General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2023)

[Jays24]

I understand Soto has already turned down 440M but he was coming off an amazing season. He has had 1.5 down seasons for his standards so one more season like that and he'd probably get the same 440M he already turned down.

 

But if I I had to bet, we are going to see Soto's best season because that's what contract years typically do to people. Except if your name is Chapman lol.

[Laika]

What's the worst case Ontario?

 

He is so good that unless he gets hit by a motorcycle he is guaranteed to remain good for a few years

 

But if the rest of his career just looks like, I dunno, Travis Hafner's entire career... that's not great for $450M, haha.

[wilko]

It's crazy that Soto is still only 25 years old.

[L54]

He is so good that unless he gets hit by a motorcycle he is guaranteed to remain good for a few years

 

But if the rest of his career just looks like, I dunno, Travis Hafner's entire career... that's not great for $450M, haha.

 

Travis Hafner aka Paul Bunyan

[L54]

I f***ing loved Travis Hafner as a kid. I even got to see him mash an absolute missile at the Metrodome. Good times

[BTS]

I just looked at Hafner's FG page for the first time in awhile. From 2004-2006 he played in 406 games and had a 167 wRC+. He was literally Juan Soto good.

[John_Havok]

I f***ing loved Travis Hafner as a kid. I even got to see him mash an absolute missile at the Metrodome. Good times

 

Part of it was towards the end of the steroid era but Hafner had himself a few outstanding seasons from '03 - '07, then basically became the strong side of a platoon after that.

 

I'd love for VLad to put up Hafner's 2006 season in 2024.

[Laika]

I just looked at Hafner's FG page for the first time in awhile. From 2004-2006 he played in 406 games and had a 167 wRC+. He was literally Juan Soto good.

 

that's why I picked him!

 

Soto is about the same as peak Hafner in terms of offensive talent and defensive uselessness.

[Brownie19]

Hafner was a f***ing beast. Those mid 2000 Indians teams were fun with Hafner, Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Shin-Soo Choo, Coco Crisp, Jhonny Peralta, CC, Cliff Lee, etc. I love going back in the way-back machine to look up old teams like that. Thanks.

[wilko]

Hafner was a f***ing beast. Those mid 2000 Indians teams were fun with Hafner, Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Shin-Soo Choo, Coco Crisp, Jhonny Peralta, CC, Cliff Lee, etc. I love going back in the way-back machine to look up old teams like that. Thanks.

 

Did Jim Thome bang your wife?

[Eat My Shatkins]

Imagine signing Ohtani to a mega deal, then trading for Soto and signing him to a mega deal as well.

 

Then Vlad and Bo have monster seasons and the Jays trade them next off season for nice hauls and retool around Ohtani/Soto and what would probably still be a top 5 pitching staff.

[Brownie19]

Did Jim Thome bang your wife?

 

I hope Big Country didn't. But he also wasn't on the Indians in the mid 2000's. Hafner was brought in to replace Thome.

[wilko]

I hope Big Country didn't. But he also wasn't on the Indians in the mid 2000's. Hafner was brought in to replace Thome.

 

[John_Havok]

Yes, Thome left after 2002

[wilko]

Yes, Thome left after 2002

 

No, I mean the wife thing.

[John_Havok]

Side note, I love looking at steroid era numbers.

 

Thome with a .997 OPS in 1998 was good for ....21st on the MVP ballot.

 

Thome on 2002 hits 52 HRs, 1.122 OPS...7th on the MVP ballot.

[John_Havok]

No, I mean the wife thing.

 

Can we ever really be sure?

[wilko]

Side note, I love looking at steroid era numbers.

 

Thome with a .997 OPS in 1998 was good for ....21st on the MVP ballot.

 

Thome on 2002 hits 52 HRs, 1.122 OPS...7th on the MVP ballot.

 

Video game numbers!

[Omar]

Dare I say it, but I think there's a good argument that trading for Soto and signing him to a 10 year $350M deal may be better than signing Ohtani to a 10 year $600M deal. I f***ing LOVE Ohtani, but the age difference is huge. Soto is just so legit. To have him from like age 25 to 35 would be unreal. Offensively, he's equal to Ohtani IMO. He just falls short on the bases - and well, he can't pitch. He also sucks defensively, but if Ohtani is pitching, then he's a DH so he doesn't help there either. I'm not 100% convinced teams are going to get a ton of value out of Ohtani's arm moving forward. I think there's legit concern that he may not remain an elite pitcher or stay healthy enough to give you say 700+ innings over a 10 year deal.

 

I can get behind this from strictly a baseball sense. However, from a marketing point of view, I think Rogers is looking at someone that can transcend the game. They want butts in the seats on the 100 level so that they can justify the expense of all the fancy new cupholders they just installed.

[Brownie19]

No, I mean the wife thing.

 

Good point - I better ask her tonight.

[Marew]

Knowing we will have the top 3 Al mvp vote getters in heart of our lineup is going to make this off season more enjoyable than the actual season. Also with Gerritt cole being 1 year older and body breaking down that much more but gausman gaining 1 year of valuable experience, it’s likely we also have the cy young winner.

[glory]

He turned down $400M so getting him to pass on FA and sign for $350M seems like a pipe dream.

 

Yeah no chance he signs for that low. He’s going to want $500m, and possibly more depending on what Ohtani signs for. I doubt he’d extend with any team before testing the market.

[Frenchsoup]

Jay's should trade Jay Jackson

[Stangstag]

Yeah no chance he signs for that low. He’s going to want $500m, and possibly more depending on what Ohtani signs for. I doubt he’d extend with any team before testing the market.

 

Soto only gets above 400m if he hits 40 homeruns this year IMO. If you’re paying that much for a bad OF then you need the power.

[Laika]

Jay's should trade Jay Jackson

 

interesting opinion

[max silver]

Yeah no chance he signs for that low. He’s going to want $500m, and possibly more depending on what Ohtani signs for. I doubt he’d extend with any team before testing the market.

 

I saw it mentioned elsewhere that the deal the Nationals offered Soto was very heavily backloaded, so he'd be relatively underpaid for much of the deal. Perhaps he'd accept a similar deal total value wise over a shorter term so the AAV would be quite a bit higher.

[Jays24]

interesting opinion

 

Could make or break whether we land Ohtani or Soto lol

[John_Havok]

I saw it mentioned elsewhere that the deal the Nationals offered Soto was very heavily backloaded, so he'd be relatively underpaid for much of the deal. Perhaps he'd accept a similar deal total value wise over a shorter term so the AAV would be quite a bit higher.

 

I think Soto's FA deal is going to be very similarly structured to the one Ohtani signs this year. My guess is Ohtani will have 2 opt outs for sure just in case s*** with whatever team he signs with goes south. Maybe year 4 and again after year 6?

 

Soto for sure would insist on having one before he gets to 30 in case he has 3 monster seasons and can hit FA again

[Frenchsoup]

Anyway we can get Nasty Nestor off the Yanks? Or Sale from the s*** Sox?

[L54]

Anyway we can get Nasty Nestor off the Yanks? Or Sale from the s*** Sox?

 

We have no idea who is available