2024 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[Roof-Daddy]

Saw a tweet that Hoffman had a potential deal with the Braves nixed because of a failed physical too.

Yikes

I'm sure this is going to end well haha

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Saw a tweet that Hoffman had a potential deal with the Braves nixed because of a failed physical too.

Yikes

I'm sure this is going to end well haha

correa did fail two?

sign somebody or lose your job

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Andrew

correa did fail two?

sign somebody or lose your job

There are couple articles on it, speculation he did fail two physicals (Atlanta and Baltimore)

[Roof-Daddy]

Sounds like it's down to the Dodgers, Padres, Jays and D-backs for Sasaki

LOL

Gee, I wonder which team he ends up on???

[Roof-Daddy]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1878938716590510523

Free agents really love to tease us Jays fans.

[Inferno]

I read a tweet too that said the Blue Jays thought Burnes signing was a done deal right before he signed with Arizona.

[Roof-Daddy]

Sounds like Sasaki had a 2nd meeting with only two teams, the Jays and Padres.

[bluejays]

The funny thing about Japanese players over the years is they don’t tend to follow their countrymen for some reason. I think the Ohtani piece may be a difference maker though. In any case, it turns out the remaining teams are all rich with available funds which, while it doesn’t make a difference here I do wonder if it’ll be a short term deal where he wants to resign for a heavy price upon expiry. Just my thought.

Or he could be playing everyone and do the obvious joining of LA.

[browna]

Don't doubt there's interest, but Padres still have Darvish, who's a bit of a forgotten but still Japanese pitching hero.
Again, this is where the Jays needs some passion from executive, and not just be happy with a solid presentation as to why a player should sign there.

Pretty concerning how 2 teams rejected Hoffman. 1 team it's maybe a judgement call by a medical staff or organization. 2 teams there's definitely a certain undeniable risk there. And this isn't some $2M player, it's $33M.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by browna

Don't doubt there's interest, but Padres still have Darvish, who's a bit of a forgotten but still Japanese pitching hero.
Again, this is where the Jays needs some passion from executive, and not just be happy with a solid presentation as to why a player should sign there.

Pretty concerning how 2 teams rejected Hoffman. 1 team it's maybe a judgement call by a medical staff or organization. 2 teams there's definitely a certain undeniable risk there. And this isn't some $2M player, it's $33M.

Either the Jays have the best medical staff or Atkins overpaid to get it done. Honestly I think it’s a bit of both. Canadian doctors tend to have a high standard while in the states it can be a bit lacking. So I can see an edge there. I can also obviously see atkins feeling the pinch to get something done and overplaying his hand to do so. Not that it matters much but if they get another pitcher it’s clear they’re going in looking at defence first to win, which sucks because the lineup needs help. It’s clear they’re going to make that their marketing gimmick. I do wonder a bit where this leaves Manoah. I truly don’t care but there was room for him before but now it’s questionable unless he’s destined for the bullpen.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Either the Jays have the best medical staff or Atkins overpaid to get it done. Honestly I think it’s a bit of both. Canadian doctors tend to have a high standard while in the states it can be a bit lacking. So I can see an edge there. I can also obviously see atkins feeling the pinch to get something done and overplaying his hand to do so. Not that it matters much but if they get another pitcher it’s clear they’re going in looking at defence first to win, which sucks because the lineup needs help. It’s clear they’re going to make that their marketing gimmick. I do wonder a bit where this leaves Manoah. I truly don’t care but there was room for him before but now it’s questionable unless he’s destined for the bullpen.

Manoah's not coming back until like August. If everyone is healthy and you signed another starter, then you put Rodriguez in the bullpen and run 5 guys until august and then go with a 6 man rotation for August/September.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Manoah's not coming back until like August. If everyone is healthy and you signed another starter, then you put Rodriguez in the bullpen and run 5 guys until august and then go with a 6 man rotation for August/September.

Also jays are spending waaaay too much on the rotation. In ability to develop starters hopefully will change. It's impacted our bats. We need young pre arb arb eligible starters and team will improve

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Sounds like Sasaki had a 2nd meeting with only two teams, the Jays and Padres.

I will believe it when it happens. Would be miller

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Also jays are spending waaaay too much on the rotation. In ability to develop starters hopefully will change. It's impacted our bats. We need young pre arb arb eligible starters and team will improve

Yeah. If you had Francis/Manoah/Sasaki all on team control as top of the rotation starters you could spend Gausman/Bassitt's money on some bats which would help a lot.

[Jason14h]

They can’t develop pitching to save their lives , but they make up for it by also not developing hitters !

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

They can’t develop pitching to save their lives , but they make up for it by also not developing hitters !

Yeah. It would work fine to have an expensive rotation if you had a few top tier bats on pre-arb contracts. It doesn't really matter where you get the excess value from as long as you get it.

[Andrew]

I think we are better than we think on bats
And pitching... some injuries this year.
At one point Atkins mtg the future to get guys like Chapman berrios etc.
Horwitz was good? Martinez coming up has power. Jimenez ok, loperfido meh but he is regarded Wagner was good but injured... really no stars not empty! Sure some on trade. Plus nimala Bonilla very young with up side.

Pitching tiedeman maroudis both tj macko yesavage.

These are names that should make. In past Atkins traded away picks and some talent but we have some in pipe still now. I give them some credit

[JTech780]

Pitching is hard to develop, most top teams have to go outside the organization to get top end arms. That's just the nature of the beast that is starting pitching.

[JTech780]

I don't think Sasaki will go to the Dodgers, they have the least to offer as far as signing bonus goes, also with all their stars it will be nearly impossible to capitalize on endorsement deals. The Jays and Padres can offer the same amount for signing bonus, but with the Jays there is way more opportunity for endorsements. Darvish is his mentor and almost like his god father, so that is where the Padres have the upper hand. The Mariners might still be in on this and they can offer more signing bonus than the Jays or Padres, they also have a history of being a good fit for Japenese players.

If I had to rank the teams he would end up with, I would say the Padres 1st, then the Mariners, Jays and Dodgers last.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Andrew

At one point Atkins mtg the future to get guys like Chapman berrios etc.

It is interesting to look back at the three "big" deals that Atkins has made.

Chapman for Hoglund, Smith, Snead, and Logue...gave up a whole lot of nothing.

Berrios for Martin and SWR...Martin played last year but was negative value, SWR did have a pretty good season last year, so that could burn them still but Berrios was a need.

Varsho for Gurriel and Moreno...Moreno has looked pretty good while Kirk and Jansen aren't long term solution at C and while Varsho is elite defensively his bat has declined...so that one hurts a bit.

Should pieces like Hoglund, Martin, SWR, and Moreno have been able to be traded for better returns that provided more value for the team...it's worth the question and think that's what has hurt them a bit. The guys they identified just haven't worked out:

Chapman: Great defense, one great season, but bat was inconsistent and then he left as a Free Agent. His bat bounced back in SF which hurts too.
Berrios: Should have been a perfect target...27 year old with strong numbers and performances, numbers haven't been as good since moving to Toronto and had a real bad 2022.
Varsho: Elite defensively, but the bat just hasn't worked...maybe a new hitting coach can unlock the potential he looked like he had at 25 in Arizona.