Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[Terminator]

 

[Jays24]

26 minutes ago, Terminator said:

 

Please go down the Smoltz path to become a shut down closer.  I think he can do it if he just focuses on 1 inning.  

[Laika]

One year $5M and a gentleman's agreement to spend most of the year on the IL. Pick up a few strings of starts as required. Convert to relief in September if all the SP are healthy/good. 

Basically a mascot and depth option. 

tbh I think he's cooked in terms of talent. replacement level arm now

[R.O.]

 

[G-Snarls]

He's been so MIA

Dammit 

[Spanky__99]

16 hours ago, Laika said:

One year $5M and a gentleman's agreement to spend most of the year on the IL. Pick up a few strings of starts as required. Convert to relief in September if all the SP are healthy/good. 

Basically a mascot and depth option. 

tbh I think he's cooked in terms of talent. replacement level arm now

I hope it's something like that if he signs. I'm not interested in giving him a guaranteed spot at all.

[Spanky__99]

9 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

He's been so MIA

Dammit 

Well we knew this was possible when Schneids said they were going to take it slow with him a couple weeks back.

[Spanky__99]

On 2/18/2026 at 11:13 PM, Brownie19 said:

Interesting.  He was a high K% (with good BB%) early in his career and put up solid #'s.  Broke out in 2024, when his K% dropped to a hair below 18% with a wRC+ of 142.

Fell off a cliff in 2025 in his first time at AAA at age 25.  Was he hurt? 

Sounds like he's a solid enough defender up the middle.  Seems like a decent flyer.  Anyone know anything else about him?

BA in 2025... he was ranked 14th in their system and he has a couple options left, this is a nice depth acquisition.

BA Grade/Risk: 40/Medium.

Track Record: The Yankees signed Cowles for $140,000 as a 10th-rounder out of Maryland in 2021 and he’s been a steady performer in each of his first three full minor league seasons. Cowles broke his wrist after getting hit by a pitch on July 25, but the Cubs still acquired him just days later at the 2024 trade deadline in exchange for righthander Mark Leiter Jr. Cowles recouped some at-bats in the Arizona Fall League after the season and was added to the 40-man roster on Nov. 19.

Scouting Report: Cowles is a utility infielder type who flashed fringe-average power in 2024 with the ability to consistently find barrels. He shows average bat-to-ball ability with above-average swing decisions. When Cowles’ swing is right, he generates excellent hip-shoulder separation and drives pitches up the middle or to his pull side. When he’s off, as he was after the trade, his posture slouches and he pops up pitches he typically would drive. Cowles does an excellent job of manipulating the barrel and his true gift is his ability to square up the ball and optimize ball flight. He also crushes breaking balls. Cowles is an average runner who shows burst once underway, though he’s unlikely to steal more than 20 bases in a season. Cowles is a fringe-average defender and thrower who spent time at shortstop, second and third base in 2024.

The Future: Cowles’ addition to the 40-man roster and defensive versatility suggest he should see some MLB time in 2025.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 50 | Field: 45 | Arm: 45.

[Pendleton]

11 hours ago, R.O. said:

 

Here's the Sportsnet article referenced by MLBTR, some other roster related tidbits in there 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-have-plenty-to-watch-for-as-grapefruit-league-play-begins/

[jaysblue]

18 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Please go down the Smoltz path to become a shut down closer.  I think he can do it if he just focuses on 1 inning.  

Yeah I would like to see Scherzer make the transition to the pen. Could be interesting. Might be able to give you 60-70 really good elite innings. 

Not a huge fan of him as a starter, but if the Jays and him are in agreement that he'll start the year on the IL and buildup his arm in April/May/June, could use him for a stretch of 10 or 15 starts mid season (kind of like what the Dodgers did with Kershaw) and then move him to the pen in September/October. 

[BTS]

Kind of interesting how wide open the bullpen is with the injuries to Bieber and Garcia. 

5 guys look like locks: Hoffman, Rogers, Varland, Lauer, Nance 

That leaves 3 spots available for like 8 guys:

Bastardo (out of options) 

Miles (Rule V pick) 

Fluharty, Fisher, Lee, Little, Macko, Tiedemann (all optionable)

A lot riding on how guys look in ST 

[sliderguy35]

40 minutes ago, BTS said:

Kind of interesting how wide open the bullpen is with the injuries to Bieber and Garcia. 

5 guys look like locks: Hoffman, Rogers, Varland, Lauer, Nance 

That leaves 3 spots available for like 8 guys:

Bastardo (out of options) 

Miles (Rule V pick) 

Fluharty, Fisher, Lee, Little, Macko, Tiedemann (all optionable)

A lot riding on how guys look in ST 

i know that nance is out of options, but i'd still have him competing with the group below.

i like him, but if he doesn't look good in spring training there's a very real chance they just DFA him which they wouldn't do with anyone else in that top group if they looked bad.

[BTS]

3 hours ago, sliderguy35 said:

i know that nance is out of options, but i'd still have him competing with the group below.

i like him, but if he doesn't look good in spring training there's a very real chance they just DFA him which they wouldn't do with anyone else in that top group if they looked bad.

Yeah that's fair. If his stuff has backed up he'll be gone without much of a thought. 

[Spanky__99]

Ewww...

 

Blue Jays To Re-Sign Max Scherzer

By Anthony Franco | at February 25, 2026 11:23pm CDT

The Blue Jays are re-signing Max Scherzer, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet had reported last week that reunion talks had accelerated.

More to come.

[Laika]

A Legend is born. 

 

[Brownie19]

MLB report claims IKF was out by feet, not inches in Game 7 of WS
https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3497148

Some official ruling on this controversial play.  Sounds like MLB believes he was out by feet - not inches and thus IKF's leadoff probably didn't matter as much as we originally thought.

Sorry to rehash this.

[Brownie19]

Toronto Blue Jays (@bluejays) • Instagram reel

WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM

---

13K likes, 70 comments - bluejays on March 10, 2026: "Kaz is playing Gold Glove defence at the...

Okamoto's defense at 3rd looks pretty solid to me...

Love to see it.

 

[Laika]

lol

Yesavage finally pitched, in a sim game against Jays minor leaguers, and got rocked. two walks and two homers. 35 pitches

[Spanky__99]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

lol

Yesavage finally pitched, in a sim game against Jays minor leaguers, and got rocked. two walks and two homers. 35 pitches

Meaningless?

[Terminator]

On 3/11/2026 at 8:18 AM, Brownie19 said:

MLB report claims IKF was out by feet, not inches in Game 7 of WS
https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3497148

Some official ruling on this controversial play.  Sounds like MLB believes he was out by feet - not inches and thus IKF's leadoff probably didn't matter as much as we originally thought.

Sorry to rehash this.

Gee, thanks MLB. That makes me feel so much better.

[mphenhef]

On 3/11/2026 at 11:18 AM, Brownie19 said:

MLB report claims IKF was out by feet, not inches in Game 7 of WS
https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3497148

Some official ruling on this controversial play.  Sounds like MLB believes he was out by feet - not inches and thus IKF's leadoff probably didn't matter as much as we originally thought.

Sorry to rehash this.

Did the report come from Trump's truth feed?

[mphenhef]

On 3/11/2026 at 7:49 PM, Spanky__99 said:

Meaningless?

Most definitely.  For all we know he could have just been throwing the curve he has been working on or trying something else.  

[Brownie19]

Just now, mphenhef said:

Did the report come from Trump's truth feed?

Yes - it said he was out bigly

[Brownie19]

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/3499075

Something is wrong with Berrios FFS.

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

Did the report come from Trump's truth feed?

Brownie laughs at this... can we not, thanks.

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

Most definitely.  For all we know he could have just been throwing the curve he has been working on or trying something else.  

In an international tournament? Nah, his tits were lit, he was great up to that point though.

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/3499075

Something is wrong with Berrios FFS.

Yeah, that's not good, glad we have depth.

[mphenhef]

16 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

In an international tournament? Nah, his tits were lit, he was great up to that point though.

That was about Trey in a sim game.

[Spanky__99]

4 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

That was about Trey in a sim game.

D'oh... 

[Spanky__99]

My bad, yeah, meaningless.