glory

Would have preferred JDM at 1/12 over Turner at 1/13, but waiting until March 21 to sign a DH probably wasn't realistic for Atkins.

Turner at 3B tonight. Schneider in LF. I wonder what would have happened if Horowitz had a good spring. Seems like they want a LHB in that last roster spot, whether it be Vogelbach or more likely Votto. If Horowitz was killing it in ST rather than putting up a .400 OPS, then he probably makes it.

This story is wild. MLB is going to bend over backwards to protect Ohtani here, most likely.

It looked like he could have been on the bubble before the Espinal deal, but after that trade, I think it's a near certainty that he makes the team unless they have another trade/signing in the works. Schneider looks like he will play LF against LHP (at the very least) when everyone is healthy.

Yeah this looks like the most likely roster heading into the season now that Espinal has been traded.

Nice move. Espinal needed to be traded so thankfully they found a taker. If the Reds took his whole salary then even better.

I guess it's possible the Jays aren't as high on Schneider as the projections say, or at least want him to work on things before they give him a spot. He strikes out a lot and he is in an org that preaches/love contact, or maybe they think the league has adjusted to him and he hasn't adjusted back yet. I hope that's the reasoning if they demote him and not an affinity for Espinal.

Honestly if they want to try Clement anywhere it should be 3B. If they get lucky then maybe they get a somewhat decent 3B option for the medium term if his bat is league average or better, and there's real upside there given his 2023 minor league numbers and bat to ball skills. Unlike IKF where you pretty much know what you're going to get.

If Clement in LF means anything, then it likely means DS is going to AAA and they plan to keep Espinal. Or at least that’s something they are considering. Then against lefties we have Clement in LF and Espinal at 2B. If there’s one thing Atkins loves, it is depth, even if it’s the most fungible depth imaginable. A tax team can punt a $2.75m contract if it means making the team better but DS has options and makes nothing while Espinal is now a vetrin who makes a real salary, so unfortunately that might be how the Jays want to operate here. Hopefully I’m wrong and we see an Espinal trade in the next few days.

Yeah they’ve started the season in Japan with similar start times in the past. Sucks for US/CAD fans but with the time difference there’s really no logical way to make it work other than taking the L in the North American numbers in order to try to build a bigger MLB following globally. Baseball being popular in Korea doesn’t mean MLB is popular there so picking a part of the world that already likes baseball and try to convert fans that way is probably easier.

Yeah a DFA would make the most sense. Getting out that ~$3m investment, though unlikely given the market, would be significant as it would just add more potential dollars for the trade deadline, and at this point if they needed a SS from AAA they might prefer going with Jimenez since he's out of options after this season and they kinda need to make a decision on him. With Clement's emergence, Espinal isn't really needed anymore.

It's both the cost and the player that people have an issue with, in combination with what his role appears to be. Everything is factored in. He has a career 81 wRC+ (82, 86, and 82 the last 3 seasons respectively) and will be playing 3B everyday from the looks of it. The highest wRC+ projection for him in 2024 is from Steamer at 88, and he's never actually reached that number in any non-Covid season. Unless they can unlock some sort of hidden offensive ability in him where he can be closer to league average offensively, then he's going to be a massive black hole in the lineup. I don't think he was worth $7.5m on a 1 year deal, much less $7.5m per year for two, and that was before seeing what the market eventually turned into. The Jays don't need a 85 wRC+ 3B, even if he ends up with a 2 WAR because he gets 650 PA. I don't think anyone has suggested that this was an albatross contract or anything. If he's the same dude he's always been, then he'll be fine as long as he's more of a utility player who doesn't play everyday. Unfortunately that is not the expectation for him. Look I hope I'm wrong because it would be great and hysterical if he makes the AS team in 2024 and we can watch Yankees fans complain about it (they hate IKF). Or maybe Donnie Baseball can get him closer to league average offensively which combined with his defense would make him a more reasonable starting 3B. I just think that if you're going to strike early before a market materializes, then this is not the player you do it for, and neither is Kiermaier when you already have Varsho.

The IKF deal looked bad before we knew what the market would end up becoming, so hindsight is not going to be kind to it.

I was in the "extend Jansen" camp, but can understand the FO's reluctance given his injury history. Even if some of it is just bad luck, missing that much time in your 20's and having to extend a catcher into his 30's with that type of injury history is a big risk. I figured there was/is a number that makes sense for Jansen and also minimizes risk on the Jays end, but clearly they could not agree to it, whatever it is. Hopefully Jansen comes back strong and has a good season even if it's his normal limited PA's.

Looks like Jansen is going to miss the start of the season after getting hit by a pitch the other day: “fractured pisiform bone in his right wrist”.

The fact that they finished over .500 last season is incredible with the lineups they were throwing out there. They'll probably still find a way to be competitive regardless knowing them.

Cashman's last few years of futility is catching up to him big time. Just the last two years of trades alone (Donaldson, Gallo, Montas, Montgomery/Bader) have been horrendous, and then factor in signing LeMahieu to a long ass contract, Hicks (who was released with years left on his deal), taking ten years of Stanton's contract (still has 4 years left and he was sub replacement level last season), signing Rodon to a 6 year deal rather than giving him a pillow contract the year before, etc. It's just a horribly constructed roster with a bloated payroll. This was really their year with Soto an impending FA (he'll either leave or get $500m+ further depleting their financial flexibility....Hal is not George). They can't afford to lose Cole or Judge, much less both, for any extended period of time.

Yeah, optioning Espinal and keeping Clement seems like the most logical way to go, and since DS is the only one of the bench options who they seem to be playing in the OF, I feel like demoting him isn't happening. Maybe they keep Espinal as well and let Vogelbach go while Votto gets reps in AAA, but there's really no need for Clement and Espinal on the same roster.

JD Davis wasn’t claimed so he was released.

I don’t understand why they think Judge playing CF is a good idea to begin with. They have Grisham who is a 2 WAR player just with defense alone so that seems like a no brainer to put him in CF and work around Stanton’s existence (maybe platoon him with Verdugo).

Agreed. It says more about the Jays 3B options than it does about Clement. Hopefully IKF has a 90-100 wRC+ season in him or two.

Clement might actually be the best 3B option currently on the team at this rate so I hope they have no intention of keeping him off the 26 man roster.

Given how cheap teams have been this winter, and how badly free agents have been screwed by it, I'm not sure Davis at $7m is going to be claimed, but who knows. He would certainly help the Jays who need offense and he comes with positional versatility which they seem to love as well.

With the way Biggio was used at the end of last season, I think we have to get used to him being the starting 2B against RHP (when everyone is healthy).