One thing is certain in the Blue Jays clubhouse, nobody is safe (except maybe Vlad Guerrero Jr).
Jays general manger Ross Atkins took off the gloves Wednesday and singled out veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki as a player who would have to “overachieve” if he wants to be an everyday player for Toronto.
“If we were playing tomorrow (Lourdes Gurriel) is playing short,” Atkins said at a luncheon of the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (via the Toronto Sun). “(Tulowitzki) would have to over achieve to play shortstop at an above-average level with above-average performance for 140 games.
“That would be unlikely based on what has occurred over the past 2 1/2 years. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to, but candidly I don’t think that’s likely.”
For a bit of context, Tulowitzki, who is 34 years old, missed all of 2018 after having surgery to remove bone spurs in both feet. In September he drew a line in the sand and said: “I’m a shortstop. If someone's better than me, I'll pack my bags and go home."
The most Atkins is willing to guarantee Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star slated to make $20 million next season, is the chance to compete for his job in the spring.
“That’s what we want him to be thinking,” Atkins said. “Any professional athlete, especially one who has his track record, is not going to be thinking of being a pinch-hitter or DH or someone that could, from time to time, play shortstop. He’s not at that point in his career.
“We’ll see. At this point, we’re just focused on what we can control.”
Speaking of players with a $20 million salary in 2019, Atkins indicated catcher Russell Martin, 35, is likely to play somewhere other than Toronto next season as youngster Danny Jansen, 23, emerged late last season.
Pitchers placed on notice by Atkins included Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, to which Atkins said: “There’s a lot of teams that would love to have either guy.”
It sounds like the Blue Jays will be major players at next week’s winter meetings in Las Vegas.