Putting Out the Smoak

Justin Smoak has been a very odd presence in the 2019 Blue Jays story.

I mean, pre-season, you'd think he's have more of a hand in things, as Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar joining him as the old guard amongst the youth, along with Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez in the rotation. By midway through April, Morales and Pillar would be gone. By August, Stroman and Sanchez would be gone. And only Smoak remained...doing the same thing he always does...just surrounded by people way younger, way less experienced, and completely unbefitting of his presence.

It's not like the Marlins, where you keep someone like Curtis Granderson around to help mentor the younger players. Smoak was, and is, trying to succeed on the same level of people like Bo Bichette, Vlad Jr. and Cavan Biggio. And because he's 32 and not surrounded by a core of people that make him look good, his numbers of batting .204 with 104 strikeouts don't look as good. And yet his 22 home runs are the third-most on the Blue Jays.

Smoak is a free agent in 2020. The Jays would be wise to let him go. He'll probably sign with someone cheap like the Rangers or something. And then they'll let Billy McKinney start at first base, then bank on Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio and Reese McGuire as dedicated starters. And then maybe they'll go on a run? I don't know. They'll probably have Matt Shoemaker back, and they'll get more calculated material out of Anthony Kay and TJ Zeuch. I don't know how many more little things they'll need to do to the pitching in order to make it serviceable, but...this is a nice start.

I'm kinda interested in how big the Blue Jays will be in 2020. Better than Boston? Better than Tampa? Who knows?

Coming Tomorrow- The Mariners got a month or two of Jay Bruce, and Jarred Kelenic waiting in the minors. The Mets got Edwin Diaz' worst material...and this guy.