glory

Not surprising. Hopefully the terms are reasonable. Don’t think they will be after the public Sasaki embarrassment but hopefully I’m wrong.

Signing guys too early has definitely been an issue, dating back to signing Morales and Pearce during (I think) league CBA negotiations and then seeing the market crater immediately after, to what we saw last season. On the flip side Atkins did wait out the Ryu and post pandemic market which worked out (Springer, Semien), and he did well with Gausman and Bassitt. I actually think he’s been fine this winter too, at least until flushing $11M into the nearest toilet with Straw. Ultimately it’s very possible he could end up with at least 1 of Santander, Alonso, Bregman, etc, on a favorable deal, and that’s because he didn’t pounce early on inferior options like he has in the past. As long as the Straw contract doesn’t prevent other moves, then there’s still some potential to come out of the winter positively, but they’ll have to spend to do it. One of my least favorite recent seasons was 2018 when you knew the front office wanted to rebuild but wouldn’t pull the trigger, so they put lipstick on a pig (Granderson, Grichuk, Solarte, etc), and then proceeded to sell low on everyone at the deadline that year because they waited too long. That’s why at this point I want them to pick a direction. If they want to go for it, then go for it. The next GM will have to clean up the mess, but it’s going to be a mess regardless. Just don’t 2018 this season and waste Vlad’s trade value too.

I agree with trying for a Santander/Alonso (or one of them + Bregman) combo at this point. It's not the smart baseball decision based on where the team is, but we are WAY past that at this point. They don't want to rebuild even when now is the perfect time to start it, and apparently they have no interest in trying a quick retool (ex. trading Vlad and then signing Alonso to replace him, etc). So the alternative has to be going all in for 2025. The issue is trying to fit all that plus a SP add on their payroll but again if you can afford to take Straw's contract hoping to win the lottery with it then you probably aren't counting pennies. Figure it out. If Rogers cares more about actual payroll than CBT payroll, then backloading makes more sense than front loading. Either way, you sign Santander and Alonso, and hope for at least 2025 you are some version of the 2022-24 Phillies.

They are willing to pay Myles Straw $11M for the next 2 years. At this point just run up a payroll of $280M or something and try to buy your way into a playoff spot. Alonso, Santander, Flaherty, Profar, whoever. No sense hoping for a rebuild as it won't happen, and they can't get a lottery pick in 2026 anyway. It is what it is.

Traded his best prospect for Varsho, gave IKF 2/15, re-signed KK for $10.5M last year when there was no chance in hell he'd repeat his 2023 season, absorbed nearly $100M of Gimenez, etc. If any team in baseball is going to value Straw at 2/11, it's the Jays. I think you're right on what the Jays were thinking in making this deal.

Honestly think this picture describes Ross Atkins perfectly.

Based on MLB.com's top 50 list that is updated to reflect who has signed and with which teams, the only names that don't have teams next to them: 11. Manny Cedeno, SS, D.R. 12. Ayden Johnson, SS, Bah. 21. Jhoan De La Cruz, SS, D.R. 22. Cristopher Polanco, SS, D.R. (connected to Jays prior to the Roki BS) 26. Carlos Taveras, OF, D.R. 35. Deivid Coronil, SS, Ven. 39. Carlos Alvarez, LHP, D.R. I don't know if any of the other names other than Polanco are also Jays guys, It's hard enough to know which HS and college players are worth drafting, so 16-17 year old international talent is even more of a crapshoot. Just sign as many as possible with the extra $2M and pray one of them works out.

I don’t want to believe that Shatkins did not know that they could acquire international money later (after getting a commitment from Sasaki). That’s next level incompetence. Unfortunately the alternative is they just really liked Straw at 2/11, but that’s also a sign of incompetence, so I’m not sure what is going on at this point. I remember when Rob Babcock traded Vince Carter for literal garbage, my first thought was there’s no way he can make another trade because every GM is going to try to fleece him now. That’s my feeling with Atkins now. This wasn’t Carter bad, but this does feel like the end for him. Taken advantage of by another team who saw your desperation and pounced in a very public way. Atkins is done but unfortunately he may not be done adding future payroll to this roster, which is now terrifying.

Only way this makes sense is if Atkins actually wanted to acquire Straw, and the international money was just icing to him, which if true actually makes me more sad because it would prove that Ross has lost his damn mind.

Forget what I said earlier.

According to BNS, the Santander talks "picked up this morning", so presumably right around the time the Straw trade happened. To play devil's advocate, maybe the Straw trade wasn't to entice Sasaki specifically as much as it was an attempt to recoup a pick(s) that they will lose in the event that they sign a qualified FA or two. I'm trying here, guys.

Legit wouldn't be surprised if the Jays gave him 5/100 now.

Who are/were the Jays going to sign with their international money prior to this Sasaki stuff? Not sure if they've lost any of the ones they had agreements with. Are there are good international players available that they could use the $2M on? Someone give me some damn optimism. I have to watch Myles Straw play baseball now. I want some good news.

Roki and the Dodgers having a deal well in advance would be the least surprising thing ever, but the fact that Ross fell for the fake interest just makes me sad.

The embarrassment of this Sasaki ordeal, especially with absorbing the contract of one of the worst players in the sport, might lead to the desperation many of us were expecting from this front office. It's going to get ugly.

Atkins just absorbed Cleveland's worst contracts when he's probably months away from getting fired. Just food for thought.

For me it wasn't believing Roki was signing here, but rather me trying to rationalize the Straw trade. Like, how does that trade make any sense if they didn't have an agreement with Sasaki? If the Jays were going to turn around and trade Vlad in order to start the rebuild, then it would make more sense, but this is a team that's going to be tax payers in order to try to compete in 2025. Just strange all the way around.

Even Passan feels our pain.

If they reallocate the $2M to 1 or 2 interesting international players, then yeah, they used their money to add to the farm system, so that's a win, especially for a team with a bottom 10 system. Not sure I'd want to have $5M less to spend on the big league roster in 2025 when the goal is to contend, but competing is a pipe dream anyway in all likelihood, so probably won't make a difference.

Predictable ending but the Straw trade made me believe slightly. I didn’t think any team would absorb $11M for one of the worst players in baseball on a pipe dream. Atkins is built different I guess.

I suggest people double and triple check the accounts you are reading on social media. It's a cesspool for a reason. Or just follow Passan and wait for the BREAKING.