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Blue Jays Discussion: Off-Season Pt III | Winter meetings are over. Still waiting for stuff to happen

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Leaftors said:
“ After passing the Bar Exam, Luba worked as a Salary Arbitration attorney at the MLBPA, where she helped take a record-number 22 cases to hearing—winning 12 against the Teams. Luba launched her own agency in 2019, becoming the youngest female MLB Agent and starting the first ever female-owned Agency. During her first offseason as a Player-Agent, Luba negotiated her first contract worth $17.5M for Starting Pitcher Trevor Bauer, making him the second-highest paid salary arbitration eligible pitcher in history. Following the 2020 Season, Bauer won the NL Cy Young making Luba the first female to represent a Cy Young Winner.”

From her website.

Just so you can see that her qualifications go farther than knowing the guy from college. Also kind of shows she’s “good at her job”
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Ummm did you read the excerpt? I'd say it pretty much alligns with what SeaOfBlue said.

It says she worked as an arbitrator, and took a record number of cases to arbitration. Winning 12 of 22. Is that a good record? Does it matter if she's arbitrated a large number of cases? These things have always seemed very predictable in my opinion, usually off by a couple million here for the player or the team.

Does this give her any experience in a free market negotiation for the top FA pitcher?

Being awarded the most for a pitcher in arbitration isn't really something to right home about, salaries are continually rising (inflation, increased revenue etc), and he's the best pitcher thats gone through the process. Based on being the best pitcher, I'd expect him to get awarded alot of money. I'd also expect a new arbitration record will be awarded soon (well COVID revenue dependent).

Personally, I'd want Boras over a novice agent.
 
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7 trades that could ignite the Hot Stove
Darvish makes Jays legit AL East threat

Blue Jays get:
RHP Yu Darvish

Cubs get:
OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
RHP Alek Manoah (Blue Jays’ No. 5 prospect)
OF Dasan Brown (Blue Jays’ No. 16 prospect)

Why it could work: The Blue Jays are linked to just about every big-name free agent this offseason, but in this scenario, they address their primary need -- rotation help -- with a blockbuster trade for Darvish, whose second-place finish in NL Cy Young Award voting punctuated his return to prominence as one of baseball’s best pitchers. The 34-year-old righty teams with southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu (coming off two straight top-three Cy Young finishes) and promising flamethrower Nate Pearson (still Toronto’s top prospect) to bolster the Blue Jays’ staff, which also includes Ross Stripling, Robbie Ray, Tanner Roark and Trent Thornton.

That combo of top-end arms and depth makes them a legitimate threat in the AL East. With a young, cost-controlled core of position players led by Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio and Teoscar Hernández, Toronto has room in its payroll to take on Darvish’s contract ($59 million through 2023) and still make another addition on the open market. Two options to replace Gurriel in the outfield? George Springer, if they’re really willing to spend for a big bat; or Jackie Bradley Jr., if they prefer elite center-field defense. Look out, Rays and Yankees.

The Cubs, on the other hand, are prioritizing salary relief and roster flexibility as they head into what could be the final season in Chicago for Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Báez. Unloading Darvish’s contract while bringing in three low-cost players with upside would give them more financial freedom next offseason. In his prime at 27, Gurriel’s bat (123 career OPS+), ability to handle an area of need (corner outfield) and team-friendly contract (about $14 million through 2023) would appeal to Chicago. Manoah -- the 11th overall pick in the 2019 Draft -- is a 22-year-old college product who stands out for his size (6-foot-6, 260 pounds) and plus fastball. Given the Cubs’ issues with drafting and developing pitchers the past several seasons, he’d be a welcome addition as a mid-rotation arm in a year or two. Brown, 19, is a long-term play, but one worth taking a flier on for his athleticism, elite speed and strong outfield defense.

Who says no? The Blue Jays. While Darvish would give Toronto a potent 1-2-3 punch atop its rotation, surrendering Gurriel -- already a key piece under such a team-friendly contract -- plus the potential of Manoah feels like a bit much. Unless the Blue Jays were decidedly all-in on targeting Darvish, they instead could choose to spend on, say, Trevor Bauer or a couple of other free-agent arms (Jake Odorizzi? James Paxton? Tomoyuki Sugano?) and avoid parting with any players or prospects.
-- Jason Catania
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I like Darvish a lot, but not at this price.

Also I want what these guys are smoking. Adell for Carrasco? Andrew Vaughan for Hader?

Did the Angels and White Sox hire Dave Stewart to be their GM?
 
That trade is awful. Buying high on a 34 year old is silly and are the type of moves you regret in a year or two. Flashbacks of trading for dickey. Darvish is 34 and I doubt he’s going to give you 200 innings Or repeat what he did last year in a short season.

Go after Castillo and reduce the price by taking a bad contract and flexing financial muscle. Or go sign Bauer. If all else fails sign some stop gaps like walker/Paxton and look at making further improvements during the season.
 
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Brock Boeser Laser Show said:
That trade is awful. Buying high on a 34 year old is silly and are the type of moves you regret in a year or two. Flashbacks of trading for dickey. Darvish is 34 and I doubt he’s going to give you 200 innings Or repeat what he did last year in a short season.

Go after Castillo and reduce the price by taking a bad contract and flexing financial muscle. Or go sign Bauer. If all else fails sign some stop gaps like walker/Paxton and look at making further improvements during the season.
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Castillo is Castillo and a bad-ish contract for a good haul.

Castillo and Moustakas for a package including someone people don't want to trade (like Orelvis)
 
Whenever MLB.com publishes anything involving their writers (or the majority of them) putting on their GM hats it goes terribly wrong. Like, the 2013 Blue Jays level of terribly wrong.
 


Seems to be a 2 horse race for Springer. And it seems our front office has prioritized him over the other big name free agents.

I think this one decision from Springer dictates our entire off season. Although I'm reluctant to deal Gurriel, if you sign Springer at least you've signed a replacement in the OF. And if Springer leads to a trade of Gurriel for Lindor, it would be massive change.

I don't think it changes our pitching targets, likely still the middle tier guys like Odorizzi, Walker, Happ, Paxton, Tanaka, etc.

Be curious to see what route they go if they miss on Springer and decide to keep the value contract of Gurriel...
 
Leaftors said:
“ After passing the Bar Exam, Luba worked as a Salary Arbitration attorney at the MLBPA, where she helped take a record-number 22 cases to hearing—winning 12 against the Teams. Luba launched her own agency in 2019, becoming the youngest female MLB Agent and starting the first ever female-owned Agency. During her first offseason as a Player-Agent, Luba negotiated her first contract worth $17.5M for Starting Pitcher Trevor Bauer, making him the second-highest paid salary arbitration eligible pitcher in history. Following the 2020 Season, Bauer won the NL Cy Young making Luba the first female to represent a Cy Young Winner.”

From her website.

Just so you can see that her qualifications go farther than knowing the guy from college. Also kind of shows she’s “good at her job”
Click to expand...

How does this not prove what I was saying?

This is her first "big" deal with her first client as a player agent, which is a different job than being an arbitrator lawyer, and she needs to impress as a player agent. If she wants more clients, especially ones like Bauer, she is going to need impress on this first deal.

Let me be clear, she still needed to convince Bauer to sign with her in the first place, and I would hope it would take more than being friends to do that considering there is a lot of money on the line. I just highly doubt she gets a chance to convince him without knowing and being friends with the guy first, as is often the case for everyone in a similar position.

I don't see why this is really controversial considering this is one of the more common cases you will see in the private sector.
 
Zanks said:
Personally, I'd want Boras over a novice agent.
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I’d be the opposite. Unless you’re a really high profile player, you’d never personally speak to Boras and likely only speak to one of his associates. If I’m giving a percentage of my salary to someone, I’d want to at least have access to them for whatever issues may arise. Boras only looks out for Boras, he doesn’t care about his clients.
 
Keep getting score updates how were a threat to the Yankees signing Lemahieu.

sign Springer and Lemahieu. That’d be quite the boost to our offense.
 
Told y’all a few threads back that George Springer was the only big name they were going for. And now it’s down to them/Mets for him.
 
Based on nothing but my gut, I think the Springer rumours are legitimate, but LeMahieu is staying in New York and the rumours are an attempt (either from the Jays or LeMahieu's camp or both) to drive up the price for the Yankees.
 
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The Oklahoman
Toronto Blue Jays ace pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu was named the Warren Spahn Award winner on Monday morning.

The annual award is presented by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball each season.

Ryu, in his first season with Toronto following six with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was dominant. In the shortened season, the 33-year-old had five wins, a 2.69 ERA and 72 strikeouts. Among qualified left-handed pitchers who pitched one inning for every game their team played, Ryu was tied for third in wins, second in strikeouts and second in ERA.

“Despite the difficulties of the COVID pandemic, Hyun-jin Ryu had a stellar year on the mound that was certainly worthy of this honor,” Warren Spahn Award Committee co-chairman Chuck Shirley said in a release.
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Discoverer said:
Based on nothing but my gut, I think the Springer rumours are legitimate, but LeMahieu is staying in New York and the rumours are an attempt (either from the Jays or LeMahieu's camp or both) to drive up the price for the Yankees.
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My thoughts exactly. If the Jays are so "desperate" for LeMahieu then why not offer him $25M per instead of $20M per or an extra year to get a deal done. Jays and LeMahieu are using each other to jack the price up on the Yankees.

I think the Jays are legit interested in Springer. Perhaps the Jays are offering more money and Springer is using the Jays to get more out of the Mets.

Shapiro seemed so certain that he was going to add 2 elite players. I belive Springer and Lindor are his targets. Springer for CF, Hernendez moves to LF, Grichuk back to RF and Gurriel is moved for Lindor. Im not a huge fan of paying Springer over 5-6 years nor given up long term assets for Lindor but for at least 1 year, that lineup is deadly.

Springer - CF
Lindor - SS
Bichette - 3B
Biggio - 2B
Guerrero Jr. - DH
Hernandez - LF
Tellez - 1B
Grichuk - RF
Jansen - C

Thats a solid top 6, might be the best in the league. In a perfect world you can trade Grichuk and get Brantley for LF and leave Hernandez in RF.
 
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Here's how prospects are doing in winter ball
Gabriel Moreno, C (Blue Jays No. 8)
Moreno extended his hitting streak to four games on Sunday via his first four-hit performance of the offseason, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and runs scored apiece for Cardenales de Lara. The 20-year-old catcher has quietly established himself as one of the better young backstops in the Minors across the past two seasons, as he followed up his impressive 2019 full-season debut (.280/.337/.485, 12 HR) with a strong showing at Toronto’s alternate site over the summer. In Venezuela, meanwhile, Moreno is slashing.370/.452/.500 with five extra-base hits, 12 runs scored and 10 RBIs through 16 games.
Click to expand...
 
phillipmike said:
My thoughts exactly. If the Jays are so "desperate" for LeMahieu then why not offer him $25M per instead of $20M per or an extra year to get a deal done. Jays and LeMahieu are using each other to jack the price up on the Yankees.

I think the Jays are legit interested in Springer. Perhaps the Jays are offering more money and Springer is using the Jays to get more out of the Mets.

Shapiro seemed so certain that he was going to add 2 elite players. I belive Springer and Lindor are his targets. Springer for CF, Hernendez moves to LF, Grichuk back to RF and Gurriel is moved for Lindor. Im not a huge fan of paying Springer over 5-6 years nor given up long term assets for Lindor but for at least 1 year, that lineup is deadly.

Springer - CF
Lindor - SS
Bichette - 3B
Biggio - 2B
Guerrero Jr. - DH
Hernandez - LF
Tellez - 1B
Grichuk - RF
Jansen - C

Thats a solid top 6, might be the best in the league. In a perfect world you can trade Grichuk and get Brantley for LF and leave Hernandez in RF.
Click to expand...
Jays are definitely offering more money, always do. Have to aswell. I think jays are waiting on springer to decide. I believe he is holding up the market
 
phillipmike said:
My thoughts exactly. If the Jays are so "desperate" for LeMahieu then why not offer him $25M per instead of $20M per or an extra year to get a deal done. Jays and LeMahieu are using each other to jack the price up on the Yankees.

I think the Jays are legit interested in Springer. Perhaps the Jays are offering more money and Springer is using the Jays to get more out of the Mets.

Shapiro seemed so certain that he was going to add 2 elite players. I belive Springer and Lindor are his targets. Springer for CF, Hernendez moves to LF, Grichuk back to RF and Gurriel is moved for Lindor. Im not a huge fan of paying Springer over 5-6 years nor given up long term assets for Lindor but for at least 1 year, that lineup is deadly.

Springer - CF
Lindor - SS
Bichette - 3B
Biggio - 2B
Guerrero Jr. - DH
Hernandez - LF
Tellez - 1B
Grichuk - RF
Jansen - C

Thats a solid top 6, might be the best in the league. In a perfect world you can trade Grichuk and get Brantley for LF and leave Hernandez in RF.
Click to expand...

I'll spare everyone having to see my thoughts on Gurriel-for-Lindor again.
 
If they came out of this offseason with Springer and Lindor that would be nuts.

Definitely sounds like thats what they want.
 
It’s down the the Jays and Yanks for LeMahieu according to Passan. Can the Jays afford both Springer and LeMahieu? I don’t see the Jays offering big contracts to both if they are not serious.
 
Drew311 said:
It’s down the the Jays and Yanks for LeMahieu according to Passan. Can the Jays afford both Springer and LeMahieu? I don’t see the Jays offering big contracts to both if they are not serious.
Click to expand...

The Jays can afford 3 elite pieces depending on contract structure.
 
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Drew311 said:
It’s down the the Jays and Yanks for LeMahieu according to Passan. Can the Jays afford both Springer and LeMahieu? I don’t see the Jays offering big contracts to both if they are not serious.
Click to expand...
100% they could do it and continue to add
 
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