2025 Blue Jays Offseason Thread

[Randle McMurphy]

Good move not to commit any dollars for an injury prone, mediocre pitcher like Sandlin. Hopefully Little is next. Hopefully Brendon Little, who is "Little" when the moments get big, has also pitched his last game as a Jay also. Decline his Arbitration, and wish him well elsewhere along with IKF.

Definitely don’t do any of that. Little was their most valuable reliever in 2025 and costs virtually nothing, he’s not going anywhere.

He was the most Valuable Reliever in 2025 if the season ended in July. Little was terrible after the all-star break, so you can stop with the Most Valuable Reliever Sound Bite. His control, velocity and overall value was in the toilet after the month of July. I do not care if he costs 1 dollar, give someone else a chance, since this organization and Little need a divorce.

Opposing teams figured out if you stop swinging at his wild pitches, then it would be an easy Walk to First Base, and you can see Little start to implode in due time. Schneider did not want to even use him in the World Series, unless it was that 18 inning game, and as soon as Little came in- this game was over. Seems like a nice guy, but he should pitch elsewhere in 2026.

Very few relievers in baseball generate whiffs at anywhere near the rate that he does and he costs virtually nothing.

It wouldn’t be quite as senseless as non-tendering one of the best outfielders in baseball but getting rid of Little for no reason at all would be up there. Not happening.

[Hottie McShotty]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

[JN]

Little is not arbitration eligible, on a minimum contract. I believe he also has options left.
So he is not going to another organization this winter, but might find himself in Buffalo at some point in 2026 if he struggles in season or even spring. Once he had to rely on his fastball to get players out it was tough for him.

He was too good for a short while to totally give up on him though, With options it gives him a chance to try to rebuild his approach and work on stuff/command.

[Randle McMurphy]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

Little was in the top 15 in baseball in K/9. Any FA you can get that strikes out guys at that rate will cost tens of millions of dollars.

He’s not going anywhere lol

[JN]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

I feel he was too good for a short while to totally give up on him, and there is no real cost to keep him 40 man roster wise . I think he is worth a shot at trying to rebuild his approach. He has options left, so if or when he struggles send him down to AAA. Or start him there.

Our 40 man room is not busting at the seams, as most of our top prospects are still not eligible for the 40 man.

[Randle McMurphy]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

I feel he was too good for a short while to totally give up on him, and there is no real cost to keep him 40 man roster wise . I think he is worth a shot at trying to rebuild his approach. He has options left, so if or when he struggles send him down to AAA. Or start him there.

Our 40 man room is not busting at the seams, as most of our top prospects are still not eligible for the 40 man.

If they thought him valuable enough to include on a 25 man World Series roster, I think he’ll manage to hold a 40 man spot.

[Cyrus]

Last season they were coming off a last place finish with Vlad on the final year of his contract. It wasn't a desirable landing spot. That has changed dramatically this winter. Whether it leads to free agent success remains to be seen, but they are in a much better bargaining position now.

It won't, what will is if we are willing to spend - Springer came here because we offered him the most dollars and years, same with Ryu and countless others.

If we are willing to be the highest bidder, we'll get that player, whether we made the world series or had we finished outside the playoffs.

I guess someone has an EXTREMELY short memory…lol It was just last off season that they offered the most money to players and couldnt get them to sign on the dotted line.

There are players out there that still care about winning. So if a perennial playoff team comes calling with a competitive offer, even if you offer more, if you are a last place team they still arent going to sign with you. To be in the mix for most amount of top tier free agents, you need to offer top tier money AND already have enough talent to be considered a contender.

Players arent stupid, they watched Trout and Ohtani miss the playoffs year after year in Anaheim. So they know even 2 HOF players cant get the job done on their own.

Not only did the blue Jays prove themselves to be true contenders, but also to be a team that could actually have s chance next October to beat the Dodgers if they have a good off season.


Regarding Sandlin… who cares. They learned last year that if you want to win, there is no room for mediocre in your bullpen. Hopefully all these rumors lead to some major additions to rhe back end before LA scoops em all up to upgrade their line weakness…

So when Springer signed, it was all those playoff appearance they had? Or Guasman?

We wouldn't have signed Sasaki or Othani, had we had back to back World series appearance...

And you think the Jays as is, or even if they add Kyle tucker or someone is going to be back in October. Do you realize how many things all broke our way this past year - Ask Texas after their world series win, how hard it is to make it back to October, hell Dodgers this year almost didn't even make it and many had Philly as the National league favourites going into playoffs. Baseball is way more random, and that's why it's so hard to repeat which is why it made Jays back to back so special in 92-93. Or when Yankees did in in the early 2000s.

For us to be back in October, we would have to get similar everyone loves the vibes, and punches above their weight to get back, is it possible, sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

[Parataxis]

Read on Twitter

Good move not to commit any dollars for an injury prone, mediocre pitcher like Sandlin. Hopefully Little is next. Hopefully Brendon Little, who is "Little" when the moments get big, has also pitched his last game as a Jay also. Decline his Arbitration, and wish him well elsewhere along with IKF.

I'm fairly certain that Little is still pre-arb. There's no arbitration to decline - he'll be making the minimum.

[JN]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

I feel he was too good for a short while to totally give up on him, and there is no real cost to keep him 40 man roster wise . I think he is worth a shot at trying to rebuild his approach. He has options left, so if or when he struggles send him down to AAA. Or start him there.

Our 40 man room is not busting at the seams, as most of our top prospects are still not eligible for the 40 man.

If they thought him valuable enough to include on a 25 man World Series roster, I think he’ll manage to hold a 40 man spot.

The reason he made the roster was that he was the #2 lefty behind Fluharty.
The Jays will have all off-season to find an alternative to move him down to #3 on the depth chart.

That being said if they find that #2 (and I hope they do), you still keep Little on the 40 man.

[JN]

For us to be back in October, we would have to get similar everyone loves the vibes, and punches above their weight to get back, is it possible, sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

There was some fair points you raised, and some others I don't fully agree with. But anyway, I wanted to focus on the quoted comment.

I think there was a lot of things that had to go right to get us to 94 wins and a BYE. But making it to October is a number that is typically around 86-87 wins... it's a much lower threshold to reach, and its more likely than not that we are a playoff team next year in my view based on reasonable expectations for the off season.

[Hottie McShotty]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

Little was in the top 15 in baseball in K/9. Any FA you can get that strikes out guys at that rate will cost tens of millions of dollars.

He’s not going anywhere lol

Top 15 in baseball in K/9 to start. Not so much for the second half of the season and in the playoffs. He was one of the worst relievers in baseball. He better go somewhere else. lol.

[JN]

Can we just sign somebody soon to a major league contract, I don't care who**, even if its a fringe reliever. Let's get going with something.

** Except IKF,

[COY0607]

With Little. once the league figured out how much movement his pitches have, they just stopped swinging at him. He’s way more likely to pitch 4 ball’s before he throws 3 strikes

the cats out of the bag with him, and I don’t see him being nearly as effective again as he was in first half of 2025. That said, doesn’t make sense to cut him given he’s on a minimum contract. Keep him till spring training at least

[Mehar]

With Little. once the league figured out how much movement his pitches have, they just stopped swinging at him. He’s way more likely to pitch 4 ball’s before he throws 3 strikes

the cats out of the bag with him, and I don’t see him being nearly as effective again as he was in first half of 2025. That said, doesn’t make sense to cut him given he’s on a minimum contract. Keep him till spring training at least

The cat is out of the bag. Little was atrocious the last couple of months of the year. I am willing to concede, that if Little is willing to be a Buffalo Bison to start the first couple of months or so of 2026, then I would keep him. However, he is not in my bullpen right now.

[Randle McMurphy]

I don't care if it costs us almost nothing. He will take up a roster spot. Like Mehar said, he was terrible after the All-Star break and in the playoffs. I do not trust this guy coming in to pitch in any game.

There are better options out there in FA than Little.

Little was in the top 15 in baseball in K/9. Any FA you can get that strikes out guys at that rate will cost tens of millions of dollars.

He’s not going anywhere lol

Top 15 in baseball in K/9 to start. Not so much for the second half of the season and in the playoffs. He was one of the worst relievers in baseball. He better go somewhere else. lol.

No, that’s top 15 in baseball for the entire season. He was a very good reliever for a huge portion of it and he has a skill (striking out batters) that teams pay tens of millions to acquire while getting paid peanuts.

He’s not going anywhere and it makes no sense to suggest differently.

[Randle McMurphy]

With Little. once the league figured out how much movement his pitches have, they just stopped swinging at him. He’s way more likely to pitch 4 ball’s before he throws 3 strikes

the cats out of the bag with him, and I don’t see him being nearly as effective again as he was in first half of 2025. That said, doesn’t make sense to cut him given he’s on a minimum contract. Keep him till spring training at least

The cat is out of the bag. Little was atrocious the last couple of months of the year. I am willing to concede, that if Little is willing to be a Buffalo Bison to start the first couple of months or so of 2026, then I would keep him. However, he is not in my bullpen right now.

What do you mean “willing”? He has options, they can send him up and down from AAA at any time.

Yet another reason that just discarding him is a silly idea.

[Randle McMurphy]

For us to be back in October, we would have to get similar everyone loves the vibes, and punches above their weight to get back, is it possible, sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

There was some fair points you raised, and some others I don't fully agree with. But anyway, I wanted to focus on the quoted comment.

I think there was a lot of things that had to go right to get us to 94 wins and a BYE. But making it to October is a number that is typically around 86-87 wins... it's a much lower threshold to reach, and its more likely than not that we are a playoff team next year in my view based on reasonable expectations for the off season.

George Springer had like the 4th best offensive season of any player in Jays franchise history out of nowhere, which was easily the most unsustainable surprise that led to that run.

The chances of him doing anything close to that again are slim to none. They’ll need to improve in other areas to make up for that expected falloff and get back to 90 wins.

Time to go after Tucker.

[Randle McMurphy]

I feel he was too good for a short while to totally give up on him, and there is no real cost to keep him 40 man roster wise . I think he is worth a shot at trying to rebuild his approach. He has options left, so if or when he struggles send him down to AAA. Or start him there.

Our 40 man room is not busting at the seams, as most of our top prospects are still not eligible for the 40 man.

If they thought him valuable enough to include on a 25 man World Series roster, I think he’ll manage to hold a 40 man spot.

The reason he made the roster was that he was the #2 lefty behind Fluharty.
The Jays will have all off-season to find an alternative to move him down to #3 on the depth chart.

That being said if they find that #2 (and I hope they do), you still keep Little on the 40 man.

He was the #1 lefty when the playoffs started (he had a sub 3 ERA in September and was largely fine that month).

That role deteriorated as it went on due to his performance, but his rare skill set (a LHP who strikes out loads of batters) still got him a spot on a WS roster. I’d imagine it’s gonna allow him to keep a spot on a major league 40 man roster for years to come too.

[Mehar]

With Little. once the league figured out how much movement his pitches have, they just stopped swinging at him. He’s way more likely to pitch 4 ball’s before he throws 3 strikes

the cats out of the bag with him, and I don’t see him being nearly as effective again as he was in first half of 2025. That said, doesn’t make sense to cut him given he’s on a minimum contract. Keep him till spring training at least

The cat is out of the bag. Little was atrocious the last couple of months of the year. I am willing to concede, that if Little is willing to be a Buffalo Bison to start the first couple of months or so of 2026, then I would keep him. However, he is not in my bullpen right now.

What do you mean “willing”? He has options, they can send him up and down from AAA at any time.

Yet another reason that just discarding him is a silly idea.

I thought he was out of options, but I was thinking of someone else. He can come to Spring Training, and then spend the first couple of months or so in Buffalo. Based on how he pitches in Buffalo, the you can evaluate what to do with Little at that time. However, he should not be automatically slotted in the bullpen right now to start 2026 based on how awful he was after July.

[JN]

For us to be back in October, we would have to get similar everyone loves the vibes, and punches above their weight to get back, is it possible, sure, but I wouldn't bank on it.

There was some fair points you raised, and some others I don't fully agree with. But anyway, I wanted to focus on the quoted comment.

I think there was a lot of things that had to go right to get us to 94 wins and a BYE. But making it to October is a number that is typically around 86-87 wins... it's a much lower threshold to reach, and its more likely than not that we are a playoff team next year in my view based on reasonable expectations for the off season.

George Springer had like the 4th best offensive season of any player in Jays franchise history out of nowhere, which was easily the most unsustainable surprise that led to that run.

The chances of him doing anything close to that again are slim to none. They’ll need to improve in other areas to make up for that expected falloff and get back to 90 wins.

Time to go after Tucker.

Springer one is huge no doubt,

But there are that should swing the other way too. Two biggest for me are:
- Santander who was brutal
- 14 less starts from Bowden Francis
- If we can get a top 2/top 3 starter in FA, we have Bieber, Yesavage and new FA for a full year. Out starting pitching should be a whole lot better ... did I mention 14 less starts from Bowden Francis.

Other guys that likely hit better in 2026 - Vlad, Gimenez. 70 more games from your man Varsho.
Who knows if we get a new closer.

Do I expect us to regress from 94 wins. Yes.
But we have enough factors that could go the other direction, that getting to at least 87 wins is more likely than not.