Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[jaysblue]

2 hours ago, Stangstag said:

No i absolutely do not

You never saw the leaked photo's? lol

[Jays24]

3 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

C'mon man.  Nobody is bullying anyone.  

The Jays "checking in" on Marte is simply them doing their job and collecting information.  It doesn't mean Bo is gone, nor should they wait until they finish negotiations with Bo to inquire about Marte. 

I just pointed that out and others reiterated it after ValiantJaysFan doubled down to suggest it's unnecessary (which I still don't get - what is the harm in gathering information on Marte again?  Unless you think we're wasting resources or don't have the man power to do such a thing - I don't get it).

Nobody was tarred and feathered, nobody was bullied - the board simply provided a pretty logical answer/response to the original question that was asked.

ValiantJaysFan - I'm confused as to why you're so upset.  I meant no harm with my response - and perhaps I could have phased it better. You're completely welcome here friend. 

I actually completely agree with you guys on this one... just wanted a reason to stick up for the guy loll

[Jays24]

5 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Maybe because you’re a flippant whiner

Im team Shatkins now... ill still whine on this board as thats my therapy but it'll be hard to do with a management group that got us 2 inches away from a world series title :) 

[glory]

17 minutes ago, rydermike said:

Marte would be nice, but what would the acquisition cost be. I think it might be better to just go with Bo. It just costs money and maintains continuity, etc plus no losses to roster/prospect pool

Realistically I don't think the Jays have the prospects to get that type of deal done. They won't trade Yesavage obviously, and Nimmala took a step backwards this past season. I'm not sure who else they have that would be enticing to the D-Backs. Probably more realistic to bring back Bo or sign Tucker. 

Apparently if you are CBT payor (which the Jays were after 2025), then signing a qualified FA means you lose your 2nd and 5th highest selections in the draft + $1M in international money. Signing multiple qualified FAs will mean forfeiting 3rd and 6th highest picks as well. I'm not sure how to quantify that in a Bo vs Tucker scenario, but it's pretty significant. 

 

 

[max silver]

4 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

The sample size is pretty small, but he had a 5.58 FIP in the playoffs on the back of an 11:6 K/BB over 14 IP with 3 bombs given up. Call it vetrin presents and "playoff experience grittiness" all you want, but if it happened on any other team you'd probably say that Max got pretty lucky to not be shelled. Obviously it worked out for us and I'll remember his playoff run fondly, but easy to see how this could have gone sideways with worse sequencing luck.

Scherzer wasn't dominant by any means but he was generally effective at producing outs. I didn't care for the assessment that it was pure dumb luck but a closer look at his Statcast metrics has certainly changed my mind a bit as he allowed a ton of very hard contact. I think that the only saving grace was likely that the average launch angle may have been so high that it kept the ball in a park a bit more than could have otherwise been expected.

We can examine Scherzer's playoff totals and compare them to Bieber. Neither guy was outright dominant but each of them was generally effective at keeping runs off of the board and allowing the Blue Jays to win.

Scherzer 3.77 ERA 5.23 xERA 5.58 FIP

Bieber 3.86 ERA 5.28 xERA 4.26 FIP

Based on runs allowed and expected ERA allowed Scherzer actually outperformed Bieber in the playoffs, albeit with a higher FIP primarily due to a higher walk rate+home run rate. I don't see anyone proclaiming how Bieber's playoff performance was pure dumb luck, although in his case he had a few very effective starts and some clunkers mixed in, whereas Scherzer was a little more consistent in largely wiggling out of trouble when he had runners on base. 

[Ray]

11 hours ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

Report: Blue Jays have ‘checked in’ on All-Star 2B Marte

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/article/report-blue-jays-have-checked-in-on-all-star-2b-marte/

 

I don't see why they would do this unless they think Bo is gone.

These type of reports are so funny. If you've listened to enough front office execs talk, you know that the first thing competent front offices do in the offseason is inquire on EVERYONE and perform due diligence. Like every front office member is assigned a block of teams to reach out to and gather as much information about who might be available and what holes teams are looking to fill. You can conceivably have an AI-written article about Team X has 'checked in' on player Y with any combination of team and player in baseball, and it's probably true. Like there's a non-zero possibility that Rays checked with the Yankees on if they would move Aaron Judge, because that's what competantly run front-offices do. Leave no stone unturned, however unlikely it would be.

Regardless, as a hypothetical, Marte is much more preferable for the Jays than Bo. Better player, making not that much money relative to his production. Only knock against him is his age, but if you're going all-in, that's the type of move to make. It wouldn't necessarily knock you out of the Tucker and 1 SP convos either where as paying Bo would likely mean no Tucker.

[Spanky__99]

10 hours ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

Wasn’t pointing at you specifically, but a bunch of the usuals pile on with their crap enough times that I fully expect every single post to result in a stupid argument. 
 

All I said was if they’re trying to acquire another infielder it likely means they don’t think they’re signing Bo. Really don’t understand why these holier than thou goofs that think they’re Bill James and know more than the average fan, have to pile on. I wouldn’t call it bullying but I would call it being a dick. 

It's due dilligence, kicking tires, whatever you want to call it, they're not going to be left with their dick in there hand, is all.

Bo will likely re-sign, but Marte would be an upgrade, regardless. Nothing to see here, man.

Toronto will be in on all top available players whether through trade, or Free Agency. It's as simple as that.

[Jimcanuck]

BA Jays top 10

Yesavage

Nimmala

JoJo Parker

Johnny King

Gage Stanifer

Tiedemann

Juan Sanchez

RJ Schreck

Jake Bloss

Jake Cook

 

[Jimcanuck]

Best Tools

Best Hitter: JoJo Parker
Best Power Hitter: Juan Sanchez
Best Strike-Zone Discipline: RJ Schreck
Fastest Baserunner: Jake Cook
Best Athlete: Jake Cook
Best Fastball: Trey Yesavage
Best Curveball: Johnny King
Best Slider: Gage Stanifer
Best Changeup: Trey Yesavage
Best Control: Fernando Perez
Best Defensive Catcher: Brandon Valenzuela
Best Defensive Infielder: Arjun Nimmala
Best Infield Arm: Arjun Nimmala
Best Defensive Outfielder: Jake Cook
Best Outfield Arm: Jake Cook

[Jimcanuck]

Jake Cook has above average tools across the board, with the exception of power (30 grade).  But at 6'3" and 185 lbs could grow into 15 HR power.

[Spanky__99]

19 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

BA Jays top 10

Yesavage

Nimmala

JoJo Parker

Johnny King

Gage Stanifer

Tiedemann

Juan Sanchez

RJ Schreck

Jake Bloss

Jake Cook

 

Hot Damn 6 - 60's 2 - 55's a 50 and a 45 in the top 10, not too damn shabby at all, man. Good news, baby!

[Laika]

Good system. 

[Laika]

12 hours ago, max silver said:

Scherzer wasn't dominant by any means but he was generally effective at producing outs. I didn't care for the assessment that it was pure dumb luck but a closer look at his Statcast metrics has certainly changed my mind a bit as he allowed a ton of very hard contact. I think that the only saving grace was likely that the average launch angle may have been so high that it kept the ball in a park a bit more than could have otherwise been expected.

We can examine Scherzer's playoff totals and compare them to Bieber. Neither guy was outright dominant but each of them was generally effective at keeping runs off of the board and allowing the Blue Jays to win.

Scherzer 3.77 ERA 5.23 xERA 5.58 FIP

Bieber 3.86 ERA 5.28 xERA 4.26 FIP

Based on runs allowed and expected ERA allowed Scherzer actually outperformed Bieber in the playoffs, albeit with a higher FIP primarily due to a higher walk rate+home run rate. I don't see anyone proclaiming how Bieber's playoff performance was pure dumb luck, although in his case he had a few very effective starts and some clunkers mixed in, whereas Scherzer was a little more consistent in largely wiggling out of trouble when he had runners on base. 

Nobody is talking about Bieber because he's not the topic of conversation, that's all. The question is whether it makes sense to bring Scherzer back or do another Scherzer type deal with someone like Verlander. 

Even if you want to compare their postseasons for some random goal-post moving reason, their playoff stats are not that comparable. Scherzer got incredibly lucky, Bieber had very normal luck and generally deserved his results. Maybe Bieber was helped out a bit by the good defense, on some hard hit balls, but that's about it. Look at the DIPS collectively along with the K-BB rates, then the LOB% and BABIP. 

	SCHERZER	BIEBER
ERA	3.77	3.86
xERA	4.65	4.49
FIP	5.58	4.26
xFIP	5.44	3.99
SIERA	5.05	3.77
BABIP	0.237	0.321
LOB%	87%	78.90%
K-BB%	8.60%	14.50%

[Eat My Shatkins]

Nice to see Nimmala rated high for his arm and defense. Gives you hope that he could be useful even if the bat isn't elite, especially since he does have power.

[John_Havok]

15 hours ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

Wasn’t pointing at you specifically, but a bunch of the usuals pile on with their crap enough times that I fully expect every single post to result in a stupid argument. 
 

All I said was if they’re trying to acquire another infielder it likely means they don’t think they’re signing Bo. Really don’t understand why these holier than thou goofs that think they’re Bill James and know more than the average fan, have to pile on. I wouldn’t call it bullying but I would call it being a dick. 

I fully own that I was being a dick. 

Because your post was dumb. If calling a dumb post dumb hurts your feelings... life sucks, get a helmet. 

The FO is running a multi-billion dollar franchise, they don't just sit around waiting for things to happen for certain before they start gathering information on possible pivots if plan A doesn't work. This isn't unique to baseball either, this is probably the most common concept in every business or even an everyday person's normal life. It's actually mind-boggling to suggest that kicking the tires on some player is something you would wait to do before a certain player has signed elsewhere. They'll have an entire list of players they want to pursue at every position on the diamond if things go certain ways. So much random s*** can happen it's a basic expectation to be at least semi-prepared for very obvious potential outcomes. 

In any case, I still should have asked some questions to you first before stating my opinion on your post. Next time I will probe further to determine your knowledge level before assuming it's in the 3rd or 4th percentile of baseball knowledge and reacting accordingly. 

 

[Eat My Shatkins]

1 hour ago, Jimcanuck said:

BA Jays top 10

Yesavage

Nimmala

JoJo Parker

Johnny King

Gage Stanifer

Tiedemann

Juan Sanchez

RJ Schreck

Jake Bloss

Jake Cook

 

There is a chance we see Tiedemann, Schreck, Bloss, Stanifer and maybe even Perez get at least a taste of MLB in 2026.

"Waves of talent...."

- Boss Atkins

[Laika]

Will Jake Cook be the first low power, pure CFer in, well, forever to work out for the Blue Jays? 

Seems like an archetype they draft or acquire every few years but never develop.

[Laika]

3 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

Nice to see Nimmala rated high for his arm and defense. Gives you hope that he could be useful even if the bat isn't elite, especially since he does have power.

Yeah it's nice to see. I'm losing faith in his hitting ability but hopefully he can become a SS with defense and pop. 

[John_Havok]

2 minutes ago, Laika said:

Yeah it's nice to see. I'm losing faith in his hitting ability but hopefully he can become a SS with defense and pop. 

Javy Baez-lite?

[Laika]

1 minute ago, John_Havok said:

Javy Baez-lite?

I don't think he's going to be that athletic 

Maybe more on the Willy Adames (good) Paul DeJong (better than nothing) spectrum 

[Spanky__99]

19 minutes ago, Laika said:

I don't think he's going to be that athletic 

Maybe more on the Willy Adames (good) Paul DeJong (better than nothing) spectrum 

I'd take Willy Adames outcome in a minute.

[Orgfiller]

45 minutes ago, Laika said:

I don't think he's going to be that athletic 

Maybe more on the Willy Adames (good) Paul DeJong (better than nothing) spectrum 

Adames is not a bad best case comparison. The power took a bit to develop, he ran a worse K/BB rate in A+ as a 19 year old with less power, albeit much better hitting. Age is still on Nimmala's side and the K rate hasn't gone off a cliff, there's still a chance there that he can become a good regular, but less likely to be special than the outlook from a year ago. If he can make it to AA by end of 2026 and tread water I still think he's on a great developmental path.

He was touted as a pretty raw prospect on draft day, so I'd say he's progressing well.

[Governator]

The Jays checking in on every player is just the annual routine we hear every year. The only difference this year is that their playoff run likely attracts free agents. As others said, don't read too much into these, there's a reason why most tweets don't make it to mlbtraderumors. Remember it's the norm for agents and even teams to leak some info as part of their own strategy.  It's a dog eat dog world.

[John_Havok]

4 minutes ago, Governator said:

The Jays checking in on every player is just the annual routine we hear every year. The only difference this year is that their playoff run likely attracts free agents. As others said, don't read too much into these, there's a reason why most tweets don't make it to mlbtraderumors. Remember it's the norm for agents and even teams to leak some info as part of their own strategy.  It's a dog eat dog world.

Yep, pretty much par for the course from the end of world series to the start of Spring Training. 

Team X is interested in free agent player Y. Team X is checking in with Team Z about Player Y but nothing is considered serious at this time. 

A bot could write these tweets with just a list of player and team names, hit randomize. Just eliminate all the ones that deal with Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Colorado and free agents and they'd probably be accurate

[ValiantJaysFan]

6 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I fully own that I was being a dick. 

Because your post was dumb. If calling a dumb post dumb hurts your feelings... life sucks, get a helmet. 

The FO is running a multi-billion dollar franchise, they don't just sit around waiting for things to happen for certain before they start gathering information on possible pivots if plan A doesn't work. This isn't unique to baseball either, this is probably the most common concept in every business or even an everyday person's normal life. It's actually mind-boggling to suggest that kicking the tires on some player is something you would wait to do before a certain player has signed elsewhere. They'll have an entire list of players they want to pursue at every position on the diamond if things go certain ways. So much random s*** can happen it's a basic expectation to be at least semi-prepared for very obvious potential outcomes. 

In any case, I still should have asked some questions to you first before stating my opinion on your post. Next time I will probe further to determine your knowledge level before assuming it's in the 3rd or 4th percentile of baseball knowledge and reacting accordingly. 

 

You keep trying to frame this as some teachable moment about how front offices operate, but you still haven’t addressed the actual point.

I never suggested the FO ‘waits for certainty.’ I pointed out that checking in on Ketel Marte, a high-value, controlled infielder, signals preparation for a specific roster outcome involving Bichette. That’s not radical, it’s just reading the landscape instead of reciting generic business cliches.

The irony is you accused me of not understanding the basics while completely sidestepping the baseball logic because you were more invested in performing authority than actually discussing anything.

If you need to posture to feel like the smartest guy in the room, fine, but don’t mistake that for winning an argument. When you’re ready to talk baseball instead of talking down to people, let me know.

[Spanky__99]

On 11/25/2025 at 1:45 PM, ValiantJaysFan said:

Report: Blue Jays have ‘checked in’ on All-Star 2B Marte

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/article/report-blue-jays-have-checked-in-on-all-star-2b-marte/

 

I don't see why they would do this unless they think Bo is gone.

This is what you said man, it didn't make sense, we're in the offseason, it doesn't mean shyte, Bo will be talking to interested teams also, it's the nature of the beast. They'll be talking to a lot more players than Ketel Marte, there's also Turner and Bellinger and top SP FA's not to mention all players available in trade. You were wrong, cope now.

[John_Havok]

42 minutes ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

You keep trying to frame this as some teachable moment about how front offices operate, but you still haven’t addressed the actual point.

I never suggested the FO ‘waits for certainty.’ I pointed out that checking in on Ketel Marte, a high-value, controlled infielder, signals preparation for a specific roster outcome involving Bichette. That’s not radical, it’s just reading the landscape instead of reciting generic business cliches.

The irony is you accused me of not understanding the basics while completely sidestepping the baseball logic because you were more invested in performing authority than actually discussing anything.

If you need to posture to feel like the smartest guy in the room, fine, but don’t mistake that for winning an argument. When you’re ready to talk baseball instead of talking down to people, let me know.

First off, I am generally the smartest guy in every room. Deal with it. My brain works on a level that is so wildly different from normals it's incredibly tedious to dumb things down suitably enough to be understood. 

There's no irony involved. You stated " i don't see why they would do this unless they think Bo is gone"

Hence, me teaching you why they would do this without knowing a damn thing about where Bo is signing. It was 100% a teachable moment, because you overtly displayed ignorance of why a GM in baseball would want to have options. Your statement suggests that unless they know Bo isn't signing, there's no reason to be checking in on other players and/or getting a feel for the landscape of who other GMs may or may not be willing to deal. That's dumb. That's literally 90% of the FOs job. Their job is literally to prepare for as many situations as possible and have backup plans for their backup plans backup plan. 

Excuse me now, Ross and I are having dinner later. I'll tell him your thoughts on his process in case he wants to hear a joke. 

 

 

 

[ValiantJaysFan]

40 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

This is what you said man, it didn't make sense, we're in the offseason, it doesn't mean shyte, Bo will be talking to interested teams also, it's the nature of the beast. They'll be talking to a lot more players than Ketel Marte, there's also Turner and Bellinger and top SP FA's not to mention all players available in trade. You were wrong, cope now.

You keep repeating the same thing without actually addressing what I said. Nobody is arguing that teams don’t talk to multiple players in the offseason. The point was that checking in on Marte specifically, a high value, controlled infielder, is usually tied to middle-infield planning, including scenarios where Bichette isn’t extended.

Pretending that every ‘check-in’ is equal is where your argument falls apart. There’s a difference between broad off-season canvassing and targeting a player whose position overlaps with your franchise shortstop/2B's long-term role.

You can call that “cope” if it helps you, but it doesn’t make your oversimplified take any less shallow.

[ValiantJaysFan]

11 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

First off, I am generally the smartest guy in every room. Deal with it. My brain works on a level that is so wildly different from normals it's incredibly tedious to dumb things down suitably enough to be understood. 

There's no irony involved. You stated " i don't see why they would do this unless they think Bo is gone"

Hence, me teaching you why they would do this without knowing a damn thing about where Bo is signing. It was 100% a teachable moment, because you overtly displayed ignorance of why a GM in baseball would want to have options. Your statement suggests that unless they know Bo isn't signing, there's no reason to be checking in on other players and/or getting a feel for the landscape of who other GMs may or may not be willing to deal. That's dumb. That's literally 90% of the FOs job. Their job is literally to prepare for as many situations as possible and have backup plans for their backup plans backup plan. 

Excuse me now, Ross and I are having dinner later. I'll tell him your thoughts on his process in case he wants to hear a joke. 

 

 

 

You’re putting a lot of effort into pretending I needed a lesson, but nothing you’ve written actually refutes the point: checking in on Marte specifically is a middle-infield contingency, and Bichette’s situation is naturally part of that conversation.

If you want to wrap that in sarcasm and pretend it’s ‘educating’ me, go ahead. I’m not here to role-play with you, just talking baseball.

[Spanky__99]

5 minutes ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

You keep repeating the same thing without actually addressing what I said. Nobody is arguing that teams don’t talk to multiple players in the offseason. The point was that checking in on Marte specifically, a high value, controlled infielder, is usually tied to middle-infield planning, including scenarios where Bichette isn’t extended.

Pretending that every ‘check-in’ is equal is where your argument falls apart. There’s a difference between broad off-season canvassing and targeting a player whose position overlaps with your franchise shortstop/2B's long-term role.

You can call that “cope” if it helps you, but it doesn’t make your oversimplified take any less shallow.

Holy f*ck man, you're an idiot.