You’ll have to excuse me as I have been sick for almost a
week now and I haven’t been writing much at all. Thank goodness for my
back-logged stuff and all the content I had saved as a draft or the site would
have likely gone quiet, and it’s never been quiet for a full day since its
inception almost four years ago now. One of the key tidbits of news that I
missed regarding an American League East rival of the New York Yankees was when
the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Jesse Chavez, a right-handed starting pitcher
from the Oakland Athletics. Chavez is a nice piece but thankfully for the
Yankees he’s not David Price.
The Blue Jays sent Liam Hendricks, a now full-time relief
pitcher who went 5-0 with a 2.92 ERA in 58 appearances in 2015, to Oakland in
exchange for Chavez. Hendricks trade value has never been higher after a switch
to the bullpen not only saw his ERA, WHIP, FIP and peripherals go down but his
fastball velocity spike leading to a career-best 9.9 K/9 ratio. Hendricks is
under team control through the 2020 season while Chavez is a free agent after
the 2016 season.
Chavez has made 26 starts over the past two seasons as he
has bounced between the A’s bullpen and rotation and has posted a combined 7-15
record with a 4.18 ERA. Chavez is 32-years old and is a former member of the
Blue Jays as recently as 2012 so he’s no stranger to Toronto. Chavez was last
seen sporting an 8.44 ERA in a Blue Jays uniform before being acquired for cash
from the Athletics. Chavez is a definite win-now move for the Blue Jays but
will he be enough? Will he be enough to replace the man he is essentially, for
lack of a better word, replacing in David Price?
Price was money for Toronto posting this stat line:
Year |
Tm |
W |
L |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
HR |
BB |
SO |
ERA+ |
FIP |
WHIP |
H9 |
HR9 |
BB9 |
SO9 |
2015 ★ |
TOT |
18 |
5 |
2.45 |
32 |
220.1 |
190 |
70 |
60 |
17 |
47 |
225 |
161 |
2.78 |
1.076 |
7.8 |
0.7 |
1.9 |
9.2 |
2015 |
DET |
9 |
4 |
2.53 |
21 |
146.0 |
133 |
50 |
41 |
13 |
29 |
138 |
156 |
3.06 |
1.110 |
8.2 |
0.8 |
1.8 |
8.5 |
2015 |
TOR |
9 |
1 |
2.30 |
11 |
74.1 |
57 |
20 |
19 |
4 |
18 |
87 |
172 |
2.22 |
1.009 |
6.9 |
0.5 |
2.2 |
10.5 |
Chavez on the other hand was anything but “money” in 2015:
Year |
Tm |
W |
L |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
HR |
BB |
SO |
ERA+ |
FIP |
WHIP |
H9 |
HR9 |
BB9 |
SO9 |
2015 |
OAK |
7 |
15 |
4.18 |
30 |
157.0 |
164 |
78 |
73 |
18 |
48 |
136 |
96 |
3.85 |
1.350 |
9.4 |
1.0 |
2.8 |
7.8 |
Even with Marcus Stroman coming back last September to lead
the Blue Jays to the ALCS Toronto doesn’t go as far without Price. Price was a
godsend for Toronto and led the team down the stretch with clutch performance
after clutch performance, especially against the New York Yankees. Toronto may
have likely still made the playoffs without Price but bet your bottom dollar if
the Jays have Chavez starting everything fifth day in the second half of the
2015 season and not Price they aren’t winning that AL East Division. Not by a
long shot.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)