2025 Blue Jays Offseason Thread

[duppyy]

I don't keep up with other teams much but I remember Félix Bautista was an amazing closer for the Orioles and he's still out with Injury. Would orioles trade him or would he be too much of a risk due to his injury? I just want a closer that's not a coin toss whether he will get a save or not.

[LoveMyRaps]

If we get Bo ANDDDDD Tucker

Build a statue of Mark and Ross outside Rogers Center

[LoveMyRaps]

I don't keep up with other teams much but I remember Félix Bautista was an amazing closer for the Orioles and he's still out with Injury. Would orioles trade him or would he be too much of a risk due to his injury? I just want a closer that's not a coin toss whether he will get a save or not.

lot of solid options available - suarez, diaz, williams

any one of those guys would be a significant upgrade over hoffman.

[Mehar]

I don't keep up with other teams much but I remember Félix Bautista was an amazing closer for the Orioles and he's still out with Injury. Would orioles trade him or would he be too much of a risk due to his injury? I just want a closer that's not a coin toss whether he will get a save or not.

lot of solid options available - suarez, diaz, williams

any one of those guys would be a significant upgrade over hoffman.

Hoffman is best served as a 7th and 8th Inning guy. He will have a much better 2026 in that role. His numbers in Philadelphia were very good as a Set Up man to Estevez.

Some people are not meant to be Closers, and the pressure that comes with being the 9th Inning guy counted on to get the final outs of a game. Either Suarez, Diaz, or Williams would be a significant move by this front office to address that need.

[Mehar]

There is some red flags with Tucker (mostly his bat speed) but Popkins did see like half our best guys increase their bat speed this year, mainly Springer and Kirk. But he really fits what were trying to do and hes just a flat out elite hitter. 878 OPS since 2021, hes basically a walking 140 OPS+ guy and hes still only 28. With a looming lockout I think you go for it Tucker. I think you keep Bo at 2nd as well, and just try to juggle things around with all the guys.

I might be in the minority, but I am not a fan of paying Tucker around 400 million. I think he is an overrated player at that price tag, and not a franchise game changer.

I felt the same way about Santander last year (Slow, high strike out, low batting average, not a great defender, etc.). Tucker's injury history is also a Red Flag. His bat speed is a concern also. Bellinger at 150 to 175 million is a much better investment. If not Bellinger, use that money to acquire a guy like Michael King to bolster that rotation, and add two impact relievers. Better option than paying Tucker 400 million.

[Parataxis]

I don't keep up with other teams much but I remember Félix Bautista was an amazing closer for the Orioles and he's still out with Injury. Would orioles trade him or would he be too much of a risk due to his injury? I just want a closer that's not a coin toss whether he will get a save or not.

lot of solid options available - suarez, diaz, williams

any one of those guys would be a significant upgrade over hoffman.

Hoffman is best served as a 7th and 8th Inning guy. He will have a much better 2026 in that role. His numbers in Philadelphia were very good as a Set Up man to Estevez.

Some people are not meant to be Closers, and the pressure that comes with being the 9th Inning guy counted on to get the final outs of a game. Either Suarez, Diaz, or Williams would be a significant move by this front office to address that need.

Devin Williams is not the answer for Toronto at Closer. If you thought that Hoffman and Romano blew saves...

[JCP11]

Not a fan of paying tons of money for Kyle Tucker, I would rather pay less to get Bo back (I don't see the Jays sign both) and get more pitching.

[bartron_44]

With Tucker:

Springer- DH
Tucker- RF
Vlad - 1B
Barger - 3B
Kirk- C
Lukes/Santander- LF
Clement- 2B
Varsho- CF
Gimenez- SS


OR

With Bo:


Springer
Lukes
Vlad
Bo
Barger
Kirk
Santander
Clement
Gimenez


Either way, I think they should get rid of Santander. He and George are both DHs now. They cant keep playing him in the OF.


If they can trade Santander, then they could have:

Springer-DH
Tucker- RF
Vlad- 1B
Bo- 2B
Barger-3B
Kirk-C
Lukes-LF
Varsho -CF


Another option is Bellinger AND Bo…


Another option is Bellinger, Bo AND Tucker…But that would involve trading Varsho ( before they have to pay him) and Santander. If they could do all that though..Id like their chances of being the best offense in the AL.




Springer - DH
Tucker - RF
Vlad - 1B
Bellinger- CF
Bo - 2B
Barger - 3B
Kirk - C
Lukes/Schneider- LF
Gimenez - SS


Bench- Straw, Clement, Heineman and Schneider/Lukes

[LoveMyRaps]

lot of solid options available - suarez, diaz, williams

any one of those guys would be a significant upgrade over hoffman.

Hoffman is best served as a 7th and 8th Inning guy. He will have a much better 2026 in that role. His numbers in Philadelphia were very good as a Set Up man to Estevez.

Some people are not meant to be Closers, and the pressure that comes with being the 9th Inning guy counted on to get the final outs of a game. Either Suarez, Diaz, or Williams would be a significant move by this front office to address that need.

Devin Williams is not the answer for Toronto at Closer. If you thought that Hoffman and Romano blew saves...

Devin Williams had the worst defense behind him, had NY media/fans putting an absurd amount of pressure on him, etc.
One up & down season doesn't erase his 5 prior seasons of being one of the best relief pitchers in the game.

The fact that you'd even compare him to Hoffman and Romano is a very casual take.

[duppyy]

Bob Knightingale or however you spell it said Bo expected to re-sign with the jays, hopefully thats true.

[Madvillainy2004]

Hoffman is best served as a 7th and 8th Inning guy. He will have a much better 2026 in that role. His numbers in Philadelphia were very good as a Set Up man to Estevez.

Some people are not meant to be Closers, and the pressure that comes with being the 9th Inning guy counted on to get the final outs of a game. Either Suarez, Diaz, or Williams would be a significant move by this front office to address that need.

Devin Williams is not the answer for Toronto at Closer. If you thought that Hoffman and Romano blew saves...

Devin Williams had the worst defense behind him, had NY media/fans putting an absurd amount of pressure on him, etc.
One up & down season doesn't erase his 5 prior seasons of being one of the best relief pitchers in the game.

The fact that you'd even compare him to Hoffman and Romano is a very casual take.

Williams was also pretty unlucky lol he still throws 96-97 and has the best change-up in the sport.

[Parataxis]

Hoffman is best served as a 7th and 8th Inning guy. He will have a much better 2026 in that role. His numbers in Philadelphia were very good as a Set Up man to Estevez.

Some people are not meant to be Closers, and the pressure that comes with being the 9th Inning guy counted on to get the final outs of a game. Either Suarez, Diaz, or Williams would be a significant move by this front office to address that need.

Devin Williams is not the answer for Toronto at Closer. If you thought that Hoffman and Romano blew saves...

Devin Williams had the worst defense behind him, had NY media/fans putting an absurd amount of pressure on him, etc.
One up & down season doesn't erase his 5 prior seasons of being one of the best relief pitchers in the game.

The fact that you'd even compare him to Hoffman and Romano is a very casual take.

If Williams did on the Jays what he did on the Yankees, this board would be completely unreadable from all the hate screeds, and you know it.

[Mehar]

Devin Williams is not the answer for Toronto at Closer. If you thought that Hoffman and Romano blew saves...

Devin Williams had the worst defense behind him, had NY media/fans putting an absurd amount of pressure on him, etc.
One up & down season doesn't erase his 5 prior seasons of being one of the best relief pitchers in the game.

The fact that you'd even compare him to Hoffman and Romano is a very casual take.

Williams was also pretty unlucky lol he still throws 96-97 and has the best change-up in the sport.

Devin Williams in Milwaukee was one of the best relievers in all of MLB. His numbers were elite for 5 years before last year. Seeing him pitch last year, I felt he badly needed a change of scenery from New York, and in a different city he can be the same elite pitcher he was once again.

Comparing his stuff to Romano and Hoffman is a bad one, given the fact that Williams does possess one of the best change-ups in MLB for a reliever. Also, you can probably get Williams for a much cheaper price than an Edwin Diaz (who opted out of a 21.55 million contract next year) and is looking at 100 million over 5 years. Either Williams or Suarez would be my target for 2026 Closer.

[JN]

I'm much more wary of Cody Bellinger than some here apparently. I think some here are overrating him.
Do some not remember that Cody Bellinger was essentially a pure salary dump last offseason, and that was when the total salary exposure was just about $32M .. $25M + potentially a $7m buyout. Now you are going to pay him 5/175 to play an average CF?

His OPS+ his last 4 years have been 81, 139, 111, 125. Some will say throw out the 81 as an outlier -- fine. But then you have to throw out the 139 as well, because his peripherals (Hard Hit% etc) suggested it was an extremely lucky year,

So what he is as a 110-125 OPS+ guy, who can play center field, but is now an average defender at that position.

If there is no better bat available, it far better to stick with Varsho in 2026 (although don't extend him either), and then look at new options again in 2027 in FA.

[JN]

My only concern with Devin Williams is that he had two major back issues corrected with surgery back in 2023 offseason / early 2025.

Perhaps that caught up to him in 2025, although his FIP was still good at 2.68 in 2025. It's FA you have to roll the dice and be willing to get burnt I suppose, because you have the money to do work around it.

[Parataxis]

I'm much more wary of Cody Bellinger than some here apparently. I think some here are overrating him.
Do some not remember that Cody Bellinger was essentially a pure salary dump last offseason, and that was when the total salary exposure was just about $32M .. $25M + potentially a $7m buyout. Now you are going to pay him 5/175 to play an average CF?

His OPS+ his last 4 years have been 81, 139, 111, 125. Some will say throw out the 81 as an outlier -- fine. But then you have to throw out the 139 as well, because his peripherals (Hard Hit% etc) suggested it was an extremely lucky year,

So what he is as a 110-125 OPS+ guy, who can play center field, but is now an average defender at that position.

If there is no better bat available, it far better to stick with Varsho in 2026 (although don't extend him either), and then look at new options again in 2027 in FA.

If we sign Bellinger, it won't be to play CF. He'll be in one of the corner positions.

[JN]

I'm much more wary of Cody Bellinger than some here apparently. I think some here are overrating him.
Do some not remember that Cody Bellinger was essentially a pure salary dump last offseason, and that was when the total salary exposure was just about $32M .. $25M + potentially a $7m buyout. Now you are going to pay him 5/175 to play an average CF?

His OPS+ his last 4 years have been 81, 139, 111, 125. Some will say throw out the 81 as an outlier -- fine. But then you have to throw out the 139 as well, because his peripherals (Hard Hit% etc) suggested it was an extremely lucky year,

So what he is as a 110-125 OPS+ guy, who can play center field, but is now an average defender at that position.

If there is no better bat available, it far better to stick with Varsho in 2026 (although don't extend him either), and then look at new options again in 2027 in FA.

If we sign Bellinger, it won't be to play CF. He'll be in one of the corner positions.

Noted, and that would be more acceptable -- although some have proposed getting rid of Varsho in 2026, and placing Bellinger in CF which would seem crazy to me.

Although a 110-125 OPS player in a corner OF spot getting paid $30M+ still seems like a crazy price to pay.

[polo007]

MLB offseason notes: Which way for the Twins and Rangers? - The Athletic

The deal with Fairbanks

The Tampa Bay Rays traded numerous players at the past two deadlines, from outfielder Randy Arozarena, third baseman Isaac Paredes and reliever Jason Adam in 2024 to righty Taj Bradley, infielder José Caballero and catcher Danny Jansen in 2025.

Yet, for all their activity, the Rays never parted with closer Pete Fairbanks. It’s not that they were terribly attached to him. They just could never get the return they wanted, according to sources briefed on their discussions.

The difficulty in trading Fairbanks helps explain why the Rays declined his $11 million club option. Their other choice was to exercise it, carry him into the offseason and attempt to move him after the top free-agent relievers came off the board.

The Rays, before making Fairbanks a free agent, found that few teams are willing to take on a salary that high for a reliever this early in the offseason. The Baltimore Orioles were an exception, re-acquiring Andrew Kittredge last Wednesday knowing they would exercise his $9 million option.

For the Rays, getting stuck with Fairbanks at $11 million if they again failed to move him later in the offseason would have been an unacceptable outcome. Even under new ownership, the team is expected to continue operating on a limited budget.

Fairbanks, who turns 32 next month, had an expected ERA last season in the top 11 percent of the sport. He ranks among the top four in Rays history in saves, strikeouts and appearances. But while he avoided the IL last season, he has a lengthy injury history, including Raynaud’s syndrome, which disrupts the blood flow to his fingers and affects his grip on the ball in cold weather.

Some teams that play outdoors in cooler climates might consider him a risk, especially if they are intent on playing in October. But even in a free-agent market that includes closers Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suárez, Fairbanks should attract considerable interest, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays among his expected suitors.

[tecumseh18]

Do people see Addison Barger as just a random guy who got on a hot streak in the playoffs? Or as the future in RF (or 3B)?

There has to be some limits on the budget this season. No way I want to blow on Tucker. What makes him worth the bag?

[Randle McMurphy]

Do people see Addison Barger as just a random guy who got on a hot streak in the playoffs? Or as the future in RF (or 3B)?

There has to be some limits on the budget this season. No way I want to blow on Tucker. What makes him worth the bag?

Barger was a good player all season, particularly against RHP (115 wRC+). He’s gonna start somewhere next year for the Jays and what position that is depends on whether Bichette returns.

And why does there have to be limits? Jays have always been capable of spending like the Dodgers and now would be the time to do so.