2025 Blue Jays Offseason Thread

[polo007]

40-man roster deadline has passed: Which prospects got spots? - MLB.com

+ indicates player has been added to the 40-man roster

Toronto Blue Jays

+ Ricky Tiedemann, LHP (No. 4)

Yohendrick Pinango, OF (No. 7)

Victor Arias, OF (No. 9)

Josh Kasevich, SS (No. 12)

Edward Duran, C (No. 13)

Non-Top 30 prospects added:

Brandon Valenzuela, C[

[JN]

So the Jays added Valenzuela, and kept Bruihl and Lucas, instead of adding Pinango?
That seems very odd, but I guess we do need to dig deeper and consider spots that will be needed for free agents.

You do not want to place Pinango on the 40, and then be in a position to have to waive him to create roster space because he for sure gets claimed --Rule 5 is less clear to be claimed.

That being said it still doesn't make sense to me. Make Pinango the 39th man, and you still have flexibility.

Assume you get 4 free agents. and make Pinango the 39th man.
1 Open Spots
3 Players need to be waived or traded for a non roster player (Lucas and Bruihl for sure, and then one of the following five players)

- Angel Bastardo (who is an Extended Rule 5 for 2026). and must be on the Jays staff in 2026, or be returned.
- Adam Macko
- Paxton Schultz
- Brandon Valenzuela
- Leo Jimenez

To me you put Pinango on your 40 man, and if you end up signing 4 or 5 free agents, you deal with it by waiving some of the above. Or you can create a spot by flipping Pinango for another prospect who is not 40 man eligible.

Seems like questionable roster management to me, but perhaps I'm oversimplifying things.

[Parataxis]

Interesting that they've left two empty spots on the 40 man roster. Could've easily protected another rule 5 eligible player. Might be that they expect to sign a FA soon.

It's makes outrighting Sandlin so soon even more strange, if they weren't planning on needing those spots immediately.

[linery88]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/1p0e8nm/passan_the_blue_jays_are_considered_favorites_by/

[polo007]

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[Top10alltime]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

[Duffman100]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

He declined the qualifying offer.

[Parataxis]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

Declining the QO was expected. It's the *start* of negotiations, not the end of it.

The Jays didn't particularly want him to accept.

[Top10alltime]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

He declined the qualifying offer.

Sorry, after declining the QO, I don't think Jays will have a good chance at Bo now.

They should be more focused on guys like Imai, and Tucker.

[Fairview4Life]

Sorry, after declining the QO, I don't think Jays will have a good chance at Bo now.

Declining the QO has nothing to do with the Jays chances at re-signing Bo. He was always going to decline the qualifying offer because he can make much more money, including from the Jays.

[Duffman100]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

He declined the qualifying offer.

Sorry, after declining the QO, I don't think Jays will have a good chance at Bo now.

They should be more focused on guys like Imai, and Tucker.

It neither decreases or increases the Jays chances, he was always going to decline. What it means now is if he leaves we get a sweet draft pick out of it.

You may be inadvertently right that signing Tucker puts us over our budget and Bo is no longer a viable option. But in the end, Bo was always going to hit the open market.

[JN]

Interesting that they've left two empty spots on the 40 man roster. Could've easily protected another rule 5 eligible player. Might be that they expect to sign a FA soon.

It's makes outrighting Sandlin so soon even more strange, if they weren't planning on needing those spots immediately.

I believe the decision on whether the offer a player arbitration or not has to be made by this Friday. So at that point, arb would have been declined and he becomes a free agent.

It would have bought us an extra week to try to do something with him -- but the fact that he was not even claimed shows he has no value. I guess its just a case of doing the paperwork a little early.

[Parataxis]

Interesting that they've left two empty spots on the 40 man roster. Could've easily protected another rule 5 eligible player. Might be that they expect to sign a FA soon.

It's makes outrighting Sandlin so soon even more strange, if they weren't planning on needing those spots immediately.

I believe the decision on whether the offer a player arbitration or not has to be made by this Friday.

So at that point he would have become a free agent as we were not offering him arbitration.

Ah, gotcha.

For some reason, in my head, the Rule 5 Draft was shortly after the protection deadline. I didn't realise that there was a month between them.

[JN]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

He declined the qualifying offer.

Sorry, after declining the QO, I don't think Jays will have a good chance at Bo now.

They should be more focused on guys like Imai, and Tucker.

There are decent chances that Bo ends up elsewhere.
But declining the qualifiyng offer has zero impact on those chances.

Even if Bo wanted to sign here, he wasn't going to accept a 1yr/22 million offer.

[Morris_Shatford]

Getting Tucker, keeping Bo and finding a way to get Suarez/Cease would just be insane but likely unrealistic.

Theoretically;
If you had to pick between Tucker and Bo who are you taking?

Oh I don't know well enough. ha! I'll let the smarter people here answer that.

I hear ya,
Currently I am mentally preparing myself for a (-) Bichette, Bassitt, Scherzer (+) Bellinger, Kelly, G. Soto, off-season so hoping my pessimism is crushed in the next few weeks during the Bichette, Tucker, Skenes, Skubal Blue Jays introduction press conference.

[Morris_Shatford]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

Did you expect him to take the qualifying offer?

[Eating a Book]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

Did you expect him to take the qualifying offer?

He's a troll. Just ignore the posts.

[polo007]

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But according to multiple sources, another name should be added to the Red Sox's target list: Bo Bichette.

The Red Sox have shown interest in the 27-year-old free agent infielder, who would certainly fit the bill when it comes to an impactful right-handed bat that can hit in the top four spots of the Sox's batting order.

Bichette is projected by most to get a contract between 7-8 years worth upwards of $200 million. His age (he will be 28 on March 5) helps counter any hesitancy brought upon by having a qualifying offer attached.

The longtime Blue Jay has undoubtedly proven himself an impactful offensive threat, as his 2025 season demonstrated. Despite being sidelined by a knee injury in the final month of the regular season, Bichette finished last season hitting .311 with an .840 OPS and 18 home runs in 137 games. He has received Top-10 MVP moves in four of the previous five seasons.

Not only would Bichette's bat be a fit for the Red Sox, but his defensive skillset would also be a match. Many in baseball don't view him as a reliable shortstop, but there would be confidence in his abilities at both second base and third base. (He seamlessly played second base for the first time in his career during the Blue Jays' World Series matchup against the Dodgers.)

The Red Sox could make the case that Bichette's presence would be equally as impactful as Bregman at third base, or even at second, with Marcelo Mayer sliding over to third if Bregman doesn't re-sign. There is also the payoff of taking a key player away from one of the Red Sox's main American League East rivals.

Bichette has also thrived at Fenway Park for much of his career, totaling a .327 batting average and .907 OPS in 35 games.

The Bichette family does have roots in Boston Red Sox, with his parents, Dante and Mariana, meeting at the Gold's Gym on Landsdowne St.

[LLJ]

Bo Bichette declined the offer.... It's over go for Tucker and Imai now

Did you expect him to take the qualifying offer?

He's a troll. Just ignore the posts.

I think he's just really young. Maybe a teenager or just out of high school. Everyone knows a teenager somewhere who thinks he's smarter than everyone older than him.

[Cyrus]

If we are signing Tucker which i highly doubt classic case of being used as leverage so Philly/Yankees spend more, does that mean if the somehow unlikely signing of Tucker means, it likely means Varsho is out (After his last year of arb), can't imagine pouring more money into the OF mix.