In this week’s edition of Blue Jays Central: Ask the Insiders, the Insiders answered several fan questions including whether they should go all out to sign Cuban pitching sensation Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez and whether it’s normal for a GM to consult veteran players before making a big trade.
Jason asks: What do you guys hear about this Cuban pitching sensation Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez? Do you think the Jays should make a run at him?
Buck Martinez: Jason, the hardest thing to evaluate with these Cuban players is how they will fair against major league talent. The Cubans for years have dominated in international play because the competition wasn’t major league calibre. I know all of the hype with Chapman, Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig has stoked the imagination of many fans around baseball, but the cost of signing Gonzalez will be high. The good thing about signing him is that it will “only” take money, not players as it would if you had to trade for him. I know the Jays scouted him in Mexico but so did everybody else. It takes a veteran eye to determine whether or not a player is a major leaguer in one short scouting tryout. Tough call for me to sign him.
Pat Tabler: Jason, I hear that the Cuban pitcher Gonzalez is legit. He is going to command top dollar. If he is anything close to another Cuban pitcher, Aroldis Chapman, then I think the Jays should be “all in” trying to sign him. All it takes is money and it doesn’t cost prospects (if you try to trade for a pitcher). I hope the Jays are looking at him and try to sign him.
Shi Davidi: The reports on him are that he’s capable of helping a big-league team in short order but whether he’s worth the $60 million price tag he’s carrying is another matter. My sense is the Blue Jays would make a run at him, but not at that price.
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Jamie Campbell: Jason, it depends if the club has scouts that have seen him. You’d have to ensure enough people have made an assessment before you get in to a bidding war. The A’s were right on Cespedes and the Dodgers look like they were right on Puig. That doesn’t mean you’re right every time.
Rob asks: I was watching the Sportsnet feature on the 1993 Jays this week and I was curious about one thing. Before the team traded for Rickey Henderson, Cito Gaston and Pat Gillick gathered a few of the veteran players together and asked what they thought about adding him. Is this a common thing, giving veteran players input on adding a player mid-season?
Buck Martinez: Rob, that is a fairly common practice used by established veteran teams like the 1993 Jays. They had already won, had an idea they needed a piece, Henderson was available and Gillick tested the waters to see what the players thought about adding a veteran to the club. They had done this in the past with Cliff Johnson in 1985. Cliff had played with us but was allowed to test free agency in 1984. He signed with the Rangers. Bobby Cox came to many of the veteran players late in August of 1985 and asked about getting Heathcliff back to DH. We all knew him well and felt he could help us win and the Jays made the trade. He ended up hitting .368 in seven games of the ALCS against Kansas City.
Jack Morris: I wasn’t in the meeting when they were asked about Henderson. My experience as a player was that nobody asked the players anything. You got to the park that day and found out you had a new teammate, like when the Jays added David Cone in 1992.
Gregg Zaun: Rob, I am guessing the reason for the meeting is to see if anyone really knew what Rickey was like as a teammate. People’s public persona can be different than reality whether self or media induced. The chemistry was important to the veterans. Rickey has a very dynamic personality. He speaks about himself in the third person quite often. It can rub some people the wrong way if you don’t know how to take it. Personally, I’d take Rickey on my team any day.
Shi Davidi: It’s not totally unusual, as some GMs like to gauge the opinions of their own players about rivals to get a sense of how the clubhouse might react. Players also can know things about other players that can assist in the decision making process.
Jamie Campbell: Rob, I don’t think it’s uncommon. Alex Anthopoulos takes pride in researching acquisitions. If you had questions about a player’s commitment or character, why not ask people who know him or once played with him? In many cases, that could be someone on your own team.
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Ryan asks: As we get closer to the first MLB trade deadline on July 31, do you have a sense of which Blue Jays might be available in a deal? Who would be a good fit in your mind as an addition?
Buck Martinez: Ryan, the next 10 games will determine the direction of the club as far as the trade deadline. Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros are at Rogers Centre to open up the “second half” of the schedule and a strong showing by the Jays may encourage Alex Anthopoulos to look for some help. The trade market for starting pitching isn’t that strong with many teams looking to add a starter. The Jays don’t have a lot of depth in the upper levels of their system and AA has said he isn’t interested in a “rental player” that would be a free agent at the end of the season and leave. I don’t think the Jays are on the verge of a deal as there might be help in the system with Happ, Romero and maybe a youngster like Stroman down the road.
Gregg Zaun: Ryan, I think the Jays should be both buyers and sellers at the trade deadline. They should position themselves to win the World Series in 2014 via trades at the deadline and good free agent signings.
Dirk Hayhurst: Ryan, the only real strength the Jays have to trade from is their great stable of a quality bullpen arms. They’d be wise to shop one or two of them around. It’s a sellers’ market for quality pen relief right now and the Jays not only have good arms, they have potential closer situation arms with Delabar, Cecil and McGowan. However, the Jays closer, Casey Janssen, would probably make the most sense to shop now since next year is his walk year and the Jays have Delabar and Cecil under control for a few more cheap, controllable years.
The Jays might have been able to move Johnson if he was pitching strong, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. The best thing the Jays can do now is sit on what they have and hope it improves.
Shi Davidi: The Blue Jays won’t be trading established guys for prospects, and their only real area of depth right now is the bullpen. Many players would be good fits, but the Blue Jays need starting pitching under club control beyond this season, plus either a second or third baseman. The reality is such deals may have to wait for the winter.
Jamie Campbell: Ryan, Anthopoulos has already stated that he will not trade established players. Still, he might want to do right by Darren Oliver and try and move him to a contender if the Jays feel they won’t be one of them.
Mike asks: How important is the All-Star break in terms of recharging players in time for the second half? For those that played in MLB, how did you usually spend your break?
Buck Martinez: Mike, the All-Star break now at four days is like a two week vacation for players and coaches in the middle of a grinding six month season. We all get worn down a bit from the daily schedule and the break certainly helps recharge the batteries. Many players will take the time to visit their homes for a few days, to sleep in their own bed and enjoy a quiet dinner with the family. Others will take a trip with the family to make up for lost time during the summer.
We used to rent a cottage on the Trent Severn Waterway to get away. It was always a real treat. Then you have the All-Stars who don’t get much of a break at all with all of the demands for media interviews, the workout day, home run contest and finally the game. Most players will take their families and extended families and guests to the festivities and the time can be exhausting. That being said I would have loved to have been worn out after an All-Star game, something I never enjoyed.
Jack Morris: Well the problem is the very best players who could really use the break don’t actually get one as they’ve got to play in the game. But the few days are big as the players need a break to get away for bit. But when I played we didn’t really have much time. It was a three day break, now it’s four. You spent one day flying home and one day flying back to the team. Just enough time to get home and pay a few bills and maybe have a BBQ or something.
Pat Tabler: Mike, you are so right. The All-Star break is a great time to recharge your batteries and get you fired up about the second half of the season. As a player you want to get away from your job and not even think about baseball for a few days. You play each and every day, home and on the road, and it can really wear you down. Just get away and do something different. We used to take a quick trip or just go back home and sit around the house. I know I never watched the All-Star game!!
Dirk Hayhurst: Very important. It’s the longest stretch of off time a player will get during an eight month long season (spring training plus regular season plus playoffs). When I had a chance to enjoy the All-Star break, I usually went home for a little stay-cation. Me, my wife, the dog, and good food and family catch up.
Josie asks: What do you think of the suggestion that the real home record that Chris Davis should be chasing is Roger Maris’ 61? While I guess 73 will always be the official mark, what do you guys who cover the game daily think?
Buck Martinez: Josie, Chris Davis really opened a can of worms when he mentioned that most fans believe Roger Maris’ 61 home runs was the record and not Bonds’ 73. I know where he is coming from, but I think baseball will decide what the record is and so far nothing indicates they are ready to change the record books. Personally I don’t think any of the “cheaters” should be acknowledged by the Hall of Fame. But then again, do we really know who the “cheaters” are? We all have our opinions, but as far as I am concerned they are just opinions.
Pat Tabler: Josie, I guess until there is solid proof/evidence that Barry Bonds took steroids, then the home run record belongs to him. It doesn’t matter what my personal view is. I would like to see Major League Baseball take a firm stand and find out who were the guilty players and then adjust the record books to their findings. That way we will have a true HR record. No asterisk or footnote. Just find the truth and finalize this once and for all!
Gregg Zaun: Josie, until MLB can show me the results of a failed drug test by Barry Bonds, I will continue to call 73 the single season mark and Barry the all-time greatest home run hitter.
Dirk Hayhurst: Josie, 73 is the official mark and it doesn’t matter if Chris Davis or anyone else thinks it shouldn’t be. The fact of the matter is, until baseball institutes a provision that states players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs will have their accomplishments expunged from the game, their stats stand. Chris Davis may think it’s immoral, but it doesn’t change the reality of the record, or the fact that cheating, despite all of Major League Baseball’s rhetoric to the contrary, is a fair way to achieve records if you’re willing to risk the punishment.
Shi Davidi: Morally you can certainly make that argument, and in many eyes 61 is far more legitimate than 73. But to me, in the absence of Olympic-like record cleansing, we can’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend that 73 didn’t happen, just like the Black Sox scandal in 1919 didn’t negate a World Series win for the Cincinnati Reds. If it’s in the record book, for better or worse, it’s the record.
Jamie Campbell: Josie, let’s be honest. For the rest of time, Bonds’ record will be eyed with suspicion. If Chris Davis hits 50, 55, 60 or higher, let’s just tip our caps and say well done… and trust him when he says he’s clean.