How Myles Straw fits into the Blue Jays plans
The Blue Jays have a bit of a Myles Straw problem.
As mentioned in an earlier piece, the Blue Jays are taking on nearly $11M for a guy who played four games in the majors last season, in a failed gambit to land Roki Sasaki. In spite of that though, General Manager Ross Atkins has said that Straw will be be part of the team in 2025.
The most logical and sensible way for the Jays to use Straw is as a fill-in in Centre until the return of Daulton Varsho in mid-to-late April. Although the Blue Jays also Nathan Lukes, Joey Loperfido, and Jonatan Clase on the roster, Straw is a former Gold Glove winner and many of his defensive metrics were 2nd only to Varsho.
The problem arises once Varsho returns. Straw could transition to left easily enough, except that the Blue Jays just signed Anthony Santander Even if the latter becomes a full-time DH with the team, that takes away at bats for guys like Addison Barger and Will Wagner, who will already be starved for playing time.
The Jays could keep Straw on the bench and use him as a late-inning defensive replacement, much like they did with Bradley Zimmer a few years back, but $11M is a lot to give a player who may only get a few innings every couple of games. Keeping him in the minor leagues is always an option.
As mentioned, Straw is a premiere defender with a wet spaghetti noodle for a bat. He has hit exactly one home run since the beginning of the 2022 season and six overall for his career. If the Jays want more offence, Straw is not the way to go.
Overall, for his career, Straw has slashed .244/.316/308 with six home runs and 125 RBI's
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 20 | 321 ANSWERS How Myles Straw fits into the Blue Jays plans Where will Myles Straw play? | ||
| CF | 31 | 9.7 % |
| LF | 17 | 5.3 % |
| Benchwarner | 138 | 43 % |
| he'll get cut | 135 | 42.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
