Put Darin Mastroianni on the 2011 Opening Day Roster

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I’m still trying to get my head around the V-dub trade. At this point I don’t think there’s much I can bring to the interweb’s analysis party. This story has been beaten to death. Clear win for the Jays

The only negative from this deal is the hole created in CF. I’m not a fan of giving Rajai 600 PA’s in 2011. And Corey Patterson on my roster? I think I’ll pass.

Outside of a trade, the Jays are/should probably lean towards giving minor league walk & speed specialist Darrin Mastroianni a 2011 roster spot.

(Darrin Mastoianni Bio)

Rajai vs Righties

From a three year perspective, Davis’ OBA righty split (.319) isn’t too far from his success vs lefties (.339), although he did post a .40 points difference in OBA during 2010 (.309 vs R, .349 vs L).

While both Rajai and Mastroianni are RHB, Darrin’s had a decent track record against RHP.

Mastroianni vs Righties

Ever since the shutdown of minor league splits, getting righty/lefty match-up data can be a pain. Luckily Mastroianni’s PECOTA card has kept track of his 2007-2009 splits.

mastroianni-0709.png

Here are 2010 splits, using database files (and including a few playoff PA’s)

vs Left: .321 BA, .420 OBP
vs Right: .294 BA, .376 OBP

Darrin has had greater OBP success vs lefties in the past, but he’s certainly held his own vs right handed pitching.

Give DM a few AB

Some may think skipping AAA would be jumping the gun. I can see that. Still, DM is already 25 and will be 26 come August. He also OWNED the Venezuelan Winter League, hitting .365, posting a .449 OBP and swiping 11 bags, all three near league highs.

If another viable option existed (other than Patterson) or if someone is acquired than start DM off down in AAA. Otherwise let’s give the kid a look out in CF. You never know, we could luck into a poor man’s Brett Gardner.

Matthias Koster
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has written for mopupduty.com since 2006. Follow Matthias on Twitter, Facebook and Google +

  • Do you not think that bringing him north, on the 25-man roster to get 1-2 starts/week would hurt his development? I’d rather he get regular ABs in Vegas, and get the first call in the event of an injury.

  • Blandy

    I think he needs more time. I’d prefer not to have Corey Patterson on my roster too. I did an analysis of DM’s minor league equivalency, and the numbers are less than encouraging. Patterson as 4th outfield/occasional pinch runner isn’t the worst thing in the world while DM gets his AB at AAA.

  • The_Birdman

    I don’t get how all of you can just throw this guy in AAA. Do you know what happens in the PCL? Offensive stats are inflated. Just look at the numbers the last few years. The guy is already 25 and has proven he can hit at the AA level, which has some of the better pitching in the system. AAA and AA I believe would be a waste of his time if the opportunity with the big league team is there. So what does that leave?

  • Thanks for the comments

    I guess we’ll see what happens in spring training. If the Jays decide to go with only two catchers (Nap + Arencibia) and DM has a good statistical showing, things could get interesting.

    I’m not a huge fan of equivalencies. I prefer internal statistics. At this point DM is no spring chicken. Let’s see if he can force the Jays hand.

  • B-roc

    He hasn’t even seen AAA yet….he has to at least get his feet wet first. It’s wishful thinking to have him up here but he should be up here when hes ready to stick around for a bit.

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  • Matthias, great post.

    It’s funny, I was actually pulling for the exact same thing about Mastro on our site in a post yesterday.

    Normally it’d be odd for a position player to skip AAA, but with the Jays lack of CF depth (Patterson, Padilla) why not?

    I’ll even go as far as to suggest the Jays could even take at-bats away from Rajai in favor of Mastro, possibly being the starter, just to give Mastro an extended look at The Show.

    It will definitely be one of the more interesting story lines at Spring Training!

  • rbot

    What about Adam Loewen making it with the big club also? He is even less of a spring chicken and now (after Arizona Fall league and winter ball) has over 800 at bats (I thought I read somewhere they wanted him to get 1000 ABs to feel comfortable as a hitter). There has to be a time when you provide hope to your prospects that they are going to get a chance to prove their worth at the ML level. DM and Loewen seem to have earned the opportunity

    • I have a feeling that Loewen will need more AB’s, as there was such a time lapse from when he lasted picked up a bat (high school) to his Jays run.

      DM’s ability to play CF also would give him a head start of Adam. Although everything changes, the Jays currently have a number of 1B/DH/Corner OF type players.

  • Eric

    I’m not sure if there’s a spot for Mastroianni atm. Either get rid of some relievers or drop Rivera/Patterson, not sure either are going to happen though.

  • I’m curious if Rajai can hang for 600 or so plate appearances. If he does, as a fantasy baseball geek there’s going to be a slot open on my roster.

  • I remember reading somewhere that there aren’t any plans to keep Rivera on the roster and that he could be gone by the end of Spring Training. Not sure if there’s any truth to that as I can’t even recall where I read it, but that would be good news for the Maestro

    • I’m sure they’d like to get rid of him but I don’t think they’ll be able to trade him and that only leaves the option of eating his 5.3 million dollar contract.

      Normally they wouldn’t be too hot on that sort of move but it’s a sunk cost either way and of course he’s on the team more because getting him saved the Jays 70 million dollars than any expectation of his performance.

      If they broke camp with Mastroianni I think they should go all the way with it and have him start, Davis could then backup all three outfield spots.

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  • bubbles

    DM already spent 2 seasons at AA for no reason. if alex wanted to put him in AAA he could have already. some think AA is tougher than AAA. your fillers usually stock AAA. he’s already 25. I don’t see why alex hangs onto these guys if he doesn’t want to play them. he did this with accardo. either make him your 4th OF or else trade him for a lower prospect. what’s the point in hiding him on your 40 man? he’s not getting any younger. if he hits then you know you’ve got something. if not then you send him back down.