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	<title>Toronto &#187; Reese McGuire</title>
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		<title>Blue Jays 2017 Farm System in Review: The Hitters</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/09/18/blue-jays-2017-farm-system-in-review-the-hitters/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/09/18/blue-jays-2017-farm-system-in-review-the-hitters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:59:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tammy Rainey]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anthony Alford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bo Bichette]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cavan Biggio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Danny Jansen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hagen Danner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Logan Warmoth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reese McGuire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Urena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Riley Adams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rowdy Tellez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teoscar Hernandez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vlad Guerrero Jr.]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Vancouver Canadians are champions of the Northwest League. The Dunedin Blue Jays are co-champions of the Florida State League. The Bluefield Blue Jays and the DSL Blue Jays made post-season appearances. While there were some setbacks, on the whole, the system was replete with success stories. Let&#8217;s review. The Canadians made post-season magic on [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Vancouver Canadians are champions of the Northwest League.<br />
The Dunedin Blue Jays are co-champions of the Florida State League.<br />
The Bluefield Blue Jays and the DSL Blue Jays made post-season appearances.</p>
<p>While there were some setbacks, on the whole, the system was replete with success stories. Let&#8217;s review.</p>
<p>The Canadians made post-season magic on the strength of shutdown pitching while the tired offense struggled. They went 5-1 in the post-season, winning four of those five by a score of 2-1. &#8220;Big&#8221; Nate Pearson racked up 14 strikeouts in eight innings pitched over two starts, allowing a single run; The piggyback combination of Zach Logue and Justin Dillon (who regularly pitched together this season) combined for 13 innings pitched giving up only two earned runs while striking out 21 in the two games in which they appeared. More impressive yet, the Canadians&#8217; bullpen combined for 25 innings pitched, while giving up one earned run, striking out 31, and walking only five.</p>
<p>The D-Jays had to settle for co-champion status after Hurricane Irma forced the FSL to cancel their championship series. After losing game one, they played a double header against the Tampa Yankees and won both ends behind dominant pitching from T.J. Zeuch and Jordan Romano.</p>
<p>Now, with team news out of the way, I&#8217;ll turn my attention to individual performances. In part one I&#8217;ll review the hitters, by position, and in part two we&#8217;ll take a look at the pitching.</p>
<h3>Catchers</h3>
<p>This is arguably the most well stocked position in this section which is, frankly, a weird thing to be saying about the Blue Jays.  I reviewed this position at some length <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/08/28/blue-jays-minor-league-report-a-cornucopia-of-catchers/">a few weeks back.</a> To that analysis I will only take the time to add this bit of information I discovered about <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=596069#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Max Pentecost</strong></a>.</p>
<p>If this guy had not had shoulder issues, he might well have already suited up in Toronto. Every quote I&#8217;ve seen from Jays staff is a rave review. He got a gentle re-introduction to catching this season and in light of a recently published comment in which he described finding it harder to stay focused when he wasn&#8217;t behind the plate, I decided to take a deeper look at this season. For starters, they never had him catch back-to-back games, and he only played 72 games in all due to injuries (apparently unrelated to the shoulder, but injury info on prospects is very difficult to access) including missing the last 3+ weeks of the season. What I found was that the results, albeit in a small sample, support his observation. He played 20 games behind the plate, 22 at first and was the DH 30 times. Here&#8217;s his respective slash lines at each position:</p>
<p>In 81 AB as a catcher: .358/.381/.654/1.035<br />
In 86 AB at first base: .196/.250/.337/.587<br />
In 121 AB as a DH: .273/.348/.422/.780<br />
Overall in 288 AB: .274/.330/.431/.761</p>
<p>This is probably just noise, but maybe it means something? We&#8217;ll have to see.</p>
<p>My prediction is that <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=643376#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Danny Jansen</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=624512#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Reese McGuire</strong></a> will begin 2018 sharing time in Buffalo with a high likelihood that one or both will see time in Toronto. Pentecost will slot in at AA and I expect<a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=656180#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong> Riley Adams</strong></a> to leapfrog to Dunedin while the <strong><a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t517&amp;player_id=670394#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL">Ryan Gold</a>/<a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=660857#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL">Yorman Rodriguez</a></strong> duo will break camp with Lansing. Although due to some crowding at that level the latter might stay back and go to Vancouver. <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=668470#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Hagen Danner</strong></a>, this year&#8217;s second round choice, could slot into either Vancouver or Bluefield depending on how everyone looks in the spring.</p>
<h3>First Base</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=642133#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Rowdy Tellez</strong></a> was the one &#8220;buzz&#8221; guy at this position coming into the season and he had the first rough year of his career. Early on he was likely affected by some difficult family issues, but even when his average finally recovered in August the power stroke was nowhere to be found. Thankfully Justin Smoak&#8217;s emergence took the urgency away on Rowdy&#8217;s development. He&#8217;ll no doubt repeat AAA next year.  <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=622806#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Juan Kelly</strong></a> in Dunedin was good-but-not-great in a pitcher&#8217;s league, but also brings positional versatility being able to also play 3B and even catch in a pinch (he was signed as a catcher).  2017 8th round choice <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=641459#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Kacey Clemens</strong></a> was a mainstay for the VanCs and 15th rounder <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t517&amp;player_id=676116#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Ryan Noda</strong></a> was the Appy League Player of the year and a monster for Bluefield (1.082 OPS). Whomever has a better spring will have the chance to jump to Dunedin next year with the other off to Lansing.</p>
<h3>Second Base</h3>
<p>When one lays aside upcoming minor league free agents, the most advanced 2B in the systems is Tim Lopes. While he came up big for NH often, however, a .729 OPS isn&#8217;t going to get him added to any prospect lists. <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=624415#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Cavan Biggio</strong></a> is a member of the Jays Second Generation Club, but he also totaled a .705 OPS for Dunedin in his age 22 season—that&#8217;s not going to cut it. That brings us to <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=669392#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Samad Taylor</strong></a>. He was the second player that the Jays picked up from Cleveland in the Joe Smith deal. After a brief stop in Bluefield, he hit .333 for the balance of August with a hit in every one of those August games save one. Over that stretch his OPS was .848 and he&#8217;ll be someone to watch in Lansing next spring.</p>
<h3>Shortstop</h3>
<p>By now you probably know that spring crush <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=621037#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Jason Leblebijian</strong></a> went off a cliff in early June and crushed the illusion that he might have a major league role. He&#8217;ll be back in Buffalo as a utility man playing mostly 3B next year. More exciting for Bisons fans is the likely advent of <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=620446#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Richard Urena</strong></a>. As recently as the first of this month I was convinced that he&#8217;d go back to AA to begin 2018 as his production their this year did not scream, &#8220;promote me.&#8221; However if he can carry over the gains of his September major league hot streak to next spring, that might earn him the bump. It&#8217;s said that the Jays will want to see him get more work in at 2B next spring in anticipation of middle infield injuries, and that positional flexibility is also something they want in <strong><a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=666971#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL">Lourdes Gurriel Jr.</a> </strong></p>
<p>Gurriel himself did not impress offensively either this year (both he and Urena had an OPS of .286 with LGJ slugging slightly higher) there are quite a few caveats. He missed much of the first half with hamstring injuries and when he did return it was after over two years out of organized competitive baseball games. There&#8217;s a reasonable chance that he has a better spring and, given that he&#8217;s 24 (over two years older than Urena) he&#8217;ll get the AAA assignment. There&#8217;s an argument to be made for separating them, so as not to crowd the SS playing time, but if the Jays want both to be highly flexible in the infield then it is also perfectly reasonable for them to pair the two in the middle of Buffalo&#8217;s infield, occasionally rotating back and forth.</p>
<p>Doing so opens up New Hampshire&#8217;s job for <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=666182#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Bo Bichette</strong></a>. Given that Bichette only got into 40 games for Dunedin, the cautious approach would be to at least let him (and a certain other individual) open the year back there and avoid the spring cold that one must deal with in New Hampshire. But that would certainly be a temporary situation unless he completely fell apart. Whether he plays 140 games in AA or 100, the job is effectively his given he was the most productive hitter (on a full season team) in the Blue Jays system in 2017.</p>
<p>The job Bo leaves behind in Dunedin would likely go to some combination of young Venezuelan shortstops <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=650988#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Yeltsin Gudino</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=660631#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Kevin Vicuna</strong></a>. Both are, to this point, relatively light hitting glove men whom the organization likes, but they&#8217;re not really on anybody&#8217;s top 30 list. With that said, Gudino was considered the No. 8 international signing prospect in 2013 and Vicuna was No. 30 the following year, so there might be some unrealized upside with them . At some point, though, they would likely take a back seat to one of the Blue Jays&#8217; 2017 first round picks: <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=657089#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Logan Warmoth</strong></a>.</p>
<p>In truth, it&#8217;s not impossible to imagine a scenario where Warmoth leapfrogs the two aforementioned shortstops and goes straight to Dunedin. But given the Blue Jays&#8217; handling of the previous year&#8217;s draft picks as well as the inherent luxury of having impressive depth above him, the 2017 top pick most likely breaks with Lansing. Warmoth did everything the team could have hoped this year in Vancouver, even while the rest of the hitters wore down towards the end of what was, particularly for college hitters, a really long season. Fellow 2017 draftee <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t517&amp;player_id=675656#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Kevin Smith</strong></a> deserves a mention here as well, likely taking his assignment one level behind Warmoth wherever that ends up being.</p>
<h3>Third Base</h3>
<p>I know what you&#8217;re thinking, but let me take these in order from the top of the system down&#8230;even though that won&#8217;t take long. Jason Leblijian will just be a placeholder—at best—in Buffalo. Matt Dean will be a minor league free agent who&#8217;ll be very lucky to get an offer. Mitch Nay is still around, after much trouble with injury, but also hasn&#8217;t proven he can hit. So let&#8217;s just move on to discussing <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=665489#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Vlad Guerrero Jr</strong>.</a></p>
<p>Vlad, whom more and more folks are putting in discussions about the best prospect in the game, is obviously in the same position as Bo. The team could easily justify conservatively leaving him in Dunedin to begin the year in the sunshine until early May, but given that he has yet to experience serious adversity it might be considered advantageous to his development to let him break camp in AA. Whatever the schedule, that&#8217;s likely where he&#8217;ll play most of his games come year&#8217;s end. It&#8217;s also worth noting that how they choose to develop him will be at least somewhat affected by whether they extend Josh Donaldson this winter (or at least the nature of the conversations with his representatives about doing so).</p>
<p>If/when Guerrero settles in at AA, look for <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=641735#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Bradley Jones</strong></a> to get most of the reps at 3B in Dunedin. While he&#8217;s capable of playing 2B and 1B (and presumably would be a decent enough outfielder) third is where the depth chart is thinnest and so logically he&#8217;d get his best chance here. Jones was so impressive in Lansing that he was their first hitter promoted to Dunedin, but injuries limited him to 17 games and likely underlaid the 0 for 26 stretch that preceded his trip to the DL. The FSL hasn&#8217;t seen the real Jones yet. Below that level it gets dicey. <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=650991#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Bryan Lizardo</strong></a> was unproductive at Vancouver, <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t517&amp;player_id=660709#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Sterling Guzman</strong></a> hit well in Bluefield before a season ending injury. The second highest paid signing by the Blue Jays in this July 2 period was a 3B, Miguel Hiraldo, but he was described in rosey terms for his hitting, little mention was made of his defense, and he a very long way off.</p>
<h3>Outfield</h3>
<p>The top of the list in terms of advancement among outfield prospects is <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=606192#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Teoscar Hernandez</strong></a>. In fact, he&#8217;s graduated from officially being considered a prospect (joining <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=592647#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Dalton Pompey</strong></a> in &#8220;prospect but not officially&#8221; status). Barring the real possibility that the Blue Jays bring in someone from outside the organization this winter, I&#8217;d say confidence is high Hernandez has first shot at becoming the Opening Day right fielder in the Spring. Pompey, sadly, did not even get to play enough this year to burn an option, so in the unlikely event he doesn&#8217;t get hurt next spring, the Blue Jays can option him to Buffalo and see if he can consolidate his abilities without breaking again.</p>
<p>Joining him in that outfield will presumably be <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=546990#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Anthony Alford</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=596105#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Dwight Smith Jr</strong></a>. Smith spent 2017 with Buffalo and was mostly okay, but nothing about him suggests anything more than a fourth outfielder ceiling and guy who&#8217;ll probably bounce around the way Zeke Carerra was doing when he came to town. Alford, on the other hand, will surely be the team&#8217;s consensus No. 3 prospect this winter and rightly so. Most observers still think there&#8217;s some unrealized over-the-fence power left in his game, but otherwise he&#8217;s a practically perfect prospect both on and off the field. One reason the team might gamble with a Pearce/Carrera/Pillar/Hernandez outfield is the knowledge that Alford is so close. Alternately (and this is how I&#8217;d play it) they could aggressively shop Pillar and plug Alford into CF, but my guess is this organization is too conservative to break camp with rookies in two-thirds of the starting outfield slots.</p>
<p>Another outfielder who you&#8217;ll potential find in Buffalo in 2018, if he&#8217;s not taken in the Rule 5 Draft, is speedy <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=605231#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Roemon Fields</strong></a>. He has no power at all, but his OBP was .355 and he stole 43 bases while playing praiseworthy defense, which quite a few teams would tolerate off their bench. Behind this grouping is <strong><a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=623912#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL">Harold Ramirez</a></strong>. At his best in 2015 he was a high OBP guy with a little pop and good speed, but in two seasons AA has exposed him and he&#8217;s at this point looking like a marginal guy who&#8217;s not even as good as Smith.</p>
<p>The next guy you want to get excited about is Toronto native and future fan favorite <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=664768#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Connor Panas</strong></a>. Panas led the FSL in homers, and finished second in SLG and OPS. He&#8217;ll plug right into AA as the everyday RF and will again be overshadowed by the Bo and Vladdy show. While he&#8217;s not on their level (he&#8217;ll be 25 next year), he&#8217;s got enough going on to deserve some notice. Then there&#8217;s <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=658668#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Edward Olivares</strong></a>, the other guy who spent 2017 in the shadow of the Show. He was fifth in the Midwest League in OPS, third in slugging. When the 21 year old Venezuelan was promoted to Dunedin on August 13 it took him a few games to find his stroke and he didn&#8217;t manage even one homer at the higher level, but that should not dampen your enthusiasm. He&#8217;ll return to the FSL next spring.</p>
<p>Another interesting guy was Lansing&#8217;s <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=641943#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Joshua Palacios</strong></a>. The 2016 4th rounder was horrendous to begin the season and did not recover before going on the DL on June 5 with a .541 OPS. Just over two weeks later he came off a changed man. From there on out he hit .38 with an .824 OPS which has me projecting him to be Dunedin&#8217;s opening day CF next spring. The other 2017 draft choice on the Lansing roster was second rounder <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=642223#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>J.B. Woodman</strong></a>. You can&#8217;t entirely dismiss him but 157 strikeouts in 96 games (and only seven homers) won&#8217;t play.</p>
<p>On the short season teams the most well regarded prospect has to be <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=663545#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Reggie Pruitt</strong></a>. He&#8217;s still exceedingly raw, but after ending June hitting a sub-optimal .102, he posted a .257 BA with a .650 OPS over the second half, while playing big defense and stealing 28 bases in 36 tries. He&#8217;s still years away from refining them, but the tools are there. A couple of other guys in Vancouver hit marginally better, but they seem to have considerably lower ceilings. Another guy I&#8217;ve been watching is <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t517&amp;player_id=650996#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Freddy Rodriguez</strong></a>. He was No. 18 in that aforementioned 2013 class and his first two pro seasons were unimpressive, then he was limited by injury to only seven games in 2016. He also missed the first month of the short season this year but when he got to play he showed an improved game. It was only 28 games total, but his OPS was .861 and he&#8217;s still only 20. I&#8217;d speculate he has the chance to open with Lansing but the Jays may opt for caution and assign him to Vancouver. Finally, I&#8217;d be remiss if I did not mention <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=668474#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>Dominic Abbadassa</strong></a> (23rd rd, 2016) who hit .340 in the GCL with an .811 OPS, and 2017 draftee <a href="http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&amp;player_id=668470#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL"><strong>DJ Neal</strong></a> (26th)  who overcame a 2 for 27 midseason slump and hit .346 in all other games with an .812 OPS. Both will get a chance to prove their mettle in Vancouver next year.</p>
<p>Other names you may see mentioned among OF include Jon Davis, Andrew Guillote, and Brock Luundquist.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s 40 names in bold, dig in because there&#8217;s a boatload of pitchers to talk about ext time.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Steve Mitchell —USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Russell Martin on the Art of Pitch Calling: A Masters in Communication</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/03/07/the-art-of-pitch-calling-a-masters-in-communication/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/03/07/the-art-of-pitch-calling-a-masters-in-communication/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Mar 2017 11:22:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blue jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jarrod Saltalamacchia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reese McGuire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russell Martin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=9239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;If you believe your catcher is intelligent and you know that he has considerable experience, it is a good thing to leave the game almost entirely in his hands.&#8221; - Bob Feller DUNEDIN &#8211; Catcher defense is an interesting thing. When trying to evaluate it, most of the talk has shifted towards pitch framing (or [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center"><em>&#8220;If you believe your catcher is intelligent and you know that he has considerable experience,<br />
it is a good thing to leave the game almost entirely in his hands.&#8221; </em>- Bob Feller</p>
<p>DUNEDIN &#8211; Catcher defense is an interesting thing. When trying to evaluate it, most of the talk has shifted towards pitch framing (or receiving), with cursory mentions of “controlling the running game” and blocking ability. This makes some sense, as we have data to quantify all of these things. But if you were to ask most catchers, their primary objective is guiding a pitcher through the game &#8211; pitch calling.</p>
<p>As a pitcher, this area of the game has always held the deepest fascination for me. There is something truly unique in the battle between the batter and the battery, yet it often goes completely unnoticed by anybody but the most die hard of baseball fans. In an effort to correct that, I talked to the Blue Jays catchers (and a pitcher) to see how they approach this esoteric segment of the game.</p>
<p>For Russell Martin, everything begins with communication:</p>
<p><em>“Most pitchers &#8211; young or old &#8211; have a good idea of what they like to do when they go out on the mound…just talking to the guys is the first aspect of my preparation; I feel like it helps build the chemistry with the player itself; just listening to what Marco has to say, just listening to what Stroman likes to say, listening to what the pitching coach has to say too. Everybody&#8217;s got information and my job is to keep the information that&#8217;s helpful to me and what I&#8217;m trying to accomplish.</em></p>
<p>It’s a simple enough concept to get your head around: Ask the guy what he wants to throw beforehand, so that things go much smoother in the game. But communication doesn’t just mean asking, “what do you want to throw?” If that were the case, there would be no such thing as a good pitch calling catcher. Communication also means knowing when to put your foot down.</p>
<p>For the most part, a catcher will suggest a pitch and the pitcher will throw it. If the guy on the mound wants to throw something else, they’ll shake off and the catcher will suggest a different pitch. However, that&#8217;s not always the case.</p>
<p><em>&#8220;There are times, [and] it&#8217;s not often, where your gut will tell you, &#8216;ugh, I don&#8217;t really feel like it&#8217;s the situation&#8217; or you feel like a hitter is sitting on a certain pitch and that&#8217;s the pitch the pitcher wants to throw. There are times where time needs to be called and you need to have a quick conversation with the guy on the mound.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;m just trying to help them, or guide them through a game, using what they have that day.”</em></p>
<p>Even that is a fine line, however. There are considerations beyond simply getting to the &#8216;right&#8217; pitch for the situation:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;You have to be very intuitive when you go talk to [the pitcher]&#8230;the best pitch is the one that&#8217;s going to be thrown with conviction. So if the pitcher really believes in the pitch that he&#8217;s going to make, it&#8217;s probably the best pitch. Because if I go up there and I talk to him and say, &#8216;hey, I was thinking this&#8217; and he just goes off what I was thinking, but he doesn&#8217;t throw the pitch with conviction, then it&#8217;s not necessarily the pitch that I was thinking anymore.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>That’s something we hear about with occasional frequency on the broadcast, but never really much in depth. It can be difficult to get your head around the idea that merely suggesting a curveball when the pitcher was thinking fastball could mean you get a bad curveball instead. People expect that a major league pitcher should have confidence in all of his stuff. Martin agrees, noting that it&#8217;s &#8220;the job of the pitcher.&#8221; However, while a pitcher can try to make himself believe it, &#8220;sometimes what we say as people is not necessarily how feel inside.&#8221; In fact, Marco Estrada <a title="Marco Estrada Embraces Leadership Role; Ready to Repeat 2015" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/16/marco-estrada-embraces-his-leadership-role-ready-to-repeat-2015/" target="_blank">had to teach himself to trust all of his stuff</a> as recently as last year.</p>
<p>Communication matters and it&#8217;s more than just talking to someone; you have to know just what to say. Martin happens to be one of the best in the game at reading pitches, so when he talks, pitchers listen. We saw some evidence of this last year with J.A. Happ.</p>
<p>The tall lefty was coming off one of the best ten start stretches a pitcher can have, posting a 1.37 ERA and 9.6 K/9 through the end of the 2015 season with Pittsburgh. He had that extreme success while throwing an inordinate number of fourseam fastballs. Yet right from the get-go, Martin was calling way more <em>twoseamers</em> to go with that fourseamer.</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/Brooksbaseball-Chart-6.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-9246" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/Brooksbaseball-Chart-6-1024x683.jpeg" alt="Brooksbaseball-Chart (6)" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>It wasn’t just some random experiment, either. Martin knew what he was doing:</p>
<p><em>“[Happ]&#8217;s able to locate that fourseam fastball up and in on righties&#8217; hands and then the two-seamer, it’s a pitch that&#8217;s moving out of the zone at the bottom of the zone. So, having to cover the up and in and then down and away; one moving away from you, the other one boring in on you. That’s TOUGH to do. You can put a ball that&#8217;s not moving in those spots and they&#8217;re hard to hit, right? So if you can get a little velocity with that and a little movement, it&#8217;s even harder.”</em></p>
<p>Without that read from Martin and then the ability to get that across to Happ, we may have only seen fourseam Happ all year. Thankfully, he and Martin were on the same page. Happ:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;I was focused a little bit on mechanics and just being aggressive in Pittsburgh. And here I just started tinkering a little bit &#8211; trying to keep that same mindset, but also keep that two-seamer because I know in the past that has been a big pitch for me.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;I always say [the pitcher/catcher relationship] is an underrated thing and it’s nice to have a spring training &#8211; especially when you&#8217;re on a new team &#8211; to get to know that new catcher and develop that relationship. They know how you pitch, how you work, how your stuff works and plays. That&#8217;s huge to have a guy who understands that.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>The results speak for themselves, as Happ had easily the best season of his career, very heavily due to his pitch mix. However, when I mentioned <a title="How J.A. Happ Evolved Into One of Baseball’s Best" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/31/how-j-a-happ-evolved-into-one-of-baseballs-best/" target="_blank">Happ’s unique fastball movement</a> and asked if it was part of the decision to change things up, Martin wasn’t fully aware:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;I felt it, but I didn&#8217;t know that…I&#8217;m glad there are people out there that are gathering that information and giving it a numerical meaning and explaining why it&#8217;s effective. For me it&#8217;s more of an instinctual thing. What I&#8217;m seeing from behind the plate is guys not hit the ball hard and guys having a hard time catching up to it. And it&#8217;s like a more simplistic way, but then if you want to quantify it with data, that&#8217;s great &#8211; I&#8217;m all for that.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>It makes some sense. As a catcher, it’s Martin’s job to see the pitches and, “[try] to stay one step ahead&#8230;finding out what works in certain situations against a certain type of hitter.” He needs to be able to read the swings and the quality of the pitches with his eyes, even if PITCHf/x data might suggest something else. Essentially, raw &#8220;stuff&#8221; isn&#8217;t the major factor when it comes to Martin&#8217;s pitch-calling:</p>
<p><em>“A pitcher can have a nasty cutter, but if that cutter is down the middle a lot, there&#8217;s a good chance hitters are going to get good swings on it. Then I don&#8217;t know what the numbers are on that pitch, but I don&#8217;t even need to know the numbers. I&#8217;m like ok, if this guy makes mistakes with this pitch often in the middle of the plate, it&#8217;s not a high percentage quality pitch. But if he has another pitch that he locates and when he misses, he misses off the plate &#8211; and when he gets it, it&#8217;s in a hard area to hit with any power&#8230; There are certain pitches that are just tough to hit.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;In all honesty, every pitcher has strengths and things he&#8217;s not as good at. I wouldn&#8217;t call them weaknesses, because every single pitcher&#8217;s pitches are good. There are just certain pitches that they command a bit better, that they have more confidence in. And you have to know your pitcher.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>So while Martin appreciates our attempts to see the why, it seems he prefers to trust his own intuition. He makes the best selection with what his eyes tell him &#8211; monitoring stuff, location, and hitter swings &#8211; but not the numbers. It has gotten him this far, so there’s no reason to doubt it. But even if he doesn’t know it, he is still subconsciously embracing the data and passing it onto the next generation. When I spoke to catching prospect Reese McGuire, he had this to say:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;We&#8217;re constantly trying to learn as catchers and Russell and [Jarrod Saltalamacchia] have both been tremendous with leading that.&#8221; </em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;I think that [PITCHf/x data and Statcast] is the next step &#8211; that&#8217;s the next level &#8211; when they&#8217;re going to have a little bit more information. I&#8217;ve already heard Russell and Salty talk about that too, where a certain pitcher, he&#8217;s coming from a certain side of the rubber and he might not get a certain call percentage wise, say he gets screwed on a strike because of the angle his ball is coming across the plate.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>That was very fun to hear, as it&#8217;s not something we ever really consider when looking at whether a pitch was called correctly. We tend to blame the umpire or credit the catcher&#8217;s receiving, but it sounds like it&#8217;s also a big part of the catcher knowing what pitches are easier and tougher for an umpire to call correctly and then calling pitches in or away from those locations. That information can be huge in getting or not getting strikes in key spots.</p>
<p>Pitch sequencing is a constant game of cat-and-mouse, with the pitchers and catchers trying to outsmart the best hitters in the world. Get this guy to reach for this, or to totally misread that. Change your angle on this to make him miss that. It’s fascinating to watch and just as fun to learn. Martin is the professor teaching a master class.</p>
<p><em>“My goal…is to stay one step ahead and find out what works in certain situations against a certain type of hitter. The game changes &#8211; the hitters are trying to make adjustments too &#8211; and there&#8217;s not just one right call I can make, but as long as I know my pitcher and he believes that I know him and we feel confident together, then we&#8217;re a better team.”</em></p>
<p>A better team? That&#8217;s a good call.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Re-assessing How We View Russell Martin for 2017</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/12/13/russell-martin-going-forward/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/12/13/russell-martin-going-forward/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:55:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dave Church]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A.J. Jimenez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reese McGuire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russell Martin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=8227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russell Martin is the best catcher that has ever played for the Blue Jays, and he&#8217;s a stark contrast for a history littered with with fan favourites, defensive wizards who couldn&#8217;t hit, the occasional serviceable veteran who put in a few good years, and several catchers-of-the-future who never quite lived up to their billing. It&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Russell Martin is the best catcher that has ever played for the Blue Jays, and he&#8217;s a stark contrast for a history littered with with fan favourites, defensive wizards who couldn&#8217;t hit, the occasional serviceable veteran who put in a few good years, and several catchers-of-the-future who never quite lived up to their billing. It&#8217;s been a tough spot for the team to fill historically, and the team has never had someone as capable as Martin suiting up behind the plate.</p>
<p>When the Jays signed Martin to a five year, 85 million dollar deal prior to the 2015 season, the understanding was that the team would compete soon. He would be 32 before he took his first at-bat with the team, and catchers age faster than most players. No matter how well Martin kept himself in shape, he wouldn&#8217;t be able to outrun time forever. The understanding was simple: they were paying for an elite catcher on the front end of the contract, one that would help the Jays become contenders, and hoping that his athleticism insulated them against the decline as long as it could.</p>
<p>We saw the first signs of that decline last season on offense, as Martin had several long stretches where he simply could not hit. This could be explained away with injury, as he had that neck issue that hampered him early in the season, but the injury itself was only part of the problem: older players get hurt more. Even as the Jays smartly kept him away from R.A. Dickey&#8217;s knuckleball, there were still opportunities for Martin to get hurt in the normal day-to-day of being a catcher. With an older player at a demanding position, we can&#8217;t simply wave away the injury. It affected Martin&#8217;s ability to contribute offensively and it could change how we view Russell going forward.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinexitvelocity.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-8229" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinexitvelocity-1024x683.png" alt="martinexitvelocity" width="500" height="333" /></a> <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinwhiffpercentage.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-8230" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinwhiffpercentage.png" alt="martinwhiffpercentage" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>A decline in exit velocity and an increase in swings-and-misses (see graphs above) are normal trends for players as they get older. Russell Martin was far from the only culprit during a disappointing season for the Jays&#8217; offense, but the length of his early season struggles (and their muted return late in the season and in the playoffs) was a visible anchor in the lineup. As such the Jays were forced to move him down in the order. He&#8217;s become easier to pitch to as well. Consider his isolated power profile from 2014-2015, and the one below it from 2016:</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinzone2014.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-8231" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinzone2014.png" alt="martinzone2014" width="450" height="450" /></a> <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinzone2016.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-8232" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/martinzone2016.png" alt="martinzone2016" width="450" height="450" /></a></p>
<p>Once a notorious high-ball hitter, Martin has become someone you can get out with a solid plan. The book is soft stuff that isn&#8217;t middle-middle, a game plan Cleveland deployed against the Jays very well in the playoffs. Watching Martin come up with runners on base became a depressing inevitability: he went 2-for-17 with 9 strikeouts in the ALCS.</p>
<p>We certainly shouldn&#8217;t ignore Martin&#8217;s full contributions. He was signed partially for his defense and handling of pitchers, which still grades out well. For all the hand-wringing about Marco Estrada losing his personal catcher, Martin came in and Estrada didn&#8217;t lose a beat, en route to an All-Star appearance. Baseball Prospectus has Martin as the <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/sortable/index.php?cid=1927234">seventh best catcher in baseball by WARP</a>, and there aren&#8217;t many catchers his age in the top tier. Those who are in similar ages and contract brackets reinforce our point, however.</p>
<p>Consider <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/card/card.php?id=31391">Yadier Molina</a> and <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/card/card.php?id=45449">Brian McCann</a>, 5th and 14th on the list respectively. Molina is similar to Martin: a good reputation both offensively and defensively, and has been great for many years. But even he had struggled the last two seasons with injury, before rebounding to 4.0 WARP in 2016. McCann&#8217;s primary value was offense when he a signed a six year contract with the Yankees prior to the 2014 season. His bat has declined to the point where they traded him to the Astros this offseason.</p>
<p>In an off-season where the Jays could lose two franchise-altering bats, the team has to be concerned about the trends they see in Martin&#8217;s hitting. There are ways the team can help that. Better depth at the position would be great, as they lacked a decent backup for the entire season. That kind of depth could lead to more days off for Martin, giving him a little more spring in his step, but it&#8217;s a tricky balance. The team wants to justify it&#8217;s investment in their catcher, but also not to overspend at a position they already have a lot of money committed.</p>
<p>A catching prospect who&#8217;s ready for a taste of the bigs would be ideal given Martin&#8217;s timeline, but their troubled history with catcher-of-the-future types has bitten them here. A.J. Jimenez has bounced on and off the 40 man recently, and newly acquired Reese McGuire isn&#8217;t close and may not be anyone&#8217;s idea of a starting catcher. So there may not be much help on the way here either.</p>
<p>Again, to be clear: Russell Martin is the best catcher the Jays have ever had, and he&#8217;s still one of the best catchers in baseball. However, there are holes in his game, and if the Jays want to contend again in 2017, they&#8217;d be wise to work around some of his limitations. An actual, functional backup catcher would be one way, limiting his wear and tear as the season goes along. Some more bats to reduce his responsibility on the lineup would be another. Better injury luck might help as well, but it&#8217;s hard to see his odds getting better on that front as he gets older. Martin is a key piece of the Jays&#8217; puzzle over the next few years, and the team will have to be realistic as to how he best fits.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Blue Jays Acquire SP Francisco Liriano from Pittsburgh Pirates</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/01/blue-jays-acquire-francisco-liriano/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/01/blue-jays-acquire-francisco-liriano/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Aug 2016 21:17:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drew Hutchison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fransisco Liriano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harold Ramirez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pittsburgh Pirates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reese McGuire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=5089</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After a couple of seemingly innocuous, if useful depth moves, the Blue Jays have acquired a legitimate front of the rotation type of arm. As first reported by Robert Murray, the Blue Jays have picked up Francisco Liriano and two prospects (via Davidi) from the Pittsburgh Pirates: Source: Blue Jays get Liriano from Pirates &#8212; Robert [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After a couple of seemingly innocuous, if useful depth moves, the Blue Jays have acquired a legitimate front of the rotation type of arm. As first reported by Robert Murray, the Blue Jays have picked up Francisco Liriano and two prospects (via Davidi) from the Pittsburgh Pirates:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: Blue Jays get Liriano from Pirates</p>
<p>&mdash; Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayFRS) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertMurrayFRS/status/760215885340561408">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> also getting two prospects from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pirates?src=hash">#Pirates</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/760217259167981568">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Also: Harold Ramirez AA OF to Toronto with Liriano</p>
<p>&mdash; Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/760220158459871232">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>With the prospect of moving Aaron Sanchez to the bullpen, the Blue Jays top of the rotation was threatening to take a major hit, as Sanchez has been one of the best pitchers in the American League. That void has been filled. Liriano isn&#8217;t having a great season, with an ERA of 5.46 in 21 starts, but he is still striking out hitters at a nice rate of 9.1 K/9, and is a groundball machine with at a rate of 51.9%. He is also coming off three straight seasons of ERAs at 3.38 or below. The issue currently is Liriano&#8217;s walk rate, which sits at a career high 5.46 per nine innings. However, that seems like something of an aberration. Reuniting him with Martin also seems like a very promising move.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Liriano’s ERA w/ Russell Martin Catching: 2.92</p>
<p>Liriano’s ERA w/ All Other Catchers: 4.28</p>
<p>Just sayin&#39;</p>
<p>&mdash; Matt Gwin (@Matt_Gwin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Matt_Gwin/status/760220692260323328">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>This seems to continue a theme for the Jays recently, of acquiring pitchers whose walk rates have spiked, but have not come with a dip in stuff. Take a look at Liriano&#8217;s velocity and movement charts below. The velo is exactly the same, and the movement is extremely similar. There&#8217;s a lot to hope for here.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/Brooksbaseball-Chart-7.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-5090" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/Brooksbaseball-Chart-7.png" alt="Brooksbaseball-Chart (7)" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/Brooksbaseball-Chart-8.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5093" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/Brooksbaseball-Chart-8.png" alt="Brooksbaseball-Chart (8)" width="952" height="323" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Liriano is also signed through 2017 for another $13M, which gives the Jays a nice replacement for pending free agent R.A. Dickey. In fact, this now means the 2017 rotation is full (barring injury) with Stroman, Happ, Estrada, Liriano, and Sanchez. That&#8217;s very helpful for a team facing so many free agent decisions.</p>
<p>Harold Ramirez was the #9 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) in the Pirates system prior to the deal. He is a 21 year old outfielder who is currently playing very well in Double-A Altoona, hitting .305/.354/.401, despite being 3.4 years younger than the average age for his level. He has a nice feel for contact, with a career .304/.362/.409 line despite always being young. He apparently has a very weak arm though, so despite solid speed and defensive instincts, may be forced to LF. He still seems like a nice get for Toronto.</p>
<p>Of course, with Liriano and prospects coming to Toronto, there must have been something substantial going the other direction. As first reported by our own Gideon Turk, Drew Hutchison is heading off to the Steel City.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: Drew Hutchison going to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pirates?src=hash">#Pirates</a> in Liriano trade.</p>
<p>&mdash; (((Gideon Turk))) (@GideonTurk) <a href="https://twitter.com/GideonTurk/status/760218364119814144">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Hutchison entered 2015 with so much hype following a successful finish to the 2014 season. However, he was terrible in 2015, pitching to a 5.57 ERA, and eventually losing his rotation spot when the Blue Jays acquired David Price. His two starts this season weren&#8217;t a lot better, as he gave up seven runs in 12 2/3 innings of work. He has pitched well at AAA Buffalo, however, working to a 3.26 ERA with 110 strikeouts and only 35 walks in 112 innings. There is still clearly some upside there, as he he won&#8217;t be a free agent until after the 2018 or 2019 season (depending on how much service time he gets until the end of the season).</p>
<p>All in all, this is a good move for the Blue Jays. They lose a solid but expendable starting pitcher, and add one with top of the rotation upside. They also fill a hole for next year&#8217;s rotation, allowing them to focus money on fixing up the offense. Yes, this probably means Sanchez is officially ticketed for the bullpen, but given that was likely to happen regardless, this is a great way for Toronto to cover itself.</p>
<p>It has been a very solid trade deadline for the Jays, who needed not large moves (though Liriano qualifies), but minor tweaks. For the first time in a long time, the Blue Jays are also showing some financial flex, adding Upton, Feldman, and now Liriano while taking on additional salary. This is very encouraging, especially with the increased attendance.</p>
<p>Well done, Messrs. Shapiro and Atkins.</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong></p>
<p>The clubs have announced the deal, and joining Ramirez as the second prospect in the deal will be catcher Reese McGuire, the 14th overall selection in the 2013 MLB Draft, and a consensus top 100 prospect in baseball. McGuire is known specifically for his defense, as his bat has struggled throughout he tenure in the minors. In 77 games for AA Altoona this season, he has hit just .259/.337/.346. Those numbers are clearly not where you want them to be, but thankfully the path to the majors for great defensive catchers is a bit easier, even if they can&#8217;t hit. From <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28319" target="_blank">BP&#8217;s top 101 prospect list</a>, is the following:</p>
<p><em>&#8220;McGuire lacks the offensive upside of the other catching prospects on the 101, but he’s by far the best defender of the group. He struggled with the bat in the Florida State League last year, but he offers a plus defensive projection behind the plate with a plus arm and advanced receiving skills. He’s a good athlete for a catcher as well, and may grow into more game power over time. His stock is down until he starts to hit a bit more, but the glove alone gives him a good shot at a major-league career, even if it’s the one-day-a-week kind.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>You have to like this deal for the Blue Jays. It comes out to Drew Hutchison for Liriano, McGuire, and Ramirez, a deal made possible by the Blue Jays taking on additional salary. I&#8217;ll let Baseball America&#8217;s J.J. Cooper sum it up:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Needless to say, I LOVE this deal for the Blue Jays. If they released Liriano tonight, I&#39;d love it for them.</p>
<p>&mdash; JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/status/760237148016488449">August 1, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Let&#8217;s play some meaningful baseball, shall we?</p>
<p><i>Lead Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports</i></p>
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