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  • Toronto Blue Jays Trade & Free Agent Rumors

    Follow the latest Toronto Blue Jays trade and free agent rumors, along with quick notes on the big league club, the minor leagues and the draft.
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    Matthew Lenz
    We have more developments this morning related to the Toronto Blue Jays offseason. Yesterday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today said that the Jays are "still interested" in Pete Alonso. Now, Héctor Gómez is reporting that they have a three-year offer out to him and a six-year offer out to Alex Bregman.
    The fit would be interesting if both players were to accept. Adding Alonso would push Vladimir Guerrero Jr over to the hot corner. Alex Bregman has stated that he is open to playing second base, but the Jays have newly acquired Andrés Giménez at the Keystone. As of now, Will Wagner is penciled in as the teams designed hitter, but he projects to be more of a bench bat than a full-time player. If Alonso and Bregman were to accept their respective deals, they could theoretically play a game of musical chairs at DH.
    While it would be interesting to see how that works out, it's a no brainer to add both if the Jays can pull that off.
    Matthew Lenz
    After the Toronto Blue Jays made a bit of a splash yesterday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was quick to report that they are still interested in firsts baseman slugger Pete Alonso.
    Rumors from a week ago suggested that talks between the two parties were "advancing", but since then we haven't heard much of anything on how the talks were progressing. In fact, Nightengale more recently said Alonso returning to the New York Mets "seems almost inevitable."
    From an earlier rumor we posted: Alonso is open to a short-term deal as long as it includes opt outs and exceeds $23 million per year. How far north of $23 million Alonso and company want has not been made clear to this point, but MLB Trade Rumors suggest that the front loaded $80 million that Cody Bellinger received is the low bar to obtain Alonso's services.
    Jays24
    The Tigers, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox are in the hunt to sign Bregman, who has a six-year, $156 million offer from the Astros on the table. The Astros have been trying to shed payroll to keep Bregman, will any other teams step up and beat their offer?
    https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2025/01/26/detroit-tigers-alex-bregman-rumors-tarik-skubal-jack-flaherty/77957308007/
    Matthew Lenz
    Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated recently reported that Max Scherzer threw in front of many teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, both teams out of New York City, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox.
    Notably, of that entire group, the Blue Jays are the only team mentioned to be "in contact" with the future Hall of Famer. Scherzer, who is now 40-years-old, threw less than 60 innings at the Triple-A and Major League levels in 2024. Although he fared fairly well in nine starts with the Rangers, it was spread across three different timeframes. He didn't debut until June 23rd due to an offseason surgery to fix a herniated disc in his back, then made his way back to the IL after eight starts due to right shoulder fatigue before being put back on the IL after just one start due to a left hamstring strain.
    After missing out on Roku Sasaki, the Blue Jays are still trying to bolster their rotation and Scherzer represents a good buy-low option despite a rough 2024.
    Do you think the Jays should take a chance on the three time Cy Young Award winner?
    Matthew Lenz
    It was reported earlier that the Blue Jays were interested in acquiring Astros' reliever Ryan Pressly ($$).
    Now it's being reported that Pressly, who has a no-trade clause, will not waive for a team on either coast.
    This effectively eliminates the Blue Jays from acquiring two-time All Star. This news comes roughly a week after losing out on the Tanner Scott sweepstakes and, as of right now, the team hasn't been tied to any other reliever via trade or on the open market.
    From the perspective of the bullpen, this has been a disappointing offseason for the Jays who had arguably the worst relief corpse in baseball a year ago. While it's encouraging to hear them getting involved in high end relievers, it means very little if they can't close the deal.
    Who should they target next whether it be via free agency or trade?
    Matthew Lenz
    Andy Martino of SNY is reporting that talks between the Blue Jays and Pete Alonso are "advancing", but further states that a deal is "not done yet" and that there is "no guarantee" one will get done.
    Alonso, a 30-year-old four-time All-Star, is the top name remaining on the market but hasn't been tied to many teams. In fact, other than the Blue Jays, the New York Mets are the only other team to have been tied to the 1st base slugger. The Mets were said to offer a three-year contract in the $68-70 million range with opt-outs, per Joel Sherman and Dan Martin of The New York Post, which was then declined by Alonso's camp unofficially marking the end of his time in Queens. Around that same time, Will Sammon of The Athletic ($$) said that Alonso and his representatives at the Boras Corporation pitched a similar deal to the Mets but with higher annual salaries.
    So if we start putting together multiple reports, it appears that Alonso is open to a short-term deal as long as it includes opt outs and exceeds $23 million per year. How far north of $23 million Alonso and company want has not been made clear to this point, but MLB Trade Rumors suggest that the front loaded $80 million that Cody Bellinger received is the low bar to obtain Alonso's services.
    Across six big-league seasons, the righty has proven to be a modern day iron horse having exceeded 152 games played five times and has a 162 game average of 43 home runs and 112 runs batted in.
    Given his reliability and skillset, how much are you willing to fork over for Alonso?
    Davy Andrews
    A few hours after news broke that Roki Sasaki had eliminated the Padres and was choosing between the Blue Jays and the Dodgers, the Blue Jays announced that they had traded for outfielder Myles Straw from the the Guardians in exchange for either cash or a player to be named later. However, Straw wasn't the real headliner, and neither was the cash.
    The real headliner was what the Jays got back: $2 million in international bonus pool money, the kind a team could spend on Roki Sasaki. We shouldn't take this as any indication about which way Sasaki is leaning, but it does make it clear that the Blue Jays still think they've got a chance.
    As for Straw, he's a very useful player, a Gold Glove outfielder who doesn't hit, so he is certainly capable of sliding right in for Kevin Kiermaier without missing a beat.
    Davy Andrews
    Good morning, and I hope you're not sick of this same old picture from the photo services (© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images, thank you for your service). It appears that Roki Sasaki is now deciding between only the Blue Jays and the Dodgers. This morning, Francys Romero reported that multiple sources have told him the superlative 23-year-old Japanese pitcher is no longer considering the Padres.
    Sasaki announced just a few days ago that he was down to three finalists. In case math isn't your specialty, today's news leaves just the Blue Jays and the Dodgers standing in the Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes, bringing Toronto's chances from one-third to one-half.
    Well, we actually have no idea what the Blue Jays' chances are. We're busy chasing theories. The smart money is still on the Dodgers, who boast their own Japanese superstar, a juggernaut of a team that contends for a World Series ring year in and year out, a deep farm system, a cutting-edge player development department, deep pockets, closer proximity to Japan, and at this point, I think you get the picture so I will pause for a moment to breathe into a paper bag.
    Ok, so the Blue Jays are still plucky underdogs here. However, they clearly have something that interests Sasaki. Even if they don't land him, at least they didn't finish in third!
    Fingers crossed. Everything crossed. I need another paper bag.
    Jays24
    According to Mike Rodriguez, a source has told him that the New York Mets are attempting to trade for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
    Which is strange news because former Met and current free agent first baseman Pete Alonso is... right there. A long-time fan favorite in Queens, Alonso has had a quiet offseason as he looks for a long-term contract.
    To say the least, this feels like an odd fit for both teams.
    Report: Mets checked in with Blue Jays about Guerrero this winter
    https://thescore.com/mlb/news/3190734
    Davy Andrews
    Well this isn't a great look. This morning, Baseball Prospectus released its long-awaited 2025 prospect rankings. The list is 101 names long and sortable, which makes it really to sort by the reverse alphabetical order of the organization and discover the zero names between WSH and TEX. There is no TOR. There are no Blue Jays in the top 101. It's a step down from 2024, when Ricky Tiedemann and Orelvis Martinez were the Blue Jays' only entries. Neither player has exhausted their prospect eligibility.
    Jays24
    Are we just setting ourselves up for disappointment again? (Editor's note: if you hear any mention of an airplane and/or flight to Toronto, turn away from your screen and save yourself).
    Scott Mitchell is hearing "all-in" when it comes to the Blue Jays and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. At some point, a Japanese player is going to have to choose a team other than the Los Angeles Dodgers and when that happens, why not the Blue Jays?
    Jays24
    As has been reported previously, the Blue Jays made a formal offer to outfielder Anthony Santander. Details of the deal are not known but Santander was seeking five years earlier in the offseason while fellow corner outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, a similar player in many ways, signed in Los Angeles for only three seasons.
    How much are the Jays and Santander off? Hard to say but it wouldn't be surprising to find out that the disagreement is over years more than dollars per year.
    Jays24
    Francys Romero reported that teams are circling free agent third baseman Yoan Moncada as everyone waits for Alex Bregman to make a decision.
    Moncada has had a career all too typical for recent White Sox prospects. He started off strongly, peaking with a 140 OPS+ in 2019, having another very good season in 2021, and then spiraling due to injuries afterward. He will enter his age-30 season in 2025.
    Jays24
    Ari Alexander of the Houston-based NBC affiliate KPRC2, has reported that three teams appear to be in on the former Astros third baseman: the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays.
    The Tigers are looking to spend and compete after a surprise postseason run in 2024 while the Red Sox have toyed with the idea of moving Rafael Devers off third base where his glove can be problematic. The Jays could use both Bregman's steady glove and solid power at the hot corner. It's always concerning to see a power righty come out of Houston given that the Crawford boxes are easy exploits for pull hitters. It turns out, Bregman actually hit slightly more career home runs on the road than he did at Minute Maid.
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