Blue Jays: Things are not always what they seem

The Toronto Blue Jays were rumoured to be pursuing free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia as well as being forever linked to outfielder Jay Bruce, however, things are not always what they seem in the world of hot stove speculation and prognosticating.

Rumours often snowball and take on a life of their own due to the convenience and reaching power in today’s world of social media. We often construe rumours for reality much like the recent case in point involving Yankees free agent hurler CC Sabathia.

The Jays were rumoured to have interest in the veteran pitcher as many weighed in on how Sabathia would be the perfect addition to the Jays rotation in the fifth spot. There was the previous relationship between Mark Shapiro and Sabathia from their Cleveland days and next thing you know the hot stove is burning up.

Days later after the news broke, Sabathia re-upped back with the Bronx Bombers for the 2018 campaign and the rest is history. Sabathia appeared on the Players Tribune podcast yesterday and shed some light on how close he was to joining another team when asked him if he could envision pitching to this Yankees lineup.

"No, absolutely not. That’s why I wouldn’t have went to the Blue Jays. If I’m going to be in the East, I’m going to be on the best team. I’m not coming into Yankee Stadium and getting my ass kicked."

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From his response, it does not appear like Toronto was ever an option for the 37-year old but millions of tweets were wasted discussing the idea ad nauseam.

Next case in point was the free agent pursuit of outfielder Jay Bruce as the Jays have been linked to Bruce since a potential swap for Michael Saunders went by the wayside. Almost daily this offseason some expert tweeted that Toronto and Bruce were destined to be together and the Blue Jays were the frontrunner to sign the outfielder.

Then last night, Bruce signs a very pedestrian 3 year deal for a modest $39 million to return to the New York Mets. You would have to assume that if the Jays had a legitimate interest in Bruce they could have at least matched and probably beaten $13 million per season for his services. Once again, just because you hear it, doesn’t mean it is always true.

Next: Blue Jays: Five under the radar prospects for 2018

I know we all get cabin fever during the winter months, myself included, wishing for something to happen but these two examples are a nice reminder that things are not always as they seem when attempting to speculate the landing spots of free agents.