Toronto Blue Jays Morning Brew: MLB Free Agency Begins

The Toronto Blue Jays will allow outfielder Rajai Davis among others to explore free agency this offseason. Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays News and Rumors

Ben Nicholson-Smith at Sportsnet kicks off the MLB offseason with a very helpful glossary of hot stove terms as well as a calendar of key dates from now until February.

MLB Trade Rumors released their eighth annual list of the Top 50 Free Agents. Tim Diekers predicts Ubaldo Jimenez will become a Toronto Blue Jay and also links the Jays to possible interest in Robinson Cano, Brian McCann, Masahiro Tanaka, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Scott Feldman, Carlos Ruiz and Josh Johnson.

I linked to it yesterday after the news became official that Josh Johnson would not receive a qualifying offer but in case you missed it I’ll link again. JesseF at Bluebird Banter does a nice breakdown of Johnson’s potential value for 2014 and three different contract scenarios in which the Jays could attempt to bring him back.

And also in case you missed it, the Toronto Blue Jays announced via Twitter yesterday that they will not make a Qualifying Offer to any free agents. Johnson, Rajai Davis and Ramon Ortiz will all hit the open market and free agency has now officially begun as of 12:01 AM EST.

Alex Hume at Blue Jays Plus analyzes the hiring of the Blue Jays new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. The money quote comes from Kansas City Royals blogger Kevin Scobee:

"“Seitzer is the guy you give to a struggling, limited-talent veteran looking to 180 his career. He doesn’t work for much else.”"

Matthew Kory at Sports on Earth predicts that the Toronto Blue Jays have the best chance among the six last place teams to follow in the Boston Red Sox footsteps, who won the World Series only one year removed from finishing in the division’s basement. According to the article, the 1991 Minnesota Twins are the only other team to accomplish the feat. A list that only includes last place teams is not exactly comparing the Blue Jays to the cream of the crop but hey, it’s optimism so I’ll take it.

The New York Times shares something that doesn’t happen very often – Masahiro Tanaka lost a baseball game, which put to a halt his 30-game winning streak. He also threw 160 pitches in the loss, which the article says is unlikely to scare off any MLB suitors but may “make them nervous”. And to top it off, according to the Japan Times Tanaka pitched again the very next day and recorded a save to clinch the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ first ever Japan Series title.