The Blue Jays did nothing during the Winter Assizes.
Right now, everyone is in the process of getting on a plane to get home after a hectic sitting. Because yes, elsewhere than in Toronto, there was action.
What did the Jays management expect, then?
I am asking you this because I have often been asked the question in the last few days. Many people wonder why the club has only “laid the groundwork” for the next few weeks.
The Jays have finished second or third in a lot of cases, but in that time the Yankees (Aaron Judge) and Red Sox (Kenley Jansen, Masataka Yoshida) have signed guys.
Yes, the Red Sox lost Xander Bogaerts and they vastly overpaid Yoshida, but hey: at least they moved…and Bogaerts’ loss was predictable.
In short. All that to say that right now, it’s easy.
A lot of people have wondered if it’s because the players don’t want to play in Canada. It even prompted Alek Manoah to come to the defense of Canada.
Right now, the Blue Jays need at least one starter, one reliever (ideally), and most importantly, one outfielder to fill the hole vacated by Teoscar Hernandez.
A guy like Brandon Nimmo is at the heart of talks with Toronto, who will have to get their checkbook out at some point.
From what we understand, the expectations do not seem to be the same for a few days, at a time when Yusei Kikuchi seemed “having to prove oneself” to have its place in the rotation.
The? Journalists seem to take it for granted that kikuchi will be the #5 pitcher of the group.
In the last days, the leaders have often repeated that the assizes are not a fixed deadline and that there is still time.
It’s true.
That said, the options will become less and less interesting and more and more expensive. So we have to act quickly, don’t we?
Is not it?
- Josh Reddick is not a Cody Bellinger fan.
- The Mets didn’t have an offer to keep Jacob deGrom.
