2020 Blue Jays Season Thread

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Sign Springer
Trade LGJ plus, for Lindor and extend him
Sign Realmuto
Trade Jansen plus, for a high end starter

Sign another high end starter and a couple of high leverage bullpen arms.

That would be fun

Would it ever. Chances are the budget only has the chance to do one or two of those. Springer appears to be the leading candidate, so there's $25MM/season gone, and if you do the Lindor deal, another $20MM/season net added, and low and behold, the money has dried up. I don't care to look for the contract situation of all the young Jays, but I imagine they're also considering in a few years having to sign all them back again. Adding $50 million to the payroll would be a treat, but I personally don't think they're going to be allowed that much.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1336044416012853251

[KelVarnsen]

Vladdy looking good

https://twitter.com/user/status/1336086453382746112

[bluejays]

Hate to be that guy, but that picture tells me nothing - loose shirt, arms up, black leggings. With Vlad I'll take any positive fitness news as a skeptic given last years' fiasco. Prove me wrong Vlad.

[Harry Lime]

It's nice that Vlad is concentrating on getting third base back, but the real plus for the team is that his swing changes when he is 250+, and the offensive side of his game is refined when he is slimmer.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Another day, another rumor.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1336308991966601217

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Another day, another rumor.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1336308991966601217

Not sure that's a rumour. That actually happened.

[Parallex]

Bit of Blue Jays news... they'll be keeping the Vancouver Canadians as a MILB affiliate (which sadly means that their longtime association with the Lansing Lugnuts comes to an end). Going forward the Jays minor league affiliates are...

Lo-A: Dunedin Blue Jays
Hi-A: Vancouver Canadians
AA: New Hamphire Fisher Cats
AAA: Buffalo Bisens

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article...gue-affiliate/

[KelVarnsen]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1337543326657024001

[transplant99]

if you like you can watch vlad for a couple bucks a game.

https://www.drsports.tv/drsports

[Jiggy_12]

I get a feeling that once Realmuto signs somewhere, the dominos fall.

Rumours are Cleveland will want a Jays catcher and Gurriel in a trade for Lindor.

So if the Jays can snag Realmuto, they can send Kirk/Janson to Cleveland along with Gurriel for Lindor. Then sign Springer to fill Gurriel’s spot.

That’s my dream chain of events. It ain’t gonna happen, I know.

[flamingred89]

Yep. Would be hard to be upset with those moves. Although I’m still pretty bullish on LGJ especially with his contract. So I could see him flourishing elsewhere. With that said you’re not going to land a player like Lindor without giving up something of significance.

I have an uneasy feeling that despite being “players” this offseason that the Jays will end up being bridesmaids more often than not. The uncertainty of where to play coupled with less league wide revenue, I think players may be taking short term contracts, and sticking close to home. Then try and cash in next year.

[Roof-Daddy]

Part of me wants the Jays to trade for Lindor, but with the acquisition cost and then the fact that he'd have to be signed to a massive contract, another part of me wants them to just get that young Korean infielder and see what he can do. If he pans out he'd be a huge bargain bang for buck wise, where as Lindor will have a hard time living up to his contract even if he plays at a very high level for another half a decade or so.

[flamingred89]

Yeah the Lindor contract would have to be massive. Like 200 million over 8 years. But you'd hope you could get 4-5 great years out of him with another year or 2 at replacement level. Then look at offloading him with assets. That's seemingly how the big market teams have been trending in recent years.

Was reading today that the Yanks and Lemahieu are far apart in negotiations. If you could scoop him without giving up anything but cash on a FA deal that would be a fantastic alternative.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

Was reading today that the Yanks and Lemahieu are far apart in negotiations. If you could scoop him without giving up anything but cash on a FA deal that would be a fantastic alternative.

The only issue with this, is if the Yankees aren't willing to hit his number i highly doubt the Jays have a chance in hell.

[bluejays]

A couple points I've read or heard about lately.
1) Yanks are apparently looking to cut some payroll because of economic situation. There is a snowball effect there if true. Yanks seem to always have a wad of cash and if they think there's trouble on the horizon, other teams with less fortune are probably thinking the same. And that leaves the biggest player not competing in a bidding war.
2) Lindor is now a player union representative, so he's likely going to dig in and want everything he can get. Again, given the potential economic weakness over the next year, I don't think any of these guys are going to sign long term unless it's a very high deal. I don't think there are many teams out there willing to do that - like the Yanks above. So ultimately I think some of these guys take a one year deal at a lesser rate, much like NHL players did this year, and wait it out to cash in next year. Lindor is waiting until FA next season, virtually guaranteed. If you read between the lines, the Jays don't want to pay a premium in a trade, and they don't want to pay a contract on top of that. I can't see a deal being swung until the deadline where Cleveland caves.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by fleury

Hate to be that guy, but that picture tells me nothing - loose shirt, arms up, black leggings. With Vlad I'll take any positive fitness news as a skeptic given last years' fiasco. Prove me wrong Vlad.

I think the big thing that people forget is that Vlad actually showed up to spring training in better shape last year too.

But COVID happened, he went into quarantine with less intervention with team and trainers, and then his weight had ballooned when he came back for the shortened season.

Which isn't that surprising. He's clearly a guy that struggles with his weight and needs a lot of focus and help to keep his weight down. So being in social isolation he likely didn't have the support of the team / trainers to help him keep the weight off.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1339343721918291968

[Roof-Daddy]

Ugh.

MLB free agency....

#### or get off the pot already. Jesus anyways.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Some team is going to sign somebody one of these weeks. Hopefully it's the Jays. I would absolutely love Springer in Toronto, near the top of my wish list.

It’s been a slow-moving market for all of the game’s top free agents, but ESPN’s Jeff Passan shines some light on where things stand with George Springer, reporting that the Blue Jays and Mets are generally viewed as the two strongest possibilities for the longtime Astros slugger.

The financial outlook in Toronto is even cleaner. Toronto owes about $57.5MM to seven players in addition to forthcoming arbitration raises for two players: Ross Stripling and Teoscar Hernandez. They only have $35MM in guaranteed salaries on the 2022 books, with Tanner Roark, Robbie Ray, Shun Yamaguchi and Rafael Dolis set to come off the books. Signing Springer would likely necessitate a move sending Randal Grichuk elsewhere, and while his remaining three years and $28MM is an overpay, it’s not so glaring that the Jays couldn’t reasonably expect to find a creative solution.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/...blue-jays.html