Bobthe4th

For all we know, not being a US city could be a plus for him.

I'd put Texas, Houston, and the Angels in the mix too. But as you say it's hard to predict. Realistically the only teams not in contention are budget restricted teams that are in the early stages of rebuilding, like the Marlins.

Yeah this is a sensible assessment. We definitely have some plus points in our favour, but it'll take an amazing sales pitch to convince him to come here. Not impossible, but relatively long odds compared to a few others.

Who has said we are favourites? The most anyone has said here is that we are one of 20+ contenders, which is true.

I've also never heard of boldenone. Fake news! /s

Otani is clearly not motivated by money. He'll go to the team that he feels suits him best.

Haha, this comment makes much more sense when you realise we've signed Deck McGuire!

According to the Tampa Bay Times the favoured location is Ybor City which is basically downtown Tampa.

The recent Jon Heyman article that gave predicted contracts for the top 80 free agents gave a range for Martinez of $150m - $162m over six years.

I wouldn't be so sure of that mate. If enough teams are interested the inevitable overpay could get into that range.

Yeah he switched to Boras recently to secure as big a deal as possible.

Two sons, the oldest - Braden, 16 - is a high school pitcher and is on Twitter @BradenHalladay

If an NL team offers him a chance to play OF a few games a week initially on a trial basis, then if it doesn't work he has the fall back of still hitting when he pitches.

Before AA made those deadline moves that reinvigorated baseball in Canada, the Jays were missing the playoffs and Shapiro had been offered the job to being a full rebuild. We wouldn't have the bat flip or Edwin's walk off. We would be a couple of years into a 90-100 losses a season tank, with interest and budget at an all time low. AA was in a unique situation where he needed to make the playoffs to save his job, and what he did was risky. However, tanking is also risky - it's not a guarantee of future success. Many here will say they would prefer the risk of tanking to the risk of going for it, but IMO it was worth it in that particular situation. We now have a handful of decent prospects, and quite a few good to very good MLB players. I think that the current strategy of relatively conservative moves suits the current situation with 2 very highly regarded prospects a year or 2 away, and a number of MLB ready prospects yet to establish themselves. If everything goes wrong in the next couple of years we can then tank, and trade Sanchez, Stroman, and Osuna for a kickstart to the farm.

Altuve = international free agent Judge = number 32 pick Lindor = number 8 pick Correa = number 1 pick So the only one of your examples that we could have drafted was Judge, who wasn't picked by any MLB team (including the Yankees) with their first pick. Yankees and Red Sox model is normally to spend big on MLB talent, international free agents, and signing bonuses for draftees. Astros model was tank for multiple seasons, invest heavily in international free agents, then load up on veterans to add to the team. The Jays don't have the budget of the Red Sox and Yankees, and don't have a bad enough farm or MLB squad to make tanking inevitable.

Hardly, Bautista and Tulo were the only AA holdovers that fit that description in 2017. In any case, I'd argue the Travis and Sanchez injuries had a bigger affect on the season.

MLB.com is already linking him with the Yankees manager role.

Mark Melancon's Giants deal at 4 Years, $62million is what he'll be aiming for. If he gets it, then he's made the right decision to turn down a QO. Quite a big if though!

Especially as in the new rules you can only be offered a QO once in your career. Are they ever going to get such a high AAV again?

Meh, he'd surely only be replacing Goins as the 25th man. Much more exciting - offer the Pirates salary relief, Pompey, and one or 2 of the players we may have to expose to rule 5, for McCutchen. Only has 1 year on his contract, and could be traded at the deadline to a contender if it looks like we'll miss the playoffs. A big name to placate the fans, but one that is past his best, doesn't impact the future beyond 2018, and shouldn't cost anything significant. IMO Pompey has missed his chance with the Jays but still has a chance of a MLB career with a change of scenery. I assume the Pirates picked up Cutch's option in order to trade him for youth, so I guess they'll be shopping him at the Winter meetings. Chances are they'd get a better offer, but hey you never know.

AL Silver Slugger Winners Catcher: Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees First Base: Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals Second Base: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros Third Base: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians Outfield: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees Outfield: George Springer, Houston Astros Outfield: Justin Upton, Detroit Tigers/Los Angeles Angels Designated Hitter: Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners NL Silver Slugger Winners Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants First Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks Second Base: Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals Third Base: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies Shortstop: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers Outfield: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins Outfield: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies Outfield: Marcell Ozuna, Miami Marlins Pitcher: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

I wonder if there is any interest in bringing Liriano back on a cheap deal. Lefty reliever who can spot start and be a longman.