The Blue Jays have been linked to such high-profile names as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Juan Soto, and others on the free agent and trade markets, yet the team isn’t only focusing on these top-tier names to address their roster needs. According to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, the Jays have interest in free agent outfielders Michael Brantley and Joc Pederson, as well as utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
These names have long been on the radar of Jays GM Ross Atkins, who has at least explored the possibility of acquiring all of the trio in the past. Kiner-Falefa was targeted at the last trade deadline, Pederson was targeted during his last stint in free agency during the 2021-22 offseason, and Brantley reportedly seemed on the verge of signing with Toronto in the winter of 2020-21 before opting to return to the Astros at something of the eleventh hour.
To some extent, Brantley or Pederson could be seen as backup plans if Toronto didn’t acquire Soto, since left field is the primary defensive spot for all three players. A world exists where the Blue Jays could trade for Soto and then sign one of the other two outfielders, with an eye towards using Brantley or Pederson primarily as a designated hitter (with Soto or George Springer also getting some DH time for partial rest days). Such a scenario might somewhat run counter to the Jays’ focus on defense over the last year, though Daulton Varsho would still be anchoring center field, and the Jays might be willing to sacrifice some glovework to boost their middling lineup.
In the bigger picture, none of Brantley, Pederson, or Kiner-Falefa would really be obstacles to any bigger-name acquisitions the Blue Jays might have in mind. The three veterans are all likely to be had on one-year contracts, similar to Toronto’s signings of Kevin Kiermaier or Brandon Belt last winter.
Pederson hit .235/.348/.416 with 15 home runs over 425 plate appearances for the Giants last season, as his 111 wRC+ was still quite respectable but a big step down from the 146 wRC+ posted in 2022. It was something of an unusual year for Pederson in 2023, as he cut back on his strikeouts and increased his walk rate, but seemingly at the cost of a good chunk of his usual power. Pederson still had some of the best hard-contact numbers of any player in the league, and a .268 BABIP and a big gap in his wOBA (.331) and his xwOBA (.366) indicates that the 31-year-old might’ve been somewhat unlucky to post only a 111 wRC+.
That said, 2022 does stand out as something of an outlier amongst Pederson’s last four seasons, and even his career in general. Without much baserunning or defensive value, Pederson projects best as a DH (or part-time left fielder or first baseman), and limiting him to plate appearances against only right-handed pitching is preferable given his career splits.
Brantley would also have to be considered a part-time option due to his health, as shoulder surgery and recurring soreness kept Brantley out of action from June 2022 until August of last season. He amassed 89 total PA with the Astros during the regular season and postseason, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Brantley’s eventual contract contains a lot of incentive clauses tied to playing time. The former five-time All-Star showed only flashes of his old self at the plate in 2023, though it is possible another full offseason of rest and rehab might get Brantley back into something closer to his past form.
Kiner-Falefa is in some ways the easiest player to project of the trio, as the 28-year-old has pretty firmly established himself as a light-hitting jack of all trades who can provide at least respectable defense at a wide variety of positions. A Gold Glove winner with the Rangers as a third baseman in 2020, IKF could be viewed by the Blue Jays as a potential glove-first replacement for Matt Chapman at the hot corner, with the Jays then presumably looking to add bigger bats to fill their other holes at second base, left field, or DH. If Toronto doesn’t think enough of Kiner-Falefa’s bat to merit a semi-starting role, he could simply be a top utility option off the bench, giving the Blue Jays some flexibility in how hard they need to push on any one of their particular positions of need.
As usual, Atkins is seemingly keeping tabs on just about every prominent player on the market, and Davidi hears from player agents that the Blue Jays are “planning to shift quickly if needed” should their attempts at a superstar acquisition fall short. In terms of Ohtani specifically, Davidi is doubtful the two-time AL MVP will ultimately land in Toronto, yet the Jays aren’t really costing themselves by exploring the possibility since the position-player market is moving quite slowly. It could be that several teams and players are in the same boat as the Blue Jays in waiting on Ohtani’s decision to open up the market to a fuller extent.
If they sign Brantley, he’ll sit out rehabbing 75% of the time on his contract…a perfect Atkins/Shapiro signing
“wow…”
Breaking news; Blue Jays are interested in every available major league player.
If they can get Soto then they could get away with IKF and a rotating set of players at third.
More “blue swill” from ShapieRo and His Carry on GM AssKiss, ZERO confidence is this FO…..
AssKiss, will be dumpster diving again….
They do really well in the dumpster though. It’s the bigger profile higher stakes moves that I have less confidence in.
Yes, Gausman was a real washout ;o)
The last time the Blue Jays were interested in signing Brantley he signed with Houston.
That actually worked out well for the Jays. Brantley would have been a poor signing.
And given his injury history, why would they now?
They shouldn’t
The true crop of players the Bluejays will sign. Not Ohtani or trade for Soto
No team will be constructed of just top free agents due to the penalties above the various limits. The Jays have recently signed or extended their fair share of top free agents and none of them are currently weighing down the roster so badly. Apparently, even after several years Springer’s contract is still only roughly -8 M underwater, that is good signing for the Jays who have struggled to attract FAs in the past. The Padres have multiple FA contracts massively under their trade value.not to mention the inexplicable Kris Bryant contract for the Rockies.
I like Pederson for a lot of teams actually. Should provide good value for what won’t be an exorbitant contract.
I’ve always found Brantley to be overrated. Guy can hit but usually doesn’t offer a ton of power and doesn’t get many big hits. Plus, his age is a concern. I wouldn’t overpay for him but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Blue Jays do.
I can assume you’re trolling just based on your username, but Michael Brantley has never been overrated. For most of his prime, I’d actually argue that he was one of the more underrated players in the game.
And he gets plenty of big hits. He has a *career* OPS of .837 in high leverage situations. The age and current durability issues are a valid concern, but let’s not downplay what he’s done in his career.
Blue Jays never seem to get the guys on top in FA. They’re better off trading their stars now, building a strong base through drafting, and piecing together smaller free agent pieces. They’re not getting Ohtani or Yamamoto.
The Jays are funny man.
Chris Taylor could help the Jays in the outfield and infield please call us
Both cold help with part-time DH work but I’d set my eyes on someone better
As a Giants fan why would you ever consider signing Pederson over Belt???? What didn’t Brandon Belt do last year? Believe me he is worlds better than Joc. Competitive fire is something Joc lacks
Jays need an OF more than a DH/1B.
I think it would be the ability to play the outfield if required.
Belt seems like he is retiring.
Whrn I saw this headline, I said I thought Jeff Brantley was long retired.
Jays should be all over Soto. 2024 might be the last good look at winning it all. Pederson doesn’t get it done. KF is nice but they need a big bat. Brantley is a DH at this point but why not DH Springer more in 2024?
Not sure Toronto has the prospect capital for Soto. I think other teams could outbid them with better offers.
I can’t argue on the prospect capital part. What the Jays might need to do is take on a second large contract at a position of-need on-top of Soto. Like a Jake Cronenworth.
Why not just use free* replacement level players instead?
*already on roster
None of the three had even 1.0 WAR this season. They are bench options hardly worthy of a headline.
So you’re saying because of WAR, Varsho is not a bench player but Brantley is? Brantley had 54 at bats last season. I can only imagine what you said about the Jays signing Belt last offseason with his “incredible” WAR.
What are you even talking about? If you think Brantley is half the player Varsho is at this stage I don’t know what to tell you.
Varsho is crap. Aided by questionable defensive metrics that skew in his favour to build his WAR.
If you’d rather have Varsho at the plate over Brantley, you really don’t know what to tell anyone – we agree on that.
Saying “at the plate” is such a poor argument. Brantley will hit for a higher avg likely. Varsho will hit for more power, run the bases better with better speed and is 100x better in the field. They’re not even comparable players at this stage of their respective careers.
its_hindsight doesn’t understand those “new fangled” analytics. Doesn’t like defence .
You’re right. Brantley should not be subjected to a comparison to Varsho offensively. Brantley ha had a career Varsho can never match. Brantley has, and is, a better HITTER than Varsho. It’s simply pointing out that your “half the player” comment was rather absurd.
I would not go after Brantley because he’s a DH only. But let’s stop the Varsho praise. His bat should not start on a contender.
You don’t like the Blue Jays, Bull. Does Bull mean you buy all excuses? Yep.
Career? Who’s talking career accolades we’re talking mlb 2024 season. Varsho is the wayyy better player for this coming season. Again, Brantley might have a better avg. and that is the literal ONLY stat he will outperform Varsho in for 2024. Varsho off his worst offensive season is still worth 3x Brantley and given ages he’s far more likely to progress and Brantley to regress.
If Brantley ends up being the best choice to start at DH so be it, but he’s never pushing Varsho to the bench.
I don’t know about this take. WAR is one measurement but is a counting stat and I don’t think it’s fair to disqualify someone based on missing time last year (Brantley) if he’s still showing some of the skill sets you are shopping for. WAR is also result based and Joc’s metrics in ‘23 don’t look any different than the ones that produced excellent results in ‘22. The Blue Jays will buy skill sets more than results. I also want to groan at IKF, but the Jays aren’t exactly developing defense at the positions of need. BA’s latest list doesn’t figure any of the internal candidates as profiling on the left side. The one guy on the roster for that purpose, Espinal, did not play well defensively last year and looks like he’s not long for the organization. I suspect a spread the budget around on a collection of mid tier guys who can play a role like the ones in this article is a likely outcome for this offseason.
Don’t trade for Soto he’ll never stay in Canada
True, but if you can get him w/o using too much prospect capital, I feel he’s going to have a monster season in 24 because it’s his walk year. And the Jays are in win-now mode, so I say go for it. Again, it all depends on how much it costs. I don’t know if the Jays can compete with the Yanks and other teams in terms of minor league talent. But I would def be in on Soto even for just one year.
If the Jays were willing to give up Moreno for a AAAA outfielder, they can consider (consider) dealing Tiedemann for Soto. Soto should not be the only piece the Jays go after.
Varsho had 3.9 WAR last year. Not a quad A player. He is probably the best defensive OF in the majors who also hit 20 HRS and stole 16 bases. Yes his batting average sucks, but he still has value on the other parts of his game. Preventing a run has just as much value as scoring a run.
Don’t even bother with him he doesn’t get it.
He was asking me what War is. Hopeless.
Never asked you what it is. Asked you to elaborate on WAR. You couldn’t.
Varsho is a good defender who played a great LF. Majority of his WAR based on his defense. Awful bat. Varsho is the shining example of the flaws WAR presents. The Jays somehow got worse in 2023 and yet you continue to champion Varsho and his WAR. Varsho hurt the Jays more than he helped in 2023. O if you dig more into WAR and LF you will understand that.
He also played an elite CF when given the chance and that’s why most fans don’t want Kk back… so that Varsho can play CF full time to get the most out of him. A 20-25HR gold glove CF is a valuable player.
He also racked up 18 DRS in only 462 innings in CF. Playing CF full time will cause his value to skyrocket.
Just wondering what with the Toronto Blue Jays every year you hear the same thing. They Interested In a bunch of free agents and when the free agent signings are done.
They have only sign one or two of them that’s If they sign any.
Just wondering
I think the Jays often sign multiple FAs. To the point where other teams were complaining that that Jays were forcing up the market.
Do you want a front office that does massive amounts of research on every player who could add value to the team to find a combination that gets the most value out of the team’s budget….or do you want a team that goes all in on one specific player and overpays because they have no options? Remember the player also has to want to join your team, they also want to maximise the amount that the eventual team pays them so will play teams against each other, or even make them bid against themselves by pretending other teams are interested.
You can’t put 2017 in the argument – mark openly said “in a vacuum we would have liked to start the rebuild when they got here “, def after 2016 but ownership asked them to compete for 1 more post season – so they did half in measures –
Going all in 2021 ? Did they do that or did they not have faith in their top pick so moved him while he still had high value – let’s say they keep Martin – what’s his value by deadline 2022 ? They took a asset and flipped it for long term pitcher – where is Martin value ? Even the Gritch were not competing – he had just had a great second half and they chose to take a bet that he would be the second half guy at a time when they had lots of payroll flexibility and it didn’t work but it also did not hinder them in anyway since they were still in rebuild – that’s why I chose to look at things inside the window that clearly can effect future moves and either shorten or lengthen contention . Fisher again,low cost , teams do this every day – teams that don’t do this are wrong – same for white – I’m alittle surprised you would use these as examples – low cost try to get lighting in a bottle – strip was the same boat , Matz Ray , those were great outcomes if the cost is not hitting on others that cost you nothing . Roark 100% that’s awful – lol no excuse for that – the bat yes , they were guilty of going into 2023 thinking they could augment at deadline ….. And that could be said for all teams in the first year of expanded with a very light deadline .
Blue Jays will regret “Baby Panda” Pedersen. Forget playing him in OF; no defense, part-time DH & full-time clubhouse card games.
That …and pearls just don’t belong on a ballfield. In the clubhouse, and out-and-about afterwards? Absolutely
Amazingly Joc Pederson played ahead of Davantae Adams
Brantley can still hit. Kiner-Falefa would interest me only as a utility option, not as a starter. He’s solid defensively, but offensively, his BA & OBP numbers have gone down each of the past four seasons, and he doesn’t provide much in the way of slug. He’s been getting a lot of playing time the last 3 years, so he may want more $$ than I feel he’s worth. Meanwhile, Joc is almost unplayable in the outfield. Of those 3, obviously, I feel Brantley offers the most with his sweet left-handed stroke.
All 3 of these players suck and offer little help
Would the Jays have interest in Marcel Ozuna ?
They don’t want an Osuna or Ozuna situation.
Brantley sounds like a fit for what the Mariners are looking for
Sure, but I just don’t think Brantley can stay on the field / be available enough to make it worth the while.
Mariners do their best work on water. Seems like a good fit after all.
the blue jays have a lot to be thankful for this christmas
I don’t think they celebrate Christmas in Canada anymore.