OFFSEASON THREAD, '27...

[Brownie19]

17 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Just looking at these 4, our front office probably has them ranked as follows:

1. Arraez 

2. Lowe

3. Jazz

4. Torres

The contract terms matter so much when evaluating these guys.  If Lowe requires a 5 year commitment, then we should run the other way.  He reminds me a lot of Tony Taters - minus the racism.  Power bat, but only a 115-125 wRC+, who's likely to be a 2.5 WAR player for the next few years before falling off.

[Terminator]

12 hours ago, glory said:

Bannon also mentioned Barger as a CF option (??) and Keys getting work at 2B this winter

Lol

[John_Havok]

19 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Yeah 100% agreed.

I like Lowe, but if I had a choice, would go with Jazz hands down, especially without the QO attached. 

I also don't trust Lowe to post a 4-5 WAR season again. I think he's good for 2-3 WAR at least, worst case. Jazz worst case posted a 3.5 WAR season. Think he offers more upside, especially with the power/speed combo he offers. 

-50 points for saying Jazz hands

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

Lol

Bannon is huffing glue again I see.

[Brownie19]

Just now, John_Havok said:

-50 points for saying Jazz hands

[Jays24]

And so it begins... whos creating the Skubal thread haha

Report: Blue Jays among 6 teams meeting Skubal

https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3652146

[John_Havok]

Just now, Jays24 said:

And so it begins... whos creating the Skubal thread haha

Report: Blue Jays among 6 teams meeting Skubal

https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3652146

Skubal not signing before the lockout would be really stupid on his part so expect the rumours to be flying non-stop until the ink is dry

[Jays24]

1 minute ago, John_Havok said:

Skubal not signing before the lockout would be really stupid on his part so expect the rumours to be flying non-stop until the ink is dry

I expect every major free agent to be signed by the end of November.  They'd all be dumb to wait.  

[Terminator]

5 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Bannon is huffing glue again I see.

I think Ross was the one who actually said it!

[John_Havok]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

I expect every major free agent to be signed by the end of November.  They'd all be dumb to wait.  

True, but major free agents this offseason are pretty few and far between

[Terminator]

 

I did not know that Ketel Marte was married to Vlad Jr.'s cousin

Not sure that putting those two clowns together on the same team is a good idea though

[glory]

1 minute ago, Terminator said:

I think Ross was the one who actually said it!

Yeah he was quoting Ross.

"When asked about Toronto’s centre field options alongside Brett Bateman, Atkins mentioned Addison Barger. Across 226 MLB games, Barger has played exclusively third base or right field, which makes his inclusion a bit of a surprise."

If Barger is the team's backup CF option, then damn, they need to trade for Dylan Crews or something along those lines. 

[John_Havok]

3 minutes ago, Terminator said:

 

I did not know that Ketel Marte was married to Vlad Jr.'s cousin

Not sure that putting those two clowns together on the same team is a good idea though

Given the reproductive prowess of Vlad Sr and the DR in general, there could probably be an all Guerrero bloodline starting lineup somewhere in a few years

[glory]

12 minutes ago, Terminator said:

 

I did not know that Ketel Marte was married to Vlad Jr.'s cousin

Not sure that putting those two clowns together on the same team is a good idea though

Marte on the same team as Vlad would either work out beautifully or fail miserably. No in between.

I wouldn't be against it depending on what it would cost, as trading for Marte at this point is likely going to be a lot cheaper than it would have been a year ago, and the current top FA 2B options are probably all looking at ~$20M AAV's (Marte's CBT hit would be less than that). Steamer has him just shy of a 4 WAR player in 2027, which isn't unreasonable. He underperformed his underlying numbers, so a bounce back is very possible. Then again the contract runs from ages 33-36 (or 37 if he picks up his very cheap player option) so where the decline begins in that timeframe will be the question, assuming it hasn't started already.

[Brownie19]

5 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Given the reproductive prowess of Vlad Sr and the DR in general, there could probably be an all Guerrero bloodline starting lineup somewhere in a few years

That's what I was going to say.  Sr dipped his d*ck in anything that moved and hated condoms.

[Brownie19]

Just now, glory said:

Marte on the same team as Vlad would either work out beautifully or fail miserably. No in between.

I wouldn't be against it depending on what it would cost, as trading for Marte at this point is likely going to be a lot cheaper than it would have been a year ago, and the current FA 2B options are probably all looking at ~$20M AAV's (Marte's CBT hit would be less than that). Steamer has him just shy of a 4 WAR player in 2027, which isn't unreasonable. He underperformed his underlying numbers, so a bounce back is very possible. Then again the contract runs from ages 33-36 (or 37 if he cheaps up his very cheap player option) so where the decline begins in that timeframe will be the question, assuming it hasn't started already.

I think there's a very high probability that Marte's decline already started.  Most 2nd basemen stumble in the early 30's.

[Brownie19]

8 minutes ago, glory said:

Yeah he was quoting Ross.

"When asked about Toronto’s centre field options alongside Brett Bateman, Atkins mentioned Addison Barger. Across 226 MLB games, Barger has played exclusively third base or right field, which makes his inclusion a bit of a surprise."

If Barger is the team's backup CF option, then damn, they need to trade for Dylan Crews or something along those lines. 

Oh wow - Ross has the glue.  That can't be good.

[Jays24]

10 minutes ago, glory said:

Yeah he was quoting Ross.

"When asked about Toronto’s centre field options alongside Brett Bateman, Atkins mentioned Addison Barger. Across 226 MLB games, Barger has played exclusively third base or right field, which makes his inclusion a bit of a surprise."

If Barger is the team's backup CF option, then damn, they need to trade for Dylan Crews or something along those lines. 

Pretty sure Barger is an emergency CF just like Varsho was an emergency catcher.  

[glory]

13 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Pretty sure Barger is an emergency CF just like Varsho was an emergency catcher.  

Lukes is a more logical emergency/placeholder backup CF. Not sure why Ross even said Barger's name unless he misspoke. But whatever, it's November, so everything will change by the time the season starts (whenever that is). 

[Jays24]

8 minutes ago, glory said:

Lukes is a more logical emergency/placeholder backup CF. Not sure why Ross even said Barger's name unless he misspoke. But whatever, it's November, so everything will change by the time the season starts (whenever that is). 

No, I think Lukes is actually a viable backup CF to Bateman if Straw doesnt come back.  Lukes is borderline gold glove corner OFer so him getting reps at CF seems logical. 

Barger would be the 3rd CF behind Bateman/Lukes, which would be almost never just like how Varsho never played Catcher for us.  

[Terminator]

Yeah Lukes could probably do fine as the backup CF. Stinks that he's a lefty like Bateman, and his sprint speed isn't great so he might take a bigger hit moving to CF from a corner than others since there's more ground to cover?

But he's probably better in CF than someone like Lane Thomas who is really fast but still sucks at D. 

[glory]

36 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

No, I think Lukes is actually a viable backup CF to Bateman if Straw doesnt come back.  Lukes is borderline gold glove corner OFer so him getting reps at CF seems logical. 

Barger would be the 3rd CF behind Bateman/Lukes, which would be almost never just like how Varsho never played Catcher for us.  

Lukes is good defensively in RF, he's been below average everywhere else. With that said, I wouldn't mind if he was the backup CF in a general sense. You don't have to be a GG CF to be a solid backup. As long as he's average-ish, that's all you really need from that spot. He's just not a good fit in that spot if Bateman is starting since they'd ideally need a RHB.

But Barger in CF is not a viable option. He's never played there professionally and would more than likely stink there. I don't think this is a big deal, it's November and ross is probably BS'ing, but just an odd name drop to me. If he said Lukes was the backup option to Bateman in CF then that would have at least made sense. 

[Laika]

1 hour ago, glory said:

Yeah he was quoting Ross.

"When asked about Toronto’s centre field options alongside Brett Bateman, Atkins mentioned Addison Barger. Across 226 MLB games, Barger has played exclusively third base or right field, which makes his inclusion a bit of a surprise."

If Barger is the team's backup CF option, then damn, they need to trade for Dylan Crews or something along those lines. 

I kind of like the idea of Dylan Crews

Although the Nats would want way too much. He's like a 1 WAR player. Jake Marisnick bucket (more hit less defense?). 

[Laika]

27 minutes ago, glory said:

Lukes is good defensively in RF, he's been below average everywhere else. With that said, I wouldn't mind if he was the backup CF in a general sense. You don't have to be a GG CF to be a solid backup. As long as he's average-ish, that's all you really need from that spot. He's just not a good fit in that spot if Bateman is starting since they'd ideally need a RHB.

But Barger in CF is not a viable option. He's never played there professionally and would more than likely stink there. I don't think this is a big deal, it's November and ross is probably BS'ing, but just an odd name drop to me. If he said Lukes was the backup option to Bateman in CF then that would have at least made sense. 

Barger's 2025 sprint speed was at least above average. A coach may be able to work with that in CF. Trick is just to do what the Rays and Brewers did this year which is to tell all your outfielders to just TAKE OFF on contact and then adjust your route on the fly. Start back and get a good jump. 

Honestly they should give Ernie an OF glove and get him reps out there because he is trending towards super util and not a starter. 

[Terminator]

 

[Terminator]

We should hire John Gibbons for this role

[BTS]

5 minutes ago, Terminator said:

 

His last start of the season was easily the most fun game of the year to watch, which says good things about him and terrible things about the 2026 Jays. 

I'd bring him back on a cheap deal to be the 6th or 7th starter. 

[SpencerBateman]

Santander wouldn’t get along with a guy named Tariq not a good fit for us 

[Laika]

2 hours ago, BTS said:

His last start of the season was easily the most fun game of the year to watch, which says good things about him and terrible things about the 2026 Jays. 

I'd bring him back on a cheap deal to be the 6th or 7th starter. 

The nice thing about Scherzer is he's willing to do the whole fake IL thing for as much of the season as the team needs 

Heck he might even sign for $1M this off-season 

[jaysblue]

Yeah it's a no brainer bringing back Scherzer for $1-2M as a 7th/8th starter on our depth chart. He'll manage to make 10-12 starts still most likely, and is capable of putting together a decent 4-5 start stretch in there as we've seen before.