According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Blue Jays were recently engaged in conversations with the White Sox regardling outfielder Carlos Quentin. He continues to say that the talks have since cooled, and the White Sox are speaking to other teams. If this rumor is true -- which, with Alex Anthopolous you never know -- it speaks volumes about how the front office feels about our current left field situation, namely Travis Snider and Eric Thames.
Eric Thames had a decent debut, but I've always been a Travis Snider supporter in this discussion. Snider was the higher draft pick, and had greater minor league success while facing his opposition at a younger age. He's a vastly superior defender, and has middle of the order potential with the bat. Thames is a below average defender in left, and likely has a future as a platoon outfielder on a 2nd division team.
While I still have faith in Lunchbox, it appears the front office might be leaning in a third direction -- a direction that includes neither Thames nor Snider. Quentin hasn't been the same since his MVP-calibre 2008 season with Chicago, when he produced a .288/.394/.571 (.965 OPS) batting line to go along with 26 doubles, 36 home runs, and 100 runs batted in. He likely would have won the award, too, if he hadn't missed the last month of the season due to a wrist injury. In three seasons since, he has struggled with both injuries and his bat. His 131 games in 2010 set a career high, while his .254 batting average in 2011 was his best since 2008. He's more of a .250/.340/.480 hitter these days, which seems good, but when you factor in his poor defense and expected 2012 salary (roughly 7M), he suddenly becomes far less appealing.
If Toronto wants to make an upgrade in left field (which I consider to be a low priority), fine, but they should seek out something better than a 29 year old, expensive, 1 dimensional player. Quentin's ceiling at this point in his career is a 3 WAR player, and I feel a Snider/Davis platoon in left field should out-produce Quentin with ease. Additionally, with Toronto's apparent desire for cost certainty and controlability, Snider and Davis would combine to make half of Quentin's expected 2012 salary.
The only way a Carlos Quentin trade would make sense would be if Toronto were pushing all in for the 2012 season, and they didn't want to risk Snider capsizing again and weakening the lineup. However, considering their public reluctance to even consider Prince Fielder and their smokescreen/blanket statements regarding Yu Darvish, that does not appear to be the case. I won't call 2012 a rebuilding year because it's not, but at this point it appears to be another developmental year. Why waste a developmental year on a guy like Carlos Quentin, when you can use it as an opportunity to give Snider the 400+ AB he deserves and actually see what he has?
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