Blue Jays 2012-13 free agency and off-season thread

[StealingSigns]

The GM and winter meetings can't come soon enough....

[StealingSigns]

Important dates, as per MLB.com



OCTOBER 3, 2012
End of 2012 MLB regular season

OCTOBER 5, 2012
Wild Card playoff games

OCTOBER 6-7, 2012
Division Series begin

OCTOBER 13-14, 2012
League Championship Series begin

OCTOBER 24, 2012
World Series begins

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE WORLD SERIES
Eligible players become free agents

SIXTH DAY AFTER COMPLETION OF WORLD SERIES
First day that Major League and Minor League free agents may sign contracts with teams other than their former clubs

12TH DAY AFTER COMPLETION OF WORLD SERIES
Midnight ET, last date for a player to accept arbitration from former club

NOVEMBER 30, 2012
Midnight ET, last date to tender contracts

DECEMBER 3-6, 2012
Baseball Winter Meetings, Nashville, Tenn.

DECEMBER 6, 2012
Rule 5 Draft, Nashville, Tenn.

[wagnall]

I'll really be back into it when the 6th day arrives and the Winter Meetings as well.

[ILDD]

So my wish list for this off-season in rough priority order

1. Starting Pitcher
2. Second baseman
3. Left Fielder
4. Starting Pitcher
5. Designated Hitter
6. Backup Infielder

A nice mix of Free Agents and some trades (one each from Gose/Rasmus, Hechavarria/Escobar and d'Arnaud/JPA) should fill of those holes if AA has a succesful (and very busy) off-season. Should be a lot of fun to watch!

[wagnall]

So my wish list for this off-season in rough priority order

1. Starting Pitcher
2. Second baseman
3. Left Fielder
4. Starting Pitcher
5. Designated Hitter
6. Backup Infielder

A nice mix of Free Agents and some trades (one each from Gose/Rasmus, Hechavarria/Escobar and d'Arnaud/JPA) should fill of those holes if AA has a succesful (and very busy) off-season. Should be a lot of fun to watch!

1-6 looks good, see how much we get. But should be more fun than last off season.

[Sanyo]

I dont know if its going to be fun or stressful. Filling 6 things like that in one season can be very tough without a) overpaying for one or two of those positions or b) trading quite a few assets.

If AA isnt willing to spend and/or ship assets there is no chance?

Am I pessimistic? Yes. Do I have a right to be? Yes. I think its the Jays who have to prove they are finally ready to win and not going to be counting pennies this off-season.

[Kelly Gruber]

As a baseball fan I'm not sure I can stand another dissapointing off-season that leads into a dissapointing season. Hopefully we have a productive and positive off-season. But not holding my breath.

[StayOnBoard]

If there isn't huge movement this year I think AA's chair is going to catch fire.

I love the guy - really do... think he's building the right way, but there comes a time that you HAVE to produce in order to keep your job. Keeping a nice farm system is great and all - but without some W's on the field fans are going to get impatient and stop going to games. Then there little comment about "Come and we'll spend" is going to be a completely moot point.

IMO they HAVE to make a splash this year, likely not a free agent splash (I have my doubts there's any chance at getting Hamilton/Grienke) but they need to make a trade or two for a starting pitcher and a 4 or 5 hitter to help out Jose and EE.

If not.... gonna be a long season....

[Kelly Gruber]

If I hear any correlations to attendace this off-season from management I'll be really dissapointed. The Blue Jays have not sniffed the playoffs in 20 years and are closing out one of the most dissapointing seasons I've ever seen in ANY sport I've followed. You can not expect fans to blindly fill the building in these circumstances.

I think the fans have shown that even if there is a glimmer of competitive hope with this team, the fans will be there. You have the whole country watching. Saying they'll spend money when payroll increases is a cop-out pure and simple. No one can expect there to be a rush to fill up the building with this team any more. 20 years is a long time to be out of the competition.

Just my thoughts, be really dissapointed if attendance is brought up as a reason for not spending this off-season. Enough is enough.

[StayOnBoard]

If I hear any correlations to attendace this off-season from management I'll be really dissapointed. The Blue Jays have not sniffed the playoffs in 20 years and are closing out one of the most dissapointing seasons I've ever seen in ANY sport I've followed. You can not expect fans to blindly fill the building in these circumstances.

I think the fans have shown that even if there is a glimmer of competitive hope with this team, the fans will be there. You have the whole country watching. Saying they'll spend money when payroll increases is a cop-out pure and simple. No one can expect there to be a rush to fill up the building with this team any more. 20 years is a long time to be out of the competition.

Just my thoughts, be really dissapointed if attendance is brought up as a reason for not spending this off-season. Enough is enough.

I completely agree. You can maybe get by saying that when you have young kids all over the field where there's at least excitement - even if you were say... a .500 ballclub.

Toronto is picking in the top 10 this year, they were absolutely awful and there's no denying they need help all over the field. If there's no splashes this offseason there's going to be serious backlash. I can't imagine them doing nothing, I really can't... Im going to be mad if they use injury as an excuse (and they will - guaranteed) but I will happily cancel my season tickets without some sort of optimism. They want to "wait for people to come" fine, wait away and have fun with the empty stadium. I have tickets for the final series and I'm not even interested in going....

[KidDraco]

They can't use the "we want to see a rise in attendance" excuse anymore, because it already did by a very reasonable amount (with a loosing season).

Also, they can't use injuries as an excuse, because everyone on the team is coming back other than the players with TJ (Hutch, Drabek, Perez etc.) These guys are not very significant pieces to the team, because the expectations for Drabek and Hutch are to perform like a 4th/5th starter at best... and we have Loup as our replacement for Perez.

Thus, I am very optimistic that AA will makes some big moves via trades/free agency to make this team a REAL competitor next year.

[jaysforever]

For me the priority is:

1. Starting pitcher
2. Starting pitcher
3. Anything else a bonus

I'd love to see AA add in 2 quality starters, but we know how hard that is with what went down last offseason, so i'm not holding my breath on this one.

The hitting and defense are good, as is the bullpen, so anything else here is more of a luxury compared to the misery of the starting pitching. Outside of Morrow, it's not really clear what we've got for 2013.

[DeRozan10]

What a ****in mess of a season.

I have lost a ton of hope moveing forward

Here's to hopeing for some major changes!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SkyDOME4Eva]

my top two priorities are

1. a #2-3 proven starter
2. a consistent bat in LF or 2b

These two things could possibly put us into the play-offs. With Bautista back healthy, Romero being atleast average and if Alvarez can be a little more consistent. We'd have a way better chance...

[2009mvp]

For me the priority is:

1. Starting pitcher
2. Starting pitcher
3. Anything else a bonus

I'd love to see AA add in 2 quality starters, but we know how hard that is with what went down last offseason, so i'm not holding my breath on this one.

The hitting and defense are good, as is the bullpen, so anything else here is more of a luxury compared to the misery of the starting pitching. Outside of Morrow, it's not really clear what we've got for 2013.

The hitting is good at 1B and RF. The defense is good on the left side of the infield. Not seeing it anywhere else.