The futures of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are “the most pivotal bigger-picture personnel matter facing the Blue Jays,” Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes, and it remains to be see if both young stars will remain in Toronto over the long term. Guerrero and Bichette are both controlled via arbitration through the 2025 season, and since their price tags will only rise (Guerrero is already arb-eligible as a Super Two player and projected for $7.9MM in 2022), locking them up sooner rather than later would be beneficial for the Jays. That said, the two players have already done enough to ensure any long-term extensions would cost the Blue Jays a sizeable amount, certainly far more than $200MM and maybe even nearer the $300MM mark depending on the number of years involved.
As Davidi notes, Jose Berrios is the only Toronto player under contract beyond 2026, so the Jays have somewhat kept their long-term ledger clear in the event that Guerrero and/or Bichette are indeed extended to major deals. Speaking of the “and/or” usage, the Blue Jays might opt to just extend one of the two, “and the relationship dynamic between team and player could be impacted if there’s only one extension.” It will make for a fascinating topic for the coming years in Toronto, as Guerrero and Bichette’s contract situations weigh heavily on both the Jays, and on other players and teams around baseball looking to those two as possible precedents and comps.
More from around the AL East…
- Yankees officials believe DJ LeMahieu’s lackluster 2021 could be traced to a sports hernia that the infielder tried to play through before finally getting surgery after the season, The New York Post’s Dan Martin writes. A healthy LeMahieu that could return to his 2019-20 form would be an enormous help for the Bronx Bombers as they continue to figure out their infield picture, as LeMahieu’s position next season is still up in the air. Presuming New York does acquire a regular shortstop, LeMahieu seems set to toggle between third, second, and first base, with Gleyber Torres set for regular duty at the keystone and Gio Urshela and Luke Voit penciled into at least part-time duty at the corner spots.
- Renovations to Camden Yards’ left field area are intended to make the ballpark a little less treacherous for Orioles pitchers, and also to any future pitchers the team might be looking to eventually sign. As GM Mike Elias told The Athletic’s Dan Connolly and other reporters, the Orioles’ ability to attract free agent pitchers was “definitely a significant factor in” the decision to renovate. “The conditions here have been very extreme, towards the very most extreme in the league….It has been the case for decades and part of having a winning program is the ability to recruit free-agent pitchers, and that has been a historical challenge for this franchise,” Elias said. While Connolly doesn’t believe the team will ever be a true destination for ace-level free agent hurlers, changing the dimensions might at least help the O’s land some mid-level veterans or bounce-back candidates, who might’ve been normally wary about working at such a hitter-friendly venue.
I’m a big fan of deeper ballparks, but 12ft walls are boring. And i think the Jays extend both of their players eventually, even if it handicaps the payroll and ability to bring in future free agents.
Best comment you’ve made in awhile
I agree with him about the 12 foot walls. It’s not just the spectacular catches we will no longer see such as the ones made by JBJ in CF there.
Is anybody old enough to remember Manny Ramirez making a phenomenal over the shoulder catch running full speed with his back to home plate, then climbing the wall to high-five a fan before throwing a runner out to complete a double play. That’s probably the greatest play ever made in Oriole Park.
Fever sure do remember Manny doing that. That catch was the talk of sports radio.
I have to disagree on the Jays extending both of them. The Jays have never really been a team that extends or resigns their star players. Bautista accused them of lowballing him when he was up for an extension. Roy Halliday also comes to mind. I don’t see Toronto locking up $500-$600 million in 2 players. Honestly, I don’t see them signing one unless they get a discount. They have been the AL East team that builds a well rounded roster with solid players but lacking true superstars. They seem to be avoiding mega contracts since the Vernon Wells disaster. I was surprised with the Springer contract but he is not a superstar like Guerrero and Bichette. Plus the Springer contract will look cheap next to what those 2 will get.
I’d argue that Guerrero is not a superstar, and Bichette definitely isn’t that elite level either. Guerrero just had a very, very good season…but he’s had just one of those. Bichette has been very good, but not great.
Vlad had one of the best seasons all time for his age, he’s been a baseball prodigy since he was a child, dominated every level of minors, had a 6+ WAR season as a 22 year old and has a HOF bloodline.
My guess is your argument against Vlad not being a superstar is going lack any sort of fact or reason
Bo had a 5+ WAR season at age 22. So yah, just say you don’t like them or whatever, but don’t pass it off as fact
Vlad is definitely a superstar, Bichette is definitely not.
The way players get overhyped here, it does make me wonder if those who claim it’s done in exchange for inside info from agents are telling the truth.
Bichette very clearly ranked 7th in offense among all ML shortstops last year, and his defense was ranked 23rd out of 26 (min 600 innings). But he’s a young kid with a lot of personality surrounded by a great lineup and his father was a longtime ML player so of course he gets a lot more publicity and attention than he should.
I think Bo’s offensive numbers underrate him in a way. I have a gut feeling that he will be a guy we talk about for the next decade (barring injury) as someone with the intangibles. The other shortstops imo with the intangibles are Trea and Xander. I can see you argue for Tatis but recall the incident with Machado for example. Correa is a leader but is also not exactly the most well liked of the 2017 Astros (personally I like him a lot but I can see how in a clubhouse that won’t be accepted). Seager doesn’t have the intangibles, his numbers tell his story. Crawford is now more just a leader for the Giants then a force (again it was one good season, expect regression towards HIS mean).
Most kids Vlad’s age are in the minors, he literally had one of the best seasons ever for a kid his age. He came up as a consensus number 1 prospect with some saying he was the best prospect they have ever seen. My only worry as a Jays fan locking him up is health, I have a feeling those knees might not hold up.
I’d argue this is a really dumb comment. Vlad had an insane year at what 21. He is absolutely a superstar and Bo likely will be too and I imagine they’ll move him to second eventually
Are you high? Vlad is what 22? Not a superstar? He’s gonna be a superstar for the next 15 years yo?
Bichette led the AL in hits last year did he not?
A player who started on a similar trajectory, Prince Fielder, was finished following his age-31 season. We can never be certain how many years a player will be able to perform at an elite level. or even be able to hold a major-league job.
… do you or your father have any idea about baseball or just talking “shiiiiit” about Guerrero/ Bichette ?? Jijijij
The jays resigned HALLADAY not once but twice.
And Bautista wanted 5 years 100 mil when he was 37 years old and hardly played the next two years. You got any better examples or else I’m just going to put the coffin nails in this ridiculous statement.
And Bautista had a suspicious career trajectory to say the least.
Jose wasn’t the same player after that punch to the face by odor and you have since seen his decline after
Not this again, he was tested as much as any other player. I have a feeling if he didn’t look middle eastern he wouldn’t get the hate he gets and be admired for what he did.
gomer – Yeah right, not this race card BS again. Who here is hating on Joey Bats? Testing doesn’t mean squat. You think all the players who got busted for PED’s never used before, or never got tested before?
If it helps you feel better, a teammate of his has also been suspected of using …I won’t say which teammate though, I’ll just say his first and last name both start with the same vowel and end with the same consonant.
In said players defense; most of the steroids were prescribed by doctors to cure the myriad of STD’s he was leading the league in…
Can you point me to where Bautista said that? Because I call BS
He was a utility guy with 2 good months under his belt when he got that extension.
I don’t remember the exact number being 5 years 100 million, but Bautista said something along the lines of “I want to be paid for my previous performance” which would likely mean he was asking for a lot more than what he was worth at the time
I believe he got the extension after the following year when he became the Bautista that people know.
They DID extend Bautista and Halladay both long term. That’s why Halladay was a Blue Jay for 12 years. Halladay wanted to win, so they traded him more as a favor. Bautista was upset that they wouldn’t give him $30M a year into his 40s, but came back on a QO when he had a bad year and realized he was dreaming.
So these are rather bad examples, which only show that there’s a point they won’t extend players in their mid or late 30s.
There is something about these types of articles that I love. Idk what it is but the quick hit type articles really hit. Good job MLBTR staff, I know it’s hard amidst this lockout!
I wouldn’t wait. I would offer Vlad Jr. a 10 yrs $285M with a club option of $40M-8M buyout ! He would make a lot of money and hit FA at a still relatively fair age for another contract!
In terms of Bichette, 10 yrs and $250M with a $30M club option-$5M buyout!
Should be fair for both players as they’ll still hit FA at a fair age, The Jays will keep their stars for a while, and still have some flexibility to retain guys like Lourdes Jr., Teoscar or Biggio.
Can;t see Vlad having as great of a year this year, and the loss of Simein is huge!
He is 22 I think its reasonable he could achieve the same or better in the next few years..
The loss of Semien is massive though, the Jays currently have replaced the 3rd place MVP with Cavan Biggio..
They are replacing Semien’s bat with hopefully a full, healthy season of Springer. They don’t need to replace semiens production out of the 2b spot directly.
Name me the guy that has had a better year the next year, I tell you Mike Trout!
It was, but remember something! Semien was hitting ahead of Vlad Jr. not behind him. So it shouldn’t affect Vlad’s production. Bichette was the clean up hitter behind him and it could be the case again if the Jays find a number 2 hitter behind Springer. I would say Biggio as the internal option!
Both Judge and Alonso hit 50+ homers and had down years the next,
To be fair, judge got hurt… and Alonso dealt with a pandemic season. But yeah Alonso’s 2021 was down too while Judge had a mighty fine 2021.
It makes good sense! @to4
It does!
They’ll both be age 32-33 season at the end of the deals. They’ll have a good contract and security at the early age and will be able to focus on Baseball to create a track record for FA.
Think they both turn those down. Vlad is gonna look for over 300 and Bo…if he has a big 22, will look for 275ish.
I’m not sure how Toronto keeps both without seriously going to into tax hell.
Interesting part is, if you could only keep one….which one would you keep?
Bichette quietly had a 5 fWAR/ 6 bWAR season and he plays a premium defensive position, albeit with mixed defensive evaluations. While he’s not as good as Vlad, he is one of the best hitting shortstops in the league and likely won’t cost as much to lock up. I’d take him and spread around the money “saved” from not extending Vladdy. On the other hand, if I had a vested interest in the Jays’ success, I’d much rather face a team with Bichette as a franchise cornerstone rather than one with Vlad, so I could see the opposite view as well
100% agree with you. On a way minor scale I’m a brewers fan and we had this come up when we had Braun and Prince Fielder knowing we could keep only one. (Unfortunately we kept the wrong one.). We also let prince walk and got nothing for him.
Jays could get a kings ransom if they trade Vlad with a year or so of control still. (Which isn’t for another 4 years so it’s not like they need to do it tomorrow.)
Gonna be interesting to see. I’ll also say upfront, I’d like to see them keep them both. I’m neutral here but also can’t see how they afford both.
Character issues aside, knowing how Fielder’s career abruptly ended i wouldn’t say the Brewers kept the wrong one
We kept the cheater…I’d rather had kept prince even if it meant fewer years with him.
I think a lot will disagree but I’d keep Bo if he has a big 2022 but vlad if he doesnt. A great hitter at SS is more valuable than a great hitter at 1B/DH. But I could be wrong in five years
Hafta laugh at those who call Bo a “great hitter”.
Tatis, Seager, Turner, Crawford, Bogaerts, Correa all better hitters than Bo.
He had the third highest OPS out of short stops that qualified for a batting title (not including Trea or Tatis who I put in a different class of hitter called “elite”). Crawford had a fluke of a season and Bo is only getting better.
Look at what Bo made last year, like it or not players are judged now on what they provide and for how much they cost while doing it. It’s becoming apparent you just don’t like the team or just don’t know what you’re talking about.
Arb buddy did you forget that exists? I’m not even a Jays fan, just high on Bo
stats – I truly admire what you did there, I think I will use that for my next performance appraisal. Please don’t take this the wrong way, you’re one of my favorites here.
“But boss, I’m the 3rd-best salesman in the department … if you don’t count Smith & Jones because they are both way better than me …. and if you don’t count Johnson because he was out sick for a week.”
Hahaha fair fair all I’m good health FPG. Over looking Seager was actually because I was quick searching on ESPN the OPS leader boards and forgot to set PAs to something more attainable for the balsa wood boy. And Trea/Tatis (mainly Tatis) I don’t see being primary shortstops anymore with the dodgers likely giving SS to Lux if he earns it so he can be in his natural position while Tatis likely plays a lot more outfield to both trim his ego and open up room for top prospects.
But yeah I did fudge the numbers a tad in my search out of rush due to leaving in moments to get my booster. I will also say in Bo’s final defense, it must be hard to have multiple home stadiums in a season.
They’re still worth it. It’ll be team friendly money the way things are going by the time they reach 27-28 yrs of age!
Vlad should be MLB first 400 million player
I think vlads contract will be closer to tatis’ 340 mil than your projected $285mil. It’s likely going to take two $300+ million dollar contracts to keep em both. But If they only lock up one, I think it’ll be vlad.
Not sure that Tatis is the best comparable, offensively and age wise there is similarities but his position needs to come in to play.
Miggy’s 8/248 is prob the best comparable for Vlad, but those were all free agent years, an extension now for Vlad would prob only buy out 3-5 years of free agency so I would guess it would be more in the 270-290 range
Good thing the jays listened to all the simpletons and brought Vlad up to burn a year of service time in a year they had no shot at winning. He was really productive that year being a fat slob at 3b. They really should listen to you experts on service time manipulation more so they can be less competitive in their actual competitive window.
Who knows, maybe doing right by a player makes him more willing to sign an extension than if they’d manipulated and cheated him.
It worked with Tatis…??? (???)
Yanks are a much better than 92 win team, even if they don’t make any moves. The whole infield had a down year last year, and the outfield with Hicks back and Gallo is better. Starting pitching should be better with a full year of Sevy .
I really disagree with you here, the Yanks are not “much better than 92 wins” with a questionable infield and rotation, an injury-prone outfield, and the whole group playing in a loaded AL East. They *could* make 92 wins again this year, but they’re by no means favorites for winning the division.
I think the point was that they won 92 games despite all of those issues. Very few players performed to their capabilities and they still won 92 games in that competitive division. You could argue at this point that every other team in the AL East has a worse team on paper than last year while the Yankees are bringing everyone back. It would be a shock for the current rosters to not be altered between now and opening day but for now that’s all speculation
Rays will have a full year of Franco
Blue Jays are starting the year with a healthy Springer, they lost Semien but they also drastically improved their bullpen midseason which they are starting 2022 with
Red Sox will have a full season of Sale
O’s have some prospects coming up that should make them a bit more competitive.
So hard to argue that yanks are the only team that didn’t get worse. Offseason isn’t over and no reason to believe it won’t continue to be a 4 team race. But unless they did something major like Correa or Olson, I wouldn’t put money on them to win 90 games
Rays will also be without Glasnow for the majority, if not all of next year.
Saying Springer is healthy right now is the same as saying the Orioles are in first place right now. Blue Jays will definitely miss Semien’s production and they downgraded from Ray to Gausman.
Red Sox lost ERod, Renfroe, and Schwarber. Sale returning to form at this point in his career with all things considered is far from a certainty.
Orioles should be better but still probably a 90 loss team. I wasn’t really including them though since they’re the only non contender in the division. Also the Yankees only went 11-8 against them so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to at least expect a similar record next year.
Rays are a bit more of a stretch but as you pointed out the Orioles should be more competitive. Rays win total against them dropping from 18 to 13 or 14 brings them much closer to the pack. Blue Jays and Red Sox are definitely worse than last year, at least for now.
The Yankees simply having bounce back years from a couple hitters and better health from the pitching staff and they can easily replicate 92 wins
Sheesh dude.
1. Glasnow pitched 14 games before injury didn’t slow them down because Rasmussen and Mclanahan, they also add Kluber.
2. Springer is not as oft injured as people suggest, please look at his stats. There is a more likelihood he plays more games this year than last. Would love to hear an argument on how Gausman is a step down from Ray. Jays lost a lot of games because of their bullpen, that has drastically improved which is being left out. Oh and a full year of Berrios.
3. Shwarb was a deadline acq, renfroe was meh last year and saying Sale won’t return to some form to cover Erod’s departure is ridiculous considering Sale came back last year and performed pretty damn well.
4. Fine
5. Assuming that yankee players come back healthy, neglects to mention the players who stepped in and performed admirably, it’s not complete gains, it’s marginal games if any.
If the whole argument is that the Yankees were injured last year and won’t be injured at all this year, and every player is going to have a return to form and play 162 game, I’d really love to be your bookie
Sure Glasnow only pitched 14 games but he was exceptional in those games. Who replaces that production. Rasmussen and McLanahan are both good but they’re young and inexperienced, like most of the Rays rotation. I can tell you first hand after seeing Kluber last year that he shouldn’t be counted on. If he’s healthy he’s still very good but that’s a big if. He also seems to take a while to ramp back up after injuries. Again I said the Rays are the biggest stretch here and should still be very good but slight regression isn’t unreasonable. I seem them as a 95 win team instead of 100.
Springer is very much the injury risk I say. He’s also an OF and the Blue Jays have plenty of depth to cover him. They don’t have a 2B to replace Semien. Ray was far superior to Gausman, who looked more like a mid rotation SP down the stretch, last year. He’s also proven he can pitch in the AL East. Gausman benefitted from playing in cavernous San Francisco and was a back of rotation SP with the Orioles.
Schwarber was the catalyst for the Red Sox offense down the stretch. They were stagnant for a few weeks until he debuted. Renfroe was also pretty solid, definitely not “meh”, and was a good source of right handed power and led the league in outfield assists. Sale benefitted greatly from facing mostly weak lineups during the regular season. He then proceeded to get smacked in the postseason. Sale’s in his 30s now and has a lot of mileage on his arm. His days of being a bona fide ace could be over. Another thing I didn’t mention was the unprecedented health of the Sox rotation. That shouldn’t be counted on again next year.
Who are these “players who stepped in and performed admirably” for the Yankees? Everyone who was a major factor last year will be back. I never said the Yankees will stay completely healthy, that’s obviously unrealistic. Having 2 big covid outbreaks greatly impacted the Yankees last year. I’ll take the chance of that not happening again. Getting Severino back, even if he only pitches 100 innings, will be a big boost. Also remember that both Montgomery and Taillon were pitching their first full seasons back after TJ surgery last year. Cole had a down year, at least for his standards. Covid and a late season leg injury contributed to that. Healthy Cole is still a top 3 SP in the game. If LeMahieu, Gallo, and Torres have bounce back years, the lineup is significantly deeper.
You seem to base a lot of your opinions off of surface level info instead of getting to the source
All your opinions are completely homer yankee opinions.
This is you.
Gausman is a step down from Ray, Gausman used to be a back of the rotation starter with the orioles, but then Ray has a good season and his past you don’t mention? So which is it, are we making determinations off 1 year of data or not? Because you seem to not be able to make up your mind on data sets within the same argument.
Cole didn’t have a down year, this is him now that the sticky stuff is gone.
Not going to bother arguing the rest because you have no consistency to your arguments, Sale is old and coming off TJS and only succeeded because he faced weak lineups, but Montgomery and Taillon are coming off TJS and are only going to get better? Right on man. Your arguments flop around more than a European soccer player
Hilarious coming from yet another unoriginal Yankee hater.
Ray was also very good in 2017 with the DBacks. His biggest issue was also walks. He seemed to have straightened things out in Toronto. If Ray keeps the walks down he’s a borderline top 10 SP. The talent has always been there, he just took a while to put it all together. Gausman was heading towards journeyman status before going to San Francisco. He also clearly faded down the stretch and lost his role atop the rotation. I highly doubt he replicates even his 2021 numbers back in the AL East.
Do you realize Cole had several great starts including his best of the year on the road against the Astros after the crackdown? He also had covid and and a late season hamstring injury. The league is also working on having the balls pre tacked with a legal substance and that could go into effect as early as next year.
Sale is older and has more innings pitched than Monty and Taillon combined. He also had durability issues even before TJS. Check out Sale’s pitching logs if you don’t believe me that he faced mostly bums.
I hate to use this term unless necessary but you are the textbook definition of a casual fan. You brought nothing of substance to this conversation but fail to realize it because you only know basic, surface level info. Learn the game
Sale is 32 same age as Taillon. Lol
I don’t need to go deeper to disintegrate your arguments because they fall apart with basic facts.
You don’t know baseball, you’re just an over emotional yankee homer who can get their head out of their you know what to take on any level of comprehension that doesn’t tie back to Yankees being the best. The ones we all make fun of for overhyping prospects and trying to trade them for other teams best players. Take care and enjoy 4th place and making excuses all year long
Your whole argument seems to be based on Yankee players having bounce back years and being injury free while the opposite will magically happen to the other teams in the division.
A simple google search would show you that Taillon is 30 but sure take the lazy route. He also has far less mileage on his arm.
Yeah sure I’m the one who’s emotional. I’ve brought points based off of logic to this conversation while you’ve brought personal opinions.
Yankees fans don’t overhype their prospects any more than fans of other teams. That’s just a cope that children like you use. Lmao at 4th place, the position the Blue Jays finished in last year
No gomer, you just have poor reading comprehension skills. My point was that the Yankees faced more adversity than the Red Sox and Blue Jays last year and still finished tied with the Sox and ahead of the Blue Jays. Expecting their luck to be a little better isn’t magic
True, but Fangraphs has the Yanks ahead of those teams right now., so let’s just say it;s a toss up!
Blue Jays will have a full year of Berrios, a full year of Manoah and Gausman. With Ryu, they have the best sarting staff in the division. Solid bullpen, Even with Cavan Biggio replacing Marcus Semien, the Blue Jays have a huge offense. Blue Jays are the team to beat in the AL East – not a Blue Jays fan
The Yankees had the 2nd best rotation in the AL in 2021, despite Cole pitching through COVID and a hamstring injury, so I have no idea why a Jays rotation that lost the Cy Young would be projected to be better.
Or maybe that’s just who the Yankees are, and they have players regressing. I personally don’t feel they are even a 90 win team if the Orioles weren’t so awful. All those division games against a layup pads the stats!
Sure that could apply to some guys on the Yankees but not all of them. They’ll also have a new hitting coach this year so that should help.
The Yankees didn’t “pad their stats” against the Orioles. In fact they had the fewest wins against the Orioles of every AL East team. The Rays beat them 18 times. Blue Jays beat them 14 times. Red Sox beat them 13 times. Yankees only beat them 11 times.
That argument becomes even weaker when you realize the Yankees were 5-1 against the White Sox and 4-2 against the Astros, the winners of the other AL divisions
And Britton blew the game for the one loss to the ChiSox. Yanks were coasting.
We get it, you think the Yanks will be better than last year, even if they haven’t done anything to justify that (yet). You should also get that a lot of people disagree, myself included, and think they are due for some regression. No one is right or wrong currently, but to challenge someone’s knowledge of the game because you disagree with them is just weak.
I only challenge a person’s knowledge on a subject when it becomes clear that they’re just reciting the same generic info as everyone else. I’ve seen this enough times to know when someone is using emotional opinions, or in this case made of info, to support their weak case. I understand that a lot of people hate the Yankees, some with more reason than others, and that’s fine. However if people are going to bash the Yankees at least bring something new to the table and know what you’re talking about. Otherwise they sound like every other fool out there
Everyone in the division plays the O’s so it’s not exclusive to the Yankees.
AL East was the winningest division in MLB even with Baltimore being that bad. Four teams won 90+
And if MLB had gone back to a more balanced schedule, there probably would have been four 95+ teams in the division last year.
They really need to do something about that, especially with the importance of wild cards increasing even more with the new CBA.
O’s LF does need to be deeper, but the new layout is not symmetrical. Now left fielders will have to deal with not only the 12 foot wall, but also 5 corners and all kinds of caroms off several different walls. Overall, pitchers will love this, but LFs are going have an adventure out there inside that pinball setup…
Same situation as the LF wall in Minute Maid Park (Astros). It’s tall, wonky, and horrible for anyone playing left field. I can’t stand it myself but at least they removed the absurd hill and flag pole from CF.
“Yankees officials believe DJ LeMahieu‘s lackluster 2021 could be traced to a sports hernia that the infielder tried to play through before finally getting surgery after the season, The New York Post’s Dan Martin writes.”
My gosh, you can’t get anything past those medical experts at the Bronx Zoo.
Albatross!
Sign Vlad to a 10 Year $ 510 Million deal and do Bo for 10 years $325 million
Then his days as Jays are done after 2025!
10/$310M is too much for someone who’s body is not going to handle the rigors of a long career, so $510M would ruin the club for at least a decade. Great player, but he’s not going to be healthy enough to play out a 10 year deal at a high level.
I agree that 510 is too high but the rest of your comment is at best a poorly educated guess. Lots of big body guys have had long and healthy careers and Vlad has given no indication at this point that he is injury prone, he literally played 161 games last year.
Name the “big body” guys who had long, healthy careers. The ones built like he is.
I never said he’s injury prone, I just stated that he won’t remain healthy. It’s not saying the same thing.
Miguel Cabera, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Mo Vaughan, Tony Gwynn. I’m sure there’s more.
Heck even Prince Fielder had a really healthy and productive stretch before his injury forced him to retire. Point is, size of a 1b/dh type gives zero indication of ability to stay healthy or ability to perform. You said he won’t remain healthy but have zero proof to support that claim. If you do please let us all know
Of the ones you mentioned, only Mo Vaughn and Prince Fielder are remotely the size of Guerrero. Frank Thomas was jacked, Miggy isn’t big/fat like Guerrero, and Ortiz and Gwynn didn’t get larger until late in their very long careers. Guerrero is early 20s and battling weight issues.
Size absolutely has a correlation to performance and longevity. I get it that fat is embraced for some disturbing reason in society today, but reality prevails and obesity isn’t a good thing.
So I give you examples and you come back and can’t even name one ? Please give me the list you are clearly so confident in, of players who were big body and struggled to stay healthy.
Also even the baseline argument of Vlad being overweight is pretty much done, he started taking care of himself. He lost a lot of weight and kept it off.
You’re just wrong man. If you want to give opinions, no prob, it’s what the comments are for but stop passing off your opinion as fact when you’re clearly using no data or reason to base your opinion
Oh and Ps miggy is 6’4 240lbs. Vlad is 6’2 245.
Babe Ruth wasn’t small either
Trade Grichuk, Thornton, Kay and Kevin Smith to Philly for Bryce Harper. They get 4 players and we get only 1. Fair deal for Philly
Posts like this are the reason i rarely scroll to the bottom.
Idk if that’s a good enough return from Philly. Maybe if they include Wheeler and Realmuto…
that’s great, but have the Jays heard of the legendary Mickey Moniak? they surely want him as a headliner, unless he’s untouchable.
Seeing as how Harper has a full no-trade clause he may have something to say about that
For a Bryce Harper signed bat that would be a pretty good deal
Why wouldn’t an ace pitcher want to play in Baltimore? Plenty of good tradition there with great fan support. If the Os pay market value about the time their young guys are ready they could easily attract a top flight free agent pitcher. What’s this Connelly guys evidence for his postulate?
well the team is trash, but at the end of the day they would need to overpay a bit which obviously they dont.
Problem is the Orioles haven’t had a true “ace” since Mike Mussina left. The last two attempts at signing an “ace” (Ubaldo Jimenez, Alex Cobb) were stark overpays with middling results.
Unfortunately true aces are few and far between. It’s not that they wouldn’t necessarily want to sign with Baltimore as much as Baltimore being willing (able?) to outbid for one
Paying for a ace is a good way to get stuck with a god awful contract. Drafting and developing your own is how you win.
They do have the pitching prospect in baseball Grayson Rodriguez and the best catching prospect in baseball Aldley Rutschman. That is a good start the Orioles will be a better then most think they will be. Grayson Rodriguez is future number 1 barring injury they are about to start seeing the fruits of there futility.
“ best pitching prospect”
if the league wanted to draw more fans they should make stadium dimensions and fields unique. Have more hills and such in the outfield. strange angled walls. more ivy. i dunno, trees or something. just switch it up a bit.
Trenches with land mines.
in stadium strip clubs would do the trick
I’d attend all games for every team. I love the way you think sir.
Strippers in the stadium? The A’s need to move to Las Vegas first
You’d never get the players on to the field.
Are the players and owners at the table? If not, everything else is just fluff.
It’s a good problem to have when your former top prospects are working out.
Extend Bichette if you can; he’ll still be good ten years from now. Junior can hit, but I’m not sure how wise it would be to give big bucks to someone who had trouble with his conditioning at such a young age. I’d at least want to see him stay in shape one more year.
Quick check on his IG shows he’s in even better shape. He was a chunky teenager, people grow up.
“people grow up”
When I read the comments some people post here, I have my doubts.
Seems like the 200-300M contract is going to become the norm in MLB… like how every nba player is somehow a max dude.
Jays can sign both to 10 year contracts plus 2 option years that total $450 million between the two of them for CBT purposes.
Vlad -$250 /10 with two option years at $35 Million per annum
Bo – $200/10 years with 2 options years at $30 Million.
Remember Jays have pre-arb and arb control for 4 years.
No jensan, the Jays do not have pre-Arbitration control, Vlad is going through his first arbitration and Bo goes through his 1st at the end of the 2022 season, but there is no way the Jays can not afford both, back load the contracts, after the 2025 season the Jays only have roughly 60 Mil in guaranteed contracts. After the 2026 season Berrios is the only guaranteed contract on the books.
Does anybody have a link to a site that shows a pic of what the Camden Yards dimension changes will actually look like?
Vlad may be first guy to get a billion obviously
I have no idea why the Jays would extend either. Folks, the Jays have a LOT of money; whatever the arbiter rules, even in several years, will have little effect on their books.
Free Agency? Why not let them play it out? If they continue to maintain performance, PAY THE MAN! If not, you’ve saved yourself a lot of aggravation not having the next Chris Davis, Justin Upton, etc. etc,. etc. etc. (really, too many etc.-s to count). MOST long-term deals are awful, many outright disasters that hamstring their team’s ability to make productive moves.
Appreciate the production you get, then move on. There’s lots of fish in the sea, and I’m sure Jays fans would rather watch playoff games WITHOUT Vlad and Bo than a 4th place team WITH Vlad and Bo. If the Red Sox had gotten to the Series, it would have been a case of “Mookie WHO?”.
The Yanks need to open up second base for DJ full time so with that Gleyber could be dealt. I still think a Gleyber, Voit, and few prospects going to Oakland for Olsen could work. The only issue is Gleyber will have a bounce back season because his pure talent alone is much higher than last season and closer to all star level. Voit two years ago also put up better offensive numbers than Olsen. So who would be the prospects going to A’s? If they asked for any of the top 5 I would assume the deal would not work. If German was thrown in with a few prospects in the 10-15 range would the As consider that knowing Olsen will be a free agent in two years? Either way he’s a luxury that the Yanks should not trade the farm for. We can find a left handed bat somewhere else..
That would have the A’s adding arb eligible players and payroll to trade Olson. Wanting a near mlb ready prospect package, without taking on payroll, seems logical.
I really think the Yankees should go after Olson guy is a monster and would probably hit 50 homers in that ballpark with gold glove level defense. They absolutely should try and get him but he’s going to cost a lot more then Voit and Torres. A more realistic trade, this is assuming that the Athletics want Torres and Voit at all, would be those two plus Pereza and prospect pitcher that seems more realistic.
Torres had a down year and his value is very low right now and Voit his big year came in the pandemic shortened season the only year he outperformed Olsen. Personally I completely discount that season you have no idea what was going through a players head and if that affected them mentally. The bottom line Olson would be a monster in pinstripes but he is going to cost.
I know that baseball trade values isn’t perfect but it can be used as a reference and it says that Torres and Voit don’t even come close you are going to have to front the deal with Peraza or Dominguez whomever the A’s want more.
I am much more confident giving a long term contract to Torres and Olson if acquired by trade. I would trade Judge in any package for Olson. I would even consider both Judge and Torres to headline a deal for both Chapman and Olson
Interesting that you would trade Judge for Olson. The only problem with that proposal is that Oakland trades Olson for a guy with less control and more expensive. There is no way that Oakland does that trade.
It’s really just a question of if the Yankees have the prospect capital that Oakland is looking for. It’s also not as simple as just prospects because the A’s probably want someone close to or ready for the big leagues talent wise with a lot of control. I’m not sure how they really feel about there top SS prospect Allen but Peraza is certainly a better prospect who is ready that’s why I think that possibly a trade could be worked out there possibly with Torres. Torres has lost a ton of value so he wouldn’t front a trade for Olson perhaps something could work out. I doubt that Oakland would want Dominguez as a headliner but maybe. One thing is for sure Olson would be a monster in pinstripes and it scares me.
The other thing to remember it isn’t just the Yankees who want this guy there will be a lot of competition for Olson so that could also push his price up. It’s also important to remember that the Athletics can cut payroll elsewhere they don’t have to trade him.
In short if you want Olson it’s going to cost and it’s going to hurt but in the Yankees case probably worth it. That guy will hit 50 homers in Yankee stadium.
The new O’s LF is horrendous and asking for serious injuries to force another renovation.
Like all the serious injuries PNC Park`s wall has caused?
There is no reason to believe OPACY`s new dimensions will cause serious injuries any more than the previous dimensions did.
It’s a shame that this needs to be done. The place was too small from the start and now a hack job is necessary to try to aid in the Re-build. Those left field seats with the 8′ wall had great views. But now 1,000 of those seats are being removed and the ones that remain will have, with a 12′ wall, obstructed views.
OPACY is a fun place to watch a game. But, it is said that it doesn’t have any “bad” seats. Perhaps. But there are thousands that provide pain (to the neck) or a non-view of the game as it is played. It’s been this way from the beginning but now it’s about to get worse.