Latest news and updates about the Blue Jays
There are some fundamental differences between the A’s and the Blue Jays, beginning with vastly contrasting commitments to payroll. Money can hide flaws a lot better than even a player’s makeup (did you see what I did there?). But today’s thesis is to look at the rather impressive ascent Toronto made from 2024 to 2025 […]
Edwin Encarnacion turns 43 today. When we traded Scott Rolen to the Reds for Josh Roenicke, Zach Stewart and Edwin, no one would have guessed that Edwin would be the last one standing. But, of course, Edwin did spend three weeks as an Oakland A in the winter of 2010. The fans didn’t exactly love […]
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With the news that the Toronto Blue Jays have signed third baseman Kazuma Okamoto out of the NPB, speculation quickly followed about the future of their long-time shortstop, Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays still have the money and the will to ink Bichette to a long-term contract if he fits into their long term plans, […]
Mason Fluharty (why do I always want to spell his name with a d in the t spot?) was a fifth round draft pick, in the 2022 draft, by the Blue Jays. There are only five players picked in that round who have made it to the majors, so far. He made it onto our […]
Former Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia turns 40today. Arencibia was a first-round draft pick by the Jays in the 2004 draft, number 21 overall. He quickly became our top prospect and hit #43 on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list before the 2009 season. Then, he came up to the Jays and played his first […]
Ted Lilly turns 50 today. Ted had a 15-year career, 3 of them with the Blue Jays. He came to the Jays in trade for Bobby Kielty from the A’s. Lilly went 37-34 as a Jay, with a 4.52 ERA in 89 games and a bWAR of 6.0. I think we won the trade. In […]
Yesterday offered the second notable Japanese free agent signing of 2026, and once again, the Yankees didn’t seem to be a factor. The divison rival Blue Jays came to terms with Kazuma Okamoto on a four-year, $60 million contract. Are there red flags and would it have taken some time to figure out his specific […]
SNY.com | Colin Martin and Phillip Martinez: The 2025 American League champion Toronto Blue Jays made a splash yesterday afternoon, signing Japanese corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60 million deal roughly 24 hours before the end of his posting period. With the move, Toronto has now made three big additions this season, as […]
I don’t think there will be any more news about the Kazuma Okamoto deal today, as much as I’d like to hear from the Jays about how they intend to use him. It makes it clear we aren’t going after Alex Bergman (or if we did, I have no idea where we would play everyone. […]
Welcome to the first offseason Crawfish Boil of 2026! Just like a real crawfish boil – everything is in here! There’s a lot to unpack today: MLB.com’s David Adler has more on Okamoto: https://www.mlb.com/news/kazuma-okamoto-blue-jays-deal It’s a 4-year, $60M deal with no opt outs per Jon Heyman. That $15M AAV doesn’t preclude the Jays from continuing […]
There’s almost always a cyclical nature to the MLB offseason. It typically begins with a flurry, especially now that Qualifying Offer decisions (and their $20+ million price tags) force the hands of teams within a week of the end of the World Series. Teams often try to get a jump on the offseason and put […]
The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to pivot to new options at third base. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Japanese third baseman Kuzuma Okamoto is signing with the Toronto Blue Jays. Okamoto’s posting window was set to close at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported earlier on Saturday that the Pirates were […]
San Diego Padres free agent target Kazuma Okamoto agreed to a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, Saturday. There were several reports that linked the Padres to the Japanese star, but in the end, he decided to play in Toronto where the 2025 American League Champions appear to be loading up to make a return […]
I wasn’t expecting this, since Kazuma Okamoto seems to profile best at first base. But he will be able to play third (maybe not at Ernie Clement’s level on defense) for at least the next couple of years. In Japan he was a three true outcome hitter. Lots of homers and strikeouts and a good […]
Like Tatsuya Imai on Thursday, Kazuma Okamoto is signing his big league deal one day before his posting window officially expires. According to Jeff Passan , he’s headed to Toronto, where the Blue Jays continue their impressive and expensive offseason. BREAKING: Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a free agent contract, sources tell ESPN. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 3, 2026 The terms of the deal for Kazuma Okamoto...
The Jays signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33 million contract, before the 2025 season, after deciding not to sign Jordan Romano. Romano ended up with the Phillies, Hoffman’s former team, and had 8 saves and an 8.23 ERA in 49 games. It turned out the Jays were right not to sign him. Hoffman had […]
David Cone turns 63 today. Cone had two short stints with the Blue Jays. The Jays traded for him in 1992 at the end of August. We were in first place, 2.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. We were doing alright except for the 5th starter spot. Dave Stieb had the role, but his […]
Unsurprisingly, there is little Jays’ news today. The team signed Josh Winchowski to a two-year minor league contract. Winchowski is recovering from ‘internal brace surgery’. He’ll likely be able to pitch towards the end of this season, but then he should be good to go the second year. He’s a right-handed, 27-year-old pitcher who has […]
The Jays signed RHP Nic Enright to a two-year minor league contract. Generally minor league contracts are one-year but Enright will be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery most of the coming season. Enright turns 29 on January 8th. He’s thrown 31 MLB innings with a 2.03 ERA for the Guardians, all last season. He was […]
Oh, this won’t be fun. The Jays picked up Brendon Little in November 2023, in a trade for cash. Little was a first round draft pick in 2023. He pitched in 49 games in 2024 with a 3.74 ERA, 0.1 bWAR with 1 save, 7 holds and 3 blown saves. Not bad for a guy […]
I fully expect the Nolan Arenado rumor mill to start churning at full blast now that it appears the Los Angeles Angels have a clear path for him to potentially join the team, but there are still so many questions. Let’s start with what we know. MLB Trade Rumors just shared word that the Angels […]
The New York Yankees tied for the best record in the AL East last year, losing out on a division title (and postseason bye) via the tiebreaker with the Toronto Blue Jays. What this should tell you is that the Yankees had a decent enough team, albeit one that had a number of players potentially […]
After signing Adolis Garcia as a free agent, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says he envisions his starting 2026 outfield consisting of Garcia, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Marsh, and likely a righthanded platoon partner for Marsh. But with Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran lingering on the trade market, it’s worth wondering if the Phillies […]
20 Years Ago Well, the Jays made it official on the 27th. We knew about it before Christmas. Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista went to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos came to the Blue Jays. The trade was a surprise because the Jays had Corey Koskie, Shea Hillenbrand, and Eric Hinske […]