2025 Blue Jays Offseason Thread

[WuTang_CMB]

He loves it here. Time to get back

[C Court]

Bieber coming back is huge. Looking forward to the off-season already.

[Madvillainy2004]

The copium is starting to creep in lmao

[GameChannel]

Great news re: Beiber!

Rotation taking shape with Yesavage, Gauman, Berrios and Beiber. Need one more SP. can’t rely on Lauer.

[Michael Bradley]

That’s actually pretty surprising. He could have taken $4M and then easily gotten $16M on more on a one year deal elsewhere. He clearly wanted to stay. Great news for the Jays. Bieber wasn’t 100% right with the Jays due to the surgery and still saved their lives twice in the playoffs. A one year deal for a pitcher who could easily put up a 4 WAR next season is massive.

[Vampirate]

There's probably a feeling of unfinished business with this ball club.

[Cyrus]

Read on Twitter

Wow feel like he left money on the table, he'd could have easily taken the 4 mill, and got 15-20 mill fa, hell he might have gotten that from us, since we needed a pitcher.

Nice...

[SharoneWright]

Bieber is big. Legit arm. Should be even stronger next year. Zero risk with him on a 1-year deal. He’ll be motivated. And we can condense our free agent search.

[Randle McMurphy]

That’s one of the crazier FA decisions I’ve ever seen. He passed up 4M to opt out and likely could have gotten at least 3/75M had he gone to free agency. BA projected him at 5/150 just yesterday.

Just a massive coup for the Jays. Can we convince anyone else on that team to re-sign for short term and cheap?

[Michael Bradley]

That’s one of the crazier FA decisions I’ve ever seen. He passed up 4M to opt out and likely could have gotten at least 3/75M had he gone to free agency. BA projected him at 5/150 just yesterday.

Just a massive coup for the Jays. Can we convince anyone else on that team to re-sign for short term and cheap?

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if Bassitt comes back on a deal that seems on the cheaper side. Granted he's older and doesn't have the options in free agency that Bieber would have, but still had a solid season in 2025 and probably could do reasonably well in free agency as a vet innings eater somewhere. The players clearly want to run it back. Hopefully IKF doesn't get the memo and signs elsewhere, though.

[JN]

Wow, very surprising. Surprised that he didn't at least push for a 2nd year player option in 2027 to at least protect himself from injury.

My only concern is that he (and the team) know there is some major injury risk right now, and that is why he took the player option.

[Brinbe]

that's great news. another rotation spot filled for next season.

[duppyy]

Let’s get some reliable relievers and a real closer.

[JCP11]

That’s one of the crazier FA decisions I’ve ever seen. He passed up 4M to opt out and likely could have gotten at least 3/75M had he gone to free agency. BA projected him at 5/150 just yesterday.

Just a massive coup for the Jays. Can we convince anyone else on that team to re-sign for short term and cheap?

It doesn't seem crazy to me, he used to be one of the best pitchers in baseball before the injury and he's not quite back to himself yet. He's betting on himself while staying another year in a great situation. If he's the same pitcher he was last season the same offers will be there, if he balls out then he can break the bank. If you follow his career a bit you can tell this guy believe in himself. In his mind he's a cy young pitcher and he wants to be paid and seen as one again.

[Randle McMurphy]

That’s one of the crazier FA decisions I’ve ever seen. He passed up 4M to opt out and likely could have gotten at least 3/75M had he gone to free agency. BA projected him at 5/150 just yesterday.

Just a massive coup for the Jays. Can we convince anyone else on that team to re-sign for short term and cheap?

It doesn't seem crazy to me, he used to be one of the best pitchers in baseball before the injury and he's not quite back to himself yet. He's betting on himself while staying another year in a great situation. If he's the same pitcher he was last season the same offers will be there, if he balls out then he can break the bank. If you follow his career a bit you can tell this guy believe in himself. In his mind he's a cy young pitcher and he wants to be paid and seen as one again.

He was projected to make 5/150 by BA and 3/63 by the Athletic this week. I don’t know how much exactly he would have gotten but it’s quite clear he gave up tens of millions guaranteed to stay with the Jays.

Professional athletes almost never do anything like this when this much money is at stake, so yeah it’s crazy to me.

[SharoneWright]

Totally crazy. But totally commendable. He gave up that final HR to Will Smith. He knows we gave up a legit prospect to get him. He likes it here… and he feels some obligation.

Really weird but really honorable. This was his best chance at a final long-term deal. Who knows how many years he could get next year if it’s a lukewarm performance. A 31-year-old pitcher’s value is only declining after another year… A boon for us!

[JN]

So as of now

Yesavage
Gausman
Bieber
Berrios
Lauer

Obviously we need to push Berrios/Lauer down one slot each, but if we get one more top starter in FA, we have a good 1-4, and a nice 5/6 as well.

[JCP11]

That’s one of the crazier FA decisions I’ve ever seen. He passed up 4M to opt out and likely could have gotten at least 3/75M had he gone to free agency. BA projected him at 5/150 just yesterday.

Just a massive coup for the Jays. Can we convince anyone else on that team to re-sign for short term and cheap?

It doesn't seem crazy to me, he used to be one of the best pitchers in baseball before the injury and he's not quite back to himself yet. He's betting on himself while staying another year in a great situation. If he's the same pitcher he was last season the same offers will be there, if he balls out then he can break the bank. If you follow his career a bit you can tell this guy believe in himself. In his mind he's a cy young pitcher and he wants to be paid and seen as one again.

He was projected to make 5/150 by BA and 3/63 by the Athletic this week. I don’t know how much exactly he would have gotten but it’s quite clear he gave up tens of millions guaranteed to stay with the Jays.

Professional athletes almost never do anything like this when this much money is at stake, so yeah it’s crazy to me.

I knew there was a good chance he was picking up that option just because I was sure he wanted a full offseason and season to prove he's got it again and then enter free agency. The Jays also offer him a good stage to prove himself. Is he leaving money on the table? Sure, but like I said he's betting on himself, dude is a crazy competitor so this doesn't surprise me.

[JN]

Professional athletes almost never do anything like this when this much money is at stake, so yeah it’s crazy to me.

Which makes me
1) hope that this is not due to an significant injury concern that we only find out about at a later date, or
2) or the Jays and Beiber have made good headway on an extension, the generals have been agreed on with some room for negotiation, and the opt in is just a step to get there. From an accounting perspective Rogers saves $4m on their books in 2025 by having him not opt out, and then taking care of that $4M instead as part of an extension.

[Randle McMurphy]

So as of now

Yesavage
Gausman
Bieber
Berrios
Lauer

Obviously we need to push Berrios/Lauer down one slot each, but if we get one more top starter in FA, we have a good 1-4, and a nice 5/6 as well.

Getting a top end SP may be difficult but worth a shot. It is those guys who make a difference in the playoffs as we just saw.

I also still think they should bring Bassitt back.