TODAY: Vogelbach will earn $2MM if he makes the Jays’ active roster, as per Jon Heyman (via X).
FEB. 16: The Blue Jays are in agreement with designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach on a free agent deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). The ISE Baseball client inks a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (on X).
Vogelbach has spent the past year and a half in Queens. The Mets acquired the left-handed hitter from the Pirates in a swap for reliever Colin Holderman at the 2022 deadline. Vogelbach had a strong finish to the ’22 campaign, hitting .255/.393/.436 in 55 contests. He didn’t maintain that production last season.
In 319 plate appearances, Vogelbach hit .233/.339/.404 with 13 home runs. He walked at a strong 13.2% clip while striking out a little more than a quarter of the time. The overall offensive production was marginally above average, but it wasn’t the kind of performance needed to compensate for his limited role. Vogelbach didn’t log a single defensive inning and hasn’t started a game in the field since 2021. The Mets also shielded him almost completely from left-handed pitching. Vogelbach faced an opposing southpaw just 16 times all year.
There’s limited roster utility for a platoon DH. That puts a lot of pressure on Vogelbach to hit very well against right-handed pitching. He did that two seasons ago when he turned in a .261/.382/.497 line in pitcher-friendly home parks with Pittsburgh and New York. After last year’s diminished output, the Mets opted not to tender him an arbitration contract that would likely have landed in the $2-3MM range.
Vogelbach will battle in camp for the role that Brandon Belt played a year ago. The Jays deployed the longtime Giant as a lefty-hitting platoon DH. Belt had a strong season but now looks likely to sign elsewhere in free agency. The Jays brought in righty-swinging Justin Turner to serve as their primary DH and occasional option at the corner infield spots. Vogelbach isn’t going to take the larger half of a platoon from Turner, but he could vie for a spot as a lefty bench bat who picks up some starts at DH if Turner needs a day off or gets the nod in the infield.
Got bashed a lot in NY, but I liked the guy. Wish him well.
This is the same guy who said he eats Açaí bowl as his pregame meal right?
@Shadow Banned yeah after he scarfs down 3 baconators
Same here. He was a big target for a frustrated fan base. At his best he walks at an elite rate with good power, but last season was a down year. I wish him well up north.
BREAKING NEWS: Daniel Vogelbach overdoses on Poutine.
Lets play a game.
Cue the gameshow music…
‘How many minor league deals are the Padres going to pass on?’
What a joke?!
These are’ minor league deals!
The Pads have four roster spots available.
Either the Pads really don’t plan on spending any of that 20 + million available or players just don’t want to sign here?
What is wrong withe Padres organizationally?
Whats happening Atkins?
That’s a wrap! Ahahaha!
Ya he said don’t expect any big additions
LMAO!
Did Kirk lose too much weight and they need to meet their quota of a fat bat?
It’s Manoah who is slimmed down. The Golden Corral Buffet finally cut him off. Now it’s just Kirk and Vogey and Schneider at the head table.
Supposedly Kirk, Vladdy, and Manoah have all dropped weight so they will have to sign one more chub than Vogelback to compensate.
bc0004
Muted
Filihok
You sure showed him! What are you 6? Pathetic
yeah I bet his feelings are hurt beyond belief. “He said he muted me!!! Waaaaaa!!”
After this signing the Jays need to rename their team the Blue footed boobies.
Blue Jays legend making his return to Toronto (kind of).
Analytics nerds love this guy, Vogelbach, because he takes up a lot of space, I meant to say because he gets on base.
Takes a triple to get Vogelbach to round third base.
I thought he needs to hit a triple in order to get to first base?
Did someone say triple?
Wendy’s has entered the chat.
League minimum?
What’s league minimum in AAA?
Vlad, Vogelbach, Manoah and Kirk in the same clubhouse.
Woof. Gonna have to cut payroll just to pay for the pre and post game spread.
Poutine budget for the clubhouse will be astronomical.
Maybe they can rent them out to the CFL to play o-line?
Anyone else see vlads cover for The Show and think it was Prince Fielder at first or was that only me?
I wish vlad was something close to prince fielder…
@joeypower agreed. With the hype surrounding Vlad before he came into the league and even the star power he has now, you wouldn’t expect prince fielder to have been head and shoulders the better player when comparing careers through age 24/25
“Post game spread”…On the plus side, the stocks for the Canadian McDonalds, Wendy’s and Jack in the Box are up over 300%.
The spring squad is sad because they can’t find a Tim Horton’s in Florida.
No Jack in the Box restaurants in Canada.
Aw geez, but plenty of poutine and Molson’s, eh.
“No Jack In the Box”…You mean not yet. I’m guessing with Manaoh, Vogey, Kirk and Vlade in town 82 times a year, every single fast food joint out there is making rapid plans to extend and expand into Canada.
Plenty of pouting and Molson’s this is correct lol
Canuckleball no jack in the box but the one burger place Americans must try when they travel north of the border is Harveys . They are a tasty burger !
Jack in the box in Canada? Americans know so little about toronto lol
Don’t worry Ozempic sill sponsor the team this year!
It will be a belly bucking bonanza in Toronto this year. Vogelbach’s pre-workout is a Polish with everything and a 20-oz Yeungling. Plan accordingly.
If Vogelbach played in Chicago, he’d be sponsored by Portillo’s with Italian Beefs being in high demand.
Filihok announcing his mutes is among one of the more noble acts I’ve seen in my time.
What a leader.
RD44
Muted
Yes!
He runs faster than Stanton but may need an intentional runner.
No in all seriousness he does suck and will be release by end of spring training.
Danny Burgers
Big Dan
increased risk of flooding from lake ontario as toronto will sink 4 inches when he arrives
We can just let more water out the St. Lawrence and Toronto has a noteworthy uphill slope.
The much bigger concern is Florida which has flooding issues barely any slope and rising ocean levels before he shows up to camp. Thousands of miles of coastline will be lost.
this was a lame fat joke
would not make light of our existential climate emergency
dasit
Muted
is he getting paid in dollars or happy meals???
That Canadian McDonald’s doesn’t hit the same tbh, I’m sure Manoah can tell you all about it.
Yeah we don’t blend high fructose corn syrup into the burgers and bread up here. Americans will need to supplement by having 2 tablespoons of it along with the meal.
Poutine and Molson’s, eh.
Hey Blue Baron 🙂
I hope you’re enjoying this splendid Friday night.
This humorous announcement certainly adds a bit of spice!
Yf
Muted
Is this the ‘subtraction’ Atkins was talking about?
So..subtraction through additon? I thought it was supposed to be the other way around!
El Chapo (Matt Chapman): the speed of a 21 year old Billy Hamilton combined with the defense of a 25 year old Kevin Kiermaier. Should have resigned him.
Didn’t realize Chapman had sprinter speed.
He doesn’t use it much but hes just as fast as Hamilton when he wants to be
It was sarcasm. Chapman would need a high performance car to match Hamilton’s speed. Stop it.
Incoming obese jokes
allow me to weigh in on this subject…
Fat chance of that happening
I laughed at both of these lol
You have a remarkable account name/pfp
Me? I’m just a degenerate originally from Long Island 🙂
Best of luck to Mr Vogelbach
It’s minor league contract. Not going to get too excited by that.
He seems like the type of reclamation player that makes gm’s salivate at the thought of him being the next big papi or joey batts — if he just makes the right adjustment and the lightbulb goes on…
But its 5 years later and hes 30 now
Screw batting average and go full Joey Gallo. That’s how he’ll get MLB deals going forward.
Should make the team unless he has a terrible spring.
Spotted on a jumbo jet apparently.
MLB needs designated runners.
Another brilliant move by Atkins and his organ grinder Shapiro. Let’s bring in a DH that doesn’t play a position anymore to take some bats away from Vladdy and Turner! If not them let’s stick him in Buffalo so he can block some kid with promise! Such stupid idiots. IKF – $20 million. Then they resign Kiermairer for $10 million so we can shove Varsho into a corner outfield spot. Those spots are for hitters. Varsho is not one of those! Also we gave up a budding star catcher to get him and then play him in a corner. Stupid idiots. Escobar? Vogelbach? Maybe with all that money we could have signed someone for the OF that could hit. Idiots.
You seem upset.
Every real fan of the team should be upset by this point
Aren’t all spots for hitting? Including designated hitter? And don’t knock organ grinder skills. It’s a underrated.
Chill TF out dude. It’s a MINOR league deal, as is Escobar’s.
So he takes up a spot for an up and coming young player? Where is the intelligence in that signing. Same for Escobar. How will this signing affect Horwitz? Why would you take away at bats from him for a player who can’t replace the DH players at the major league team and does not play a position. A waste of money. Another stupid signing. No fault of Vogelbach’s thought. All on Jays management.
Why would this affect Horwitz at all? If Vogelbach makes the major league club, he’ll be a left-handed bat off the bench, which the Jays could actually use, who will get occasional starts at DH. If Vogelbach doesn’t make the major league roster, and actually plays at AAA, he’ll DH and won’t take at-bats away from Horwitz. If Escobar is at AAA, they’re not going to be playing him at first ahead of Horwitz either. Every team has some veterans at AAA as injury insurance; nobody can fill an entire AAA roster with legitimate prospects because there aren’t that many legitimate prospects.
Once more for the idiot in the back.
“IT’S A MINOR LEAGUE DEAL”
There’s no guarantee he makes the MLB team. none.
JFC.
This is very silly take. They are minor league deals.
Go have a snickers or something. Lol
Well said, Larry !! Unfortunately with the 2 Cleveland Clowns, this is as good as it gets ….
Says the clown who doesn’t understand the difference between an MiLB deal & an MLB one.
Well said , the rest of these guys are cutting up the player and his weight but none of them are talking about the actual problem with this team . The people bringing in the players . Atkins and Shapiro.
This guy passing a “physical” is a contradiction
Bartolo Colon did that annually with a different team until 45. Have you seen the leg splits he can do during pre-game warm-ups? I didn’t think it was physically possible for a man of his stature but these are superhuman athletes after all.
Pretty sure Big Sexy has the athleticism of a ballet dancer and the stamina of a boxer, the dude was freakishly robust for his size.
He also took steroids so that’s probably why he prolongs his career
bl33
Muted
Good luck Daniel. Great guy decent hitter. No power and can’t play a position.
Vogelbach makes sense as a veteran lefty who could push Horwitz for that final bench spot. My money’s on Horwitz though. Dude mashed .357/.475/.540 with more walks than strikeouts against RHP last year across AAA and MLB.
Yeah, when I first heard about this signing I immediately thought about Horwitz. I definitely think Horwitz is ready as a bench bat, Minor league signings are never a bad idea I guess but I think the Jays would be crazy to hold Horwitz back in favour of Vogelbach,
He is living proof that if you have an excellent batting eye and you hit left-handed, looking like Fred Flintstone won’t kill your market.
Shi
Why would the way a player looks matter more than how they play?
You people should be ashamed of yourselves. No one deserves this level of abuse. He may not be an All Star and has his limitations, but you know what, he’s a good guy and he made it to the majors. That’s a lot more than any of you knuckleheads have done. I’m glad that you can all take a look at your perfection in a mirror. Good luck Daniel!
You’re right but also wasting your breath. People gonna make fat jokes, and Dan’s an easy target. But everyone on the Mets loved to be around him, funny dude, self deprecating and good clubhouse guy. But you better mash if that’s all you can do.
I never waste my breath, especially if I’m trying to treat someone with respect and kindness.
Thank you Atty, this place always had its share of puerile comments but it’s gotten more rude and mean spirited as the years go on. It’s too bad because one can learn a lot from insightful comments but the kind souls have mostly been chased away just like any social media. The bullies and hot takes use up all the oxygen and I’ve mostly given up my compassionate commenting. Much admiration to you, have a beautiful day
The only plate Vogelfat is taking a swing at is one that involves a fork, knife, and bib. I feel bad for the Blue Jays private chefs, they’re going to have to work over time
Well, I guess it’s a lefty hitter. Way to blow another offseason Shapiro and Atkins.
The return of the king
This could get dangerous for him to be surrounded by all those Tim Hortons.
TJ
Muted
If Vogelbach is on the Jays roster it means either Turner or Guerrero are on the IL because there is no way the Jays are wasting a roster spot on Vogelbach otherwise
I think he counts as two roster spots, no?
99P8
Muted
A team that scored 0 runs in a post season sweep, and struggled to score in the regular season is coming back with an even weaker hitting lineup. This whole offseason comes across as Shatkins sulking after they failed on Ohtani and just more or less said, “fine, if we can’t have him, we aren’t going to try to get anyone now!” (with crossed arms and bottom lip sticking out)
Right on the ball 100 percent right , not only are they sulking but what happen with the money owners were supposedly putting up to sign Ohtani gone on cup holders ???
I loved this dude when he was on the Bucs – on base machine!
Jays going for the record amount of hotdogs sold in one day
Whyme
Muted
Oh no filihok the ultra lib muted me how will I get through the day LOL
Whyme
Muted
Oh no AgeeHarrelsonJones muted me no please no
Buffalo is a pretty awesome place to play 3xA ball
I lived there for a decade. Food is great, awful winters, decent city…just avoid the east side of Buffalo 🙂
And every side of Baltimore.
Speaking of Vogelbach, where’s the story about the Mets signing Ji-Man Choi?
This guy is going to be bummed when he’s out of the league and there are no more free post game spreads to punish.
Chump
Muted. Juvenile post
Body-shamers suck, and most people don’t care to be around you. How’s that make you feel? I’m glad to not know you and I feel bad for your family and friends. If you actually have friends or family who care about you.
The Jays could use some help up the middle. Send him out to center and see what he does.
Always nice to have a bit more speed into the lineup lmao
MLBTR
I might advise you to take a look at the quality of readership you’re attracting.
Especially when you’re begging for advertisers.
It’s gotten really bad lately filihok. It’s too bad as I used to learn a lot from the intelligent comments, but they have almost all been chased away by the mean spirited hot takes. I don’t know what the answer is but I’ve nearly given up commenting or even looking at the comments, I can get past some of it but it’s an overwhelming amount of negativity and ugly behavior.
Shatkins continues to turn a magnificent franchise into a slow-pitch softball team. Worst front office in baseball.
What stands out to me is the most childish fanbase in baseball. Not all Toronto fans of course, But on here there are a disproportionate number of Toronto fans whom I would guess (hope?) are teens, like yourself, who whine each offseason because your club doesn’t sign all the free agents. And think up ‘clever’ names like ‘Shatkins’. Have you noticed that other fanbases don’t generally do that? Do you think there may be a reason?
You should read comments from Red Sox or Padres fans before you make comments like this. I agree that making comments about Vogelbach’s weight are rude and it is not his fault that the Jays made another mistake hiring him. The Jays biggest mistake was hiring Shapiro. He has never won anything. His last 6 years in Cleveland he was 475-495. No division titles. No WS. Then when he
comes to Toronto he hires a GM with no GM experience but one who is beholding to him. Thus
the name “Shatkins”. They are tied at the waist. Atkins never made it to the majors and was a
losing pitcher in the minors. What angers Jays fans the most are the stupid signings. IKF for $15 million when we already have 3 players like him on the 40 man roster. Trading away an all star caliber young catcher for a good defensive CF with a less than average bat. Then signing Kiermairer for $10 million so now that CF had to move to a corner position which is usually a spot for an average fielder but good hitter. Signing Escobar and Vogelbach. Players who will spend most of their time in Buffalo taking up a spot that an up and coming player should be occupying. With all those
Moves we could have signed a good hitting fielder. Right now the Jays 5-9 hitters are a joke. Not everyone is asking to sign every free agent. Most of us would be very happy with some intelligent moves. Trust me. If this team misses the playoffs “Shatkins” will be gone. After reading your comments you come across as an uneducated baseball fan.
Larry, I have been saying what you are saying since 2015 in these pages. Look it up. As soon as Shapiro was hired many inside baseball knew that there would never be a WS win for the Jays. They got close on the core that AA built but Shapiro couldn’t finish.
Shapiro is a real estate and business admin genius – just look at tall the renovations over the years or how he handled managing the organization over Covid. Brilliant. Just keep him away for any and all player personnel decisions at any level.
As Steve Simmons said recently on a Podcast, Shaprio was taken out of all baseball related decisions in Cleveland and the only way that Rogers could hire him was baseball related decisions had to be restored to his portfolio.
Finally someone that addresses the correct issues of the Blue Jays , not the idiots that are making fun of Vogelbach weight .The two guys that are running the team are suppose to be drawing the attention .
Lol yeah bc Toronto signed Turner and IKF and are losing Chapman, Belt and Whit. We couldn’t hit last year and they’ve done little to improve it.
Orelvis Martinez is going to likely bail out Atkins and Shapiro. He can hit and I believe that he will be a star.
Let’s just hope they don’t trade him. History indicates this front office likes to get fleeced.
My beer league team is going to be so disappointed. We even bought extra beer for him!
I bet ppl like filihok mist be fun at parties. Everyone that says a joke they lose their mind at
Paying Vogelbach in cheeseburgers.
I was saying the other day, “wouldn’t it be hilarious if they signed Vogelbach? That would be embarrassing.”
I really want to believe this is just to help for depth in Buffalo but I get this sinking feeling that Turner will get hurt early on and this is going to be the guy.
Will this team be better than Boston this year?
Mets fans rejoice! He’s not on the starting roster until Stearns trades Pete Alonso and needs to fill the hole with an experienced player.
Both Shapiro and Atkins believe in competitions for spots in the organization, hence Vogelbach or Escobar. They will play limited innings and in the big picture not matter.
How many offensive comments can jerks submit to one article? A lot.
The 40 man roster is part of the “big picture”. If Escobar and Vigelbach make the team then players who are out of options are exposed to the waiver wire. The way things are shaping out they would have to trade players or expose them. Clement is out of options so if he is DFA he goes on the waiver wire. The 40 man roster is full. I am not sure about the option status of Schneider and Espinal but if guys like this are sent to the minors then Escobar would not be in Buffalo as he would block these players and Martinez.
LE
“then players who are out of options are exposed to the waiver wire. The way things are shaping out they would have to trade players or expose them. ”
Right. They can be traded. Not just lost.
Like the Dodgers did with Michael Busch. They didn’t just lose him. They turned him into a player that better fits
Still not sure about Schneider but Espinal has 2 years left. Anyone know what Schneider option status is?
Their best bet is to bundle up a couple of the excess infielders we have for a half decent right hand hitting outfielder in a trade.
One player I don’t see mentioned here is Votto. Instead of Vogelbach I wonder if Votto was considered at all? Just a thought. Best Canadian player since Walker. Would have been nice to finish career on home town.