2021 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Roof-Daddy]

AGM time

Trade Gurriel, Martinez, Pearson for Jose Ramirez

Sign Starling Marte
Sign Kyle Schwarber
Sign Noah Syndergaard
Sign Steven Matz

1. CF Springer
2. LF Marte
3. 1B Vladdy
4. DH Schwarber
5. SS Bo
6. 3B Ramirez
7. RF Teo
8. C Jansen/Kirk
9. 2B Biggio

BE - Espinal
BE - Grichuk (unless you can dump him somewhere)
BE - Jansen/Kirk
BE - Valera

SP - Berrios
SP - Ryu
SP - Syndergaard
SP - Matz
SP - Manoah

CL - Romano
RP - Mayza
RP - Merryweather
RP - Cimber
RP - Richards
RP - Stripling
RP - Borucki (or an FA upgrade)
RP - Castro (or an FA upgrade)

[bluejays]

^ I'm not harping on one thing in particular, but where do we see Syndergaard's health? I personally see it as highly risky. For a team going all in at this point, I don't think they can take the chance with too many unknowns. What I mean by this is on the rotation, you have Barrios and Manoah as locks for being healthy and bringing their worth to the table. Ryu when healthy is a #1, but his pitching ability is suddenly in question. Matz turned it around and could be a #4, but we'll have to see if he continues his play from last year. Quite a few unknowns in the rotation. I like the intimidation a guy like Syndergaard brings, but I'm worried of his health. I personally hope they go bigger and sign a vet for 2 years. Some big name old guys on the list this year would really help with leading through experience and calming the young team down behind the scenes, as well as their short term deals would work for our team structure.

[flames_fan_down_under]

I think with Syndergaard's health being a concern you might have an opportunity to acquire him somewhat cheaper with a very high upside? The Mets also went from having Degrom Wheeler and Syndergaard to ....Degrom. What a mess.

Not a bad addition of talent there Rood Daddy.

The free agent catcher market is thin, so it should be a good opportunity for the Jays to leverage their immense depth in the catcher position and acquire something. I could see Kirk on the way out, acquiring a relief arm or two.

I have a hard time seeing this team trading Gurriel away because his contract is just too damn good. 5 million next year, 6 million after, then arbitration. That is immense surplus value.

Age is definitely not on Marte's side so he could be got for a decent price, and we know that Atkin's doesn't necessarily care about age in terms of FA contracts because of his rumoured pursuits of Brantley/LeMahieu. I could see it happening.

Grichuk is someone who is on the way out, not sure how many teams will be lining up for his services, but a team like the Rangers would likely need a serviceable outfielder, the Jays probably retain a bit of salary.

I can't see them being players in the Scherzer market. I can see them re-signing Matz to a reasonable contract. As far as other free agent pitchers who knows. This team loves its high upside guys coming off down years and it has definitely worked for them with Ray, somewhat with Matz. A guy like Dylan Bundy could be had for cheap, decent K/9, the team could see something in his pitch selection that could make him more effective. Andrew Heaney has a lot of Robbie Ray like qualities. Lefty with a ton of strike out ability and a high walk rate, could be another diamond in the rough.

Then a big splash with a middle infielder, someone like Corey Seager.

Maybe some other guys that aren't as sexy as some of the big dogs like Seager, Semien, or Correa: Mark Canha is a very serviceable guy, could split 1B and DH duties with Vladdy.

And somehow getting Ramirez without giving away too much.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by fleury

^ I'm not harping on one thing in particular, but where do we see Syndergaard's health? I personally see it as highly risky. For a team going all in at this point, I don't think they can take the chance with too many unknowns. What I mean by this is on the rotation, you have Barrios and Manoah as locks for being healthy and bringing their worth to the table. Ryu when healthy is a #1, but his pitching ability is suddenly in question. Matz turned it around and could be a #4, but we'll have to see if he continues his play from last year. Quite a few unknowns in the rotation. I like the intimidation a guy like Syndergaard brings, but I'm worried of his health. I personally hope they go bigger and sign a vet for 2 years. Some big name old guys on the list this year would really help with leading through experience and calming the young team down behind the scenes, as well as their short term deals would work for our team structure.

Yeah Syndergaard is a risk for sure, I think he's going to end up signing a 1 year pillow contract somewhere to prove himself. He'd be a risk like Ray was a risk. The risk with Ray was his control issues, for Syndergaard it would be health.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I think with Syndergaard's health being a concern you might have an opportunity to acquire him somewhat cheaper with a very high upside? The Mets also went from having Degrom Wheeler and Syndergaard to ....Degrom. What a mess.

Not a bad addition of talent there Rood Daddy.

The free agent catcher market is thin, so it should be a good opportunity for the Jays to leverage their immense depth in the catcher position and acquire something. I could see Kirk on the way out, acquiring a relief arm or two.

I have a hard time seeing this team trading Gurriel away because his contract is just too damn good. 5 million next year, 6 million after, then arbitration. That is immense surplus value.

Age is definitely not on Marte's side so he could be got for a decent price, and we know that Atkin's doesn't necessarily care about age in terms of FA contracts because of his rumoured pursuits of Brantley/LeMahieu. I could see it happening.

Grichuk is someone who is on the way out, not sure how many teams will be lining up for his services, but a team like the Rangers would likely need a serviceable outfielder, the Jays probably retain a bit of salary.

I can't see them being players in the Scherzer market. I can see them re-signing Matz to a reasonable contract. As far as other free agent pitchers who knows. This team loves its high upside guys coming off down years and it has definitely worked for them with Ray, somewhat with Matz. A guy like Dylan Bundy could be had for cheap, decent K/9, the team could see something in his pitch selection that could make him more effective. Andrew Heaney has a lot of Robbie Ray like qualities. Lefty with a ton of strike out ability and a high walk rate, could be another diamond in the rough.

Then a big splash with a middle infielder, someone like Corey Seager.

Maybe some other guys that aren't as sexy as some of the big dogs like Seager, Semien, or Correa: Mark Canha is a very serviceable guy, could split 1B and DH duties with Vladdy.

And somehow getting Ramirez without giving away too much.

With Syndergaard, I think it's very risky given the past years woes. Like it's been pointed out, Ray was control issues - that's very much in the team's control to work it out. Health is another matter and the fact he's been hurt the past few seasons and we'd be relying on him, means we're putting a ton of faith that he'd be healthy. I think that's a lot to expect when the past is not on his side.


A week ago Scott Mitchell I believe said a guy like Teoscar could even be dangled this off-season. I find it completely hard to believe given his RBI numbers, but that would be shocking. You pointed out a very real set of scenarios that could go down this winter. I really want to see what Kirk can do, but he's just a bat, and he'll never be good defensively. Some team could pony something up for him though. Grichuk as we all know is useless to this team. Some team will think they can work on him and will probably pay more than he's actually worth, but if he can go, good riddance. Mark Canha has to be one of the most under valued players in the league. He can do it all with the bat. Jays have a history of going to the well in Oakland, so I can see them going there if the price is cheap. Marte would be a dream as his steals could open a new dimension for the team.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, I love the idea of Marte. Probably won't take a ton of term because of his age, 3 years maybe? Plus he can play anywhere in the outfield, while not being a complete dud with the bat like Grichuk, so he provides insurance if Springer is injured again.

Then it opens up the ability to dangle Gurriel for a guy like Ramirez. Gurriel isn't a guy I'd look to trade, but his contract is an absolute gem and would be of very high interest to a team like Cleveland IMO.

[Roof-Daddy]

I'm hoping the Jays and Yates can give it another try, but for like half of what he signed for last off season since he missed the whole season with his injury. If they were able to get 2016-2019 Kirby Yates for roughly $2 million it could be an unreal bargain.

Although, now that Romano has established himself as a closer, the Jays might struggle to get any other closers to sign with them.

[Roof-Daddy]

A senior MLB executive said he expects other teams will use the Rogers drama against the Blue Jays in free agency

For those who haven’t been paying attention, the long story short here is that Ed Rogers, the son of Ted Rogers, was pushed out of his role as the chairman of the company after he tried to boot Joe Natale, the company’s CEO, and replace him with Tony Staffieri, who was the company’s CFO at the time.

While Ed was removed as the chair of Rogers Communications, he’s still the chair of Rogers Control Trust, which ultimately controls the majority of voting shares within Rogers Communications. On Sunday, Ed used his position atop the Control Trust to hold a board meeting with his hand-picked directors in which he was apparently reinstated as the chair of Rogers Communications.

Between this #### and a probable work stoppage/strike looming I'm suddenly not as excited about the off season anymore.

Brutal timing for all of this crap to be happening.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

A senior MLB executive said he expects other teams will use the Rogers drama against the Blue Jays in free agency



Between this #### and a probable work stoppage/strike looming I'm suddenly not as excited about the off season anymore.

Brutal timing for all of this crap to be happening.

The labour stoppage is a drag, but the drama behind the scenes shouldn’t be concerning.

They’re an enormous telecom. The cheques are going to clear, and either way, I doubt whoever’s in charge of Rogers will be coming into the clubhouse to give a pregame speech.

[Blaster86]

"Hey your boss' boss' boss that you will never directly interact with and will have zero say on direct baseball matters has changed. This will change nothing. Be careful!"

It's not much of a threat.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, I don't know. One of the Jays selling points will be a high pay roll and a team that is all in to win. That kind of a #### show at the top might be enough to push a player who is on the fence about coming to the Jays to the wrong side of that fence.

Hopefully that doesn't happen, but one thing is for sure, that kind of instability at the top of Rogers isn't going to help convince anyone to come to the Jays.

[flames_fan_down_under]

I have a hard time believing an MLB player would be abreast of the ins and outs of the corporate structure and changing org chart of the parent company of the Blue Jays.

[bluejays]

I also echo this doesn’t change anything. Rogers, through Shapiro and Atkins has committed to increase the payroll. Shapiro has declared it as much. Walking back on that commitment especially with the team being where it is, would kill the Jays fan base. Rogers knows this. Where it may hurt a little is how the decrease in stock price will affect the magnitude of what that budget increase is. To show better shareholder value will Rogers pull back on certain costs? We don’t know. I don’t suspect any of this will be drastic.

[Roof-Daddy]

lol, well I'm glad you are all so confident that having a bunch of in-fighting dip ####s running the corporation that owns and calls ALL the shots for the Blue Jays isn't going to negatively affect their ability to bring in and/or keep top MLB talent.

Hope you're right.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

lol, well I'm glad you are all so confident that having a bunch of in-fighting dip ####s running the corporation that owns and calls ALL the shots for the Blue Jays isn't going to negatively affect their ability to bring in and/or keep top MLB talent.

Hope you're right.

In fairness it's one guy who seems to be the leaked problem child. Without a doubt there are more as it's probably inherent within the culture but that's another story.


It's not in their best interest at all to cheap out at this point. It would be a franchise killer really.

[GreenLantern2814]

Pay Vlad.

Problem solved.

[flamingred89]

You just hope that it's not Ed Rogers pushing the higher Jays payroll through management and if he gets pushed out then the spending does too. But who knows what's going on behind the scenes. The Rogers family should just take control of the Jays from the company anyway. Corporations shouldn't be allowed to run teams. You need eccentric rich people to be living out their fantasies.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

You just hope that it's not Ed Rogers pushing the higher Jays payroll through management and if he gets pushed out then the spending does too. But who knows what's going on behind the scenes. The Rogers family should just take control of the Jays from the company anyway. Corporations shouldn't be allowed to run teams. You need eccentric rich people to be living out their fantasies.

Sounds like ol’ Ed was lobbying hard for the Raptors to turf Masai.

Dude needs to go buy another Pagani or something and stay out of running things he knows nothing about.

Failsons gonna fail.

[Roof-Daddy]

So apparently Melvin left the A's to manage the Padres. People are speculating on an A's fire sale and rebuild now.

Matt Chapman would be a sweet addition and fills a need at 3B. Really strong defensive metrics and despite a slower year with the bat he's usually strong offensively. JD part two possibly?

Also, Bassitt and/or Manea would be nice additions to the rotation as well.

Gotta be careful though, not a ton of control left with any of these guys. Don't want to gut your farm system for just 2-3 years of these players.

[Roof-Daddy]

Not sure how many prospect watchers we have here, but Gabriel Moreno continues to swing a devastatingly hot bat wherever he goes.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1456369903678730241


If he stays healthy, he will likely be up with the Jays very early on next season and IMO it will be like adding another Bo level type hitter to the line up, if not even better.

It'll be interesting to see if the Jays slide him over to 3rd base for a bit, or make room for him behind the plate by dealing one of Jansen or Kirk for pitching this off season.