Blue Jays: The non-tender deadline is at 8pm EST

The Blue Jays will have a couple decisions to make about tendering contracts to rostered players, such as Tom Koehler, Aaron Loup, Ryan Goins and more.

It’s been a snooze fest so far this offseason when it comes to Blue Jays news, but we’ll learn something about next year’s roster, no later than 8pm EST today.

The Blue Jays and the rest of baseball are faced with the non-tender deadline at 8pm EST today, and the club will have decisions to make on a few players. Among them, Tom Koehler, Ryan Goins, Aaron Loup, Ezequiel Carrera, and more.

There are others who would theoretically be eligible as well, but the above mentioned names are the ones that I would consider to be on the bubble to varying degrees. Goins, Loup, and Carrera have long been bargains for the Blue Jays, but each are entering arbitration are are about to start earning a little more dough, and thus cutting into the payroll more than they have in the past. MLBTradeRumors.com has them projected as:

Carrera- 1.9 million

Loup- 1.8 million

Goins- 1.8 million

Koehler is a different story, and is perhaps the most likely to be non-tendered before the deadline. he’s projected to get a raise to around six million in 2018, and the Blue Jays will likely deem that too expensive for a depth arm. They may offer him a contract to return at a cheaper rate, but it’s hard to imagine them paying six million for his services.

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When it comes to the other three, there’s a decent chance all of them could be tendered a contract. Carrera isn’t the sexiest outfield option, but as things stand right now the Blue Jays may be reluctant to let him go without having any other depth in place. They’ve also long had a fondness for his skillset, and as a fourth outfielder he’s probably find.

Goins will likely be offered a contract, mostly because the Blue Jays will need him to provide depth behind their keystone as things are currently constructed. Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis combined to play just 116 games this past season, which forced Goins into nearly full time duties. His fellow utility man, Darwin Barney, is a free agent, so unless the front office is confident they can bring in a solution or two at shortstop/second base, expect Goins to be retained.

Loup is the most interesting case to me, as he’s long been a source of frustration for me and several other Blue Jays fans. Left handed pitching is hard to come by, so there’s always value there, but he’s been an inconsistent performer for several years. By the numbers he was better in 2017, posting a 3.75 ERA in 57.2 innings pitched, but his WHIP was also a career worst 1.526. With just Tim Mayza and Matt Dermody occupying the depth chart for left handed relievers, they may keep him around for now anyway, but we’ll see how things play out.

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One way or another, the front office will be forced to make some decisions by no later than today, and hopefully that’ll kick things into gear as the calendar flips to December.