When Jon Jay got an affordable extension last January it worried me as I didn’t understand it. Yes he was coming off a good season, but we had good talent in the pipes, and I had never been a fan. Then 2015 came.
Here’s a refresher: In a season where he was both injured and pushed out of the way by other options, he hit .210 in 245 AB’s, a 310 OBP, a .257(!) Slugging Percentage, and had a -0.2 WAR. Made the extension look terrible.
We lost Peter Bourjos, so it seemed like Jay was gonna be a 4th OF or something, but I also worried that having Jay on the roster plus the young guys who had progressed fast could affect our pursuit of Jason Heyward.
Then the trade occurred.
We traded Jay to the Padres for Jedd Gyorko.
Gyorko is a 2B who can play multiple positions, hit 16 homers with 57 RBI’s last year and provides us with a super utility player. The Padres are also sending cast to offset some of his contract. He’s owed 32 Million through 2019. Still, he’s only 26, so that’s palatable.
This also ends any rumors about Ben Zobrist, and he seemed to be headed in a different direction anyways.
It also helps on the Jason Heyward side, as Gyorko played all the infield positions last year, but none in the outfield.
Funny how I go can go from criticizing mo to applauding him in a matter of an hour. I was upset Jay seemingly hadn’t been involved in any trade rumors or anything, because I thought he needed to go so I planned to write an article regarding that. In the middle of writing said article, I heard about the trade, so I redid my whole post, happily.
In many ways, Gyorko is a better fit than Zobrist would’ve been. Zobrist is 34, eight years older and would’ve cost more, especially considered the Padres sending over the aforementioned cash.
At Zobrist is entering the decline phase of his career, while Gyorko is a ways off from that and may even get better. Sure, Zobrist plays some OF, which Gyorko doesn’t, but if we re-sign Heyward, that’s a moot point. Even if we don’t, I still think we have enough depth there to get by, even with losing Jay and Bourjos.
So smart move Mo, keep it up.
As always, thanks for reading.
