In an section about the Blue Jays’ upcoming offseason, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet says that the society tried to acquire Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez and Detroit outfielder Robbie Grossman at the craft deadline.

This comment came within the context of a discussion he had with general manager Ross Atkins about the lack of diversity in the Blue Jays’ lineup this season. Atkins stated that the righty-heavy lineup was better when left-handed hitters Cavan Biggio and Corey Dickerson are participating. “It’s not just that they’re left-handed, but how we are attacked and potentially the pitchers that are used is different, ” Atkins said. “Secondarily, we feel it’s important to have balance and not just the same type of hitters up and down your lineup. So some players that are more batting average driven and some musicians that are more on-base driven with plate punish. Having both is exceptionally powerful.”

In the end, the Blue Jays simply supplemented sloping at the deadline, with Jose Berrios being the headline move. In the season’s final months, the squad finished strong and terminated up 91 -7 1, precisely one recreation away behind the eventual Wild Card participants, the Red Sox and Yankees.

Ramirez and Grossman are both excellent hitters, establishing it hardly surprising that Toronto, or any golf-club, would be interested in their services. Both certainly would have helped with the righty-heavy situation, as they are both switch hitters. Grossman is usually better as a righty but still above-average from the left. For his profession, his slash pipeline as a righty is. 273/.367 /. 409, wRC+ of 116, whereas the lefty line is. 241/.346 /. 378, wRC+ of 102. This year, his production as a lefty was slightly higher, coming in at 105 in areas of wRC +. But his creation as a righty was significantly better, coming in at 135 by the same measure. Ramirez, however, is equally excellent from both sides. His career line as a righty is. 292/.351 /. 500 for a wRC+ of 125. As a lefty in his profession, he’s hit. 272/.356 /. 502 for a wRC+ of 127. This time, his wRC+ was 139 as a lefty and 135 as a righty.

It is perhaps worth nothing that both actors are still controlled by their respective sororities, forming it is feasible that whatever busines situations were discussed could be revisited in the offseason, peculiarly is of the view that the Jays are losing the aforementioned Dickerson to free authority, debilitating their already-thin pool of lefty at-bats. Grossman and the Tigers agreed to a two-year deal before this season, leaving 1 year remaining at a stipend of$ 5MM. The Tigers have been rebuilding in recent years, constructing it quite logical that they would consider parting with a veteran actor who is approaching free busines. But on the other hand, after an unpleasant showing in April, they extended 69 -6 6 over the season’s final months and could be looking to add rather than subtract this offseason. And the Jays aren’t specially frantic for outfield cure, given they have George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr . and Randal Grichuk on hand.

Ramirez, for his part, is controlled through for two more seasons via a duo of team options as part of the extension he ratified prior to the opening of the 2017 season. The $11 MM and $13 MM wages for 2022 and 2023 are both absolute bargains for a musician of his stature, making they’re guaranteed to be picked up. However, that likewise necessitates it will be difficult to pry him liberated from Cleveland, even if it’s unclear how vigorous the team plans to be this wintertime. They finished the season with a lackluster 80 -8 2 record, necessitating there could be an argument for selling. But on the other hand, they suffered a large number of injuries to key players, especially in their gyration, and could expect better makes in 2022. Harmonizing to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they likewise had an opening day payroll of under $50 MM this season, lower than it’s been in a decade, implication there shouldn’t be too much desire to strip it down even further. As much as he would slot nicely into a Toronto lineup that has Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal as its best third base options, it should take a tremendous trade package to make it happen.

The Blue Jays, for their constituent, should be able to take on some salary. When asked if the payroll could increase from this year’s $140 MM range, Atkins tells Davidi, “That is our desire and that is our understanding .” That wouldn’t be unprecedented for the Toronto club, as their budget was over $160 MM in both 2017 and 2018, before dip as their recent rebuild picked up steam. Now that they’ve returned to contention over the past two seasons, it stands to reason that they would return to that grade, if not surpass it. They exclusively have about $65 MM committed to next year, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, though that’s before accounting for arbitration creates for musicians like Berrios, Hernandez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr .

Atkins tells Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet that the Jays are looking to add to the infield and rotation, which induces smell given they are losing Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien to free organization in a few weeks. As to whether they have the currency to pull it off, Atkins told Davidi that the Jays could give out a “very significant deal with a lot of term to it, maybe more than one, ” but also tried to tamp down hopes without saying that units “need to have that five- and six-year understanding for what that means for the team and the organization.”

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