jaysblue

You're trying to address the lack of power in the lineup. Most likely any corner OF you bring in can't be relied on to play CF over an extended period of time. Kepler played 22 games in CF in 2021 and 60 in 2019. Conforto last played 39 games in CF in 2019. Tyler O'Neill played 13 games in 2023 and 21 games in 2022. Anthony Santander last played CF in 2019 in 24 games. I'm sure in an emergency, or over a short period of time these guys could play some CF, but ideally you have Loperfido as your 4th outfielder who can play CF heading into 2025, not as your starting left fielder.

Ideally, the roster does need TWO IMPACT bats either at LF or DH. You hope you can get 3-4 WAR seasons from those two bats you bring in this offseason. If they only can get one like Santander for one of those spots, they might have to settle on someone like O'Neill, Conforto or Kepler as a second bat. Outfield depth isn't a bad thing given Springer will be 35 next season. As well, losing Varsho for an extended period of time in CF would hurt. Having Barger, Schneider, Loperfido, Horwitz, Clase, or Wagner as insurance puts the Jays in a better position over 162 games. I expect Horwitz to be the everyday 2B next season anyways. The team needs to add power to the lineup. If someone like O'Neill or Kepler offer 25 HR + upside, would rather roll with them in LF or at DH over the guys mentioned above. If they don't pan out or if injuries happen, then you have that depth which is a good thing.

You're making it sound like I was suggesting Max Kepler should be the Jays No. #1 target this offseason lol. Give it a rest man! Even guys like Term said Kepler wouldn't be a bad second bat if the Jays weren't able to land anyone else better. Why don't you offer some suggestions on some possible free agents rather than sitting back and criticizing others? Stop trying to pick these stupid senseless arguments in order to try and sound superior. Kepler's name was brought up as an option if the Jays missed out on other FA targets this offseason. You're so insufferable man.

There is nothing wrong with Max Kepler as a second bat if other bats are off the table later in the offseason or are too expensive and the Jays need to be conscious of payroll. Nobody is suggesting the Jays sign Max Kepler on Day 1 of the offseason lol. All I said is he actually wouldn't be a bad option. Brownie, Max and Spanky just love disagreeing when I throw a name out there, but they never offer any suggestions of their own. Laika made some good points above. I disagree however grouping him in with the crusty veterans like IKF/KK and Turner. Kepler will be 32 next season and at least has some upside offensively in terms of power. If Kepler is going to cost $10M, I agree that is too expensive. Would rather sign Conforto if he came on a one-year contract around that AAV. Regardless, hopefully the Jays could target two better bats this offseason!

Tigers would have to eat like $18M-20M or so of his 23.3M AAV over the remaining three years lol. After 2025, the FA shortstop class is Bo, Trevor Story (if he decides to opt-out), Tommy Edman, Will Castro and Jorge Mateo. Nothing that great. A Springer for Baez swap could make sense since they're both bad contracts, but would need the Tigers to eat the extra year Baez has left. Springer is most likely just a 2 WAR guy unless he has some rejuvenated year at the age of 35 or 36. Baez the last two seasons has been really awful however (-0.1 WAR combined lol). If he could be a 2 WAR infielder with strong defense, like it's not bad. Doubt we see him post 4 to 5 WAR seasons again. He's still just 31. But there is a chance Baez is a negative WAR player, whereas at least you know with Springer he's going to give you around 1.5 - 2 WAR even if he sucks. Though logistically, Tigers have a crowded OF, so Springer would have to DH mostly while playing sparingly in a corner. I just don't see it happening. If the Jays are contending, would prefer them to aim higher at shortstop. Unless they swap a bad contract like Springer, which makes it easier to target a big bat in RF. If they're in retool mode, then roll with Orelvis Martínez.

Yeah good point Term. We'll have an idea what the A's do this offseason and likely aren't going to be cheap as they once were since they probably want to try to field a WC contending team during their first season in Vegas.

In 2023, his 124 wRC+ would have ranked third behind Brandon Belt (138 wRC+) and Bo Bichette (125 wRC+). His 2.8 fWAR would have ranked third as well. And his 24 HR's would have ranked second on the team, behind Vlad's 26. Yeah he's s*** and his bat would have no place in this Jays lineup lol.

Yeah I think we all agree that the team needs to shoot the highest it can this offseason. Soto would be the prize but as an ideal pivot if you could sign Santander along with one of Teo, Pederson, O'Neill that would be perfect. Then they'll need around $15M+ or so to bring in a second tier SP like Eovaldi, Kikuchi, Severino or Pivetta on a short term deal to shore up the middle of the rotation and then they will need to spend maybe around $10-15M on bringing in a couple of bullpen arms. That doesn't even include a third baseman, since I'm assuming they want to save some money and roll with Clement at the hot corner. If they don't care about going over the luxury tax, then sure! But if they have to watch every nickel and dime, they might have to target a lesser outfielder as a second bat like Max Kepler or Michael Conforto since they would be cheaper than Santander, Teo, Pederson or O'Neill.

I also DFA'd him in the LOD.

Same here as well, but realistically this team needs to add power to the lineup and if it means sacrificing a bit of defense in LF for a guy who could hit 25-30 HR's, it's something you can live with. The Jays can't afford to field an all-defensive lineup as we saw for the past two seasons as it didn't work. Especially if they plan on rolling with Clement at 3B, they can't afford playing someone like KK again in the outfield on an everyday basis.

Have any of those guys posted a 3 WAR season or hit 25 + HR's? You can't go into 2025 relying on Barger, Loperfido and Rosen as starters and expect to contend. You can't be fooled over what they have done over the last couple of weeks. They're nice to have as depth, so if an injury does happen to an outfielder or if a signing like Kepler doesn't pan out, you have alternatives. Ideally, they sign or target better players but all I said is that Kepler wouldn't be a bad target as a second bat brought in if they needed cheaper alternatives than the other guys available via free agency.

Yeah said the same thing. You might never have this opportunity again having the chance at two young hitters like Vladdy and Soto playing together and being a dominant force for the next decade.

Yeah gotta factor in the higher taxes for sure which is why the Jays do have to pay more for FA's in some instances. Also, a lot of players have a huge advantage playing here with the $USD since everything is 30-40% cheaper for them as a consumer.

You're favourite GIF haha

Maybe. They've been a team historically that has traded arbitration eligible players and Rooker is going to be 30 next season.

The issue is the Jays really don't have many attractive assets who they could move in the trade market. Would they have enough to trade for Brent Rooker or maybe Mason Miller from the A's? I would love it if they were able to land Rooker as a big bat! Not sure if the A's trade Miller, but damn he would be nice in the pen. There are plenty of corner OF/DH's available via free agency who likely won't require long term deals anyways, and all they would cost is money. As well, there are plenty of mid-rotation arms available via free agency that shouldn't demand more than 2 or 3 year deals.

And that's why he was a great "buy low" bat last offseason who had some power upside to put in LF or DH. Posted a 5.3 WAR season along with a 143 wRC+ in 2021. The options the Jays went with had very limited upside, were old and injury prone as well. We saw that those moves didn't work out. Interesting info and that's good to hear he made some adjustments this season with off breaking balls. On a one or two-year deal, O'Neill would be a great fit here either as a DH or in LF. Not my first choice but as a second bat to target, he would be nice. This lineup needs power and you gotta hope they target two guys who can hit 25-30+ HR's for LF and DH. Kepler still has some potential to be a 25 HR bat if he's healthy and it's not like 2023 was lightyears ago. I have no problem rolling the dice on him as a second bat if the Jays landed Santander, or traded for someone like Rooker.

He did post a 2.8 WAR season in 2023, but alright lol. I doubt Kepler gets a multi year deal given what we saw the market for corner OF bats last offseason and the amount of them available this offseason. As well, not suggesting Kepler be the No. 1 target for the Jays. As a second bat after lets say Soto, Santander, Teo, or if the Jays pulled a trade for someone like Brent Rooker, Kepler is not a bad target. A lot of people were saying the same thing about Tyler O'Neill last offseason when his name was being suggested.

Yeah it's been over for a while. This team dug themselves too far in a hole early on, a lot of injuries and awful play from some vets didn't help at all. It's fun watching the Buffalo guys have success up here and fun to see Vladdy tearing the cover off the ball now. Sucks that Vladdy in April and May wasn't hitting like this when they really could have used him to stay afloat. Once the season was deemed over, funny how he starts hitting the way he is now. Definitely motivated to get a big contract and I also assume playing with no pressure in the standings has helped.

I think if this team was healthy and if some players actually contributed earlier on, they're in the mix for the third WC spot right now.

A lot of solid FA relievers available: Jeff Hoffman Daniel Hudson Jose Leclerc Yimi Garcia Tanner Scott A.J. Minter Chris Martin Wonder what type of contract Jeff Hoffman gets. Over the last two seasons, he's been pretty elite out of the pen!

Max Kepler actually wouldn't be a bad target. Suggested him a while back as well. Left-handed bat who could play a corner OF spot. Might be able to squeeze 3 WAR out of him if he's healthy.

The one advantage the Jays have with targeting Soto is that they could convince him/ensure him that they would also sign Vlad to a long-term extension, which gives the Jays lineup a huge new outlook from now until 2030. Or visa versa when trying to resign Vlad. Having both of them under control and in the middle of the lineup throughout their prime years would be fun!

Yeah Jays might not need to fill that many areas/holes on the roster originally as we thought. Like you said, they could likely save money rolling with Clement at 3B if they want. Horwitz I think should be a starter as well at 2B. Guys like Barger/Loperfido/Jimenez/Wagner aren't bad to have around as bench pieces or depth in AAA. I don't want to see them starting unless there are injuries. If they could sign one or two big boppers, a mid-rotation arm and upgrade the pen, I think they could be competitive in 2025. Alongside with Vladdy playing at an elite level and if Bo bounces back to being a 4 WAR player!

Yeah if you lived in Buffalo or a die hard NFL fan, you would enjoy preseason games more. I also want to start following College Football this year and would be cool to go down to see a game somewhere like in Michigan. Buffalo is actually not that bad in the summer and some of the areas around upper state New York are really beautiful. It's still Buffalo lol but it's cleaned up over the years. I get the appeal of ST since a lot of snowbirds make their way down south in February/March to escape the cold in Florida or Arizona. I bet if the Jays played ST games at the Rogers Centre, there wouldn't be that much demand.