Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote a piece (subscription required) Friday afternoon that saw him hand out grades for every MLB team’s offseason moves now that this year’s Winter Meetings are behind us.
We all have heard the stories about how free agents have signed deals that now surpass $2B this offseason and we are all familiar with how much of that is thanks to the Blue Jays: $0.
The Yankees kept Aaron Judge, the Rangers shocked the world and landed Jacob deGrom, the Mets signed Justin Verlander, the Phillies Trea Turner and the Padres Xander Bogaerts.
But what about the Blue Jays? Well, there haven’t exactly been any moves made on the free agent front but the club has made one trade so far, sending Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners in exchange for immediate bullpen help and a pitching prospect.
For those of you who don’t have a subscription to The Athletic, this piece is for you. We’re here to break down Bowden’s thoughts without you having to get past that pesky paywall.
Bowden ultimately gives the Jays a “C” grade which is honestly a bit surprising seeing as how there’s been so many rumors but no actual moves made.
He goes on to say that the Jays quiet offseason “makes me think they’re about to make a big splash by acquiring either a starting pitcher or a left-handed hitter”. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Bowden continues, saying that he is not a fan of the Hernández trade, but he understands why they did it, seeing as how Hernández is a pending free agent at the conclusion of the upcoming campaign.
How Bowden gave the club a “C” just to say they haven’t made any free agent moves and the single trade they made is no good is well beyond me. I can’t say I would give Ross Atkins and Co. anything higher than a “C” and I’m sure there are many of you that would go much, much lower with their own grades.
Next. One Blue Jays free agent target nobody is talking about. dark