jaysblue

Never really chimed in on the topic. Sure there was a chance he could have accepted based on his performance and based on his experience in Toronto. He probably figures Toronto's staff can keep him healthy over a full season, which results in a bigger payday after the 2026 season. Plus with Toronto's defense behind him, definitely helps. Also, he did leave some money on the table by opting in. Sure he could have got $20+ AAV on a short term deal with player options attached.

Is Woodruff expected to miss the start of 2026? If I signed Woodruff, would hold him back in the first half and get him built up starting in June. You want him healthy for the Postseason. If you could get 15-20 starts out of Woodruff during the regular season + 4-5 starts in the Postseason, would take that. Don't care about him making starts in April or May if I'm a team. Can fill the void with other junk ballers. Look at what the Dodgers did: guys like Glasnow (18 starts), Snell (11 starts) and Ohtani (14 starts) weren't exhausted and burnt out during the regular season. Yes some guys were on the IL early and they were working Ohtani back slowly, but these guys were all back to full strength when it mattered - down the stretch and in October. As we saw, you don't need these guys making 30+ starts each during the regular season. The goal is to have them healthy and fresh for the Postseason.

So .323 is a good OBP?

This aged well 🤣

Yeah you either need a strong platoon partner with him or he's good to keep around as a 4th OF, bat of the bench, but that's it. Lukes at most brings back a reliever in a trade. You're not cashing in on either Lukes or Clement this offseason as some have suggested.

Lukes had a .323 OBP and a 8.7 BB% this season.

I think Clement is more valuable to the Jays than what he would bring in trade. Trading Lukes for a reliever could be possible.

Lukes for Tony Santillan.

I don't think Lukes brings that much back in a trade. Teams know what he is at the age of 31. As for Clement, his defensive versatility is definitely valuable. Again, other teams know what he is with the bat and aren't going to buy high on his Postseason run. You might be able to trade Lukes for a reliever at most. You're not selling high on a 31-year-old outfielder with little power, who needs to be platooned and coming off a 103 wRC+ season. I don't want to see Lukes starting in their OF on Opening Day. Think Clement is more valuable to the Jays whether as a 3B or 2B or super utility guy, even if his bat does regress.

Let's hope the Jays aren't just waiting around all offseason for Bo to make a decision. Hopefully they could re-sign him at some point this month. If not, either have to sign someone who could play 2B/3B whether it's Torres for 2B or Bregman 3B. Or you sign an outfielder like Tucker or Bellinger to replace Bo's bat and roll with Barger at 3B and Clement at 2B or you keep Clement at 3B, and find a platoon partner with Schneider at 2B. Trade market, Brandon Lowe could be a possibility. FA market for middle infielders and even 3B is very weak this offseason.

Yesterday's game was fixed.

A lot depends on what they do with Bo and their infield. If Bo is brought back, you can keep Gimenez at SS, Clement at 3B and Barger can stick in RF. I would definitely look at bringing back Bo for Adames type money to play second base. Keeping him and Vladdy together feels right and from a marketing perspective as well. I don't want Lukes starting in the OF, though I guess if money starts to become tight, you can probably platoon him and Schneider in left. The Jays need another front of the rotation starter + an innings eater. Maybe Walker can tap into something with Cease or maybe Bieber accepts his player option after not looking that extremely dominant during the regular and Postseason, which I would be okay with. No issue bringing back Bassitt. I even suggested a couple of days ago, would even love to bring him back as a reliever, since he looked great in a BP role during the Postseason. As for Scherzer, need to let him walk and you can't rely on him for more than 15 or 20 starts anyways over 162 games. He did make some big starts in the Postseason, so will give him that. Wouldn't be a bad guy to pickup at the halfway point but he likely signs with a team this winter instead of pulling a Roger Clemens. Keep Lauer around for depth in case one of their other starters go down. Would love to see them try Francis in relief and maybe he works his way into being a key BP piece in 2026. Keep adding some high K/9 arms to the pen hopefully, with some better control.

Barger reminds me of Shawn Green. I think he'll have a 40+ HR season at some point.

Still processing everything from this past weekend and past month and probably will over the next week as well. Feeling like it's starting to hit me more now than Saturday night. Realizing how close the Jays were, how many inches they were from potentially winning the World Series. You hope they get back again next season!

Yeah definitely can get surprising contributions again for players we wouldn't even think of. Who knows of Clase or Leo become valuable bench pieces or Eloy's bat gets rejuvenated. Agreed with Vladdy. Hope we see Postseason Vladdy throughout the regular season. That is good for an extra 3+ WAR if he turns out a 6-7 WAR season, which he is capable of doing. Jays will definitely be spending money this offseason, so will be fun to watch who they add to compliment this core with!

AL East will still be a tough division. Yankees and Red Sox aren't going anywhere, and I know people hate the Orioles, but they have a young enough core where they can get lucky and win 90 games. Have to be built over the course of a 162 game season. That's why adding quality starting pitching this offseason will be important and having pitching depth as well. Offensively, can the Jays hold up over 162 games with the likes of Clement, Lukes and Gimenez holding spots in the everyday lineup? I know we had this conversation over the summer on the board in regards to Lukes, but his role is better suited as a 4th OF who gets no more than 300 AB's. As for Clement, value always be tied to his glove and versatility, so he'll be fine, but offensively will be asking a lot to have him repeat his 2025 regular season and Postseason production, so I do expect some regression. Jays have the right recipe I think figured out for the Postseason. Low K's, putting the ball in play and playing excellent defense. Just need to get things in the pen sorted out and I think they could go on another successful run like they did. But we saw this past October how important it was to win the division and avoid the WC round. Even though the Dodgers played in the WC round and won, makes it a lot tougher path to get to playing the last game of the season.

Yeah Gimenez overall during the regular season was awful. Defensively, he was still a wizard and he had some bigs hits in the Postseason, so that does get magnified in a short series, but overall during the course of a 162 games, it was a disappointing season. I'm confident with him as our shortstop for next season, and hopefully the Jays could bring back Bo for second base or find another offensive threat for that position. Bichette wasn't 100% but he came back and had a huge World Series with the bat, despite the running and defensive limitations he had. Going to miss him if he leaves as a free agent. Would love to see him and Vladdy stay together and hope Atkins could make it happen. Berrios was a non-factor, but over the course of 162 games, he can be a valuable piece in terms of innings and consistency. Having him around as a #4-5 starter isn't the worst thing in the world. Hopefully he can tap into another gear for the start of the 2026 season and returns to being a 2-3 WAR arm. Missing Yimi sucks but he did come with injury concerns. Hope he could stay healthy in 2026 and maybe he plays a big role in the pen for us! Just wouldn't go into the 2026 season relying on him solely and not addressing the pen.

Atkins deserves credit where credit is due. As for this team being lucky, well yes luck was definitely a factor in play during the regular season and Postseason. If bad luck exists, good luck also exists. Guys like Clement, and Lukes having the seasons like they did, Springer having a huge bounce back at age 36, Kirk bouncing back after two lost seasons offensively, Barger coming up and making an immediate impact and getting some of the biggest Postseason performances out of a 22-year-old with Yesavage. Atkins deserves credit for having Clement and Lukes around as depth. Without them, the Jays don't make the Postseason. Definitely some luck involved since nobody here expected these guys to hit the way they did especially during the Postseason after being AAAA guys for years. As for Springer, got to give the coaching staff and front office credit for keeping him healthy. Atkins resigned Kirk to the extension prior to the offseason, which now even looks like more of a steal after the season he had. Barger and Yesavage were drafted under Atkins, so credit for having a farm system producing two major league contributors during the season and who both look like they could be core pieces for this team. Now does Clement and Lukes repeat or keep up this performance up moving forward? Can Springer keep up his 2025 magic? Will the bench be as strong again with Straw, Schneider, Heineman? Those are big question marks and could be issues if 2 or 3 of those things don't happen. Something Atkins and company need to plan and be ready for. Varsho when healthy put up great numbers offensively. As for Santander, looks like his contract could be dead weight now, but he'll have a chance to bounce back next season hopefully. Jays bullpen was meh all season long and had its high and lows. Agreed the bullpen wasn't a strength, though heck the Dodgers didn't even have a bullpen and they still won a World Series. Hopefully the Jays do target some high profile elite arms for the pen during the offseason. Money shouldn't be an issue. IKF sucks and hopefully Atkins never brings him back to Toronto.

Atkins isn't going anywhere after the season they had, same with Schneider lol.

Still dissecting this game even after a night of sleep. A couple of things I will say: - agreed with Jonn about the Gimenez brawl. Like Wrobleski didn't hit him on purpose there, but yes was throwing inside each time that almost hit on the previous two pitches. That could have sparked something on the other side with the Dodgers. Like this is Game 7 of the World Series. He should have just taken his base rather than barking back at Wrobleski and causing all benches and bullpens to clear. - at the time when they brought in Yesavage, I did question it a bit, especially after he was brought back out in the 8th, since the Jays still had their late-inning options available such as Fluharty, Fischer, Dominguez and Hoffman to cover those last 6 or 9 outs. Throwing a 22-year-old into that situation in a Game 7 is ballsy. At the end of the day, Yesavage did hold his own, but sucks that Muncy got a hold of one in the 8th there. Either would have saved Yesavage for extras or only would have used him for the one inning. - if IKF was taking a bigger lead and dives head first, he scores at home easily. Frustrating that he was still playing a big role on this team especially in a critical Game 7. Wasn't that fond of the decision to bring in IKF for Bo there. - Hoffman has pitched great all Postseason and really turned his season around. Sucks he gave up a game-tying HR to Rojas. You can't allow that to happen to the No. 9 hitter in that spot. How sweet would have it been if its Hoffman vs. Ohtani with 2 outs and the World Series on the line? That would have been a perfect ending right there that even Hollywood couldn't create. Regardless, the best of best closers will blow saves and sucks Hoffman gave up the lead, but he still kept things tied 4-4 and the Jays had a chance to win in Extras. - seemed like Dave Roberts made all the right moves in this Game 7. Bringing in Pages for Edman in CF and he makes that catch in his collision with Kike, bringing in Yamamoto for 2.2 innings after pitching the night before.

Yeah after this World Series run, I think Toronto is definitely a big draw for free agents who want a chance at winning. Ownership will continue to spend and you got to trust Atkins and this front office for finding the right pieces to the puzzle after the success they had this season.

I was happy watching the game at home on my 77" television but yeah would have been awesome being at the game in person for sure whether they won or lost. Sucks that prices were super expensive (through the Jays even). After being a fan for over 30 years, you wait for this moment of being in the World Series. Sucks after all that time watching and supporting them through all the highs and lows, can't even attend a World Series game. Like it's a big f*** you to us fans. But that's the corporate side of sports. It's all about the money at the end of the day.

Yup, Jays were definitely the better team this series, but the Dodgers prevailed and got lucky in the games that were close. Regardless, still happy what this group accomplished this season and hopefully they go on another Postseason/World Series run in 2026.

Agreed was an epic game, but glad I saved the $2300 😅