Not much for Jays’ news today. Eric Lauer (all Erics should come together and pick one spelling for their name) and the Jays filed their numbers with the arbitrator. Lauer is asking for $5.75 million the team is at $4.4 million. I’m generally on the player’s side in these things, but I can’t see why […]
30 days ago | 2 reads
Former Blue Jays center fielder Otis Nixon turns 67 today. Nixon had a 17-year MLB career. He spent two of those years (well, just short of two years) with the Jays. With the Jays, he hit .275/.362/.317 (it is hard to imagine an outfielder with a Slugging Average that low) with 2 home runs and […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Blue Jays fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. SB Nation ran a poll asking if the Jays would sign either Bo Bichette or […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
The Jays made deals with three of the four arbitration eligible players: Eric Lauer looks to be heading to arbitration, unless they make a last-minute deal, but most teams don’t negotiate after exchanging arbitration numbers. Lauer filed for $5.75 million with the team going with $4.4 million. I have no opinion on which number is […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
There isn’t all that much to talk about today. We’ve had a fair bit on the Okamoto signing, and I’m out of the house for most of today, so let’s ask a question: How did you become a Blue Jay fan? I’m always curious about how people come to baseball as their sport to watch, […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Blue Jays fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. The question, this week, is whether the Jays are finished spending or not. And more […]
about 1 month ago | 6 reads
Edwin Encarnacion turns 43 today. When we traded Scott Rolen to the Reds for Josh Roenicke, Zach Stewart and Edwin, no one would have guessed that Edwin would be the last one standing. But, of course, Edwin did spend three weeks as an Oakland A in the winter of 2010. The fans didn’t exactly love […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
Happy Tuesday. I played badminton this morning. I’m trying out the game because I don’t think I’m going to be playing squash for many more years. It is hard on the joints. But the problem, for me, is that Badminton isn’t much of a workout. I played for an hour and a half, taking about […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Mason Fluharty (why do I always want to spell his name with a d in the t spot?) was a fifth round draft pick, in the 2022 draft, by the Blue Jays. There are only five players picked in that round who have made it to the majors, so far. He made it onto our […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
Former Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia turns 40today. Arencibia was a first-round draft pick by the Jays in the 2004 draft, number 21 overall. He quickly became our top prospect and hit #43 on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list before the 2009 season. Then, he came up to the Jays and played his first […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Ted Lilly turns 50 today. Ted had a 15-year career, 3 of them with the Blue Jays. He came to the Jays in trade for Bobby Kielty from the A’s. Lilly went 37-34 as a Jay, with a 4.52 ERA in 89 games and a bWAR of 6.0. I think we won the trade. In […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
I don’t think there will be any more news about the Kazuma Okamoto deal today, as much as I’d like to hear from the Jays about how they intend to use him. It makes it clear we aren’t going after Alex Bergman (or if we did, I have no idea where we would play everyone. […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
I expected Okamoto to get more money. $15 million a year seems pretty team-friendly. We’ll put up a poll a little later, but figured he’d be getting $20 million per, but Ben Clemens thought he’d get 4 years at $18 million, so we got the under. Clemens said: Okamoto isn’t the same kind of shooting […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
I wasn’t expecting this, since Kazuma Okamoto seems to profile best at first base. But he will be able to play third (maybe not at Ernie Clement’s level on defense) for at least the next couple of years. In Japan he was a three true outcome hitter. Lots of homers and strikeouts and a good […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
The Jays signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33 million contract, before the 2025 season, after deciding not to sign Jordan Romano. Romano ended up with the Phillies, Hoffman’s former team, and had 8 saves and an 8.23 ERA in 49 games. It turned out the Jays were right not to sign him. Hoffman had […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
David Cone turns 63 today. Cone had two short stints with the Blue Jays. The Jays traded for him in 1992 at the end of August. We were in first place, 2.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. We were doing alright except for the 5th starter spot. Dave Stieb had the role, but his […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
Unsurprisingly, there is little Jays’ news today. The team signed Josh Winchowski to a two-year minor league contract. Winchowski is recovering from ‘internal brace surgery’. He’ll likely be able to pitch towards the end of this season, but then he should be good to go the second year. He’s a right-handed, 27-year-old pitcher who has […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
We’ve been doing this for the last few years, your mission is to tell us: What was the best thing that happened to you this year? What was the best part of this past baseball season for you? For me, best thing that happen? We had a fantastic holiday in Africa. We did safaris for […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
The Jays signed RHP Nic Enright to a two-year minor league contract. Generally minor league contracts are one-year but Enright will be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery most of the coming season. Enright turns 29 on January 8th. He’s thrown 31 MLB innings with a 2.03 ERA for the Guardians, all last season. He was […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Oh, this won’t be fun. The Jays picked up Brendon Little in November 2023, in a trade for cash. Little was a first round draft pick in 2023. He pitched in 49 games in 2024 with a 3.74 ERA, 0.1 bWAR with 1 save, 7 holds and 3 blown saves. Not bad for a guy […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Sorry, there was nothing posted yesterday. We hit the day between Christmas and New Year’s when friends and I had finished family time and had a friend’s time, which was very nice. And I tasted what I was told was Turkish whiskey, but as it was home-made (brought to Canada in a plastic Coke bottle), […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
We had our Christmas yesterday. We had Christmas dinner at a Brazilian barbecue place, eating roughly a month’s supply of meat in an evening. It was very good. And then came home and did the gifts. I now have a couple more bottles of whiskey (including a nice bottle of bourbon from the Cooperstown Distillery. […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
B.J. Ryan turns 50 today. Looking at his picture, I see that he looks like a former neighbour of mine, Scott. Off-topic, but I’m terrible with names. Around then, I used baseball players’ names to help me remember. Unfortunately, the player I picked for Scott was a former pitcher, Scott Terry, and I spent six […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
20 Years Ago Well, the Jays made it official on the 27th. We knew about it before Christmas. Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista went to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos came to the Blue Jays. The trade was a surprise because the Jays had Corey Koskie, Shea Hillenbrand, and Eric Hinske […]
about 1 month ago | 6 reads
Yariel Rodríguez was signed in the winter before the 2024 season. He got a five-year, $32 million contract. In his rookie year, he had a 4.47 ERA in 21 starts but a 1-8 record. The team didn’t score much for him, but his ERA was just a little worse than league average, which isn’t all […]
about 2 months ago | 1 read