max silver

Omar entering thread for first time:

I think this is an early contender for post of the year. Omar is the reining champion fully based on merit but he best keep his chin up!

I suspect that runner up Terminator would greatly appreciate a nice Swiss Chalet gift card for his massive contributions.

I am lukewarm on all of Arraez/Chisolm/Lowe but would be perfectly happy if they end up being available for semi reasonable contracts more in the 2-3 year range as this would limit the relative downside. I believe Seiya Suzuki would fit the team perfectly and there are plenty of rumors that the Blue Jays will be aggressive in their pursuit. I believe the pitching staff is in much better shape relatively speaking than the offensive group and that the bulk of resources expended can be utilized towards improving the run scoring unit.

So how do you propose the team goes about improving the worst in MLB offense without acquiring any new bats? I do expect some level of internal improvement I don't think I'd characterize the team as being anywhere close to as bad at offensive acquisitions as you are attempting to portray either. They've added the likes of Springer, Teoscar, Chapman, Semien and Okamoto off of the top of my head. The Santander miss was largely due to an unfortunate injury in the field vs some sort of sign of inability to acquire quality bats and should in no way prevent the team from continuing to acquire bats as needed to supplement the lineup.

So your argument against trying to acquire some proven bats is the existence of several below average bats?

I think Stroman was likely an actual clubhouse cancer as he seemed like he possessed a lot of narcissistic traits that went above and beyond the typical overconfident type of athlete. I recall that he often treated members of the media with outright disdain and I recall at least one major clubhouse incident where he blew up and trashed the clubhouse after not getting his wish of being traded to the Yankees at the deadline. I also recall that he clashed with at least one teammate as well so there's a lot of evidence with this player that goes well beyond simply having an overinflated ego. This could be nothing more than my personal bias against Stroman as his Napoleon routine grew old in a hurry but I think this dude is likely a straight up A-hole. I'd hate to hazard a guess what kind of deal Arraez ends up with. I don't believe major league front office's are going to buy into the overall profile as being worth an expensive longer term deal and Lowe is old enough with an inconsistent historical typically falling in the 2-3 win range that I suspect his offers will also be a little more on the conservative side. Both of Arraez and Lowe produced remarkably better defensive metrics at second base last season and I view both of these with a lot of suspicion with how repeatable they will prove to be. At the end of the day any of the 3 of Chisolm/Arraez/Lowe would likely improve the Blue Jays middle infield situation for a year or two but they all carry question marks.

I see no indication that Rogers intends to pull back on the spending. Mark Shapiro did state that he expects the payroll budget to be similar next season and the club didn't end up spending their entire budget as they were involved in big budget plays such as Kyle Tucker.

I do wonder how Chisolm's teammates view him. To me he just comes across as being overconfident and would be more annoying than an actual disruption to a clubhouse but that's just a guess. There is some risk of this acquisition as the team has likely lost a huge part of the clubhouse leadership in guys like Springer/Straw/Gausman/Scherzer etc. and I don't know who else would be able to step in to fill the void if Chisolm does end up causing waves.

I'm more convinced that Chisolm would provide value vs Arraez on those deals. At the end of the day I'd prefer to see Chisolm added given the speed/power potential he possesses and I expect his defensive value to be more durable as well.

I think Santander will receive an opportunity for nearly everyday playing time if he's sufficiently healthy but he'll have to prove he deserves to keep it through performance.

Yeah my post was half in jest as there does need to be playing time available for Barger and/or Santander next season in case of sufficient health and performance. It remains to be seen how Barger returns from Tommy John but I did some light research and 90% of position players make it back to MLB afterwards. Recent examples such as Bryce Harper and Corey Seager saw their arm strength eventually fully return to normal so hopefully Barger maintains most of the outfield cannon as that was his strongest defensive attribute. I have a really hard time seeing this front office being willing to trade for Bo as they were perfectly willing to let him go in free agency due to not agreeing on his relative contract value. I don't have a feel for what the dysfunctional Mets plan to do this offseason but I have a really hard time envisioning them finding a willing trade partner to take on Bichette's inflated contract even if they eat a portion of the cost.

I do see early rumblings that the Blue Jays intend to be very aggressive in the Suzuki market this offseason. I think he's a perfect fit for the roster as he can be inserted into a starting role in right field and hit near the top of the lineup as well. I expect there to be quite a bit of competition for his services given how bereft of talent the free agent market is this offseason so fingers crossed the front office can get a deal done.

I'd love for the club to acquire Suzuki and Sato and go all in on Japanese sluggers. I've seen it suggested that Sato may be athletic enough to play some outfield in the future.

3 years for Suzuki feels light given how terrible the free agent market is this offseason.