12-09-2019, 03:00 AM
The Toronto Blue Jays moved out a player who has been part of the organization since being drafted in 2004, getting a pitcher, and some roster flexibility, in return. Marc Gasol Jersey . Numbers Game breaks down the deal sending Adam Lind to Milwaukee. The Brewers Get: 1B/LF Adam Lind. Lind, 31, has been a productive power hitter, slugging more than 20 home runs four times in his career, but is coming off a season in which he was hitting for doubles power, hitting just six home runs in 96 games, yet hitting a career-high .321, with an .860 OPS that was his highest since 2009. Hes a crusher against right-handed pitching, hitting .293 with an .860 OPS for his career, but not nearly as capable when facing southpaws (.212 average, .588 OPS). That split does suggest that Lind is best suited as a platoon player, but the Brewers had Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay at first base last year and neither is under contract for 2015, so there is room for Lind in the Milwaukee lineup. That Lind is a subpar fielder is all the more reason for the Brewers to have another option available to support Lind at first. Linds contract has team options for $7.5-million in 2015 and $8-million for 2016, entirely reasonable for a productive offensive player, even if hes not ideally suited to a full-time role. Platooning against right-handers is still good for about three-quarters of the at-bats. The Blue Jays Get: RHP Marco Estrada. Estrada is a 31-year-old who surrendered a major-league leading 29 home runs last season, leaving him with a 4.88 ERA despite a 1.20 WHIP in 150 2/3 innings. He finished the year in the bullpen, and was lights-out in that role in September, not allowing a run and only six base-runners in 16 1/3 innings. That small-sample bullpen success might indicate a role in which Estrada can be effective for the Blue Jays, but his career numbers as a starter (4.20 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 71 starts) are better than his career relief stats (4.29 ERA, 1.25 WHIP in 83 relief appearances), which probably leaves Estrada as something of a swingman for the Toronto pitching staff. Maybe sixth or seventh on the starter depth chart, capable of making spot starts if necessary, but likely not the ideal solution to any teams starting pitching woes. Estrada has lost some velocity and his average fastball is clocked at 89.0 MPH (per Fan Graphs), which poses problems -- thats the pitch that gets hit. He has increased the use of his change-up, which has been very effective the past couple seasons, but hell have to get his fastball back if hes going to be a contributor. Estrada earned $3,325,000 in 2014 and is arbitration eligible, so that price will likely go up but its likely to present a cost savings to the Blue Jays after they shed Linds salary. The Blue Jays will need to fill Linds at-bats, mostly at designated hitter, but that could allow 1B Edwin Encarnacion to get more rest and there is likely some hope that Toronto might be able to salvage value out of their recent waiver addition, 1B Justin Smoak, a 27-year-old switch-hitter who hasnt lived up to advance billing, hitting .224 with a .689 OPS in 566 career games. Verdict: Hard to imagine that Estrada, a homer-prone pitcher going to a hitter-friendly park, will provide more value for Toronto than Lind will in Milwaukee, but maybe added salary flexibility can come into play for Toronto in other offseason deals. Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Muggsy Bogues Jersey . The San Antonio Spurs handled the conditions, and the team, and it sure helped when a suffering LeBron James couldnt make it to the finish. Wholesale Raptors Jerseys .The team had a meeting prior to facing Russia at the world junior hockey championship and got the effort theyve been looking for by defeating the Russians 4-1 to advance to the quarter-finals. https://www.cheapraptors.com/803a-norman...ptors.html .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night.CALGARY - Shawn Evans had four goals and eight assists, and Dane Dobbie had four goals and four assists, to lead the Calgary Roughnecks over the Vancouver Stealth 20-9 on Saturday in National Lacrosse League action. Geoff Snider and Curtis Dickson each had three goals for Calgary (4-3), while Jeff Shattler helped with two goals and six assists. Curtis Manning, Karsen Leung, Daryl Veltman and Matthew Dinsdale also scored for the Roughnecks. Vancouuver (3-7) coming off a 19-9 victory at Colorado on Friday, got three goals from Brett Bucktooth. Tracy McGrady Jersey. Lewis Ratcliff had a pair, while Tyler Digby, Cody Bremner, Nick Weiss and Tyler Garrison rounded out the scoring. Mike Poulin stopped 28 of 36 shots for Calgary, while teammate Frankie Scigliano allowed a goal on four shots. Tyler Richard stopped 18 of 29 shots for Vancouver, and Matt Roik allowed nine goals on 27 shots. ' ' '