Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[max silver]

2 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Ultimately we lost Bo, Bassitt, Scherzer and Dominguez and added Cease, Ponce, Okamoto and Rogers from last year's team.  We got much better SP wise but still dont have a closer and we got worse hitting wise.  

We definitely increased our floor with elite depth but feel like our ceiling isnt higher yet overall.  Also lost some key clubhouse guys that helped shape the power of friendship theme for us.  

I don't know if the offense is necessarily going to be that much worse, and I believe it's still going to be a real team strength for next season.

• Bo is a big loss, but the projections call for a 117-121 wRC+ range for him, and if Okamoto transitions well to MLB without a huge learning curve his 113 wRC+ projection seems attainable and that would replace most of what Bo provided with the stick. For what it's worth the ZiPS projections for Bo and Okamoto are an identical 118 OPS+ so this may be more of a 1 for 1 replacement.
• I expect a bounceback season from Santander, although it remain to be seen how much of his previous production he is able to recapture.
• I seem to be in the minority in that I don't expect Springer to turn back into a pumpkin, but in the case he takes a large step back with the bat I am hopeful that a better Vlad season can pick up some of the slack.
• I believe simply receiving better health from the position player group can also be a large difference maker, as Varsho missed half of the season, Santander had his season ruined completely by injury, and I suspect that Gimenez was largely hampered by a wonky ankle for much of the season as well which made it all but impossible to successfully implement the tweaks that Popkins desired with him utilizing his lower half more effectively.
• Having a full season from Barger vs struggling rookies in Roden and Wagner should help as well.

Edited January 17 by max silver
Jays 24 has 1st grade reading comprehension 😁

[Jays24]

Gonna be an unpopular opinion but this team needs to find a way to replace Bo and upgrade our top 4 of the lineup.  Our goal isnt just making the playoffs anymore but to win the whole god damn thing.  Lets hope Shatkins got something up their sleeve so we can all heal from Game 7 last year.  

[saskjayfan]

33 minutes ago, gruber9292 said:

We already have a younger cheaper version of Seager with Jojo 

Jo Jo is 4 years away...lol and seager is a hall of famer!  Glad to hear Jo Jo is going to be a hall of fame player!

[gruber9292]

I can see Jojo Parker rocket up through the system this coming season and become an impact bat by mid season 2027. 

[Jays24]

54 minutes ago, max silver said:

I don't know if the offense is necessarily going to be that much worse, and I believe it's still going to be a real team strength for next season. Bo is a big loss, but the projections call for a 117-121 wRC+ range for him, and Okamoto transitions well to MLB without a huge learning curve his 113 wRC+ projection seems attainable and that would replace most of what Bo provided with the stick. For what it's worth the ZiPS projections for Bo and Okamoto are an identical 118 OPS+ so this may be more of a 1 for 1 replacement. I expect a bounceback season from Santander, although it remain to be seen how much of his previous production he is able to recapture. I seem to be in the minority in that I don't expect Springer to turn back into a pumpkin, but in the case he takes a large step back with the bat I am hopeful that a better Vlad season can pick up some of the slack. I believe simply receiving better health from the position player group can also be a large difference maker, as Varsho missed half of the season, Santander had his season ruined completely by injury, and I suspect that Gimenez was largely hampered by a wonky ankle for much of the season as well which made it all but impossible to successfully implement the tweaks that Popkins desired with him utilizing his lower half more effectively. Having a full season from Barger vs struggling rookies in Roden and Wagner should help as well.

Damn man... please use paragraphs lol.  

There will always be arguments for progression for some folks but you need to be objective and expect regression for some folks too.  2024 was extreme regression while 2025 was extreme progression.  Typically that sort of stuff cancels out in the long run unless you have elite prospects on the verge of breaking out. 

I refuse to believe that Okamoto can replace Bo offensively as close as the numbers youre posting.  Bo is one of the best pure hitters in baseball while we have no clue how Okamoto will transition to big league pitching on a regular basis.  

[gruber9292]

2 minutes ago, saskjayfan said:

Jo Jo is 4 years away...lol

2 years max 

[saskjayfan]

4 minutes ago, gruber9292 said:

2 years max 

You must have seen a lot of his high school games to come to that conclusion I'm guessing..lol

[Alejandro Murphy]

I really hope fans no longer bit€h about Vladdy’s contract after what Tucker and Bo had gotten.

 

Vlad’s post season performance IMO almost paid off the investment if not for IKF idiocy.

 

Blue Jay lifer.  His message to Bo was a class act.

 

Go Jays !

[Jays24]

8 minutes ago, Alejandro Murphy said:

I really hope fans no longer bit€h about Vladdy’s contract after what Tucker and Bo had gotten.

 

Vlad’s post season performance IMO almost paid off the investment if not for IKF idiocy.

 

Blue Jay lifer.  His message to Bo was a class act.

 

Go Jays !

Would have preferred Vladdy went 2Pac hit 'em up on Bo actually lol. 

:) 

[Stangstag]

34 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Gonna be an unpopular opinion but this team needs to find a way to replace Bo and upgrade our top 4 of the lineup.  Our goal isnt just making the playoffs anymore but to win the whole god damn thing.  Lets hope Shatkins got something up their sleeve so we can all heal from Game 7 last year.  

I agree, the offseason so far feels incomplete after losing Bo and not replacing him with a bat to plug in the top of the lineup 

[Carlos Danger]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

No off-season grade for Toronto other than an A makes sense

This was probably the best off-season ever for the franchise. Big signings and value signings and big international signings and most importantly nothing desperate. 

2014/2015 offseason far surpassed this off season in terms of players acquired IMO.

[Laika]

9 minutes ago, Carlos Danger said:

2014/2015 offseason far surpassed this off season in terms of players acquired IMO.

The big difference with some of those past off-seasons is the Jays always had to overpay and do desperate s***, like the Dickey and Jose Reyes / Josh Johnson trades or the BJ Ryan and Burnett deals, etc. Even the Russell Martin contract was massive in context and despite him being Canadian they had to overpay him. 

Only real exceptions were the Donaldson and Chapman trades. You can slap on A+ on both of those trades of course. But in terms of grading the entire off-season, this one seems different. We have an upper echelon organization now that can swing money around but seems to know how to do it prudently. The signals for future years seem massive to me. Feelsgoodman.

[jaysblue]

3 minutes ago, Laika said:

The big difference with some of those past off-seasons is the Jays always had to overpay and do desperate s***, like the Dickey and Jose Reyes / Josh Johnson trades or the BJ Ryan and Burnett deals, etc. Even the Russell Martin contract was massive in context and despite him being Canadian they had to overpay him. 

Only real exceptions were the Donaldson and Chapman trades. You can slap on A+ on both of those trades of course. But in terms of grading the entire off-season, this one seems different. We have an upper echelon organization now that can swing money around but seems to know how to do it prudently. The signals for future years seem massive to me. Feelsgoodman.

I mostly agree with the broader takeaway that this feels like a more mature, disciplined organization but I’m not sure I buy that all of those past moves were outright overpays.

The Martin deal looks expensive in isolation, but he delivered elite value relative to position and fundamentally changed the pitching staff and clubhouse. Same with Burnett. Top starters pretty much were in that price range (4/5 years around $10-12M AAV) at the time. Jays got Burnett I recall by adding on an extra year and the opt out. 

Ryan was an overpay at the time yes when it came to relievers/closers. 

The Dickey and Marlins trades were different - they carried real downside and volatility but even then, the Jays were operating in a very different financial and competitive environment.

It’s also worth remembering that before the Jays were firmly in a competitive window, they had to overpay to attract talent. The Ryu deal is a good example as of recently since Toronto needed to pay a premium to signal credibility and relevance at the time. That wasn’t desperation so much as necessity.

What is different now is that the team doesn’t need to stretch into the margins just to be relevant. They can be selective, walk away when the price is wrong, and still remain competitive. That’s a good sign. I just don’t think that means every aggressive move in the past was desperation or an overpay. Some of those deals were necessary bets that paid off, even if they looked big at the time.

[John_Havok]

5 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

I mostly agree with the broader takeaway that this feels like a more mature, disciplined organization but I’m not sure I buy that all of those past moves were outright overpays.

The Martin deal looks expensive in isolation, but he delivered elite value relative to position and fundamentally changed the pitching staff and clubhouse. Same with Burnett. Top starters pretty much were in that price range (4/5 years around $10-12M AAV) at the time. Jays got Burnett I recall by adding on an extra year and the opt out. 

Ryan was an overpay at the time yes when it came to relievers/closers. 

The Dickey and Marlins trades were different - they carried real downside and volatility but even then, the Jays were operating in a very different financial and competitive environment.

It’s also worth remembering that before the Jays were firmly in a competitive window, they had to overpay to attract talent. The Ryu deal is a good example as of recently since Toronto needed to pay a premium to signal credibility and relevance at the time. That wasn’t desperation so much as necessity.

What is different now is that the team doesn’t need to stretch into the margins just to be relevant. They can be selective, walk away when the price is wrong, and still remain competitive. That’s a good sign. I just don’t think that means every aggressive move in the past was desperation or an overpay. Some of those deals were necessary bets that paid off, even if they looked big at the time.

Realistically the last thing that needs to fall into place for the Jays to truly be on par with the elite organizations is their prospect and player development being more consistent. 

Even as it stands now its getting better, but its not at the point where youd be confident saying "yes, when the Jays draft this kind of player, he will turn out to be at least a major league regular"

Some success stories for sure lately, and their strength seems to be plucking guys from other orgs that haven't broken through and getting them to the next level, so that definitely helps offset it. 

[jaysblue]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

I don't know if the offense is necessarily going to be that much worse, and I believe it's still going to be a real team strength for next season. Bo is a big loss, but the projections call for a 117-121 wRC+ range for him, and Okamoto transitions well to MLB without a huge learning curve his 113 wRC+ projection seems attainable and that would replace most of what Bo provided with the stick. For what it's worth the ZiPS projections for Bo and Okamoto are an identical 118 OPS+ so this may be more of a 1 for 1 replacement. I expect a bounceback season from Santander, although it remain to be seen how much of his previous production he is able to recapture. I seem to be in the minority in that I don't expect Springer to turn back into a pumpkin, but in the case he takes a large step back with the bat I am hopeful that a better Vlad season can pick up some of the slack. I believe simply receiving better health from the position player group can also be a large difference maker, as Varsho missed half of the season, Santander had his season ruined completely by injury, and I suspect that Gimenez was largely hampered by a wonky ankle for much of the season as well which made it all but impossible to successfully implement the tweaks that Popkins desired with him utilizing his lower half more effectively. Having a full season from Barger vs struggling rookies in Roden and Wagner should help as well.

I think that’s a fair projection-based case, and I agree the offense has a real chance to remain a strength if a lot of those outcomes break right. ZiPS seeing Okamoto and Bo as roughly a 1-for-1 in terms of OPS+ is encouraging, and better health alone should help the run environment compared to last year.

Where I’m a bit more cautious is that the margin for error feels thinner than the projections suggest. Okamoto translating smoothly, Santander rebounding, Springer holding his level, Vlad taking a step forward, and Giménez’s ankle no longer being a factor all have to line up at once. That’s possible, but it’s a lot of positive variance to bank on simultaneously.

I also think projections can miss where offense shows up. Even if the aggregate numbers hold, losing Bo’s bat changes lineup sequencing and late-game leverage. A high-end bat tends to smooth over cold stretches, regression, and injuries in a way depth alone sometimes can’t especially in October.

So I don’t disagree that the offense could still be very good, but adding another impact bat would lower the dependence on everything going right and give the lineup more insulation if one or two of those bets don’t hit.

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Damn man... please use paragraphs lol.  

There will always be arguments for progression for some folks but you need to be objective and expect regression for some folks too.  2024 was extreme regression while 2025 was extreme progression.  Typically that sort of stuff cancels out in the long run unless you have elite prospects on the verge of breaking out. 

I refuse to believe that Okamoto can replace Bo offensively as close as the numbers youre posting.  Bo is one of the best pure hitters in baseball while we have no clue how Okamoto will transition to big league pitching on a regular basis.  

That was all the same topic, paragraphs weren't required. I did arrange it differently with bullet points to make it easier to read for those of us with remedial reading comprehension skills. 😜

Ultimately the Blue Jays were 4th in run scoring last season, I think the lineup as constructed will likely end up in the same overall range again. I don't necessarily expect a full recreation of the best in MLB offense over the final 5 months of regular season+playoffs, but at the same time it feels very unlikely that the team will once again be among the worst offenses for the first month of the season either so this is something that should balance out over the season as a whole.

Okamoto doesn't have to fully replace Bo's contributions, but I do expect that a healthy season from Santander and Okamoto's addition will greatly cushion the blow.

 

[VladdyAlomar]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Gonna be an unpopular opinion but this team needs to find a way to replace Bo and upgrade our top 4 of the lineup.  Our goal isnt just making the playoffs anymore but to win the whole god damn thing.  Lets hope Shatkins got something up their sleeve so we can all heal from Game 7 last year.  

Flawed take 

[max silver]

1 hour ago, gruber9292 said:

I can see Jojo Parker rocket up through the system this coming season and become an impact bat by mid season 2027. 

I certainly hope so, but we've yet to see how he handles hitting against professional pitching. One thing that excites me with this particular prospect is that it appears as though his dad handled all of his training up to this point and that he's never worked under the tutelage of a professional previously. If he fully leverages the resources that are now at his fingertips there is huge potential in his bat.

[Carlos Danger]

3 minutes ago, VladdyAlomar said:

Flawed take 

Why?

[Jays24]

17 minutes ago, max silver said:

That was all the same topic, paragraphs weren't required. I did arrange it differently with bullet points to make it easier to read for those of us with remedial reading comprehension skills. 😜

Ultimately the Blue Jays were 4th in run scoring last season, I think the lineup as constructed will likely end up in the same overall range again. I don't necessarily expect a full recreation of the best in MLB offense over the final 5 months of regular season+playoffs, but at the same time it feels very unlikely that the team will once again be among the worst offenses for the first month of the season either so this is something that should balance out over the season as a whole.

Okamoto doesn't have to fully replace Bo's contributions, but I do expect that a healthy season from Santander and Okamoto's addition will greatly cushion the blow.

 

The good thing about last year is that we went all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.  The bad thing about last year is that the only way to improve from last season is actually win it, especially with how things ended.  

Our goal isnt just to make the playoffs anymore, it's to be the best team in baseball and win it all.  Anything less will keep the sting of 2025 alive.  We need to be the 2014 San Antonio Spurs this year.  

[Jays24]

12 minutes ago, VladdyAlomar said:

Flawed take 

Flawed response lol

[Brownie19]

They are reporting the Jays offered Tucker $350M over 10 years.   If you're offering a long term deal - that's about as good as it would get.

[Carlos Danger]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

The big difference with some of those past off-seasons is the Jays always had to overpay and do desperate s***, like the Dickey and Jose Reyes / Josh Johnson trades or the BJ Ryan and Burnett deals, etc. Even the Russell Martin contract was massive in context and despite him being Canadian they had to overpay him. 

Only real exceptions were the Donaldson and Chapman trades. You can slap on A+ on both of those trades of course. But in terms of grading the entire off-season, this one seems different. We have an upper echelon organization now that can swing money around but seems to know how to do it prudently. The signals for future years seem massive to me. Feelsgoodman.

• 3B Josh Donaldson: 
• C Russell Martin: 
• RHP Marco Estrada: 
• 2B Devon Travis: 
• OF Michael Saunders: 
•  OF Chris Colabello 
• RP Liam Hendriks: 

I would put the 2014/2015 offseason up against this year so far, every day  and Sunday.

[Laika]

lol Chris Collabello was a waiver claim and so was Hendriks the proper year

You are talking about something different here and if you are using hindsight instead of process why include the massive flop Saunders 

[Carlos Danger]

1 minute ago, Laika said:

lol Chris Collabello was a waiver claim and so was Hendriks the proper year

You are talking about something different here and if you are using hindsight instead of process why include the massive flop Saunders 

You stated this is maybe the best off season ever. Regardless of how they were acquired and hindsight, just Martin and Donaldson make it better than this year IMO. I believed that at the time with no benefit of hindsight.

You are also using assumptions that this year has been a good year so far.

Cease- Excellent; however he averages 5ip..  How much is he really going to move the needle vs Bassitt and Scherzer etc. 

Ponce (a guy who hung around all my Fantasy teams for years before went to Korea).

Kyle Hart won the equivalent of the Cy Young in Korea in 2024. He started out strong in MLB in 2025, but ended up being demoted to AAA and eventually DFAd. 

Jury is out on Ponce

Okamoto is not an improvement over Bo who we lost, will be 30 in the summer and supposedly is not good at 3b... Jury is always out on the Japanese hitters. Not all are Ohtani, especially first 6 month/season.

I like the Rogers pick up for back end BP.

I think we still need a closer who can close the big game.

Our problem really wasn't SP last year.

We went 18 inning game 3 and couldn't get a hit. We couldn't score a run after the 6th inning in game 7.

We obviously couldn't score enough runs in game 2, 3, 6 and 7. 

Again, off season is NOT over and lots of players and trades to be made. 

However, we are a net negative on offense at the moment when I think that is our biggest need coming into the off-season.

Add to that there will be regression. I don't see Springer repeating 2025 for one.

One injury to Varsho or Kirk or they have down years, we aren't looking so hot.

Santander, who knows what we will get. Plus, he is not exactly contact put the ball in play, control the strike zone guy that led to our offensive success last year.

Let's see what their finished product is.......

 

[G-Snarls]

52 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

They are reporting the Jays offered Tucker $350M over 10 years.   If you're offering a long term deal - that's about as good as it would get.

If that's true 

1. I'm happy the FO made such an offer.  They're not playing around. 

2. I'm still not upset Tucker took the deal he took. I get it.  

[Abomination]

I can't see Bellinger going anywhere except New York, but hopefully we can make them pay up for him.  The fit is just too good for both of them. Suarez is interesting and should probably be our target. 

I could see an outside chance of maybe something like Luis Robert Jr for Lucas and Berrios. IMO that makes some sense for both teams.

[Eat My Shatkins]

I'd say the Jays are probably done. Nothing left in FA that is a clear upgrade on what we already have unless they want to sign Framber, but that seems unlikely.

As for another bat, IIRC most of the same people were saying the same thing last year. Then the Jays finally signed Taters and he gave us absolutely nothing offensively, yet the Jays managed to be the 4th best offensive team in baseball anyways. 

Of course it's possible that everybody regresses and we suck, but it's also possible that Barger gives us a 4+ fWAR season out in right field while smashing 35+ dingers. Maybe Taters hits 35+ too. Nobody will be saying our top 4-5 hitters isn't good enough then.

[glory]

I'm a little relieved Tucker went elsewhere if that offer is true. I know 10 years was offered to lessen the luxury tax/AAV burden, but for a RF/LF who has already seen diminished defensive ability, that wasn't going to age well. Definitely would have helped for 2026-27 though. 

The only FA move that I'd be in favor of at this point is Framber, assuming the Jays feel comfortable with his personality. He's probably the only FA left with a good chance of being a 4+ WAR player next season. Beyond that it's likely the trade route. 

[Jays24]

11 minutes ago, glory said:

I'm a little relieved Tucker went elsewhere if that offer is true. I know 10 years was offered to lessen the luxury tax/AAV burden, but for a RF/LF who has already seen diminished defensive ability, that wasn't going to age well. Definitely would have helped for 2026-27 though. 

The only FA move that I'd be in favor of at this point is Framber, assuming the Jays feel comfortable with his personality. He's probably the only FA left with a good chance of being a 4+ WAR player next season. Beyond that it's likely the trade route. 

Bo is who I wanted all along and felt like a reasonable contract was right there for the taking.  Philly had to go up their final offer to 7/200 so it was reasonable to believe he could have been had for 6/175ish.  Heck, I would have loved Bo at 7/200 even if thats a slight overpayment.