Brad Emaus was taken in the Rule 5 draft by the New York Mets a few minutes ago. The 24 year old (turns 25 in March) hit .298/.395/.495 in AAA this past year in 364 plate appearances, and .257/.351/.388 in 751 AA plate appearances. Emaus was Batter's Box's number 20 prospect in 2010, number 24 in 2009, and number 18 in 2008, but the team evidently never thought as highly of him, as despite playing second and third base (a current position of need for the club) he was not put on the 40 Man Roster despite the team having space. Hopefully Brad will catch on with the Mets, but if not he could still be returned to the Jays. Full list of draftees here.
Update: Anthopoulos explains his reasoning here.
Update: Miguel Olivo signs with the Mariners. Hello compensatory pick!
Read on for more news, including Carl H. Crawford signing with the Sawx.
In other news, which probably affects the Jays more than the loss of Emaus, Carl Crawford has signed a 7 year, $142 million dollar deal with the Boston Red Sox. I guess we will see him the same number of times each year, but it still would have been nice if he signed with the Angels instead. Quick take: it's a lot of money, but Crawford is a good player. While he clearly is one of, if not the best defensive left fielders in the game, I think the impact of that is overstated. He's a good hitter, a great baserunner and still only 29, so once you accept that he was going to get a ridiculous contract, and that the Red Sox are one of the relatively few teams for which it makes sense to sign players like Crawford to ridiculous contracts, then I think it's probably a pretty decent deal. I will point out that Brett Gardner is about 75% as good as Crawford and will make something like $750,000 next year. I know who I'd rather have... Related Note: If the Red Sox sign Scott Downs we get a worse pick, as Crawford trumps Downs in the Elias rankings.
Elsewhere in the division: JJ Hardy is going to be dealt to the Orioles imminently, for a return TBD (likely two minor league pitchers). Though he's struggled with the bat the last two years, Hardy is a plus defender who should provide value, and if he hits even a little this will be a good deal for the Orioles. The Yankees, obviously shaken at losing out on the non-gargantuan CC, are offering Cliff Lee a small island nation. Or $140 million. Same diff.
More to come as it develops.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20101209094258702