Blue Jays trade and free agency tracker: the most recent rumors, news, and signings
In 2022, the Toronto Blue Jays made it back to the postseason, but the Seattle Mariners easily defeated them in two games during the American League Wild Card Series.
While there were a number of encouraging aspects of the season, considering the high hopes that the team had during spring training, the season was ultimately a letdown.
In light of this, Ross Stripling, Luurdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, and Gabriel Moreno are just a few of the players who have left Toronto during the recent roster purge.Added players include Chris Bassitt, Erik Swanson, Brandon Belt, Kevin Kiermaier, and Daulton Varsho.
The Blue Jays have completed their hard lifting, but before the 2023 season starts, more fine-tuning needs to be done. As the offseason progresses, we’ll keep you informed with all the most recent information, rumors, and commentary.
The Blue Jays make a bold move by signing Green.
Less than a month before spring training began, the Blue Jays made an unexpected move by agreeing to a convoluted deal with longtime Yankees reliever Chad Green. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of last year, Green will miss the first several months of the 2023 season with the Blue Jays.
Green may be a very useful weapon in Toronto’s bullpen, assuming he can return to full health. The 31-year-old has spent seven major league seasons (all with the Yankees) in the game. In those seasons, he has pitched 383.2 innings, recorded a 3.17 ERA, 494 strikeouts, and 7.8 fWAR.
Reliever Jay Jackson, 35, is being taken a chance on by the Blue Jays. Jackson was a member of the Atlanta Braves organization in 2022. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Toronto signed him to a minor league contract and him an invitation to MLB spring training.
OTTAWA — The Blue Jays have finally made their move to acquire a starting pitcher when they inked right-hander Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $63 million contract.
The Blue Jays made starting pitching their top objective going into the winter, and while adding more depth would be great, Bassitt solidifies the rotation as a dependable, experienced player. He has thrown to a 3.29 ERA over the last five seasons while keeping steady walk and strikeout percentages all around. To put it simply, the Blue Jays are placing a confident wager on this arm.
Coming off a stellar season with the Mets, when he compiled a 3.42 ERA with 167 strikeouts over a career-high 181 2/3 innings, Bassitt—who will turn 34 early in Spring Training—is in good form. In addition, he has just a little amount of playoff experience, having made one start with the Mets in the previous season and two with the A’s in 2020.
Though it sits close to 93 mph and generates a lot of weak contact in play, Bassitt’s sinking fastball is his main weapon and isn’t very spectacular. But in this case, the Blue Jays didn’t really need flash. It made sense for the Blue Jays to focus on stabilizing the middle of their rotation after the top players were taken off the board, as this will improve their overall depth chart.
Also crucial are the terms of this agreement. The Blue Jays have awarded contracts with an average yearly value of $20 million or more for four straight offseasons, with Hyun Jin Ryu in ’19, George Springer in ’20, and Kevin Gausman in ’21. Bassitt’s $21 million compensation is noteworthy. However, with clubs blowing cash over the last week, pitching was always going to be costly. Even though Bassitt is 34 years old, Toronto is especially well-suited to have him on a three-year contract rather than needing to extend to four or five.
Toronto has an impressive one-two punch at the top of the rotation in Alek Manoah and Gausman, and José Berríos should at least improve on his 5.23 ERA from the previous campaign. The Blue Jays now have a group that can consume some major innings in addition to a talented top four thanks to the addition of Bassitt to the No. 3 or 4 spot beside Berríos. There should be no trouble getting all four to 170 innings or more if they stay healthy. Not every cycle has this privilege, particularly in the contemporary game.
It’s also critical to consider this in light of the Blue Jays’ offseason in general. This salary is only getting bigger in addition to Kevin Kiermaier, who struck a deal with the team over the weekend. It should be, considering Toronto’s window of competition. However, the beginning pitching market was looking extremely limited, thus the team decided to plug this void with cash.
Now that Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, and Gabriel Moreno are three young catchers, Toronto can concentrate their biggest trade chip on making another significant acquisition. The outfield is the most logical spot to add a left-handed hitter with promise to this team, but the Blue Jays are still showing real interest in that group, which might lead to numerous opportunities.
Though they shouldn’t be done, think of this as the Blue Jays’ heavy lifting in the rotation. The Blue Jays can’t count on Ross Stripling to step in admirably and save this depth group like he did last season. Therefore, having a backup or swingman in addition to Mitch White or Yusei Kikuchi would be beneficial.
The real fun for Toronto might start around midseason, when top prospect Ricky Tiedemann is likely to be vying for an MLB opening following a stellar 2022 year in which he dominated the Minor Leagues and reached Double A.
Although Ryu may recover from Tommy John surgery late in the season, Tiedemann has tremendous upside that the Blue Jays may be able to take advantage of sometime in the summer of 2020, contingent on how the team increases his workload. Having a producer as solid as Bassitt in the middle of the rotation will only seem more valuable if and when that time arrives.
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