Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[max silver]

49 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Yes it would but im just choosing Bo or Tucker over Varsho considering the alternatives we have at the moment.

Varsho is repped by Boras and will cost A LOT.  Just not sure what his extension will look like.

Varsho might not actually be a Boras client as there's conflicting information based on where you look. As a guy who has always been a glove first player I don't think a new deal is going to cost and arm and a leg as Varsho is soon to be 30 years old and he's probably a 3-4 win player vs a star. And I seriously don't think it would ever come down to the front office needing to choose between Varsho and Bo/Tucker.

[max silver]

1 hour ago, JaysForever said:

I am waiting for Buxton who has a no trade to demand a trade to the Jays, after the Jays finalize their allstar starting lineup. 😄  These players with no trade clauses basically only want to move to clear contenders.

I suspect Buxton would command a painful price from the Twins. He's almost guaranteed to miss large chunks of time every season but he's a bargain at an absurdly low $14 million AAV, that's Anthony Santander money. According to Fangrapsh he's provided the Twins with approximately $70 million of value and as such I think the Twins could ask for a bit of a king's ransom in return.

[jaysblue]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

I suspect Buxton would command a painful price from the Twins. He's almost guaranteed to miss large chunks of time every season but he's a bargain at an absurdly low $14 million AAV, that's Anthony Santander money. According to Fangrapsh he's provided the Twins with approximately $70 million of value and as such I think the Twins could ask for a bit of a king's ransom in return.

Buxton definitely would be a nice target. Found a way to stay healthy last season and play in 126 games and put together a 5 WAR season. Even the season before, he posted 3.7 WAR in 102 games. 

Blue Jays have enough outfielders to rotate in and out of the lineup, where they can keep Buxton healthy and not really lose a beat. 

Buxton will be 32 and has been injury prone throughout his career, so I think the Twins can only ask for so much. I don't think they'll demand a king's ransom. But who knows. 

Another nice target could be Royce Lewis. Injury prone but huge upside. Wonder what the Twins would ask for in return. 

[G-Snarls]

Jays only have one case that might go to arbitration:

-

Daulton Varsho (5.128): $10.75MM agreement reached today

Eric Lauer (5.091): No agreement reached, likely heading to hearing (per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

Ernie Clement (3.168): $4.6MM agreement today (per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic)

Tyler Heineman (3.066): $1.2375MM agreement reached today (per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

[Ray]

3 hours ago, max silver said:

Varsho might not actually be a Boras client as there's conflicting information based on where you look. As a guy who has always been a glove first player I don't think a new deal is going to cost and arm and a leg as Varsho is soon to be 30 years old and he's probably a 3-4 win player vs a star. And I seriously don't think it would ever come down to the front office needing to choose between Varsho and Bo/Tucker.

Varsho is definitely a Boras client.

Gregor Chisholm just mentions it again this his latest article: https://www.thestar.com/sports/blue-jays/daulton-varsho-agrees-to-one-year-deal-with-blue-jays-as-he-prepares-to-be/article_585ac6fa-1be7-4ce0-bea7-fd77460c0b26.html

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

Varsho is definitely a Boras client.

Gregor Chisholm just mentions it again this his latest article: https://www.thestar.com/sports/blue-jays/daulton-varsho-agrees-to-one-year-deal-with-blue-jays-as-he-prepares-to-be/article_585ac6fa-1be7-4ce0-bea7-fd77460c0b26.html

[JaysForever]

8 hours ago, max silver said:

That is ok, we still got Loperfido after Varsho and Straw leave in free agency.🫣

[JaysForever]

I think the main problem with Varsho going to free agency, is that there are probably not viable alternative in free agency so they have a lot of leverage.

The Jays also do not have many other players that can play that position.

[Orgfiller]

14 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Yes it would but im just choosing Bo or Tucker over Varsho considering the alternatives we have at the moment.

Varsho is repped by Boras and will cost A LOT.  Just not sure what his extension will look like.

Will he? The glove first guys don't tend to get paid in FA, and he needs to prove that he can sustain last season's power output over a full year while not crashing out from his worsening K/BB rates. Does Varsho get more than Okamoto's 4/60 in the open market right now? Maybe, but does he get much more than that?

[sliderguy35]

11 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Will he? The glove first guys don't tend to get paid in FA, and he needs to prove that he can sustain last season's power output over a full year while not crashing out from his worsening K/BB rates. Does Varsho get more than Okamoto's 4/60 in the open market right now? Maybe, but does he get much more than that?

he probably will just because of positional scarcity, it's really difficult to find a legitimate ++ center field defender who can at least be average with the stick in free agency. 

there's a lot of teams who might be trying to compete who just have a black hole offensively there currently. id guess that the jays / tigers / astros / mets / royals / phillies / nats / angels / dbacks would all at least be interested which naturally drives up the price 

[Laika]

Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader, lots of examples of CFers with fringier bats not really getting paid or declining and showing the risks 

Varsho is a massive platoon risk and fringe bat, if Boras and him are going to ask for the moon they can have fun in free agency 

[Eat My Shatkins]

Would love to see Varsho extended at a fair price. The middle of the diamond would be secured defensively for several years with elite defensive players in Kirk, Giminez, Clement and Varsho. Clement and Varsho the oldest at 29 and all of them having shown the ability in the past to be good enough offensively to be 3+ fWAR players when combined with their elite defense. 

[Laika]

Like, are there any helpful precedents for Varsho in free agency? Seems to me that for players like him, most of the time when they reach free agency their flaws have been exposed and they largely go year to year.

I remember JBJ leveraging scarcity and a good abbreviated 2020 into a 2 year deal with Milwaukee, lol

The other side of "CFers reaching FA" are the guys like Springer and Marte who were signing deals to no longer be CFers. 

I would extend Varsho for a few years but I'm not desperate to pay him for his glovework at age 30 onwards 

[BringBackTheODog]

Just let Varsho play out the season. If he stays healthy and maintains some of the power you can extend him a QO. Even with a big season, what is he maxing out at like, 5/90? He'll be gettable. Now, if you could extend him at like 4/60 right now I'd probably bite. 

[glory]

Let Varsho play out 2026 and then see what his market is. He seems like a very risky long-term bet to me, especially starting at age 30/31 (his next contract). He's not someone I'd go out of my way to lock up before free agency unless it benefits the team, and if he's a Boras guy, then an extension is not going to benefit the team. Let the market dictate what he is worth and then go from there.

[Jonn]

I don't see any hurry to rush an extension on Varsho. Unless he completely transforms as an offensive player this Season you aren't likely to get any savings on him right now. I am sure they have already explored extending him. But he hasn't proven to be healthy over a full Season since 2023 and outside of his top tier Defense hasn't shown any consistency in his offensive profile.

[JaysForever]

I actually do not think Varsho will retain his power numbers.

This CF situation is also why I would not trade Loperfido but stash him in the minors for a year.

At least you have a backup CF when Varsho and Straw hit free agency.

 

[JaysForever]

15 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Buxton definitely would be a nice target. Found a way to stay healthy last season and play in 126 games and put together a 5 WAR season. Even the season before, he posted 3.7 WAR in 102 games. 

Blue Jays have enough outfielders to rotate in and out of the lineup, where they can keep Buxton healthy and not really lose a beat. 

Buxton will be 32 and has been injury prone throughout his career, so I think the Twins can only ask for so much. I don't think they'll demand a king's ransom. But who knows. 

Another nice target could be Royce Lewis. Injury prone but huge upside. Wonder what the Twins would ask for in return. 

Because Buxton has a no trade clause. There is only so much they can ask.

As long as he can play over 100 games each year, I think it is perfectly fine because his salary is very reasonable.

[max silver]

10 minutes ago, JaysForever said:

I actually do not think Varsho will retain his power numbers.

This CF situation is also why I would not trade Loperfido but stash him in the minors for a year.

At least you have a backup CF when Varsho and Straw hit free agency.

 

I think the power for Varsho is very real at this point as he features upper tier swing speed at the plate and has a swing that's tailored for pulling the ball in the air. He likely won't ever be a complete hitter due lacking a quality hit tool as there's a ton of swing and miss and pop ups in his game, but I do expect him to continue to produce a ton of extra base hits when he manages to make solid contact. 

[max silver]

2 hours ago, BringBackTheODog said:

Just let Varsho play out the season. If he stays healthy and maintains some of the power you can extend him a QO. Even with a big season, what is he maxing out at like, 5/90? He'll be gettable. Now, if you could extend him at like 4/60 right now I'd probably bite. 

I would be very happy if Varsho accepted a qualifying offer but I expect he would likely pass on it and try his hand in free agency. This is largely contingent on him carrying his 2025 power production through the 2026 season and staying on the field a bit more to produce the type of 4'ish win peak season I think he should be capable of.

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Jonn said:

I don't see any hurry to rush an extension on Varsho. Unless he completely transforms as an offensive player this Season you aren't likely to get any savings on him right now. I am sure they have already explored extending him. But he hasn't proven to be healthy over a full Season since 2023 and outside of his top tier Defense hasn't shown any consistency in his offensive profile.

I'm not terribly worried about Varsho's ability to stay on the field as outside of the injured shoulder from late 2023 he's only missed time as a Blue Jay due to a singular other injury issue when he injured a hamstring. 

[Stangstag]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader, lots of examples of CFers with fringier bats not really getting paid or declining and showing the risks 

Varsho is a massive platoon risk and fringe bat, if Boras and him are going to ask for the moon they can have fun in free agency 

I feel like its not too difficult to find an above-average/elite CF to just stick in the bottom of the lineup. Someone like Straw for example, just younger and on league min.

Varsho provides power but lacks the stolen base threat you can normally get in a CF.

Find a speedy guy and stick him in CF

[Bob_Gratton]

16 hours ago, max silver said:

Varsho might not actually be a Boras client as there's conflicting information based on where you look. As a guy who has always been a glove first player I don't think a new deal is going to cost and arm and a leg as Varsho is soon to be 30 years old and he's probably a 3-4 win player vs a star. And I seriously don't think it would ever come down to the front office needing to choose between Varsho and Bo/Tucker.

Yes, especially we have no one to replace Varsho in CF, and for someone with elite defense who can hit 20 HR+, 10m is no overpaid.

[Orgfiller]

7 minutes ago, max silver said:

I think the power for Varsho is very real at this point as he features upper tier swing speed at the plate and has a swing that's tailored for pulling the ball in the air. He likely won't ever be a complete hitter due lacking a quality hit tool as there's a ton of swing and miss and pop ups in his game, but I do expect him to continue to produce a ton of extra base hits when he manages to make solid contact. 

The power is real in the sense that, yes he has the ability to hit for extra base hits when he connects well. But his hit tool and plate discipline is going to really limit him from being much better than league average ish. That's fine, and valuable over a full season while he's also providing elite defense. But I think last season's power output, particularly in the HR department, was a bit of a mirage and unlikely to be repeated unless he really cuts down on the K rate, and he probably doesn't come anywhere near a 120 wRC+ without that or really improving his plate discipline.

His HR/FB% was >20%, he did reduce his pop out rate which is a positive development, but his K/BB was awful and the OBP was sub .300 for the third season in a row. I'd be ecstatic if he's a 100-105 wRC+ power bat who runs the bases well when he infrequently reaches, but I have a hard time seeing him improve on that, and the projection systems seem to agree this is who he is.

[Orgfiller]

7 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

I feel like its not too difficult to find an above-average/elite CF to just stick in the bottom of the lineup. Someone like Straw for example, just younger and on league min.

Varsho provides power but lacks the stolen base threat you can normally get in a CF.

Find a speedy guy and stick him in CF

It's really hard to find an elite defensive CF who isn't also a black hole at the plate. The ones who do are all 3.5+ win players. See Cedanne Rafaela, PCA, Andy Pages last season. A star example of this is Byron Buxton when he's not broken, Julio Rodriguez, Luis Robert before he crashed. These guys are extremely valuable.

Elite defensive CFs who can't hit are more common, but they're not quite as good. Victor Scott, Brendan Doyle, Kyle Isbel, Michael Harris, Denzel Clarke. None of these guys cracked 2 WAR last year, and they need to sustain best in the league type defense to even stick around in the MLB.

Myles Straw was out of the league in 2024 because his hitting was horrendous, and he projects for a 70 wRC+. You genuinely just can't live with that on a full-time basis from anyone whose name isn't Patrick Bailey and they're leaps and bounds the most valuable defender in the sport. Even Ke'Bryan Hayes who accumulated the fifth most defensive value last season, was only worth 1.4 WAR because of his putrid 65 wRC+.

[Spanky__99]

Lulz... careful what you wish for, man... CF is razor thin, if the brass can get a reasonable extension done I'm down for that. thank you very much.

[abola2121]

13 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

It's really hard to find an elite defensive CF who isn't also a black hole at the plate. The ones who do are all 3.5+ win players. See Cedanne Rafaela, PCA, Andy Pages last season. A star example of this is Byron Buxton when he's not broken, Julio Rodriguez, Luis Robert before he crashed. These guys are extremely valuable.

Elite defensive CFs who can't hit are more common, but they're not quite as good. Victor Scott, Brendan Doyle, Kyle Isbel, Michael Harris, Denzel Clarke. None of these guys cracked 2 WAR last year, and they need to sustain best in the league type defense to even stick around in the MLB.

Myles Straw was out of the league in 2024 because his hitting was horrendous, and he projects for a 70 wRC+. You genuinely just can't live with that on a full-time basis from anyone whose name isn't Patrick Bailey and they're leaps and bounds the most valuable defender in the sport. Even Ke'Bryan Hayes who accumulated the fifth most defensive value last season, was only worth 1.4 WAR because of his putrid 65 wRC+.

I think Harris working with Popkins would reignite his hit tool.

[JaysForever]

Is it safe to assume that Loperdifo is nothing more than a 4th/5th outfielder? Or can he improve by 2027?

His numbers last year in the majors were good (only 96 at bats) against LHP and RHP, but they seem much better than his minor league numbers. So it is probably a flash in the pan. RJ Schrek seems to be on a better trajectory.

 

[Laika]

7 minutes ago, JaysForever said:

Is it safe to assume that Loperdifo is nothing more than a 4th/5th outfielder? Or can he improve by 2027?

His numbers last year in the majors were good (only 96 at bats) against LHP and RHP, but they seem much better than his minor league numbers. So it is probably a flash in the pan. RJ Schrek seems to be on a better trajectory.

 

His numbers under the hood are not very promising 

His power and plate discipline stuff is not good enough for a corner profile and he doesn't seem to have actual CF defensive chops 

Needs to make significant progress in one direction to carve out playing time. Needs to either become a pure CFer (not likely) or improve his K rate and K/BB by a lot (also hard) or at least become a real power threat (probably the path of least resistance? stop trying to be a complete player and start trying to at least be a dangerous hitter? Popkins? I dunno)

[Brownie19]

29 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Lulz... careful what you wish for, man... CF is razor thin, if the brass can get a reasonable extension done I'm down for that. thank you very much.

Yeah - the risk with letting Varsho play out 2026 is that it opens the door for him to leave and the Jays left scrambling to fill that void with a bare jar of viable alternatives.  

This really helps fans understand why we trade for Varsho in the first place.  CF is really hard to fill with a quality player these days.