 2018, he wasn’t quite the same world-beater he’d been a year before. To be fair, that’s a pretty unfair standard to live up to.

And speaking of unfair standards to live up to, some people forget how good Bichette was last year because of the performance of Vlad Guerrero Jr. The two of them dominated in Lansing together in 2017 and were both promoted to Dunedin at the same time that season. They were a dynamic duo at both levels, and unfortunately they were separated last season. That was necessitated by Guerrero’s ridiculous performance at the plate, but that shouldn’t be held against Bichette at all.

For now, Bichette will not only have to prove that he’s ready to surpass the Triple-A in pretty short order, but the Blue Jays would also have to find playing time for him in a potentially crowded infield picture. That could change with injuries and/or another trade or two of course, but Galvis’ signing makes Bichette’s chances of playing in Toronto this year a little less likely. It’s possible the Blue Jays would prefer he spend a full season in Buffalo anyway, but Atkins did mention that the front office hopes Bichette “forces their hand”, so here’s hoping that’s how they really feel.

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By no means am I meaning to pain Freddy Galvis’ signing with a negative brush, but he’s a talented enough player that his presence will have a trickle down effect on others within the organization, at least in the short term. I still expect that Gurriel Jr. will get a fair share of opportunity at shortstop, and hopefully he’ll force the organization’s hand in the same way that Atkins is hoping Bichette will. If not, they’ve got Galvis on board to serve as a fall back plan.

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