Scherzer signs with Toronto

[Jays24]

3 minutes ago, Terminator said:

Yeah that math checks out to me.

Sounds crazy but it seems like the Jays are seriously considering spending this much!

Did we ever confirm whether Straw's salary counts towards the CBT if he's not on the 40 man roster?

[Dr. Dinger]

This feels pretty f***ing cool I have to say. 

[Perfect Game]

1 hour ago, Vladdywagon said:

So what's our payroll at now?  Wasn't it 267 mill before this?  Are we at 282 mill?

If so it looks like we're going above 300 million and into the 3rd tax threshold if we add another bat.  And we'd better sign another bat, otherwise we're spending 282 and into 2nd threshold for a borderline wild card contender.

Wow.  Just wow.  Never thought I'd live to see the Jays spend like drunken sailors.  I think we lose a pic if we go to the third threshold but what are these guys going to do with that anyways? Might as well just sign established free agents because drafting and development isn't there.

Do Ross and Mark have Ed Rogers pee pee tapes or something?  Whatever it is, I like it as long as we are going to maintain a high payroll like this.  Fantastic news.

Maybe we can extend Vlad to a mega contract that has a lower value for 2025 to get us under one of the thresholds?  

 

 

 

[Perfect Game]

Saw a tweet a few weeks ago. Didn't post it because you know, everyone's an insider there lol, anyhow, the guy said that Ed Rogers had authorized a $300MM payroll & was starting to get frustrated with the front office for sticking to their valuations. I wonder if they'll be a trade to clear some salary if another bat is signed or Ed's comfortable above the $300?

[JaysfaninFL]

58 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

It would be no different if the Blue Jays were a terrible team or a contending team, it's a one year contract with low money so if the year is going terribly he gets traded to a contender. He ends up on a contender either way as long as he's healthy and doesn't completely suck.

No difference to you, but probably pretty big difference to Scherzer.  Pretty sure he doesn't want to get sent to whatever random contender the Jays might send him off to should the season go south.  He doesn't *need* to pitch at all this year.  He's obviously proved everything he ever needs to and he doesn't need the money.  Pretty sure he wants to pick his own destination.  And the fact that he picked Toronto leads me to believe he thinks they can seriously contend....and for that they need one more impact bat (or some miraculous leap forward by an existing player).

[Hipfan]

1 hour ago, Vladdywagon said:

So what's our payroll at now?  Wasn't it 267 mill before this?  Are we at 282 mill?

If so it looks like we're going above 300 million and into the 3rd tax threshold if we add another bat.  And we'd better sign another bat, otherwise we're spending 282 and into 2nd threshold for a borderline wild card contender.

Wow.  Just wow.  Never thought I'd live to see the Jays spend like drunken sailors.  I think we lose a pic if we go to the third threshold but what are these guys going to do with that anyways? Might as well just sign established free agents because drafting and development isn't there.

Do Ross and Mark have Ed Rogers pee pee tapes or something?  Whatever it is, I like it as long as we are going to maintain a high payroll like this.  Fantastic news.

Maybe we can extend Vlad to a mega contract that has a lower value for 2025 to get us under one of the thresholds?  

 

 

Clearly you weren’t around in the early 90s when they signed guys like Winfield and Molitor. This signing reminds me when they got Dave Stewart; what a time to be a jays fan! Hopefully this portends more good things to come.

[mphenhef]

2 hours ago, JaysfaninFL said:

Would he have signed if he wasn't confident there was one more impact bat coming?  Because everyone knows that's what the Jays sorely need in order to be a serious playoff contender.  And Scherzer doesn't seem like the type to come back for another season just to mark time for a 4th place team.

My thoughts on this is he figures this team either does well and he has a chance in the playoffs or they don’t and they blow it up and send him to a contender at the deadline.

[jaysblue]

Definitely looking forward going down to the Rogers Centre and watching some of Max Scherzer's starts this spring and summer!

Imagine if the Jays can get a Rogers Clemens type season out of him haha.

[mphenhef]

2 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

Definitely looking forward going down to the Rogers Centre and watching some of Max Scherzer's starts this spring and summer!

Imagine if the Jays can get a Rogers Clemens type season out of him haha.

Did they figure out how to get steroids and HGH past the testers?  Seems like that might be needed to pull a Clemens.

[max silver]

53 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Did we ever confirm whether Straw's salary counts towards the CBT if he's not on the 40 man roster?

I believe it was confirmed that it does count against the CBT ledger, although I saw this posted from a few twitter dudes I'm not terribly familiar with.

[Terminator]

9 minutes ago, Hipfan said:

Clearly you weren’t around in the early 90s when they signed guys like Winfield and Molitor. This signing reminds me when they got Dave Stewart; what a time to be a jays fan! Hopefully this portends more good things to come.

Yeah when the team has good and motivated ownership it can support a top payroll.

[Mac]

23 minutes ago, Hipfan said:

Clearly you weren’t around in the early 90s when they signed guys like Winfield and Molitor. This signing reminds me when they got Dave Stewart; what a time to be a jays fan! Hopefully this portends more good things to come.

I'm showing my age but I wasn't around myself and reading this Dave Stewart comp from someone who was has me even more hyped now.

[Jays24]

18 minutes ago, max silver said:

I believe it was confirmed that it does count against the CBT ledger, although I saw this posted from a few twitter dudes I'm not terribly familiar with.

Ya I saw some conflicting reports.  Logically it makes sense for it to NOT count against the CBT if they're not on the 40 man but who knows.  

[glory]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

I believe it was confirmed that it does count against the CBT ledger, although I saw this posted from a few twitter dudes I'm not terribly familiar with.

Shi Davidi initially wrote in an article that Straw's money didn't count against the CBT, but apparently edited the article later to include this: "This is a corrected version of the original story, which erroneously stated that Myles Straw’s salary doesn’t count against the CBT. Straw’s salary does, in fact, count against the CBT."

Davidi has been taking L's all winter, so add another one. I was hoping he was right but unfortunately not. Probably increases the chances of Straw being put on the 40 man at some point. 

[Laika]

Now that he's a sunk cost, Straw is kind of a nice luxury. MLB quality CF defender who is not on the 40. It's like having a 41 man roster! 

[Stangstag]

2 hours ago, Mac said:

This is as happy as I've felt about a move in a while. Scherzer has been one of my favourite pitchers for a long time and I can't wait to see him on the mound wearing a Blue Jay uniform.

I guess time will tell what the Jays get from him this season but this is a win for the front office. Hopefully it turns out to be as impactful as the signing feels today.

Max Scherzer is a Blue Jay. Man, that's awesome.

I feel the same. Have a bobblehead of Max with the WS trophy on my shelf (when he won with the Nats)

Im just praying he stays somewhat healthy. Pretty certain he’ll hit the DL at some point this season, but im just hoping he can make 15-20 starts and be available for playoffs.

[Brownie19]

Keep on cooking Ross.  

Now sign Bregman/Alonso, extend Vlad and maybe sign another lefty RP and call it an offseason.

[Delete_My_Account_Thanks]

2 hours ago, Hipfan said:

Clearly you weren’t around in the early 90s when they signed guys like Winfield and Molitor. This signing reminds me when they got Dave Stewart; what a time to be a jays fan! Hopefully this portends more good things to come.

I definitely was around (fan since 1986) when Labatt owned the team and we had the highest payroll at around 45 million.

Up to this point, Rogers has never shown any sign they'd run a top 3 payroll so this is a massive surprise to me.

 

[Masterbather]

3 hours ago, JaysfaninFL said:

No difference to you, but probably pretty big difference to Scherzer.  Pretty sure he doesn't want to get sent to whatever random contender the Jays might send him off to should the season go south.  He doesn't *need* to pitch at all this year.  He's obviously proved everything he ever needs to and he doesn't need the money.  Pretty sure he wants to pick his own destination.  And the fact that he picked Toronto leads me to believe he thinks they can seriously contend....and for that they need one more impact bat (or some miraculous leap forward by an existing player).

Well he has his limitations in terms of what he can pick and choose at least to start the season. It has to be a team that's ready to guarantee him a rotation spot, and is willing to spend at least 15 million dollars on him clearly. Other more preferred destinations may not have been able to make those guarantees or just didn't have faith in his health or ability at this point to be an impact arm. He's not in the position to choose like he was before but I doubt he's nearly as concerned about where he starts the season, he just needs a chance to get in with a contender by the end.

[Orgfiller]

58 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

Well he has his limitations in terms of what he can pick and choose at least to start the season. It has to be a team that's ready to guarantee him a rotation spot, and is willing to spend at least 15 million dollars on him clearly. Other more preferred destinations may not have been able to make those guarantees or just didn't have faith in his health or ability at this point to be an impact arm. He's not in the position to choose like he was before but I doubt he's nearly as concerned about where he starts the season, he just needs a chance to get in with a contender by the end.

He’s Max f***ing Scherzer lol. If nobody caved to his demands he would just retire.

[Omar]

6 hours ago, saskjayfan said:

We unlocked the cheat codes.  I mean our spending is at a level we've never gone before.  Screw it though.  With the money the dodgers are spending, I hope we sign Alonso or Bregman or trade for and impact bat.  We seem to be comfortable taking on injury risk so go trade for Yelich.

All those pundits trying to predict how much the Jays had allocated to spend this off season were out to lunch. 

[Omar]

If I'm Bowden Francis, I would be pretty pumped knowing I could spend a season picking this guys brain for all things pitching related. 

Heterochromia for the win!

[jaysblue]

7 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Keep on cooking Ross.  

Now sign Bregman/Alonso, extend Vlad and maybe sign another lefty RP and call it an offseason.

Get that payroll above $300M. Best GM in baseball! 

[jaysblue]

8 hours ago, Stangstag said:

I feel the same. Have a bobblehead of Max with the WS trophy on my shelf (when he won with the Nats)

Im just praying he stays somewhat healthy. Pretty certain he’ll hit the DL at some point this season, but im just hoping he can make 15-20 starts and be available for playoffs.

Hopefully the Jays coaches and staff could keep him healthy for the duration of the season. Like you said, if we can get 20 regular season starts out of him + the Postseason, would take that. 

[saskjayfan]

5 hours ago, Omar said:

If I'm Bowden Francis, I would be pretty pumped knowing I could spend a season picking this guys brain for all things pitching related. 

Heterochromia for the win!

There was an article where Bassitt, who is incredibly intelligent himself, talks about about how Max Scherzer is insanely bright guy who out thinks hitters.  He's an incredibly good resource for the entire pitching staff.  Bowden said his velocity was up when he threw for teams. He could just shove and put up a 3.2 ERA too if he's healthy.  Well worth the 1 year gamble. 

[Laika]

It does make you wonder if guys like Y Rod, Bowden, or maybe even Berrios can pick up a thing or two from Scherzer. 

Bowden Francis in particular is just blessed by present company. He can learn everything he wants to know about the splitter from Gausman and then everything he wants to know about... everything else, from Scherzer. 

[Masterbather]

8 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

He’s Max f***ing Scherzer lol. If nobody caved to his demands he would just retire.

Why would he retire when there are teams that are still willing to employ him? At the end of the day I'm sure he knows that there are question marks about him and for good reason, but all he's got to do is prove himself until the trade deadline.

[Jimcanuck]

1 hour ago, Masterbather said:

Why would he retire when there are teams that are still willing to employ him? At the end of the day I'm sure he knows that there are question marks about him and for good reason, but all he's got to do is prove himself until the trade deadline.

What if the best offer he got was a minor league contract?  What if his best offer was $8M?  Every player in their later years weighs offers against retirement.  There comes a point where they say f*** it.

[Masterbather]

2 hours ago, Jimcanuck said:

What if the best offer he got was a minor league contract?  What if his best offer was $8M?  Every player in their later years weighs offers against retirement.  There comes a point where they say f*** it.

Well yeah if it had come to that, I don't know where he is in terms of his desperation to have one more go at it versus retirement but clearly there was still a major league offer in a starting rotation available. I would think there were still a few clubs that would be willing to offer him a starting job, maybe not necessarily contenders but clubs hoping to flip him at the deadline at the very least. 

[Jimcanuck]

34 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

Well yeah if it had come to that, I don't know where he is in terms of his desperation to have one more go at it versus retirement but clearly there was still a major league offer in a starting rotation available. I would think there were still a few clubs that would be willing to offer him a starting job, maybe not necessarily contenders but clubs hoping to flip him at the deadline at the very least. 

Ya only Scherzer knows.  I am sure he was prepared to walk away if there was no offer to his liking.  Quite a few players announce retirement just before or during spring training for this reason.  For example Josh Donaldson on March 4, 2024.