glory

I'll probably be relieved if Lindor is traded somewhere else rather than disappointed. As far as the others, free agency is a two way street. Both sides have to want to do the deal, and the Jays are in a tough selling point (not sure where they will play in 2021 and then the usual Canada/America issue). The good news is, even if they miss out on the top end of free agency, they'll be at an advantage in the second tier market as one of the few teams willing to spend big. Hendriks is an example of that assuming they can get him.

Yeah, the Jays offer is going to have to be significantly better than SF's for him to choose Toronto, IMO. The Mets being out is definitely a positive in regards to Sugano, but makes it more clear they are saving up for Springer.

Hard to see him choosing the Jays over the West Coast or NY, but let's see what happens.

There’s going to be more Bauer’s and Stroman’s as the league gets younger and more accepting of personalities/branding. It’s going to piss a lot of baseball purists off, but about time baseball gets some personalities that put themselves out there. I personally don’t care for Bauer but I hope he keeps doing what he’s doing. The stuff he puts out on YouTube, especially the roundtables he does with other players is great. But yes his personality is going to be polarizing.

Yeah Bauer doesn't hide the fact that what he's doing is entirely to build his "brand". I actually like that and hope more players do it because my god MLB off seasons are boring as s*** so players engaging with fans to get them excited during the winter is a good thing. But I wouldn't take anything Bauer says about specific teams seriously. He is trolling everyone to gain more followers and get more people talking about him.

There really isn't a perfect CF option if/when Springer signs with the Mets. JBJ is flawed, KK is flawed, and Grichuk is flawed. If Jonathan Davis could hit at all he'd be the best option, but I think best case for him is 4th OF who start against LHP. If there's a pre breakout Trent Grisham type of OF who another team doesn't appreciate, then now would be a good time to make that deal. Otherwise running Grichuk back for another year might be just as good as the alternatives. I’d be fine with JBJ though. Short term and can be platooned.

Kiermaier has 2/26 left on his deal. JBJ should cost less than that and is a FA so won't have to trade anyone for him (although KK shouldn't cost much in a trade). But man the CF market after Springer is very thin. Apparently the Jays are one of 4 teams looking at Haruki Nishikawa (posting period ends in a few days). He plays pro baseball and has a pulse, so of course the Jays are being linked to him, but I doubt they would view him as a legit CF option.

Bauer's response to Heyman seems to suggest that he's more upset about "agent declines to comment" rather than the actual story itself. I guess Heyman could have written "agent could not be reached for comment" or something along those lines. I don't necessarily blame Heyman for the wording since it's semantics, but that might have been what caused Bauer's response.

I'm in full support of Bauer/Luba. The Momentum channel on YouTube ("Bauer Bytes" in particular) is great, and them being so active on social media and engaging with fans for Bauer's FA process (especially during one of the most boring off seasons ever) is something more players need to do. Hopefully Luba gets more high profile clients and this becomes more common.

Depends what the cost would be, but Bryant would be a nice pickup. He's never going to be MVP Bryant again, but a 3-4 WAR player is not out of the question if he bounces back. He was practically a 140 wRC+ bat from 2015-19, and had a terrible 30+ games in 2020. I'd take my chances there. What the Cubs would want in return is the question.

Yeah there is a good chance Bichette is the best all around player on the team. I wouldn't want to move him off SS unless it was for a superstar (Lindor). If Didi were willing to move to 3B or 2B (not sure how he'd do there defensively), then he'd be a great fit as a LH bat, but I'm not moving Bo off SS for him, and he can likely find a SS job somewhere. Same with Semien and Simmons. La Stella would be a good stopgap who can cover multiple positions. If Profar was a better defensive IF then he'd be a good option as well given his versatility but he doesn't appear to be good at any IF position defensively.

That's probably the most realistic outcome, but Heyman tweeted yesterday that he is the top priority for Philly and that they have an offer out for him (he's still testing the market like everyone else). With Dombrowski there, I would think that deal gets done at some point unless the Jays offer blows them out the water, and I just don't think Atkins does that with 5 catchers on the 40 man and 2 of them being top 10 prospects in the system (Kirk/Moreno). If his price falls, and Philly bows out, then maybe there's a chance. Springer (Mets), Bauer (LA team), and LeMahieu (Yanks) seem destined to sign elsewhere. Sugano is probably going to a West Coast team or NY. There are still good players out there, and the Jays will end up with some of them (they are buyers when supply is high and demand is low so they'll get good players), but I don't think any of the top names will be included in there. The trade market might change that though (Lindor, Cincy players, Kris Bryant, etc).

Kim is a risky player and it is unclear whether he can hit big league pitching/velocity, so I guess I could understand wanting to at least have the option of sending him down if he struggled. Gurriel and Hernandez had to be demoted and both became better players after it so there’s some recent success with that approach. Then again if you like a player that much then some times you have to bend a little bit. I guess the Jays didn’t like him enough for that.

The Jays are still a hard sell to free agents with options. It takes two to tango in free agency. Jays could have strong interest but if the player doesn't share that interest or likes another team/offer better, then there isn't much you can do. With Kim gone, DJ likely re-signing with the Yankees, Turner unlikely to leave LA for Toronto, and Semien/Didi/Simmons probably looking for SS gigs, I'm not sure where the Jays turn at this point. Lindor seems like a very unShatkins type of move so I still don't think that's all too likely, but if they really want him, then chances are trading for him and trying to sell him on staying is the only way they'd be able to do it (hoping he chooses Toronto as a FA over teams like the Yanks, Mets, etc, who might want to sign him is a pipe dream).

Looks like the Jays are serious.

So he got Shun money. Curious to see what Sugano ends up getting.

The odds of Vlad becoming an average 3B defensively, much less a good one, are so small that I'm not sure what the point of putting him there in 2021 would be aside from appeasing his ego. Not every player has to be versatile and play multiple positions. It doesn't look like he's going to provide much defensive or BsR value in his career, so just put him in a less demanding defensive position that he might be average at over time (1B) and make sure to maximize his greatest strength (bat). The latter is way more important to the team's success over the next 5 years. I guess we'll know based on who the Jays pick up this winter. If it's someone with a proven track record (ex. Turner), then Vlad playing 3B is probably out of the question aside from emergency situations. If it is someone like Kim, who has no track record and is more risky as a player, then they can be a bit more flexible in their decision making.

Agreed about DJ not signing with the Jays. I'd be shocked if any team is offering 5 years (which would take him to age 37), and the team he actually wants to sign with is already offering 4, so it's only a matter of time before they agree to a number. The Jays definitely need an infielder, though. Vlad isn't (/better not be) playing 3B so they'll need someone there at the very least.

Abreu, Robert, Moncada, and Grandal in the same lineup, and all of them are very good/great players. The White Sox are going to be a desirable landing spot for Cuban players moving forward.

Between the two, I would agree Springer is the one to go for. Lindor is a MLBPA rep now. I'm not sure he "settles" for 8 years when he has the leverage of going to free agency next year instead. He knows if the Jays trade for him then they have to extend him. He doesn't have to do anything. Teams should have more money to spend next winter as well if revenue recovers in 2021 (it won't recover all the way but certainly more than 2020).

I'll never say never but the chances of the Jays signing Springer, trading assets for Lindor, and then extending Lindor for a decade seem very, very small. That's a lot of payroll tied up to two players, one who is already in his 30's and the other who (on a 10 year deal) would still have 5 expensive years left on his deal when Vlad/Bo/Biggio are free agents. I could see one or the other but both seems very unrealistic, and would have a high likelihood of looking bad in a few years.

LeMahieu's camp is probably using the Jays to get more from the Yankees, but who knows. No other team wanted to go 4 years for Ryu, and Atkins did. If he's fine with offering 5 years, and that's too much for the Yankees, then there could be a chance. Not sure I'd want DJ on a 5 year deal, but that's likely the only way the Jays even have a shot to lure him from the Yanks. Springer seems more likely.

That too.

After Bauer, I'm not sure there is a right answer as far as which SP to sign. There are a lot of pitchers coming off down years or injury, and a pitcher like Tanaka whose arm will always be considered a risk. Sugano could easily be the 2nd best SP on the market despite the uncertainty of how he will perform in the Majors. I'm sure there will be at least one SP out of the group of risks (Odorizzi, Kluber, Paxton, Quintana, Tanaka, Archer, etc) that will end up having a great season in 2021, but it's really a coin flip, and hard to know whether those pitchers would even want to sign with the Jays if their intention is to increase their value for a future payday. Ray falls under that same group, but he just happened to pitch here for a month so the Jays got the advantage of building a relationship with him. If Passan is correct and the Jays could steal Springer from the Mets, then a Springer/Kim/Sugano off season would be pretty good, IMO. Even if Springer signs with the Mets, the Jays could spread the $25m that they would have paid Springer into multiple holes (ex. JBJ and another SP). CF might be the hardest position to fill if Springer and JBJ sign elsewhere, but other than that, the Jays are in a good spot.