Official Blue Jays 2025 Spring Training Thread

[polo007]

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[COY0607]

Wasn't expecting much from Swanson after his season last year, but losing him is a blow to an already shaky pen beyond the top 2-3 guys. I really wish we had signed one more decent reliever.

It was bizarre they wasted 3M on Swanson in the first place

He was atrocious last season and very clearly not the same pitcher any longer

In his first 14 innings he had a 9.2 ERA, but his last 24 innings he had a 2.2 ERA. Conceivably to think he was/is back to being the 2023 pitcher

Not a bad bet to spend just $3M on that kind of reliever

[COY0607]

Straw continues to impress in Spring Training. Max is looking good! Springer's batting cleanup today was hilarious, as he should not be hitting any higher than 8th or 9th in this lineup come the start of the season. Clement is quickly becoming one of my favorites! I'm rooting for him.

With Berroa, Roden, Barger and even Straw having such a strong spring training and looking so promising (and Varsho getting close to 100%) - it suck’s that Springer is going play over them at least to start the season.

Springer seems to be finished, I hope they don’t drag him along as an everyday OF just because of his contract. Too many other promising OFs on this roster now

[dagger]

Straw continues to impress in Spring Training. Max is looking good! Springer's batting cleanup today was hilarious, as he should not be hitting any higher than 8th or 9th in this lineup come the start of the season. Clement is quickly becoming one of my favorites! I'm rooting for him.

With Berroa, Roden, Barger and even Straw having such a strong spring training and looking so promising (and Varsho getting close to 100%) - it suck’s that Springer is going play over them at least to start the season.

Springer seems to be finished, I hope they don’t drag him along as an everyday OF just because of his contract. Too many other promising OFs on this roster now

Springer is a big issue, I could seem them readily eating the final year of his contract next spring, but whether they would eat two seasons... unlikely. Maybe if they do a mid-year course correction (i.. forced to trade Guerrero and/or Bo) that would give them the financial latitude to eat a season and a half of Springer. Springer also shows the an over-reliance on free agency to fix all roster problems is not the way to go. If you have sufficient full-time starters earning tiny pre-arb salaries, you can go further out on a limb with older vets signed to be free agent deals, but the Jays' weak farm system means they go into every winter looking to chase the same vets that many other teams want in order to fix a treadmill roster.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Straw continues to impress in Spring Training. Max is looking good! Springer's batting cleanup today was hilarious, as he should not be hitting any higher than 8th or 9th in this lineup come the start of the season. Clement is quickly becoming one of my favorites! I'm rooting for him.

With Berroa, Roden, Barger and even Straw having such a strong spring training and looking so promising (and Varsho getting close to 100%) - it suck’s that Springer is going play over them at least to start the season.

Springer seems to be finished, I hope they don’t drag him along as an everyday OF just because of his contract. Too many other promising OFs on this roster now

ya he's not looking good. but like all things, don't believe everything you've seen in spring training - we need some hope

[WuTang_OG]

the lineup looks to be set wit hthe lineup out today minus varsho. Springer will be given opportunity cuz hes a vet to hit 5/6 then when he stinks schnieder will move him down. He's no doubt an anchor. He shouldnt even be there to start the season but Schenider playing nice nice.

[polo007]

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[WuTang_OG]

Pumpednfor this guy

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[Parataxis]

Straw continues to impress in Spring Training. Max is looking good! Springer's batting cleanup today was hilarious, as he should not be hitting any higher than 8th or 9th in this lineup come the start of the season. Clement is quickly becoming one of my favorites! I'm rooting for him.

With Berroa, Roden, Barger and even Straw having such a strong spring training and looking so promising (and Varsho getting close to 100%) - it suck’s that Springer is going play over them at least to start the season.

Springer seems to be finished, I hope they don’t drag him along as an everyday OF just because of his contract. Too many other promising OFs on this roster now

I wonder how much of his contract we'll need to eat to send him somewhere else.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Wonder if we can keep this rolling during/into the regular season?

Another W today 3 wins in a row!

[polo007]

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[JaysRule15]

tbh we knew when signing Springer that the end of his contract was going to be ugly. There's a reason why we were the only team offering him that extra year (and that's why he even signed with us). This is just the price you pay for being a big spender in FA. The goal is always to win something in the early years of that contract before it becomes an anchor.

Also, we will be in the same boat with Santander in a few years. His decline could be even faster than Springer's.

[bartron_44]

Id like to see them try the following to start the season:



1-Lukes-LF
2-Gimenez-2B
3-Vladdy-1B
4-Bo-SS
5-Santander-DH
6-Barger/Springer-RF
7-Kirk-C
8-Clement-3B
9-Varsho/Straw-CF

If they aren’t going to trade or waive Springer, I think they need to at least make him nothing more than the right handed half of a platoon in the OF. Let him focus on hitting lefties, and make Barger and that cannon attached to his right shoulder be the primary half of that platoon in RF.

Santander is too important to have running around in the outfield, and is nowhere near their best defender in either corner. So to me he solves the DH role. Some want him to hit 4th, but I like Bo there even more the way he looks in the box this year.

I like Vladdy 3rd more than 2nd. He seems to thrive there, and I want him hitting with RISP as much as possible against that SP in the first inning.

I would start the season with Lukes in LF, and if he struggles swap him with Roden later on in the season if Roden stays red hot in AAA. ( might as well steal the extra year of control if you think they may be here for a while… ) But I could also see Roden just winning that job the way he has hit for both average and power, gotten on base and defended in the OF. He has video game numbers so far.

Then in CF you have Straw until Varsho returns.

[Madvillainy2004]

If Vlad turned down 500 mill we should just trade him lmao that's an obscenely generous offer even with deferrals. Literally no point if this guy wants 525+ mill.

[Hottie McShotty]

And so it begins. Scherzer is already injured, I see.

[polo007]

Exclusive | Blue Jays' offer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. revealed after superstar halted contract talks - New York Post

The Toronto Blue Jays offered superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a deal for about $500 million before negotiations were halted last month — although significant deferrals put an estimate of the actual net present value of the offer between $400 million and $450 million, league sources familiar with the negotiation tell The Post.

These figures represent the range the Blue Jays were willing to discuss and, thus, details where matters stood before Guerrero’s camp halted negotiations, as promised, before the Jays’ first full-squad workout Feb. 18.

The Jays were offering to make Guerrero the game’s third-highest paid player, behind Mets superstar Juan Soto’s record $765 million, non-deferred deal that could reach $805 million and Dodgers two-way international superstar Shohei Ohtani’s heavily deferred $700 million deal, which is valued in current dollars at between $440 million and $470 million.

Guerrero, who would hit free agency young (he turns 26 Sunday), reaffirmed to The Post last month that the Jays’ offer was not close to what he was seeking. He later told Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes that he offered to sign with Toronto for less than $600 million, which would still put the sides $100 million-plus apart in terms of actual value, assuming Guerrero’s request was somewhat close to that $600 million number. Guerrero would like to do a very long deal like Soto, but has acknowledged that Soto’s unmatched consistency fairly puts the new Met’s value higher.

[WuTang_OG]

send vladdy to the moon.

[polo007]

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. seeks contract worth $500 million in present value - The Athletic

The number Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wants is $500 million.

Not $500 million before deferrals, but $500 million in present value, according to sources briefed on the first baseman’s contract negotiations with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The team’s last offer before Guerrero’s Feb. 18 deadline, according to the New York Post, was around $500 million with significant deferrals that would have reduced the present value to between $400 million and $450 million.

Guerrero, who turns 26 on Sunday, dropped his resistance to deferrals as his deadline neared, as long as his present value landed at $500 million, the sources said. A contract of that size would be the second largest in major-league history, ahead of Shohei Ohtani’s massively deferred $700 million deal, which carries a present value of $460.8 million.

Yet, Guerrero’s ask is still $265 million below the 15-year, $765 million free-agent deal Juan Soto signed in December, amounting to less than two-thirds of that guarantee. Guerrero told ESPN last week he was “looking for 14” years. The average annual value of a 14-year, $500 million deal would be $35.71 million — more than $15 million below Soto’s AAV and 11th all-time.

Guerrero broke off talks with the Blue Jays before the team’s first full workout of spring training. He told reporters that day he was open to reviving the discussions, saying, “I won’t close the door if it’s a realistic offer.” The difference in present value between his ask and the Blue Jays’ final proposal, as reported by the Post, is between $50 million and $100 million — or between $3.57 million and $7.14 million per season over 14 years.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Guerrero’s agents, Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro, declined comment.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Another win! 4 wins in a row! Oh ya!