Jays sign Barajas

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Free agent Rod Barajas is expected to sign a two-year deal to take over as the Jays' primary catcher.

He'll get about $3 million per year. Barajas won't contribute quite as much on offense as Bengie Molina and Gregg Zaun did last season, but he should be an upgrade on defense. The Jays will probably use Jason Phillips as his backup. Nov. 24 - 10:40 pm et
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail

Bye bye Zaunie! Shame really, I did not want to lose him but Rod should be solid enough. We won't lose much offsensively, gain defensively but lose in leadership and that could be key.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MapleLeafBlueJayBoy

Bye bye Zaunie! Shame really, I did not want to lose him but Rod should be solid enough. We won't lose much offsensively, gain defensively but lose in leadership and that could be key.

You have a link?

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Indeed I do, its from www.rotoworld.com, its on their front page.

However, as the article I posted states, the source is from the Toronto Globe and Mail. Sorry I thought it mentioning that was enough.

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Would you care to comment on the signing? Good or bad?

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MapleLeafBlueJayBoy

Would you care to comment on the signing? Good or bad?

I like Rod Barajas. I know that many of you Jay fans love Greg Zaun but he is very old and you know that one day he will start to decline. Seems like he may be a sensible option for my Yankees for a year or two. Anyway, Rod Barajas is a solid major league catcher and you will enjoy watching him play. He's not going to be as good in Toronto as he was in Texas though: the ball flies out of Arlington.

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Yes I agree. At first I was very mad at losing Zaun, however, after some time to let it sink in I think this if for the best. Zaun is older and is pricing himself very high.

Though I do think that leaving Arlington won't effect Barajas since balls travel out of Skydome, I mean, Rogers Center at an alarming rate as well. I think his power will be maximized there. I also read that is a very good defensive catcher which is something we needed an upgrade on. Molina/Zaun were brutal at throwing out runners and Molina had a ton of passed balls, Zaun a few too. Sounds like we are upgrading defensively by quite a bit.

So, this isn't all bad and we are probably making out very well with this signing.

Zaun will be an excellent back up in New York or Boston. If he can start 60-80 games he is just fine. Anything more and he starts to slow down at an alarming rate. But as a back up you can expect good power, good OBP and lots of walks. He is probably more suited for the back up role.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MapleLeafBlueJayBoy

Yes I agree. At first I was very mad at losing Zaun, however, after some time to let it sink in I think this if for the best. Zaun is older and is pricing himself very high.

Though I do think that leaving Arlington won't effect Barajas since balls travel out of Skydome, I mean, Rogers Center at an alarming rate as well. I think his power will be maximized there. I also read that is a very good defensive catcher which is something we needed an upgrade on. Molina/Zaun were brutal at throwing out runners and Molina had a ton of passed balls, Zaun a few too. Sounds like we are upgrading defensively by quite a bit.

So, this isn't all bad and we are probably making out very well with this signing.

Zaun will be an excellent back up in New York or Boston. If he can start 60-80 games he is just fine. Anything more and he starts to slow down at an alarming rate. But as a back up you can expect good power, good OBP and lots of walks. He is probably more suited for the back up role.

I don't think price will be an issue. You know how the Yankees and Red Sox don't let that kind of thing get in their way often. As for Barajas' defensive skills, I have watched him on several occasions both live at Yankees Stadium and on television. While he doesn't wow me with his defense, I found it to be a little bit better than solid: which is more then what you can find in most catchers at this level.

As for Molina, I saw him play and I have no idea what happened to his cannon throwing arm, he couldn't gun down a soul...

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

I just meant that Zaun was out pricing himself in Toronto. For the Yanks or Boston I'm sure he'll get even more since they have no limits.

Well last year the Jays suffered a lack of good catching so I'll take solid.

As for Molina, the problem is his weight. He is HUGE! He doesn't look after himself, was massively overweight and his body is starting to break down because of it.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MapleLeafBlueJayBoy

I just meant that Zaun was out pricing himself in Toronto. For the Yanks or Boston I'm sure he'll get even more since they have no limits.

Well last year the Jays suffered a lack of good catching so I'll take solid.

As for Molina, the problem is his weight. He is HUGE! He doesn't look after himself, was massively overweight and his body is starting to break down because of it.

You would think being on a one year contract that he would have kept himself in shape and put up a big season for the Jays, but the guy played badly and hurt his chances big time in the free agent market this year. Perhaps he was demoralized last year because he thought he was going to get a multi-year deal and did not. Not defending his lack of keeping in shape, just looking for a possible motive.

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Well from what Angels fans told us when we signed him, he was slipping his final two years with them. His weight was becoming an issue then and eroding his defense.

We did have an option on him but it was doubtful even we we signed him that it would be picked up. He would have had to have had a monster year for it to be picked up.

Offensively he was solid for us, 19 Hr's. However, his OPS against righties was .687, while against lefties is where he leaves his mark, he crushed them. In a perfect world he would be in a platoon and would only face lefties.

I'm sure he'll land a starters job somewhere and do a decent job for somebody. But to pay 5 million or more for him and get what you get from him, its not worth it. Its sad because I always liked him and was thrilled whe we signed him, then I saw him play and was shocked.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by MapleLeafBlueJayBoy

Well from what Angels fans told us when we signed him, he was slipping his final two years with them. His weight was becoming an issue then and eroding his defense.

We did have an option on him but it was doubtful even we we signed him that it would be picked up. He would have had to have had a monster year for it to be picked up.

Offensively he was solid for us, 19 Hr's. However, his OPS against righties was .687, while against lefties is where he leaves his mark, he crushed them. In a perfect world he would be in a platoon and would only face lefties.

I'm sure he'll land a starters job somewhere and do a decent job for somebody. But to pay 5 million or more for him and get what you get from him, its not worth it. Its sad because I always liked him and was thrilled whe we signed him, then I saw him play and was shocked.

Had a career year with the Angels the year before the Jays got him, not sure why they would tell you guys that. But it turned out they were right. He'll probably get another starters job somewhere else, but if he fails this time he won't get another. He's getting up there in age as well and needs to make his mark as a starting catcher in this league or else he will begin to be relegated to backup.

He killed lefties, which is good. The problem is, his OPS against righties was an absolute joke. What was his SLG%? And his OBP? Both must have been low if his OPS is that low against righties. And as you know he faced many more righties than lefties, as there are more righties in the league then lefties, so he had a bad year due to that.

[Paul]

I can't get excited over anyone with a .282 career on base percentage, but if Zaun was going to cost significantly more then it's an acceptable downgrade. Hopefully Barajas can throw out a few runners.

No doubt the Jays got a discount because he's from Ontario (well, okay, California's Ontario).

As for Molina, he hit as well as one could reasonably expect from his history. It was his defense which was so disappointing. Hard to believe he won two gold gloves. Zaun was certainly the better of the pair.

[anne25]

As for Molina, he hit as well as one could reasonably expect from his history. It was his defense which was so disappointing.

Plus the fact that it took him about 20 mim. to get from home plate to first. Speed was not one of his assets.

[fmradioguy]

Originally Posted by Paul

I can't get excited over anyone with a .282 career on base percentage

Neither can I. That, by the way, is almost 60 points LOWER than Zaun's career average and 80 points lower than Zaun's 3 years in Toronto. If someone says there isn't much difference in their offensive value, they're very wrong. Barajas is a rally killer. His average defensive ability will never make up for the dud he'll be in the line-up. He's an automatic out.

[TrueBlueJay]

whats funny is that Zaun is this year's Molina.

He turned down our 2 year, $6 million deal offer to start, and he'll likely end up with half of that, to backup someone.

Tough luck Zaun, you overestimated your worth. Thanks for a couple decent seasons, but I'd rather have Rod the Bod