- Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet and other reporters that he’s open to an extension, but the team hasn’t made him an offer so far. The 22-year-old Bichette has been a revelation for the Blue Jays dating back to his 2019 debut, having slashed .307/.347/.549 with 16 home runs and eight stolen bases in 340 plate appearances. Fortunately for Toronto, it isn’t in danger of losing Bichette in the near future, which would explain the lack of urgency in inking him to an extension. Bichette still has two pre-arbitration years remaining and isn’t slated to reach free agency until after 2025.
Blue Jays Rumors
Red Sox Claim Joel Payamps, Place Franchy Cordero On COVID Injured List
The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from the Blue Jays, according to Boston’s Twitter feed. To create roster space, outfielder Franchy Cordero has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list, as the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reported earlier today.
Payamps returns to the Sox less than two weeks after Toronto acquired him in another waiver claim, after the Red Sox designated Payamps for assignment to make roster room for the newly-signed Garrett Richards. The Sox themselves first landed Payamps on a waiver claim back in November when the right-hander was DFA’ed by the Diamondbacks.
A veteran of eight minor league seasons in the Rockies and Diamondbacks organizations, Payamps has received brief looks at the MLB level in each of the last two seasons, appearing in two games for Arizona in both 2019 and 2020 (with a 3.86 ERA over his seven career innings in the Show). Over 665 2/3 innings in the minors, Payamps has a 4.15 ERA with a modest 20.34 strikeout rate, starting 119 of 145 games but seeing increasing work as a reliever in both the affiliated minors and in the Dominican Winter League.
Cordero was acquired from the Royals as part of the three-team trade with the Mets that saw Andrew Benintendi head from Boston to Kansas City. Cordero has shown some glimpses of potential but has been plagued by injuries, appearing in only 95 Major League games over his four seasons as a big leaguer. It isn’t known if Cordero’s placement on the COVID list is because of his own positive test for the virus, or if he was placed on the list as a precautionary measure due to possible exposure.
Robbie Ray Discusses Benefits Of Signing Early
- Robbie Ray’s foray into the open market didn’t last long, as the southpaw re-signed with the Blue Jays shortly after the free agent period opened in early November. This gave Ray more time to spend with Jays coaches on trying to correct his form following a mediocre 2020 season, Ray told reporters (including The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm). Ray made changes to his arm slot prior to the 2020 season, which may have led to such disastrous results as a 6.62 ERA and 45 walks over just 51 2/3 innings with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays.
Blue Jays Never Made Offer To James Paxton
The Blue Jays were among the teams in on southpaw James Paxton before he agreed to a contract with the Mariners over the weekend. However, Toronto never made a pitch to Paxton (via Gregory Balloch of Sportsnet 650). “They showed a lot of interest, and I had interest too, but they never came forward with an offer,” Paxton said. Paxton was a first-round pick of the Jays in the 2009 draft, but after the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement, he joined the M’s as a fourth-rounder in 2010. The now-32-year-old, who’s known as the Big Maple because of his Canadian roots, will earn a guaranteed $8.5MM in his return to Seattle in 2021.
Blue Jays To Open 2021 Season In Florida
Feb. 18: The Blue Jays have formally announced that they’ll play at least their first two homestands at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, “with the hopes of a return to play at Rogers Centre as soon as possible.” Those first two homestands at TD Ballpark will host fans in a limited 15 percent capacity, per the announcement.
The Jays’ first homestand is a six-game set hosting the Angels and the Yankees from April 8-14. They’ll next host the Nationals and Braves from April 27-May 2 before heading out on a 10-game road trip.
The earliest target date for a return to the Rogers Centre, then, appears to be May 14, when they host the Phillies at the outset of a 10-game homestand. It’s no guarantee those games will take place in Toronto, of course; the Jays will reevaluate the situation with input from medical experts and governmental bodies before further charting their course.
Feb. 17: The Blue Jays will again play their home games south of the border, according to a report from Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. At least to open the 2021 regular season, the Toronto denizens will make a temporary abode in Dunedin, Florida.
As was the case in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, cross-border traffic simply proved too difficult to manage. The plan in this case is to host home games in Florida until at least the middle of May.
Dunedin is certainly familiar, as it houses the team’s Spring Training complex. The club had toyed with the idea of playing there last year but ultimately settled on the Buffalo, New York home of its top minor-league affiliate.
The change in venue isn’t likely to have a major impact on the Blue Jays’ hopes for contention in 2021. Playing in Buffalo suited the Jays just fine last year, as they performed well at home (17-9) and earned a postseason berth.
Brewers Acquire Derek Fisher From Blue Jays
The Brewers have acquired outfielder Derek Fisher from the Blue Jays for cash and a player to be named later, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
Milwaukee is the third organization for Fisher, who began as the 37th overall pick of the Astros in 2014. Houston sent him to Toronto five years later in a 2019 trade that delivered right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini to the Astros.
Fisher didn’t have much major league success with either the Astros or Jays, as evidenced by his .194/.286/.376 line with 17 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances. He does, however, own a much more imposing triple-slash of .289/.379/.520 with 50 homers in 1,053 PA at the Triple-A level. Because Fisher is out of options, though, he’ll have to earn a spot on the Brewers’ 40-man roster this spring or potentially go back to the waiver wire. Christian Yelich, Avisail Garcia, Lorenzo Cain, Daniel Robertson, Tyrone Taylor, Billy McKinney, Corey Ray and Tim Lopes represent the other outfield-capable players on the Brewers’ 40-man.
Blue Jays Release Shun Yamaguchi
FEB 13: Having gone unclaimed, the Blue Jays released Yamaguchi, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). They will nevertheless remain on the hook for the $3.175MM owed to Yamaguchi this season.
FEB 11: The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Shun Yamaguchi for assignment, tweets Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae. The team hasn’t formally announced the move, though it’s listed on their transactions log at MLB.com. It seems that’ll create roster space for last night’s reported waiver pickup of righty Joel Payamps.
Toronto signed Yamaguchi, 33, to a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $6.35MM last offseason. The former Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama BayStars righty had a 14-year run of success in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, working both as an effective closer and a high-quality rotation piece at various points of his career there. Through 1080 1/3 NPB frames, Yamaguchi notched a tidy 3.35 ERA (3.22 if you exclude his ugly NPB debut as a teenager) with 112 saves, a 23.1 percent strikeout rate and a 9.1 percent walk rate.
The Blue Jays used Yamaguchi out of the bullpen exclusively in 2020, and the results simply never came through as the team hoped. The right-hander appeared in 17 games and yielded at least one run in 10 of those outings. His overall 8.06 ERA is skewed to some extent by a seven-run implosion at Yankee Stadium, but even setting that aside Yamaguchi’s ERA still would’ve clocked in north of 5.00. His 21.7 percent strikeout rate, meanwhile, was a bit below par, while his 14.2 percent walk rate was well north of the league average.
Yamaguchi is still owed $3.175MM in 2021, and the Jays will have to eat that salary. They have a week to trade him, run him throughout outright waivers or simply release him, though it’s difficult to imagine any club taking on Yamaguchi’s salary — particularly at a time when most teams have been overwhelmingly stingy about their budgets.
Latest On Justin Turner
Justin Turner’s market had already reportedly narrowed to four teams, and the field could now be even thinner for the former All-Star. The Dodgers and Brewers have each made multi-year contract offers to Turner, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link), and while the third baseman could potentially have other longer-term offers on the table, Turner seems “less likely” to sign with other rumored suitors like the Braves, Mets, or Blue Jays.
If Turner’s final four is now down to a final two, the Dodgers are still in the lead, according to both Heyman and FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). There has been a widespread expectation for much of the winter that Turner would eventually re-sign with Los Angeles, though some wrinkles were added by Turner’s initial ask of a four-year contract, and the Dodgers already projected to spend far beyond the $215MM luxury tax threshold. As per Roster Resource, the Dodgers’ tax number for 2021 is over $240MM (thanks in large part to the Trevor Bauer signing), and spending beyond $250MM would trigger the maximum tax penalty — a 42.5% surtax on overages, and the Dodgers’ first 2021 draft pick would be dropped back in the draft order by 10 spots.
Of course, the Dodgers could have no issue taking the extra one-year tax hit in order to bolster their chances at another World Series title, or to retain a star player who has spent the last seven seasons in Dodger blue. Still, the lack of common ground to date between Turner and the Dodgers has opened the door for a team like Milwaukee, as Murray writes that the Brewers made a “competitive” offer. It seems unlikely that any team would be willing to give four guaranteed years to the 36-year-old Turner, but speculatively, the Brewers might gain an edge over L.A. by offering three years depending on the nature of the Dodgers’ offer.
As for the other teams linked to Turner, earlier reports suggested that the Mets weren’t getting far in contract talks. The chances of Turner going to Atlanta or Toronto seemed to dim after those teams made other high-priced signings — the Braves and Marcell Ozuna, and the Blue Jays with George Springer and Marcus Semien.
Blue Jays, Joe Panik Agree To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent infielder Joe Panik, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The Jet Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and would earn $1.85MM with another $400K available via incentives if he makes the roster.
It’s the second straight minor league pact with Toronto for Panik, who ultimately did crack the 2020 roster and appear in 41 games for the Jays. The longtime Giants infielder tallied 141 trips to the plate with Toronto, batting at a .225/.340/.300 clip with a homer, six doubles and a gaudy 14.2 percent walk rate.
Panik hasn’t hit for much average since his first two years in the Majors, but he’s settled in as a quality defender with a solid walk rate and one of the game’s lower strikeout rates. Dating back to the 2016 season, Panik carries a .255/.324/.366 slash in addition to a 2016 Gold Glove Award for his work at second base. He’s played second base almost exclusively in his MLB career, but Panik was a college shortstop who also saw time at third base with the Blue Jays in 2020.
If he’s able to make their roster a second time, Panik could bounce around the infield as a utility piece. Santiago Espinal is his primary competition on the 40-man roster for that role, though the Jays will also have Richard Urena in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Blue Jays Designate Derek Fisher
The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Derek Fisher for assignment, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The move clears space for the signing of right-hander David Phelps.
Fisher was the 37th overall pick of the Astros in 2014 and someone who ranked among their top prospects in the ensuing few years, but he hasn’t panned out in the majors thus far. He debuted in 2017 and has since batted .194/.286/.376 with 17 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances, including 146 with the Blue Jays. Toronto acquired him from Houston in 2019 in a trade that saw righties Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini join the Astros.
Fisher is still just 27 years old, owner of a .289/.379/.520 line with 50 homers in 1,053 Triple-A PA, and not on track to become eligible for free agency until after 2024. All of that suggests another team could take a chance on him in a trade or via waivers. However, Fisher is out of minor league options, meaning he can’t be sent down without going back to the waiver wire.
