RealGM

The threads were all kind of getting mixed up, so let this serve as a place to talk about anything relating to the offseason. Rumours, trades, signings (big or small).

Here's the first minor league signing. It's a dousy.

Santoki wrote:I didn't really think this warranted a brand new thread, but perhaps we could use a single thread to discuss anything related to official offseason signings/trades.

Here's the first (after Morales and Pearce). It's a dousy.

Read on Twitter

Edit - It's a minor league deal.

27 years-old and is a lefty, which we need more of - Maybe he steps it up and earns a job on the big league roster comes spring training.

This is a signing for the Bisons. Having watched him a couple of times last year- he is not the answer for anything but for Buffalo.

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb-rumours-rockies-eye-jays-stroman-1.625685

"Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports the Rockies offered centre fielder Charlie Blackmon, but the Jays were unwilling to make a straight up trade."

i like Blackmon enough to trade stroman

man our pen needs a lot of work...we need at least a solid lefty, a solid spot starter and 1-3 inning guy in case of injuries, and probably an insurance 7-9 inning guy in case osuna misses time or grilli doesnt repeat his performance...plus depth starters in the minors in case of injuries to the starter staff...our minor league guys and prospect pool are so weak right now

and theres not a lot of decent pitching to sign really, its one of weakest pitching free agency years

Raider917 wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/mlb-rumours-rockies-eye-jays-stroman-1.625685

"Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports the Rockies offered centre fielder Charlie Blackmon, but the Jays were unwilling to make a straight up trade."

i like Blackmon enough to trade stroman

That's very tempting but i don't think we should be trading away rotation pieces at this point. I wouldn't be completely against a trade like this though

Pretty certain he is out of options. He either makes the roster or it is see ya later.

Dan2087 wrote:

Raider917 wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/mlb-rumours-rockies-eye-jays-stroman-1.625685

"Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports the Rockies offered centre fielder Charlie Blackmon, but the Jays were unwilling to make a straight up trade."

i like Blackmon enough to trade stroman

That's very tempting but i don't think we should be trading away rotation pieces at this point. I wouldn't be completely against a trade like this though

Haven't seen anything of Blackmon myself. Age, contract, AL player comparison?

One of the US beat writers said the Rockies wanted Stroman for Blackmon and the Jays said no.

How much money did Rogers make off the Jays this past season? Is Toronto officially a big market?

hst420 wrote:How much money did Rogers make off the Jays this past season? Is Toronto officially a big market?

There are literally a dozen threads that have been converted into "how much money is Rogers making?" threads. This one is for signings that don't merit a standalone or deals that are in advanced stages.

Some more dumpster diving

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/report-blue-jays-sign-left-handed-pitcher-jeff-beliveau/

we dont give out bad contracts...and once you hit free agency and your a great player, every single contract signed is a bad contract

dballislife wrote:we dont give out bad contracts...and once you hit free agency and your a great player, every single contract signed is a bad contract

That's a very simplistic way of looking at it. Obviously some contracts are worse than others. Obviously some teams do a much better job of managing their payroll dollars than other. You still need to make smart decisions so you don't fill your roster with bloated, unmoavable contracts.

Rodgers probly made a billion on pay as go alone and can't sign tier talent lol.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using RealGM mobile app

dballislife wrote:we dont give out bad contracts...and once you hit free agency and your a great player, every single contract signed is a bad contract

I would argue the contract we gave Russell Martin is somewhat bad. He still has 3 years left on his deal & has had injury issues his first 2 years as a BlueJay.

Can someone explain to me how the payroll was increased this off season and how the Blue Jays are a worse team? We gave Morales $11M a year over 3 years & Pearce $6.25 a yr over 2 years. We let Dickey walk, we let Cecil walk, Edwin & Jose don't appear to be coming back. So if Rogers did indeed increase payroll why are we signing Tier 2 & Tier 3 free agents? And Bargain basement free agents?

McBlunt wrote:Can someone explain to me how the payroll was increased this off season and how the Blue Jays are a worse team? We gave Morales $11M a year over 3 years & Pearce $6.25 a yr over 2 years. We let Dickey walk, we let Cecil walk, Edwin & Jose don't appear to be coming back. So if Rogers did indeed increase payroll why are we signing Tier 2 & Tier 3 free agents? And Bargain basement free agents?

We still probably have upwards of $25M to $30M left to spend. As of now the team is worse, but this isn't the final product. Expect at least one outfielder, at least one late inning arm, and perhaps a veteran backup catcher.

As for Dickey, did you really want Dickey and Thole back? They were a net negative for the team last year. The team is better without them on it. A full season of Liriano plus a decent backup catcher could easily prove to be a 2-3 WAR upgrade over Dickey and Thole.

As for Cecil, he signed a $30M, 4-year contract. That's a lot of money and term for a reliever. I have no issue with taking a pass there.

Morales will likely be a step back from EE, but it's not the front office's fault EE is no longer in the fold. They offered him a 4-year, $80M contract that he declined. Now rumours suggest he can't even find a 3-year, $60M deal. EE's agent screwed up big time.

Pearce is a great hitter. I think you and some others don't fully understand how good of a hitter he is. He came cheap because of his injury history and positional inflexibility. I suspect you and everyone else will be singing his praises eventually when you realize he's taking a lot of at-bats away from everyone's favourite whipping boy, Justin Smoak.

McBlunt wrote:Can someone explain to me how the payroll was increased this off season and how the Blue Jays are a worse team? We gave Morales $11M a year over 3 years & Pearce $6.25 a yr over 2 years. We let Dickey walk, we let Cecil walk, Edwin & Jose don't appear to be coming back. So if Rogers did indeed increase payroll why are we signing Tier 2 & Tier 3 free agents? And Bargain basement free agents?

The simple answer is because AA cleared out the farm system a couple of years back so for the 2nd straight season we're not promoting any cheap talent to the major leagues to help keep the payroll under control. In their place he added the bloated contracts of Martin and Tulo. Then you lose Edwin, Bautista and Cecil all coming off really good contracts and you can't possibly put the same quality team in paper for the same price.

The_Hater wrote:

McBlunt wrote:Can someone explain to me how the payroll was increased this off season and how the Blue Jays are a worse team? We gave Morales $11M a year over 3 years & Pearce $6.25 a yr over 2 years. We let Dickey walk, we let Cecil walk, Edwin & Jose don't appear to be coming back. So if Rogers did indeed increase payroll why are we signing Tier 2 & Tier 3 free agents? And Bargain basement free agents?

The simple answer is because AA cleared out the farm system a couple of years back so for the 2nd straight season we're not promoting any cheap talent to the major leagues to help keep the payroll under control. In their place he added the bloated contracts of Martin and Tulo. Then you lose Edwin, Bautista and Cecil all coming off really good contracts and you can't possibly put the same quality team in paper for the same price.

That's the thing:

Martin, Donaldson, Tulowitzki, Pearce, Smoak, Morales = 82.375M
Estrada, Happ, Liriano, Grilli = 44.167M

So 126M tied up in 10 players.

Stroman, Sanchez, Pillar, Biagini, Osuna, Pompey, Goins, Dermody, Barnes, Tepera and Travis are all pre-arbitration eligible so they will cost somewhere around 5.5-6M

Carrera and Loup are arbitration eligible.

Money adds up quick.

Not to mention Donaldson is going to cost a fortune next year as you likely need to sign a deal to buy out free agency years unless the Jays trade him. Osuna, Pillar, Sanchez and Stroman all reach arbitration too.