Jason Frasor's name has been bandied about in potential trade rumours for the past few months, and according to ESPN'S Jerry Crasnick via mlbtraderumors.com the Chicago Cubs have inquired about the availability of the 32 year old reliever. The Cubbies were said to be interested in him a few months back, and after losing Angel Guzman to a season ending shoulder injury, their interest has piqued once again.So the question remains, should the organization move Frasor in his contract year, arguably at his highest trade value? Or hang on to him? The diminuitive righty is coming off a career year, where he went 7-3, saving 11 games while posting a brilliant 2.50 ERA. However, the Jays signed Kevin Gregg in the off-season to shoulder the load in the later innings, and also have another reliable reliever in Scott Downs in the bullpen.
Ultimately the decision will be made based on the value of the player coming back to Toronto. Frasor qualifies as a type B free agent, meaning if the club lets him walk at the end of the year, they are entitled to a 2nd round draft pick as compensation. I can’t see any team giving the Blue Jays a better prospect than what a 2nd rounder could net, though G.M. Alex Anthopoulos pulled off a heist by trading reliever Brandon League for Brandon Morrow in the off-season. The team might ultimately decide that it would rather have a proven reliever to aid the young pitching staff along with a good draft selection than to trade him away for a low ceiling prospect.
UPDATE: MLB Trade Rumors has reported the Minnesota Twins are also interested in Frasor given that closer Joe Nathan might miss the season with a torn ligament in his elbow. Several Toronto scouts are now appearing at Twins games according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
2 comments:
I think the bullpen is the most underrated part of any baseball team. It always gets talked about on winning teams, but seldom gets mentioned otherwise. The Jays bullpen could really help these young starters develop and may be able to handle the burden that Cito, will no doubt put on them. They days where the starters in Toronto were good, but guys like; Dan Reichert were coming in to inflate the team ERA really hurt things. On the flipside, if you look at guys like Downs and Frasor like a stock, that may be at it's peak, it would definitely be time to sell, in order to get the most for them. It will be interesting to see what AA does, but in my opinion, they should simply let one guy close all year and inflate his numbers (saves and appearances) and trade them off as hot commodities at the right time. That's what Billy Beane would do, and what Ricciardi forgot to do.
This bullpen really could help a lot of these young starters out in a big way. Especially guys like Janssen and Carlson could boost an already solid back end, perhaps even Accardo. AA is probably holding on to Frasor and Downs (unless an offer blows him away) as mentioned because of the 2nd round pick for Frasor and the 1st round pick for Downs that they'll receive as compensation next season in the draft if they leave via free agency...
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