Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[Stangstag]

2 minutes ago, jmomcc said:

I think we need to tank right? 

at this point the best way to salvage this season is to get the number one overall. 

Can’t guarantee number 1 pick anymore. Its a lottery

[jmomcc]

1 minute ago, Stangstag said:

Can’t guarantee number 1 pick anymore. Its a lottery

True, but I think we need to finish in the top 6 somewhere to not get pushed down 10 spots again. 

I think that’s true? Can anyone confirm that? 

[bronson44]

10 minutes ago, jmomcc said:

I think we need to tank right? 

at this point the best way to salvage this season is to get the number one overall. 

At least get into the top 6 for a protected pick. 

[bronson44]

13 minutes ago, jmomcc said:

True, but I think we need to finish in the top 6 somewhere to not get pushed down 10 spots again. 

I think that’s true? Can anyone confirm that? 

From all I've heard yes that is the case. Shi Davidi and Arden Zwelling mentioned it in their recent podcast.

[glory]

8 hours ago, jmomcc said:

True, but I think we need to finish in the top 6 somewhere to not get pushed down 10 spots again. 

I think that’s true? Can anyone confirm that? 

Yup, unless Atkins trades a lot of players at the deadline to get under the tax thresholds, and that's not happening. So have to hope for a top 6 pick.

I'm sure the Jays will get a great pick given our history of things always working out nicely. 

[Stangstag]

7 hours ago, glory said:

Yup, unless Atkins trades a lot of players at the deadline to get under the tax thresholds, and that's not happening. So have to hope for a top 6 pick.

I'm sure the Jays will get a great pick given our history of things always working out nicely. 

Gonna finish 7th overall and end up picking 22 or something lol

[Laika]

Brandon Valenzuela for Tristan Peters?

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Brandon Valenzuela for Tristan Peters?

Wow - now that's an interesting one.  Peters is under control until 2032 and appears to be legit defensively in CF.

He's 26, so you get his prime years, but his minor league numbers suggest the bat isn't this good (perhaps not nearly this good), so there's risk there.  Oddly enough, you could say the same thing about Valenzuela - they are very similar that way - the body of work, with this success offensively is very small.

The underlying numbers from Peters don't really move the needle - and likely suggest he isn't a 120 wRC+ hitter.  But could he be a 105 wRC+ hitter?  He'd still be valuable at that.

I actually like it.  Trade from a position of strength with a probability that you're selling high on what likely amounts to a very good backup catcher (which he was always expected to be).  It's a tough pill to swallow - I love what BV has brought and think there's a decent chance he can start at the ML level - but CF is going to be a really hard position to fill, with very few options.  This would plug a big hole and allow us to spend FA money on positions with more depth and options.  Kirk is our man behind the dish anyway and we just added 2 new catching prospects within the system.  

To be honest - this is a great option for the Jays.  We can include Varsho for a lottery ticket too if the Sox want to fill the hole Peters leaves - make it a bigger trade...

Unfortunately, the White Sox have Teel and Romo, who are both young, highly talented catchers, so I doubt this happens - but I think you're onto something.  Trading BV for a young, controllable CFer should be explored.

[jaysblue]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

Unfortunately, the White Sox have Teel and Romo, who are both young, highly talented catchers, so I doubt this happens - but I think you're onto something.  Trading BV for a young, controllable CFer should be explored.

They also have Quero still, who is very young and highly talented, despite his struggles offensively this season. 

I could see the Blue Jays trading for a young and controllable CFer whether it's at the deadline or for sure in the offseason. 

Jackson Merrill - would the Padres consider trading him?

Colton Cowser, Jacob Young, Evan Carter, Dylan Crews are some young and controllable guys, who have been struggling recently and perhaps a change of scenery could help. Lawrence Butler has been awful this season, so the A's could be shopping him especially after that contract extension he signed. 

[gruber9292]

3 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Wow - now that's an interesting one.  Peters is under control until 2032 and appears to be legit defensively in CF.

He's 26, so you get his prime years, but his minor league numbers suggest the bat isn't this good (perhaps not nearly this good), so there's risk there.  Oddly enough, you could say the same thing about Valenzuela - they are very similar that way - the body of work, with this success offensively is very small.

The underlying numbers from Peters don't really move the needle - and likely suggest he isn't a 120 wRC+ hitter.  But could he be a 105 wRC+ hitter?  He'd still be valuable at that.

I actually like it.  Trade from a position of strength with a probability that you're selling high on what likely amounts to a very good backup catcher (which he was always expected to be).  It's a tough pill to swallow - I love what BV has brought and think there's a decent chance he can start at the ML level - but CF is going to be a really hard position to fill, with very few options.  This would plug a big hole and allow us to spend FA money on positions with more depth and options.  Kirk is our man behind the dish anyway and we just added 2 new catching prospects within the system.  

To be honest - this is a great option for the Jays.  We can include Varsho for a lottery ticket too if the Sox want to fill the hole Peters leaves - make it a bigger trade...

Unfortunately, the White Sox have Teel and Romo, who are both young, highly talented catchers, so I doubt this happens - but I think you're onto something.  Trading BV for a young, controllable CFer should be explored.

You're unconditional love for Kirk is irrational 

[Laika]

Romo sucks, Teel is out for the year (probably.) They would all have options next year anyway.

[jaysblue]

Steven Kwan has been heating up recently. Still under control for 2027. 

[jaysblue]

11 hours ago, Laika said:

Brandon Valenzuela for Tristan Peters?

Would they trade Peters now or in the offseason? I think the Jays would likely have to add onto Valenzuela. But who knows. 

[glory]

Mentally I’m already prepared for Kwan in CF next season when the Guardians want to shed $10M in the off season, and Atkins gets to do something he loves (save the Guardians money). But I hope they acquire a controllable CF option at the deadline. Not sure which one is even available but someone who can cover CF and has upside with the bat would be nice. I hope this team isn’t insane enough to pick up Straw’s option. He’s right back to pre 2025 performance as one could have expected. He stinks. Picking up that option due to lack of other options is loser mentality.

[jaysblue]

31 minutes ago, glory said:

Mentally I’m already prepared for Kwan in CF next season when the Guardians want to shed $10M in the off season, and Atkins gets to do something he loves (save the Guardians money). But I hope they acquire a controllable CF option at the deadline. Not sure which one is even available but someone who can cover CF and has upside with the bat would be nice. I hope this team isn’t insane enough to pick up Straw’s option. He’s right back to pre 2025 performance as one could have expected. He stinks. Picking up that option due to lack of other options is loser mentality.

I have no issue with Kwan in CF, but yeah he would just be a stopgap for 2027. He's capable of putting together a 3-4 WAR season, but offensively he has no power whatsoever. So would have to address power elsewhere in the lineup like in LF or at DH or possibly either at 2B or SS if they decide to move away from Gimenez.

Atkins does like to address holes on the roster typically early in the offseason. You hope he just doesn't pick up Straw's option for the sake of it. 

[Laika]

1 hour ago, jaysblue said:

Would they trade Peters now or in the offseason? I think the Jays would likely have to add onto Valenzuela. But who knows. 

Peters is house money for them. He was a Savannah Banana.

It's a fair trade one for one. 

They are basically dead last in C WAR this year and in projected Catcher WAR rest of year. They have some young catchers but Teel is probably done for the year and the others don't seem ready for the show. 

The permutation is they also acquire Varsho for a prospect. 

[Terminator]

Trading Valenzuela would be a good move. He's had a nice 170 AB stretch, but his projections for his bat are really bad.

His defense is still good enough that he's a fringe starter/good backup, but because he's young and has flashed some upside another team might value him like a top-15 to top-20 catcher. 

[G-Snarls]

2 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Steven Kwan has been heating up recently. Still under control for 2027. 

In theory what happens in a doomsday scenario where 2027 is completely canceled  (I honestly don't think that will happen but nobody knows for sure)

Do the contracts get honored for the year afterwards? Is this something the owners and players association would happen to negotiate? Or do the players just completely lose their salary for next year, get paid out of an emergency fund, and a guy like this is just a free agent like he normally would have been 

  

[glory]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

I have no issue with Kwan in CF, but yeah he would just be a stopgap for 2027. He's capable of putting together a 3-4 WAR season, but offensively he has no power whatsoever. So would have to address power elsewhere in the lineup like in LF or at DH or possibly either at 2B or SS if they decide to move away from Gimenez.

Atkins does like to address holes on the roster typically early in the offseason. You hope he just doesn't pick up Straw's option for the sake of it. 

If the rest of the lineup was good then Kwan in CF for a year would be fine, but the rest of the lineup stinks, so he doesn't do enough for me given his Arb3 price tag and the fact that he only comes with one year of control. It's definitely something I could see Atkins doing though if no CF is acquired beforehand. I'd rather just stick Lukes in CF for a year then trade for Kwan. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. 

Straw's option is for $8M. Picking that option up is a fireable offense. 

[max silver]

10 hours ago, gruber9292 said:

You're unconditional love for Kirk is irrational 

What's the issue with Kirk? In a healthy season he's capable of 4+ wins with a bargain contract. Surely you can cut him a little slack for struggling with the bat after returning from a broken thumb. 

[HomeRunHomer]

 

[Jays24]

23 minutes ago, HomeRunHomer said:

 

We can safely assume that our medical staff needs further investigating?  Feels like we are very slow to react to all these major injuries.  Berrios, Santandar and now Barger...

[Sorrow]

I’d assume in the case of Barger they saw a problem and hoped rehab, like any surgeon would recommend first, and when the team fell out of the playoff race and it was more obvious that rehab wasn’t going to cut it they arranged surgery.

 

For CF I have a weird thought the Jays and Phillies will make a swap of Hoffman and Varsho for Justin Crawford and maybe another 35FV prospect.

[max silver]

29 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

We can safely assume that our medical staff needs further investigating?  Feels like we are very slow to react to all these major injuries.  Berrios, Santandar and now Barger...

Surgeons don't recommend immediate surgery when there's a chance that less invasive methods will be effective at treating injuries. As fans it's nice to assume that teams can just skip over attempts at non surgical intervention and proceed straight to surgery but sports medicine doesn't work that way.

[Jays24]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

Surgeons don't recommend immediate surgery when there's a chance that less invasive methods will be effective at treating injuries. As fans it's nice to assume that teams can just skip over attempts at non surgical intervention and proceed straight to surgery but sports medicine doesn't work that way.

Thank you doctor... I will go check to see if other teams also have these super long delays from when injuries happen to when they actually get diagnosed properly.  

[max silver]

21 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Thank you doctor... I will go check to see if other teams also have these super long delays from when injuries happen to when they actually get diagnosed properly.  

Thanks for your typical surface level criticism. 

[Ryu In My House]

With so many holes to fill for 2027+, I consider trading Varland and BV, both of whom could be at their peak trade value, to fill some of the essentials. The only guy who is untouchable for me is Vladdy, simply because they could never move his contract.

Yet, someone the Jays moved Vernon Wells back in the day. That one is still shocking. But Vladdy is one million times worse.

Yesavage is also likely in that untouchable realm.

Man, the FO has some serious work to do for next season. It's time for some big re-tooling. I hope we see at least 4 trades before the end of the deadline to infuse our farm with a little bit of talent. 

[Ryu In My House]

On the tropic of 2027, so it sounds like none of these players will be ready to play by ST:

Berrios
Barger
Francis

Is there anyone else who will be injured to start the season? 

[gruber9292]

20 hours ago, max silver said:

What's the issue with Kirk? In a healthy season he's capable of 4+ wins with a bargain contract. Surely you can cut him a little slack for struggling with the bat after returning from a broken thumb. 

I don't feel good about his body longer term and prefer to seek what type of return he could bring while he still has value. Although he's throwing the ball better recently, the fact that his arm was a wet noodle since returning from the catching hand thumb injury up until several days ago is a red flag for me. Strike while the iron is hot and get more athletic behind the plate while finding offence elsewhere in return. 

[jaysblue]

53 minutes ago, Ryu In My House said:

With so many holes to fill for 2027+, I consider trading Varland and BV, both of whom could be at their peak trade value, to fill some of the essentials. The only guy who is untouchable for me is Vladdy, simply because they could never move his contract.

Yet, someone the Jays moved Vernon Wells back in the day. That one is still shocking. But Vladdy is one million times worse.

Yesavage is also likely in that untouchable realm.

Man, the FO has some serious work to do for next season. It's time for some big re-tooling. I hope we see at least 4 trades before the end of the deadline to infuse our farm with a little bit of talent. 

Don’t talk about the Jays teams from the early 2000s or 2010s - there’s one poster on here who apparently doesn’t like that. 😂

The front office definitely has to shake things up. They can’t bring back the exact same group and simply expect another 2025 result. This lineup needs more thump overall and another legitimate impact bat.

Losing both Gausman and Bieber would also leave a major hole in the rotation. On top of that, anyone else they trade whether it’s Varland or another bullpen arm would still have to be replaced.

The problem is that there’s only so much you can accomplish through free agency. We can’t expect the Jays to sign every free agent needed to fill all of those holes. It would be extremely expensive, and they’d still be competing with several other teams for those players. We’ve seen over the past two or three offseasons that the Jays can have all the money in the world to spend, but players such as Ohtani, Soto and Tucker can still choose to go elsewhere.

I’m open to trading Varland if the return is an elite prospect. Any team that misses out on Mason Miller would almost certainly have interest in him. If you can turn Varland into the type of prospect package Miller brought back at last year’s deadline, you have to seriously consider it.