2026 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[Parallex]

Nuts. Guess that's it for the offseason... no bats left in free agency (not interested in Bellinger) that I'm interested in and unless Marte becomes realistically available I don't see a whole lot out there in the trade market that represents a meaningful upgrade. Still a solid offseason. Losing Bo hurts but Adding Cease and a full year (barring injury) of Bieber is a massive improvement to the rotation. Just gotta hope that Santander can get back on track and that everyone else does what they did last year.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Don’t forget that Vlad had a very meh regular season last year. If he can get back to a 40 HR and 110 RBI guy we could have a great season.

[Buff]

It was disappointing that the Jays couldn't add Tucker. It's heart breaking that they couldn't keep Bo.

[Inferno]

Guess he really didn't want to play with his buddy his whole career that bad.

[CroCop]

Off-season started with some promise but is now incredibly disappointing. 2 of the signings have question marks in the MLB. Solid team but didn’t take advantage of the momentum of WS appearance to bring in or keep a stud bat. Needed a stud closer too. Dodgers win WS and now get both sheesh.

[JTech780]

I wouldn't be against signing Bellinger. Play him at CF this coming season. Trade Varsho for bullpen help. Once Springer's deal is done Santander can move to DH and Bellinger can move to LF and the Jays can look at other answers in CF.

Right now the lineup looks like:

DH Springer
RF Barger
1B Guerrero Jr.
LF Santander
C Kirk
CF Varsho
3B Okamoto
2B Clement
SS Gimenez

The top of the lineup would look a lot better like this:

DH Springer
CF Bellinger
1B Guerrero Jr.
LF Santander
RF Barger
C Kirk
3B Okamoto
2B Clement
SS Gimenez

[Jason14h]

It’s relatively easy to acquire extra hitters at the trade deadline if need be

I’m quite happy with the offseason .

[Inferno]

https://twitter.com/user/status/2012213977313616284

[flamingred89]

This is so dumb. Bo is a 25 million dollar player signed for 42. Tucker is a 30 million dollar player signed for 60. There are some lunatics in baseball right now.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

It’s relatively easy to acquire extra hitters at the trade deadline if need be

I’m quite happy with the offseason .

Pitching was way more important. Could use one more big relief arm, but there are enough bats to get you there. Pitching wins.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

This is so dumb. Bo is a 25 million dollar player signed for 42. Tucker is a 30 million dollar player signed for 60. There are some lunatics in baseball right now.

I think with the uncertainty of next year the big market
Teams are spending big this year knowing they may not be able to again

You could argue the Jays overpaid on a few guys as well compared to historical market

[CroCop]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Pitching was way more important. Could use one more big relief arm, but there are enough bats to get you there. Pitching wins.

3 late inning solo shots and an 18th inning walkoff say hello.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I think with the uncertainty of next year the big market
Teams are spending big this year knowing they may not be able to again

You could argue the Jays overpaid on a few guys as well compared to historical market

I wonder if some of these teams expect that the new CBA will give them some compliance buyouts to allow them to adjust to the new luxury tax rules or a salary cap (please!) and get out from some of these big contracts.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

I wonder if some of these teams expect that the new CBA will give them some compliance buyouts to allow them to adjust to the new luxury tax rules or a salary cap (please!) and get out from some of these big contracts.

I will have too I think / or some grace period etc

[Senator Clay Davis]

I feel like people are setting themselves up for disappointment thinking a lockout will bring meaningful change. I think best case Ontario might be a salary floor + an NBA-style luxury tax which would help, but if it can be skirted with deferrals and other tricks it might not have much teeth.

[flamingred89]

Still can't wrap my head around Bo to the Mets. Not even just the dollar value. But having him play 3rd is nuts. Have they seen him throw a baseball? Plus the way he is bulking up he is losing all his foot speed and athletics. I wouldn't be surprised to see him at 1B or DH in the next year or two.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I feel like people are setting themselves up for disappointment thinking a lockout will bring meaningful change. I think best case Ontario might be a salary floor + an NBA-style luxury tax which would help, but if it can be skirted with deferrals and other tricks it might not have much teeth.

I think deferrals are dead in the sights for every league. Fans hate it.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I feel like people are setting themselves up for disappointment thinking a lockout will bring meaningful change. I think best case Ontario might be a salary floor + an NBA-style luxury tax which would help, but if it can be skirted with deferrals and other tricks it might not have much teeth.

But this already exists ….

Luxury tax with escalators for repeat offenders and draft and international $ penalties . Dodgers are losing their 2-3-4-5 picks next year and $1 million international $

Dodgers pay 110% tax for every $ over . Tucker will cost them 60 million in TAX next year plus his salary

I guess they could add in No FA signings if over the luxury cap and add weird mid level exceptions and stuff . Doubt they want to go there

They have tried everything to curb spending but a forced cap

It’s coming

[howard_the_duck]

Okamoto at $15m/year playing 3B >>> Bo at $42m/year playing 3B

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

But this already exists ….

Luxury tax with escalators for repeat offenders and draft and international $ penalties . Dodgers are losing their 2-3-4-5 picks next year and $1 million international $

Dodgers pay 110% tax for every $ over . Tucker will cost them 60 million in TAX next year plus his salary

I guess they could add in No FA signings if over the luxury cap and add weird mid level exceptions and stuff . Doubt they want to go there

They have tried everything to curb spending but a forced cap

It’s coming

Under the NBA system the Dodgers, as repeat offenders over the second apron, would literally not even be allowed to sign Tucker. The would be restricted to signing their own drafted players and using veteran minimum contracts. Only way they could add a Tucker type player is a trade, but as repeat offenders they couldn't use first round picks (they are frozen), and could only add what they give back, so to sign Tucker for $60 million per they would have to send $60 million per in contracts out. NBA system is often viewed as being perhaps too punitive, but it's working so far to improve competitive balance.