Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[Ryu In My House]

Welcome to the General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026) — a year-round space for thoughtful conversation about everything surrounding the Toronto Blue Jays. This thread is for big-picture questions as much as day-to-day developments: roster construction, player development, coaching and analytics trends, organizational strengths and weaknesses, and what “success” should realistically look like for this team in 2026 and beyond. Whether you’re optimistic or skeptical, stats-driven or eye-test focused, all well-reasoned perspectives are welcome. To get things started: what do you see as the biggest unanswered question facing the Blue Jays right now?

Will the Jays sign Bichette, Tucker, or neither?

[Perfect Game]

 

[Perfect Game]

 

[Perfect Game]

[John_Havok]

16 minutes ago, Perfect Game said:

Varsho was projected at 9.7 

Clement at 4.3

Heineman at 1

All 3 fot higher figures. A nice bonus for getting them to the WS.

Just Lauer left to go. Projected at 4.4. If the pattern holds he should be locked in at 4.6-4.7ish

[Laika]

The Athletic did an article on Jake Cook. Sounds like he is doing the right things and the organization thinks he can be more than a two tool player.

 

“I don’t want to be like a speed guy,” Cook said, “where I’m chopping the ball and then running to first and then steal and then steal. Like, yes, it works, but that’s not really how I want to play the game.”

...

The Blue Jays shut Cook down after the 2025 draft, bringing him to the club’s development complex in Florida. After two weeks off, ensuring his femur fully recovered, Cook got in the team’s hitting lab. With dozens of cameras tracking every movement, Cook adjusted his bat path. He’d swing, turn to the screen providing feedback, then face the next pitch. His goal was to add more loft and catch the ball out front — a recipe for slug.

Rhodes saw the new look when Cook returned to Southern Miss’ facilities over the holidays. The swing had more loft, the bat speed was up and Cook had gotten stronger, Rhodes said. It was everything the assistant coach preached was possible when he talked to scouts in the summer, before Cook tied Jeric Curtis (2022) for the combine’s 30-yard-dash record.

“I don’t think he’s even close to, potentially, what he has from a power standpoint,” Rhodes said he told scouts.

Cook doesn’t intentionally mold himself after other hitters. However, if he were something like Simpson in 2025, he’d love to be more like Byron Buxton. It’s a lofty comparison, Cook acknowledges, as Buxton likely possesses more power than he’ll ever tap into. The Minnesota Twins outfielder had 63 extra-base hits last year and Cook notched just 20 in his entire college career. But that’s the sort of ceiling he’s searching for in 2026 and beyond.

It’s one thing to adjust a swing in an offseason hitting lab and another to bring it to professional games. Cook will have to balance his offensive aims with improved base-stealing while staying healthy during the longest season of his life. But at least he has his speed. He wants to see what else is in there.

“I’m excited,” Cook said, “to kind of find out who I am as a hitter.”

 

[sliderguy35]

20 minutes ago, Laika said:

The Athletic did an article on Jake Cook. Sounds like he is doing the right things and the organization thinks he can be more than a two tool player.

 

“I don’t want to be like a speed guy,” Cook said, “where I’m chopping the ball and then running to first and then steal and then steal. Like, yes, it works, but that’s not really how I want to play the game.”

...

The Blue Jays shut Cook down after the 2025 draft, bringing him to the club’s development complex in Florida. After two weeks off, ensuring his femur fully recovered, Cook got in the team’s hitting lab. With dozens of cameras tracking every movement, Cook adjusted his bat path. He’d swing, turn to the screen providing feedback, then face the next pitch. His goal was to add more loft and catch the ball out front — a recipe for slug.

Rhodes saw the new look when Cook returned to Southern Miss’ facilities over the holidays. The swing had more loft, the bat speed was up and Cook had gotten stronger, Rhodes said. It was everything the assistant coach preached was possible when he talked to scouts in the summer, before Cook tied Jeric Curtis (2022) for the combine’s 30-yard-dash record.

“I don’t think he’s even close to, potentially, what he has from a power standpoint,” Rhodes said he told scouts.

Cook doesn’t intentionally mold himself after other hitters. However, if he were something like Simpson in 2025, he’d love to be more like Byron Buxton. It’s a lofty comparison, Cook acknowledges, as Buxton likely possesses more power than he’ll ever tap into. The Minnesota Twins outfielder had 63 extra-base hits last year and Cook notched just 20 in his entire college career. But that’s the sort of ceiling he’s searching for in 2026 and beyond.

It’s one thing to adjust a swing in an offseason hitting lab and another to bring it to professional games. Cook will have to balance his offensive aims with improved base-stealing while staying healthy during the longest season of his life. But at least he has his speed. He wants to see what else is in there.

“I’m excited,” Cook said, “to kind of find out who I am as a hitter.”

 

exactly the kind of stuff you want to hear (although i think the high end outcome of cook looks a lot more like jarren duran than byron buxton).

i'll always be in on the organization taking shots on freaky athletes who are recent position conversions. the risk is high, but there's potential to get real value outside of the first round (plus, usually you know pretty quickly if a player is going to take to the conversion or not). 

[Brownie19]

I know players can "do what they want in the offseason" and the team can't force them to do anything, but f*ck me - I don't understand why the majority of players aren't spending a good portion of the offseason in the lab grinding - looking to improve.  The offseason is the best time (by a mile) to make improvements to your game.

Most prospects fail.  If you've worked at baseball this long, got drafted to a professional team and aren't taking advantage of world class technology and coaching all offseason, like WTF are you thinking?

If some draft pick isn't willing to live in their lab all winter - I wouldn't draft him.

[mphenhef]

On 1/29/2026 at 1:49 PM, Brownie19 said:

I know players can "do what they want in the offseason" and the team can't force them to do anything, but f*ck me - I don't understand why the majority of players aren't spending a good portion of the offseason in the lab grinding - looking to improve.  The offseason is the best time (by a mile) to make improvements to your game.

Most prospects fail.  If you've worked at baseball this long, got drafted to a professional team and aren't taking advantage of world class technology and coaching all offseason, like WTF are you thinking?

If some draft pick isn't willing to live in their lab all winter - I wouldn't draft him.

Because they pay them peanuts and they have to work multiple jobs to survive the grind of the season.  I don't understand why some owner isn't enabling their players to fully focus on getting better by paying their way.  Surely, that's far cheaper than doling out extra millions for free agents.

[Jimcanuck]

On 1/29/2026 at 12:49 PM, Brownie19 said:

I know players can "do what they want in the offseason" and the team can't force them to do anything, but f*ck me - I don't understand why the majority of players aren't spending a good portion of the offseason in the lab grinding - looking to improve.  The offseason is the best time (by a mile) to make improvements to your game.

Most prospects fail.  If you've worked at baseball this long, got drafted to a professional team and aren't taking advantage of world class technology and coaching all offseason, like WTF are you thinking?

If some draft pick isn't willing to live in their lab all winter - I wouldn't draft him.

They probably are

[max silver]

On 1/29/2026 at 10:49 AM, Brownie19 said:

I know players can "do what they want in the offseason" and the team can't force them to do anything, but f*ck me - I don't understand why the majority of players aren't spending a good portion of the offseason in the lab grinding - looking to improve.  The offseason is the best time (by a mile) to make improvements to your game.

Most prospects fail.  If you've worked at baseball this long, got drafted to a professional team and aren't taking advantage of world class technology and coaching all offseason, like WTF are you thinking?

If some draft pick isn't willing to live in their lab all winter - I wouldn't draft him.

Yay indentured servitude. 

[jaysblue]

Curious question - do the Blue Jays change prices for regular season games?

Like for example, I purchased seats in Sec 211, Row 7 for the Dodgers game on April 7th, and paid $140 for each seat. Now I see prices listed on the Jays site at $190 in that section for that same date.  

[Laika]

Don't they do dynamic pricing? I believe they do so prices would get updated periodically maybe even daily 

[jaysblue]

8 hours ago, Laika said:

Don't they do dynamic pricing? I believe they do so prices would get updated periodically maybe even daily 

I understand that they use dynamic pricing during the regular season for certain games, matchups, and dates. Some games are clearly in higher price tiers - Yankees, Red Sox, weekends, giveaways, premium NL opponents, etc. - that part makes sense.

What I didn’t realize is that prices could be updated periodically or even daily. I’ve never seen that before on the team’s main site. Is that actually allowed between the Jays and Ticketmaster? Once a price is set for a specific game, I’m surprised they can later raise or lower it. Makes them no different than resellers. 

[Stangstag]

15 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

I understand that they use dynamic pricing during the regular season for certain games, matchups, and dates. Some games are clearly in higher price tiers - Yankees, Red Sox, weekends, giveaways, premium NL opponents, etc. - that part makes sense.

What I didn’t realize is that prices could be updated periodically or even daily. I’ve never seen that before on the team’s main site. Is that actually allowed between the Jays and Ticketmaster? Once a price is set for a specific game, I’m surprised they can later raise or lower it. Makes them no different than resellers. 

Yeah that’s Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing ********. Its like surge pricing with Uber, based on demand.

[jaysblue]

10 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Yeah that’s Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing ********. Its like surge pricing with Uber, based on demand.

Yeah, I can’t stand Ticketmaster - they get away with so much. There are still a ton of tickets available for the Dodgers games too, lol.

I’m debating whether I should just grab two tickets for the Springer bobblehead night now, or wait until game day and snag something cheaper on SeatGeek.

[Stangstag]

8 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

Yeah, I can’t stand Ticketmaster - they get away with so much. There are still a ton of tickets available for the Dodgers games too, lol.

I’m debating whether I should just grab two tickets for the Springer bobblehead night now, or wait until game day and snag something cheaper on SeatGeek.

Honestly idk anymore. That Springer bobblehead SHOULD be a hot item, but last April they had a Vlad bobblehead giveaway and it was dead. Weather plays a factor for sure. I was able to get all the bobbleheads last year pretty easily

[jaysblue]

26 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Honestly idk anymore. That Springer bobblehead SHOULD be a hot item, but last April they had a Vlad bobblehead giveaway and it was dead. Weather plays a factor for sure. I was able to get all the bobbleheads last year pretty easily

Yeah, I don’t mind heading down after work that Friday night and getting there right when the gates open at 5:00 PM or whatever time it is. It probably won’t be as bad as a weekend game.

I’m honestly surprised there are still so many tickets available for the Springer bobblehead night. I keep going back and forth on whether to buy now or wait and see if prices drop on game day - though it is a Friday night, so who knows.

And with Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing, prices could jump at any time anyway, lol.

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

Honestly idk anymore. That Springer bobblehead SHOULD be a hot item, but last April they had a Vlad bobblehead giveaway and it was dead. Weather plays a factor for sure. I was able to get all the bobbleheads last year pretty easily

Marketplace?  My kid loves those things, but I don't really want to pay $50-$100 a piece.  

[Stangstag]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Marketplace?  My kid loves those things, but I don't really want to pay $50-$100 a piece.  

No i got all the bobbleheads last year from the dome. Worked 5mins walking distance, sometimes would just grab a cheap $20 ticket at 4pm and go walk over after work. 

[Brownie19]

16 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

No i got all the bobbleheads last year from the dome. Worked 5mins walking distance, sometimes would just grab a cheap $20 ticket at 4pm and go walk over after work. 

That's awesome.  A true fans dream!

[Spanky__99]

Cool watch/listen with BA's Collozo and Badler on Treys draft day...
 

 

[Pendleton]

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/best-projected-defenses-for-2026.html

MLB projected top defensive teams 

[Brownie19]

MLB Network

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM

---

Who put together the better Top 10 list: Brian Kenny or Rob Parker?

Both guys rank Vlad as the 8th best player in baseball.

[G-Snarls]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

MLB Network

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM

---

Who put together the better Top 10 list: Brian Kenny or Rob Parker?

Both guys rank Vlad as the 8th best player in baseball.

His post season really upped his cachet 

[Jays24]

Half this board wanted to DFA Vlad lol. 

[Spanky__99]

4 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Half this board wanted to DFA Vlad lol. 

Morons wanted to designate him.

[Ryu In My House]

15 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Half this board wanted to DFA Vlad lol. 

I would say 0% wanted him DFAed. I would say 30-40% would have been open to trading him for prospects at soem point.

 

[Laika]

Sell high! 

[Olerud363.354]

On 2/8/2026 at 2:38 AM, Spanky__99 said:

Morons wanted to designate him.

I don't think anyone wanted him released, more just speculating whether he could get released if his arb salary got way above his value.   

His WAR was tracking Cody Bellingers who went from a very similar start as compared to Vlad to having no value, but a huge arbitration salary and got released.  People also mentioned Jayson Heyward, even Vernon Wells who went from MVP candidate level to useless year to year.

Interestingly both Vlad and Bellinger turned it around and are probably tracking to have similar careers in terms of total WAR.  

The arb system rewards a combination of counting stats and seniority.  After Vlad 6 WAR 2021, he got 8 millioin, after his 1 WAR 2023 he got almost 20 million.     People were just speculating what would happen if his arb salary was once again way more than his value...  He had a great 2024 so we didn't arrive to that scenario.