The Blue Jays’ pitchers and catchers report today. Time to find out who’s in the best shape of their lives. Hazel Mae has the first video, of Scherzer, Gausman and Bassitt warming up. Alek Manoah, watching from the bench, already has the sleeves off his hoodie, which I respect.
Jose Bautista was selected for induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. He’ll go in alongside Erik Bedard, former national team director Greg Hamilton, Montreal politician and Expos booster Gerry Snyder, WWII era women’s pro player Arleene Noga, and former women’s national team star Amanda Asay (inducted posthumously after passing away following a skiing accident in 2022).
It’s obviously a richly deserved honour for Jose. He’s the Blue Jays franchise leader in position player WAR, and fourth among all MLB players in Canada after Expos greats Gary Carter, Tim Raines and Andre Dawson. His 2011 season, in which he hit .302/.447/.608 is probably the best in Jays’ history. And the bat flip in the 2015 ALDS might be the franchise’s second most iconic moment (Joe Carter touching ‘em all will never be topped).
Personally, Jose is the reason I finally gave in and started cheering for the Blue Jays after a few years away from baseball following the Expos’ departure. He was exciting enough to overcome my Calgarian’s natural distaste for all things Toronto, and I’ve stuck around since. Fifteen years later and you’re reading this blog, but try not to hold that against him.
The final dominos in the free agent market fell last night. First, Nick Pivetta signed a complicated deal with the Padres that will pay him $1m with a $3m signing bonus this year and $19m next. At that point he can opt into a third year at $14m, and after that a fourth at $18m. All in it guarantees him $55m over the four years with lots of chances to jump ship if he’s able to increase his value.
Next, Alex Bregman signed with the Red Sox for three years and $120m, with opt outs after each season. The reports are that he turned down six and $170 from Houston. Deferrals reportedly drop the value closer to $90m.
The Pivetta deal is interesting. I think for the Jays the simplicity of one year of Max Scherzer makes more sense, and the Padres soak up a lot of downside risk while giving up much of the upside with opt outs. Pivetta’s always been intriguing as a pitcher whose results seem to lag his stuff, but with only two years of team control the Padres risk helping him finally put it all together only to watch it benefit someone else. On the other hand, Pivetta is about as safe a bet as there is to deliver 150 average-ish innings, and a couple of years of that for a tax hit that will be near $13m is pretty appealing.
With Bregman, I have two thoughts:
- Too much, for a good player who’s no longer great and who’s pretty clearly declining. The monster will suit him well, but most likely this ends up being an overpay
- It still makes the Sox better, though, so I wish it had been someone else who made the mistake. This just reinforces the Jays’ position at the back of the East pack. With the free agent market wrapped up, we’re down to possible trades to try to reinforce the roster. I doubt anything that moves the needle happens, though, leaving them in a tough spot.
On that cheerful note, have a good Thursday everyone.