Battle Over: Eric Thames Claim Blue Jays LF Job; Snider Demoted
Can’t really say we didn’t see this coming a few weeks ago, yes?
The competition that was the 2012 Blue Jays Battle For The Left (Field) ended today, with Eric Thames emerging as the winner, and Travis Snider demoted to AAA again. For his part, Snider seemed to take the news well enough (well, at least he did on Twitter). That it was an uphill battle for the 24-year old was never in doubt, and Eric Thames didn’t exactly do anything to lose his position as the incumbent who ended 2011 with the job (he hit .333/.380/.511); but now that it’s over, we can probably face the facts that this was never really much of a competition.
It was always going to be Thames, who ended up on the Blue Jays promotional tour in the winter. He was the guy on the promotional materials, and the guy Anthopoulos kept saying was the incumbent, and that the team was going forward with that in mind. It was his job to lose, and he would have had to do a hell of a lot to lose it. I’m sure he’ll do a reasonable job in the majors as he did last season (where he accumulated more ABs in a single season than Snider had in any of his 4 sporadic years up in the majors).
I’d still like to believe that Snider is the LF of the future, however; assuming that the team brass also agrees, this latest demotion to AAA may not necessarily be a terrible thing for Snider, even if yes, he’s terrorized the league each time he’s been around. Even had he won the job (say Thames only hit .050 and had a broken wrist or something), Snider’s leash with the team was always going be short. The ABs wouldn’t be guaranteed, and it would be the same toxic situation that went through his (mis) development over the last several seasons, with Snider always having to look behind his back every time he struggles. He doesn’t have the same leash that Rasmus or Lind has, and starting 2012 under the same situation he started 2011 with probably isn’t the best thing here.
He will, however, start again with the underdog, with the chance to win the job at some point this season. If the Blue Jays happen to be serious about using Snider as their LF of the future, having Thames up in the majors will also allow him to accumulate value – yes, I’m talking about potentially trading Thames when the timing is right to get another piece of the long term puzzle. It is true that the team could also do the same with Snider, but at this point, how much trade value does Snider have? How much value would Thames have, had he been sent back down to AAA? Playoff contention is a fringe prospect for our bluebirds this season, but 2013 might be a different story; if the team can accumulate as much long-term talent over the course of the next season, even if Snider winds up having to tear the cover off the ball in Las Vegas…why not?
All this might sound like I’m terribly down on Thames, but that’s not really so much the case; it’s more than I’ve always been a big fan of Snider’s upside, and old baseball crushes die hard. I think both players would have put up similar numbers this season, but going forward, I believe Snider’s ceiling is simply higher than Thames. There is something to be said about actual performance though, and that’s why we’re even talking about this today, I guess.
I don’t expect that we’ll hear much about Snider again in 2012 until something gives here – not even if Thames is hitting .200 by mid-May and Snider is hitting .370. Not unless the players force the team to do something about the log jam. I think Thames will be traded eventually, but I mean, that’s just a semi-educated guess, really. You could easily make the case that the next time we hear about Snider, he’ll have been moved elsewhere. It’d just be a mistake to do so, I think. 24 is a young age for prospects, and if you look at recent some post-hype breakouts (Maybin, Gordon)…it’s hard to imagine that Snider wouldn’t be capable of doing the same thing somewhere, given consistent ABs all season long.
If you couldn’t tell already, yes, of course I’m still bitter about it. Maybe it’s the 2008 me talking here. Maybe Snider will end up struggling over the full year if he got 600 ABs. But would it be so much worst than Rasmus’ (whose upside is just as big) post-trade numbers? I’d like to see it first.
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Eric Thames made the team because he came up and produced consistently.
He also showed confidence at the plate and the ability to adapt to different pitches. These are things Snider has never shown.
Colby Rasmus is a problem for the Jays since he is continuing to be a sub 200 hitter. If the Blue Jays had both Rasmus and Snider in the line-up batting 200 they may as well mail in the season.
The Jays have decided to take a sizeable chance on Rasmus and correctly realized that they could not take two such risks at the same time and remain credible. Thames is a much lower risk than Snider is because they pretty much know that Thames will turn in a performance that is at least acceptable.
With Rasmus being dead weight on the team, the Jays must now hope that Lind and EE do not go into one of their deep slumps. Players who go into long slumps can really drag down a team. It is a luxury few teams can afford.