Despite working with Billy Beane, Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is not really a stats kind of guy. If that particular coffin hadn't been nailed long ago, it has been now - the Jays just signed Royce Clayton for a year and $1.5 million. The money isn't much, but Clayton's pointless. He has a career OPS of .681 and hasn't had a good offensive season since 1999. Also, as Ken Rosenthal notes in the article - Clayton's vaunted defense isn't worth bothering with. He's declined considerably in that area over the past five years or so, and the quick grounders on Toronto's turf could pose problems for him. This isn't the worst move ever, but I can't really see Beane paying a million and a half bucks for Clayton at this point.
Filed under: