Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[L54]

20 minutes ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Not entirely sure this is true though.  I heard his comments on Bo, and they were pretty tame without many details, just sort of an 'all sides guy' 'both parties might be better moving on'.  

I watched a few episodes of his pod-cast, which I think is done together with a lady reporter from Toronto?  Not entirely sure as I have consumed this on sort of facebook/twitter feeds so just get bits and peaces.  Sometimes has interesting things to say but never to negative really.  Could be wrong.  Saw one funny episode where Whitt was talking about having ADD in the outfield and trying to get a glimpse of TVs on the concourse to see football games, and mentioned he was happy to have Varsho or Keimier catch everything. 

Like I said, haven't seen every episode or anything,  just what I saw was pretty light hearted. 

Whit must’ve had a big fantasy football matchup lol

[Laika]

4 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Zobrist's peak season was 8.7 WAR and his prime years were 5+ WAR.   Obviously we could use that right now...

We actually don't need his versatility - this team has tons of that already.

 

[Laika]

2.5 WAR guy with fringe power who played 20 games at shortstop (poorly) a few years ago... 

THE JAYS NEED THIS DUDE, REMEMBER BEN ZOBRIST!?

[Laika]

15 hours ago, jaysblue said:

I hope I don't get tarred and feathered for this...

On paper, the Blue Jays heading into 2026 are clearly a better team than they were last season. The roster looks deeper and better constructed overall, especially when you factor in the starting rotation with Cease, Bieber, Ponce and Yesavage replacing Bassitt, Berrios, Francis and Scherzer from last Opening Day. There’s a real case that this is a stronger, more complete group.

That said, the AL East is still absolutely brutal. Teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox can never be written of. They have the resources, talent base, and ability to add quickly if things start breaking their way.

And then there’s the Baltimore Orioles. With the amount of young talent they still have, they’re probably the biggest wild card in the division. A team like that can realistically jump from a ~75-win profile to a 90-win contender almost overnight if their young bats all click at the same time and they get decent pitching. 

So yes, the Jays look better and that’s encouraging but nothing in this division comes easy. Being improved doesn’t automatically mean being comfortable, and that’s exactly why health, depth, flexibility, and continued aggression still matter. Plus anything could happen in baseball as we've seen. 

I bet $100 on the Jays to win the World Series again and also bet $50 on them to win the AL, so I am a believer. We saw how this team played in October. It's just getting to October which is always the tough part and winning the division, so they avoid playing in the Wild Card round. 

Here is your post with the needless words removed. 

I hope I don't get tarred and feathered for this... the Blue Jays heading into 2026 are clearly a better team than they were last season.... but the AL East is still absolutely brutal.

 

WHY WOULD YOU GET TARRED AND FEATHERED FOR THAT lmao 

[glory]

Whit was part of the boring ass 2023 team that wanted to become "more serious" and would routinely act like Vlad committed a crime every time he dumped water on them. His perspective is likely based on that mindset, so it's not one I'd particularly care about. 

[Jonn]

We need a left-handed reliever badly, Rogers twin just went for $2m. 

[rydermike]

5 hours ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

Like I’ve been saying for years and years now, Bo was never ever coming back. I might be the only one but I’m so happy he’s gone, guy has rubbed me the wrong way for a long time. Going back to those comments he made in San Francisco it became even more obvious. He didn’t want to be here at all, no matter what he said in front of the cameras. He’s been busting to get out of here and I’m sure was making unreasonable asks for any potential extension from Atkins since Vladdy signed.

Everyone is raving about how he “played on one leg” in the World Series. Yeah, of course he did. It was the greatest showcase possible for him going into free agency. Now let’s see how “gRiTtY” he is after he’s got his bag. 
 

Maybe I just see the worst in people but my god this guy was pretty obvious wasn’t he? 

Exactly. It was like Kawhi and the Raps. World Series is World Series. You're there, you do your all to win. Even if you don't want to be onthe team, might as well win if you're there. 

[Olerud363.354]

3 hours ago, Laika said:

2.5 WAR guy with fringe power who played 20 games at shortstop (poorly) a few years ago... 

THE JAYS NEED THIS DUDE, REMEMBER BEN ZOBRIST!?

Another way to go could be a Alex Gordon type, if you remember him.  Since we missed out on Tucker an Alex Gordon type would be perfect, Gordon was kind of cheaper, younger version of Tucker with better defense but maybe not as much power.  Not sure who the Alex Gordon is in modern baseball but that would be a cool player to have. 

[Terminator]

 

Pretty good article on adding another bat.

The most interesting part to me is that he says any additional bat likely takes Lukes' spot on the roster.

Lukes is criminally underrated. Steamer600 says he's a 2 WAR player but they assign him negative value defense. Statcast says he's borderline elite in RF with very good range and an elite arm.

So if you massage the projections a bit to account for his defense he seems to be a pretty damn good player. Would be tough to add a bat better than him. The Lars Nootrigrainbar's don't really move the needle.

[Olerud363.354]

3 hours ago, Laika said:

I hope I don't get tarred and feathered for this... the Blue Jays heading into 2026 are clearly a better team than they were last season.... but the AL East is still absolutely brutal.

Outside of 2019 I think this management group just always tries to make a team that could win 90 and see what happens.    Didn't always work out.   It sort of 'seems' like there was a rebuild after 2016 because 2017 and 2018 didn't work out, but I think going into those seasons (keeping Donaldson for example) they prepared like it might work out. 

[Laika]

1 hour ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Another way to go could be a Alex Gordon type, if you remember him.  Since we missed out on Tucker an Alex Gordon type would be perfect, Gordon was kind of cheaper, younger version of Tucker with better defense but maybe not as much power.  Not sure who the Alex Gordon is in modern baseball but that would be a cool player to have. 

Cronenworth, Nootbaar, Nimmo 

[glory]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

 

Pretty good article on adding another bat.

The most interesting part to me is that he says any additional bat likely takes Lukes' spot on the roster.

Lukes is criminally underrated. Steamer600 says he's a 2 WAR player but they assign him negative value defense. Statcast says he's borderline elite in RF with very good range and an elite arm.

So if you massage the projections a bit to account for his defense he seems to be a pretty damn good player. Would be tough to add a bat better than him. The Lars Nootrigrainbar's don't really move the needle.

Trading for Nootbaar and putting him in Lukes' role would be a pretty good move, IMO. At the very least it would add a bit of upside to the roster, which Lukes doesn't have. 

[Dr. Dinger]

Anybody down for a Berrios + Lukes for Yelich contract dump?

[Terminator]

54 minutes ago, glory said:

Trading for Nootbaar and putting him in Lukes' role would be a pretty good move, IMO. At the very least it would add a bit of upside to the roster, which Lukes doesn't have. 

I don't think it's worth it.

• It's a small role to upgrade, 300 PA bench role right now as Taters is manning LF 
• I'm not even sure Lars Nootribullet is an upgrade over Lukes. Steamer thinks it's close.
• Newtbar makes 4 million more
• Have to give up assets via trade

I think if we get another OF, it really needs to be someone who is a clear cut 3 WAR starter, but at that point they might need to do a salary dump with Taters.

Now if the added bat is an infielder, I think that would probably be worth it. Our infield depth SUXXX.

[BatFlip]

From a pure baseball perspective, I think Term is right and the juice isn't worth the squeeze after factoring in dollars and trade value.  

However, we should also factor in how much joy we'll have with Lars Newtbeard's name over the course of the season.  We're just scratching the surface with gems like Nootribullet. 

[Abomination]

1 hour ago, Dr. Dinger said:

Anybody down for a Berrios + Lukes for Yelich contract dump?

In a heartbeat. 

[ValiantJaysFan]

 This had me rolling

Bo throwing from third

[glory]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

I don't think it's worth it.

• It's a small role to upgrade, 300 PA bench role right now as Taters is manning LF 
• I'm not even sure Lars Nootribullet is an upgrade over Lukes. Steamer thinks it's close.
• Newtbar makes 4 million more
• Have to give up assets via trade

I think if we get another OF, it really needs to be someone who is a clear cut 3 WAR starter, but at that point they might need to do a salary dump with Taters.

Now if the added bat is an infielder, I think that would probably be worth it. Our infield depth SUXXX.

It would depend on what it would take to get Nootbaar obviously, but I think there would be real upside there. He's already had a couple of 3 WAR seasons in his career, and last season despite battling injuries he was well above average to very good in Avg EV, hard hit %, bat speed, chase, whiff, etc. 

Realistically, there isn't a position where the Jays could significantly improve unless they trade for Marte or something like that. I guess maybe if they sign Framber and dump Berrios, but on the position player side, the only meaningful upgrades I could see would be a 2B against RHP (Clement isn't good against them historically) or a move like this where if you believe you're buying low on a ~120 wRC+ bat with some injury risk to replace a more average-ish 4th OF. 

Plus, I believe Noot is popular in Japan due to the last WBC, so it would give the Jays another player that can help to kiss more Japanese backside as they try to grow their brand there. 

[JaysForever]

3 hours ago, Terminator said:

 

Pretty good article on adding another bat.

The most interesting part to me is that he says any additional bat likely takes Lukes' spot on the roster.

Lukes is criminally underrated. Steamer600 says he's a 2 WAR player but they assign him negative value defense. Statcast says he's borderline elite in RF with very good range and an elite arm.

So if you massage the projections a bit to account for his defense he seems to be a pretty damn good player. Would be tough to add a bat better than him. The Lars Nootrigrainbar's don't really move the needle.

I do not see a point in these lateral moves. These players are not notably better than Lukes. There are also some outfielders in the minors that could be knocking on the door. 

At least Donovan gives you a starter, and makes Schenider expendable. That is an upgrade.

[JaysForever]

3 minutes ago, glory said:

I guess maybe if they sign Framber and dump Berrios, but on the position player side, the only meaningful upgrades I could see would be a 2B against RHP (Clement isn't good against them historically)

Donovan 😉

[Terminator]

I'm actually starting to come around on Donovan though I am worried what he would cost.

I don't even think he's that much better than Clement, but if Gimenez or Clement get hurt,you could possibly be looking at John Kasevich getting some significant playing time.

[Abomination]

27 minutes ago, JaysForever said:

I do not see a point in these lateral moves. These players are not notably better than Lukes. There are also some outfielders in the minors that could be knocking on the door. 

At least Donovan gives you a starter, and makes Schenider expendable. That is an upgrade.

Is it an upgrade? Schneider put up almost the same WAR when scaled to playing time.

[hanton]

 

for those that are hating on Bo, he's gone now - maybe try posting in the former jays thread

[Brownie19]

4 hours ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Another way to go could be a Alex Gordon type, if you remember him.  Since we missed out on Tucker an Alex Gordon type would be perfect, Gordon was kind of cheaper, younger version of Tucker with better defense but maybe not as much power.  Not sure who the Alex Gordon is in modern baseball but that would be a cool player to have. 

I was always fascinated by Alex Gordon.  He was the #1/#2 prospect in baseball at one time.  Huge minor league numbers.  Struggled to adjust early in his ML career, then went on a wicked tear where he was stud who averaged over 5 WAR a year during his 4 year peak.  He finished his career with 31.5 WAR - very solid.

[rydermike]

2 hours ago, ValiantJaysFan said:

 This had me rolling

Bo throwing from third

They need Mr Fantastic at first 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

I'm actually starting to come around on Donovan though I am worried what he would cost.

I don't even think he's that much better than Clement, but if Gimenez or Clement get hurt,you could possibly be looking at John Kasevich getting some significant playing time.

Yeah, the depth would be welcome. As of now, we are in danger if Clement or Gimenez go down for an extended period. Weak depth up the middle.

[Stangstag]

Best piece for this team right now would be Marte, followed by Donovan. 

[Abomination]

26 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Yeah, the depth would be welcome. As of now, we are in danger if Clement or Gimenez go down for an extended period. Weak depth up the middle.

I don't think it's that big a deal. Schneider is perfectly capable. In an emergency situation, you have Jimenez and Loperfido on the farm. Barger played games at SS as late as last year prior to coming up, so he might even be an option at 2nd.  It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea for the Jays to give Barger and Loperfido some reps there in the spring just in case, but we have potential depth to get through multiple injuries. If we're going to upgrade, it has to be a clear upgrade with the bat, not a marginal one.

[Spanky__99]

2 hours ago, Terminator said:

I'm actually starting to come around on Donovan though I am worried what he would cost.

I don't even think he's that much better than Clement, but if Gimenez or Clement get hurt,you could possibly be looking at John Kasevich getting some significant playing time.

Jimenez

 

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, hanton said:

 

for those that are hating on Bo, he's gone now - maybe try posting in the former jays thread

Hating on Bo, is shortbus s***.