Mark Derosa signs 1 year 750 K, Sam Dyson DFAed

[mtf]

No, personality obviously matters as with any city, but nobody in their right mind likes Mike Brown more than Phil Kessel in this city. Pretty fallacious argument to say that Toronto is more into character than talent, escpecially with the recent success this city has had.

Actually, it's not. People love Tie Domi, Mike Brown and Colton Orr much more than Mats Sundin or Phil Kessel who are points-per-game players on average.

This is a utility signing who hit RHP well and with the team reaching their budget, why are people getting so upset over a 25th man? Can this seasons start already?

It seems like a pretty fallacious argument to say that people here are "so upset". They may disagree with the move, but I don't think that there's evidence to support that any of the critics are actually stressing out about it.

[Johann]

I expect him to repeat his 2008 numbers

Year   Age  Tm  Lg    G   PA   AB   R   H  2B 3B HR RBI SB CS  BB  SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS OPS+   TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB      Pos Awards
2008    33 CHC  NL  149  593  505 103 144  30  3 21  87  6  0  69 106 .285 .376 .481 .857  117  243   9   9  2  8   0         4975/36

[masTOR_shake1]

i like it! apparently a good clubhouse guy, take that mcCoy.

[Bob_at_york]

i like it! apparently a good clubhouse guy, take that mcCoy.

I would rather have stuck with McCoy.

[jaysfan55]

There are better options out there... but DeRosa has a supperb attitude in the clubhouse and with regular at bats may be a nice fill in... so is this our bench? Looks like Cooper gets shoved to buffalo in the end... sucks.. I like cooper, he has shown he can hit in the majors.. would have thought for sure the last bench spot was his to lose..

Thole- C
DeRosa- Utility
Davis- OF
Izturis- 2B/SS

[lajoie]

Vizquel was here for his leadership, and look what that got us. A guy who trashed the coaching staff and the organization, and watched countless problems (his words) and did nothing about it.

Everybody talks about Jose Bautista being a leader in the clubhouse - so why do the Jays need a leader that can't contribute on the field like DeRosa?

And as MVP said, the Jays needed that roster spot to help improve the offence. A real right handed bat off the bench would be ideal to platoon with Lind. If the Jays lose any games vs LHP by 1 run, you can point to this signing that prevented them from getting a real hitter in the lineup to help them win games. An exaggeration? Maybe, but there is some truth behind it too.

Everybody likes to believe that players can make these magical speeches to help them win games like we see in the movies. That's not how it works. Teams win games by having the most talent. Did DeRosa help the Nats last year, or did the emergence of Harper/Stras along with the addition of Gonzalez and Detwiler help them win games?

The Jays are trying to win a World Series here, not win the nicest, gosh darn, folksiest award. You do that by bringing in talent, not by burning roster spots on marginal players who don't contribute to a team.

Well, when a "real" right handed bat signs for $750 K that can make a difference, let me know. And please don't say Delmon Young because he wasn't coming here to get buried on a bench.

[bomber0104]

yeah this makes no sense to me.. especially the guaranteed part

I'm sure AA will have no problem ditching him if he sees a better option but I just don't see the point.. the guy has been an awful hitter since his hand injuries

[bomber0104]

Also, why would we designate Dyson.. did the organization give up on him already?

[Korac]

Also, why would we designate Dyson.. did the organization give up on him already?

Looking at the 40 man, I'm not sure who else they could have DFA'd. Evan Crawford maybe?

[Twitchy]

Well, when a "real" right handed bat signs for $750 K that can make a difference, let me know. And please don't say Delmon Young because he wasn't coming here to get buried on a bench.

Or the Jays could use some common sense and look to teams that have crowded 1B/OF/DH options.

Like Seattle, for example. With Smoak, Montero, Morales, Morse, Gutierrez, Saunders, Bay and Ibanez that's 6-7 guys fighting for 5-6 spots. So that's going to leave Casper Wells without a position, and if you can acquire him that's a guy who had an 891 OPS last year vs lefties and 831 the year before. And he plays plus defence.

He's out of options, so if the M's don't find a spot for him, he'll have to clear waivers. So that means you'd give up a marginal player (read: non-prospect) to acquire him. For a guy essentially making the league minimum, kills lefties, and plays plus defence.

There are many more examples of players like that, who could fill in as the LHP killer while costing the team virtually nothing in a trade. The Jays don't have to use FA to find a bat. And they didn't have to waste a spot on an aging, worthless player when they could have found an actual upgrade.

Edit: It may seem silly to complain about such a small move, but it's more about the process. The Jays felt that DeRosa was more important than upgrading a spot for a player that could contribute. We saw all to well what happened last year with Vizquel on the bench - the Jays were often playing short handed, as he had no value and couldn't pinch hit/run/field without screwing up. I know people think that because he won't play he's not a problem, but that's exactly it - if he can't play, he's preventing someone who can help the Jays win from playing. So he hurts the Jays by playing like crap, and preventing them from using a good player in his spot.

[boilerguy2412]

he can play everywhere but Cf and C he has experince, why not bring him in, you guys are caring way to much about a guy who is goign to be lucky to see 40Ab

[2009mvp]

No, he could play all those positions once upon a time. Now that he's a fragile 38 year old, not so much.

[FlakeyFool]

beyond dumb

[rapsjaysfan88]

does this mean davis will platoon with lind? hopefully if lind sux copper gets a chance. why do we keep losing guys like dyson and mcdade on waivers to keepthe likes of mike mccoy?

[ilovesports]

Words can not explain how happy this makes me. Mark DeRosa is my favorite player of all time and is the last piece to our Championship team!

Totally kidding, but everyone is bashing him and I thought Id try to switch it up.

Is there anything he IS good at (other than finding roster spots on play-off calibre teams)?