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The goddamn Dodgers specialize in kicking the Blue Jays and their fanbase in the nuts. They get first dibs at basically all of the free agents the Blue Jays front office are serious about signing (Ohtani, Tucker, Yamamoto, Sasaki and even Teoscar) and to make matters worse they did just enough to squeak out a world series title in a series where they were largely outplayed. FFS.

It's two free agent outfielders that the Blue Jays courted for the entire offseason until mid-late January when they finally chose their new club. Of course they aren't the same player but it's entirely pedantic to claim there aren't some obvious similarities to how this has played out.

If reports are to be believed Tucker only has 3 serious suitors at the moment so it's not like all of MLB is battling for his services.

This situation reminds me a lot of the Santander signing last season where it was rumored all off-season that the Blue Jays were targeting him.

I think this feels a lot like the Ryu deal from several years ago although Suarez has been better at avoiding the injured list.

Why would that be? Straw still fills the role as backup center fielder as the organization doesn't have anyone else better suited to this task.

His outright hatred of the Red Sox would lead to him outing himself in relatively short order.

I don't think Arraez would fit the Blue Jays very well at all as there simply isn't an open spot for him in the first place. He's an awful defender at second base, which leaves only first base and DH as remaining spots. First base is filled admirably by Vlad and Okamoto, and DH will likely be filled by Springer, Santander and others. Arraez only combined for 107 wRC+/2.0 FWAR over the last two seasons, and I think the Blue Jays would actually be worse with him on the roster if he were to receive regular playing time over the far more deserving candidates.

I believe this is the most likely course of action as well. I think both sides are playing a game of free agency chicken waiting for the other party to blink.

This is what we all needed to finally get free agency moving again.

I don't think Bo is even a plan A for the Blue Jays either at this point, but they would be more than happy to bring him back if the pursuit of Tucker fails to materialize in a deal.

With Ortiz I find it feels a little different than Bonds and Arod. He very well may have been doping prior to 2003 when it was technically against the rules but wasn't enforced due to lack of testing, but once MLB started actually testing he never actually failed any tests afterward at any point. With Bonds and Arod they were both directly implicated in the Balco scandal and were actively utilizing an elaborate scheme to avoid detection whereas Ortiz was never mentioned at any point.

Are any of the guys who were so strongly implicated in the Balco scandal in the hall of fame? I don't think it's only the poor treatment of members of the media at play here.

It appears as though there isn't a single front office in MLB that shares your enthusiasm.

Compounding the matter further was that both of IKF and Straw were receiving plate appearances in key situations at the top of the lineup due to the spots where they were inserted into the game.

I think Varsho has unlocked more power in his swing as he's increased his overall swing speed by several MPH between 2024/2025. I expect the new swing speed to be something that sticks at least for the near term and that this has elevated his overall ceiling. Varsho already has several seasons under his belt at approximately 100 wRC+ with the previous swing speed and I think his power production is going to stick around to a greater degree than a 5 point uptick to his overall offensive production. Projection systems are very slow to recognize skill changes, and Varsho increased his quality of contact across the board to the point where I think he's improved his ability to produce power at the plate as a direct result. He improved his average and top exit velocities by several MPH and I believe the improved power production is going to be more repeatable as a result. My one question mark with Varsho is the 15% barrel rate, which I think he will likely be challenged to repeat given the inability to even place the bat on the ball at times.

I'm not terribly worried about Varsho's ability to stay on the field as outside of the injured shoulder from late 2023 he's only missed time as a Blue Jay due to a singular other injury issue when he injured a hamstring.

I would be very happy if Varsho accepted a qualifying offer but I expect he would likely pass on it and try his hand in free agency. This is largely contingent on him carrying his 2025 power production through the 2026 season and staying on the field a bit more to produce the type of 4'ish win peak season I think he should be capable of.

I think the power for Varsho is very real at this point as he features upper tier swing speed at the plate and has a swing that's tailored for pulling the ball in the air. He likely won't ever be a complete hitter due lacking a quality hit tool as there's a ton of swing and miss and pop ups in his game, but I do expect him to continue to produce a ton of extra base hits when he manages to make solid contact.

I suspect Buxton would command a painful price from the Twins. He's almost guaranteed to miss large chunks of time every season but he's a bargain at an absurdly low $14 million AAV, that's Anthony Santander money. According to Fangrapsh he's provided the Twins with approximately $70 million of value and as such I think the Twins could ask for a bit of a king's ransom in return.

Varsho might not actually be a Boras client as there's conflicting information based on where you look. As a guy who has always been a glove first player I don't think a new deal is going to cost and arm and a leg as Varsho is soon to be 30 years old and he's probably a 3-4 win player vs a star. And I seriously don't think it would ever come down to the front office needing to choose between Varsho and Bo/Tucker.

That's a hard question to answer. Vlad had a historic level post season which may have boosted his value a bit if he's figured out his launch angle issues at the plate. At any rate I'm glad Vlad is a long term Blue Jay even at this overpay vs seeing him leave for another team as this current window largely revolves around his presence in the lineup.