Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[jmomcc]

3 minutes ago, SuperFuzzBigMuff said:

I have a feeling the only injury he actually has is being butt hurt from being sent to the pen. 

His velo was down a whole tick which is a classic sign of playing hurt. 

[Rimar]

3 hours ago, L54 said:

Are we even sure Chris Bassitt is a guy you want to commit to as a reliever on a FA contract? Half of the reason he started getting innings was because he was throwing strikes and Schneids had no one else to turn to 

Bassitt will want remain sp, and i won't sign him long term. Btw the Dodgers have plenty sp who can throw 98-100 mhp, so should give idea to Atkins of what we need.

[mphenhef]

It is so nice that this thread started about a month later than usual!

[hanton]

4 minutes ago, Rimar said:

Bassitt will want remain sp, and i won't sign him long term. Btw the Dodgers have plenty sp who can throw 98-100 mhp, so should give idea to Atkins of what we need.

best org at developing velo

[G-Snarls]

8 minutes ago, Rimar said:

Bassitt will want remain sp, and i won't sign him long term. Btw the Dodgers have plenty sp who can throw 98-100 mhp, so should give idea to Atkins of what we need.

It sounds like he did everything he could to get Ohtani and Sasaki. They just wanted to go to LA.  I don't get the sense they were strongly in on Yamamoto. 

Trade market is the best option but it's tough to make a deal for a high end SP from this farm. 

And we don't want to give up any of Yesavage, Nimmala or Barger that's for sure.  

[mphenhef]

19 minutes ago, NiagaraJaysFan said:

Regarding the Japanese free agents:

Do you guys think that given the fact that most of Japan saw the epicness of the Jays in this World Series, the guys giving it their all and Toronto being showcased as an amazing place to play, has the ice been broken a bit?

Will we be able to pry some of them here to join this honorable franchise, or will it be business as usual, Dodgers or bust? Curious to hear the board’s thoughts on this.

Honestly, I would guess that these guys were already hearing good things about Toronto from Kikuchi.  Many of the younger guys idolized him..

[Eat My Shatkins]

With Yesavage's meteoric rise this season he is obviously 99.9% untouchable. It's not like he was torching AAA and then his season ended. The dude blew the doors off the best teams in the MLB playoffs on the biggest stage. Every MLB start he's had so far has been pressure packed with everything on the line. He looks like he'll immediately slot into one of the top 3 spots in the rotation and likely excel, and for dirt cheap. The Jays aren't trading him for an older SP ace who has 1 year left of control and will cost $300 million to keep around.

[hanton]

13 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

With Yesavage's meteoric rise this season he is obviously 99.9% untouchable. It's not like he was torching AAA and then his season ended. The dude blew the doors off the best teams in the MLB playoffs on the biggest stage. Every MLB start he's had so far has been pressure packed with everything on the line. He looks like he'll immediately slot into one of the top 3 spots in the rotation and likely excel, and for dirt cheap. The Jays aren't trading him for an older SP ace who has 1 year left of control and will cost $300 million to keep around.

a skill in itself - mound presence and ability to handle pressure

[glory]

What happens with Bichette is going to determine the rest of the off season. Curious to see how the Jays value him. He’s certainly more appealing as a 2B, and he looked fine there on one leg in a short sample size. The impending lockout is going to make the FA market very condensed. Teams like the Jays will spend a lot, while teams that want a salary cap will pretend to be collecting food stamps for the upcoming collective bargaining. Might be some trade opportunities as well.

[jaysblue]

18 minutes ago, glory said:

What happens with Bichette is going to determine the rest of the off season. Curious to see how the Jays value him. He’s certainly more appealing as a 2B, and he looked fine there on one leg in a short sample size. The impending lockout is going to make the FA market very condensed. Teams like the Jays will spend a lot, while teams that want a salary cap will pretend to be collecting food stamps for the upcoming collective bargaining. Might be some trade opportunities as well.

Let's hope the Jays aren't just waiting around all offseason for Bo to make a decision. Hopefully they could re-sign him at some point this month.  

If not, either have to sign someone who could play 2B/3B whether it's Torres for 2B or Bregman 3B. Or you sign an outfielder like Tucker or Bellinger to replace Bo's bat and roll with Barger at 3B and Clement at 2B or you keep Clement at 3B, and find a platoon partner with Schneider at 2B.

Trade market, Brandon Lowe could be a possibility. 

FA market for middle infielders and even 3B is very weak this offseason. 

[Joltin Joe]

1 hour ago, G-Snarls said:

It sounds like he did everything he could to get Ohtani and Sasaki. They just wanted to go to LA.  I don't get the sense they were strongly in on Yamamoto. 

Trade market is the best option but it's tough to make a deal for a high end SP from this farm. 

And we don't want to give up any of Yesavage, Nimmala or Barger that's for sure.  

Sign Dylan Cease with Bassitt money. He good pitcher, only 30. 

[Rafters]

Santander should have a bounce back. The trying to hard for a new team then the injuries was probably his downfall

[G-Snarls]

MLBTR list of FA SPs - both definite FA and those with options/buyouts

-

Starting Pitchers

Tyler Anderson (36)
Chris Bassitt (37)
Shane Bieber (31) – $16MM player option with a $4MM buyout
Paul Blackburn (32)
Walker Buehler (31)
Griffin Canning (30)
Carlos Carrasco (39)
Dylan Cease (30)
Aaron Civale (31)
Alex Cobb (38)
Patrick Corbin (36)
Nestor Cortes (31)
Nabil Crismatt (31)
Anthony DeSclafani (36)
Jon Duplantier (31)
Zach Eflin (32)
Erick Fedde (33)
Jack Flaherty (30) – $20MM player option
Chris Flexen (31)
Zac Gallen (30)
Lucas Giolito (30)
Austin Gomber (32)
Jon Gray (34)
Foster Griffin (30)
Kyle Hart (33) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Andrew Heaney (35)
Kyle Hendricks (36)
Adrian Houser (33)
Shota Imanaga (32) – $57MM club option for 2026-28 or $15MM player option for 2026
Andre Jackson (30)
Jakob Junis (33)
Anthony Kay (31)
Merrill Kelly (37)
Michael King (31)
Zack Littell (30)
Michael Lorenzen (34)
Kenta Maeda (38)
Tyler Mahle (31)
German Marquez (31)
Nick Martinez (35)
Steven Matz (35)
Dustin May (28)
Triston McKenzie (28)
John Means (33) – $6MM club option with no buyout
Miles Mikolas (37)
Wade Miley (39)
Frankie Montas (33) – can opt out of remaining one year and $17MM
Jordan Montgomery (33)
Chris Paddack (30)
Freddy Peralta (30) – $8MM club option with no buyout
Martin Perez (35) – $10MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout
Cody Ponce (32)
Cal Quantrill (31)
Jose Quintana (37) – $15MM mutual option with a $2MM buyout
Colin Rea (35) – $6MM club option with a $750K buyout
Chris Sale (37) – $18MM club option
Max Scherzer (41)
Michael Soroka (28)
Marcus Stroman (35)
Ranger Suarez (30)
Tomoyuki Sugano (36)
Jose Ureña (34)
Jose Urquidy (31) – $4MM club option
Framber Valdez (32)
Justin Verlander (43)
Jake Woodford (29)
Brandon Woodruff (32) – $20MM mutual option with a $10MM buyout

[NiagaraJaysFan]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

Honestly, I would guess that these guys were already hearing good things about Toronto from Kikuchi.  Many of the younger guys idolized him..

Yeah, that’s probably true. Hopefully now we moved up another couple of rungs in desirability for them to sign here.

[Ball4Life]

I wonder what role Ed Rogers will have in Bichette negotiations if Atkins and Bichette can’t come to an agreement.

[Eat My Shatkins]

If Bo doesn't come back I wouldn't bother chasing another MIF in FA

I'd just put Clement at 2B and Barger at 3B, and then you have Jiminez and Kasevich for depth. Kasevich supposedly has a real good glove and is hard to strike out. Could be another Clement.

I would go hard after Tucker or Bellinger though.

[Rimar]

5 hours ago, L54 said:

Something along those lines. At first I thought 7 years but that of course means 8 

Something like Freddy Freeman contract.  6 years  180m with options out if his agent is Scott Boras. So if the case, and Bo agree play 2B, he worth it.

[Rimar]

41 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

If Bo doesn't come back I wouldn't bother chasing another MIF in FA

I'd just put Clement at 2B and Barger at 3B, and then you have Jiminez and Kasevich for depth. Kasevich supposedly has a real good glove and is hard to strike out. Could be another Clement.

I would go hard after Tucker or Bellinger though.

Barger should play RF only. If Bichette doesn't come back, we need similar offensive players who can hit 300, with 20+HR. 

[Rimar]

57 minutes ago, Rafters said:

Santander should have a bounce back. The trying to hard for a new team then the injuries was probably his downfall

 

2 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

It sounds like he did everything he could to get Ohtani and Sasaki. They just wanted to go to LA.  I don't get the sense they were strongly in on Yamamoto. 

Trade market is the best option but it's tough to make a deal for a high end SP from this farm. 

And we don't want to give up any of Yesavage, Nimmala or Barger that's for sure.  

Nimmala I will trade him anytime for a #1 reliever.  The guys i won't want trade are Parker, Sanchez and King..

[Rimar]

3 hours ago, Jonn said:

I hate that Santander exists. I want Kyle Schwarber on this team so bad. Maybe sign him anyway and dump Santander in Philly. Wishful thinking.

Schwarber he will end up in NY, LA or stay in Philadelphia  

[newhere]

Given the money they've spent on the team, stadium renovations, etc and the money they showed they were willing to spend on other major free agents, plus the revenue from this playoff run and the immense popularity of the team currently, and presumably wanting to get everything they can out of Vlad's prime years, I can't see how they wouldn't "go all in" (whatever that looks like) on having an even better team in 2026 and beyond.

Bo is a major priority and I'd be surprised if he refuses to play 2B. I'd like to see Bieber signed. I have a feeling with an off-season to train he's going to be excellent next season and possibly elite. Beyond that, would love to see Bassitt back on the team if the fit is mutual.

Far out idea: What are the chances Max takes a 1 year deal to close out his career as an insane freak coming out of the bullpen?

 

[Omar]

10 hours ago, Laika said:

What is the deal with Berrios, anyway? 

Never saw him all playoffs. Was he even with the team? Any reporting? 

 

Shocked that he wasn't in the dugout for game 7.  Like your team is on the verge of reaching the mountain top and you don't want to be there?  Every other player who could be was there for game 7 in case they won.  Sounds like Berrios is really pissed about being banished to the pen.

[Omar]

57 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

If Bo doesn't come back I wouldn't bother chasing another MIF in FA

I'd just put Clement at 2B and Barger at 3B, and then you have Jiminez and Kasevich for depth. Kasevich supposedly has a real good glove and is hard to strike out. Could be another Clement.

I would go hard after Tucker or Bellinger though.

Yeah I agree with the last part however:  (get the tar warmed up and the feathers ready) I'm not 100% sold on Clement.  Barger is toolsy but Clement for all his value as a defender seemed to get really lucky with the bat all season. Yeah, I know, how do you get lucky all season?  Hope he turns into something great but I have a lingering doubt.  Hope I'm wrong.

Belli would be a great add.  

[jmomcc]

1 hour ago, Omar said:

Yeah I agree with the last part however:  (get the tar warmed up and the feathers ready) I'm not 100% sold on Clement.  Barger is toolsy but Clement for all his value as a defender seemed to get really lucky with the bat all season. Yeah, I know, how do you get lucky all season?  Hope he turns into something great but I have a lingering doubt.  Hope I'm wrong.

Belli would be a great add.  

His 2024 and 2025 are pretty similar. Slightly below average offense plus good d at a few position. With more at bats last year. I definitely wouldn't expect his playoff results.  

[sliderguy35]

1 hour ago, Omar said:

Yeah I agree with the last part however:  (get the tar warmed up and the feathers ready) I'm not 100% sold on Clement.  Barger is toolsy but Clement for all his value as a defender seemed to get really lucky with the bat all season. Yeah, I know, how do you get lucky all season?  Hope he turns into something great but I have a lingering doubt.  Hope I'm wrong.

Belli would be a great add.  

ernie was basically the same guy in 2025 as he was in 2024 with the bat, he's always going to outperform his xStats because of how frequently he pulls the ball in the air. that being said, he doesn't have any real pop and swings too much so he's going to be streaky but hover around league average by the end of the season.

haven't looked too deep into the FA class yet (definitely will in the coming week) but i'm going to be the first guy to plant my flag on brad keller island. electric stuff since moving to the pen, whiff rates have skyrocketed while still getting a ton of groundballs.

he's going to get 75-80% of what guys like devin williams & robert suarez get just because of the lack of name recognition & track record, but i'd be willing to bet that he's more valuable than either of them next season.

[glory]

Yeah as long as your expectation of Ernie is a ~95 wRC+ with great defense, then you shouldn't be disappointed. His playoff run is no where near sustainable, so just have to ignore that. That offense plays a lot better at 2B than it does at 3B, IMO, but if they bring Bichette back, then it's clearly going to be Clement at 3B and Barger in RF. 

[Eat My Shatkins]

If you're worried Ernie will go from 90 wRC+ to 70 wRC+ I guess it could happen, I don't see the glove regressing though. At worst he'll be a ~2 fWAR defender batting in the 8 or 9 spot IMO.

On the flip side, if Giminez can go from 70 wRC+ to 90 wRC+ he probably has a 3-4 fWAR season incoming.

[Spanky__99]

On 11/2/2025 at 10:14 PM, G-Snarls said:

Yeah I think all of 

Vladdy 

Santander 

Barger 

Could hit 30+ HR

Nobody else will but that would be nice 

Varsho?

[Spanky__99]

On 11/2/2025 at 10:43 PM, Governator said:

Bring back Bo, stick him at 2nd and call it a day. Replacing his production for our type of line up isn't as easy as just sort free agents by wRC+ and roll the dice.  I want the league's best at getting hits for when it matters most.

Re-sign Bo if willing to play 2nd, Re-sign Bieber and Bassitt, grab a high leverage arm through FA or trade, then call it a day. 😉

[hanton]

go get

 

Bellinger

Robert Suarez