Baseball Musings: Keeping Up with the Jay-es

December 08, 2005

Keeping Up with the Jay-es

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Lyle Overbay from the Milwaukee Brewers for the disappointing Dave Bush and two other players. Ricciardi sums up the move for Toronto:

"I think he's more of a gap hitter, he's more of an on-base guy,'' Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said of the 28-year-old slugger early this morning after the deal was finalized. "We can use a little bit more on-base in our lineup and I think he helps us with that.''

He'll be a bit of an improvement over Shea Hillenbrand, but Overbay is not a big bopper. Toronto is still low offensively at the position compared to other teams.

Of course, this opens the door for Prince Fielder to be crowned king of the first basemen in Milwaukee. Brewers fans are hoping for a long purple reign.

Posted by David Pinto at 08:09 AM | Trades | TrackBack (0)

Comments

Let's not go crazy until we see him handle major league pitching. It's possible he could never take the place of the Brewers' man.

On the other hand, he could play in the sunshine so well that nothing will compare to him.

Posted by: Dennis at December 8, 2005 08:22 AM

To be honest, Overbay does not leave giant shoes to fill. After his explosive first half of 2004, he tailed off considerably. He is basically a .280, 15 Hr guy. After seeing Prince hit, a low estimate is .270 and 25 home runs and I am almost embarassed to predict a high ceiling for this guy. In addition, Overbay is at best an average first basemen, which Fielder will grow into.

Getting Jackson for the real run in 2007 was the key to this move if you ask me, and Bush will compete with Eveland and Helling for the fifth spot in the rotation or help bolster a pretty solid bullpen. This fills some holes and adds young pitching depth, something the deep farm system of Milwaukee lacked.

Posted by: ESK at December 8, 2005 08:53 AM

It looks like a decent trade for both teams. Toronto probably needs more power at first base, but Overbay isn't too shabby. He'll give them an OPS of about .830 - .850. For the Brewers, they needed to open up first base for Prince Fielder. Jackson looks like he might be a decent fourth or fifth starter in a 2007, maybe better if they don't rush him, and Gross looks like he could be useful as a fourth outfielder. Bush could be useful as an inning eater, but probably not much else.

Posted by: Jack Greene at December 8, 2005 10:39 AM

Think about it, the Jays now have the best first baseman in the AL East...

Posted by: Mike A. at December 8, 2005 12:08 PM

Any truth to the rumor that the deal requires Overbay to change his name to L.J. Overbay?

Posted by: Craig A. Damon at December 8, 2005 12:15 PM

Drat. I was hoping my Tigers could unload Dmitri Young on the Jays. Oh well.

Posted by: Joe at December 8, 2005 01:01 PM

Think about it, the Jays now have the best first baseman in the AL East...

As if Giambi isn't a 1B/DH? Or maybe you meant best 1B fielder? What about Youkilis and his .889 ZR at 1B? Admittadely an extremely small sample size, but he's put up solid defensive #'s at 3B, and currently looks like the '06 starting Boston 1B.

Posted by: Jason at December 8, 2005 01:24 PM

I'm quite anxious to see Prince get a shot at 1B full time in the bigs. I've seen him play a number of games here in Nashville and make some nifty plays at first. He's actually quite nimble for his size. I hope he gets good plate instruction and a chance to adjust to ML pitching.

Posted by: Phil at December 8, 2005 01:30 PM

I mean full-time first basemen, something Giambi and Youkilis hardly qualify as.

Posted by: Mike A. at December 8, 2005 02:12 PM

Jason hits a lot better when he's fielding. I expect him to start 120-140 games at first (assuming he's healthy).

Posted by: rbj at December 8, 2005 02:30 PM

purple reign.... that cracked me up.

Posted by: Ed Zipper at December 8, 2005 03:53 PM

jays winning the east... that would be good to see.

Posted by: colin at December 9, 2005 12:49 PM