2023/24 Blue Jays Off Season Thread

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Just checked the OLG betting site and currently the Jays are the favourites to win the AL? What the heck are they thinking?

Probably thinking that there are a lot of suckers betting on the Jays to win the AL so they're reducing the odds on that happening to leave themselves less exposed. Betting odds react to bettor behavior it's not solely a measure of probabilistic outcomes.

[browna]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Just checked the OLG betting site and currently the Jays are the favourites to win the AL? What the heck are they thinking? Yanks have some pitching issues but have too good a lineup to not be better than the Jays. Add in Baltimore, Tampa and others and I don't see how they're ranking the Jays high with the lineup they are currently fielding. They're also ranking them third favourite to take it all. Crazy.

Not sure how the government run betting sites works but it has to be similar to any other gambling site or casino sports book.
Sure, the sites and books set opening odds generally based on the team and what other sites set for odds.

But the odds change dynamically. If $200000 over the course of a month or whatever gets bet on the Jays to win and $0 on anyone else, the odds for the Jays to win goes down greatly.

In Ontario, it only makes sense that those who are gambling on that site are Ontarians and they want to make bets on the Jays. I think OLg had a free bet as well to encourage, so anybody who plays the lottery there and wants to dip their inexperienced toes into sports gambling, gets a $25 free bet to open an account. A large majority puts that free play down on the Jays. Hockey there are Leafs Sens, Habs , Buffalo fans so any bet on hockey would get split by various teams.

It's not hardcore gamblers doing the analytics and picking the Jays. It is Joe Lunchbucket and Sally Housecoat with a free $25 to put on some team and out of hope,convineience, and not knowing. any olayers on any other sports team outside of the Leafs and Jays besides Crosby Bedard McDavid and Ohtani...so with tens of thousands of those people putting their free bets on the Jays, the odds go down. My theory at least.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I've seen the Jays generally considered to be a team that should make the playoffs but probably not a world series favorite. Generally seems to be assuming continued strong performance from pitching coupled with a rebound from some bats.
Not unreasonable. As Jiggy says, lots of season to season variability in baseball.

I think a lot of that for the Jays comes down to what we see from Vladdy.

[Underdog]

I still think a trade with Minny is the most likely play. Get Polanco to play 3B and Kepler to play the OF. Gives the team a couple more bats from the left side, Kepler with some pop for the 5 hole. Polanco can shift to 2B late in the game while IKF comes into third as the defensive replacement. Polanco can also cover SS in a pinch so no more need for another wasted roster spot. Minny is cutting payroll due to their TV deal mess, they also need starting pitching. Manoah and Espinal should serve as the basis for a deal.

[Roof-Daddy]

The jays have very good starting pitching, a very good bullpen, and strong defense/run prevention. On paper they actually have a chance to give up the fewest runs in MLB next season.

They have a mid level offense that could be above average a return to career averages from Vlad, Kirk, Springer and Varsho. Plus, there is no way they are done adding offense yet. They are probably still on the hunt for better bats at corner OF, 3B and DH.

The division is still tough, but Tampa has lost Glasnow and Franco. The Yankees added Soto, but other than him and Judge their offense is very mid and their pitching is suspect as Rodon is liely to be injured and they gave up King to get Soto.

Baltimore overachieved last season IMO, but they will still have a juggernaut offense, but how will their rotation hold up?

Boston hasn't really done EFF all yet.

Early predicton:

Baltimore
Jays
Rays/Yankees
Red Sox

Probably same as last season with the last place team flirting with a .500 record all season.

[cross16]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Yeah but he left because they didn't agree with his philopsophy of trading talent instead of developing talent. To be honest, if AA were still GM, would Vladdy and Bichette be Blue Jays or traded away while still in Buffalo?

I personally don't think that was it and they certainly haven't acted like they. They've traded away plenty of young talent to get better quick.

I think it came down to AA wanting to work for a better ownership group. Rogers kind of screwed him over with the Ervin Santana fiasco (allegedly.. but kind of not) and I think that sealed his fate in Toronto.

Atkins was the right guy to start the rebuild and while I don't think AA is as good a GM as he gets credit it would be fun to see what he could do now. It does feel like that Jays need a big trade to make them a true contender.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

It appears the club isn’t stopping there, as Enrique Rojas of ESPN reported Friday afternoon that the club has “taken the lead” in the sweepstakes for the services of right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, who Rojas adds is “close” to making a decision in free agency. It’s hardly a surprise that the Blue Jays have interest in Rodriguez, as a recent report indicated that Toronto was among several teams with interest in the righty.

Rodriguez, 27 in March, is among the most intriguing free agents available on the market this offseason. The right-hander was granted free agency by MLB back in early November after being released from his deal with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chunichi Dragons back in October. Rodriguez’s professional career began in Cuba during the 2015-16 season, and he spent six seasons pitching primarily as a starter to solid results in his home country before joining the Dragons ahead of the 2020 campaign. Upon arriving in Japan, Rodriguez was moved to the bullpen and broke out in a big way during the 2022 campaign, where he posted a dominant 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/...eepstakes.html

[calculoso]

Report: Braves land seven-time All-Star P Sale in deal with Red Sox
https://www.tsn.ca/1.2055187

Infield prospect Vaughn Grissom for Sale + cash

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/...eepstakes.html

I was hoping the Jays would bring back Hicks. If they sign Rodriguez I would think Hicks is not coming back.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

I was hoping the Jays would bring back Hicks. If they sign Rodriguez I would think Hicks is not coming back.

If they’re doubling down on their current winning streak of great pitching, and also seeing how not having enough can wear down guys like Romano, I don’t see why they can’t fit both into the back end rotation. Surely they’re not going to break it on this crop of batters, so why not get both. Helps keep the pressure off a few good ones and allows for some contingency in the event someone falters or gets injured. You’re right in that it’s unlikely they bring back Hicks but I’d like to see both.

[Underdog]

Rodriguez was a lights out reliever in Japan, wonder if the Jays interest is to put him in the pen???

[browna]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

I was hoping the Jays would bring back Hicks. If they sign Rodriguez I would think Hicks is not coming back.

Not sure Hicks ever wanted to be traded to Toronto in the first place, never mind resigning.

He was pretty quiet media wise in his time in Toronto, and if he wanted to be back, the Jays media would be all over it. On field, there's no question the Jays would be better with him than without.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by browna

Not sure Hicks ever wanted to be traded to Toronto in the first place, never mind resigning.

He was pretty quiet media wise in his time in Toronto, and if he wanted to be back, the Jays media would be all over it. On field, there's no question the Jays would be better with him than without.

Hopefully he was treated well during his time. I also think there's something to be said for having the most $$ in the offer...

[Roof-Daddy]

The best bang for the buck late inning reliever left is Aroldis Chapman IMO

Too bad he's a POS

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

The best bang for the buck late inning reliever left is Aroldis Chapman IMO

Too bad he's a POS

Agree. I'd like to have him on the team just for attitude, but I imagine his past charges would be a pain to deal with with respect to the constant border crossings.

[calculoso]

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2808707

The Toronto Blue Jays are showing serious interest in signing designated hitter/outfielder Joc Pederson, sources told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

[KelVarnsen]

No thanks

[ben voyonsdonc]

Pederson’s production sounds like a potential Belt replacement.

Feels like we are running back the same type of team next year. To have a chance, Guerrero and Bichette would need to have MVP calibre seasons and the pitching staff needs to be incredibly healthy. Don’t like those odds.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Pederson’s production sounds like a potential Belt replacement.

Feels like we are running back the same type of team next year. To have a chance, Guerrero and Bichette would need to have MVP calibre seasons and the pitching staff needs to be incredibly healthy. Don’t like those odds.

They struck out on all the big names and we already know they don't have the pieces teams want to make big trades.


Not sure what anyone expected after they missed on the Free Agents.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

They struck out on all the big names and we already know they don't have the pieces teams want to make big trades.


Not sure what anyone expected after they missed on the Free Agents.

…

I didn’t say that Atkins was happy to or planned to run back the same type of team as last year. I just said that it looks like we are bringing back the same type of team and didn’t like our odds of contending with that type of team.

I do think that Atkins made legit plays for the big names but faces significant challenges with going head to head against teams like the Yanks and Dodgers.