Plus: The Mets' spending spree, Sean Murphy, the Miami connection, trading Jano, Conforto/Gallo/Brantley/Benintendi, Bryan Reynolds, Liam Hendriks, Ross Stripling, Dome renovations, TJ House, & more!
Great stuff as always. Adding Hendricks to the bullpen would absolutely rule.
As for the surplus of catchers, if the Jays can't line up a trade to their liking, would moving Moreno to a corner OF spot solve a lot of problems here, or is that (as I kind of suspect) poor asset management since a lot of his value is tied to him being a catcher?
Damn. Nice to get some transaction news. Thinking of a new baseball season seems to make the winter a little less miserable, so thanks for the coverage, Stoeten!
Couple of things on Rogers.
First is that I don’t think the Jays need to be spun out as a separate entity for Edward to exert more control. Rogers Communications has a dual share structure with the family trust controlling the voting shares. And after the kerfuffle last summer which Edward won, he controls the family trust.
Second, Shapiro doesn’t get enough credit for surviving this long. Even before Edward got complete control he was meddling with Rogers itself. Can’t find it but I remember reading an article detailing how incoming CEOs were negotiating increasingly bigger golden parachutes for the day when Edward would inevitably push them out. This one from the Globe and Mail covers some of the dysfunction.
I take your point concerning Conforto and left field. I should have limited that comment to Benintendi. However, Conforto's ability to play left field does not change my opinion. Having Keirmaier and Conforto returning from major surgery is too risky for the Jays and their outfield.
There's no guarantees in baseball and that includes 'winning' the off season. Honestly, so many of the contracts are ridiculous. Sure, maybe the money is there (as obscene as the amounts are), but the length of contracts given out to relatively old players is just crazy. Which is why the Bassitt signing seems clever. He might be 34 but it's only a 3 year contract. Stripling's deal seemed....affordable? It would've been nice to have him back and then I think our pitching would have been sorted. As for the catchers....it does seem to be a lot more complicated than what we had assumed would be a slam dunk nice return trade opportunity. Moreno needs to play somewhere...so is he the biggest trade chip? One thing about this Front Office - they are full of surprises.
I’ve read some stuff suggesting the long contracts make sense for teams because the lower average annual value means a lower luxury tax hit. So maybe a method to the madness.
They definitely are full of surprises. Not sure Moreno is the biggest chip, because he's easily the best of the group long-term, especially with the way the running game will be increased next year. He's the one they ought to be trying to keep, but winning in the next three years matters so much that maybe they ultimately believe they have to.
As for Stripling, love what he did this year, but never quite got over the fear that it was going to fall apart. I'd have been much less comfortable with him instead of Bassitt, who is just a much surer thing. (Though so was Berríos, so who knows?)
Very reasonable deal for SF, and a great fit for him. Ballpark should help him keep some numbers low. And an opt-out! I didn't get that into the emailed version of the piece but have added it since -- he'll have more money waiting for him next winter if he shows that whatever he was doing this year wasn't a fluke. Would love to believe it it more, but I don't!
It's funny about Stripling - that lack of confidence because I think we all felt it. Maybe it was because in his first season or so with us he seemed to have alternating good/bad outings. And the fact that he was never allowed to see batters for a third time. Wish him well though.
Great stuff as always. Adding Hendricks to the bullpen would absolutely rule.
As for the surplus of catchers, if the Jays can't line up a trade to their liking, would moving Moreno to a corner OF spot solve a lot of problems here, or is that (as I kind of suspect) poor asset management since a lot of his value is tied to him being a catcher?
Love The Langoliers reference. If you haven't watched the 1995 miniseries its worth checking out.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-zips-projections-toronto-blue-jays/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Who the hell is Davis Schneider?
Damn. Nice to get some transaction news. Thinking of a new baseball season seems to make the winter a little less miserable, so thanks for the coverage, Stoeten!
Couple of things on Rogers.
First is that I don’t think the Jays need to be spun out as a separate entity for Edward to exert more control. Rogers Communications has a dual share structure with the family trust controlling the voting shares. And after the kerfuffle last summer which Edward won, he controls the family trust.
Second, Shapiro doesn’t get enough credit for surviving this long. Even before Edward got complete control he was meddling with Rogers itself. Can’t find it but I remember reading an article detailing how incoming CEOs were negotiating increasingly bigger golden parachutes for the day when Edward would inevitably push them out. This one from the Globe and Mail covers some of the dysfunction.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-behind-rogerss-blue-chip-image-theres-a-pattern-of-breakups-but-ceo/
Hard to believe he was any less constrained with the Jays, a relatively small part of Rogers.
Thanks for the JFtC shoutout!
I take your point concerning Conforto and left field. I should have limited that comment to Benintendi. However, Conforto's ability to play left field does not change my opinion. Having Keirmaier and Conforto returning from major surgery is too risky for the Jays and their outfield.
There's no guarantees in baseball and that includes 'winning' the off season. Honestly, so many of the contracts are ridiculous. Sure, maybe the money is there (as obscene as the amounts are), but the length of contracts given out to relatively old players is just crazy. Which is why the Bassitt signing seems clever. He might be 34 but it's only a 3 year contract. Stripling's deal seemed....affordable? It would've been nice to have him back and then I think our pitching would have been sorted. As for the catchers....it does seem to be a lot more complicated than what we had assumed would be a slam dunk nice return trade opportunity. Moreno needs to play somewhere...so is he the biggest trade chip? One thing about this Front Office - they are full of surprises.
I’ve read some stuff suggesting the long contracts make sense for teams because the lower average annual value means a lower luxury tax hit. So maybe a method to the madness.
They definitely are full of surprises. Not sure Moreno is the biggest chip, because he's easily the best of the group long-term, especially with the way the running game will be increased next year. He's the one they ought to be trying to keep, but winning in the next three years matters so much that maybe they ultimately believe they have to.
As for Stripling, love what he did this year, but never quite got over the fear that it was going to fall apart. I'd have been much less comfortable with him instead of Bassitt, who is just a much surer thing. (Though so was Berríos, so who knows?)
Very reasonable deal for SF, and a great fit for him. Ballpark should help him keep some numbers low. And an opt-out! I didn't get that into the emailed version of the piece but have added it since -- he'll have more money waiting for him next winter if he shows that whatever he was doing this year wasn't a fluke. Would love to believe it it more, but I don't!
It's funny about Stripling - that lack of confidence because I think we all felt it. Maybe it was because in his first season or so with us he seemed to have alternating good/bad outings. And the fact that he was never allowed to see batters for a third time. Wish him well though.