Blue Jays Discussion: 2024-25 Off-season: The free agent watch begins (and sometimes old baseball radio broadcasts)

[MK78]

And one of the biggest payroll.

I think lot of Jays fans underrate Vlad as a hitter. He has one of the worst middle of the lineup hitting behind him. Jays 4th and 5th batters are some of the worst in all baseball. He's not protected pitchers can easily throw around him.

I guess we'll find out this year, if Santander is half decent hitting behind him. He hasn't had that for a couple years. Brandon Bell and Justin Turner? Yeah no.

 

[Zero1]

The thing is he would have gotten 400-500 million on the open market just because he would be hitting free agency at a relatively young age.

If the Jays didn't give it to him, someone else will.

Yeah I don’t doubt that in free agency he’s going to get a stupid number from the Dodgers/Mets/Yankees. Those teams run on an insane payroll which is why the Jays have to trade him.

I think the Mets are the biggest threat. Unlimited money + Soto.

 

[phillipmike]

2025 Top 100 Prospects

Eric Longenhagen presents his 2025 Top 100 Prospects list, with reports for each player.

blogs.fangraphs.com

66. Jake Bloss
82. Arjun Nimmala
102. Ricky Tiedemann

ZiPS 2025 Top 100 Prospects

Running down the Top 100 prospects cranked out from the ZiPS projection factory.

blogs.fangraphs.com

47. Orelvis Martinez
51. Arjun Nimmala
60. Jake Bloss
80. Will Wagner
84. Ricky Tiedemann

Jays are tied for 2nd with the most prospects in the top 100. They are also tied for 3rd with the most prospects in the top 500.

 

[shortfuze]

Remember me ripping management for the last few years.

Hate to say I told you guys.

Worst run organization in sports

f*** this team and f*** everyone involved with it.

Not one person should buy a ticket or any merchandise to support this shit hole

i really dont think you hate saying it.

 

[robertmac43]

The quote about him looking for a "winning team" is worrying. I know of some teams in the AL East who are far more committed than we are...

 

[MK78]

I think the Mets are the biggest threat. Unlimited money + Soto.

That depends if Alonso opts out. Yanks also only signed a 1B for 1 year, knowing full well Vladdy was gonna make it to free agency.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[shortfuze]

Credit where credit is due. You were the only one on this board critical of management.

the only one? there were lots.

 

[Beaumaris]

Really curious about what Vladdy's number was. This just looks like sheer incompetence.

What ever it was,it was way too high.Another of Toronto’s quasi
Superstars.

 

[MK78]

The quote about him looking for a "winning team" is worrying. I know of some teams in the AL East who are far more committed than we are...

Let's not forget, he was on a team that made the wild card 3 out of the last 4 seasons. He had 3 hits, 1 RBI in 22 at bats, .139 avg, .422 ops. He didn't exactly contribute in the way he wants to be paid.

 

[leafsfan2point0]

Is anyone really shocked by this? Shatkins have been an absolute disaster most of their tenure here. They have no idea what they’re doing.

They’re the worst management team I’ve ever seen in my lifetime of being a Toronto sports fan including JFJ, Nonis, etc.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Toronto Blue Jays CEO Shapiro Addresses Media After Failing To Sign Guerrero Jr.

February 18, 2025

Watch the full media availability from Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro the morning after failing to reach an agreement with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at or before the slugger's self-imposed deadline.

Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins Speaks After Failing To Sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Full Press Conference

February 18, 2025

Watch the full media availability from Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins the day after failing to reach a contract extension with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. by the superstar's deadline, says they're disappointed but remain optimistic a deal can still be done.

 

[Amadeus]

Ross, you are a symbol of 'falling short' every single time you decide to pursue something and because of that you are a disappointment.

 

[Discoverer]

I mean, management deserves to be blamed for where things are now with Vlad and Bo, but ownership was part of the negotiations. If they wanted to get it done, they could have made it happen. They deserve plenty of the blame, too.

 

[shortfuze]

Is anyone really shocked by this? Shatkins have been an absolute disaster most of their tenure here. They have no idea what they’re doing.

would you have been happier if they signed VG to a ridiculous contract that he wouldnt live up to? which will probably be the case. i understand why people are upset with management but they have to draw the line on numbers at some point.

 

[Zero1]

2025 Top 100 Prospects

Eric Longenhagen presents his 2025 Top 100 Prospects list, with reports for each player.

blogs.fangraphs.com

66. Jake Bloss
82. Arjun Nimmala
102. Ricky Tiedemann

ZiPS 2025 Top 100 Prospects

Running down the Top 100 prospects cranked out from the ZiPS projection factory.

blogs.fangraphs.com

47. Orelvis Martinez
51. Arjun Nimmala
60. Jake Bloss
80. Will Wagner
84. Ricky Tiedemann

Jays are tied for 2nd with the most prospects in the top 100. They are also tied for 3rd with the most prospects in the top 500.

At the end of the day those lists don’t mean much.

Jays need guys to be contributors at the MLB level. Outside of Manoah for a brief stint, who has really come up as a regular for the Jays in the last 3-4 years?

 

[leafsfan2point0]

would you have been happier if they signed VG to a ridiculous contract that he wouldnt live up to? which will probably be the case. i understand why people are upset with management but they have to draw the line on numbers at some point.

Maybe they should’ve signed him years ago when he wanted an extension. It would’ve aged nicely.

Management has made the wrong decisions their whole tenure and I don’t understand how anyone can defend them. I feel bad for the fans.

 

[Suntouchable13]

would you have been happier if they signed VG to a ridiculous contract that he wouldnt live up to? which will probably be the case. i understand why people are upset with management but they have to draw the line on numbers at some point.

No, but a competent front office doesn’t get to this point anyway. They knew his number since like October. If they knew it was ridiculous back then, you have to trade him.

 

[stickty111]

would you have been happier if they signed VG to a ridiculous contract that he wouldnt live up to? which will probably be the case. i understand why people are upset with management but they have to draw the line on numbers at some point.

They didn't draw the line on other contracts, but it's okay to draw the line on their superstar? These guys are lost.

 

[MK78]

Maybe they should’ve signed him years ago when he wanted an extension. It would’ve aged nicely.

Management has made the wrong decisions their whole tenure and I don’t understand how anyone can defend them. I feel bad for the fans.

Yep thats the issue, they tried to lowball him before. They should have talked extension before he hit arbitration.

 

[phillipmike]

Would have liked to have kept him but whoever signs him will regret it. He isn’t worth $400-500M. Let someone else overpay him.

Call it like it is Vlad;

“I will do anything, everything I can to stay here because I want to be here.”

You didn’t do “everything” let alone anything. You didn’t sign when $150M was on the table in 2021 and when $340M was on the table in November. Jose Ramirez did everything he could to stay in Cleveland. Judge took $40M less than his top offer to stay with the Yankees. You just want the most money, which is fine. Just don’t BS us.

He's drawn a clear line on his number, which he says the #BlueJays were not close to, but multiple times he made it clear that he wants to keep distractions away from his team and that he wants to be in Toronto.

Doesn’t want to be a distraction? Then why impose an imaginary deadline to sign the deal? All negotiations tactics to get the most money. We saw this with Bautista, Donaldson and EE.

Makes up this deadline then says today he is willing to sign in season if they come “close to his number”.

Matheson “impressed” by Vlad for lying through his teeth?

Vlad can ask for what he wants but doesn’t mean he will get it. Hoping for a great season which will help the Jays win but this is an huge risk on his end too. Could get hurt or the Vlad we saw more of could return. Free agency isn’t always kind: see what happened to Bautista, Edwin, Alonso, Bregman, Bellinger, etc. some guys had to twice: Snell, Chapman, Teo, Donaldson.

All the power to him. But he is risking a lot if $400M was on the table. For every Ohtani, Soto and Judge, you have more guys who didn’t get that mark.

 

[Emerica]

Ownership has a large part of responsibility in this mess obviously. They are the ones who hitched their wagon to this lame duck GM and CEO to handle the most important negotiations in franchise history.

Also, the fact that Shapiro and Atkins are skirting questions about whether they were close or not is all we need to know. They were not. That is on ownership too.

 

[Woodman19]

I also feel like a competent front office would have done their work to know if this was going to be the direction or not and then maximize trade value and not load up on expensive veterans for a single season. Now we are going to get a measly comp pick, maybe not make the playoffs and have a Dodgerseque payroll with some bad money for the next few years before we are able to entertain building back up again.

We always find a way to minimize all our assets.

 

[phillipmike]

At the end of the day those lists don’t mean much.

Jays need guys to be contributors at the MLB level. Outside of Manoah for a brief stint, who has really come up as a regular for the Jays in the last 3-4 years?

That 2nd list is who ZiPs predicts which prospects will make an impact in 2025. So to be tied for 3rd most on this list is good.

Agreed, the prospects in the past 3-4 years have not been good. But doesn’t mean this list means nothing. They still have to perform but is a good indicator and better than not having any.

And this list doesn’t include probably our best prospect to make an impact in 2025: Alan Roden.

Unlike past years, the Jays could have 5-6 legit prospects ready to make an impact.

 

[Senator Stanley]

"Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins Speaks After Failing" just about sums up this man's tenure.