As winter meetings come to a close, Blue Jays opt to wait for other opportunities

SAN DIEGO — Here’s the transaction checklist for the Toronto Blue Jays on the winter conferences:

• Double-A catcher Kekai Rios chosen from the Los Angeles Dodgers within the minor-league part of the Rule 5 draft.
• Triple-A utilityman Logan Warmoth misplaced to the Seattle Mariners within the minor-league part of the Rule 5 draft.

Oof. Or in the event you’d reasonably, huge yikes, with not even a lightning-in-a-bottle try like waiver declare Chris Colabello again in 2014, when baseball’s annual swap-meet additionally was held at San Diego’s Manchester Grand Hyatt.

That made for actual unhealthy optics, particularly because the participant market moved considerably in current days, highlighted Wednesday by the New York Yankees retaining Aaron Judge with a $360-million, nine-year settlement — preserving the AL MVP within the division — and Willson Contreras reaching phrases on an $87.5-million, five-year take care of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are actually out of the catching market.

Add in Kenley Jansen going to the Boston Red Sox for $32 million over two years and Jose Quintana to the New York Mets for $26-million over two years on the conferences’ ultimate day — the Blue Jays had some stage of curiosity in each — and it positive appears like a wasted journey out west.

Perception isn’t at all times actuality, nevertheless, and whereas Blue Jays followers had been, understandably, all up of their emotions on-line, by and huge they didn’t miss out on any of their must-haves after making an attempt to pressure the problem to land the participant.

How to observe all of baseball’s huge low season strikes

The MLB low season is in full swing with among the sport’s high gamers on the transfer in free company and trades. Follow together with our low season tracker because the countdown to spring coaching continues.

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The exception to doing that was with Andrew Heaney, with whom the Blue Jays pushed till the very finish, practically tempting him away from the $25-million, two-year deal the lefty accepted from the Texas Rangers with a stronger supply.

But their run at Justin Verlander was primarily a sure-why-not heave throughout the courtroom earlier than the halftime buzzer. They stayed agency on their valuations for Kyle Gibson, Quintana and Kenley Jansen, amongst others, refusing to increase past their consolation ranges and observe the trail that might have locked them into.

The identical factor occurred within the commerce market, the place they and the Cardinals each held their floor, prompting St. Louis to signal Contreras as a substitute of buying and selling for Danny Jansen or Oakland’s Sean Murphy. One business supply believes the Cardinals by no means engaged on outfielders Lars Nootbar and Dylan Carlson and tried to make a take care of nearer Ryan Helsley as a substitute.

Given the kind of cash Contreras commanded, demonstrating how the business values such a scarce commodity, and the way in which the Blue Jays view Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno, there was no want for them to leap when different choices stay.

As assistant GM Joe Sheehan famous, “it’s not a deadline today, it’s not a deadline tomorrow,” including later that the Blue Jays spent the week “trying to identify what’s there and what the best way to move forward is.”

“Then, once it reveals itself,” he continued, “go do it.”

That path for the Blue Jays begins with pitching as when requested the place the very best alternative to enhance the staff lies, Sheehan mentioned that “based on how we were built last year, I think it’s probably run prevention.”

“I don’t want to say it’s that linear because I think there are ways to tweak the offence to hopefully make it a little bit more balanced or a little bit better going into next year and take what was really a strength last year and make it a bigger strength,” he continued, including later: “There are still some gaps on the pitching side we’re trying to fill. But we’re trying to hammer the offence and the position-player side, as well.”

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In phrases of beginning pitching, incumbent Ross Stripling together with fellow free brokers Michael Wacha, Noah Syndergaard, Corey Kluber and Drew Smyly, every somebody the Blue Jays have pursued previously, are available in the market tier the Blue Jays have shopped in to this point.

Up a notch is Japanese righty Kodai Senga, however he didn’t go to Toronto throughout his current tour of potential locations and the Blue Jays had been described as not being on the forefront of his suitors by an business supply. Nate Eovaldi and Chris Bassitt are different choices at that stage however on each, the Blue Jays don’t appear significantly lively, or on higher tier lefty Carlos Rodon.

Their curiosity in Kenley Jansen is intriguing and a possible path for the Blue Jays is including stability to the rotation and high-end impression to the bullpen. The White Sox have reportedly mentioned buying and selling nearer Liam Hendriks, who visited the Blue Jays’ spring facility in Dunedin as a free agent, and that’s a solution to actually alter the membership’s run-prevention equation.

Offensively, free agent centre-fielder Brandon Nimmo stays a super match, however the $90-million, five-year assure the Red Sox gave to outfielder Masataka Yoshida suggests bidding for the New York Mets free agent may get wild.

The San Francisco Giants, spurned by Judge, loom massive there, too, however the Blue Jays may additionally intention for Michael Conforto, one other Scott Boras shopper they’ve expressed an curiosity in, to play proper area and add somebody like Kevin Kiermaier to play a part-time function in centre area.

Opportunities within the commerce market exist for each starters and place gamers and whereas pricey, there are at all times methods for the Blue Jays to get inventive.

Given all that, the week’s lack of additives for the Blue Jays merely implies that their low season business might drag into January, as a substitute of being neatly wrapped up for the vacations.

Or, as Sheehan put it, “We’re comfortable going early if there’s an opportunity we like and we’re comfortable sort of waiting.” With nothing past info gathering completed in San Diego, the Blue Jays are actually locked into the latter.

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