Blue Jays Meeting With Vlad This Week To Discuss Future + Other Juicy Tidbits

[Vancouverite]

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

[Rusty_Savage]

3 minutes ago, Terminator said:

Yeah I can definitely see the argument for trading him. That's why if we do trade him I think we need to rebuild.

I think the writing is on the wall for a rebuild.  It appears both Vlad and Bo want to test free agency and I don;t like the idea for overpaying them, especially Vlad.  I kind of like Abom's idea of trading one (or both to Seattle) and taking back some salary.  I'd probably even eat some of Vlad's money to get a better return.  I'm not going to pretend what we could get from Seattle but they need bats and we have a few.  I'd also look into trading Gausman and Bassitt too and sign a bunch of guys looking to rebound.  Atkins got a pretty good haul for secondary pieces at this past deadline and hopefully he could do the same, if he's still around.  

This team is a hot mess right now, IMO, but we have the ability to take back bad contracts to up the return and the rebuild/retool could be somewhat quicker and less painful .

[Vancouverite]

10 minutes ago, Rusty_Savage said:

I think the writing is on the wall for a rebuild.  It appears both Vlad and Bo want to test free agency and I don;t like the idea for overpaying them, especially Vlad.  I kind of like Abom's idea of trading one (or both to Seattle) and taking back some salary.  I'd probably even eat some of Vlad's money to get a better return.  I'm not going to pretend what we could get from Seattle but they need bats and we have a few.  I'd also look into trading Gausman and Bassitt too and sign a bunch of guys looking to rebound.  Atkins got a pretty good haul for secondary pieces at this past deadline and hopefully he could do the same, if he's still around.  

This team is a hot mess right now, IMO, but we have the ability to take back bad contracts to up the return and the rebuild/retool could be somewhat quicker and less painful .

I like the fit with M's we can could probably get one of their top 4 pitchers back in a trade, a BP arm, a prospect, and a roster player, maybe Robles?

Only problem i see is if Vladdy is fond of Seattle and if Seattle thinks they can resign him

[xposbrad]

23 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

Vlad is super risky to have in his 30s. He could easily drop off a cliff early 30s with that chunky lower half he has. I just wouldn't want the franchise player on this team to be an inconsistent DH. Doesn't make sense why people are so trigger happy to sign him, he's going to cripple whatever franchise he signs with in a couple of years. If the Jays could get 1-2 solid mlb ready guys and 1 higher upside younger guy then you need to make that trade. I think there's more long term upside with BO if he'll take a shorter term deal and we can sign him for like 3-4 years then flip him with a salary that teams will take. No one is ever trading for Vlad once he's going to get that insane contract, that's for sure, unless you eat 25% of that overpayment. 

[Abomination]

10 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

I like the fit with M's we can could probably get one of their top 4 pitchers back in a trade, a BP arm, a prospect, and a roster player, maybe Robles?

Only problem i see is if Vladdy is fond of Seattle and if Seattle thinks they can resign him

It would probably be more along the lines of Luke Raley, Troy Taylor, and Harry Ford (with Haniger also included for salary reasons).

[Jays24]

1 hour ago, jaysblue said:

You better watch it. He might put you on his IL next haha.

 

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Don't be a d*ck please.  Perhaps I should have re-phrased it to ask "how much more" do you get by trading him now v. at the deadline.  The difference may be less than you think under certain circumstances.  

The attitude was for your treatment of jaysblue.  How dare you reject his proposal to meet up for beers in the new year. 

Just kidding... my bad for being a dick lol.  

[P2F]

56 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

Welcome!

[jaysblue]

Mariners could use both Vladdy and Bo and have some intriguing young arms they could move. Would love me some Woo, but doubt they would move him. 

Castillo likely can be moved since they would want to clear some payroll. If you can get some specs who are close to the Majors along with Castillo, would be open to that. 

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Vancouverite said:

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

Why would you assume Vlad can't speak English? He's given plenty of interviews in English in recent seasons but much like a multitude of players prefers to give interviews in his native tongue. He believes he was misquoted years ago and that was directly behind the preference for Spanish most of the time. I think it's a lazy criticism from fans to complain about a foreign player preferring non English interviews.

[Terminator]

51 minutes ago, max silver said:

Why would you assume Vlad can't speak English? He's given plenty of interviews in English in recent seasons but much like a multitude of players prefers to give interviews in his native tongue. He believes he was misquoted years ago and that was directly behind the preference for Spanish most of the time. I think it's a lazy criticism from fans to complain about a foreign player preferring non English interviews.

Yeah his English is pretty good actually.

Probably doesn't want to say the wrong thing and get canceled by the entire country of Canada.

[Vancouverite]

2 hours ago, Abomination said:

It would probably be more along the lines of Luke Raley, Troy Taylor, and Harry Ford (with Haniger also included for salary reasons).

I have a hard time believing that the best Vlad would fetch is 

1st baseman bench bat that's on the older side

Unproven relief pitcher

B level prospect, potential career back up Catcher

[Vancouverite]

53 minutes ago, max silver said:

Why would you assume Vlad can't speak English? He's given plenty of interviews in English in recent seasons but much like a multitude of players prefers to give interviews in his native tongue. He believes he was misquoted years ago and that was directly behind the preference for Spanish most of the time. I think it's a lazy criticism from fans to complain about a foreign player preferring non English interviews.

I don't agree here

He's an entertainer. MLB is the only major north American league where such a large group of athletes always walk around with interpreters 

If fans and fan engagement were a priority you'd make the effort to speak the language you're fans do.

To me that's his choice but it shows his personality to me and his lack of caring for anything but Vladdy

[max silver]

43 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

I don't agree here

He's an entertainer. MLB is the only major north American league where such a large group of athletes always walk around with interpreters 

If fans and fan engagement were a priority you'd make the effort to speak the language you're fans do.

To me that's his choice but it shows his personality to me and his lack of caring for anything but Vladdy

Vlad entertains fans by playing baseball. He's not an actor or something of that sort where English matters all that much beyond being able to communicate with his teammates. That seems a little self important of you to care what language Vlad chooses to speak in during his interviews. I care only about how he performs on the field and the rest is pretty immaterial.

[Sorrow]

25 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

I don't agree here

He's an entertainer. MLB is the only major north American league where such a large group of athletes always walk around with interpreters 

If fans and fan engagement were a priority you'd make the effort to speak the language you're fans do.

To me that's his choice but it shows his personality to me and his lack of caring for anything but Vladdy

Vladdy can speak fluent English because Arash Madani took his comments about working out of context and published an article about it.

[L54]

1 hour ago, Vancouverite said:

I have a hard time believing that the best Vlad would fetch is 

1st baseman bench bat that's on the older side

Unproven relief pitcher

B level prospect, potential career back up Catcher

Ya Vlad is returning way more than Harry Ford as the center piece 

[Stangstag]

9 hours ago, Angrioter said:

I don't think so. Vladdy Jr is talking s*** lately here in the DR. He said that Soto opened a new door and he's the next big guy to get a big big money.... He's thinking over 500M for sure. 

 

 

Trade him ASAP 

Kinda hoping we trade him and he crashes and burns now.

[Stangstag]

8 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Not even sure why you would need to explain this to a grown person.  Of course you'd get more in return for a full year of Vlad coming off the season he just did vs 2 months of Vlad where there is performance/injury risks lol.  

I’ll go ahead and say I don’t agree that its a certainty you get more for Vlad now vs the deadline.

Pretty much any team that wants/needs Vlad could’ve signed Walker or Alonso instead.

At the deadline, Vlad might be the only 1B option available (and maybe best bat available) to a competing team. You see teams get desperate as hell at the deadline and don’t usually see those lopsided trades happening during the offseason.

Vlad’s highest value was last trade deadline, for the reasons above + an extra year of control. Like, astronomically higher i’d say. 
 

I don’t think the return package would be much different right now vs at the deadline this year.

[Stangstag]

7 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

Thanks for the post, totally agree dude. Not liking Vlad’s attitude one bit. He’s acting like he’s Pujols or Miggy when he’s closer to Chris Davis.

And none of those contracts turned out well i’ll add.

[Stangstag]

4 hours ago, Terminator said:

Yeah his English is pretty good actually.

Probably doesn't want to say the wrong thing and get canceled by the entire country of Canada.

I think if he was that worried, he wouldn’t be running his mouth every chance he’s had this offseason. We can translate ya boob

[Vancouverite]

4 hours ago, max silver said:

Vlad entertains fans by playing baseball. He's not an actor or something of that sort where English matters all that much beyond being able to communicate with his teammates. That seems a little self important of you to care what language Vlad chooses to speak in during his interviews. I care only about how he performs on the field and the rest is pretty immaterial.

Fair point and I respect your opinion

 

But we shall agree to disagree on this one. Being an immigrant myself and being around immigrants, speaking the English language is a show of respect, even if more difficult.

The fact you make the effort is a show of your character.

Vlad just wants to be comfortable.... doesn't like to go out of his comfort zone.

[Chappy]

15 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

Fair point and I respect your opinion

 

But we shall agree to disagree on this one. Being an immigrant myself and being around immigrants, speaking the English language is a show of respect, even if more difficult.

The fact you make the effort is a show of your character.

Vlad just wants to be comfortable.... doesn't like to go out of his comfort zone.

We don’t know that.  He is a massive talent and likely has been advised to go the interpreter route.  Can’t blame a guy for looking out for his best interest, that doesn’t always speak of his character. 

[mphenhef]

13 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

i've been a long time reader of bjmb but, never really posted.

Vladdy's outrageous interview and speculated contract demands though have made me come out of my shell.

350, 400, 500 million? that is WAY too much money for Vlad. He's had 2 great years and a bunch of inconsistent years in between. He's a negative base runner and average 1B with what is a close as it could be guarantee that'll decline. Additionally, the guy has no motivation. To this day i can't understand how he sees himself as a "superstar" but, refuses to learn and speak English and this is coming from an immigrant. You play in a country and continent that's english speaking, with english speaking fans yet, he has no desire to want to connect to them one bit. He's also been more concerned with bringing back the home run jacket rather than focusing on being a better ball player and better team mate. 

I hope Atkins and co get on the phone ASAP and trade him ASAP.

would you rather have Vladdy at 450M over the next 13+ years or free up that salary space for 2 of Bregman/Santander/Alonso on short-term deals plus the assets (top 3 starting pitcher, corner outfielder, bullpen help) we'd get from a trade?

Time for a change, and Vladdy's just not part of it anymore.

A) he can talk English but is more comfortable in his first language.  He doesn’t want the wrong thing to be said due to it being his second language.  I have no issues with that(and no one should).  The dude certainly has connected with the fans despite it with both strong positive and negative reactions to him.  If anything, he fits right into Toronto as an English second language guy.

B). Take a look at the return Kyle Tucker got in trade.  You are likely looking at similar in a Vlad trade.  It’s not franchise altering returns coming back at this point.

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, mphenhef said:

A) he can talk English but is more comfortable in his first language.  He doesn’t want the wrong thing to be said due to it being his second language.  I have no issues with that(and no one should).  The dude certainly has connected with the fans despite it with both strong positive and negative reactions to him.  If anything, he fits right into Toronto as an English second language guy.

B). Take a look at the return Kyle Tucker got in trade.  You are likely looking at similar in a Vlad trade.  It’s not franchise altering returns coming back at this point.

I'd certainly be happy with 3 years of Parades (3.85 WAR/yr in his first 2 full seasons) and the 14th overall pick in last years draft (73rd overall prospect) + an arm for Vlad.  Seems similar to what SD got for Soto last year.  It would give the Jays an opportunity to retool quicker than a full teardown/rebuild.

[Brownie19]

7 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

Fair point and I respect your opinion

 

But we shall agree to disagree on this one. Being an immigrant myself and being around immigrants, speaking the English language is a show of respect, even if more difficult.

The fact you make the effort is a show of your character.

Vlad just wants to be comfortable.... doesn't like to go out of his comfort zone.

I hear what you're saying.  He could choose to improve his english to the point that he's comfortable enough to use it during an interview.  That probably would endear him with more fans.  But as was pointed out, there's a good chance he's been told not to do that - not to risk it.

At the end of the day - player interviews are stupid anyway.  

[Jays24]

9 hours ago, Stangstag said:

I’ll go ahead and say I don’t agree that its a certainty you get more for Vlad now vs the deadline.

Pretty much any team that wants/needs Vlad could’ve signed Walker or Alonso instead.

At the deadline, Vlad might be the only 1B option available (and maybe best bat available) to a competing team. You see teams get desperate as hell at the deadline and don’t usually see those lopsided trades happening during the offseason.

Vlad’s highest value was last trade deadline, for the reasons above + an extra year of control. Like, astronomically higher i’d say. 
 

I don’t think the return package would be much different right now vs at the deadline this year.

This is like saying Soto's value isn't the same because you can also get Teo for a cheaper cost.  No one is putting those guys on the level of Vlad entering his age 26 season. 

The Padres showed last year how you're supposed to conduct business with a player entering his contract year.  You should know very early into free agency where your team stands with the player. 

The fact that Shatkins are still waiting to do this into January when they've had god knows how much time to figure their s*** out is borderline incompetent.  They've let potential suitors for Vlad already patch up the position meaning less competition for a bidder war.  Let's see how things go before making further comments.  

[max silver]

11 hours ago, Stangstag said:

I’ll go ahead and say I don’t agree that its a certainty you get more for Vlad now vs the deadline.

Pretty much any team that wants/needs Vlad could’ve signed Walker or Alonso instead.

At the deadline, Vlad might be the only 1B option available (and maybe best bat available) to a competing team. You see teams get desperate as hell at the deadline and don’t usually see those lopsided trades happening during the offseason.

Vlad’s highest value was last trade deadline, for the reasons above + an extra year of control. Like, astronomically higher i’d say. 
 

I don’t think the return package would be much different right now vs at the deadline this year.

Another point to add is that I think that more teams would be able to squeeze a few months of Vlad's salary onto the bottom line vs paying full freight for the entire season. I think that this would open up smaller market teams as possibilities to enter the bidding, and a full on bidding war between contenders would be the end result. Players with elite offensive potential aren't typically available at the trade deadline, and I think there would be a ton of competition to drive up the eventual trade return.

[max silver]

10 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

Fair point and I respect your opinion

 

But we shall agree to disagree on this one. Being an immigrant myself and being around immigrants, speaking the English language is a show of respect, even if more difficult.

The fact you make the effort is a show of your character.

Vlad just wants to be comfortable.... doesn't like to go out of his comfort zone.

Yeah we can agree to disagree for sure. Having said that I'm argumentative in nature so here goes nothing. 😁

In the end I simply believe Vlad is going to be primarily paid to help his team win baseball games. I can come up with a laundry list of reasons to outline how Vlad is one of the riskier players in MLB to offer a long term extension to, and I don't think that the language he chooses to conduct his interviews in with English media would even register on my list. I would include things like the bad body concerns, inconsistent offensive performance year to year despite hall of fame level natural offensive talent, worst in MLB baserunning and defense since he debuted, questionable offseason work ethics at times, chronic wrist injury concern, several knee related issues at a young age, several seasons where Vlad intimated that off season distractions were largely behind decreased production on the field, etc. I believe that all of these directly tie into Vlad's ability to help the Blue Jays remain competitive on the field of play, and that's the only thing that ultimately matters.

[L54]

You can make up as many scenarios as you want, but there’s like a 95% probability one entire season of Vlad is worth more than 3 months 

Holding him you risk injury, under performance, a Jays team that’s 3 games above .500 

Of course the ship to trade Vlad this offseason has all but set sail with so many first baseman already changing teams

[wilko]

2 minutes ago, max silver said:

Yeah we can agree to disagree for sure. Having said that I'm argumentative in nature so here goes nothing. 😁

In the end I simply believe Vlad is going to be primarily paid to help his team win baseball games. I can come up with a laundry list of reasons to outline how Vlad is one of the riskier players in MLB to offer a long term extension to, and I don't think that the language he chooses to conduct his interviews in with English media would even register on my list. I would include things like the bad body concerns, inconsistent offensive performance year to year despite hall of fame level natural offensive talent, worst in MLB baserunning and defense since he debuted, questionable offseason work ethics at times, chronic wrist injury concern, several knee related issues at a young age, several seasons where Vlad intimated that off season distractions were largely behind decreased production on the field, etc. I believe that all of these directly tie into Vlad's ability to help the Blue Jays remain competitive on the field of play, and that's the only thing that ultimately matters.

I can't see his body type changing much, and it's definitely not going to age well. Questionable work ethic and poor baseball IQ. Locking him down for 10+ years is a risk and most longer contracts turn into an albatross in their final years. For Vladdy, it may come sooner than later. 

[Dick_Pole]

I'm not so sure this narrative around trading him now will maximize his return than at the deadline exists anymore. With the expanded playoffs and the way the playoffs function (the bye round hasn't really helped teams that much), MLB has basically turned into the NHL and NBA where the first four months of the season don't matter. 

Back in the day when you had to win your division to see a playoff spot, the 3 extra WAR by having Guerrero on your team from April to July really helps. Now, not so much. It's a trade-off now. Guerrero has less team control by July, but each team has more information, including the Jays. The former obviously decreases his value. The latter increases his value to some teams, potentially more than the former decreases it and his value goes up. 

The biggest risk you have is if he falls off a cliff and tanks his value in July. But if that happens, there will be a limited bidding war for him during free agency and you might be able to sign him at a reasonable price.

The second biggest "risk" is that he performs extremely well. So well that the Jays are contenders and won't trade him at all.