Blue Jays Discussion: 2024-25 Off-season: The free agent watch begins (and sometimes old baseball radio broadcasts)
- Thread starter The Nemesis
- Start date
I think the problem with this thinking is Teo's performance in LA is somehow being thrown into this equation.
in a vacuum, the Jays won the trade. Teo struggled in Seattle while claiming the batter's eye sucked (honestly might be worth looking into if you're the Mariners.) whereas Swanson was valuable in 2023 and one of the Jays best relievers. The trade is a win.
If they traded him, there was no chance they were going to re-sign him anyway, so him coming back to life in LA is a moot point.
Yeah, the Mariners got what they got and that's done - an underwhelming 2023 season from Teoscar.
The Jays got a dominant 2023 from Swanson plus ~$10 million in savings, a garbage 2024 season, whatever he does going forward, and whatever Macko is able to do.
I don't mind moving on from Romano. They must have a plan to bring in a new closer.
So what's the bullpen depth now, something like Green, Swanson, Rodriguez with some AAA guys? Probably need to bring in 3 more arms at minimum.
1. Gausman
2. Berrios
3. Francis
4. Bassit
5. _______
1. _________
2. Green
3. ________
4. Swanson
5. Rodriguez
6. _______
7. Danner? / ? /
8. Bloss? / ? /
ChuckNorris4Cup
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You can argue it for 2023 forsure, but obviously not for last year, but the main factor, is this management going for a defense first mentality over an offense first mentality.
But we never owned Teo’s rights for last year. We technically could have signed him back as a FA, so last year wasn’t part of the deal. Part of the value we got was 4 cost controlled seasons of Swanson for 1 year of Teo.
ChuckNorris4Cup
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Exactly and another question why after Ohtani didn't come here last season, guys like Teo, Bellinger were available, yet Jays weren't linked to either of them, because this management was still committed to this defense first mentality.
ChuckNorris4Cup
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- May 31, 2018
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Toronto just waiting on a MLB insider to write "Soto is en route to Toronto, but not sure of his travel plans" then they can try and track his planeHow come we are not following planes for Soto?
The Blue Jays cut Jordan Romano to save money. They might pay for it - Toronto Star
By non-tendering Romano, the Jays are admitting they don’t believe he’ll get back to his old form after an injury-plagued season. He was limited to 13 2/3 innings this year because of an elbow injury that required surgery. The native of Markham told the Star’s Mike Wilner earlier this month that he was feeling great and expected to soon resume throwing off a mound.
Romano’s departure will make Atkins’ task of overhauling the relief corps even more daunting.
The Jays have veteran Chad Green at the back end of the bullpen and then a lot of question marks. Right-hander Erik Swanson, who avoided arbitration on Friday by signing a $3-million deal, is coming off a season in which he posted a 5.05 ERA. None of Tommy Nance, Brendon Little, Ryan Burr and Zach Pop has a long track record of success.
The upside here for the Jays is additional financial flexibility. Team president Mark Shapiro has previously said next year’s payroll is expected to remain similar to 2024. They were already expected to have about $40 million to spend this off-season, and now that number will tick up even higher. The top available free-agent relievers include Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez, Kenley Jansen and Clay Holmes.
The Jays and Romano technically could still be reunited, but a source told the Star that no offer was made prior to Friday’s deadline, so there’s little reason to believe one will be coming in the weeks ahead. Romano is free to talk with all 30 teams and will likely be seeking a one-year incentive-laden deal with an opportunity to re-enter the marketplace next fall.
Without having access to Romano’s medicals it’s impossible to properly critique the Jays’ decision. If Romano struggles to get healthy or experiences a drop on his upper-90s fastball, this will have been a smart move. If Romano bounces back, it’s a needless blow to an already weak bullpen that will be difficult to fix without much prospect capital to offer in trades.
What should be far more certain is that Romano deserved better.
By non-tendering Romano, the Jays are admitting they don’t believe he’ll get back to his old form after an injury-plagued season. He was limited to 13 2/3 innings this year because of an elbow injury that required surgery. The native of Markham told the Star’s Mike Wilner earlier this month that he was feeling great and expected to soon resume throwing off a mound.
Romano’s departure will make Atkins’ task of overhauling the relief corps even more daunting.
The Jays have veteran Chad Green at the back end of the bullpen and then a lot of question marks. Right-hander Erik Swanson, who avoided arbitration on Friday by signing a $3-million deal, is coming off a season in which he posted a 5.05 ERA. None of Tommy Nance, Brendon Little, Ryan Burr and Zach Pop has a long track record of success.
The upside here for the Jays is additional financial flexibility. Team president Mark Shapiro has previously said next year’s payroll is expected to remain similar to 2024. They were already expected to have about $40 million to spend this off-season, and now that number will tick up even higher. The top available free-agent relievers include Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez, Kenley Jansen and Clay Holmes.
The Jays and Romano technically could still be reunited, but a source told the Star that no offer was made prior to Friday’s deadline, so there’s little reason to believe one will be coming in the weeks ahead. Romano is free to talk with all 30 teams and will likely be seeking a one-year incentive-laden deal with an opportunity to re-enter the marketplace next fall.
Without having access to Romano’s medicals it’s impossible to properly critique the Jays’ decision. If Romano struggles to get healthy or experiences a drop on his upper-90s fastball, this will have been a smart move. If Romano bounces back, it’s a needless blow to an already weak bullpen that will be difficult to fix without much prospect capital to offer in trades.
What should be far more certain is that Romano deserved better.
- Dec 12, 2017
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tmlfan98
No More Excuses #MarnerOut
The first part is the most important. Romano hasn't even gotten back on a mound yet. Why would any team tender a projected 7.75M AAV offer to an injured arm like that?
The comparisons the media are trying to draw to the Chad Green bet are lazy ragebait ("Why did Shatkins bet on an injured Green but not Romano?"). The answer is that Chad Green's AAV in 2023 was only 2.25M. And his player option for 2024 if things went really wrong was 6.25M. Compared to Romano's projected AAV for 2025 if the Jays had tendered him that is nothing.
Again, I don't think a single team in baseball would tender a projected 7.75M AAV offer to an injured arm who isn't even at the stage in his recovery yet where he's back on a mound.
trellaine201
Registered User
Romano was injured well before this year. He was playing through issues many many times. Eventually he broke. Can’t be good.
5 non-tendered players the Blue Jays should immediately be targeting
The Blue Jays have so many different holes on their roster, so they could use some recently non-tendered players.
jaysjournal.com
5 non-tendered players the Blue Jays should pursue
Austin Hays
Blue Jays fans are all-too-familiar with Hays and what he brings to the table, as he's been torturing Toronto pitching since he broke into the league back in 2017. The 29-year-old has put up above-average stat lines in every single full season of his career, but the Phillies didn't get the best version of him after this past season's trade deadline. With such a small margin for error on their contending roster, they chose to cut bait.
Hays is a consistent threat to hit between 15 and 20 home runs and has historically been a great hitter against both right- and left-handed pitching. While he's limited to a corner outfield spot at this stage in the game, he is always an offensive-minded player who the Blue Jays could use in their lineup.
Kyle Finnegan
Over the past five years, the Washington Nationals have gotten a ton of mileage out of Finnegan and his arm. The right-hander has made over 60 relief appearances four years in a row while saving 28 games or more in each of the last two.
Finnegan, 32, made the first All-Star Game of his career and finished the season with a 3.68 ERA and 110 ERA+ across 65 outings and 63.2 innings. The biggest concern, and likely the biggest reason he was non-tendered in the first place, was the fact that his wheels fell off a bit in the second half of the 2024 campaign.
In 24 second-half games, Finnegan posted a 5.79 ERA with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks in 23.1 innings. These are nowhere close to the 2.45 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 13 walks in 40.1 innings in the first half.
His next contract will be dependent on how concerned the signing team is with those splits. The Blue Jays are desperate in the worst way to find bullpen help, so adding Finnegan and hoping he replicates that first-half output in 2025 seems to be the way they'd go here.
Patrick Sandoval
Sandoval is not going to be available for the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he's been a rock-solid pitcher for the vast majority of his career to this point. The left-hander has proven to be an above-average pitcher in any year he has health on his side, so the Blue Jays would have to sign him knowing they aren't going to see him until '26.
Sandoval, 28, has a career 4.01 ERA, 3.96 FIP and 108 ERA+ across 100 starts (and seven relief appearances) dating back to 2019. In each year from 2021-2023, he sported an ERA+ north of 100 and while his 5.08 ERA in 2024 doesn't instill much confidence, his 3.87 FIP provides much more hope.
Hunter Stratton
Stratton, 28, is another player that's currently on the long-term injured list, but he showed a ton of potential out of the Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen this past season. The right-hander made it into 36 games for the Pirates, posting a 3.58 ERA, 3.25 FIP and 118 ERA+ through 37.2 innings.
Since he's got such a small amount of experience under his belt and he's injured, Stratton should come cheap for a team that needs bullpen help. Rumor has it the Pirates are working on a reunion with the reliever, but the Blue Jays should be waiting to strike if nothing gets done from Pittsburgh.
George Valera
A long-time top prospect of the Guardians, Valera was non-tendered by Cleveland before he ever made it up to the big leagues. The 24-year-old has turned himself into quite the power threat down in the minor leagues and could be a player the Blue Jays target in hopes of capitlalizing on some of that potential.
In each full season since 2021, Valera has hit 11 or more home runs, topping out at 24 with 82 RBI in 2022. He's an on-base machine who draws his fair share of walks and has a ton of thump in that bat. Even if the Jays do sign him, he feels like a piece that'd start in Triple-A and work his way up to the majors, but Valera screams "change of scenery" like no other.
trellaine201
Registered User
I think and hope they something better planned. There are several closer type’s available in FA plus guys like Devin Williams or Helesley available by trade.
Green likely slots into a setup or high leverage role.
I would want Green as the third best option.
Wry n Ginger
Water which is too pure has no fish
Absolutely not. He is best as a 2nd or 3rd option vs a true closer.
phillipmike
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- Oct 27, 2009
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MLBTR had him making 1M less over the same term.
That's part of what terrified me about a lot of the Toronto links to starters.
He CAN be worth that. Was certainly good value for the Jays on his last deal, especially when you consider the return from the Astros.
The thing with Kikuchi is his inconsistency. He can go stretches where he looks terrible and other stretches where he looks like an ace.
Really won’t matter though as he’s gone to baseballs version of Siberia.
Suntouchable13
Registered User
Why did Houston cheap out on Kikuchi? They gave up a haul for him, and yet they don’t want to pay him 63M over 3 years? Or do they have other priorities this winter? Or Kikuchi really wanted to go to LA? A team that has been performing very poorly for a long time.
Houston is rumored to need to cut payroll. That's why they were supposed thinking of non-tendering Meyers and McCormick.
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