jaysblue

Yeah will be interesting to see how the market plays out this offseason. What kind of contract was Snell holding out for though last offseason? He signed pretty late which is why he had to settle for that 2 year deal with the player opt out.

Yeah was thinking along the same lines, using the Gausman contract as a benchmark. If Flaherty continues to pitch at an elite level, definitely a very good contract. 5 years would keep Flaherty here until he's 34, so not bad at all.

What does a contract for Flaherty look like?

Yeah who needs a top farm system! Overrated if you ask me! Give Ross the money to spend $20M on another vet starter and another $20-30M to sign two power bats this offseason. Nothing beats having an aging $100M rotation filled with a bunch of mid-rotation starters! Requires a lot of skill and high baseball IQ! That's why we're paying Ross the big bucks!

Why are we talking about Nathan Lukes? FFS!

A lot of you guys need to relax and temper your expectations with some of these callups. It's like everyone is starting to pencil them into the starting lineup in 2025 and beyond after a month or two of ABs. You can't fall in love with these guys and think they're all going to be key everyday players moving forward. Look at Davis Schneider last season for example. Out of all the guys who have been called up this season, Horwitz should be the only one given a spot in the starting lineup at 2B, and possibly Ernie Clement at 3B if the Jays decide they want to save some money at the hot corner. Otherwise, all these other guys heading into 2025 should be bench pieces or in AAA for depth if the Jays expect to contend.

Yeah $15M would be the high end/max. Depends on the # of teams involved. As well, might have to pay more to get him to sign in Toronto. I would feel more comfortable getting Pivetta for around $11-12M for sure. If he's around $15M, would pass and aim higher. If he's going to cost $15M or so, would rather spend a bit more to bring back Kikuchi if that's the case.

Maybe an AAV between $12-15M? Not sure how many years he gets, but max would be 2 to 3 maybe with opt outs. His K/9 over the last two seasons has been intriguing and there is some maybe untapped potential still even if he's 31. Like if you sign him to be a No. 4 or 5 starter, he has the potential to be a decent mid-rotation guy with high K rates.

If Joseph Gordon-Levitt was sitting behind home plate every night, I would.

Yeah for sure, the success rate amongst other organizations isn't that great either. We've seen some pitchers come up dominate for 2 to 3 years, then get injured and miss a lot of time afterwards. Hopefully Francis can be a guy who has a few years of success up in the bigs. Would be a big help for the rotation over the next 2-3 years.

Was having a discussion with a friend and we were talking about starting pitchers after Bowden Francis pitched another gem last night. He mentioned since 2000 the Jays really haven't developed any consistently good SPs other than Roy Halladay and Marcus Stroman, starting pitchers who went onto have long & successful careers. Like damn when you think about it. I asked him what about Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum and maybe Alek Manoah can be thrown into that mix. But yeah, they all had success only in the short term (Romero for 3 seasons from 2009-2011), (Marcum from 2007-2012; missed all of 2009), Alek Manoah (2021 & 2022). Kinda of shocking that this organization as a whole under three-four different regimes, the only two consistently arms developed were Halladay and Stroman.

LOL you found out because you just picked him up in fantasy baseball this morning.

Yeah I understand. I don't have a problem with Bassitt sticking around next season since his contract is expiring anyways. He'll still be a solid starter and eat his innings which is valuable. Eovaldi I'm assuming is going to cost around $18-20M AAV on a short term deal like maybe 2 or 3 years. And the last two seasons both him and Bassitt have been pretty identical. Not sure what Flaherty gets, but he likely also could cost around $18-20M AAV and given his age might get more years, depending if teams believe he can remain healthy.

If they were willing to throw whatever money at Ohtani last winter, you would think they would go into this offseason trying to sign both Soto and Vladdy long term. Never going to have that opportunity again to lock up two of the premium young bats in the game. Even when top players become FA's for the first time, they're either around 29 or 30. Would definitely be a nice recovery from the Ohtani fiasco last winter. If the Jays could sign Soto and re-sign Vlad, maybe that's the pivot we were waiting for.

I for one was critical of the Bassitt signing at the time thinking 3 years and $63M was absurd for a guy who was 34. I was even arguing that Kyle Gibson would have been a better signing on a one-year deal. Overall, Bassitt has been pretty decent however, providing durability and innings. He posted a 2.4 fWAR last season and this season so far has posted a 2.2 fWAR. There is some value in that, even for 2025 if the Jays plan on contending. Not the sexiest arm in the rotation but over 162 games, he's proven he can be valuable. I wouldn't toss him to the curve just yet.

Sorry but wasn't it just last season most considered Chris Bassitt a bargain and an awesome FA signing? Now everyone wants him gone? lol.

Yeah shocked nobody mentioned Flaherty's name as a possible candidate for the rotation. Is he for real now?

You're never going to get that opportunity signing two of the games youngest stars and having them for at least 5 to 6 years of their prime years together. If you're going to go all in, I would go big with both Soto and Vlad haha.

Yeah I'm not too crazy about Santander at 4 years/$80M either. He's an interesting player for reasons you mentioned. He doesn't strikeout a ton for someone with a lot of power and only hitting .234 haha and he is a switch hitter. Who knows what the market is like for corner OF/DH's this offseason. I would actually prefer Teo if he doesn't require as many years and a bit less money, though I think Teo costs around $18-20M AAV on a multi-year deal. Both Teo and Santander have been pretty equal this season and there's not much of an age difference. With Snell, you're hoping to get 3.5 to 4 WAR from him if he's healthy. If you can sign Snell to a short term deal like 3 years with a high AAV, would prefer that. If he's going to ask for five years, I wouldn't mind Eovaldi or bringing back Kikuchi as an alternative.

I like Snell and think he would be a great fit here, but the numbers being thrown around are like 4-5 years worth $100M. I'm all for it, but realistically the Jays don't have an unlimited payroll so that means Snell takes them out of the running for a big power bat like Santander or Alonso or even Teo. That means they have to likely dip down to the next tier of bats like Tyler O'Neill, Joc Pederson, Michael Conforto or even the awful Max Kepler. As well, they likely need TWO bats, not one! I wonder though if some posters like Brownie would be okay with that, since when mentioning those guys as a second bat to target, he went crazy! I'm not sure he would be able to cope with having two bats from that tier. As for Snell, he's going to be 32 next season and the Jays will have 4 starting pitchers above 30 all making over $20M each lol. How did we ever get to that point? Also, one thing concerning with Snell is the high BB rate. He posted a 4.95 BB/9 in 2023 and this year again its above 4. Otherwise, he's great but as he ages and if there is some regression, that high BB rate could hurt him more down the road in the latter part of his contract.

Ryu In My House also forgot to mention that Anthony Rendon would be a great trade target at 3B.

At least the Orioles will be playing baseball in October. Geez what an awful team and organization!

Anyway you think the Jays could get both Snell and Santander?

Let's sign Soto, Snell, Bregman and Santander. As well for the bullpen, sign Kenley Jansen and Jeff Hoffman.

Just curious who at 3B would be an impactful player if brought in? Are we talking about signing Bregman or Chapman? Not many 3B available via free agency or trade. But please suggest some names. I think a lot of us agreed having Clement as a 3B since he would be cheap and at least decent wouldn't be a bad thing if the Jays needed to save money. You can likely squeeze 2+ WAR out of him. As for 1B, would you sign Pete Alonso or Christian Walker to play 1B and move Vlad to 3B where he plays there at least 75% of the time? Are there any other 1B on the trade market you would suggest? They need to add 3-4 WAR each from the two bats they add, not combined lol. Then also add another mid-rotation SP that could provide around 3 WAR along with some bullpen pieces as well.