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

[The Nemesis]

That sucks, finally get a really good Canadian pitcher and he has one down year and gets cast aside

One down year because of a serious injury that seemed to not be healing properly or getting him to rebound properly. If it was just a matter of sucking they would've non-tendered Pop too. I suspect they looked at the reports from his last checkups and were spooked at the probability and timeliness of him getting back to anything resembling what he was.

This is the life of relievers. They are great until they aren't. They're reliable until they implode. They're reliable until they break. It sucks but I've been prepared for this ever since they stopped giving anything resembling an informed status report on him late in the season. That screamed "it's not going right but we're not airing that publicly." Maybe he claws his way back eventually but right now it seems like he's toast until proven otherwise.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

Interesting that they were willing to sign Chad Green and wait a whole season for him to recover, but not the same for Romano, kind of Interesting.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Really not a big fan of letting Romano walk. 7.75 for what is your most reliable bullpen arm seems fine no?

Guess whatever data they have on his arm likely doesn't look too good.

Washington did the same with Brandon Finnegan too. Made the NL All-Star team and finished second in the NL with 38 saves. Yet he's out on his ass.

 

[Suntouchable13]

They can still negotiate a deal with him for less money. They simply did not want him at 7.75. Would he even be anything but a huge question mark if they brought him back, though? He could very well be toast, his money could be used on someone else.

 

[The Podium]

Finnegan was non-tendered too and at this point I think he may be the better option

 

[Suntouchable13]

Finnegan was non-tendered too and at this point I think he may be the better option

Could be, but relievers are so weird. How come Washington doesn't want this guy anymore? Something is fishy.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Finnegan is kinda trash and too volatile to keep around

 

[The Nemesis]

Interesting that they were willing to sign Chad Green and wait a whole season for him to recover, but not the same for Romano, kind of Interesting.

Green had TJ didn't he? As serious as that is, it's a pretty straightforward path for guys getting back. He was also signed for like half of what Romano was scheduled to make (I checked and the deal looks like it was 2 years, $8.5m plus some options baked in)

Like I said before, the obvious explanation would seem to be that there's been something about Romano's recovery from his injuries last year that has the Jays spooked into believing it's not worth the risk to pay him what they would've had to tender him for.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

Green had TJ didn't he? As serious as that is, it's a pretty straightforward path for guys getting back. He was also signed for like half of what Romano was scheduled to make (I checked and the deal looks like it was 2 years, $8.5m plus some options baked in)

Like I said before, the obvious explanation would seem to be that there's been something about Romano's recovery from his injuries last year that has the Jays spooked into believing it's not worth the risk to pay him what they would've had to tender him for.

Yeah he had TJ I think he only pitched like 17 innings with the Yankees the year before the Jays signed him in the off season, and waited the whole year for him to recover to throw 12 innings. He obviously was healthy last season and had his moments, but he also had some bad moments especially near the end of the season if I remember

I just find it a little interesting how they took the risk with Chad but not with Romano, but I've been questioning this upper management for years, so basically anything they do is questionable imo. I will say though I'm not worried if Romano is here or not tbh, I don't think he was that dominant if being honest, so I don't care if he's here or not. I think there are better pitchers/closers out there anyways.

 

[The Nemesis]

Yeah he had TJ I think he only pitched like 17 innings with the Yankees the year before the Jays signed him in the off season, and waited the whole year for him to recover to throw 12 innings. He obviously was healthy last season and had his moments, but he also had some bad moments especially near the end of the season if I remember

I just find it a little interesting how they took the risk with Chad but not with Romano, but I've been questioning this upper management for years, so basically anything they do is questionable imo. I will say though I'm not worried if Romano is here or not tbh, I don't think he was that dominant if being honest, so I don't care if he's here or not. I think there are better pitchers/closers out there anyways.

I think it's different because the risk is different. TJ returns are a known quantity for the most part by now. You know the timeline, you know the likelihood of recapturing something resembling previous form, and you know the chances that it doesn't work out.

But Romano had arthroscopic surgery in July for some sort of elbow impingement. They've had like 5 months to watch him since then as he's rehabbed and whatever. If they have that much evidence and chose to walk away it suggests to me that they think the risk is greater. Maybe it's because the injury is more unpredictable. Maybe it's because he's shown something in his workouts or tests that suggest this isn't a solved issue. Maybe he's lost velocity. Who knows. But it seems pretty reasonable to assume that they took the risk with Green because they had reason to expect him to turn out fine but won't take it with Romano because either they don't know how it'll turn out or think it'll turn out poorly for him.

And maybe it blows up in their faces and he latches on with the Orioles or something and pitches well for them. That's the risk. But for the $7m+ that they were scheduled to pay him they can go and get someone or a couple of someones who can fill Romano's vacated hole in the pen and others. Because the issues in this bullpen go beyond just Romano being there or not.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

I think it's different because the risk is different. TJ returns are a known quantity for the most part by now. You know the timeline, you know the likelihood of recapturing something resembling previous form, and you know the chances that it doesn't work out.

But Romano had arthroscopic surgery in July for some sort of elbow impingement. They've had like 5 months to watch him since then as he's rehabbed and whatever. If they have that much evidence and chose to walk away it suggests to me that they think the risk is greater. Maybe it's because the injury is more unpredictable. Maybe it's because he's shown something in his workouts or tests that suggest this isn't a solved issue. Maybe he's lost velocity. Who knows. But it seems pretty reasonable to assume that they took the risk with Green because they had reason to expect him to turn out fine but won't take it with Romano because either they don't know how it'll turn out or think it'll turn out poorly for him.

And maybe it blows up in their faces and he latches on with the Orioles or something and pitches well for them. That's the risk. But for the $7m+ that they were scheduled to pay him they can go and get someone or a couple of someones who can fill Romano's vacated hole in the pen and others. Because the issues in this bullpen go beyond just Romano being there or not.

Obviously I agree they probably know something being so close to him, but again tbh I was okay with letting Romano go last off season and keeping Hicks over him, just unfortunate Hicks wanted to be a starter, he was a good reliever imo and I liked him he threw hard. They might even look at a Garcia reunion to replace Romano, but I don't care as much as I did say a year or two ago. I'm just totally done with Shatkins and I'm having a hard time supporting the Jays a little right now, as long as those 2 clowns are here running them I have no hope for the team unfortunately.

If they expect to be somewhat competitive they need to fix that bullpen big time, and get some legit offense clutch power, with a 3B or a 2B, I just don't trust them, would rather someone else be hired to make the decisions going forward.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Don't really understand the Pop tender. He's been awful and has no options left. Sure the pen has lots of holes right now but I don't see any realistic scenario where he fills one of them. Green and Swanson are locks. Presumably Yariel or another long man will be there. Burr and Little were actually kind of decent last year and have a huge leg up on Pop if there's spots left for internal competition. Nance was fine as well and has no options. Danner has no options and while he hasn't had any real MLB time to prove himself he's been clearly better than Pop at the AAA level.

So status quo Pop is your 8th guy right now. The first guy you add in FA he's no longer on the team. They're going to add at least 2 and possibility up to 4 guys. I just don't see how he beats out enough of Burr, Little, Nance and Danner in Spring Training. He might need to beat all 4. Feel like it's just lighting a million dollars on fire to DFA him at the end of Spring. Is the arbitration award guaranteed?

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I hate this management more than any management team in sports. Why are they still here?

 

[tmlfan98]

Don't really understand the Pop tender. He's been awful and has no options left. Sure the pen has lots of holes right now but I don't see any realistic scenario where he fills one of them. Green and Swanson are locks. Presumably Yariel or another long man will be there. Burr and Little were actually kind of decent last year and have a huge leg up on Pop if there's spots left for internal competition. Nance was fine as well and has no options. Danner has no options and while he hasn't had any real MLB time to prove himself he's been clearly better than Pop at the AAA level.

So status quo Pop is your 8th guy right now. The first guy you add in FA he's no longer on the team. They're going to add at least 2 and possibility up to 4 guys. I just don't see how he beats out enough of Burr, Little, Nance and Danner in Spring Training. He might need to beat all 4. Feel like it's just lighting a million dollars on fire to DFA him at the end of Spring. Is the arbitration award guaranteed?

Yeah Pop getting tendered is way more questionable than Romano being non-tendered, yet the Romano non-tender seems to be getting more criticism from the fanbase in general. I'm kind of assuming Romano's arm is cooked, otherwise I think they would have tendered him. Pop just straight up sucks.

 

[canucksfan]

Pop getting tendered doesn't mean too much if they use him as depth. He doesn't make too much and they could bury him in the minors. I am not a fan of his though.

The success of the offseason won't be determined by Pop getting tendered.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Pop getting tendered doesn't mean too much if they use him as depth. He doesn't make too much and they could bury him in the minors. I am not a fan of his though.

The success of the offseason won't be determined by Pop getting tendered.

They can't bury him in the minors though, that's the problem. If he doesn't make the team he has no options. They DFA him, he clears waivers and elects free agency and takes the million dollars the Jays just gave him for no real reason. It's odd.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

Just remember before you start defending some of the bullpen guys from last season.

The Blue Jays bullpen was one of the worst in baseball last season, ranking 29th in ERA (4.82) and last in fWAR (minus-2.5).

 

[PanniniClaus]

Really not a big fan of letting Romano walk. 7.75 for what is your most reliable bullpen arm seems fine no?

Guess whatever data they have on his arm likely doesn't look too good.

Washington did the same with Brandon Finnegan too. Made the NL All-Star team and finished second in the NL with 38 saves. Yet he's out on his ass.

Dave Martinez is a noted relief pitcher abuser.. It will be buyer beware on Finnegan.

 

[canucksfan]

Just remember before you start defending some of the bullpen guys from last season.

The Blue Jays bullpen was one of the worst in baseball last season, ranking 29th in ERA (4.82) and last in fWAR (minus-2.5).

Quite sure no one will be defending the bullpen guys from last year. Consensus here is the team needs around four relief arms and a few of them need to be significant pieces.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

Quite sure no one will be defending the bullpen guys from last year. Consensus here is the team needs around four relief arms and a few of them need to be significant pieces.

Pop or Swanson, you seemed to be okay with Pop but okay....

 

[Discoverer]

Pop or Swanson, you seemed to be okay with Pop but okay....

Having, say, Pop as a depth piece (no options makes it weird, so we'll see how everything plays out) and Swanson as your 5th best reliever is perfectly fine. The problem last year was that they needed way more out of them than that.

The bullpen was a complete disaster last year. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of literally everyone and start from scratch.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

Having, say, Pop as a depth piece (no options makes it weird, so we'll see how everything plays out) and Swanson as your 5th best reliever is perfectly fine. The problem last year was that they needed way more out of them than that.

The bullpen was a complete disaster last year. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of literally everyone and start from scratch.

Thornton or White still available

 

[canucksfan]

Pop or Swanson, you seemed to be okay with Pop but okay....

I thought Pop could be sent down. I'm not okay with him being with the team unless he comes into camp and is a lot different. Swanson, I am fine with because he was good after he got called up and he went through a shitty deal at the start of the year.

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

I thought Pop could be sent down. I'm not okay with him being with the team unless he comes into camp and is a lot different. Swanson, I am fine with because he was good after he got called up and he went through a shitty deal at the start of the year.

Obviously what Swanson did 2 seasons ago was good, and I guess hope he returns, but man he was horrible last season, makes the Teo trade look even more bad.

 

[MK78]

Sucks that Romano is gone, but I think it might be a good thing because I think if you get 3 good years out of a high leverage reliever nowadays its a good run. That's what we got, and now with the major injury there's a chance he's never gonna be as good.