The Blue Jays continue to have interest in Michael Brantley, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Toronto’s top free agent outfield target remains George Springer, and Rosenthal floats the possibility of the Jays signing both players. Springer and Brantley have spent the past two seasons as teammates with the Astros, and Brantley is plenty familiar with Jays’ president/CEO Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time in Cleveland. Signing both Springer and Brantley would make for a bit of an awkward fit on-paper, since Toronto already has a glut of corner outfield/designated hitter options. Nevertheless, doing so could free the Jays up to trade one of their young, in-house outfielders for rotation help, Rosenthal feels.
Some more from around the sport:
- Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks is “ready to go” for next season, bullpen coach Bryan Eversgerd tells reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com). That’s welcome news after a setback in Hicks’ recovery from Tommy John surgery contributed to his choice to opt out of the 2020 season. The 24-year-old suffers from Type 1 diabetes, which no doubt also played a role in that decision. In 106.2 career innings between 2018-19, the fireballer has pitched to a 3.47 ERA behind an elite 62.3% groundball rate.
- The Astros have signed Ryne Stanek and Pedro Báez this winter. Even still, they’d like to continue to add to their bullpen, ideally by acquiring a traditional closer, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “It’s something that I think all of us would like to have, and it can certainly make you feel better about your bullpen than if you don’t have someone who maybe has done it in the past,” general manager James Click said of a set ninth inning option. “However, there are always guys who step up into that role every year. There are new closers every year, and our young talent on this roster did an impressive job last season in stepping up in some roles that, if we’re being honest, I don’t think that we thought that they might have been ready for, and our hand was forced because of a lot of different reasons.” As Click alluded to, Houston’s bullpen was decimated by injuries in 2020 and ranked just 24th league-wide with a 4.55 SIERA. One potential option is Brad Hand, with whom the club remains in contact, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com.
The Blue Jays can’t even sign one of Springer or Brantley, and they’re gonna sign both? Wishful thinking Ken, if only it were possible. Not with this front office. We’re gonna be stuck with bums like Wong and Bradley Jr. SHATKINS!
Two of the best defensive players in baseball = “bums”
Defensively, sure. But they can’t hit for anything. This team needs a good middle of the order bat, not someone who will hit .240 with 10 HR with.
They have Vlad, Teoscar behind Biggio and Bo. That seems pretty good to me.
You seem to have more confidence on their in-house options than I do. Bo I believe in. Biggio will prob have around an .800 OPS, so I’ll give you that. Teoscar was amazing last season, but I have questions about whether it’s sustainable. And Vladdy? The guy is a complete bust, he’s not a quality hitter by any means. He will be lucky to have a .750 OPS.
Yeah that .358 OBP Wong has had the past two years is awful.
Slow down there. Too soon to call Vlad a bust. At 21-22 years old.
Teoscar’s 2020 was a continuation of post all star of 2019. It wasn’t a fluke.
What’s your secret to being so cheery?
Why would Vlad regress in his 3rd season?
His August was pushing 900 and Sept was pushing 800.
Is he going to go 900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400 in a 6 month season ending around 600 or do we see him alternate 800-900 range and settle around 800-850 if he can keep developing in the box.
What was the opinion on Teoscar this time last year? Complete bust, not a quality hitter by any means? Vlad couldn’t also click after finding some more comfort at this level?
Did you finally stop doubting Bautista once he had that playoff bat flip? Some guys take time.
Biggio-Bo-Teoscar-Vlad-Gurriel-Rowdy is already becoming a tough stretch for a pitcher to navigate. Adding to that allows wiggle room since 1 or 2 bound to struggle or get hurt. Wong would be a great fit. JBJ a bit of overkill with Davis around, but less of a wild card really. Springer more want than need. (remember how bad everyone wanted Dexter Fowler?) Even no addition, it’s a pretty strong lineup. The heart of the order has some high potential. Pitching way easier to fret about! Add some Gold Gloves to the mix and some of the pitching worries shrink a bit.
I’d take those bums any day of the week.
Get out of here talking trash on ken that’s unacceptable you need to find a new hobby you clown
I’m not taking a jab at Ken, he’s a great reporter, and I enjoy his work. All I’m saying is I think he’s being a bit too optimistic about the Jays making moves.
Rosenthal is a wiener
Wrong, i super wiener!
^^ great typo. Thanks golfernut
One of the responsibilities that MLBTR has if it’s going to sell content to subscribers, is to ferret out trash content from teenager troll accounts like ‘cheervladdy’. if it’s not going to block the IP, it must at the very least give subscribers who pay a ‘block’ option.
Excuse me? I’m certainly not a troll account. I’m a passionate Blue Jays fan. Do I have strong opinions? Yes, as a fan should. If anyone is leaving “trash content”, it’s you.
Just clam up and deal with it. No one cares about your dumb “block option”. Put your ferret, well you know where to put it!
Bradley and Wong are underrated lol
I had no idea there was still people above the age of 10 that used the term Shatkins
I dont know but as a Jay’s fan going on 38 years now. I’m happy with our management team in place. They have stacked a group of prospects that are ready to produce, a group behind them ready to push for jobs. Financial stability to sign new players. I think they have done a great job in 5+ years they have been at the helm.
The issue with signing fa for the blue Jays right now is they dont even know where they are gonna play, these are players that earned the right to choose where they want to play and live,not knowing where you are gonna play home games, or the potential of crossing the border as much as they may by signing a contract here is a huge factor. That’s not management’s fault.
Well said
Can’t sign springer LMAO. They don’t need Brantley but they can get him if they want him.
@Anthony Franco — Quit trolling us by starting your post with “The Blue Jays continue to have interest in …”
Hahaha
Come on now, Anthony has a deadline to submit an article and there’s an expected number of ad click revenue demanded of him, so even though the writers have no actual inside info aside from what anybody can read on Twitter or other social media, there are mouths to feed!
probably should stop having a culture that promotes useless speculation articles as a main way to put food on the table, but thats just my own opinion
@Marty – it’s called MLB Trade *Rumors* for a reason, and it’s been in business for 15 years. I’m sure they do appreciate your clicks that help put food on the table.
lolzmets – no one wants to read your immature insults.
You’ll make Marty McGravy hungry talking about food on the table!
@Car Wash – Then why are you here instead of looking at your Twitter feed for your baseball info?
I hope the braves sign Brantley
I do not. He is too much of an injury risk. A good hitter when healthy, but it’s not often enough. They would be better off signing Joc for 2 years at like $24 million. He can play every position in the OF and is a decent hitter. It give Snit flexibility if Pache does not hit well or in the event of injury.
He’s Been healthy for the last 3 years..we had a Joc Pederson that we non tendered named Adam Duvall. He was cheaper and arguably better. Why would the braves give 24 million to a platoon player now when they just cut the same played scheduled to make less. Joc Pederson couldn’t hit a lefty if his life depended on it. I’m sorry but I just don’t see it buddy. If their is a DH next year bring in Tommy la Stella to play third and put Riley in left.
Riley sucked in playoff defensively he is really bad as a left fielder.
So you want to sign Joc, who can’t hit lefties, as opposed to one of the better hitters in the league? It’s not close, if the money is. I get the defensive argument, but the hit tool is so kick greater than Joc.
I think the Braves will sign Eddie Rosario to a 2 year deal for LF. Way cheaper than Ozuna or Brantley and he has a better health track record than Brantley.
Rosario is a liability in the left field defensively.
He’s actually much better defensively than people give him credit for. Forget the defensive stats, he more than passes the eye test in the OF. I’m still hoping Boston trades Benny and brings in Rosario to take his place.
If there is an “eye test”, you are definitely not the one to administer it.
It’s still early, 3 of the top FAs haven’t signed anywhere. I’m willing to cut the Blue Jays plenty of slack.
Right ! And if every player was polled what’s the last city they’d want to play in – Toronto will be the one ! They are putting feelers out and will clean up eventually. Watch out for em !
At a certain point there’s going to be a process of elimination where other teams get their players and then bow out of the market too.
There’s still a ton of guys at the top of the market who need to sign and a ton of potential landing spots for them. If the Blue Jays don’t get like Bauer or Springer, then the teams who got those guys are out of the market and that frees the Blue Jays up so that they can get like Odorizzi or Brantley.
Sounds like negotiations are going so bad if the Jays are considering a guy who’s only position is LF, and not everyday. It would be a bad look to sign yet another “needs to DH” type player.
Negotiations can’t be positive if they look to pay Brantley and have to trade Gurriel to land a pitcher. Either that or Gurriel is moving to RF and Teoscar is getting traded. Or Vlad is playing 3B full time. Buckle up.
What it sounds like is you might be the same teenaged troll as the ‘cheervladdy’ account.
There’s no ‘negotiations’ between the Blue jays and Springer. He’s made no offer to go to Canada. The Blue jays can make an offer, like any other team, and if they’re really stupid bid against themselves by continuously increasing their offer. But until the player says he’s willing to go to Canada under any conditions, which Springer hasn’t and won’t, there’s nothing to negotiate.
Everyone hates to slag particularly on Canadians and Canada and Blue Jays fans, but in your eagerness to get on here and slag the Blue Jays FO every new thread, when you obviously don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, you don’t do yourselves any favors.
When did he say he won’t go to Canada
Le Grande well done. For someone who can’t read you almost had a point.
You want to make this a Canada thing, I’m making this a commitment to winning thing. Winning is something you’be surely never done so I’ll help you out here.
Roger Clemens, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, Dave Stewart…signings pre-Rogers. Players signed because of “winning”. Build a winning culture, players will come.
You’re trying to swing above your weight class. Do yourself a favour, stop obsessing with teenagers and come up with real takes before you come here with some blabbering nonsense you know nothing about.
Would any of those players have signed with the Jays if their previous teams made an offer? Sincere question.
Bos had given up on Clemens.
Winfield, Molitor, Morris, Stewart, all end of career.
Jays need to be targeting Molina and Wainwright if that is the blueprint.
Do yourself a favor, and learn how to spell the word favor genius!
Favour is proper Canadian spelling. Autocorrect will do that loving north of the border. But thanks.
They signed with a team they thought could win a World Series. Build it and they will come. Show you want to win and you’ll be an attractive place.
You just made a bunch of declarations that you know nothing about!
You just made a big deal over proper spelling. Give it a rest kid. Nobody wants to watch you dig.
Would be a good idea for the jays to sign both. Then trade a guerriel for pitching. But like others said here they cant even sign one player, let alone two
A = {x|x is an MLB free agent}
If p ∈ A, then the Blue Jays have interest in p.
Does hicks count as a free agent acquisition for the cards ? We should count it. Prob as close as they’ll get this offseason
Cardinal will probably trade Hicks now.
Springer shouldn’t be getting a dear anywhere close to DJ’s. One of them is an exposed cheater, the other is not. Most of the Astros also experienced a mysterious dropoff in offensive numbers during the regular season, except for Brantley. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Astros hitters figured out a new cheating method for the postseason when almost all of their numbers magically rose again.
Brantley shows more integrity than the other Astros and was one of the few to demonstrate he can still consistently put the bat on the ball without cheating. I would be really disappointed to see Springer get a big deal, especially with the Jays, who have an excellent young core on great deals and a great atmosphere after the 2020 season. Springer bringing in his dirty, dirty laundry will cause everyone’s performance to drop in my opinion. He should go to a team that will lose either way.
Brantley wasn’t on the Astros in 2017 my guy
They cheated in 2019 my guy, perhaps with the exception of Brantley who I think refused to participate.
MLB found no evidence of them cheating in 2019. There were claims, but the investigation turned up nothing substantial like in 2017.
You just made that up, yet you’re talking about integrity? Ok then.
So whatever Manfred says is the truth, and everything not confirmed by the biased “”investigation”” is made up? Damn, I guess the world series rings really are just rings then, since Manfred said that. Also, foreign substances are NEVER used and, I promise you guys, they never juiced the balls. Manfred says so.
Ok then, do you have substantial evidence you can point out that says the Astros were cheating in 2019? I get Manfred isn’t a good com. but you are cherry picking Brantley from the Astros as he was playing with “integrity” but claiming many of the other Astros were cheating with no evidence either Brantley or the other Astros were cheating in ’19.
Marty McSupersize! You’re not supposed to eat two entrees, my guy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Springer was a better player in 2020 than he was in 2017. His wRC+, wOBA and OPS were all higher. He actually walked more while not having that much higher of a K% from 2018-2020 compared to 2017. Springer is a good player, with or without the trashcans and I doubt he’s bringing in so much dirty laundry that talented players like Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez are going to become worse because of it.
I guess I was mostly paying attention to his earlier 2020 numbers compared to 2019. I just think Brantley has more integrity as a player than Springer. Imagine Springer and Altuve or Bregman on the same team. I don’t think people will forget about a multi-year scandal involving cheating MVPs and WS contentions so quickly. The Dodgers still hold a lot of resentment against them.
Lmao well this is a take for sure
Front offices just don’t care all that much about the whole cheating thing. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you, but when teams were lining up to hire A.J. Hinch and the Sox were ready to bring back Alex Cora, then the only thing they care about is that you can win without the trashcan.
Exactly. Front offices aren’t the moral police (they leave that to the internet message boards). If front offices cared about cheating they wouldn’t have been feeding players steroids like they were candy 20 years ago..
You have no idea what front offices care about!
Hey Toronto, I’m building my fantasy team have interest in those players too – we’re so alike!
Hey Marty, Jabba the Hutt ate way too much too! You are so alike!
Sign JT Realmuto and Bauer and trade for Luis Castillo.
You’re hilarious, time to wake up!
Springer will almost certainly get as much or more than LeMahieu in terms of overall dollars. The fact the Yankee homers are saying otherwise is just ridiculous. If LeMahieu signs for 6/90 with the Blue Jays or another team they would all be saying its an overpay and they dodged a bullet.
Springer won’t get 6 years, but he’ll definitely get more than $90M on a multi-year deal. There’s an outside chance he settles for a 1 year, $25M+ deal but I think there is enough interest in him to get a 5/110 or maybe even a 4/100 deal done somewhere. The draft pick penalty certainly hurts his market. Baseball needs to get rid of that stupid rule. Teams should not be penalized for signing FAs, but I’m okay with teams getting compensated for losing good players (with draft picks); much like the NFL does.
Nobody wants To Play in Canada right now
Please elaborate…
If a player signs with Toronto right now, they can’t even fly up there to sign the deal until they quarantine for at least 2 weeks (in Canada) and are subject to arrest and a permanent ban from Canada if they don’t do so. Toronto really needs to figure out where they are playing this year’s games and also will need to come to the US to sign any free agent who agrees to play for them this year. No one in the US wants to go through the hassle of trying to get into Canada right now. I work for a consulting company that does work in Canada and we won’t send anyone up there regardless of how needy our customers are due to these restrictions.
In MLB and all professional sports money talks so I’m sure some FAs will agree to sign there if they are offered the right package. With that said, it’s much harder for Toronto to do so right now because they can’t fly players into Toronto to give them the dog & pony show as to why they should sign there and show them how great the city of Toronto is. (It is a great city BTW). They are definitely at a disadvantage because of this. They have to depend on the word of mouth from current players on the roster to try and convince FAs to come to Canada to join them. It’s a life-altering decision to move to another country, especially when you can’t go explore it first prior to moving there. Most players have already been there for road trips but it doesn’t mean they have spent enough time in the city, evaluating if they want to move there or not.
I dozed off about three sentences in. What makes you think anyone is going to waste their time reading all of that jibber jabber?
yeah, I definitely get why anyone who can’t read wouldn’t spend more than a minute or two trying to sound out more than a couple sentences in one sitting…. that’s hard work.
Yea, the US has it going on right now.
As slow as the vaccine rollout is in NY, it’s way worse in Canada. There’s an article in the WAPO today – the US, UK and Israel have vaccinated at a much faster rate than has Canada. In the US the rollout is slow but it’s still about 3x faster than Canada. About 3.75%of the US is now vaccinated, but only 1% of Canada. Canada can’t vaccinate its people which means that the border is going to be closed for a long time.
I think Brantley to the Jays is a great fit and they wouldn’t regret it. Professional hitter, Brantley is just a tough out!
Toronto would be lucky to get Brantley, but their fans seem to like trolling and crying on the internet more than baseball.
Le Grande, wrong again. Vlad/Tellez at DH/1B, Teoscar RF, Gurriel LF. Until you find a place for Brantley I would say quiet down and let those who have knowledge over the Jays roster let you know what’s up. Cool? Cool.
Problem with Tellez and Vlad is that they are both liabilities defensively. Both are really best served as DH hitters. You stick one at first the other DH’s but they’re both below average 1B defenders. Brantley can provide a boost on both sides of the ball. He’s pretty versatile so in my opinion it’s either/or with him and springer and the Jays can’t do wrong with either one. If the money is much lower for brantley, I would sign him and look to upgrading the rotation now or at the deadline.
Brantley does not have a position. Did you not understand that?
And since when is Brantley considered versatile defensively? Will he be playing shortstop this year? No, he plays strictly LF and DH. So again, not sure what your point is to show that Brantley is a fit on the current roster. He is not. Brantley can’t improve the club with starters in-place.
What is wrong with you? Parents didn’t like you growing up? You need to be respectful when commenting.
Rowdy does have an option. Having him ready in the case of inevitable injury would be one way to make it fit. Unfair to Rowdy, but not out of the question.
Start the meditating now for when Vlad gets some time at 3B this year to make the backup plan fit.
Moneyballer – Huh? Where was the disrespect? You said Brantley would be a great fit while ignoring the absolute obvious. If this is your grand comeback it tells me you know you are wrong and you will not admit to it. You couldn’t be further off the mark.
And you had no problem with the other dude’s insensitive remarks. Picking and choosing times to be offended. Great….
You’re the one who doesn’t know what they are talking about. I’m literally dumber for reading your comments. I never said Brantley would play shortstop but his .993 career fielding % says you’re an idiot and the 4-time all-star is an elite defender.
Brantley is not a fit currently in Toronto. I see you resorted to insults. Thank you hypocrite. When you calm down, find a clue. You need it.
If Jays sign Brantley they can still be in on Bauer, but if they sign Springer they’d be looking realistically at signing a 3 or 4 SP like Garrett Richards. Signing both Brantley and Springer would only lead to shopping the bottom of the SP market.
The reds best return for castillo would be toronto.
Bluejay fans have been teased by management all off season.
This maybe the only right thing krall(reds gm) has done all off season by driving castillo’s price up by waiting for a desperate team to meet his price.which will big.
The price- groshans is a given and 2 of woods-richardson,Manoah or kloffenstein.
The Dodgers could offer a much better package for Castillo than Toronto ever could.
I think any team who knows how close of a friendship Springer and Brantley have as Astros would realize that if both were signed the money wouldn’t be such a factor..
I think their friendship outweighs geography as long as they leave Houston.
A clean slate would pave their way to Cooperstown especially if they get on a perennial post season team.
Haha, how naive of you! These players want to maximize their earnings however possible. Short of being Co-joined twins, the closeness between two players will have zero impact on where they end up signing in free agency. They could even be closet lovers and it still wouldn’t make a difference.
They’ve both been on perennial post-season teams for years. End of the day they are not marketing themselves as a package any more than Wainwright and Molina in St.Louis. Each player will go to whomever offers the most money, whether that is together or separate is irrelevant. Did it help the White Sox sign Machado when they signed his friends and family?
My boy Chaim must have met up w Chris Hanson cause he’s taken a seat this off-season!! Lmfaoooooooo Whitlock nails it again dumpster diving Mike Port
Give us your lecture about Puig again, now that was actually funny! So woke! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Offer Cleveland a king’s ransom for Jose Ramirez. If there is still money left over, sign a SP or two. Toronto needs to address that rotation, whether they can get Springer or not.
The Blue Jays and Dodgers are in on every top free agent available, if you let the media tell it. The reality is most teams truly interested are waiting for compromise on terms of the contracts before they make an official offer.
I truly think Lourdes Gurriel Jr is going to be an all star/mvp calibre in the upcoming seasons. Remember all those extra base hits he hit per game in a row last year? I feel Toronto shouldnt trade him and will be upset if they do.
He’s gotten better at hitting and defending every year he’s been in the majors so far. I agree the Jays would be making a mistake trading him.
His record extra base hit streak was three years ago, 2018. My only concern with Gurriel is staying healthy, but he finally managed that pretty well in the short 2020.
The biggest signing the Jay’s have done so far is Shapiro’s 5 year deal.
So many suitable landing spots for Brantley. Ultimately, I think Houston resigns him.
I really don’t want to see Gurriel or Teoscar dealt away but if the Jays decide to target Brantley (3/54 18 AAV) they’ll have to move one of these OFers for a starter.
The Reds Castillo would likely command a Gurriel, Groshans and a top tier pitching prospect is type return. Yes the Dodgers and many other teams could match or exceed that type of offer but the Jays would certainly be in the running to land him.
I’m okay with trading Teo, because I don’t see any signs that he’s ever going to be a good outfielder and we’ve got too many DHs. Plus I’m a little afraid he’ll go back to striking out all the time. Gurriel, though, has the tools to be a good outfielder and hasn’t had nearly as long to learn the position. And Gurriel is much more of a pure hitter.
Also curious what everyone thinks Springer will sign for. I’m thinking 5/125 with player opt outs after years 1,2 and 3. In a non-COVID you’d think he’d get around 175 million over 5 years.
The only instance I can see the jays signing Springer and Brantley is if they made a trade for Castillo and Moose including Gurriel Jr in the trade making room for Brantley.
The chances of Brantley or Springer being signed by Toronto is almost zero. Forget about it.
Vladdy is not playing 3B. Would the morons who talk about it please stop.
Shapiro will not trade Gurriel Jr. it ain’t happening. Give it a rest.
Yes to point 1, hope not for point 2, really hope not for point 3. This is the epitome of mediocrity; either you’re all in or you’re not. If you’re all in go address your needs. If you’re not, you’re not one to lead a baseball franchise.
Don’t want what the “analytics” say about him being at 1st, but to me. He shouldn’t even be on the field.
Know*
Makes absolutely no sense if they’re not moving Grichuk. Can someone tell me why he’s still on this team? What is he making, 13-14 million next year? Get him off the team immediately on that salary, when both Gurriel and Hernandez give you more production on nearly the minimum. Grichuk can’t play center, neither can the other two, the other two are clearly better, if anything, Hernandez should be our full time DH. Many, many reasons why Grichuk should be traded, it would open up a whole lot of roster flexibility for the other guys.
He’s still on the team because someone in Jays upper management thought he was worth an extension. Pretty cool, eh?
Grichuk is a $10.33-mil cap hit.
Jays brass believes in him. I doubt he’s going anywhere.
I also don’t think Vladdy may be a quarter of the player the media said he’ll be.. if he can get us back a real pitcher, whether young or old, long as it’s a team friendly deal for the team, I wouldn’t mind Vladdy being gone as well. If he won’t hit like an all-star he’ll be useless on this roster in years to come. And that’s just the reality. Obviously I’m not giving up on a child who’s still growing physically, but it’s all about what we can get back.. and if these guys wanna get better defensively, they need to use that DH spot better then the way they are now. Just my opinion.
I get it. It’s not cool to watch a guy eat himself out of his natural abilities.
Could Indians bring Brantley back on a one year deal