Toronto Blue Jays

The future is now for the Toronto Blue Jays, who announced they will promote top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from Triple-A on Friday. 

https://twitter.com/vladdyjr27/status/1121190604900319235

Manager Charlie Montoyo announced Wednesday the team's decision to add the 20-year-old to its 25-man roster, per Ben Nicholson of Sportsnet. Guerrero Jr.'s dad tweeted about the news:

My son! The country that saw you as a child will now see you turn into a big one.

Working hard everything can be done. I’m proud of you!

Love you! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WJyLBVKWoR

— Vladimir Guerrero (@VladGuerrero27) April 25, 2019

He certainly has been taking care of business in the minors before getting the call:

Vlad Guerrero Jr. is slugging .700. He may be ready.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 24, 2019

After playing in 3 consecutive games -- and homering in today's contest -- it appears that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on the verge of receiving his long-awaited #MLB callup. More from @gregorMLB on the #BlueJays and Vlad Jr.: https://t.co/3uekutEhxH pic.twitter.com/iaz1PoXXHk

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 24, 2019

The third baseman only played in eight Triple-A games this season after appearing in 30 at this level last year.

Guerrero started this season as the No. 1 prospect in baseball, per MLB.com. 

Two outs, bottom of the 9th, 0-0 score, and Vlad Jr. makes magic in Montreal.
The @BlueJays' top prospect took @Cardinals No. 2 Jack Flaherty deep for a huge walk-off win 🇨🇦
That bat is why Guerrero is No. 3 on our Top 100: https://t.co/TuTZgdnqLq pic.twitter.com/FLoL7CDu5L

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 28, 2018

The son of Baseball Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, there were calls for the Blue Jays to bring him up last season. Despite being the youngest player in the Double-A Eastern League by one full year, he hit an otherworldly .402/.449/.671 with 14 homers in 61 games before being promoted to Triple-A. 

Per ESPN's Keith Law, Guerrero has most of the same tools as his father did as a hitter with the added benefit of patience.

"In fact, his 76 walks (in 2017) would have been the second-highest number of Vlad Sr.'s entire pro career," Law wrote. "And Vlad Jr. can hit—he has his dad's loose, whippy wrists, great plate coverage and plus raw power, although in games he shortens up and gives back some power for contact."

In 30 games at Buffalo after his promotion, Guerrero continued to rake with a .336/.414/.564 slash line. There's no question about his bat being ready for the challenge of facing MLB pitching. 

Law noted the biggest knock on Guerrero is he's "probably a DH in the long run" because he's added so much size since making his professional debut in 2016 that his quickness and athleticism don't translate to third base. 

Playing in the American League does give the Blue Jays the option of putting Guerrero at designated hitter to start his career. 

Regardless of how Toronto intends to use Guerrero in the field, he's dominated minor league pitching at every level.

If history is any indication, it won't take him long to become an MLB star with his ability to hit for average and power. 

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker is out for the rest of the 2019 season after being diagnosed with a torn ACL, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca.

The injury came during Saturday's game against the Oakland Athletics when he was assisting in a rundown.

Shoemaker was already placed on the injured list Sunday with what was initially called a left knee sprain by the team.

It turns out the situation is worse than initially feared, adding to an already unlucky run of injuries for the pitcher.

The 32-year-old was limited to just 31 innings across seven starts last season because of forearm surgery. After only making 14 starts in 2017, he was non-tendered by the Angels after last season.

In his first five years in the majors, Shoemaker was never able to top 160 innings in a season.

Toronto banked on him bouncing back, and he showcased his skill to start the year, producing a 1.57 ERA in five starts to give him a 3-0 record. He tallied three shutout innings on Saturday before coming out of the game with his injury.

Unfortunately, his season will once again come to an end much earlier than he would have hoped.

While Shoemaker is under team control through the 2020 season, the latest issue creates uncertainty for his future with the Blue Jays.

It's only April 20, but Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Freddy Galvis may have already delivered the catch of the year.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth of Saturday's game, Oakland Athletics catcher Josh Phegley hit a pop-up into shallow left field. Given Blue Jays left fielder Teoscar Hernandez had a long run to get to the ball, it was up to Galvis to get the out.

Unable to get his glove hand in position to make the catch as he ran into the outfield, Galvis proved that he didn't need leather to make a play:

FREDDY?! HOW?! pic.twitter.com/vWn22IhyOC

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 20, 2019

Galvis also did some work with the bat on this day. He helped Toronto cruise to a 10-1 victory by going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Fanfare surrounding 20-year-old Toronto Blue Jays prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is sky-high, but the club's general manager is asking for just a bit more patience.

Ross Atkins said Guerrero will be ready to debut in the major leagues "at some point soon," according to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith on Friday.

The tantalizing third baseman has been developing with the Jays' minor league affiliates since 2016. However, he has already made some big-league noise when he jacked a walk-off home run for Toronto during a 2018 spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

It was especially sweet because the game was held at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, where his Hall of Fame father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., played from 1996 through 2003.

#priceless pic.twitter.com/dh3RUpcTjg

— Vladimir Guerrero (@VladGuerrero27) March 28, 2018

The younger Guerrero continued producing highlights Thursday when he hit a three-run homer in his first game back with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He had returned from a left oblique strain that occurred March 8 while he was with the Blue Jays in spring training. 

Yep, Vlad Jr. IS BACK.

Baseball's No. 1 overall prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (@BlueJays) drills a three-run shot in his first game back with @BuffaloBisons.
📺: https://t.co/kDZOrMtvlm pic.twitter.com/qIci7KxfQl

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 12, 2019

Last season was Guerrero's best as he belted 20 home runs and 136 hits, drove in 78 RBI and hit .381. He spent time with four different clubs across four leagues, per Baseball Reference.

When the Jays do call him up, Guerrero should slot in at third ahead of 26-year-old Brandon Drury and 23-year-old Richard Urena. 

Guerrero Jr. tops MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects. At No. 2 is Fernando Tatis Jr., whom the San Diego Padres called up on Opening Day. Tatis Jr. became the youngest player since Adrian Beltre in to start on Opening Day.

Since being called up, the 20-year-old has appeared in 13 games for the Padres. In those contests, he has 11 hits, seven RBIs and three home runs for a .244 batting average.

The Blue Jays expect at least that much and more as soon as their prodigy hits the major league diamond.

Soon is not soon enough.

Toronto is off to a 4-9 start this year. 

Baseball's No. 1 prospect is one step closer to the majors.

Toronto Blue Jays minor leaguer Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was promoted to Triple-A on Wednesday, according to Yahoo Canada Sports' Andrew Zuber. He went 4-for-15 with a double and a walk in four appearances at High-A to start the season. 

#VladJr BP is something else. pic.twitter.com/Ap6Vtz4NDC

— MLB (@MLB) February 24, 2019

Guerrero has put himself in position to potentially reach the big leagues this year after hitting .381/.437/.636 with 20 home runs, 29 doubles and 78 RBI in 95 games between four minor league levels last season.

Despite those gaudy numbers, the Blue Jays opted not to call Guerrero up last year when rosters expanded in September. That decision drew the ire of the Major League Baseball Players Association, per Sportsnet's Shi Davidi:

"The union's position on service-time manipulation is clear, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and other great young talents around baseball have earned the right to play on the field for a major-league team. The decision to not to bring him up is a business decision, not a baseball decision. It's bad for the Blue Jays, it's bad for fans, it's bad for players and it's bad for the industry."

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro went on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio and denied that the club was keeping the highly touted prospect out of the majors to prevent his service-time clock from starting:

We asked #BlueJays Mark Shapiro why Vlad Guerrero Jr. was not a September call-up. pic.twitter.com/klUEiPdt6S

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) September 5, 2018

Guerrero figured to have a chance to compete for a spot on Toronto's Opening Day roster this spring. However, general manager Ross Atkins made it known that the team expected to start the season with veteran Brandon Drury at third, not the 20-year-old phenom.

🌴 @MLBNetworkRadio at #BlueJays camp 🌴

GM Ross Atkins: Vlad Guerrero Jr. is not a Major League player right now...

... not yet. pic.twitter.com/ydqZdvXFro

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 26, 2019

Any chance Guerrero had of starting the year with the big league club went out the window when he suffered an oblique injury in early March and missed the rest of spring training.

Nearly two weeks into the 2019 season, Toronto is approaching a point in the MLB calendar when it will be able to call Guerrero up without losing a year of club control. The Blue Jays are 4-8 on the season, and Drury is hitting .163/.200/.233 with zero home runs and zero RBI in 11 appearances.

The Toronto Blue Jays' Twitter account had a hilarious exchange with a fan who was concerned about the status of first baseman Justin Smoak on Thursday.

After the Jays tweeted a lineup that didn't include Smoak, the fan asked if he had been traded. The official Blue Jays Twitter account responded that Smoak was merely dealing with a minor injury:

No, he has neck tightness and could be available to pinch hit if needed.

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 4, 2019

One would think that the explanation would have been enough for the fan, but he was skeptical. That led to a priceless response from the Jays:

Literally us, the Blue Jays.

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 4, 2019

The Blue Jays have gone on a bit of a trading spree early in the season, dealing designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Oakland Athletics and outfielder Kevin Pillar to the San Francisco Giants.

Smoak did not appear in Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians, but he also hasn't been traded, which means the fan can likely rest easy for now.

The 32-year-old Smoak is hitting .200 with one home run and four RBI this season through seven games. He hit .242 with 25 homers and 77 RBI last season on the heels of a career year in 2017 that saw him hit .270 with 38 home runs and 90 RBI en route to his first career All-Star nod.

Smoak is in the final year of his contract, which means he could be a trade candidate at some point, but with Morales no longer in the fold, the Blue Jays currently need Smoak to log the bulk of the playing time at first.

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a five-year contract extension.

OFFICIAL: We've signed @RGrich15 to a 5-year contract extension through the 2023 season! pic.twitter.com/GeRHEiPTMl

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 2, 2019

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, the deal is worth $52 million overall.

The 27-year-old "was set to earn $5 million in 2019 and the new contract reworks his salary to $7 million this year and adds a $5-million signing bonus. Next year he'll earn $12 million followed by salaries of $9,333,333 in 2021-23. There are no club options or player opt-outs."

Grichuk would have been a free agent after the 2020 season.

He was solid for the Blue Jays during his first campaign with the club last year, hitting .245 with 25 home runs, 61 RBI, 60 runs and 32 doubles. He's recorded at least 22 homers in three straight seasons, though he's struggled out of the gate in 2019 by going 2-for-16 with a homer and two RBI in five games. 

His career on-base percentage of .297 also leaves something to be desired.

Grichuk spent his first four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals before he was traded to the Blue Jays in Jan. 2018 for Dominic Leone and Conner Greene.

His contract extension came on the same day Toronto traded outfielder Kevin Pillar to the San Francisco Giants for infielder Alen Hanson and right-handed pitchers Juan De Paula and Derek Law, per ESPN.com. With Pillar on the move, Grichuk should see more time in center field, while intriguing prospect Anthony Alford will also see his playing time increase. 

Pillar was a defensive wizard in center field for the Blue Jays in recent years, but they put their money behind the superior offensive player. If Grichuk continues to exceed the 20-homer mark throughout his contract, it will be money well spent.

Toronto Blue Jays star prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will reportedly miss three weeks with a Grade 1 left oblique strain, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

That may address the controversy over his service time, however. Per ESPN.com: "To retain team control of Guerrero for another year, the Jays would have had to keep him in the minors for 15 days to start the season. After he hit .381 with 20 homers and 78 RBIs while rocketing through four levels of minor league ball last year, there would have been many critics of the move."

Instead, his injury and corresponding rehabilitation assignment should cover those 15 days, or close to them, ending any debate about keeping Guerrero in the minors to start the 2019 season.

Guerrero, 19, has hit .211 with one RBI during spring training. It's obvious he'll be a part of the Blue Jays this season, though Toronto keeping him in the minors briefly to keep him under club control for an added year—in this case, through the 2025 season—hasn't sat well with everyone around baseball, much as it didn't when the Chicago Cubs took the same approach with Kris Bryant in 2015.

"It's something we are following, and it's going to be an issue," an anonymous member of the players association told Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun in late February. "Service-time manipulation has been a prominent theme that the players association has emphasized in its talks with Major League Baseball.

"It's fair to say it has been a prominent issue raised by the players association."

The team's general manager, Ross Atkins, has maintained that starting Guerrero in the minors would have been done for developmental purposes.

"We're just trying to maximize and do everything that we can to do what's best for him," Atkins said. "We genuinely feel it would be a disservice to the organization and to Vladdy if we weren't thinking about it that way, to maximize his full potential." 

This latest injury may make the entire debate moot, however.

Regardless of when Guerrero takes the diamond for the Blue Jays, he'll do so as the top prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com. The second prospect on those rankings, San Diego's 20-year-old shortstop phenom, Fernando Tatis Jr., could be facing the same service-time situation as Guerrero would have before his injury.

So talented is Tatis that superstar Manny Machado will likely move back to third base this season to accommodate him. Despite that fact, he might also be subjected to starting the season in the minors.

The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly signed starting pitcher Clay Buchholz, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network provided more details:

Buchholz deal with jays is thought to be for about 3M plus 3M in incentives. Pending physical.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 1, 2019

Buchholz, 34, went 7-2 in 16 starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season with a 2.01 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 98.1 innings.

While those numbers were impressive, they likely aren't sustainable.

As David Schoenfield of ESPN.com wrote in December: "The 2.01 ERA in 16 starts with the Diamondbacks was obviously a fluke, but he did have a 3.47 FIP, threw strikes and limited home runs. He also faced an easy slate of opponents and has never been durable. Still, he has bouts of effectiveness. Could be an interesting gamble."

Injuries have long been a concern for Buchholz, however, including the flexor-mass strain that ended his 2018 season prematurely in September.

That leaves his role in Toronto unclear, especially considering the Blue Jays already have Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Ryan Borucki, Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard available for the rotation. That could leave Buchholz either to fight with Borucki and Richard for a starting spot or potentially settle into a long reliever role in Toronto's bullpen.

Marcus Stroman wants the Toronto Blue Jays to offer him a long-term contract.

Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reported the team already has. 

Stroman criticized the Blue Jays organization Sunday, telling reporters "it's business, man. It is what it is," when asked about his lack of long-term contract. 

"Mentally, I'm ready to perform, wherever it may be," Stroman said. "I want to play here. I've been wanting to play here for a long time. I've been waiting to sign a long-term deal. I've been offered nothing. There's no one that embodies the city of Toronto more than me. And you're not going to find guys who want to come in and embody the city of Toronto because it's just not natural, and I've taken a liking to that myself, and that's been organic and natural; it's not something I had to do. That's something I wanted to do. I've always wanted to be here.

"I want to pitch in the American League East. I want to pitch against the Yankees. I want to pitch against the Red Sox. People shy away from that, people go and hide in other leagues. I'm here. I don't care who's in the box. I'll face everybody. I couldn't care less. I think that's the type of mantra and type of confidence the city of Toronto needs."

Stroman signed a one-year, $7.4 million contract in January to avoid arbitration. He has one more year of arbitration remaining before he can become a free agent in 2021.

The 27-year-old is coming off his worst professional season, posting a 4-9 record with a 5.54 ERA and 1.48 WHIP while being limited to 19 starts because of injury. He had never posted an ERA higher than 4.37 and looked like one of the most promising young pitchers in baseball in 2017.

It's possible whatever long-term deal the Jays did offer was not to Stroman's liking. Coming off such a disappointing season, the Jays could have offered him something of a lowball in hopes he'd bounce back and become a bargain.

Either way, it's clear there's a disconnect between the organization and Stroman heading into the 2019 season.