Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[neverbeenhere]

36 minutes ago, R.O. said:

Vlad for Soto, who says no?

Mets and their fans will say no

[spats]

2 hours ago, BTS said:

A lot of fat guys have back pain 

Maybe he can releive the back pain by not picking up those heavy barrels for the ice baths.

[glory]

2 hours ago, Omar said:

Approach is secondary. All the above are just not good mlb hitters.

Yeah that’s kinda the elephant in the room for 2026. The Jays had way too many hitters who either overachieved in 2025, aren’t very good in general, had no track record to depend on, or a combination of all 3. Vlad s***ing the bed gets the headlines, as it should, but there was a lot of faith put into 2025 performance. Probably way too much. 

[glory]

1 hour ago, R.O. said:

Vlad for Soto, who says no?

The Jays could agree to eat 100% of Vlad’s remaining deal and the Mets still say no to that one. 

Id put the chances of trading Vlad at less than 1% but only real shot with Arte Moreno gone is probably AJ Preller. Let Vlad have a bounce back year in 2027 then immediately call Preller. Take back Xander, who cares, just get out of the contract. Wishful thinking though.

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, glory said:

Yeah that’s kinda the elephant in the room for 2026. The Jays had way too many hitters who either overachieved in 2025, aren’t very good in general, had no track record to depend on, or a combination of all 3. Vlad s***ing the bed gets the headlines, as it should, but there was a lot of faith put into 2025 performance. Probably way too much. 

Who falls into this category for you?  I see a whole bunch of bench bats that overachieved, Varsho hit better than he did in the past, but he missed half the season.  I guess you can say Springer overachieved.  Eric Lauer?

 

[glory]

Donaldson and Martin discussing Vlad:
 

 

[Spanky__99]

6 hours ago, Carlos Danger said:

I seriously think Vlad will need to play for Team Canada next WBC to redeem himself to the fan base. 

He could do no wrong if he did that.... If he announced it in the spring, all will be forgiven in Canuckville among the casuals. 

You're not lying, lol.

[Spanky__99]

4 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Who falls into this category for you?  I see a whole bunch of bench bats that overachieved, Varsho hit better than he did in the past, but he missed half the season.  I guess you can say Springer overachieved.  Eric Lauer?

 

Regression and injury, killed them. 27 was atrocious. Pitching soldiered on, the only reason we were afloat, s*** happens... this one was SPLAT!

[Spanky__99]

 

1 hour ago, glory said:

Donaldson and Martin discussing Vlad:
 

 

Thanks for sharing man, I can listen to Josh talk hitting all day. Good takes.

 

[Omar]

6 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Thanks for sharing man, I can listen to Josh talk hitting all day. Good takes.

 

When I hear Russell Martin speak, I am reminded that this guy has a lot going on upstairs.  Smart guy.  No surprise he made pitchers better.  Also an argument could be made for the Hall for him.

[glory]

Really easy to appreciate the JD, Bautista, Edwin, Russ, etc, era in hindsight. It was fleeting, but man, those guys raked and were super competitive. Agreed about JD, he's super smart about hitting, and doesn't hold back.

[jaysblue]

42 minutes ago, Omar said:

When I hear Russell Martin speak, I am reminded that this guy has a lot going on upstairs.  Smart guy.  No surprise he made pitchers better.  Also an argument could be made for the Hall for him.

Russell Martin for next Blue Jays manager! 

[keggy]

1 hour ago, Spanky__99 said:

 

Thanks for sharing man, I can listen to Josh talk hitting all day. Good takes.

 

He's got it backwards, the timing was just the cherry on top. Whether it's spring training, midseason, or the dead of winter people would get upset by those comments.

Also if Guerrero is hitting 40 and winning, the interview wouldn't even make any sense. What is this guy babbling about?

[SpencerBateman]

Maybe Vlad will do something to void his contract this off season.  

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, keggy said:

He has it backwards, the timing was just the cherry on top. Whether it's spring training, midseason, or the dead of winter people would get upset by those comments.

Also if Guerrero is hitting 40 and winning, the interview wouldn't even make any sense. What is this guy babbling about?

IDK,  man. I'm lost as you.

[Stangstag]

8 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Who falls into this category for you?  I see a whole bunch of bench bats that overachieved, Varsho hit better than he did in the past, but he missed half the season.  I guess you can say Springer overachieved.  Eric Lauer?

 

Yeah Springer is really the only one you can claim as an overachiever in that 2025 lineup, maybe a case for Clement.

I definitely thought we’d be lucky to get 110ish wRC+ Springer this year. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how bad Vlad has been.

[Stangstag]

5 hours ago, glory said:

Donaldson and Martin discussing Vlad:
 

 

Great vid

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

Yeah Springer is really the only one you can claim as an overachiever in that 2025 lineup, maybe a case for Clement.

I definitely thought we’d be lucky to get 110ish wRC+ Springer this year. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how bad Vlad has been.

Well 107 ain't bad, aside from the slow start he breaks his toe, mid June hits his stride and kills it since.

Not last year but he's been great, going to miss him.

 

 

[Forever92]

Brandon Lowe I would sign. He's power from 2b. Give Jays a big bat, 30 homers, 100 RBI. 

Pushes Clement to his more natural super utility player. Gives Jays depth and a great bench. 

Randy Arozarena be an option also. Power/speed from left field. 

Springer and Bieber gone. Use their 40 million to sign them. Springer too near the end, Bieber too many injuries 

[John_Havok]

10 hours ago, keggy said:

He's got it backwards, the timing was just the cherry on top. Whether it's spring training, midseason, or the dead of winter people would get upset by those comments.

Also if Guerrero is hitting 40 and winning, the interview wouldn't even make any sense. What is this guy babbling about?

I think he means timing is bad as in its happening at the end of a down season for Vlad and a horrible season for the Jays vs expectations. Had he said these things while hitting 40 HRs, and the Jays were easily in the playoffs...people likely wouldn't care as much. 

Just a guess though. I don't he means timing as exclusively the Month and day he said it. If he'd just finished a 40 HR season, Jays in the playoffs, hes in the mvp convo.... people would look at his comments and say "who cares, just keep hitting 40 HRs" 

[Stangstag]

7 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

Well 107 ain't bad, aside from the slow start he breaks his toe, mid June hits his stride and kills it since.

Not last year but he's been great, going to miss him.

 

 

Definitely will miss having him on the team, but its time to move on from him and free up the DH spot again.

Felt like Springer was really the “start” of this latest competitive ERA for the Jays. Glad we got 1 really good year from him when it really mattered. 

[max silver]

3 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Definitely will miss having him on the team, but its time to move on from him and free up the DH spot again.

Felt like Springer was really the “start” of this latest competitive ERA for the Jays. Glad we got 1 really good year from him when it really mattered. 

I think George still has what it takes to provide solid offensive output from the DH spot when he's at close to full health but the injuries are starting to take him out of his game more and more. His 120 wRC+ since mid May is tied with Kirk for best on the team among regulars but he's been very streaky and dealing with various aches and pains for most of the season. 

[Brownie19]

9 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Yeah Springer is really the only one you can claim as an overachiever in that 2025 lineup, maybe a case for Clement.

I definitely thought we’d be lucky to get 110ish wRC+ Springer this year. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how bad Vlad has been.

Clement overachieved in the playoffs.  But his regular season was very similar to 2024 and what he did in 2026 until he got hurt and tried to play through it the whole second half.

I just don't see a lot of overachievers in 2025 - outside of a bunch of bench guys like Heiny, Straw and DS.

[Brownie19]

55K views · 419 reactions | Bringing up your contract like Vladimir...

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Bringing up your contract like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did rarely has a good outcome #mlb #baseball #sports

I saw a clip yesterday - they suggest Vlad is extremely intelligent note that everyone they have spoken to who's close to the Blue Jays agrees.

That seems wildly different to absolutely everything fans see - and it's the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest this.

[max silver]

7 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

55K views · 419 reactions | Bringing up your contract like Vladimir...

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM

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Bringing up your contract like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did rarely has a good outcome #mlb #baseball #sports

I saw a clip yesterday - they suggest Vlad is extremely intelligent note that everyone they have spoken to who's close to the Blue Jays agrees.

That seems wildly different to absolutely everything fans see - and it's the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest this.

Vlad is possibly the least media savvy member of the Blue Jays I can recall at any point. He has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth and this isn't the first time he's set off a firestorm with tone deaf comments. That's interesting that his relative intelligence is noted to be high as he appears to be terribly informed with how current day free agent+extension contracts are largely based on expected future performance.

[Gen.Disarray]

Assuming Washington was willing to trade one of Wood or Abrams to us for what we have to offer. AND we could sign one of Suzuki or Brandon Lowe. Which 2 guys would you take?

[Brownie19]

22 minutes ago, max silver said:

Vlad is possibly the least media savvy member of the Blue Jays I can recall at any point. He has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth and this isn't the first time he's set off a firestorm with tone deaf comments. That's interesting that his relative intelligence is noted to be high as he appears to be terribly informed with how current day free agent+extension contracts are largely based on expected future performance.

It's alarming the number of media people and commenters who actually agree with what Vlad is saying?  A great reminder of how many morons walk among us.

[Laika]

Brandon Lowe is a trap

• 32 years old
• Hard platoon 
• Coming off a career high fWAR and an inexplicable defensive value surge 

Someone is going to pay for a 3+ WAR "starting 2B" but I think the best he is going forward is a 2 WAR, 500 PA guy that looks more like a LF/DH you can't use against LHP. 

And Toronto was already too left handed for much of 2026 

The Blue Jays had an 84 wRC+ against LHP in 2026. 99 vs RHP. 

[glory]

Lowe went from a -14 OAA in 2025 to a +14 OAA in 2026. Arraez had a similar jump in defensive metrics. I didn't watch a single moment of them playing defense in 2026, so can't comment on the eye test, but that seems a little suspect to me, at least in terms of how I'd value them long term. 

Suzuki being a power hitting RHB and an OF probably makes more sense for this team. 

[Brownie19]

5 minutes ago, glory said:

Lowe went from a -14 OAA in 2025 to a +14 OAA in 2026. Arraez had a similar jump in defensive metrics. I didn't watch a single moment of them playing defense in 2026, so can't comment on the eye test, but that seems a little suspect to me, at least in terms of how I'd value them long term. 

Suzuki being a power hitting RHB and an OF probably makes more sense for this team. 

Completely agree with this.  Lowe is almost certainly going to be overpaid (as is Arraez?).  I'm curious to see what Suzuki gets.  He's a beast and would be a great fit - although age/term will be a concern.

PLEASE DON'T PAY THEM FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE - pay them for what you think they'll do during the contract you give them...