Blue Jays 2024

[onomatopoeia]

I think Ramón Laureano would be a decent signing, but I don't expect the Jays to be interested, because he had a PED suspension.

 

[tml]

I think Ramón Laureano would be a decent signing, but I don't expect the Jays to be interested, because he had a PED suspension.

We already have one of those.

 

[mitchell76]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1872008090402398364

 

[mitchell76]

 

[unassuming]

Close to signing Santander?

Toronto Blue Jays are expected to close deal with top free agent hitter on the market in latest report

Toronto Blue Jays are expected to close deal with top free agent hitter on the market in latest report as they are the front runners to land Anthony Santander

www.bluejaysinsider.com

 

[Primetime21]

Report: Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers agree on three-year, $66 million deal | TSN

Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is staying in Los Angeles, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Dodgers for $66 million, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

www.tsn.ca

 

[261252]

Report: Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers agree on three-year, $66 million deal | TSN

Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is staying in Los Angeles, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Dodgers for $66 million, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

www.tsn.ca

I would have been shocked if he signed with the Jays. To go from a proven contender to a proven pretender is a no brainer. Would you have signed with the Jays? Vlady and Bo must be thinking the sameway so trade them and build the future along with every vet and build the best farm system in MLB

 

[The Oracle]

I do like the Devin Williams move (mutually good trade for both teams - both teams dealt in areas they have excessed). Max Fried is a nice move for the current window of the next 2 or 3 years - but man 8 years is scary for a 31 year old with mixed injury history. But its good for 2025 and for the Yanks that is what matters as Judge and Cole are not getting younger. So I'm good with it, and deal with the ramifications later.

However, regarding Bellinger. I have to strongly disagree that this was a good move for the Yanks. It's a bad move, he's just not that good. 2019 was a long time ago! Willingly taking on the Bellinger contract (2/$52m or 1/$30m if you buy him out) reeked of desperation from the loss of Soto and the need to do something ASAP. Should have just continued to play the market (FA or trade). The Jays have done nothing much which is disappointing (but not unexpected), but taking on Bellinger might have made things worse for the Jays since while they have a big payroll, there is still a target number they have to spend.

Why did Bellinger exercise his player option, instead of opting out to become a free agent? It's because he knows he would get nowhere near $25M/year on the open market. He is overpaid.

This is what Bellinger has done the last 4 years.

2021: -1.7 WAR (one of the worst years by any player since 2000)
2022 - 1.8 WAR (a bit below average for a full time starter)
2023 - 4.4 WAR (A good year, but all the analytics (Ball in play, hard hit %), suggested there was lots of luck in his numbers and a regression was likely_
2024 - 2.2 WAR (Average starter. What do you know there was a massive regression from his "Luck" based numbers in 2023.
And he's far removed from the gold glove defence of 2019.

Basically since his MVP year in 2019, which is getting farther and farther away, he has had one season above average and analytics suggested it could have been a luck based outlier.

I'll gladly admit I was entirely wrong on this assessment if Bellinger has a good year.
I'm sure the Jays could have got in on this to if they wanted. Let's see what they do with the $25m-$30m we are told they will still spend. Will be interesting to come back to it later to see who came out ahead. It might be bad for both is my guess!

Yanks want to move Aaron to back to right so need someone to play center till they figure out if Spencer Jones is a major leaguer or not...If Bellinger can duplicate last years stats they're okay with that from what I've read.

The Goldschmidt signing is a hope shot I feel. He still hits lefties well so I guess there's that. Going to be a lot of platooning in Yankees land this year

 

[mitchell76]

I would have been shocked if he signed with the Jays. To go from a proven contender to a proven pretender is a no brainer. Would you have signed with the Jays? Vlady and Bo must be thinking the sameway so trade them and build the future along with every vet and build the best farm system in MLB

I totally agree with you!!

If I were in charge of the Jays, I would trade both Vlady and Bo, and start a major rebuild. Maybe, the Jays could do the same thing that the Baltimore Orioles did. Get a bunch of good young prospects, just like Baltimore did a couple of yrs ago!!

It's unfortunate, that Baltimore has been great in the regular season, but tanked in the playoffs, the last two years!!

 

[roddermac]

I totally agree with you!!

If I were in charge of the Jays, I would trade both Vlady and Bo, and start a major rebuild. Maybe, the Jays could do the same thing that the Baltimore Orioles did. Get a bunch of good young prospects, just like Baltimore did a couple of yrs ago!!

It's unfortunate, that Baltimore has been great in the regular season, but tanked in the playoffs, the last two years!!

MLB draft is a major crap shoot. I wouldn't trust dumb and dumber to anchor a rebuild.

 

[Primetime21]

Arizona Diamondbacks, pitcher Corbin Burnes agree to six-year, $210 million deal | TSN

The Arizona Diamondbacks and former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes are in agreement on a six-year, $210 million contract, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

www.tsn.ca

 

[onomatopoeia]

I totally agree with you!!

If I were in charge of the Jays, I would trade both Vlady and Bo, and start a major rebuild. Maybe, the Jays could do the same thing that the Baltimore Orioles did. Get a bunch of good young prospects, just like Baltimore did a couple of yrs ago!!

It's unfortunate, that Baltimore has been great in the regular season, but tanked in the playoffs, the last two years!!

Baltimore got many of those good young prospects by losing 100+ games in 2018, 2019 and 2021. They also had good draft selections.

You know that I agree with you about trading the high-priced talent and rebuilding. Attempting to be competitive for the wild card is a strategy which guarantees mediocrity and inevitable decline. Top Free agents don't want to sign with the Blue Jays. There are many reasons, but I see the artificial turf field as being the biggest factor.

Some teams let their star free agents walk when their asking price exceeds their value. The Houston Astros have that approach, and they have been competitive year after year. The Tampa Rays have that approach, and they are usually a little better than the Blue Jays with a much lower payroll. The Orioles' new ownership has VERY deep pockets, but they don't spend foolishly, largely because of attendance - in 2024 it was 2,281,129, 8th of 15 in the American League. Being the murder capital of the USA tends to suppress the walk up crowd figures.

A large part of the Blue Jays' attendance is people who don't know a lot about baseball. They don't know when a team has no chance of winning a championship, (unless they were in a Disney movie), and they would likely stay away if the team was rebuilding. Honestly; how many of you are following the Raptors right now?

Vlady is a luxury the Jays can't afford. They SHOULD have traded him before all of the teams who overspend filled their First Base hole. Instead of doing that, I expect them to continue to patch holes in a sinking boat instead of scrapping it and building a new one. Postponing the inevitable for as long as possible appears to be their mindset.

 

[Zoot Allures]

I imagine this year will be like last.

Jays will be traders at the trade deadline, how much young talent they receive depends on Vlad having 2 great years in a row which has never happened and Bo getting his mojo back

Trade deadline will be the only interesting part of another boring year

 

[Toronto Passions]

Baltimore got many of those good young prospects by losing 100+ games in 2018, 2019 and 2021. They also had good draft selections.

You know that I agree with you about trading the high-priced talent and rebuilding. Attempting to be competitive for the wild card is a strategy which guarantees mediocrity and inevitable decline. Top Free agents don't want to sign with the Blue Jays. There are many reasons, but I see the artificial turf field as being the biggest factor.

Some teams let their star free agents walk when their asking price exceeds their value. The Houston Astros have that approach, and they have been competitive year after year. The Tampa Rays have that approach, and they are usually a little better than the Blue Jays with a much lower payroll. The Orioles' new ownership has VERY deep pockets, but they don't spend foolishly, largely because of attendance - in 2024 it was 2,281,129, 8th of 15 in the American League. Being the murder capital of the USA tends to suppress the walk up crowd figures.

A large part of the Blue Jays' attendance is people who don't know a lot about baseball. They don't know when a team has no chance of winning a championship, (unless they were in a Disney movie), and they would likely stay away if the team was rebuilding. Honestly; how many of you are following the Raptors right now?

Vlady is a luxury the Jays can't afford. They SHOULD have traded him before all of the teams who overspend filled their First Base hole. Instead of doing that, I expect them to continue to patch holes in a sinking boat instead of scrapping it and building a new one. Postponing the inevitable for as long as possible appears to be their mindset.

I respectfully do not agree. Vlady is a luxury that the Jay’s CAN afford. and I believe the biggest reason they have been striking out in the free agent market is because they don’t have him locked up and the team‘s future is in jeopardy. The reason they do not have Guerrero locked up is because Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro feel as though there are the smartest people in the room and the sharpest in terms of evaluating talent. They are driving this organization into the ground.

….take the New York Yankees for instance, if they failed to resign Aaron Judge a couple of years ago, they immediately go to rebuilding mode. Which they did not want to do and in which they had the budget and commitment to preventing in order to appease the fan base. Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins are 2 complete dingbats that absolutely stink with the strategic plan of building this roster properly and taking into account team chemistry. I don’t think it goes much deeper than that. We’re stuck with two bozos that don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

Philip

 

[Toronto Passions]

…. and I will say it again, Buck Martinez has been screaming for the Blue Jays to extend a Vladimir Guerrero for over a year stating this is the best way for other free agents to take the Blue Jays seriously because it shows a clear direction for the organization and he has said everything else will fall into place after they lockup Guerrero long-term. Buck Martinez has said this during telecasts Buck Martinez has said this in interviews. It sounds pretty elementary and simple, but clearly the Blue Jays have not been able to perform this task because of these two bozos running the organization.

When the Yankees were trying to get Aaron Judge to sign there again, the ownership made a personal phone call to Judge to get him really invested in coming back by issuing him a team captaincy. Is Mark Shapiro doing anything like this with Guerrero? No he’s too busy calling Guerrero a non-generational talent during season ending press conferences. This organization really is a joke with how it’s being run.

That’s the real problem in my opinion….

Philip

 

[chodge]

…. and I will say it again, Buck Martinez has been screaming for the Blue Jays to extend a Vladimir Guerrero for over a year stating this is the best way for other free agents to take the Blue Jays seriously because it shows a clear direction for the organization and he has said everything else will fall into place after they lockup Guerrero long-term. Buck Martinez has said this during telecasts Buck Martinez has said this in interviews. It sounds pretty elementary and simple, but clearly the Blue Jays have not been able to perform this task because of these two bozos running the organization.

When the Yankees were trying to get Aaron Judge to sign there again, the ownership made a personal phone call to Judge to get him really invested in coming back by issuing him a team captaincy. Is Mark Shapiro doing anything like this with Guerrero? No he’s too busy calling Guerrero a non-generational talent during season ending press conferences. This organization really is a joke with how it’s being run.

That’s the real problem in my opinion….

Philip

The only way is for people to stay away from attending games imagine an empty Rogers centre for opening day

Hire buck as GM

 

[mitchell76]

Baltimore got many of those good young prospects by losing 100+ games in 2018, 2019 and 2021. They also had good draft selections.

You know that I agree with you about trading the high-priced talent and rebuilding. Attempting to be competitive for the wild card is a strategy which guarantees mediocrity and inevitable decline. Top Free agents don't want to sign with the Blue Jays. There are many reasons, but I see the artificial turf field as being the biggest factor.

Some teams let their star free agents walk when their asking price exceeds their value. The Houston Astros have that approach, and they have been competitive year after year. The Tampa Rays have that approach, and they are usually a little better than the Blue Jays with a much lower payroll. The Orioles' new ownership has VERY deep pockets, but they don't spend foolishly, largely because of attendance - in 2024 it was 2,281,129, 8th of 15 in the American League. Being the murder capital of the USA tends to suppress the walk up crowd figures.

A large part of the Blue Jays' attendance is people who don't know a lot about baseball. They don't know when a team has no chance of winning a championship, (unless they were in a Disney movie), and they would likely stay away if the team was rebuilding. Honestly; how many of you are following the Raptors right now?

Vlady is a luxury the Jays can't afford. They SHOULD have traded him before all of the teams who overspend filled their First Base hole. Instead of doing that, I expect them to continue to patch holes in a sinking boat instead of scrapping it and building a new one. Postponing the inevitable for as long as possible appears to be their mindset.

Interesting point about the Raptors. Right now, the Raptors are 7-24, yet their average attendance is over 18000 fans a game. IMHO, the Jays could still trade Vlady and Bo, and still get a lot of fans going to their games.

Here's a chart of the Raptors attendance so far in the 2024-2025 season!!

2024-2025 NBA Attendance - National Basketball Association - ESPN

Find out the 2024-2025 attendance numbers for every NBA team.

www.espn.com

 

[mitchell76]

…. and I will say it again, Buck Martinez has been screaming for the Blue Jays to extend a Vladimir Guerrero for over a year stating this is the best way for other free agents to take the Blue Jays seriously because it shows a clear direction for the organization and he has said everything else will fall into place after they lockup Guerrero long-term. Buck Martinez has said this during telecasts Buck Martinez has said this in interviews. It sounds pretty elementary and simple, but clearly the Blue Jays have not been able to perform this task because of these two bozos running the organization.

When the Yankees were trying to get Aaron Judge to sign there again, the ownership made a personal phone call to Judge to get him really invested in coming back by issuing him a team captaincy. Is Mark Shapiro doing anything like this with Guerrero? No he’s too busy calling Guerrero a non-generational talent during season ending press conferences. This organization really is a joke with how it’s being run.

That’s the real problem in my opinion….

Philip

IMHO, the Jays should trade Vlady this off-season, before he becomes a free agent next year, and the Jays get nothing in return. Even if the Jays sign Vlady to a long term contract, the Jays aren't serious contenders anyway. As usual, just my opinion!!

 

[mitchell76]

I respectfully do not agree. Vlady is a luxury that the Jay’s CAN afford. and I believe the biggest reason they have been striking out in the free agent market is because they don’t have him locked up and the team‘s future is in jeopardy. The reason they do not have Guerrero locked up is because Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro feel as though there are the smartest people in the room and the sharpest in terms of evaluating talent. They are driving this organization into the ground.

….take the New York Yankees for instance, if they failed to resign Aaron Judge a couple of years ago, they immediately go to rebuilding mode. Which they did not want to do and in which they had the budget and commitment to preventing in order to appease the fan base. Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins are 2 complete dingbats that absolutely stink with the strategic plan of building this roster properly and taking into account team chemistry. I don’t think it goes much deeper than that. We’re stuck with two bozos that don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

Philip

The problem is, I don't think Vlady is a good enough player to spend $500 million plus on. The Jays should just go to rebuilding mode. The Jays attendance will still be good, no matter what??

 

[Toronto Passions]

The problem is, I don't think Vlady is a good enough player to spend $500 million plus on. The Jays should just go to rebuilding mode. The Jays attendance will still be good, no matter what??

The sad reality is nobody is worth that money, and until there is a serious lockout where the owners are very much standing their ground as not being able to afford this current climate …. The going rate for a player as young as Vladimir Guerrero and locking him up will probably be over 500 million. I don’t think the fan base will be able to stand losing him. I really do feel they have to buy themselves out of this mess and going into rebuilding mode would be franchise suicide that will last for a very long time and Rogers will not like that.

I lived through the attendance of the late 90s and 2000s. This fan base should not be taken for granted because this is a hockey town and they will lose interest in baseball very quickly.

Philip