Vlad’s launch party just starting
Is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. likely to increase his average and power numbers by much, or are rookie season stats usually a decent guide? — John The Blue Jays haven’t seen the best of Guerrero quite yet. His rookie season was solid enough, but still a bit of a disappointment considering the lofty expectations at the beginning of the year. A slash line of .272/.339/.433 certainly wasn’t terrible, but there’s every reason to believe this is a guy who will post better numbers in the future. The biggest obstacle for Guerrero, outside of fatiguing down the stretch, was not getting enough loft on the ball. The Jays have clear needs in the rotation and have the fewest dollars allocated to the 2020 payroll. Wouldn’t it make sense to go after a big-name starter right now in free agency? Guys like Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler. Next year’s class isn’t as great as this year and we’re one to two seasons away from competing. Spend the money now to get that “ace.” — Josh Toronto currently has a projected payroll of approximately $65 million (U.S.) for next season, including arbitration and pre-arbitration players. In 2021, there is just $18.7 million on the books. There is a unique opportunity for ownership to flex its financial muscle by front-loading deals to sign prime free agents, before the rest of the young core starts making a lot of money. That said, it doesn’t appear to be an approach the Blue Jays are taking this off-season. I am a Dutch Blue Jays fan and follow your columns as much as possible. I understand that they are in the rebuild, but cannot follow the strategy. They were already weak in the rotation and then they trade Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez instead of extending them. Then you get Derek Fisher back, and now they are considering trading Lourdes Gurriel and/or one of the talented young catchers … The Jays seem more like a trading house than a club in rebuild mode. — Gert To be honest, I think most of the trade talk has been overblown. Did the Jays listen when teams came calling? Yes. Did they potentially throw out a couple of names in broad discussions during their search for pitching? Sure, but it doesn’t mean any of it is likely to happen. The Jays need to get creative this winter to fill the holes on their pitching staff. That inevitably leads to some uncomfortable questions about which members of the young core they would be willing to trade to make it happen, but that’s not the top priority. When is something going to happen? — Henry Fair question. The consensus is that the market is moving a bit quicker than it has the last couple of years, but it’s still a far cry from the way things operated five to 10 years ago. Super agent Scott Boras holds most of the cards this winter because he represents most of the top free agents. At some point, he’s going to have to start clearing the board to manage his workload. Gerrit Cole seems unlikely to sign before the New Year, but others such as Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon are candidates to get new deals before or during the winter meetings.