The Blue Jays’ offseason has primarily been focused on run prevention to this point, as the club has added Chris Bassitt to their rotation, Erik Swanson to their bullpen and defensive specialist Kevin Kiermaier to their outfield. General manager Ross Atkins spoke with the media today as part of Bassitt’s introduction to the press and said that their focus will now “shift to offensive improvement,” per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
The Blue Jays were one of the strongest offensive teams in the league in 2022, as their collective .264/.329/.431 batting line was 18% above league average. The team-wide 118 wRC+ was the second-best mark in the majors, trailing only the 119 of the Dodgers. Most of the club’s lineup projects to be back for 2023, with the most notable departure being Teoscar Hernández, who went to the Mariners in the Swanson trade.
The club has since added Kiermaier to their outfield mix, who is a much better defender than Hernandez but inferior on offense. Kiermaier hit .228/.281/.369 in 2022 for a 90 wRC+ and has a career batting line of .248/.308/.407, 97 wRC+. Hernandez hit .267/.316/.491 in 2022, 129 wRC+, and has a career slash line of .262/.319/.499 for a 120 wRC+. Given that gap, it’s unsurprising that the club would look to find some more offense before the offseason is done.
The most likely method for the Jays to find that extra pop in the lineup is through a left-handed hitting outfielder. The club has already been connected to players like Brandon Nimmo, Cody Bellinger, Michael Brantley and Masataka Yoshida, though all four of those players have now agreed to terms elsewhere. Michael Conforto in still unsigned, with the Jays having been connected to him in the past. He would be a risky play since he missed all of 2022 due to shoulder surgery and also had a disappointing season in 2021. But in the four-year stretch from 2017 to 2020, he hit .265/.369/.495 for a wRC+ of 133. If he’s capable of getting back to that range, that would go a long way to making up for the departure of Hernandez.
Signing Conforto or some other free agent like Jurickson Profar, Matt Carpenter or David Peralta would add to the club’s payroll and luxury tax ledger, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment. “We’re not limited financially,” Atkins tells Nicholson-Smith. Roster Resource puts the club’s payroll at $207MM at the moment, which is already a franchise high. They are also into luxury tax territory for the first time, with their CBT number just a hair over the $233MM threshold. Based on Atkins’ comments, it seems there’s still more room to continue adding.
Another path to the club upgrading would be trade, with the club’s three catchers being frequently mentioned in trade rumors for quite some time. The club has yet to pull the trigger, with Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno all still on the roster. Recent reporting suggested that the club would be comfortable holding onto all three and Atkins backed that up today. He said that the catching market is “exceptionally strong,” per Nicholson-Smith, but that the Jays are “100% comfortable” keeping all three and “remaining in that position of strength.”
Though the focus is on offense, it seems a pitching upgrade is still on the table. “We’ll continue to think about ways to improve,” Atkins told the press, per Nicholson-Smith. That lines up with recent reporting that suggested they’ve shown interest in Johnny Cueto, though it seems the lineup will be top of the agenda for now.
Offense! The cornerstone of any nutritous team.
Totally makes sense – focus on the protein – power- boom. Take away the filler, other less important stuff, bam. Atkins has a plan, a diet of bolstering the o that should produce results.
Ross can rip a phone book in half using only his mind.
Look at the big brain on Trumbo.
He mentions in this interview he thinks they have a “top 5 bullpen” – as a Jays fan can someone tell me what I’m missing ? Middle of the pack pen last season with 1 addition leads them to evaluate their group as top 5? …
It’s 100% top 5 in the AL East.
It’s really 3 additions. Getting Bass and Pop midseason plus Swanson.
Top 5 is pushing it I agree .. but it should be better. They could use one more high end lefty reliever to push Mayza to mid relief…
That’s true about Bass and Pop . Bass is older tho . Wouldn’t be a total shock to see him show signs of regression . Pop I hope can develop his secondary to take a step forward .
Could not agree more about adding high end lefty .
Worth noting this was the same argument said last season with Cimber / Richards .
Agreed I don’t see bass having close to the same year he had last year hoping Im wrong. The guy is not good in high-leverage situations and that was said about him before the trade…
Jobba11;
LOL
This is exactly what John Hart did in Cleveland, and what Shapiro and Atkins are doing….
They don’t understand pitching. They have no idea how to acquire and develop pitching (and don’t give me crap that they have one of the best – if not THE best – pitching coach(es) in MLB). They developed one (1) starting pitcher in 7-8 years!?!?!?!
So now with a team that’s supposedly built on scoring runs they’re going to get even more offense so they can win games 9-8 and 17-14. Like that what wins pennants. John Hart built some very good teams, but he never got over the top because of a lack of pitching depth. (Went to Texas and did the same thing signing Chan Ho Park and telling Rangers fans this was one of the great pitchers…..we were happy to have him leave in LA, and didn’t care that we didn’t get anything back for him…..addition by subtraction).
I’ve seen what has been developing the last 2 years. Finding hitting is easy. Finding hitting that can play defense is hard. Finding available pitchers and working to bring out the best in them is harder still. At best 20% of MLB teams can do that with semi-consistency.
I like Bass, Cimber, and Richards.
@samuel
While the fact they haven’t been able to develop pitchers is true, saying they will only win because of their offense in high scoring games probably isn’t. They have a pitching staff that an awful lot of teams would be pretty envious of at present.
@JDgoat
I do like their rotation, assuming Berrios has a bounce back . Looking at the Yankee rotation and whatever magic TB pulls off its essential.
The pen I don’t know , are you that confident the bullpen will be that much better ? And maybe it doesn’t need to be that much better , I think it does to be able to matchup with teams in postseason but maybe not , what the hell do I know .
@samuel
Yeah they have not developed many that’s very true. I think they need Tiedemann to be a hit no doubt .
I love Pete , but your not wrong. While I do think there is something to be said about a pitching coach whos kept the job for so long thru different front office coming in , it is maybe true that after the success of Ray and Matz the value of walker was embellished and maybe that’s why they gave Kikuchi 3 years believing themselves in the magic… But I really have no idea how to quantify that myself
The bullpen is tricky with just how much randomness goes into relievers year over year. They actually had one of the leagues better bullpens numbers-wise after the additions of Bass and Pop down the stretch, but really anybody slotted in that pen could go on to underperform this year, including Romano. I’d personally like them to go after Rogers or Chafin to shore it up, but who knows if a big arm like Swanson or Pearson can be that guy instead.
@jtgoat
Yeah I agree with that , you never really know year to year with relievers . Hopefully Nate can finally be healthy and be a factor , while also getting that lefty arm , I would be happy with either of those options you suggest
How about Kirk for Soto in Detroit. Not many Lefties who hit 100mph on the gun. He’d make a good set up guy for Romano.
The only issue I have with jays management is every year they say they need to get more LH and need more gas in the pen. They lost tapia and replaced with Kk so if my math is correct they have the same amount and if Swanson is the only upgrade in the pen I don’t know how you could say you addressed the lack of velo.
@iverbure I’m with you 100%. It was the exact same talking points last off season . Even the rational of the pen was “well we will have full season of Cimber and Richards ” while they added Garcia so it should be much better.
Now this winter it’s “well we will have full season of Bass and Pop while adding Swanson .
Listening to KK interview it sounds according to him like he’s been told he is the everyday CF , and Ross said today he thinks they have a top 5 bullpen , is that to say the heavy lifting is complete ? I would think they need to add a high end lefty as some others have said also but if Ross thinks he has a top 5 bullpen who knows
I prefer trout over bass.
It’d be impossible for Bass not to regress after the career year he just put up.
Last years bullpen gets flogged a lot, but they were quite heavily relied on with Ryu going down so early (and not being reliable before going down), the kukuchi show, then Mitch white. The Pen was taxed early and often.
But let’s not forget how much more of an increase they were over 2021…..especially early 2021….that bullpen lost alot of games on their own
Incoming buzzwords: the bullpens floor has really been risen, even if they have all reached their ceilings.
The division was lost last year to player underperformance (and an amazing Yankees first half that won’t happen again). We need Vlad to be a legit first ballet allstar, doesn’t have to be the mvp, but really have a strong year and for Bo to show up before August with his consistency (and if he doesn’t get extended maybe a shift to 2b)
A LH bat would be huge but if it’s me I would keep the 3 catchers and sign Conforto (only cash and Bassit cost some future) unless Brian Reynolds’s is involved. While we don’t line up with the pirates (who have catchers), giving the marlins Jansen and Gurriel Jr should be enough for them to balance out with the pirates for Reynolds. Then sign Conforto as the 3.5th outfielder.
But more than all that we need, imo, 3 starters, a 5th and 2 for Buffalo that can be trusted in injuries arise…..to go along with Mitch White
Totally agree. Bass can’t handle the pressure late in games..and quite honestly, I’m not sure how well Erikson will do. Great numbers, but he was Seattle’s 3rd or 4th reliever, so not sure if he felt huge pressure
100% agree. Mayza can’t be counted on as ur leverage lefty out of the pen. If he is..then once again we r in trouble
Mayza is just bad, he’s just the “Best Bad Pitcher”
They definitely have a top 5 bullpen in Canada. A case can be made for the top bullpen in Canada too.
I wouldn’t go as far as top. That’s heady stuff. But could totally go- top five sevenish Canada, top 3 in AL East?
Blue Jays are easily the best team in Canada after the Expos.
Perhaps but Hamilton , the Rays, Rush, and Ryan Reynolds are tough
Bullpens are so fickle that you can pretty much go from middle of the pack to 8th pretty easily.
The pen was much better after the pop and bass acquisition, now you add Swanson and Pearson to Garcia and Romano and you have potential a nice pen.
Hmm, if Pearson and Merryweather are healthy and productive, then schmaybe.
At this point I don’t even think Merryweather has a spot on the roster, which is mind blowing given how good his stuff is.
He just can’t seem to find any momentum, and his fastball gets hit hard. I think he’ll be dfa’d before the season starts.
Romano
Garcia
Bass
Swanson
Mayza
Cimber
Richards
Kikuchi/Pearson
That leaves Pop on the outside but he has an option and is prob first man up, no one else has an option so Merryweather would need to beat out Richards for a roster spot and they’ll lose the other
That would pretty fearsome, imagine you’re a Ray batter brought in as a PH in the 8th and you got Manoah scuffling. You see a mound conference so look down at your phone for a little instabreak to see wassup w the homies and then look up at the mound to see that 7+ a weird symbiote headed monster staring you down. Tough day just got tougher. Anyone got a Snickers?
Merriweather’s gets hit hard because it’s straight as a arrow.throwing it 98-101 means little if there’s barely any movement and deception
Toronto bullpen set up to get clicking down the stretch, into the fall, and the cooler of October and November, tis the season for Merry weather, Swanson, and Romano. For sho, for sure. Follow the model of teams like the Dodgers and Angels, fol-lo-LA-LA, LA
Tom Hatch seems ok.
Happ for Jansen
Cubs say ni in my humble opinion or this would have been done already.
Hate to break ot to you but the Jay’s wouldn’t even entertain Happ for a catcher straight up. Happ is nowhere near good enough to swap straight up for a more valuable position. It will either be a Bat and a prospect for a C or a Pitcher.
I disagree. I think Toronto would do this straight up but not the Cubs.
Why would the Cubs part with Happ? Not going to happen.
One of the beat writers was pitching the idea of trading Jansen to the Cardinals, and they still need a second catcher… …maybe they won’t part with Nootbar, but Burleson raked in the minors and is blocked. Maybe go after Burleson and a gamble like Moises Gomez, who is an HR machine?
They will want a MLB Bat with experience if they trade a catcher. You only take prospects in a trade like that if you are trading from a position of weakness.
Did you even see how little the As got for Murphy who is a way better catcher?
Jays need to be careful not to overvalue him or they will end up with either Jansen in the OF.
Jansens good but hes not a top shelf guy.
Apols for the random ‘either’ in that post. Doh…
When a team over pays in a trade it rarely becomes to the new market price, same thing goes for an underpay.
Jerred Kelenic for Danny Jansen
Lol. Not happening
The Cubs are not going to trade Happ for a catcher. They already have Gomes under contract. They are looking for a defensive first backup. There are plenty of cheap option s that can be signed for just money. Plus the Jays are not the only team with a catching surplus. The Yankees have 3 catchers as well. Rortvedt can probably be had for a middling prospect since Trevino pretty much locked down the starting job and Higashioka is Cole’s catcher. He is exactly what the Cubs are looking for and won’t cost much at all.
Bit late to the offense party.
Put your pants on York! It wasn’t that kind of offensive party!
(Low hanging punchline, sorry Old York, it’s puns not jerky-ness I’m aiming for)
Atkins specialty.
The plan is the man
Under no circumstances alter the plan
I don’t know who the Jays trade a catcher to any more, maybe the Padres as that’s the 1 area they can make a big improvement. sign conforto to a pillow contact and see what it would take to pry Arreaz from the twins he is the type of player this club desperately needs.
Toronto couldn’t find anyone as desperate to trade for a catcher as they are to trade one for hitting/pitching.
Pretty sure Arizona is looking to trade Carroll to Toronto for something Toronto doesn’t mind giving up.
If they have money to spend and they are already over and already given up their 2nd round pick then why not have signed Rodon and Swanson (to play SS (Bo moves to second or just have Swanson play second) or one of the other big bats. They should have traded Jansen by now and maybe Espinal.
They didn’t say they have an unlimited budget genius
Well “Genius” they didn’t say they didn’t have the money either.
You like the Swanson deal ?
He had a great season , no doubt . But it’s so much better than anything else he has ever done in a full season would anyone be surprised if he regressed back to his career norms ? If so is that a 177mil player or whatever he got ?
Personally I don’t like any of the money any of these players are getting especially when people have to decide on $8.00 lettuce. I would love to see super stars say they will play for smaller contracts if said team lowered ticket/concessions/jersey prices. Will never happen but would love to see it.
As for Swanson he is mostly consistent and shows up everyday. As for this past year it tells me he has potential to give you more. So the money is what it is at this stage and Rogers have enough to compete with any other team if they choose to do so.
Swanson has only had 1 full season with a OPS+ above 100. I think 1 time prior to this season had a 3 WAR . Alot of the deals are spoken about the latter years . There’s a decent chance the Swanson deal is bad right away .
I agree sure there could very well be more…. But that contract to find out ? Atleast the others had some track record . I say this as someone who doesn’t watch him play everyday so maybe eye test tells another story . ATL fans would know better than myself
180 mil for Swanson when you already have an Espinal for League min is a bad use of resources.
I think Swanson is a good player but 7 years for a player who has been a league average bat for most of his career is a bit much. Nice move for the cubs looking to turn back to contention but the jays would have much better ways to spend that type of money
Dusty I hear ya but my point wasn’t just to get Swanson and only Swanson, it was more based on they are over the LT so go for it and shop at the top and not at the bottom. I used Rondon and Swanson because they were the last of the big names left when the Blue Jays went up against or over (depending on which websites estimates you use) the Luxury Tax line.
As for Espinal I think he is a waste of good talent that is going to be pushed to the bench fighting for playing time with Lopez and eventually Martinez and maybe Bigio. I know Espinal may not hold up to everyday playing but he is still valuable so trading him should bring back something.
It wouldn’t be smart for the Jays to give out contracts that big this off-season. Very shortly they’ll be doing that with Vladdy and Bo. Gotta keep some flexibility for the future.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing them sign either one of those guys. Rodon especially. Having an elite lefty in the rotation would have given them a different look than their other top starters to throw at teams as well as keeping him away from the Yankees. Would have given them one hell of a rotation.
Moving Bichette to 2nd and having an elite defender like Swanson at Short would have done great things for the defense as well. The contract that Swanson got was rather large though, so I can’t really fault them for not going that route.
Not sure signing both would have worked given the need to extend Vladdy and Bichette at some point though. It would have been interesting to see how the move to 2nd would have affected a Bichette contract as 2nd baseman are not getting paid nearly as well as Shortstops are. Of course it didn’t really hurt Semien too much so maybe not that big of a deal.
Whatever you do consider Jurickson Profar with a grain of salt. Yes, he had a decent year in 2022 (platform season ONLY), and his results in the years leading up to that have been uneven to say the least. Now if you’re looking for a self-absorbed cheerleader on the grass, then by all means lock him up.
Why on earth would they want a average at best right handed hitter? Almost all our current right handed hitters r better than Profar. Plus he’s right-handed. This team needs a strong lefthanded hitter in the worst way possible!
Toronto trade w/Arizona. The D-backs have alot of young outfielders(being LH sweetens it), but they are short on catching. Toronto is really strong at C, but needs help in the outfield. No idea why nothing can’t possibly be done.
Makes prefect sense that’s why it won’t happen.
Toronto trade w/Arizona.The D-backs have a lot of young outfielders(being LH sweetens it), but they are short on catching.
Again?
Every day?
If a trade was to be made it would be done by now.
Not a great fit window-wise. Dbacks are still in rebuild mode. While they do have extra outfielders to deal, they’re not going to deal the best of them (Varsho, and obviously Carroll) for a guy who’s only got two years of control like Jansen. And by all accounts Jansen’s the guy Toronto wants to sell. Jansen for, Thomas or McCarthy isn’t enough for Toronto, and Varsho for Jansen is too much for AZ. If they (Blue Jays) want a legit good hitter, they’ll need to offer Kirk or Moreno.
Kirk for Varsho plus some other peices on both sides seems like the deal that’ll eventually be announced
Yes that makes sense.
I wonder if a three-way trade could end up happening as the Jay’s don’t necessarily have all the things that Arizona fans have stated the team is looking for. Maybe Kirk and Orelvis Martinez (fills the need for a righthanded power hitting 3b) to Arizona with the Jays sending a cost controlled righthanded outfielder or RP/SP aquired from a 3rd team for Varsho (and maybe another smaller piece depending on who the 3rd player is).
Is it generally known among Jays fans that the father of the biblical hero Samson was named Manoah?
Trade Jansen and a couple prospects to the Rockies for cj cron. Great deal for both teams
Cron had a 619 OPS away from Coors Field last season. Also having two 1b you want in the line up most days would be a issue needing to waste the DH spot on cron or Vlad to have them in the lineup . We have seen them use that spot as a rest day , Springer gets time there , Kirk gets alot of time . Seems like clogging up the DH spot .unless he plays LF? But again 619 ops road
Luckily, major league teams know the history and realize that Rockies hitters’ home road splits are irrelevant. Take them out of Coors and the split disappears and they converge somewhere in between. Cron isn’t a great fit for Toronto though.
Yeah maybe your right @seamaholic – how do you handle the DH spot in that case given how often they like Kirk in DH and to use as rotation rest days for the rest of the lineup.
Yeah you don’t. As I say, not a good fit. Blue Jays are trying to thread a needle. They’re trying to move their least desirable catcher, who’s good but only has two years left, which means you’re starting with competitive teams, not rebuilders. And they only want one player, and he has to be mainly an OF. Preferably left-handed. Not an easy find. Plus the Mets are trying to trade their own 3rd catcher too.
You are kidding right? The Athletics got 4 prospects that entered their top 15 and a decent MLB level backup Catcher. And their haul only looks like that because they want prospects not MLB players.
The As wanted MLB players with control called Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan, and the Cards top pitching prospect, Graceffo.
Overplayed their hand and blew it, so they ended up with a shopping cart of middling prospects after the Cards told them to wake up and smell the coffee. Terrible return for a 5+ WAR catcher with years of control remaining.
Murphy and Contreras both went for less than predicted. Its pitching thats attracting a big premium, not catching.
Trade for Ohtani.
Signing Cueto and Conforto doesn’t make them better than the Astros, but I would be happy to roll the dice until the trade deadline and see what upgrades are available.
Don’t need to ne better than the Astros when the season starts.
Just gotta beat them in the ALCS
Astros saying the same about them.
Well they are going to be without the services of one Mister Bradley Zimmer since he is now with L.A.
Kirk for Cronenworth. Who says no?
Jays get their LH 2nd baseman/bat
Pads get their Catcher
I wouldn’t trade Kirk for him. Kirk has more value,period
Gabriel Moreno is awesome, as athletic as JP