Blue Jays - Signed Buck

Toronto Blue Jays - Signed C John Buck to a 1-year, $2 million contract.

The Blue Jays have essentially spent two decades filling in ordinary catchers from elsewhere.  The last Blue Jay starting catcher to come directly from the farm system was Pat Borders. The last catcher to be an All-Star in Toronto was Ernie Whitt.

So, this time around, the Jays call up the King of Scotland and make him this year’s fill-in.  Buck is what he is, a catcher who is a bit below-average, but not dreadful (except BA) at every aspect of the game.  He’s a 73-89 player on a team that seems to want as cheap a 73-89 team as possible for 2010.  The Jays certainly made a better signing of Buck than the Royals did with Buck’s replacement, but making fun of Dayton Moore’s mind-grapes is almost pro forma at this point.

2010 ZiPS Projections  
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Player        AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG  OPS+
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Buck         308  36   68  15  1  15  46  27  97   0  .221  .292  .422   87   
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