MLB Free Agent Season
- Thread starter shack
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If Vlad looks like this:
in his early twenties, I have some doubt that his conditioning will improve if he has a fat long term guaranteed contract.
in his early twenties, I have some doubt that his conditioning will improve if he has a fat long term guaranteed contract.
He's about half the size he was when he first came up. He's worked very hard to slim down, shape up and watch his diet. He's a pro.
Somebody who had his shape and size will NEVER have abs. If Sleepy and Dopey fuck up, he will get many lucrative long term offers from the other GMs.
The question is, would Vlad prioritize physical conditioning if he has a long term guaranteed contract, potentially the last one he might sign? As an analogy, what percentage of women lose weight after marriage? Yes, he put up great stats in 2024, AFTER the Jays were effectively eliminated from the pennant race.
My persoanl impression is that, yes he would? He seems to be a fun loving guy and to him playing baseball is fun. Playing well increases his fun of the game. He has matured. Also keep in mind that he is playing under the legacy of his father's career and I think he takes that very seriously. Selling him short could be a generational mistake.
Poor analogy. A wife is not a professional athlete. Fans and media do not track them. A wife does not have 20 teammates relying on them. A wife does not have cameras and analysts recording their performance. A wife does not strive to be in an HOF. Etc., etc.
I understand your motivation comment, but to a professional athlete, there are many more motivations than just a contract and money. Believe it or not, some of them actually have pride in their craft and their legacy.
Did Hank Aaron stop playing? Or Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Gretzky, Jagr, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Ali.... They were all made for life financially but never quit trying.
Last I heard the Blue Jays had a five year offer on the table for Anthony Santander. Everyone is reporting the four year deal, but I also heard additional news that they also offered a five year deal. And now apparently, Santander has opened up his market to accept a shorter term for more money. Like for instance, two years at 70 million type of thing. Definitely not worth that much money, but with the way the market is now who’s to say that anymore??
I think that’s a polite way of him saying he’s not taking the Blue Jays seriously. I don’t think the league takes this organization seriously anymore. Shapiro and Atkins have been here for way too long with little to show for it. They refuse to give Guerrero his 450 or whatever it is that he wants. Market value, unfortunately they need to play the damn game. Nobody is taking these guys seriously anymore. I still think the dumbest trade in Blue Jays history was trading Hernandez for Swanson. What a joke. That move was the beginning of the end. These guys can’t get it together and they make playing north of the border more unappealing than ever.
Not to mention the fact that it’s literally trending news on social media, that the Blue Jays have bombed this off-season and nobody wants to come here. It’s almost like a topic of discussion. Playing for the Jays just ain’t cool anymore and we have Shapiro and Atkins to thank for that. Those two bozos are thicker than thieves, they are….
Philip
I think that’s a polite way of him saying he’s not taking the Blue Jays seriously. I don’t think the league takes this organization seriously anymore. Shapiro and Atkins have been here for way too long with little to show for it. They refuse to give Guerrero his 450 or whatever it is that he wants. Market value, unfortunately they need to play the damn game. Nobody is taking these guys seriously anymore. I still think the dumbest trade in Blue Jays history was trading Hernandez for Swanson. What a joke. That move was the beginning of the end. These guys can’t get it together and they make playing north of the border more unappealing than ever.
Not to mention the fact that it’s literally trending news on social media, that the Blue Jays have bombed this off-season and nobody wants to come here. It’s almost like a topic of discussion. Playing for the Jays just ain’t cool anymore and we have Shapiro and Atkins to thank for that. Those two bozos are thicker than thieves, they are….
Philip
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After the 2015 season, Shapiro and Atkins didn’t even offer a contract to David Price. Which in hindsight was a good move I would say… Look how David Price turned out. He couldn’t even hit 90 miles an hour anymore 4 years after 2015. But the point is after the 2015 run, we had no way of knowing that and logistically they should’ve kept that squad together and they may have been even better in 2016…..or even the way they let Edwin Echnacion walk and opted to sign Kendrick Morales.
The writing has been on the wall for a very long time about how bad the upper management is at retaining a winning squad. Completely clueless on the players the fans want to see or the team that the fans want.
Philip
The writing has been on the wall for a very long time about how bad the upper management is at retaining a winning squad. Completely clueless on the players the fans want to see or the team that the fans want.
Philip
They don't want to pay retail.
I just read about Santander a few minutes ago.
….two bozo useless efficiency experts that force the organization to pay less when they don’t really need to. It’s unbelievable to think that a team with this type of payroll has never given a bigger contract than they have to George Springer.
Like Fergie Oliver would say – “How about those Blue Jays“
Philip
This is the craziest thing ever, with Roki Sasaki informing teams he won't be signing with them. If the reports are to be believed, there are 3 teams left. The Dodgers, Padres, and ......... the Blue Jays. It should be fun to see if he will go with the obvious choice of the Dodgers, or with the Padres.
I saw some stuff on YouTube about this guy last night. He throws 103 miles an hour with a split finger fastball clocked in low to mid 90s that looks like it literally dropped off a table. Absolutely sick ass stuff. He looks like a video game player when you give your pitcher special powers. How does anyone even make contact?
Philip
Here's a list of the 50 largest baseball contracts:
Here are Joey Votto's career numbers:
Joey was four years older than Vlad when he signed his 10 year extension, but he had played a similar number of games, and Votto had the benefit of playing home games on natural turf. Joey was the face of the Reds' franchise, which had made the postseason in each of the previous two years, after having been out of the playoffs for all but two of the previous twenty years, following a World Series win. Joey and Vlad play the same position, they're the same height, and Vlad is about twenty pounds heavier than Joey at age 30.
In the early part of the contract, Votto had great numbers, for a bad team. In later years, he had average to poor numbers for a team which lost 100 games per season multiple times. Joey had two post season games during the ten year extension, both in the 2020 COVID season.
This is what I see for the Blue Jays, if they give Guerrero Jr the 10 +? year deal he wants: excellent production for the first few years, when he could be the difference between a 6th place team and 13th in the AL, followed by several 100 loss seasons when the size of his contract makes him unmovable.
I'm not suggesting the Guerrero isn't an excellent player right now. What I am suggesting is that the difference between his cost and his production will prevent the Jays from being contenders for the length of his extension, because he would be eating between a quarter and a third of the team's salary budget, with potentially several years at the back end when he'd be paid WELL above market value.
The Jays (Sleepy and Dopey) have painted themselves into a corner.
Their bad season, and horrendous off-season make them look like fools. They are losing their credibility, fan base, the clubhouse, the faith/trust of other MLB players, respect of baseball analysts and writers and in a year they are losing their jobs.
These guys need to do something. They have a bird in the hand with Vlad. The easiest thing for them to do is give him what he wants. If they think that they can win without him because the young guys they have will all improve. then let them improve with Vladdy as their leader.
I think that the vast majority of fans don't want to see him. Most analysts say they need to sign him to show the baseball world that they are serious. If they trade him for prospects (even real good ones) we're talking a rebuild. 10 years with no success and then a rebuild?
Signing him long term for big bucks might not be the greatest strategy, as you've pointed out, but I believe that it's something that they NEED to do. We've had enough of them showing us "how smart they are".
OOPS. ...don't want to see him GO.
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….what’s really frightening is watching Jay‘s games from the 2000s when they were a few games out of first place in late August like 2006 for example… with an attendance of under 15,000.
Philip
