After weeks of discussion between the Cubs and Yankees, Cody Bellinger landed in the Bronx. Before that was finalized, the Mariners and Astros were among the teams that had been loosely tied to the former MVP in trade rumors.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported just after the Bellinger trade that the Blue Jays had also been involved in talks with Chicago. It looks as if Toronto ended as the runner-up. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters this afternoon that the Cubs had narrowed it down to two teams and decided they would pull the trigger on an offer by Tuesday (relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “If we didn’t pull him down, he would’ve been off the board,” Cashman added. While the GM declined to identify the other team, reading between the lines makes it seem that the Jays finished in second.
Toronto has had longstanding interest in Bellinger. They were involved in his free agent bidding in each of the last two winters. In both cases, they watched him sign with Chicago instead. This time around, he’s headed to a divisional competitor. The Yankees sent depth starter Cody Poteet to the Cubs in a one-for-one swap. Toronto could certainly have made a more compelling offer in terms of prospect talent, but it seems they didn’t want to match the Yankees financially.
New York agreed to assume $47.5MM of the $52.5MM remaining on Bellinger’s contract. There haven’t been any details about how much Toronto would’ve been willing to commit. The Cubs’ biggest goal was shedding as much of the deal as possible. Bellinger looked like the odd man out in Chicago even before they acquired Kyle Tucker. That blockbuster trade made a Bellinger move inevitable.
The Jays have taken on big money in one trade this offseason. They absorbed the remaining five years and $96.5MM on the Andrés Giménez contract in their Winter Meetings deal with the Guardians. While Toronto has been tied to almost every free agent of note, their only MLB signing thus far is a two-year deal to reunite with middle reliever Yimi García.
Outfield remains a clear weakness. George Springer is coming off a .220/.303/.371 showing in his age-34 season. Daulton Varsho is expected to begin the season on the injured list after undergoing a rotator cuff repair in his right shoulder. He’ll be the everyday center fielder upon his return. Varsho is one of the game’s best defenders, but he’s been a roughly league average hitter when healthy. Any lingering effects from the shoulder issue could push him toward the bottom third of the lineup. Their in-house options to play left field (e.g. Joey Loperfido, Davis Schneider, Steward Berroa, Jonatan Clase) have limited MLB experience.
The Jays need at least one everyday outfielder. There’s an argument that they need to acquire regulars in both corners to push Springer into a limited role. Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández are the biggest remaining bats in the free agent outfield class. Both players declined qualifying offers. Jurickson Profar, who did not receive the QO, is coming off a fantastic season. Max Kepler, Jesse Winker and Austin Hays are among potential rebound candidates.
So this is news now? A team was interested in a guy that already signed ? Wow great reporting
I thought it was bot that ties every free agent to blue jays
That bot is otherwise known as Jon Heyman
Getting paid for bs is nice. Almost national enquirer not quite entertainment tonight for baseball doesn’t have the substance.
Instead of complaining, make up your own headlines…
“Reds looking to upgrade their roster.”
“All 30 teams would love Soto in their lineup.”
“Paul Skenes drawing attention from Pirate fans.”
“Aaron Judge wants the Yankees to show a clip of Flip Wilson saying, “Here comes da judge” on the jumbotron as his walkup song.”
“Sandy Koufax not pitching again this season.”
“The Mariners want to see better offense in 2025.”
I didn’t even read the post, just the headline. Scrolled immediately to the comments section to look for a comment like this. It’s so strange that we have posts about this. I can understand media doing it for Ohtani and Soto and other big names but Bellinger? Nah man this is just ChatGPT stuff.
I didn’t even read the post, just the headline.
=======================
What? You mean that people aren’t being FORCED to read the article? Does Benny know that?
Why do you keep coming to MLB to trade RUMORS? R-U-M-O-R-S is not a site that reports on anything; it is simply aggregating rumors. RUMORS
Are you worked up? I am laughing
Sorry, it is not a rumor to talk about a guy who already signed elsewhere.
it is if the item is not about the team he signed with
Call me silly. I am making fun of Heyman. I am laughing at what I think are dumb “rumours”. I find it funny people are upset over comments on internet from random ppl… not just in this situation….nothing personal. Yes this is rumour board. But let’s all lighten up. Happy holidays
So for the Blue Jays score on signing or trading for big FA’s or players under Atkins is Steeerike……………Anybody know how many? I lost count. Don’t have that many fingers and toes. A little help anyone? It’s just a joke. Or is it?
y u mad tho?
America has raised a generation of entitled and attention seeking kids like Benny here, that just whine and complain about everything
I agree , I am sick and tired of getting reports that the Blue Jays were interested in this guy and that guy. If they were so interested in people why do they never sign anyone and stop following up on reports that Jays were interested, till they sign anyone.
Yeah- I have noticed the Jays are always mentioned as being the runner up’s or like third in the sweepstakes for the largest FA and trade targets but never actually landing them, for the most part.
Not sure what the issue is.
I think they tend to make offers that are substantial but well below the realistic final result and I think a lot of players just don’t want to play in the Great White North…
It’s alway news on here.. and apparently in Toronto lately with all their swing and misses lol.
Wife’s family in Canadian and we are heading north for the holidays, boy what a sad couple off-seasons for the fans. First the Ohtani flight and now crickets to start the winter with the impending doom of losing Vladdy Jr
not only that, but the biggest in-season storyline… alek manoah. they need a positive development worse than maybe anyone, and their desperation is showing
Dont fret yet, the offseason is still young! (Well almost middle-aged.) Relax, there is still time!
Ignorant- So true, thank you for saving me from a bunch of bizarro comments.
Those who believe Bellinger was a free agent who “signed” with the Yankees, along with those who think “no news is ever reported on this site” really shouldn’t be commenting (no offense to them).
Fever – Apparently people don’t have anywhere to let off steam anymore, so they come to comment sections to spew their invective and take out their frustrations. I’ve just been in The Athletic comment sections and I just can’t get over the seething anger & hostility that people post without even blinking an eye over there (worse than here by far.) I shudder to think what the discourse is like on Twitter/Reddit these days, not even going to look. Ugh.
Reddit stopped having discourse when they silenced anyone that didn’t agree with their thought police. Kind of irrelevant now. It is too bad because that was a great site to talk about anything.
Ignorant – You are 100% correct as usual. I know I’m guilty of occasionally venting, but at least I think things through and make sure I don’t write anything inaccurate.
This place is fantastic with providing facts and information, it’s actually the main reason I come here.
Wade – I never used Reddit for anything other than WSB.
I think the success or failure of baseball forums depends solely on the quality of discussion. If people actually put some thought into what they write, and support their viewpoints with facts/links/etc, then the quality improves.
But there’s always those who spit-post for fun, which drags down the serious conversations.
Season is young but the players are disappearing one by one in free agency and the guys remain will never sign with Jays . Also on the trade side of things who do they have that any one wants besides Vlad and Bo
Yawn…
profar will be the guy they end up with
Ok Heyman thanks for the update!
Well it shows why the Yankees may have blinked first in the reported ~10 mil stare down with the Cubs.
If nothing else, a mini win for Toronto as NY will have less to allocate towards a 1B and a run at Tanner Scott.
Whatever. Both teams met halfway. Yankees have more business to conduct.
A full run or interest?
Santana/Goldy and Scott make the most sense to me.
Absolute nightmare 7th-9th for opponents and Santana/Goldy drop off the books right away.
They might punt a draft and double dip with QO guys as Walker’s two way value is underrated but that could go 4/90 or 5/100 when I think they were hoping for 3/60 when they first contacted his reps.
Whatever the case every 5 or 10 mil is huge when entering the 110% tax territory.
“Blue Jays had shown interest in (insert name here)”
Seems like the same headline for the last decade…
Blue Jays are crumbling, it’s time to break it up and start over again
That HAS been the Red Sox headline for the last five years.
ghost – As long as enough Sox fans keep falling for it, the team will continue doing it. If you want a good laugh, read some of the other Sox forums like Reddit and SOSH when so many there were convinced Soto and Fried were joining the Red Sox. Can’t help but wonder how many ticket packages were sold to people who bought the BS. And clowns like Mick had nothing to lose spreading it because they never had any credibility to begin with …. but yet ignorant fans STILL gave them the attention they sought.
@Fever
This is why they need to sign Burnes and one of the OF bats. The fans are starting to speak at the gates and on tv as both attendance and tv numbers have been dropping steadily in recent years. If they want to regain the fans they need to bite the bullet and bring in a big name or two
Rsox – Absolutely!! I’ve been saying that for a while. They didn’t plan to compete until at least 2026, but if this year’s financials are bad enough then they may have moved up the timeline.
True. But they did come to within 2 games of the World Series in ’21, and that was after they got rid of Mookie/Benintendi and others. I don’t hate that they haven’t necessarily gone in on a bunch of mega deals as the last several have gone belly up either immediately (Pablo Sandoval) or soon after. As Joel Sherman said on MLB Network at the winter meetings it’s time the Red Sox “stopped promising Paris and delivering Poughkeepsie” and they know it.
Rsox – That 2021 team was a surprise to some because 2020 was so bad, but it wasn’t a surprise to me.
In 2020 Devers was hurt, ERod & Sale missed the entire season, JD was horrible because of the video rule change, etc.
In 2021 they still had 5 All-Stars in Xander, Devers, JD, Nate and Barnes. With ERod & Sale returning and the bullpen fortified with Ottavino & Whitlock, their 2021 run was not a surprise.
Pablo was a classic case of focusing solely on analytics, ignoring the fact his numbers had drastically declined 3 straight years prior to signing with the Sox. And how did they not know his weight would become an issue?
I like Sherman’s quote, it’s so true. Time will tell if they are finally opening the wallet.
At least the last 8 years that Shapiro and Atkins have been here. You Cannot say that about the 2 previous regimes .
Blue Jays always had shown interest in every star player,but they got nothing.
Why not extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s contract?
yanks – They tried, he rejected $340M.
He saw Ohtani and Soto got huge contract, it’s the reason why the rejected that one.
The Blue Jays are crumbling, it’s time to break it up and start over again
Could be a busy July for Toronto. Bichette needs a strong first half to prove last year was an outlier otherwise the return wouldn’t be needle moving.
If they’re around .500 or worse, you have to move Vlad Jr. If he turned down a 1/3 of a billion dollars as a first basemen, he’s likely looking elsewhere.
highly doubt he has received an offer around 333 million. not even sure this FO knows how to draw up a contract at this point.
Shackins making sure they finish second to show they tried. Why don’t they just admit Rogers doesn’t have the money this year after spending 3.8B to buy Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Rogers doesn’t have money? LOL you’re kidding right?
The Jays have access to money but i agree that it’s quite likely the FO has a great rumour mill department that jumps to say they were in on “insert name
Typical offseason for Shapiro and Atkins.
And another year they the BlueJays play no meaningful games in October.
There is not nearly enough quality pitching depth in this organization. Pivetta isn’t the answer either. Yeesh.
They need 1 awesome starter and two depth starters and at least two more flamethrower arms in the pen. Not to mention needing a bopper for the lineup. Too many holes. Sellers at the deadline.
they do not need 3 Sps. 1 top 2 SP, maybe a depth guy, a closer, a LH RP, 2 bats.
At this point Jay’s fans are tired of hearing the same thing over and over again
“The Jay’s were in it till the end” We/they tried & everyone’s favorite “things went above our comfort zone”.
At this point if you can’t sign Bo & Vlad Jr trade them rather then lose them for just a qualifying offer 3rd round comp pick.
Bellinger was a money move, if they couldn’t pay up for him, what are the odds that they will break the bank for Bo & Vlad jr??
There are a lot of reasons you wouldn’t pay Bellinger a certain amount but would still pay Bo and Vlad a lot more.
I’m not even a Jay’s fan, but that team needs to show they for real, yes getting Andres was a nice start, but he can’t be the main addition to this club.
Bellinger wouldnt cost talent back in a deal compared to others and bottom line they didn’t get it done.
Look at their history how many players have they resigned to a long term deal? Jose Berrios sure but who before him Vernon Wells??
Because they are incompetent, Vlad will leave and with a good season he could command over 500 million . I think that’s what Vlad is up too because the good players on this roster are fed up with Shapiro and Atkins , if u notice even in the comments from players that have left this team and none will ever return .
I’m not even sure Bo gets a QO if he doesn’t bounce back.
lol be serious here
you think they offer him a QO in the $19m range if he has a .240 15hr, 10sb season? if they do and I’m him, i take that all day.
He’s young and had 4 straight years of being a 120+ wrc bat. Last year was the anomaly.
He’ll have to prove it in his contract year, of course. Great timing for a bounceback.
Blue Jays are runner ups. Thats their motto under jackass clowns Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro. Just sell off Vlad and Bichette and cease operations!
So pessimistic.
inut – Jays do have good starting pitching, that’s about it though.
Not really all are running almost on empty , last two year have been stressful for all of them no hitting on this club and they had to give up no runs for the Blue jays just to win games
I think the Blue Jays are sorta like kryptonite for free agents this winter. Nobody wants to take their money yet. I guess there is the trade route, but the farm is thin. I say trade Bichette to the Mariners to play second base. I still believe in Bo , he’s going to bounce back just fine (as long as he’s 100% healthy).
I have to ask what’s the return on Bo?
inut – Not a chance he brings as much as Crochet did (and Meidroth/Gonzalez are hardly scraps).
Bo is coming off a putrid and injury-plagued season, and he has only one year of team control remaining.
are you insane? he’s a pending FA off a bad year. you aren’t getting two top 100 prospects.
Money – And Bo is getting paid $18M next year, more than 6 times what Crochet will be getting paid.
Fever – if he bounces back. another 2024 season and he may be looking at a 2 yr deal around $35m
Jays are crushing it this offseason
Absolutely just smashing the offseason
I am hoping they sign Hernandez and trade for Luis Robert Jr.
They need some bull pen pieces. However there are a few to pull that trigger on.
Nick Pivetta. Corbin Burnes. Walker B. Any of those three are needed as well.
I just the think playing in Canada is such a disadvantage mentally and financially to mlb players. Theres a stigma that needs a fair play adjustment bc they have the money to spend.
That being said, this was a deal they couldn’t miss out on. Yankees needed bellinger badly but jays actually needed him worse bc h can’t replace that in FA due to stigma. So where im always willing to give jays FO a pass – not this time. This was a major strategical error and they blew it on this deal
I just gotta say the blue jays seem to be linked to everyone and land…. Oh wait that’s Ohtani’s plane…
You should have remembered this entire offseason for Toronto did
Can we just say what it is with the blue jays, they are the small kid at recess that always talks a big game but never actually does anything and runs around the outside pretending to be a part of the game. I mean for real. They were “in on” Ohtani and Soto, prob Judge and now Belly. They even offer supposedly offered valdy a huge contract he rejected. Heck, if the lord our savior was back on earth to play baseball, there would be news that the blue jays were one of the top teams in on him and they fell just short. It’s the same story every year… and I’m not even a jays fan and this junk gets old
The Lousy GM shapiro is a Joke !!
Rumor: Jays still in discussion with Cubs, Suzuki in conversation.
Please.
Toronto – Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
Blue Jays had shown interest in [insert any significant FA/trade target here]
In the same way that I have shown interest in dating Sydney Sweeney.
Jays need to blow it up. This is 2018 Orioles behavior. Delusion
It was definitely just about clearing his money for the Cubs. Yanks were willing to do it and that’s that.
More surprised to find out that Gimenez is owed nearly $100M over the next five years. No wonder Cleveland wanted him off the roster.
Yeah…if he turns into a pumpkin, the fans are gonna be all over him….especially if Horwitz blossoms into a HR hitting phenom…
Replay of the trade of a couple seasons back.
Yawn!
The Jays were in on someone that they didn’t get. What a shocker.
News flash!
Jays don’t actually go after anybody.
They probably just kick tires as much or less than Oakland or Miami.
Sorry again Jays fans. This is just not the kind of organization that you can get behind during the off season.
Can’t wait to see all of the fans dressed as blue seats next season in that swanky renovated park not drinking 30 dollar beers.
Ballinger is overrated. What the Jays need is Santander, Tanner Scott, and Josh Naylor, and before you say where would Naylor play, Vladdy and him could share first and DH, also (and I know I’ll get some haters) he looked good at third last year. I’m not saying play Vladdy at third every day, but 40 to 50 games maybe. A Hernadez reunion and Vladdy’s buddy makes sense if Santander is stuck on a plain… Heyman.
Jays fans are like Charlie Brown attempting to kick the football.
Lucy Atkins (or is it Lucy Shapiro?) always “holding”….then taking it away.
Thank you Yanks. Cody can’t hit. .750 OPS? 2.2 WAR?
Oh, and 27M a year!! WTF?
It’s been 6 years since his great season,
He’s not going to magically remember to hit now.
(I’m sure the Yank fans on here agree and will praise my insights.)
😎
That last comment is 100 percent . Rogers more than happy to see those people in the stands filling up their pockets with money . But put some players on the field that iare competitive that’s what true baseball fans go to games for not to have another party atmosphere, we do not need more bars in the stadium , player on the field is what we need money spent on.
Yeeeesh….it shouldn’t take bobble heads, limited edition “city” jerseys and cheap hot dogs to get people to fill the seats. Or whatever the latest cheap hat “giveaway” is.
“Give us a competitive ball team to watch….with a regular lineup”
So the Yankees “won” Bellinger? My expectations are low. What’s next? And did absorbing as much of his bad contract did they have to re-set their goals on what’s next?
Jays continuing their buy high, sell low methodology. I’m sure they will end up with the over achievers left on the board (Profar, Kim, Santander…) and wonder why they didn’t live up to their contact when they miss the playoffs again. But hey, what a defence lol
Jays fans going to be mad that they paid for Gimenez but not Bellinger.
We are already mad we paid Gimenez instead of Bo or Vlad or anyone else.
lol “runner up:” in a trade that only cost Poteet, this is the fakest rumor of them all.
It feels like the Blue Jay’s are rumored runner ups more often than any team. And I’m a Pirates fan. Our FO loves to claim they were in on everything.
I just don’t think the Jays have the pieces to have pulled this off and still remained competitive.
The Cubs were always going to want some talent in return, even with the primary goal of a salary dump being de facto in a trade for Bellinger.
The Jays do not have that talent, right now. None of the talent they do have is expendable for them and even if they’d managed to get the Cubs to trade Bellinger to them for nothing but the salary dump in return (is that even allowed?) he still would not have improved the team enough to justify the Jays taking on on the extra money.
I think the Jays should give it a go with what they’ve got and if they’re scuffling as we approach the All-Star break, they should blow up the team for as many prospects as possible and start over-
Because I think, unless they give Vlad, Jr. like 15 years/$590M ($30M his final year of arbitration, with a 14 year/$560M extension) he isn’t going to sign away whatever *potential* money free agency would offer him if he can very reasonably say that, for instance, had he signed that reported $340M extension offer, he would be leaving close to $240M on the table.
I’m not the biggest fan of Vlad, Jr., but his overall numbers are undeniable, as is his youth. He shouldn’t settle for less than 11 years/$430M- and if he took that deal, it would expire when Junior would be the same age his father was when he retired and we’d be assuming about 2-4 years of the contract value being under water until it’d burn off whatever club(s) were paying it- pretty standard over extension, though.
Anyway- yeah, I don’t think the Jays are prepared to shell out like that for one or two players when the rest of the roster underperforms, so might as well trade all the major pieces still worth anything (even Bo Bichette, who I could see plenty of teams believing they could course correct and get surplus value out of via a change of scenery and coaching).
Jays are an information source for player/agents. They talk to Toronto, in some cases legitimately. More often than not, though, Atkins will provide the FA with his current valuation, who will then leverage it for the greatest return from the teams he really wants to play for.
The only thing that changes the narrative is actually getting contracts signed.
All of these second- and third-place finishes beg the question: How often are the Jays the preferred destination, as in “Match this offer and I’ll sign right now!”? Getting outbid is one thing. Saying no to someone who WANTS to play in Toronto might be worth a bit of a premium until they become one.
Report that, Heyman!
According to MLBTR, the Blue Jays have shown interest in every single baseball player ranging from Teeball to the majors since the invention of the Blue Jays
Blue Jays are a joke, Yankees and Dodgers bully everyone with their wallets and ruin baseball, stop watching.
This is patently not true.
Tons of other clubs have bucked AAV and contract length norms, tons of other teams have broken records on deals, tons of other teams have had mega line ups.
The Ranger, Astros, Angels, D-backs, Red Sox, Mets, Giants, the Reds, the Mariners, even teams not associated with those kinds of mega deals, such as the Orioles, the Blue Jays (yes, even the Blue Jays) etc have broken records on AAV’s or contract lengths or overall values on deals….
Why not blame the Angels for paying Pujols or Trout or Rendon? Why not blame Texas for their Alex Rodriguez deal, which led to the Jeter deal, which were themselves all built on the backs of Catfish Hunter filing a grievance against *the Oakland Athletics*, which created free agency.
Why not blame the Seattle Mariners with their Robinson Cano contract, which was tens of millions and a few extra years more than the Yankees’ best and final offer?
Why not blame Miami for Giancarlo Stanton’s deal?
Why not blame the Orioles for when they paid Miguel Tejada?
Why not blame the Giants for their original Barry Bonds deal, or the Braves for their Greg Maddux deal?
Why not blame the Red Sox for that 8 year/$160M deal they gave to Manny Ramirez?
Why not blame the Astros for making Nolan Ryan the first $1 million per season player in 1979? That’s the modern equivalent of the Mets paying Soto $51M, by the way.
It takes a village. The league itself is to blame for the current financial situations and yes, the Yankees and Dodgers throw around the most overall weight in this regard, but they aren’t doing this stuff in a vacuum.
The irony being the Oakland Athletics were the team Catfish Hunter had his dispute with, which led to free agency.
So… blame the Oakland Athletics of Las Vegas Who Play In Sacramento ?
The undisputed kings of having interest in signed/traded for players in the offseason.
The Blue Jays, interested in everyone
Get no one
Interested in First Place
Get last place.
This is getting stupid… the Jays could sign Santander or Hernandez, Pete Alonso and Corbin Burnes and have a smaller payroll than the Yankees currently going into next year… this front office is beyond mentally challenged. They never stretch for anything or bend any policy/pre determined #
BennyG1919….a player has to want to sign to a team. I’m sure it’s a hard sell to get someone to sign on to a team that looks like it may be a cellar dweller….
Or…they are waiting until they get a better offer…
Let’s face it…nobody wants to sign on to Toronto…this front office needs to go!
Side note – yankee related. Victors in milwaukee is closing for good after new years. Famously, the bar Devin Williams broke his pitching hand at, punching a brick wall after being cut-off, while celebrating making the playoffs lol.