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

[aingefan]

Bats:
RH Alonso Bregman Kim
SW Profar Moncada

Starters:
RH Flaherty Pivetta
LH Quinones Heaney

 

[stats1]

I could see it being Alonso since reports out of New York made it sound like he grossly misplayed his hand and thinks he's worth more than he is.

Wonder if he would consider a rich 1 year deal to try again next year?

Edit: Forgot Bregman is still out there too.

I think it’s going to be Alonso. Him in the Line-up would push this team to WC contention

 

[Suntouchable13]

They can easily get both Bo and Vladdy done. They have like 9 guys under contract for 2026.

 

[Kurtz]

I doubt they have enough money left, but signing Pete and putting him at DH would be great. You can't really have an infield with Vlad at 3rd, Bo SS and Pete 1B full-time, that's a defensive nightmare.

 

[trellaine201]

Terrible range.

Worse or better than Teoscar?

 

[Ale Brew]

Worse or better than Teoscar?

Teo took bad routes and was a bit out of an adventure, but had good speed and a cannon of an arm. Santander isn’t slow, but definitely slower than Teo. His arm is decent, not as good as Teo though. He definitely takes better routes and is a bit more consistent with the glove. Neither guy is great, but neither is at the point where they need to be a full time DH, yet.

Although different, I’d grade them similarly in the OF.

 

[Cloned]

You probably don’t need three Gold Gloves in the OF at the same time. They’ve sacrificed so much offense for defense over the past few years that it’s about time they go the other way a bit.

 

[The Iceman]

How did atkins do well with Cleveland and been so bad with the jays? It’s really starting to look like pure luck.

Not pure luck at all.
Atkins was vice president of player personnel for Cleveland.

Not GM.

 

[francis246]

I doubt they have enough money left, but signing Pete and putting him at DH would be great. You can't really have an infield with Vlad at 3rd, Bo SS and Pete 1B full-time, that's a defensive nightmare.

If they sign Pete to DH that would be incredible.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[matand]

To be honest I rather sign Profar and put him in left field and have Santander in right field. And put springer at dh, you can also sign bregman for 3rd.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[tmlfan98]

I would really like Profar as the 2nd bat added because he's like the only guy left in FA who's a good leadoff hitter option.

If we optimistically assume the Jays have finally realized Springer can't do it anymore, our current leadoff hitter is probably a Wagner/Clement platoon vs RHP/LHP. Profar would be a nice upgrade there.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Larcos_Unal]

Dang, that's a positive

 

[aingefan]

I would really like Profar as the 2nd bat added because he's like the only guy left in FA who's a good leadoff hitter option.

If we optimistically assume the Jays have finally realized Springer can't do it anymore, our current leadoff hitter is probably a Wagner/Clement platoon vs RHP/LHP. Profar would be a nice upgrade there.

I think Wagner is a great leadoff idea.
I don’t mind Profar at all, but would be my second favorite option behind Big Pete.

 

[Dr.Funk]

To be honest I rather sign Profar and put him in left field and have Santander in right field. And put springer at dh, you can also sign bregman for 3rd.

Springer is the superior defender. He'd be in the OF.

 

[Killer Orcas]

Solid signing I see were deferring dollars now to jumping on Dodgers game plan. Hopefully we see some traction now and some other deals start to come together.

 

[Discoverer]

I doubt they have enough money left, but signing Pete and putting him at DH would be great. You can't really have an infield with Vlad at 3rd, Bo SS and Pete 1B full-time, that's a defensive nightmare.

I don't expect another bat that good, but Alonso to mostly DH would be a great fit. You could probably offer him close to half a season at 1B (something like 40 games at 3B and 40 games at DH for Vlad).

 

[phillipmike]

FG’s projected WAR:
Yankees: 48.8
O’s: 46.2
Rangers: 46.0
Astros: 45.4
Twins: 45.2
Mariners: 42.2

Jays: 41.9
Red Sox: 41.3
Royals: 40.9
Tigers: 40.1
Rays: 40.1

You like your chances battling Seattle and Boston for that last spot if healthy.

You add;
One of Bregman or Alonso or Profar
One of Pivetta or Flaherty
Pen arm

Scherzer, Quintana or Heaney would interested me as well.

You probably add 2-3 more WAR if you land 3 players from that list and you’re right there with the Astros, and Twins for the 4-5 seed. I honestly don’t believe the Yankees are that much better than us but I’ve been saying that for 5 years now.

 

[phillipmike]

Keegan Matheson has a great point.

Jays finish;
2nd for Ohtani
2nd for Burnes
2nd for Sasaki
2nd on Fried
2nd for Bellinger
In the market for Teo before he went back to LA
They were in on Scott
Interested in Torres

Jays sign Santander. (Crickets)

Where are the reports indicated who finished 2nd in the Santander sweepstakes?

Easy for the media to crap on the Jays.

 

[phillipmike]

What Santander’s deal means and where it may lead for Blue Jays

The Anthony Santander signing makes the Blue Jays a better team. But there's still work to be done, and some intriguing opportunities remain for Toronto, writes Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.

www.sportsnet.ca

Like Alonso and Scherzer, Pivetta is a client of Scott Boras, the powerful agent who has already landed monster deals for Juan Soto and Burnes this off-season. He also represents Alex Bregman, who would fit neatly onto the Blue Jays’ depth chart but might get bigger offers from the Tigers and Red Sox.

As the season progresses, the likes of Addison Barger, Joey Loperfido, Alan Roden and Jonatan Clase would ideally emerge as viable contributors for a contending team, so the Blue Jays aren’t desperate when it comes to outfield help, but they can at least look to be opportunistic (maybe it’s worth calling the Padres about Fernando Tatis Jr. and Dylan Cease just in case).

 

[GoonieFace]

Keegan Matheson has a great point.

Jays finish;
2nd for Ohtani
2nd for Burnes
2nd for Sasaki
2nd on Fried
2nd for Bellinger
In the market for Teo before he went back to LA
They were in on Scott
Interested in Torres

Jays sign Santander. (Crickets)

Where are the reports indicated who finished 2nd in the Santander sweepstakes?

Easy for the media to crap on the Jays.

Well it wasn’t reported, but I finished a close second for Emily Blunt, Ana De Armas and Mila Kunis.

It’s such a bunch of crap, just easy for these guys to poke fun.

 

[Discoverer]

FG’s projected WAR:
Yankees: 48.8
O’s: 46.2
Rangers: 46.0
Astros: 45.4
Twins: 45.2
Mariners: 42.2

Jays: 41.9
Red Sox: 41.3
Royals: 40.9
Tigers: 40.1
Rays: 40.1

You like your chances battling Seattle and Boston for that last spot if healthy.

You add;
One of Bregman or Alonso or Profar
One of Pivetta or Flaherty
Pen arm

Scherzer, Quintana or Heaney would interested me as well.

You probably add 2-3 more WAR if you land 3 players from that list and you’re right there with the Astros, and Twins for the 4-5 seed. I honestly don’t believe the Yankees are that much better than us but I’ve been saying that for 5 years now.

The ZiPS projections had the Jays at 84-85 wins (actually 87-88, but Szymborski edited it down due to a lack of pitching depth). That was before Hoffman and Santander, so presumably they have them back in the 86-87 range.

 

[phillipmike]