Toronto Blue Jays - Offseason Thread

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Market has changed a lot since when Ortiz signed that deal. And since Cespedes apparently wants more than $25 million per, Edwin at 5/$125 m will look good enough for someone to pull the trigger. Besides Edwin has shown he can play 1B at a nice level, whereas Ortiz has always been a fielding disaster.

Edwin is terrible at 1B. Look at his advanced fielding numbers on Fangraphs - they are atrocious and that's even playing in the field less than half the time. The only reason he played 1B this year was to let Jose DH and keep his bat in the lineup every day.

Cespedes isn't a great outfielder, but he's decent enough and young enough to stay there for years to come and that gives him a lot more value than Edwin.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I mean it feels like this is a repeat of Price last year. Most people thought there was no way he was getting $30 million per, or that he could go over 6 years. Teams make overpayments and desperate moves in market all the time. Agents are tremendous at creating false perceptions that lead to these types of deals. Plus Edwin is a better hitter at 33 than Cespedes has been at any point in his career (and Cespedes isn't that much younger either). I didn't say it would be smart, but someone in market will give him 5 years and $25 million per.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by jschick88

Per Rick Westhead of TSN who spoke with EE's agent.

- Encarnacion wants 5-year/$125 M deal
- Expecting 10 to 11 teams to be interested.

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/video/westhead...-m-deal~989333

Also:
Jon HeymanVerified account ‏@JonHeyman
Encarnacion and Bautista will get qualifying offers, but Saunders will not: sources #jays

What was the QO for Saunders? Because if it is high enough this makes sense. With Edwin and Bautista is if far below what they are seeking.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

What was the QO for Saunders? Because if it is high enough this makes sense. With Edwin and Bautista is if far below what they are seeking.

QO's for all free agents is the same. 17 million and change

[jschick88]

The Toronto Blue Jays are making a push to re-sign Edwin Encarnacion after some fruitful talks have apparently given the free-agent slugger something to think about, industry sources told Sportsnet.

Things have the potential to move fast, but that’s no guarantee the sides will reach an agreement. An important factor at play is Encarnacion’s desire to remain with the Blue Jays, but he’ll be able to negotiate with all 30 teams starting at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday night and will be highly sought.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...n-encarnacion/

[puffnstuff]

'but he’ll be able to negotiate with all 30 teams starting at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday night and will be highly sought.'

So is that tonight? Or is that actually Wednesday morning?

[jschick88]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

'but he’ll be able to negotiate with all 30 teams starting at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday night and will be highly sought.'

So is that tonight? Or is that actually Wednesday morning?

Yes tonight. In about 1.5 hrs he becomes a FA. He can negotiate with any team.

[puffnstuff]

What a dumb way for them to write that.

[bluejays]

I don't care what anyone says, or what the stats show, but Edwin at $25M is pretty fair for what he brings. He may not be the best fielder, but he certainly doesn't stand out defensively as a sieve at 1st. To say that the advanced stats show he's not that good, is fair, but the truth is that his defence hasn't cost any substantial runs. I was personally expecting him to start asking north of $30M. At $25M he's probably fairly evaluating himself and there will probably be a team who pays him more if not gives him a longer term. If he's willing to take the hometown discount I'd be willing to do 5 years @ $24M, but that's really splitting hairs. I imagine Edwin will be solid for the next 3 years. Beyond that I don't know but he's a solid 1st baseman in my mind.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by fleury

I don't care what anyone says, or what the stats show, but Edwin at $25M is pretty fair for what he brings. He may not be the best fielder, but he certainly doesn't stand out defensively as a sieve at 1st. To say that the advanced stats show he's not that good, is fair, but the truth is that his defence hasn't cost any substantial runs. I was personally expecting him to start asking north of $30M. At $25M he's probably fairly evaluating himself and there will probably be a team who pays him more if not gives him a longer term. If he's willing to take the hometown discount I'd be willing to do 5 years @ $24M, but that's really splitting hairs. I imagine Edwin will be solid for the next 3 years. Beyond that I don't know but he's a solid 1st baseman in my mind.

I'm a big fan of EE, but we can't have an infield making $90M.

EE played well enough to price himself out of town. Thanks and good luck in Boston.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

The Jays are one of the teams reaching out to Morales.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/1...-bluejays.html

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

The Jays are one of the teams reaching out to Morales.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/1...-bluejays.html

Makes sense. Decent replacement for EE but wouldn't cost anywhere near $25 million per year, and brings the versatility of being a switch hitter.

[Roof-Daddy]

Realistically, you could probably get both Morales and a guy like Ian Desmond for roughly the same combined salary as what you'd end up paying EE and you'd probably get 50+ home runs and 150+ RBI total from both those guys while filling the DH role and adding a solid utility outfielder who can also play infield in a pinch.

It would be money much better spent IMO.

[Cappy]

somewhat of a buyers market for power hitting 1B/DH right now, which should make retaining/replacing EE a decent proposition.

Also,there are some decent relief pitchers on the market. Obviously Chapman, Jensen, Melancon will be off the table, but Ziegler, Uehara, Feliz, and even Cecil can be had for a reasonable amount.

Luis Valbuena could be cheap, and offer a handy backup to JD.

Desmond suffered a Saunders-esque second half and i can't imagine him replicating his Avg/OBP numbers.

[Roof-Daddy]

Shi Davidi believes the Jays FO will have a significant payroll increase to work with in attempting to build a championship roster. He's come to this conclusion after talking with Shapiro.

Blue Jays expected to have more big-league payroll in 2017

Exciting if true. Trying not to get too optimistic, but if they get a bump up to $160,000,000-ish to start the season, they can definitely shore up the holes in the roster.

If they do that properly, and the starting rotation doesn't turn into a pumpkin, the Jays will have a pretty good shot at a 3rd straight post season birth.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by fleury

I don't care what anyone says, or what the stats show, but Edwin at $25M is pretty fair for what he brings.

Well... it's "fair" in terms of what he could get on the open market, but I don't think it's the best use of resources. I mean say the Jays could get Fowler for 18M and Reddick for 9M. For 2M more dollars you basically get more overall offensive value, significantly better D, also fill Bautista's spot, balance out the L/R profile of the line-up. Yes... you lose a significant amount of power but a run is a run is a run regardless of how it's gotten.

Honestly I'm skeptical that the Jays sign Edwin for that kind of dough. Shapiro/Atkins don't strike me as "Stars & Scrubs" front office types. They're more the "Average Players Plus" in terms of team building strategy.

[Da_Chief]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMjxPO_Bq8-/

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Shi Davidi believes the Jays FO will have a significant payroll increase to work with in attempting to build a championship roster. He's come to this conclusion after talking with Shapiro.

Blue Jays expected to have more big-league payroll in 2017

Exciting if true. Trying not to get too optimistic, but if they get a bump up to $160,000,000-ish to start the season, they can definitely shore up the holes in the roster.

If they do that properly, and the starting rotation doesn't turn into a pumpkin, the Jays will have a pretty good shot at a 3rd straight post season birth.

I'll believe that when a non-Rogers media source reports it. Would be awesome if it's true, but Sportsnet is pretty much fishwrap when comes to Blue Jays reporting.

[Sylvanfan]

I wonder if a guy like Jason Heyward could be available, and if you could get Chicago to eat a good chunk of that contract. He didn't have a very good season, but he's not that old, still plays more than well enough in the field and offers athleticism and speed.

Might not be there now, but the Cubs still have a stable of young guys to come, so by mid season if he's still struggling at the dish, I wonder if he might be someone you could grab out of the scratch and dent bin.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I wonder if a guy like Jason Heyward could be available, and if you could get Chicago to eat a good chunk of that contract. He didn't have a very good season, but he's not that old, still plays more than well enough in the field and offers athleticism and speed.

Might not be there now, but the Cubs still have a stable of young guys to come, so by mid season if he's still struggling at the dish, I wonder if he might be someone you could grab out of the scratch and dent bin.

Jason Heyward is not a good fit. Career .262 hitter that likes to Strikeout. He's the opposite of what Toronto should be looking to add. He's never lived up to his potential 7 years in to this major league career, and at this point I think it's safe to assume he never will.

I wouldn't touch that contract with a ten foot pole even if Chicago paid half of it. The guy is signed for 8 more years I think. Upton provides everything Heyward, and probably even more.