glory

Depth in 2018 and starting 3B in 2019 once JD leaves. Middle infield depth looks very good now, especially if Diaz bounces back. Just have to see what the Jays gave up.

If you acquire Salazar it’s to add to the 2018 team. Otherwise, trade Osuna for young prospects instead.

But HDMH is his own brand so I'm sure there is a level of attachment he has to that over Nike. Whether he was smart to f*** with his Nike deal in order to push his own stuff is a different story, but can't knock the guy for trying to make a side hustle when he knows people will buy his s*** if he promotes it. The fact that his career and "brand" has a shelf life is probably more reason to go all in while the money is available to him, at least in his mind.

Stroman is a douche for what he said after Goins was non tendered. Shilling his own brand makes him a good business man. Who wouldn't try to sell their own s*** on their social media page? That's just common sense. Of course, Nike has the right to do what they did because of it as well. That's the risk Stro was willing to take, I guess.

I think it's a combination of saving money for next winter, and also that more and more teams are hiring people who think the same way, so the perceived value of players is probably similar across every team. So in previous years where someone (I'm looking at you, Dumbrowski) would give a one dimensional player or a 30 year old starting pitcher a 7-10 year deal just because, that sort of thing won't happen now because front offices are filled with saber geeks. We just happen to have an off season where the best free agents are in their 30's or have significant flaws so that might explain some of the standstill, whereas next year with Harper, Machado, etc, there won't be any question about their value, it's just about giving them the most money.

The off season before 2014; the jays signed Fatty Navarro to a two year deal and then did not make another big league signing or trade until July 2014 (the Valencia blockbuster). Just waiver claims and minor league signings. Nothing can be more boring than that, at least from a Jays perspective.

The bullpen is the last place a team should be allocating so much money. If you can sign a Chapman or Jansen or Miller type, then that's understandable, but there's a chance that half of those guys they signed turn into s*** next season and it wouldn't be a surprise. That's how volatile the pen is.

Fixed.

Wow the Rockies are dumb as s***.

Yeah I don't think Shatkins trades Bo, and I don't expect the Marlins to be content with a package centered around Alford, though who the hell knows what the Marlins are doing. If the Jays agree to take Prado and/or Chen, then maybe they can get Yelich for less.

Yeah seriously. They can still faux contend and rebuild at the same time if they maximize their most expendable assets, and while Osuna is awesome, he's simply not going to have as much value to a .500-ish team than he would for a team planning to seriously contend. If the Jays can get 2-3 top prospects back, then they'd be setting up the future nicely, and may not even lose much in '18 given how unpredictable relievers are. Who knows when Osuna's arm will flake out.

Stro has three years of control left now, but regardless that one extra year should still be worth more than Cole, combined with putting up these numbers in the AL East.

Yeah, I'm a Shatkins fan and don't expect them to be involved with JDM (unless his price and term drops significantly), but after the Morales signing, we can't exactly talk about this FO not wanting to commit to old DH's. They have already.

Not really. The whole point of trading JD would be to get a top prospect or two. If teams are not willing to do that because of the lack of team control he brings, then hold on to him. Trading him for the sake of trading him in December doesn't make sense. I'd rather hope for a miracle wild card run than trade him for a top 100 prospect as the center piece.

Or Cain.

So trade him for s*** now so you don't have to trade him for lesser s*** in July or lose him for a comp pick after the season? That doesn't exactly help a rebuild, and if one top 100 prospect is all the Jays can get for him, then f*** it, just keep him and see what happens in 2018.

If the O’s decide to hold on to Machado, then the ball is in STL’s court when it comes to trade for JD. All it takes is one desperate GM.

If the Jays were rebuilding, I'd totally take on Kemp's deal if the Dodgers added some significant prospect(s) in the deal. Unfortunately with Morales already on the roster, there's really no way to make that deal now with the team "trying to contend". Dump Kendrys to the Royals (vetrin for that rebuilding roster) and then we start talking.

Yep, Reyes would be the deal breaker for me. If he is healthy and stays healthy, he can be a beast. I don't know if the Cards would trade him, but now might be the only time to make that happen since he is coming off injury. Gyorko and Reyes, then used the saved money to sign Cain. The team is no worse off than they were with JD, but add more controllable pieces, one being someone with a really high ceiling.

More than opening up a spot for Pearce, trading Morales will open up DH to rest guys throughout the year. I mean, I wouldn't rule out some type of bounce back year for Kendrys (better than 2017 at least), but ultimately it's not going to be worth much over the course of the season. Maybe a win if we're lucky and he really hits.

Damn, was hoping Dombrowski would give Hosmer a 7 year deal, or something equally stupid. That's a mediocre signing but short enough not to matter.

Yeah his hard contact and exit velocity numbers are still very good. Just has trouble with off speed stuff and rhp now for some reason.

Yeah, I'm in the "trade or extend JD" camp, but the people thinking we have to detonate the entire roster for five years just to become good again are making it too simplistic. The Yankees team right now is young and on the rise and they did that without any down period. Hell, they were trying to get down to below the luxury tax during their transition years and still made the playoffs twice during that time (2015 and 17). That 2015 team that won the 1st wild card had exactly one starting position player under the age of 30. Two years later, the team went back to the playoffs with one of the brightest young cores in the game. There's a lot of s*** that happens during the course of a baseball season that can change perspectives, nevermind over the course of many seasons. Shatkins have to make smart decisions. They have to guess right more than wrong. That comes with the territory, but they don't have to trade everyone and put scabs on the field for half a decade just to compete with the Yankees. There will be a transition period after 2018, I don't think that's avoidable, but they can rebuild and try to remain competitive for their owners at the same time. Puts a lot of pressure on their player development dept and drafting, but they seem to be very confident in that part of their org anyway, so let's see what they do.

Hey let Preller do his thing. With no Hosmer in KC and the rebuilding Royals needing a 1B/DH to be a vetrin presentz, who better than Morales? Time to root for Preller.

I don't know why anyone thought there was even a chance he (Pentecost) would get taken. Has barely played the field the last couple of years, only reached A+, and will be 25 on opening day. Hopefully the Jays have given up on him being a catcher. He may not hit enough to play anywhere else, but no way that guy will stay healthy enough to be a catcher long term.