Brownie19

Yeah - I agree with all that. I still think Lane Thomas is the closest fit. His defense was "OK" until last year. I don't want Straw or Thomas starting 100+ games though.

Yikes. Maybe the baseball gods will continue to take care of this.

Yeah I don't know what happened to him last year, but he's been dominant in previous years and could be a nice bounce back candidate. Seems like a solid target if they've identified what was wrong last year. Their interest in him probably depends on how they plan to use Spencer Miles.

MLB Network (@mlbnetwork) • Instagram photos and videos WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 986 likes, 8 comments - mlbnetwork on November 4, 2026: "👀". Thought that was interesting.

Hey we gotta talk about something...

I tend to agree. I just can't watch another Bottom 5 offense again. We need offensive upgrades all over the place, especially given the uncertainty of what we'll get from Vlad, Barger and Taters, combined with the reality that we shouldn't expect much from Gimenez, Clement and Bateman. Just too many limp d*ck bats man. We gotta give up some defense for offense somewhere. We sucked balls v. LHP last year. If we're going to start a backup OFer v. LHP all year, it would be awesome if he could do some damage against them. Straw is like DS - he can't hit, period, but actually hits RHP slightly better than LHP.

Agreed. I don't see Grichuk as an option unless we've made a trade and secured another viable option in CF.

I'm happy to admit the Gimenez trade hasn't worked out as well as it could have. The beauty with him though is the defense and base running raise the floor a lot. We paid him $15M last year for 2.8 WAR and $10M in 2025 for 1.0 WAR in an injury ridden season. Even if you think defensive WAR isn't worth as much as offensive WAR, those results aren't terrible and certainly were not crippling. They almost highlight just how much surplus value he'd provide if he could be a 95 wRC+ bat. It shouldn't be difficult to see why this trade was made when he was entering his age 26 season and had 2 previous seasons with a wRC+ >95. Based on the results to date, I'd be hard pressed to call this a massive failure. If this is one of the biggest complaints about the GM, then you're probably in a good place. Moving forward, the contract gets more expensive. 3 more years with an AAV of $23M. He's still just entering his age 28 season, so physical decline shouldn't be an issue over the remainder of the deal and there is a possibility he's actually just entering his prime. I think we'd all like to see improvement with the bat. A wRC+ >90 would be great. 95+ and he's back to providing surplus value. If his bat remains in the low 80's, then he's probably providing 2.7 to 3 WAR for $23M. Not great, but still not crippling. If his bat drops below 80, then it gets painful. Time to earn your paycheck Popkins. Also - after watching the defense in the playoffs, I'm not sure I buy the narrative that defensive WAR is overvalued quite as much as I may have 6 months ago. For the haters - how much WAR does Gimenez need to provide to justify $23M? What's the over/under? 3.5 WAR?

Sonny is entering his age 37 season. I saw him predicted to sign a 1 year $25M deal, which seems about right. I can see him getting a 2 year deal, but I doubt he gets 3.

I think he comes with more risk than people think. Assuming he picks up his player option in 2031, he'll be owed $89.25M for 5 years. That's a lot for his age 33 through 37 years. His bat dropped off considerably last year (103 wRC+) and a lot of 2nd basemen seem to fall off a cliff in their early 30's. You also the poor decision from last year when his team was in a playoff race. There are red flags. Obviously there's a probability that he returns to form and gives you another 4+ WAR year or 2. I guess it depends on what he costs. I can't imagine giving up top prospects for him though.

It will be interesting to see if the Jays move Miles to the rotation, or if they lock him in as a leverage RPer... I think there will be all kinds of interesting starters available on short term deals that could help fill out our rotation. Some with potential to give us top of the rotation results, but also with floors of a #4/#5. I think that's OK though - given there's potential that Yesavage and/or Ponce also have top of the rotation upside.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/report-mlb-proposes-postponing-salary-cap-to-2028/

What happened to Taylor Ward last year? Dude's power just evaporated. If the Jays think that's fixable, I could see some scenario where they sign Ward and Thomas - probably both on 1 year deals. LF - Ward/Lukes CF - Bateman/Thomas RF - Barger/Lukes Pretty easy to see how those 5 would rotate around based on matchups. It's certainly an unspectacular OF on paper, but bounce back season from Ward and Barger and it could be a sneaky solid configuration. I could see us pivoting this way if bidding for Suzuki and Randy gets too rich for our blood (say 5 year deals are on the table, and/or AAV's nearing $30M). You could then spend more on 2nd base if you wanted (maybe Jazz if you can stomach him?) - or if you wanted to add another impact bat in say Bauer to DH? Could also free up more money for pitching upgrades.

Interesting. His name is trending on Fangraphs, which promoted my question/observation.

I can't imagine any scenario where Clement is non-tendered. Davis is likely gone. I don't think he's very good or useful unfortunately. I'm also OK with Tyrone Taylor as the 5th OFer - but only if we think the offensive gains are permanent. He doesn't have much of a track record of punishing LHP (or any pitching for that matter).

Can someone unpin the World Series thread so it disappears into the abyss? Thanks.

I agree with all of that. Feels like we may need a trade.

Maybe? It's all just a guess at this point. We're not going to land a 4th or 5th OFer who punishes LHP and can play CF on the cheap, who doesn't have warts.

Does anyone know if Do Yeong Kim is coming to the MLB this year? He's entering his age 23 season and has always been a beast in the KBO. 171 wRC+ last year with 45 HRs. Good K/BB ratio too. I know the KBO is a crapshoot...

Sure. I just don't see Robert Jr signing with the Jays to be their 4th/5th OFer on a short side platoon. Projections still have him getting $10-$12M on a 1 year deal. I don't it's good use of resources to spend that much on a 4th/5th OFer on the short side of a platoon, nor do I think Robert Jr is going to want that. He'll sign somewhere he can start (until he gets hurt). I'm looking at realistic options that also fit our needs. Lane Thomas. He's the guy! And Thomas's defense in CF was always acceptable until last year. He didn't drop in sprint speed or arm strength - so maybe it was KC's positioning or some other BS that caused his poor numbers in CF.

I agree, but based on the current construction of this team, I really think you need a RH hitting bat off the bench who can punish LHP. That isn't straw unfortunately.

Maybe? I guess that's probably true. Not many examples to reference. Perhaps better put is it will be interesting to see if the give him any reps at 3rd, coming off the arm injury.

Yeah he's never really been great defensively out there. You probably wouldn't want to start him for 100+ games if Bateman got hurt or just sucked, but between him and Lukes, you can probably cover CF? His sprint speed and arm are still plus, plus. Looks like he sucks at reads, as his jumps are poopy. Options for a right handed hitting OFer, who punishes LHP, can cover CF and who doesn't cost $10M+ are going to be slim pickings. They will all have warts.

Strong side of the platoon might be worth a few more million a year?