Blue Jays Acquire...John Buck.

by Tommy Rancel on Dec 14, 2009 5:15 PM EST

The Blue Jays finally made their move. Oh I don't mean the rumored earth shattering blockbuster that involves two of the Major Leagues top 10 pitchers in Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. I mean signing John Buck to a one-year deal worth $2 million dollars.

Less than a day after being non-tendered by the Royals, Buck will likely be the backstop on most days for the Toronto squad. Buck was non-tendered in part to the Royals signing of Jason Kendall, who was given a $3 million dollar annual salary from the Royals over two years. Why the older, more expensive Kendall over Buck? That's just Dayton Moore.

Buck isn't an offensive dynamo, but has flashed some power (.171 career ISO). He did have a .332 wOBA during limited action in 2009 (202 PA) mostly due to his power. Overall, he compares well with the recent group of catchers, who have signed for two-year deals at a greater guranteed paycheck.

Defensively, I haven't heard much about Buck being a butcher behind the plate and his ~26% caught stealing percentage is just below Kendall's 27%. Of course he isn't as gritty, or as veteran-ny as Kendall, so that probably justifies the $4 million more in guaranteed money as well as the six-year difference in age. Just proof that the hopes for a replacement level team in Kansas City is still alive.

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Comments

wait for it... wait for it...

the earth has shattered.

by wt on Dec 14, 2009 6:52 PM EST reply actions

It's still rumbling. So many different names being tossed around.

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by Tommy Rancel on Dec 14, 2009 9:33 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

You gotta be impressed with Anthopolous though

To be able to land the package that Ricciardi apparently couldn’t, Drabek/Taylor/D’Arnaud, for one year of Halladay rather than 1.5 years was pretty impressive.

And for Seattle, they just turned themselves into a legitimate contender and a run preventing force for the cost of just Aumont, Ramirez and Gillies, apparently.

I don’t quite understand the deal as much for Philadelphia, other than the fact that they’re presumably very excited to have Halladay on a four-year, $75.5M deal, and they’re likely fond of the prospects that they received.

by Satchel Price on Dec 15, 2009 9:34 AM EST reply actions