General Blue Jays Thread

[Schad]

Yeah, that's my preference. I'm not hard against a Lindor acquisition, but I'm not really sure that locking in that sort of money/term is our best option at this time. The money we have available can improve a number of positions while still allowing us to pivot a bit in 3-4 years if need be. I kinda like the idea of having the vets expiring around the time when Vlad/Bichette/etc are going to get close to making full market value.

[Wo1verine]

Guys on the MLB network made a good point with regards to what it would cost to get Lindor - They said you really can't look at the Betts deal because he came with Price so Lindor's cost would be much higher if the Indians didn't attach someone like Carrasco to him.

[vaff87]

The Indians are desperate to get rid of Lindor, though. They literally can’t afford to pay him.

[SharoneWright]

If Springer to the Mets looks like a done deal, the Jays should move to sign Bradley first. Once Springer is off the board, and the options narrow, that gives Bradley bargaining strength. Bradley has some advantages anyway in terms of fewer dollars and years - allowing us to keep flexibility for other moves or re-signing the young core to early extensions.

[Fairview4Life]

The Indians are desperate to get rid of Lindor, though. They literally can’t afford to pay him.

More about demand. Who's willing to trade for him this year? Only takes two really excited teams to get Cleveland a good return.

[vaff87]

As long as we don’t do whatever the MLB equivalent of giving a bitch like Paul George $47.5 mil a year is.

[polo007]

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[Brinbe]

Cool, cool, cool. Think we'll get something soon.

[rotty]

Yeah, that's my preference. I'm not hard against a Lindor acquisition, but I'm not really sure that locking in that sort of money/term is our best option at this time. The money we have available can improve a number of positions while still allowing us to pivot a bit in 3-4 years if need be. I kinda like the idea of having the vets expiring around the time when Vlad/Bichette/etc are going to get close to making full market value.

This is precisely the reason why I dont want a Lindor trade. But also if he doesnt commit to an extension we will have traded off assets for one year of Lindor.

[Wo1verine]

Apparently on Jomboy media livestream Passan said he thinks Lindor ends up in either Toronto or with the Mets.

Olney later on also said he thinks the Jays end up with Lindor. He also thinks they'll end up signing Realmuto, because he thinks Springer is going to the Mets. He was pretty convinced we'll get someone.

[Wo1verine]

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[TR50]

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I find the numbers he uses to be very interesting. Perhaps 2 of DJ, Springer, Lindor or Realmuto is their plan?

Or maybe 4 of Kim, Turner, Brantley, Tanaka, Paxton, Hand, Hendricks, Wong etc. are what they are thinking. Either way, exciting stuff.

Can't wait for that first domino.

[polo007]

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[Wo1verine]

We may be waiting awhile Shapiro thinks mid January perhaps for action to pick up around the MLB.

Would be nice from a fan perspective if they put deadlines in place so fans could see a fury of moves over a short period of time - This off-season has been insanely slow and boring league wide to this point.

[Wo1verine]

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[polo007]

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[polo007]

Blue Jays must spend with eye on long term as club hunts for impact - Sportsnet.ca

You can be certain that Shapiro, GM Ross Atkins and the rest of the front office wouldn’t be wasting time courting George Springer, D.J. LeMahieu, J.T. Realmuto and countless others if they didn’t have the authority to ante up. They’ve discussed four- and five-year deals with free agents, Shapiro “representing ownership at the table,” he said.

There’s little point in rehashing the same granular points made in recent weeks until dudes actually start signing, so let’s zoom out now and consider what substantial financial commitments really means for the franchise.

Right now, the Blue Jays are enjoying the initial grace period for rebuilding clubs when players are both inexpensive and under contractual control for an extended period, although that is beginning to end.

Of their core players, only Teoscar Hernandez is arbitration-eligible this winter, the Silver Slugger winner entering the salary-accelerator for the first time. But after 2021, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Danny Jansen, Ryan Borucki, Rowdy Tellez and Trent Thornton all project to qualify.

Cavan Biggio might also reach the threshold as what’s known as a Super 2 player – the top 22 per cent of players in terms of service time between two and three years. If he doesn’t, he’ll be first-time eligible after 2022, along with Bo Bichette, Nate Pearson and Jordan Romano.

All those players are currently earning roughly $600,000, which helps make the roster spectacularly cost-effective. But once they get into arbitration, their salaries jump into seven figures and rise sharply, which means whatever financial commitments the Blue Jays put on the books this winter will impact longer-term decisions on those players down the road.

The dilemma currently faced by the Philadelphia Phillies offers an important cautionary tale.

So, what’s important as the Blue Jays begin jumping their payroll isn’t only how much they can spend this year, but also what they can spend in 2022 and beyond when they have to both augment the team as needed and accommodate internal salary growth. (A farm system that continues to contribute young cost-effective talent is also vital.)

“Listen, if you're not thinking about the impact of the moves within an off-season and the organic nature of the progress of your own young players, then you're not responsibly running a major league franchise,” said Shapiro. “The way that we work with our ownership, that's more our responsibility to manage that, however there already is an understanding of what our revenues were last year, what they're likely to be next year, or at least the ranges of that. We've also seen incredible examples of what winning can do in this marketplace in '15 and '16 in a very recent context.

“There's not any set number for us (for a 2022 payroll). There's an understanding once we move forward, and that's communicated, that we're committing to a certain amount moving forward. The expectation is that we're winning. And if we're winning, we continue to grow that amount, but the revenues grow as well. Everyone's been good about understanding that we're we're in abnormal, unusual times, that we're not functioning in a normal environment yet, let's ensure that we don't deviate from the progress we've made and keep the plan moving forward.”

That vision is the ideal scenario, one that would prevent them from being like the Phillies, who want to re-sign Realmuto but aren’t sure if they can manage the commitment.

A worse-case scenario for the Blue Jays would be the back-end of contracts to, say, a Springer or Realmuto tie the front office’s hands and limit the opportunities to leverage the peak seasons of Guerrero, Bichette and Biggio before they become eligible for free agency.