After missing out on both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto despite finishing as finalists for both stars, the Blue Jays have recently pivoted to smaller moves than the blockbusters they were contemplating earlier in the offseason. They’ve re-signed center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and added utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to their infield mix over the past week and a recent report regarded the club as the leaders for the services of right-hander Yariel Rodriguez. According to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, the club has also continued to be active in the positional market since signing Kiermaier and Kiner-Falefa, showing strong interest in free agent slugger Joc Pederson.
Pederson, who MLBTR’s Leo Morgenstern profiled just this morning, is coming off something of a down season with the Giants in 2023. The 31-year-old got off to a scorching hot start this past season with a .281/.394/.518 (150 wRC+) slash line through June 17, though that stretch accounted for just 137 plate appearances as the slugger battled wrist and hand injuries early in the season. While Pederson managed to avoid the injured list throughout the remainder of the season, his performance declined significantly throughout the remainder of the campaign. In 288 trips to the plate from June 18 onward, Pederson hit a meager .213/.326/.369 (92 wRC+), a performance that dragged his overall season line down to .235/.348/.416 (111 wRC+). While Pederson’s 20.8% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate were more or less in line with his earlier production, Pederson’s BABIP shrunk from .317 to just .247 while his power production suffered a simultaneously dip.
After crushing seven home runs in just 36 games early in the season, Pederson’s final 85 appearances saw him hit just eight round-trippers. Interestingly, the disparity in production came with similar peripheral numbers; Pederson had the same groundball percentage of 39.5% both before and after the aforementioned June 17 cutoff, and his soft contact rate actually went down from 12.8% to 10.8% the rest of the way. Given the minimal change in Pederson’s peripherals regarding batted balls and plate discipline, it’s seemingly fair to expect improved performance in 2024, particularly if he moves to a more homer-friendly park outside of San Francisco. That conclusion is further supported by Pederson’s excellent .368 xwOBA, which outstrips his wOBA by 37 points and is a mirror image of the .367 xwOBA he posted during his dominant 2022 campaign.
If Pederson can even come close to replicating his 2022 season, where he slashed an excellent .271/.353/.521 (146 wRC+) en route to his second career All Star campaign, he’d be an excellent fit for a Blue Jays roster short on left-handed bats following the departure of Brandon Belt, who posted a 138 wRC+ in 103 games this year as the club’s primary DH. Though Pederson primarily played DH in 2023 due to an outfield logjam in San Francisco, the slugger could also help to take some pressure off of Daulton Varsho in left field after a difficult 2023 season. The addition of Pederson would go along way to improving a Toronto offense that underperformed somewhat in 2023 and has since lost both Belt and Matt Chapman to free agency.
Of course, it’s important to note that Nicholson-Smith suggests that things are far from a done deal between the two sides, with the Diamondbacks, Angels, Giants, and Cubs all standing as other potential suitors (though the Cubs, Nicholson-Smith notes, may only have interest should they fail to re-sign Cody Bellinger). Likewise, the Blue Jays are interested in plenty of potential bat-first options beyond Pederson, with Nicholson-Smith name-checking each of Rhys Hoskins, J.D. Martinez, Joey Votto, and Justin Turner. Nicholson-Smith goes on to suggest that a deal with Pederson wouldn’t preclude the Jays from adding a second player from that mold, though it’s worth noting that with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entrenched at first base only Justin Turner has recent experience elsewhere on the diamond, meaning Pederson would likely need to play the outfield on a regular basis in that scenario.
Breaking: Blue Jay’s are interested in everyone 7-35 years old on planet earth, whether they have played baseball or not
Nah go sign Cody Bellinger. $200 million for 8 years. Get it done Jays!
no thanks… peripherals are scary
Okay then forget about a good 2024 then.
Why don’t you wow us with a deep dive into the advanced analytics that made you draw that conclusion
I’m not convinced Bellinger will be a better hitter than Pederson in 2024. Better fielder, yeah.
What about Matt Carpenter Seamaholic?
Word, big bird.
So here is your analytical breakdown.
Bellinger’s 2024 slashline:
.307/.356/.525
Bellinger’s 2024 expected slashline:
.270/.327/.437
Now his expected slashine is still respectable, but even in a comeback year it is really only average. The big mismatch was his power. How did Bellinger slug .088 higher than he should have? Other than the obvious .037 from just his batting average, he hit 26 HRs when he was expected to hit 23. There wasn’t a big offset in his double count either. So it is most likely he slightly out performed his power across the board all accumulating in a sizable gap at the end.
However, the big issue with signing Bellinger comes from his discipline.
Peak Bellinger (2019-2020):
13.8% BB% – 16.6% K% – 23.7% O-swing%
Bad Bellinger (2021-2022)
7.7% BB% – 27.1% K% – 30.6% O-swing%
Comeback Bellinger (2023):
7.2% BB% – 15.6% K% – 30.7% O-swing%
In his peak, he had elite discipline striking out rarely and walking a ton. During his downfall, the walks plummeted and the strikeouts skyrocketed. However, his comeback didn’t return to total form. He cut down his strikeouts to his previous rate, but the walks stayed put. His O-swing% spiked after 2020 and still hasn’t come down which backs up the walk rates.
So the take away is he isn’t selective enough to be as good as he was last year. If the power returns to his expected level (which it probably will if he isn’t playing so many games in the NL Central) he profiles like a high contact, but low on-base fringe power hitter. A lot of teams could use this, but it definitely isn’t worth $200mil no matter how good the defense.
taejonguy – “peripherals are scary”
So if a guy has a great season like Bellinger did (BA .307, HR 26, RBI 97, OBP .356, OPS .881), you would say no because his peripherals aren’t good? Peripherals don’t score runs. If he’s getting on base and scoring runs, that’s what matters and that’s what he did in 2023 and prior with the Dodgers. I wouldn’t mind the Angels grabbing him.
…and doesn’t the term “peripherals” mostly refer to pitchers?
Nice breakdown
The peripherals are great, you guys are scary.
Is the chase right high? Sure. Is he getting hits off of pitches outside the zone? Yes.
Has Cody Bellinger essentially turned into ~2006 Vladimir Guerrero?
Basically yes. But go give Teoscar Hernandez 20 million to hit cleanup because he “hits the ball harder and better”. He doesn’t.
Bellinger’s peripherals are exceptional.. hitting pitchers pitches with two strikes is a skill and Bellinger just put up one of the greatest hitting seasons in recent memory and you’re knocking him.
This is a guy that is at the top of the league in extra base hits and lowest strikeouts.
These are the players in 2023 with .ISO (extra-base per at-bat) over .200 and strikeout rate below 17% *sorted by lowest K-rate:
Acuna, Kyle Tucker, Marcus Semien, Mookie Betts, Bellinger, Albies, Seager, Freeman, Ketel Marte.
That’s it. 9 guys.
If I look at 2022 it’s up to 15 guys. (Arenado, Jose Ramirez, Altuve, Juan Soto. Seager, Tucker, Mookie, Vlad Jr, Will Smith.)
15 guys in baseball were in 2022 or 2023 in both not striking out and getting extra base hits. Bellinger was one of them.
That’s the biggest metric in if a guy is an effective hitter.. Does he get extra base hits and does he put the ball in play..
Bellinger did both.
Bellinger’s peripherals are great. This was by no means a “fluke”. Bellinger put up one of the greatest hitting seasons of all time. Considering what pitchers throw these days.
Oh, I missed out Bellinger’s best skill! Not only avoiding the strikeout but coming up with a base hit.
Show me then the players who hit .300, had an ISO over .200, and a K-rate under 17% in one of the past two years. It’s a short list:
Altuve, Acuna, Betts, Bellinger, Seager, Freeman.
I’ll even go back to 2020: That adds Soto, Vlad Jr, Trea Turner and Manny Machado. (I’ll ignore Lamahieu’s power spike)
In the past 4 years these are your elite power-contact hitters. Your list is:
Altuve, Acuna, Betts, Freeman, Soto, Seager, Bellinger, Trea Turner, Vlad Jr., Machado.
These are the ten best hitting players in baseball. Am I wrong? I might remove Vlad Jr due to consistency. Trout and Judge and Alvarez.
Bellinger also did the same feat in 2019, by the way, which was an even better season than this one.
His track record is a little rough. To say the least.
The peripherals are there. The peripherals say that Cody Bellinger was one of the best hitters in baseball in 2019 and 2023. Was Bellinger good in 2020-to-2022? That’s a no. A combination of injuries and the mental aspect. You don’t need peripherals to tell you that Bellinger was very bad.
In any case, no Bellinger doesn’t suck, and no Bellinger’s peripherals are nowhere near scary.
The low hard-hit rate is actually much better than having a guy like Teoscar Hernandez who only hits the ball hard and strikes out.
You’re supposed to hit the ball softly with two strikes. You’re supposed to have a ball land in safely for a base-hit. You’re not supposed to hit the ball in the air hard and always find a glove.
if you’re talking peripherals, Belli is a top-20 hitter in baseball in my book.
The ONLY peripheral stat that you have against Bellinger is a lower power output and having only 25 or whatever barrelled balls this season. But that doesn’t scream that he’s a bad hitter. It screams more a young hitter coming off significant injuries that played 130 games where he did not have that typical “power hitter streak” where a guy will barrel up 10 or 15 balls and raise his numbers.
Anyways, that’s your stats analysis. You guys have ruined baseball and many baseball teams with this nonsense. If your stats made any lick of rational sense then they would work.
The real analysts do know what they are talking about. The armchair wannabes couldn’t do a stats degree *or whatever else so are left making articles about baseball. Harsh, but true.
Cheers.
They would be better off blowing up the team and rebuilding.
No sir legitimate contenders
100% Darren
Led by Matt Carpenter….
Haha. Nice try Cap’n. I’m sure you’d love your divisional rival saddled w Bellinger’s eventual albatross of a contract.
I would definitely take Bellinger at that price. You want Soto instead? He’ll he a lot more expensive then that Yogajonny.
I’d take Soto any day Cap’n. And I would back up the Roger’s Brinks truck for him come season’s end. I’m not looking forward to him destroying the Jays this year.
But Matt Carpenter will save you even more hot cash and bring a veteran presence to the clubhouse.
I definitely hear you Yogajonny, but wouldn’t it be nice to pay Belli cheaper then Soto, and then address other areas of need on your favorite team? Belli isn’t gonna hurt you defensively either, you can play him anywhere in the outfield to. He’s great and worth it.
Agreed. If Springer can get 6yr/150M at age 30. Bellinger at 8yr/200M at age28 isn’t a stretch. When Vlad’s gets traded or don’t sign, move Cody to 1B. Give him a opt out after 2years.
At Jays
That way you miss Noone
T’hey can be interested in Joc Pederson but I can’t see that being very mutual. Joc’s a California boy, and has played all seasons but one in California. People with the chance move from Canada to California, not a lot of traffic in the lanes going the other way.
I just don’t see Joc in some far away land like Canada, playing baseball.
No one ever thought Yung Joc would be driving rideshare. Joc’s don’t do what you think they would do
“meet me at the car, it’s going down”
I know drunk me would be doing the dance before getting in the car.
FartGod: Youre one funny SOB and it’s a pleasure conversing with you as fellow members of this website……
Some far away land lmao Americans are hilarious
Who’s holding up the signings now? Bellinger?
Ohtani’s contract is still holding things up..Too many owners and execs still in a state of shock and delirious. They just can’t move on quite yet…Dust has to settle a bit more.
That ridiculous Dodger’s contract is going to bite them in the ass.
@Buster, why will it vite them in the a$$??
Do you understand that each seasons deferral has to have principal funded at time of deferral?? It’s essentially a $460M contract as far the affect it has on Dodgers. The other $240 will be accrued interest paid out by 3rd party the deferred monies are invested with.
The Dodgers are making at least half of that money back from Japan alone.
They aren’t the Padres.
I agree, I think the contract will cause more harm than help
The little chihuahua in the back of the Cadillac. His head no longer goes up and down.
The fact that Boras represents 4 of the biggest names still on the market and his approach is always to drag things into January and hope some team starts to get desperate and willing to accept his asking prices.
This. And the fact each of the 4 has pros and cons, creating complex markets even with easy going agents.
Montgomery is the safest of the 4 by a country mile. Doesn’t have the elite upside but I’m pretty sure you know what you’re getting with him.
“Come on new bike, come on new bike….aw a soiled wig!?”
I’m holding out hope for the book of carpet samples
Eloy to the Jays!
This is what ive been saying forever eloy or Nick Castellanos. It makes way too much sense, Eloy is 15-17M per and has at least 1 option year after this 1 and maybe 2, Nick has 3 and 60 left and im sure the philly would pay down 15-20 and I really feel the asking prices for both wont be crazy. While the need LHH that also need someone in the grass who can slam LHP and can play 80+ games out there in case of injury, thats why I thout taylor was a better fit then KK
Didn’t know Joc was a leadoff hitter.
He’s actually hit leadoff more times than any other spot in the lineup. Doesn’t mean he’s a good leadoff hitter but he is a “leadoff hitter”
He is actually. Pretty good on-base guy and despite how he looks, a pretty good athlete, especially when he was younger.
Joc Pederson….The no glove, Fat, slow platoon bat who’s legacy in MLB is getting Bitchslapped by Tommy Pham
Jay’s have to be Joc’in themselves if they think this is going to better their lineup, compared to last year
How does a plane fly to Toronto with no wings?
Pederson is from northern cal and he’s likely not leaving California. Why would he sign with a team from the north east? lol
@Tangerine, are we just ignoring the time he opted to sign with the Cubs? Or are you unaware that Chicago is not located in California??
Tiger 3232…not to jump into somebody else’ conversation…..you are aware that Chicago isn’t in the Northeast right……he signed with Chicago in 21 after not getting too much attention after LAD let I’m go……and then was traded to Atlanta where .he turned down a $10 million option to sign with SF for much less money ($7 Million) which would lead us to believe he has a preference for the West Coast if possible….of course if he has no interest, he would sign with the Devil if he wanted to keep playing……
Wait, so Sade’s been misleading us this whole time when she said “Coast to coast, LA to Chicago”?
He said “he’s likely not leaving California”. He has chose to sign a contract putside of California, that’s the only point I was getting at.
I’d say turning down option with Braves was more about use, he’d likely have been platooned often had he resigned. Considering he got a $2.5 buyout turning down option, he didn’t really get much less. The decision to opt out got him $9.5M total. For players on one year deals, playing time is crucial as it has a direct impact on the next seasons free agency.
There’s Soler or JD Martinez or Turner who actually hit last year but no let’s go for Joc smh
If this happens boy genius Ross Atkins is sure G.M of the year.
Joc Peterson is “slugging” while Yoshida is “middling”.
Gotta love these threads.
From a lineup perspective Pederson in Toronto makes a lot of sense. The Blue Jays need LH power and it’s not like he’s going to command a big money decade long commitment
Yeah he’s a great fit for them. They need lefty bats they have the bench to let him sit vs lefties. They don’t need defense in the outfield with Kiermaier and Varsho around. Great fit.
@Joel P
Last season they sat KK against lefties. Varsho has a career 78 wRC+ against LHP. That’s two thirds of the starting OF that should be sitting on the bench. The Jays need a righty OF bat to face lefties. Joc is a terrible fit.
Schneider and Springer can handle the corners against lefties with Kiermaier and Varsho splitting time in center. The Jays infield is all right handed except Biggio. Joc is a great fit.
@Joel P
Firstly, Schneider has less than 150 PA’s in his MLB career. Insufficient sample size to determine his ability to hit MLB pitchers. He also has only 15 innings in LF. Again, insufficient sample size. That’s a lot of faith to bestow to a player in a contention window. It’s a bad move.
Secondly, that means that one of IFK or Espinal is playing 2B with Schneider in the OF. You’re making the line up weaker in this configuration. Again, it’s a bad move. Joc is not a fit. A RHH OF is the right fit.
If the Jays sign a right handed hitting outfielder their lefty hitting options will be Kiermaier, Varsho, Biggio and Horowitz. That’s no good.
A RHH OF means one of Varsho/KK sits when a lefty is on the mound. Last year they had another lefty OF (Lukes) that basically sat on the bench for the season while a 2B (Merrifield) played LF when a lefty was on the mound. And before you say Whit was OK in left, he had a -2 DRS and -3 OAA in ~600 innings. Joc would be the strong side platoon at DH. If they’re looking for a DH there are much better options, but they’re also in need of a righty bat for the OF.
Power bat? 15 hrs lol
15 from a part time player is not bad.
stymeedone14 hours ago
15 from a part time player is not bad.
==========================
The 15 needs to be discounted since he was strictly a platoon player. The 15 projects to 26.7 (just is L v R ABs) per 600 ABs.
The average lefty v righty 22.6 HRs/600 ABs. You should be able to land s someone with almost as much power, but that can also run and field a little.
In a lousy Giants lineup.
186 career Home Runs in 10 seasons, and how many better pitches do you think he would get hitting in front of Vlad Jr. or Bichette…
Neither would Brandon Belt
I like Pedersons upside over Belt. But yeah Belt would make sense too sure.
or…aim higher? Just get Belt or Martinez if you are going short term dh.
Well, he’s certainly a bat first player.
Better fielder than he looks. Was a CF earlier in his career and a damn good one.
He’s straight up bad and has been since 2016, which was the only year he wasn’t running a negative OAA. Check out Baseball Savant sometime. They don’t even list him as an outfielder anymore because no one would play him there. He hasn’t played an inning in CF since 2021.
He played CF for Team Israel in the WBC tournament showing he’s still a good athlete just not as fast as he was, obviously.
Team Israel. LOL
Pederson is a No Glove , slow, fat , platoon bat
LOL Ya, because Israel has so many other great options. You’re hilarious. He’s a terrible fielder and you know it.
Or it means he was the best option for team Israel, that doesn’t give me much confidence playig the outfield in the mlb
Making a bad team worse. What a horrible GM.
Giants are NOT in on the pot bellied pederson.
Ya please NO on that “potential suitor “ bs.
Here We go again, more ” in ” on everyone crap from Atkins, nothing done….
Word is that the Blue Jays are going after Matt Carpenter to take over as the Jays new DH. (And bat 6th in their lineup). Carp would likely platoon with Vlad at DH if he goes to the Jays.
I have not heard a lot about other outfielder on Chicago White Sox and that’s Luis Roberts.
I would think If your Chris Gets you wanted to shake thing up and send a message that past few years of White Sox poor play will not be okay anymore. Maybe a move like trade a so call untouchable would do the trick.
Luis Robert (not plural) is staying put. Ownership wants to have at least 1 player worth watching. About the only club capable of putting together an insane package of elite prospects for his 4yrs of bargain control is Baltimore, and Elias isn’t going to do that.. He learned in Houston how to patiently develop in-house talent as a way to sustain a winning culture.
They should, he’s great except on D cuz he’s fat
Why not just bring Belt back?
Exactly. He is better and can play a position.
Belt retired
It really seems like the Jays have missed their window for contention. If they’re planning to go the bargain bin way of winning this year, it doesn’t look good for them. Even worse, teams like Boston, New York and TB aren’t really trying to win this year either so they have the potential to do well this year if they had made some upgrades. Oh well, I can only hope that by deadline, if they’re not really in serious contention, they consider trading some assets off and rebuild.
NYY is certainly trying to in this year. Certainly trying harder than Atkins.
Don’t ever count out Tampa
This team don’t need hitters they need pitching and defense lol. We will just win all the games 1 to 0. Worked for Tampa Bay for years. Maybe the teams New approach to hitting will work. You know hold the bat tight and hope for the best lol.
They are also interested in negative bat players like IKF.
Joc is an awesome human being and great teammate. I wish him the best and hope he finds a team that he loves to play for.
Who haven’t the Blue Jays had strong interest in…
Matt Chapman or anyone good for that matter. They’ve literally been after and signed guys who are worse than the previous positions they’ve had. Definitely not hitters. Keirmair, IKF… these guys aren’t great hitters. Urshela is a downgrade from Chapman and they’re looking at him too.
I think they need a little bit of mumbo jumbo from Chaim Breslow’s magical purse to succeed.
Problem with Chapman is he’s gonna get a better deal than he should. I wouldn’t pay him more than 80M over 4 years. Even that would be an overpay. The D is fantastic, but his ABs make me sick to my stomach. I seriously hope he never dons the Jays’ uniform ever again.
You’re right, but if you don’t sign Chapman, you’re stuck with Urshela unless you make a trade. I’m not sure Toronto has the pieces to make a trade
No pieces???
They have a surplus of bench/playoon players that won’t get playing time!
Biggio, Espinal, Clement, Schneider, Horwitz, Lukes. Plus a bunch more prospects that either could help the big club sooner than later (O. Martinez, A. Barger, O. Lopez, L. Jimenez, etc.). Plus some enticing young arms other than Tiedemann.
Plenty of decent young pieces to move in a good trade.
Ricky T is the only prize amongst that bunch. The rest are more or less filler/org. depth. This team has severely messed up their window of contention.
No one wants Biggio, that’s for sure.
I heard a rumour (in my head) the Savannah Banana’s have heavily scouted him. He would look good in yellow apparently.
Not true, Biggio looked great 2md half of last season, he is versatile, patient and has power. Don’t sleep on Biggio he has potential for more. They gave him very little playing time early in the season, 2md half he was great defensively and looked good at the plate
If you like him so much, he has more value starting for you. I doubt teams are looking at the small sample size of half a season.
Seriously I have been saying this all off-season. So tired of hearing who we interested in when clearly we are interested in anyone available to fill out the roster and have called about everyone already
Honestly, I’d rather give the keys to one of the AAA boys. I have zero confidence that this rotten core will produce a championship and would welcome a firesale. Do it right and be like the O’s next time around. I’m afraid that the ALE is going to be looking up at them until 2030.
Bat first additions … then id much rather being back Teoscar! If not him then Soler would be a better option than Joc Pederson. Pederson is a bum and would be the exact same thing as Varsho but not nearly as good of a defender.
Why not trade for Yelich and Burnes?
Jays have way too many platoon/bench players. Better to make a trade than sign in another player.
I would offer Milwaukee Addison Barger, Spencer Horwitz, Hagen Danner and Yosver Zulueta for Christian Yelich and Corbin Burnes.
Problem is that your 6 year old nephew could fleece Atkins in a trade. Nevermind dealing w rival big league GMs.
There are so many better options than Joc Pederson. Bring Teoscar home before even considering Pederson. Guy looks and plays like one of those fat guys who doesn’t fit in proper attire on beer league mens softball team!!
Sign Pederson instead of Teoscar or even giving one of the prospects a chance then Atkins should be tied up, gagged and thrown off the top of CN Tower…along with Brendan S#ithead Shanahan! Both equally responsible for destroying both the baseball and hockey clubs.
Another agent-inspired article. As a RS fan, I hope that TO signs Pederson.
Joc isn’t good and I hate people overstating his abilities…. Its annoying
Yes, Doc may have hit 36 dingers……way back in 2019!. Man., what’s up? Seems like the Jays are only re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (at best). At least so far, Hopefully they do something more impactful than this headline sooner than later,
Dbacks have been rumored to be in on both J.D. and Soler, but I think after signing Gurriel as a corner OF, the Dbacks need to give him a bunch of 1/2 off days by letting him DH. Therefore, I think the Dback’s thinking has changed from Hazen’s earlier comments about being in the market for a full time DH. I think the Dbacks May instead switch to a shared DH RH/LH share with Lourdes as the RH side and someone like Joc Pederson as the LH side of the share who can also play OF.
MLBTR-likes Joc Pederson….hates Eddie Rosario……why? Could it simply be because one walks and one doesn’t?
Ok hang on, so they opted to go the all defense no bat route in the outfield again and to counter that, they want Joc Pederson?? Really?? Imagine how hard they’d lock up 4th or worse by signing Pederson and Urshela? Yeah the AL East teams are absolutely terrified right now. From Ohtani ring back to the scrap heap.
He never felt like a Giant to me. Im glad he’s moving on, he’s fat and half asses it.
Bellinger to complete their OF and Hoskins for DH would make a pretty formidable lineup for Toronto. Belly has positional flexibility, too.
please do not sign Doc. Only unless you are planning a rebuild and need a gap filler. And if they suddenly cannot afford any impact players or cannot make a trade to take the team to the bext level, maybe they should start a rebuild now then? So tired of only these snipits for bench players…and overpaying them. or do something, so we can all move on one way or another…starting to not even care anyone longer.
Akil Baddoo……
I hope I am wrong however, it looks like the fans will see very little improvement in the lineup.
With the failure to sign Ohtani, the rest of the market has seen that the Jay’s have money to spend. Unfortunately, they “the availible players” will look to get paid more than their worth, making it nearly impossible to sign a significant bat. That doesn’t mean that the Jay’s organization is not prepared to overpay. It’s always a hurry up and wait situation this time of year.