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2025 Blue Jays

L K said:
The Braves offer was a 5 year deal too so insurance would be different and if they were looking at him trying out as a starter again, it makes things look different. If his arm is dead in May I think we can start to criticize this move but Hoffman has been one of the best relievers in baseball the last few years.

I still think Sasaki ends up in LA but man it would be a coup if they got him. Not only is he potentially a future #1 starter but he would be cost controlled. That would go a long way to helping them extend Vlad.
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Ya Sasaki is a real statement signing (if we sign him), with the problems in LA right now we just may have a chance.
 
cabber24 said:
It certainly feels that way, doesn't it? Jays being used again as a bargaining chip to get a better contract elsewhere.
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Not much bargaining that can happen in this situation. Because of his age, Sasaki's contract is limited by each team's international free agent bonus pool. LA, San Diego, and Toronto all have almost the same amounts available to them right now.
 
Sasaki decision is going to come down to whatever he feels is the best situation for him. The money is moot. Pete Walker could weigh heavily into the decision making here.

Also, tax rate is lower in Ontario than California so advantage Jays there. 💪
 
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dappleganger said:
Sasaki decision is going to come down to whatever he feels is the best situation for him. The money is moot. Pete Walker could weigh heavily into the decision making here.

Also, tax rate is lower in Ontario than California so advantage Jays there. 💪
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I don’t understand at all the narrative that Pete Walker is any kind of incentive for anything.
 
I guess Pete Walker might not be an incentive, but a lot of players have liked working with him:

www.thestar.com

Mike Wilner: Some people call Blue Jays coach Pete Walker ‘the pitcher whisperer.’ Here’s why

Walker, 51, credits his success as one of the best pitching coaches in the business to his time struggling to stay in the major leagues when he was a player.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

More positives on Walker, Toronto, with a Japanese angle:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/1efj48v/mae_yusei_kikuchi_grateful_to_pete_walker_and_how
 
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I hope your feeling is correct. It would be a massive signing for the Jays. We'll find out pretty soon. Sasaki has to make his decision to sign by Jan 23rd.
 
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cabber24 said:
It certainly feels that way, doesn't it? Jays being used again as a bargaining chip to get a better contract elsewhere.
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I guess it’s good that they’re going in for these things. But it just seems like they’re throwing all their chips on red in the hope a gamble will pay off rather than actually trying to build a team.

Then not building a team with the money they don’t spend on these guys and not seeming to have plausible plan b in place.

It’s just a bit almost attention seeking and embarrassing almost.
 
Yeah, I have less of a positive opinion on these "all in" free agent attempts. I don't want the team to throw big money at bad players but when you have "special player budgets" but then don't use any of that money to improve the team when you don't sign the player I guess I'm not all that impressed by it.

I mean I could say that I'm going to put a bid to buy the Leafs. It means nothing though because I don't legitimately have a chance. Maybe I'm surprised with Sasaki but I still expect him to sign in LA. No-one should be surprised by Ohtani signing in LA. No-one should be surprised by Soto signing in New York.

Bottom line, we have a bad prospect pool and need to rely exclusively on free agent signings to fix the depth problems of the team. So far we have improved the bullpen and 2B. 2B wasn't really a problem with our glut of infielders. We still have a gaping hole in LF, DH and to be honest we have a real problem with Springer in RF too. Varsho is also not going to be ready for the start of the season so our outfield is porous and we have done nothing to address that.
 
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Exactly. Ohtani at $70m a season clearly improves the team.

But actually signing 3 or 4 solid players for a total of ~$30m might improve the team even more.
 
The Jays seem to be the antithesis of the Tampa Bay Rays.

I'd leave a spot open for Orelvis Martinez to start the season, but yeah. the lack of prospect development is alarming which means they have to rely on spending big on older free agents. Not a great spot to be.

If they can sign Sasaki, Santander, and maybe one more bat, the Jays will be looking like a World Series contender on paper.

This is the last year they are guaranteed to have Vladdy and Bo. I think they should go all in. If things go sideways, blow it up and trade everyone. If things go well, hopefully a deep playoff run will come.
 
This is like watching the Ricciardi years but they actually have a funds available now. Which is what is making this frustrating. These guys are really just hanging their hats on the one 92 win season.

Losing Semien had such a huge impact. And then trading Hernandez was ridiculous. Anyway, whatever. Nothing that I haven’t ranted about before.
 
It's kinda funny to me how people seem to view different regimes. I mean, the Ricciardi years weren't much worse than the Anthopoulous years, particularly if you acknowledge the limited budget during Ricciardi's regime, as Joe mentioned. The current regime has had two 90+ wins seasons yet the public outcry about their futility makes it sound as though we're re-living the Gord Ash era. Then there's the yearning for the Anthopoulous years, which literally resulted in only one 90+ win season. Not that I'm championing this current regime; they clearly have missed the boat on drafting and development and those reasons (not trading away Hernandez when he had only 1 year left on the contract and could have been re-signed years ago as an FA) are why the team seems to be spinning its wheels. Heck, put the last 3 regimes in a blender and have them draft like Gord Ash and I think we'd really be on to something great!
 
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