UPDATE: Brandon League talked with mlb.com about the trade, and is excited.
“I’m excited because I had [Mariners pitching coach] Rick Adair as Double-A pitching coach [in New Hampshire in 2004], and in talking with [former Mariners and Jays reliever] Miguel Batista, he had nothing but good things to say about the Mariners, the direction they’re going,” League said. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about [Seattle manager] Don Wakamatsu. I’m excited to be here, excited that they want me, and I’ll be trying to help out as much as I can to win games.”
Perhaps Batista was telling League about the good ol’ days of Bavasi where salary never reflected actual on-field output.
Well, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, who covers the Jays it is OF Johermyn Chavez, at least that’s what he says in this tweet.
So those wishful and unrealistic thoughts of Brett Wallace or Travis Snider may have to be put to rest, along with the likes of Brett Cecil, Zach Stewart, Brad Mills or Marc Rzyep … I’m not going to bother trying to spell it.
Chavez is playing winter ball for the Navegantes del Magallanes in Venezuela.
His numbers for Class A Lansing were decent, he hit .283 with 22 doubles, 21 HR, 89 RBI. The 173 strikeouts are a little too high. And remember, this was his second year at Lansing , which is Low A, and he was 20 years old. The year before that with the Lugs, he was apparently overwhelmed, he hit.211 (85-for-402) with seven homers and 39 RBIs in 115 games.
League and Chavez don’t sound like overwhelming returns for Morrow. But remember, Morrow is all talent and potential. He has yet to prove to be anything more than a back of the order rotation guys. Yes, he has the talent to be more. But questions about his health, durability, mental makeup and secondary pitches have yet to be answered completely or definitively.
Perhaps it says a lot about Morrow’s perceived value not only to Jack Zduriencik but around baseball.
I’m guessing we give Jack Z the benefit of the doubt on this one? A reliever and a low level prospect don’t seem like much for Morrow – on the surface this looks less than promising. I guess that’s why we write comments in baseball blogs and Jack Z is the GM of a major league baseball team though.
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Tim Lincecum we hardly knew ye…………
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My only questions about Morrow are about the way he was handled. He clearly has the stuff to be better than a back of the rotation starter. Given the opportunity I think he will develop accordingly. It’s hard to develop secondary pitches when you are being asked to be a late game reliever for significant portions of his stint with the M’s. Despite that he showed a good breaking ball. Questions about his mental makeup are really a cheap shot at this point. He did whatever the team asked him to do.
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Good luck Brandon! The “M” kinda screwed with your head a bit and Toronto will be a great place to recover. You have awesome stuff when your on. Hope to see at Safeco.
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If I”m not mistaken, Chavez was a rule 5 guy who went undrafted. Mariners could’ve drafted him for next to nothing.
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Yeah, and then we would have had to carry him on the team for 162 games.. Umm, no thanks..
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IMO, Bavasi either ruined Morrow’s career, or at best set him back several years. Morrow should have grounds to sue!!
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Maybe this is Z’s way of saying, “Thank you.” to the Blue Jays for making the trade for Lee possible? On the surface, I would prefer to have Morrow’s potential rather than these two. However, a sinker ball relief pitcher in Safeco could be extremely valuable…kind of like the old days of Billy Swift induced double plays in the Kingdome.
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