2023/24 Blue Jays Off Season Thread

[Roof-Daddy]

Reports out there Yamamoto is fielding offers for as much as $300 million.

Has the stuff to potentially be an ace, but wow, he hasn't pitched a single inning of MLB yet.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by browna

Yeah both would be a pipe dream and while the Jays may appear still interested, full well know that they may know they don't have the inside track on either, but still will give the appearance they are in it until the end.

1 year of Soto really doesn't make sense but my guess is one year of Soto would be all the Jays would get, Ohtani or not. He can come to the Jays, get fellow Dominican Vlad back on track, help win a series of two and head off to the Yanks next year.

So, one option would be to empty the clip this year, on both.

Agreed - But Yanks will outbid the Jays in a trade IMO - They are out of patience

[Inferno]

nm

[browna]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Agreed - But Yanks will outbid the Jays in a trade IMO - They are out of patience

Maybe, but Soto to Toronto has heated up in the rumor mill after the apparent talks between Yanks and Padres stalled.

No idea what drives Soto, but my guess is he's going to get paid, and wait to get paid, next year regardless of where he goes this year. Less hassle to get signed and traded or traded and signed now? Sure, but not required.

Yanks or anyone else don't have to give up anything next offseason to get him, just open the wallet. That's assuming he's available.

[Jiggy_12]

Ugh, that SI article is killing me.

[bluejays]

I have to ask this question - who are the best used car salesman GMs we're up against in this competition?

LA - Brandon Gomes (probably not that experienced)
Atlanta - Alex Anthopolous (very good seller, and likeable guy. Trackrecord of good decisions in Atlanta.
Chicago Cubs - Carter Hawkins (not sure about). But Theo Epstein has been enormously successful
San Francisco - Pete Putila (also not sure about). But also under a very smart President (Farhan Zaidi)

And those are the knowns. Looking to be a competition.

[jayswin]

Man I wish we still had AA here. Yeah, he'd dream too big some seasons but you cannot discount the absurd constraints that he was working under and ultimately rebelled against here in Toronto. He didn't get everything right, but he DID understand that winning a championship is not a full, safe, slow burn build, it's a build that has bold moves and chips pushed in at key times.

Ironically it was him rebelling that ultimately led to a rekindling of the ticket buying base which after years of constant scrutiny and criticism has finally led Rogers to opening the purse strings.

[browna]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

Ugh, that SI article is killing me.

You won't like this then, from the MLB site:
https://www.mlb.com/news/ross-atkins...ohtani-pursuit

Re Soto, Ohtani and Bellinger:
To add two of those to our roster would be exceptionally difficult to pull off, but as we always talk about, the relationship we’ve built with [Blue Jays chairman] Edward [Rogers] and [Rogers Communications president/CEO] Tony [Staffieri] -- and the ability to go to them and present something to them -- is real. I would never eliminate us.”

[howard_the_duck]

Latest from Shi speculating it may not be LA where Atkins is, but Toronto.

Regardless, it’s related to Ohtani. If it’s a pitch to ownership (also speculated)…that has to be good??

[Jiggy_12]

It’s just getting more and more surreal (and bizarre). Never seen anything like this pursuit before

https://twitter.com/user/status/1731889270485369162

[howard_the_duck]

This non leak…doesn’t seem to be coming from any other teams? Either Jays are doing a bad job at being discrete or maybe a bit of reasonable smoke?

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by jayswin

but he DID understand that winning a championship is not a full, safe, slow burn build, it's a build that has bold moves and chips pushed in at key times.

Funny you should say that... because when he took over the Jays he said his intentions were the exact opposite of that... he talked about building from within and creating a perennial contender.

IMO AA wasn't any better a GM then Atkins is... he just had different advantages and disadvantages.

[Jiggy_12]

Oh man…this got serious

https://twitter.com/user/status/1731909155118522371

[howard_the_duck]

Don’t leave without a contract, Shohei!

[Jiggy_12]

That’s all I’ve been optomistic and hoping for! Get him to that training complex, show him our best advantage. If this doesn’t get him- ok, fine. They gave it the best they had

[flamingred89]

This is crazy. Ohtani announcement overnight? It is only mid afternoon in Japan after all...

[Beninho]

The fact they got him to Dunedin means they really have a chance. That complex may be one of the bigger catalysts in helping getting this done with someone as meticulous in their training as Ohtani is. Seems like the Jays have given this their absolute best shot, if he signs elsewhere nothing you can do. Happy to be in the mix for one of the biggest free agents in the sports history.

[bluejays]

The speculation of him being here there and everywhere just means people don’t know jack. Anyway, certainly feels like the day before the Kawhi trade went down.

[Jason14h]

Rogers going all in to distract the media from other news!

I fully support misleading marketing if it means they sign Ohtani

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rog...reau-1.7048677

[ForeverFlameFan]

You can't say we didn't try.

I just pray and hope we can have someone like Ohtani. Would change this franchise for the better in terms of attracting free agents, attracting more $'s to the Jays, and honestly the country as a whole would likely have more viewership.