Lets talk about Pandas. Kung Fu Pandas. Kung Fu Pandas not voiced by Jack Black…
That leaves—unless there is some obscure 80’s show out there about this same subject, which, frankly, at this point I would not be surprised—Pablo Sandoval.
Why does he make sense for the Jays?
1) Because the Jays could use a switch hitter with some pop that can play third base. So could just about everyone else, I know but the Jays are special because that’s who I’m writing about today. Also because Panda gets Brett Lawrie over to second, which is absolutely the Jays’ long term goal for him ever since Anthopoulos conceived of it after slipping off his toilet and hitting his head on the sink while trying to hang a clock.
Okay, okay, okay, I know you want to have a micro-debate about why the Jays shouldn’t do that, and I hear you: Lawrie is damn good at third. He’s got great instincts coming in on the ball, and everyone can recall a play where he’s come out of his shoes to make a bare-hand pick-and-fire to get a runner who cued a nubber down the chalk (enough baseball jargon there for you?). Whether he makes these plays because he’s got so much Red Bull coursing through him he’d give meth a heart attack is another matter… but no one is debating his defensive aptitude. We’re only debating whether it’s wasted at 3rd, and I think it is, especially with Reyes at short.
Third is a great place to hide lower range individuals that have big range bats. Second base is a real premier defender’s position. Send Lawrie there where he can cover the most ground with the smallest overlap with another star defender. Stick Panda on bag 3 and let him do his thing. He’ll be a downgrade from Rett Bullrie, but not a void, not by a long shot.
2) The up shot: the Jays are the worst team in the AL East at handling left handed pitching. I mean, they’re just [technical baseball term] !@$%##@$*^ atrocious at hitting lefties! Yes, yes, I know Lind and Rasmus are gone, and they represent addition by subtraction vs lefties, but they also represent plain old subtraction against righties and power production. The Panda gets both back for you, and he’s more durable than Lind (though, so are many Swarovski Crystal figurines). Do not under estimate the usefulness of the switch ability. Even if his power continues to precipitously drop (though I predict a stabilizing effect from the move to the ALE, and the Rogers Centre) his flexibility at the dish is a fantastic asset, which leads me to…
3) I was asked this the other day on my most favoritist Canadian radio station—if the Jays spent Melky’s money on Russell Martin. No, they didn’t. They structured the deal in such a manner that they could open up some short term options for the coming “Window Seasons”. They also totally kicked the Time Value of Money’s ass, holding on to their own longer and devaluing it against Martin who got his guarantee while the Jays got the buying power/interest effect preserved. So, yeah, Martin got paid, but the Jays still retained the monies power—for now.
Long and shot: the Jays do have some cash to spend, especially up front. And if you’re thinking of going for Sandoval as a replacement bat to Melky, it’s not a bad thought. Sandoval replaces Melky’s bat in more direct manner. It does nothing, of course, for Melky’s presence in the outfield, but the market for outfielders is usually easier to wheel and deal in than the market for infielders because, you know, math (aka, an infielder specializes at an infield position. An outfielder can play the outfield with most corner positions being interchangeable and centerfield being more than capable of playing all three).
4) Speaking of hitting lefties, if the Red Sox get Lester back… well….bleep! Then you really want Panda. You at least want something, because it’s much easier to pitch around EE and Bautista now. The replacement parts the Blue Jays are full of are great as far as making sure there is someone on the field so baseball can be played. But at some point, you can only have 9 guys playing at one time and they need to add up to the total some of the production of the 9 across the field from you. So, I’m all for depth. Yeah depth! Depth is necessary to win long term and the Jays finally have it. But something to float on top of it would be nice, too—something that can hit lefties.
5) This is my last point, and then you can go get your ice cream. The Blue Jays have a team policy about guaranteed contact limits. 5 years—no more.
Why?
Okay, well, I know why they have it: so they don’t get locked into heavy, back loaded deals (they just acquire them from the Marlins hi-oooooo!) But why make it a public thing? Why not simply have a preference and then treat each case individually so you can have the option when it makes competitive sense? Some players want guarantees. Some want money. Why limit yourself up front? If Panda wants a sixth year, give him a sixth year. As it stands the Jays WILL over pay for him anyway. They’ll have to just to stay true to their own rules on players, and because wooing free agents to Canada costs more. Having flexibility after that six year to go get another player that’s not in decline would work if the market also did that, those non-declining players weren’t over priced because, well, they are not declining and—here is the big one—the Blue Jays spent big money on players instead of always looking for the flexible, value deals.
Again, just my two cents. take it or leave it, and, again, I recommend you leave it because, as the internet is fond of telling me, I don’t know nuthin and aint never dun nuthin neither. Not true—last night I made quiche.
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