Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[BTS]

I don't think the Santander injury really matters. He sucks. 

DH - Springer

CF - Varsho

RF - Barger

LF - Lukes/Schneider platoon

And Straw is still around. Schreck/Clase/Loperfido. 

If people underperform or injuries come up they might have to make a trade, but this looks mostly fine going into the season. 

[Jonn]

2 minutes ago, Terminator said:

Lukes projects for about twice the WAR that Santander does so aside from how dumb this all is, the on field production will actually increase 

Been saying it all off-season the team projects better without Santander in the lineup. Especially if Santander is playing Defense. With that being said considering the contract they gave him and his potential homerun power it’s pretty awful were at this point. We’re going to be looking at 2 lost Seasons.

[BTS]

BTW a lot of people owe Jonn an apology. He was tarred and feathered for saying he wanted to fire Santander into the sun, even though he's owed like 4 times what he'd get if he hit the market this offseason. 

[glory]

This probably means Leo Jimenez makes the team (barring a trade), as Lukes slides into the starting LF role and opens up a bench spot. Probably end up seeing Lukes/DS in LF and Gimenez/Jimenez in the infield as far as platoons. If nothing else this will improve the defense. The offense remains to be seen. Santander was the most one trick pony you will find, and his shoulder was preventing that one trick from existing, so he was essentially worthless. 

The lineup is definitely lacking something now. Not sure this is the right time to add someone since I doubt anyone significant is available. 

[Eat My Shatkins]

I'm fine with a Varsho/Barger/Lukes outfield and Straw as the 4th.

Hopefully Loperido and/or Schreck take the opportunity and run with it.

Not surprised to see the usual chicken littles panicking though lol

[Joltin Joe]

57 minutes ago, max silver said:

FFS it was announced that Santander is undergoing labrum surgery and will be out 5-6 months. Also announced was that Bowden Francis will need UCL surgery but that's a smaller blow given his status as more of a depth arm. 

Was anybody expecting anything out of Santander?

[rydermike]

I know we were never going to match LA's 60mil for Tucker, but we offered 35 (over 10).Wonder if they had known at the beginning of FA that Santander would be out injured, maybe they try to pull a Cease. Offer Tucker 45x5, beatthe market and the Dodgers. 

[max silver]

4 minutes ago, Joltin Joe said:

Was anybody expecting anything out of Santander?

I was expecting a bounce back season based on the assumption that his shoulder was healthy.

[Pendleton]

Obviously we lose some major thump in the lineup but we also gain so much flexibility. Surely it helps our run prevention to not try and force one of Santander or Springer to play OF most of the time. 

Barger can have a more consistent every day spot in RF now that Okamoto should be taking over 3B. You never wish for an injury by any means but the lineup was built to absorb this. 

The same goes for the Bieber injury, in terms of having the depth to overcome - but I find that to be a more worrisome loss. 

[Joltin Joe]

4 minutes ago, max silver said:

I was expecting a bounce back season based on the assumption that his shoulder was healthy.

He's Kendrys Morales 2.0

[Brownie19]

55 minutes ago, harvey16 said:

How the f*** did the Jays not go out and sign a top tier outfielder, they had to have known that Santander was cooked, unreal!

Let's all jump to wild conclusions without having any information.  He could have tore it in the gym yesterday FFS.

[JaysFan99]

I miss the offseason time when there was a possibility that we were signing Tucker and Bo.

[Jonn]

56 minutes ago, BTS said:

BTW a lot of people owe Jonn an apology. He was tarred and feathered for saying he wanted to fire Santander into the sun, even though he's owed like 4 times what he'd get if he hit the market this offseason. 

We both know that’s not happening lol. People have been weirdly defending him on this board despite the results and projections. But I digress.

[Jonn]

55 minutes ago, glory said:

This probably means Leo Jimenez makes the team (barring a trade), as Lukes slides into the starting LF role and opens up a bench spot. Probably end up seeing Lukes/DS in LF and Gimenez/Jimenez in the infield as far as platoons. If nothing else this will improve the defense. The offense remains to be seen. Santander was the most one trick pony you will find, and his shoulder was preventing that one trick from existing, so he was essentially worthless. 

The lineup is definitely lacking something now. Not sure this is the right time to add someone since I doubt anyone significant is available. 

Do we really want Leo Gimenez to make the team though? He might just because he’s out of options but I would be pretty disappointed with that outcome even as the 26th man. I don’t think it’s out of the question the Jays make a trade for an Outfielder sooner rather than later. They will probably have to part with more than they want to but I have a feeling they don’t go into the off-season with the status quo. Especially knowing they have money still. Just nobody to buy.

[GoBlue41]

Any Free Agents out there still worth looking at given the Santander news? 

[Jonn]

5 minutes ago, GoBlue41 said:

Any Free Agents out there still worth looking at given the Santander news? 

No they are all gone. Even the Pirates passed on McCutchen and he might be the top name left lol.

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

FFS it was announced that Santander is undergoing labrum surgery and will be out 5-6 months. Also announced was that Bowden Francis will need UCL surgery but that's a smaller blow given his status as more of a depth arm. 

What the fk? Man…. hard to believe this is a NEW injury. What tf was the front office doing not prioritizing a bat if they had an idea this might happen??

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, BTS said:

I don't think the Santander injury really matters. He sucks. 

DH - Springer

CF - Varsho

RF - Barger

LF - Lukes/Schneider platoon

And Straw is still around. Schreck/Clase/Loperfido. 

If people underperform or injuries come up they might have to make a trade, but this looks mostly fine going into the season. 

I definitely think it matters. 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, Jonn said:

Been saying it all off-season the team projects better without Santander in the lineup. Especially if Santander is playing Defense. With that being said considering the contract they gave him and his potential homerun power it’s pretty awful were at this point. We’re going to be looking at 2 lost Seasons.

2 lost seasons at the front end/prime years of the deal is awful. This definitely makes the deal look really bad, he’s probably a fulltime DH going forward… but will he even hit well enough for that? Gross

[jaysblue]

7 minutes ago, GoBlue41 said:

Any Free Agents out there still worth looking at given the Santander news? 

Maybe some guys on minor league deals:

- Conforto

- Winker

- McCutchen (probably would have to be a MLB deal)

- Hoskins

Otherwise, nobody else really. 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, BTS said:

BTW a lot of people owe Jonn an apology. He was tarred and feathered for saying he wanted to fire Santander into the sun, even though he's owed like 4 times what he'd get if he hit the market this offseason. 

Lol he’s right for the wrong reasons.

Broken clock 

[BatFlip]

47 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

Obviously we lose some major thump in the lineup but we also gain so much flexibility. Surely it helps our run prevention to not try and force one of Santander or Springer to play OF most of the time. 

Barger can have a more consistent every day spot in RF now that Okamoto should be taking over 3B. You never wish for an injury by any means but the lineup was built to absorb this. 

The same goes for the Bieber injury, in terms of having the depth to overcome - but I find that to be a more worrisome loss. 

I don’t think anyone is losing sleep over the Santander loss, but I hope he recovers well and can eventually hit some dingers for the team.  Seems like a good teammate and that’s a tough injury.

I’m more than a little concerned about Bieber.  Hopefully it’s a combination of overuse and the team practicing caution in playing the long game for the season.  It’s a huge drop from a healthy Bieber to Berrios.

[Stangstag]

Just now, jaysblue said:

Maybe some guys on minor league deals:

- Conforto

- Winker

- McCutchen (probably would have to be a MLB deal)

- Hoskins

Otherwise, nobody else really. 

We really needed Bo back with this news coming up now. Not feeling so hot about the lineup.

We’re asking 

- Springer to be good again

- Barger/Lukes/Ernie to continue their success 

- Okamoto to hit well enough to be an everyday player

- NO MAJOR INJURIES or we’re f***ed

[Maahfaace]

JoJo, Ricky, Arjun, Gage, King and Schineder for Tatis.....get it done!

[BatFlip]

1 minute ago, Stangstag said:

We really needed Bo back with this news coming up now. Not feeling so hot about the lineup.

We’re asking 

- Springer to be good again

- Barger/Lukes/Ernie to continue their success 

- Okamoto to hit well enough to be an everyday player

- NO MAJOR INJURIES or we’re f***ed

This lineup’s heat is definitely dependent on George delaying Father Time and Okamoto being mlb legit.  
 

[jaysblue]

17 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

I definitely think it matters. 

Santander’s injury lowers the floor. It pushes more responsibility onto Lukes, Clement, Schneider, Okamoto, Springer etc., and if they don’t produce or if another injury hits, depth becomes a real concern quickly. Still, the Jays have proven they can survive stretches without him.

[Brownie19]

Have some faith boys.  Boss Atkins is in charge of this ship.

[jaysblue]

9 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

We really needed Bo back with this news coming up now. Not feeling so hot about the lineup.

We’re asking 

- Springer to be good again

- Barger/Lukes/Ernie to continue their success 

- Okamoto to hit well enough to be an everyday player

- NO MAJOR INJURIES or we’re f***ed

Yeah agree with everything here. 

That's why signing Tucker or Bo would have been icing on the cake if either happened.

 

[jaysblue]

2 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Have some faith boys.  Boss Atkins is in charge of this ship.

I believe in Atkins - he’s built a solid core. Just hoping the depth holds up if the injury bug sticks around or we get guys regressing.

[jaysblue]

Jarren Duran would be a strong target, but it’s hard to see Boston moving him within the division.