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General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2023)

Krylian

By Krylian
in Toronto Blue Jays Talk

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Laika
Laika

Go find one post saying this   Try to find one   Go do it

glory Vancouver Canadians

glory

Old-Timey Member
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Latest from Rosenthal (re: Soto)

 

The Blue Jays are one of several teams talking to the Padres about Soto, sources said. Soto, 25, would be an ideal fit for the Jays if they fail to land the game’s top free agent, Shohei Ohtani. And if the Padres wait, other teams that miss out on Ohtani could enter the fray.

 

The Padres are seeking a big, multi-player return for Soto, including major-league-ready or near major-league-ready pitching, according to an official with one of the clubs interested. It also is possible the Padres will accept lower-level prospects if they believe those pitchers are sufficiently talented. But Nick Martinez already has left for the Reds as a free agent, and Blake Snell, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Josh Hader are also likely to depart on the open market, leaving the Padres with immediate needs.

 

From the Yankees, the Padres’ targets include Clarke Schmidt, who had a 4.64 ERA in 159 innings last season, and Michael King, who is a sell-high candidate after producing a 1.88 ERA in eight starts at the end of the season. The Yankees currently view King as part of their 2024 rotation, but he also is proven as a quality multi-inning reliever.

 

From the Blue Jays, the Padres could seek a package including one or more pitchers from a group that includes top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, Bowden Francis and Alek Manoah. The Jays, like other clubs, would be concerned about paying Soto $30 million-plus for one season, then likely losing him as a free agent. But they are under pressure to win.

 

The Padres, in their discussions with the Yankees, have proposed attaching Trent Grisham to Soto, a source said. Such a deal would allow the Yankees to address their needs in both center field and left field. But Grisham, projected to earn nearly $5 million in arbitration, batted just .198 with a .666 OPS last season.

Jays24 New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Jays24

Old-Timey Member
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This threads becoming a wet dream and I'm here for it. If we can land a big fish, I'd go nuts.

 

Still ranking Soto ahead of Ohtani strictly due to us saving enough money to use elsewhere. Soto plays a corner OF spot so it fills a void at the same time.

 

Crazy because Soto was on the verge of getting the biggest deal ever before he got traded to SD. But you only trade for Soto if it comes with an extension because you will definitely be losing some top prospects/talent in the transaction.

John_Havok MVP

John_Havok

Old-Timey Member
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Latest from Rosenthal (re: Soto)

 

Yeah, trading for 1 year of Soto is scary as hell from a long term team perspective for Toronto.e. You know he's going to free agency. You know he's likely not coming back. Trading the kind of guys it would take to get him only to lose him for a comp pick in round 5 would be exceptionally s*****, unless there's a WS banner hanging.

Grant77 Toronto Blue Jays

Grant77

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The Jays crusade against radio listeners continues. After having them broadcast games from the studio, which was highly problematic and noticeable, they have fired Ben Wagner. One has to wonder if they will have radio broadcasts at all next season.
Terminator All-Star

Terminator

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The Jays crusade against radio listeners continues. After having them broadcast games from the studio, which was highly problematic and noticeable, they have fired Ben Wagner. One has to wonder if they will have radio broadcasts at all next season.

 

Yeah I'm worried about that too. They've done TV overlays before and then when Wagner did come back they wouldn't even let him travel on the road.

 

Really, how much can it cost to send a radio team out there? A couple mil? Just pony up and get a good team out there.

Frenchsoup FCL Blue Jays

Frenchsoup

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Looks like Soto's making 33 million dollars this year.

 

But he is now just one year removed from free agency, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting an arbitration salary of $33MM next year. It is generally expected that signing him to an extension will be extremely difficult, given that he’s about to hit the open market just after his 26th birthday, a uniquely young age for a free agent. The Nationals reportedly offered him an extension of $440MM in July of last year, eventually putting him on the trading block when he rejected it. Since then, he banked $23MM in 2023 and is set to add about $33MM more next year, increasing his earning power as he has moved to free agency. That makes him seen by many in the industry as a one-year rental.

 

I want to see what the Padres get out of the Yankees farm system lol

BigCecil Vancouver Canadians

BigCecil

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2520[/ATTACH]

Im sure this was posted in here somewhere .. maybe loosing a few of those sympathy pounds from the baby last year

 

Been seeing some Kirk work out pictures on X. He looks better. Thats really encouraging.

jaysblue Buffalo Bisons

jaysblue

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Probably can take on another player from the Padres if it means trading away less talent in a deal for Soto. Like taking on Cronenworth but not a fan of him being under control till 2030. He did post 4.2 WAR seasons in 2021 and 2022 and would fill the open 2B slot on the roster next season.
jaysblue Buffalo Bisons

jaysblue

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Jays interested in Brantley again, love it.

 

Probably can sign him for around $7-8M for one-year to split time between DH and LF. Could be the 2024 version of Brandon Belt.

Spanky99 GOAT

Spanky99

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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Hah!!!

 

Yankees, Padres Reportedly Far Apart In Juan Soto Trade Talks

By Darragh McDonald | December 1, 2023 at 5:30pm CDT

 

The Yankees are known to have interest in Padres outfielder Juan Soto but it doesn’t seem as though a trade is close to coming to fruition. Per reports from Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Jon Heyman of The New York Post and Andy Martino of SNY, talks have stalled with a noticeable gap between the two clubs. Heyman says that “at least nine” clubs have checked in, while the report from The Athletic says the Blue Jays are involved.

 

All the reports indicate that the Padres are asking for a multi-player return, with Martino reporting that the Friars asked for Michael King, Drew Thorpe and four or five other prospects such as Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito, as well as salary relief for Soto and Trent Grisham, who was also in the discussions. He adds that none of Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells or Everson Pereira are involved. The report from The Athletic identifies Clarke Schmidt as a target.

 

It seems there is a disparity in how to value Soto, who is incredibly talented in a vacuum but there are other factors that could diminish his value in a trade. He only just turned 25 years old but has already played in 779 big league games with 160 home runs. He has drawn walks in 19% of his plate appearances while striking out in just 17.1% of them. He has slashed .284/.421/.524 overall for a wRC+ of 154, indicating he’s been 54% better than the league average hitter.

 

But he is now just one year removed from free agency, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting an arbitration salary of $33MM next year. It is generally expected that signing him to an extension will be extremely difficult, given that he’s about to hit the open market just after his 26th birthday, a uniquely young age for a free agent. The Nationals reportedly offered him an extension of $440MM in July of last year, eventually putting him on the trading block when he rejected it. Since then, he banked $23MM in 2023 and is set to add about $33MM more next year, increasing his earning power as he has moved to free agency. That makes him seen by many in the industry as a one-year rental.

 

Shortly after that extension was turned down, the Nats were able to trade Soto and Josh Bell for a package of six players: C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit. But that was when Soto still had two and a half years of control remaining. Now he is down to one year and his salary has increased to roughly market rate for a star player.

 

Given the changing circumstances, his trade value should be far lower now than it was when the Padres acquired him. But the Padres still seem to be asking for a significant package of players, seemingly focused on pitching. King still has two years of control whereas Vásquez and Brito each have six. Thorpe is one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects and hasn’t reached Triple-A yet. From the perspective of the Friars, they think the Yankees are acting like the only suitors, presumably extending offers the Padres consider non-starters.

 

It’s possible that this is just a classic case of early negotiations, where both sides stake out extremely unreasonable positions and gradually meet in the middle. But both sides also have the option of pivoting elsewhere. The Padres seem to have many other clubs calling, while the Yanks can walk away from Soto and pursue free agents like Cody Bellinger. They are known to be looking for two outfielders, which is presumably why Grisham’s name has been brought up in talks, but the Yanks could always looks elsewhere.

 

As for the Jays, it’s unsurprising that they are involved. General manager Ross Atkins has admitted that the club is looking for significant upgrades to their lineup, targeting big names like Bellinger and Shohei Ohtani. Like many things this offseason, the ultimate outcome might have to wait for a decision from Ohtani. Recent reporting indicates the Jays are one of the handful of clubs still involved as Ohtani’s market whittles down. But if they end up just missing there, they could call up the Padres and try to get something done for Soto.

 

Some reports have suggested that the Friars could look to finish a Soto deal as soon as next week’s Winter Meetings, but it might actually be in their best interests to wait. Since nothing is close with the Yankees and the Jays are waiting on Ohtani, the Padres might get a better deal with a bit of patience. Earlier reporting has suggested the Cubs, Giants and Phillies could be involved and there are other speculative fits as well.

 

Despite Soto’s immense talent, he’s available in trade talks due to the budgetary concerns in San Diego. The club’s payroll for next year is currently estimates by Roster Resource to be around $189MM. Due to aggressive spending in recent years and their loss of broadcast revenue with the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, they are expected to be working with a reduced payroll of around $200MM this year. That means they are almost at their limit before addressing the significant losses to their rotation. Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez reached free agency at season’s end, leaving them with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and plenty of uncertainty beyond those two.

 

It appears that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is trying to kill two birds with one stone, moving Soto and his projected to salary to both clear out some payroll space and bring in the pitching they sorely need. Whether he can pull it off will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow in the weeks to come.

Spanky99 GOAT

Spanky99

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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Brantlley would be a nice fall back option for LF that would be much cheaper and wouldn't cost any prospect capital to acquire.

 

Yeah, that's what the write up mentions.

saskjayfan Dunedin Blue Jays

saskjayfan

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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Been seeing some Kirk work out pictures on X. He looks better. Thats really encouraging.

 

You can tell in his face he's lost weight and he looks way stronger. He looks as good as he did in 21 coming into camp, maybe better. Kid's contact rates are ridiculous. If we get the best version of Kirk physically you could be talking about a 2 win upgrade without spending a dollar.

Frenchsoup FCL Blue Jays

Frenchsoup

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
I wouldn't mind signing Danny to a 5 year 45million dollar contract extension keep him and Kirk together for a few more years. It's a lil righty heavy but Heiny is kind of a nice lefty bat who calls a good game.
John_Havok MVP

John_Havok

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I wouldn't mind signing Danny to a 5 year 45million dollar contract extension keep him and Kirk together for a few more years. It's a lil righty heavy but Heiny is kind of a nice lefty bat who calls a good game.

 

You mean the guy who was just claimed on waivers and no longer a Jay?

Marew College Ball

Marew

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
So jays are favourites to land Soto and second in line on tawny. Would honestly be happy with just Soto but now I am kind of expecting both and will be disappointed if we don’t get them.
Sammy225 FCL Blue Jays

Sammy225

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
So jays are favourites to land Soto and second in line on tawny. Would honestly be happy with just Soto but now I am kind of expecting both and will be disappointed if we don’t get them.

 

Hector Gomez is someone you take with a grain of salt…..

Marew College Ball

Marew

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Just one of two 2 and things will be a lot more optimistic for the next 3 months. I don’t believe in delayed gratification.
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