Toronto Blue Jays Morning Brew: Free Agents, Trades, Budgets and Billions

Should the Toronto Blue Jays just say no to the free agent pitching market and

this offseason? Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays News and Rumors

Welcome to the Morning Brew, which is our (sometimes) daily post featuring the latest news and rumors about the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jay Blue leads us off at Blue Jays From Away and says that Toronto should just say no when it comes to the free agent pitching market this offseason.

Baseball America introduced the 2013 Minor League Free Agents yesterday and Mr. Blue also gives an overview at BJFA of notable eligible players from the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Ian Hunter at Blue Jays Hunter says that the Blue Jays will need to spend to contend in 2014 but the key won’t be exactly how much but rather the players they choose to spend it on.

MiLB.com was the first to announce that two Toronto Blue Jays swept the weekly Arizona Fall League awards. Andy Burns was named player of the week after he had a .538 batting average, with five RBIs, three runs, three doubles, four walks and two stolen bases in week four. Drew Hutchison was named pitcher of the week and has pretty much dominated in each one of his appearances. His WHIP and ERA are both 0.57 and is only allowing 5.17 baserunners per nine, all of which lead AFL starters.

J.P. Breen at RotoGraphs asserts that Edwin Encarnacion has a real chance to be a MVP candidate in 2014.

JesseF at Bluebird Banter evaluates the Blue Jays trade with the Miami Marlins. (Warning: Findings may disturb you)

Tom Verducci at Sports Illustrated gives us three reasons why the baseball manager’s role has changed so dramatically. What Verducci says I agree with – GM’s are the new stars, not managers.

The Motley Fool says that the Toronto Blue Jays could potentially be worth quite a bit more than the $950 million that Bloomberg valued the team at a few weeks ago. Rogers Communications has released its third quarter earnings and notes that operating revenue within the Media division is up, which Motley says was helped by revenue growth at Sportsnet to go along with previously reported higher attendance figures.