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

[phillipmike]

Incredibly naive to think it's purely about money.

You should be in favour of abolishing the draft.

Not saying that it is just about money but it does play a big role.

Just bringing up an example of how to make your offer stand out against competition that you likely know arent the leading suitors and hard for you to beat. There are always ways to accomplish this. Money is the first. Evident as Ryu signed here because we gave him 4 years when everyone else was offering 3. Springer and Gausman got the most money from the Jays. Satander getting the 5th year pushed the deal over the top.

It isnt always money, but when the Dodgers got Ohtani there were reports that the Jays offer was similar to the Dodgers or they were willing to go there. That isnt going to stand out when the Dodgers are the better team, have a better org and they are situated in LA which happened to be the city Ohtani lives/lived in for the past 7 years when he signed. You need to go the extra mile.

 

[habamillions]

There is the battle for backup catcher. Heineman and bethancourt lol

 

[smitty10]

There is the battle for backup catcher. Heineman and bethancourt lol

Was hoping they'd throw a little more money at the backup C.

I guess that'll be a deadline acquisition if we're in it.

 

[DuklaNation]

Lets look at Jack Flaherty. He's from LA county. Corbin Burnes, offered more money by Jays, chose Arizona. He lives there in offseason. Dodgers got 3 Japanese stars, they're on the west coast. Games are shown back in Japan.
This notion thstother teams could simply just spend more money just ignores multiple factors. Let alone the massive regional TV deal Dodgers have.

 

[smitty10]

[Murray] The Blue Jays are interested in Max Scherzer and they are interested in Pete Alonso. I don't know if both is possible, but we'll see what happens​

Ideally we'd get Alonso as well as a decent starter. Need more bop + another arm to move Yariel to the pen.

 

[Avilaj07]

Supposedly the Jays have signed Scherzer to a 1yr x 16 million aav + incentives

 

[phillipmike]

Wasnt supportive of Alonso with Vlad at 1B and needing DH bats for Springer, Kirk and Satander.

But the more i think about it, the more i like it. Springer and Bichette in front of Vlad is great with Satander and Alonso as big bats behind will help. Have at bats at DH and 1B for Vlad and Alonso and perhaps 3B for Vlad. I also like it as a safety net for Vlad. Jays can say if you walk we have 1B to try to get Vlad to stay if he really wanted, if not you have a good backup plan.

 

[Puckstuff]

BNS saying the Jays could go over the 3rd Cbt threshold, holy smokes.

 

[Dr.Funk]

Was hoping they'd throw a little more money at the backup C.

I guess that'll be a deadline acquisition if we're in it.

They have more faith in Kirk to be a 100+ game catcher than I do.

 

[howlman]

Supposedly the Jays have signed Scherzer to a 1yr x 16 million aav + incentives

Source? Trust me bro?

 

[phillipmike]

Lets look at Jack Flaherty. He's from LA county. Corbin Burnes, offered more money by Jays, chose Arizona. He lives there in offseason. Dodgers got 3 Japanese stars, they're on the west coast. Games are shown back in Japan.
This notion thstother teams could simply just spend more money just ignores multiple factors. Let alone the massive regional TV deal Dodgers have.

Maybe not with these Japanese players. but the Jays landed Asian players that usually stick to the west coast before in Ryu and Kikuchi because they offered the most money. It may be bs, but they got to pitch Ohtani and Sasaki due to their facilities in Dunedin and other facotrs. Didnt close the deal but having something to over other teams can make a huge difference. Case with Semien, he took less money and spurned better offers to sign with the Jays because of how good the team could have been with its core and the Dunedin facilities. There are many ways you make your team more attractive than others. Money is usually #1 and it usually is the case for a vast majority of other players. The goal and point isnt "Ohtani at all costs" rather find ways to make your team better. And the Jays wish to do that via free agency and if you do that, offering the most money usually gets the job done. If not, you have more than one way to make your team more attractive. i.e. the Jays hiring Sasaki's former teammate 2-3 years ago to give them an edge.

 

[Dr.Funk]

Supposedly the Jays have signed Scherzer to a 1yr x 16 million aav + incentives

Haven't seen this anywhere

 

[Discoverer]

They have more faith in Kirk to be a 100+ game catcher than I do.

I'm less concerned than others about that as I don't see 100+ as much of an increase for him. I'm less confident in Heineman being the guy to man the other 50+, though, so ultimately I think a better backup would be huge.

I wonder how they feel about Phil Clarke because he seems like an interesting guy.

 

[aingefan]

I mean anything can happen, but Bo was in that meeting with Sasaki. It would be kinda awkward if they trade his ass a month later or something lol. I don’t think they are planning on trading him.

Yeah, maybe maybe not of course….him showing up for the Roki pitch surprised me, but my personal feel is that he’s non -commital long term.
Guess time will tell.

 

[aingefan]

I'm less concerned than others about that as I don't see 100+ as much of an increase for him. I'm less confident in Heineman being the guy to man the other 50+, though, so ultimately I think a better backup would be huge.

I wonder how they feel about Phil Clarke because he seems like an interesting guy.

Not much power in Clarke’s bat, i wonder of that’s it (?)…and I’m not sure how he does against strong pitching…but his minor league resume looks plenty nice to warrant a shot.

 

[Rude Dog]

Given the option, this team needs more bats.

 

[aingefan]

BNS saying the Jays could go over the 3rd Cbt threshold, holy smokes.

Sure sounds like they’re not done spending.
Depending on incoming contracts - if any, they’re still pretty well positioned to pivot to sell if things go south in the standings. Something like 70 mil in pending fa’s that should me moveable.

 

[Avilaj07]

Jon Heyman just said Scherzer is just waiting for the Jays to sign Alonso before putting pen to paper.

 

[trellaine201]

I like Vlady at 3B

 

[stats1]

I read somewhere on X that Scherzer is willing to sign but wants them to sign Alonso first. If they can get Alonso and Scherzer done with Santander and Hoffman on board that’s one hell of an off-season

BNS saying the Jays could go over the 3rd Cbt threshold, holy smokes.

They are probably going to hit 300 million for a year and then re set the payroll by 2027. Jays have a ton of money coming off the books in the next 2 years so this shouldn’t be surprising. They’re all in this season. Also Atkins knows his job isn’t secure so he is spending like his job is on the line

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I'm all for Scherzer on a one-year, incentive-laden deal. We could do a lot worse.

 

[Kurtz]

Dick Lovelady is going to move a lot of merchandise.

 

[stats1]

If they can get Alonso and Scherzer on 2 year deals with opt outs it lines up perfectly with Springer/Gausman/Bassit/Bo/Vladdy becoming free agents. Of course Vladdy is a must keep but like I said payroll is very flexible right now because the books get cleared by 2027

 

[Suntouchable13]

If they can get Alonso and Scherzer on 2 year deals with opt outs it lines up perfectly with Springer/Gausman/Bassit/Bo/Vladdy becoming free agents. Of course Vladdy is a must keep but like I said payroll is very flexible right now because the books get cleared by 2027

They also don't have many guys under contract for 2026 as I understand it. I still hope they keep both Bo and Vladdy. They certainly have the money for it.

 

[smitty10]

Supposedly the Jays have signed Scherzer to a 1yr x 16 million aav + incentives

Just read it's essentially a done deal, but he wont sign until he sees what happens with Alonso.