Tony LaCava says other teams have called about his players but have not made any offers that would improve the Toronto Blue Jays.
The interim general manager, fresh off locking up starting pitcher Marco Estrada to a two-year deal, joined Dean Blundell & Co. Wednesday morning and touched on a variety of subjects, including Blue Jays players on the radars of other MLB clubs.
“As far as other teams checking on our players, sure,” LaCava said, “We’ve got a great team and a great group of players and other teams acknowledge that and have approached us in many ways.
“But we haven’t seen anything that would make us better.”
Here are other highlights from LaCava’s interview on Sportsnet 590 The Fan:
David Price/starting rotation
LaCava was asked if he’s had any conversations with free agent left-hander David Price, but he didn’t offer much, simply saying that the club would like to improve its starting pitching.
“I don’t want to comment on anybody in particular but of course all of our internal (free agents) we have at least reached out to,” he said. “I’ll at least acknowledge that the internal guys we’ve spoken to. But as far as anyone beyond that, we’ve cast a wide net. We’re looking at every and all possibilities to improve the team, particularly starting pitching.”
Despite a void in the starting rotation, LaCava said the Blue Jays would also consider ways of improving other areas.
“You look at what (former GM Alex Anthopoulos) did last year and Alex drove the point to all of us that you can improve in other ways and at the end of the day, it’s not necessarily the hole that you’re filling, it could be significant upgrades to other spots that end up being good.”
R.A. Dickey
There’s been recent talk that the Blue Jays should consider trading R.A. Dickey but when asked about it, LaCava said the knuckleballer’s an important piece for the club.
“He’s just so reliable, so dependable that you know you’re going to get 200 innings (from Dickey). That’s an underrated skill I believe, that when you have guys like that who can give you 200 innings, that saves the bullpen and they stay fresher and stronger,” LaCava said.
“Guys like that are really important to a good season and we think R.A is definitely able to do that for us next year.”
Aaron Sanchez
LaCava said the Blue Jays have yet to determine whether right-hander Aaron Sanchez will pitch out of the bullpen or starting rotation in 2016.
“I think long-term he’s gonna be a very good starting pitcher. We already know that he’s a very good reliever,” LaCava said. “We’re going to see how he feels about it, engage with (him) at some point, get his take.
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make the team better, but we do want to sit down with him and talk to him about it as well.”
Second base job
LaCava also spoke about the competition that’s potentially brewing at second base next season. Rookie Devon Travis was limited to just 62 games last season due to a recurring shoulder injury and was replaced by Ryan Goins, who provided superior defence at the keystone.
“(Travis) certainly deserves every chance to be the everyday guy as does Ryan Goins, of course, who had a great year. That’s a great competition and we’ll see how it plays out. It’s nice to have two really good young players that are able to do the job,” LaCava said.
“We’re confident that both of them are capable. But we’re open-minded to whatever happens and we’ll see as the off-season unfolds and how it goes in spring training.”
