[Matheson] I don’t view the Okamoto deal as taking the Blue Jays “out” of anything, Tucker and Bichette included. You can’t be out of a market you don’t know the cost of yet. They, like everyone else, are waiting on the right prices. They’re moving like big dogs and should continue to.

33 comments

  1. Good deal signing Okamoto, now re-sign Bo.

    You’d have to bench or move one of Barger/Varsho/Springer/Santander if you added Tucker, whereas if you re-sign Bo all that does is turn Clement into a superutility guy, which he’s perfect for.

  5. If Okamoto goes to 3B, Barger to RF, Ernie to 2B, and Andrea Gimenez at SS, where does Bichette go?

  9. This is a nothing tweet but the situation has changed completely.

    If no other signings are made it’s Barger OF, Clement 2nd. If you want clement super utility you can have Bo sign at 2nd. You can’t sign Bo and Tucker because then clement and barger ride the bench and sure Bo and Tucker are upgrades, but it just wouldn’t make sense.

  10. Barring a trade it likely takes us out of signing both of them. But one or the other would still be huge and possible. Could also see Atkins make a trade for a closer which could open up a path to sign both of them

  11. Springer is also a FA after this season. Someone is going to get injured. We may have a backlog now but with injuries and possible down years for some guys who played out of their minds last year this kind of jam is good.

    Sign Bo, Sign Tucker. George retires. Santander moves to full time DH. Varsho is also a FA and a Boras client which means he’s also going to FA. It will sort itself out even if it feels clogged up.

  13. If you expected Tucker and Bichette then this move will confuse you. But I was always under the assumption we would get one or the other and this deal doesn’t stop that.

  14. people are very down on Santander. last season was an injury season. if he is healthy and plays his game he is dangerous. that’s why Jays signed him in the first place. He is Edwin Encarnacion lite.

  17. This is lame of me to say I know, but all these big moves make me feel bad for the special team we had last year. Like I don’t see Lukes and Schneider and all those role players having much of a role anymore.

  19. Fangraphs has a pretty reasonable looking depth chart out with Okamoto with 13 obvious guys we have now (and a bunch of fringe use guys because injuries happen etc.)

    [https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=14](https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=14)

    Signing Bo or Tucker basically means we end up using options and more ruthless platooning. Guys might not be playing the absolute best position and playing less.

    We know John loves using his bench, and we would have lots of choices. Keep doing what we were doing last year with guys ready coming in off the bench.

  24. Heart says Bo, brain says Tucker, another body part says both + Bregman for kicks.

  25. Bring in the other two, I say! Rogers needs to reach into those deep pockets and reel em both in.

  26. The way I see it is that Okamoto is a slim enough upgrade over Ernie/Barger that if it took them out on both Tucker and Bo then Ross wouldn’t have signed him.

  27. I don’t expect this to be a popular take but…

    Signing Okamoto doesn’t take us out of the running for Tucker or Bo. It does, however, make the marginal returns on those signings dubious. With 3B occupied Barger remains in the OF. Adding Tucker, a 4-5 WAR player, crowds out Santander, a 2-3 WAR player. That’s a win accretive acquisition but at a 35m AAV, with luxury tax implications, the value equation is skewed to a point where the move seems unlikely. Bringing Bo back means pushing Clement, a 3 – 3.5 WAR player, into a utility role. It also makes our infield defense moderately weak, which would be an out of character move for Atkins. This approach seems more likely but it’s not the cleanest of clean fits either.

    I wouldn’t be stunned if we brought back Bo or even signed Tucker, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if Okamoto ends up being our last major FA signing of the off season. Santander, Varsho, Barger is a solid outfield. Okamoto, Gimenez, Clement, Vlad is a respectable infield, especially defensively up the middle. We’re in a good place relative to the final luxury tax threshold. We’ve shored up our pitching and filled out our roster while bringing in some foreign revenue. Nothing is certain, but what we have now could very well end up being the team.

  28. This has the 1993 run written all over it. We balked at the Winfield signing (I mean we had Joe already!!) and numerous other decisions (Pat Hentgen moving into a starting role as one example).

    The front office, management, and field are working like a clockwork organization should (see: LA Dodgers, 2025 New England patriots much to my chagrin as a Bills fan).

    This has every making for longevity and if it doesn’t lead to WS this year, it will.

  31. Matheson has been saying both Bo and Tucker was unrealistic for weeks. Today did not change anything in that regard.

  33. Jays are practically out of the race with Tucker, Bregman, but highly likely will get Bo back. If Tucker wanted to be a Bluejay, it would’ve been done weeks ago.

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