glory

Murphy will take one look into AA's eyes and sign his prime away for nothing. Let's see if this trade finally opens up a path to a Jays/catcher trade.

Yeah, one of Conforto/Brantley replacing Hernandez and KK essentially replacing Tapia would be a net positive and add much needed balance to the lineup. Only downside would be having to look for either 2-3 outfielders next winter (depending on the length of KK's deal) but I guess cross that bridge when you get there.

I'd be surprised if it were a straight one year deal given that the Dodgers were apparently interested as well. Maybe the Jays promised more playing time, or he saw a path to more playing time in Toronto. Ideally for the Jays it would be one year + a team option with a buyout, because as fringey as Kiermaier is, the Jays kind of need outfielders beyond 2023 as well. Either way, as credible as "Damon" is, I'll wait for more of an official announcement.

We usually do see terms of a deal reported even during “pending physical” stage. Surprised we haven’t even heard about the years on the deal yet.

Yeah I actually thought the Jays would get Kepler before the KK signing. I guess they still can get him if they think his bat has potential to improve, but after KK I think the team needs a LH bat that can hit closer to the top of the order. Conforto and Brantley are probably the best fits in that regard, although if Brantley needs to DH most of the time then he may not be the best roster fit unless Kirk is traded.

I’d be shocked if the Jays didn’t add another outfielder, either in free agency or trade. Conforto makes a lot of sense in free agency. Not sure about the trade market. Jansen for Happ would be fine as a 2023 swap but the Cubs would have to add something for the one fewer year of control.

I'm not the biggest fan of adding Kiermaier, but the Jays really needed an OF that is controllable after 2023. Conforto is signing a one year deal, Bellinger already did, Brantley probably won't get more than one year due to age/injury, and Gallo was horseshit last season so no one is signing him to more than one year. I don't see the team trading Kirk or Moreno, and no team is trading a highly controllable LH CF for Jansen. The options were very limited. I was actually warming up to the idea of signing Nimmo but that's when I thought it would take a 6 year deal. Trying to beat an 8 year deal would have been insane. So KK on a 2+1 deal is more reasonable, not in a general sense, but for the Jays specifically. They only had Springer who was controlled after 2023, and their 2 best OF prospects in the minors are in A ball (with arguably the best one of the two just exposed in the Rule 5). This is more of an indictment of how bad the Jays OF situation is than anything else.

Yeah this move improves the team defensively but adding another bat that can hit towards the top/middle of the order is necessary. Either Conforto or Brantley next would be ideal. Then trade Jansen for the best SP you can get.

The Dodgers were after Kiermaier as well, so I think it's probably going to end up a 2 year deal.

I'll wait for the terms of the deal to come out before giving full thoughts, but no chance he was signed here to be a 4th OF. He's starting in CF against RHP at a minimum, and the Jays have Merrifield who can cover the other side of the platoon in CF.

Jays have signed Kiermaier according to Davidi.

The team that gives him 7 years will get him but I don’t think any team will. Then again teams nowadays seem fine with giving more years and having dead money at the end of contracts if it lowers the AAV and lessens the CBT hit, so maybe he will get 7 at a lower AAV. I think there’s enough demand for him that he will get at least 6.

Syndergaard might be an interesting target. From an article by Passan recently: “No longer able to reach 100 mph as he did regularly early in his career, Syndergaard this winter is relying on data to improve his mechanics and refine his pitches after visits to Driveline and Tread Athletics, two noted pitching factories.” His velocity dropped to 94 and he couldn't strike hitters out anymore but was still a 2 WAR SP. I'm not sure how much upside there is there, but even if he's the 2022 version going forward, he's still a decent 4/5 starter. At least he's a lot more intriguing than Kyle Gibson. Rodon would obviously be ideal and Senga would be a nice gamble as well, but don't see the Jays winning either of those two battles. It's either going to be a trade or signing a #4 starter in free agency.

8 years for Nimmo, no thanks.

Agreed. Contending teams need players like Espinal. Essentially a 2 WAR backup who can cover multiple positions (including SS which no one else on the roster can do at the moment), hit LHP, and won't complain about being a bench player. As long as he's cheap, he's a good guy to have around. That doesn't mean you don't trade him if the return warrants it, but chances are he'll have more value to the team than he'd have in a trade anyway.

If the Brewers would do it, then that would be a nice little deal. A LHH CF who can field, run, and hit (based on his prospects page) is exactly what the Jays need. Not much power from the looks of it, but offensive profile looks pretty safe otherwise. Would save the team some money to improve the rotation and add another bat as well. Little risky going with a CF with no MLB experience, and at the same time expecting Moreno to do things as well, so only reason the Jays may not do it is they'd want a more established player, but from a team building and asset standpoint, it's the type of deal the Jays need.

Yeah if the team had any minor league prospects on the horizon you could play the risk averse card, but the team practically has no position player prospects aside from Barger who look like they can contribute in 2023-25 barring Orelvis learning how to make contact. Nimmo is probably going to cost something like 6/140 in this market, but as mentioned it might be worth it for the Jays more than most teams given their lack of anything resembling outfielders in the org. Even Springer is probably going to DH a bunch when he's on the field, so the Jays badly need help there.

The only issue with that plan is that it would mean Springer would be the only OF on the roster beyond 2023 as Gurriel, Conforto, KK, and Merrifield (if he counts as one) would all be free agents in that scenario. I guess you could offer more than one year to KK, but not sure that's the best idea for a 1-2 WAR player in his mid 30's whose value is entirely defense. As much as I would dread what a Nimmo contract would look like, right now he probably makes the most sense for the Jays if the intention is to win within the next 3 years. There doesn't seem to be any traction with a Vlad/Bo extension, and this winter's FA market is probably dissuading them from signing anything now. Nimmo maximizes 2023-25 wins more than anyone else realistically available unless the Jays want to sign Correa, which I don't see happening. One year stopgaps would make sense if they want to spend a ton to extend Vlad and Bo right now, but if that's not happening and if they have a feeling it may not happen at all, then spending big on Nimmo might actually be reasonable. You're not getting this type of window again for a while. I'm not saying I want them to sign Nimmo, just that you could argue it makes the most sense for where the team is.

Yeah the Jays desperately need good OF's that are controllable, but getting anything in free agency right now is very expensive, and if you're going for a smaller move, then it's much easier to get a capable stopgap in the OF than a reasonably priced SP right now. I think Kepler in a trade with the Twins is starting to make a lot of sense. He has a 1+1 deal so at the very least he's a 2024 OF option if he's not awful in 2023, and the Twins probably won't expect much for him. Stick him in RF, get a 2 WAR, and then trade Jansen/a catcher for the best SP you can get. The Marlins are apparently listening on everyone except Alcantara, and they have SP depth. I doubt Jansen can get Lopez or Rogers. Maybe Luzardo is possible given his injury issues and lack of track record?

Nothing was going to happen with any catcher via trade until Contreras signed. Now it's basically Sean Murphy and the Jays catchers as the best options so something should happen soon. Although I agree that Jansen is not going to get the type of return he's probably worth, and I don't think Atkins is going to trade Kirk or Moreno.

Sucks that he went to the Cardinals since that takes a trade suitor away from the Jays, but at least now we should see some movement on the catching market. Murphy will get moved, and then the Jays should have a better idea of what's available to them via trade.

Chaim Bloom is terrible. I can't think of a single thing he's done other than drafting Whitlock in the Rule 5 that was any good. I guess signing Kike who had a nice 2021. Other than that he's whiffed on almost everything else.

If the Cardinals get Contreras, then I have no idea where the Jays are trading a catcher. Murphy is also out there so Jansen's market is shrinking. Kirk and Moreno will have a wider market but also are less likely to be moved.

If the money was close, then he's much better off on the Yankees. He's going to be a lifetime Yankee now, and if he cares about endorsements and things like that then the Yankees are the brand to be associated with. Obviously if the Giants offer blew everyone out the water, then that's different, but I'm guessing the offers were close enough to where leaving NY didn't make sense for him. Cashman is going to have to start developing cheap young talent now because Judge/Stanton/Cole is a lot of money for 3 players locked up for a long time.