Blue Jays strike back after being harshly roasted by MLB analysts about Roki Sasaki

It was a rough start to the weekend for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. They went from cautious optimism when the Blue Jays were said to be one of three finalists for Japanese ace Roki Sasaki, to heightened intrigue when the Blue Jays added some international bonus pool money, to downright heartbroken again when Sasaki picked the Dodgers.

Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson Smith said it best: “Blue Jays fans deserve better.”

He’s right, and it’s not just Toronto media making that point over the last week.

A handful of MLB analysts were harsh in their criticisms of the Blue Jays ever since they were named as ill-fated finalists for Sasaki. The guys on The Windup roundtable episode from Jan. 15 didn’t think Toronto was a legitimate destination for Sasaki from the get go.

“Apparently the Blue Jays are on there as a dare, or a prank or something,” said host Grant Brisbee.

Blue Jays get last laugh after Roki Sasaki chase called a "prank"

Brisbee, along with Andy McCullough and Chandler Rome, went on to talk about how much they do like Toronto, but aren’t enamored with how the front office has approached the roster the last few years.

“It seems like the idea of trading Teoscar Hernández a few years ago to focus on run prevention did not have the effect that they were hoping for,” says Brisbee.

“You look at the roster and their lineup looks like a split squad compared to the other teams in the AL East. They can’t just keep being runners up for all these marquee names,” says McCullough, “How do they sell to their fans that they are serious when they keep finishing as runner ups?"

Speaking of being the runner up, over on the Locked On MLB podcast, host Paul Francis Sullivan compared the Blue Jays to movie from the 1980s called ‘The Last American Virgin.’

It’s a story where the main character Gary is in love with Karen and does everything for her, but she’s in love with the character Rick, even though Rick is a horrible person.

“What happens at the end of the movie is Karen gets back together with Rick and Gary is left crying wondering why Karen will never love him. The Blue Jays are Gary – they can’t find anyone to take their money,” says Sullivan.

“It seems like the last few years, the Blue Jays are willing to throw money around, but nobody wants to go there. It makes me wonder if this organization is a little bit rudderless. All that money that you were willing to spend on Ohtani and Sasaki and Juan Soto, put it in a Brinks Truck and back it up to Vladimir Guerrero’s house and say, ‘We are going to put a team around you’. At least then you have your foundation set!”

Brisbee noted on the pre-Sasaki show that maybe it’s time for the Blue Jays to just go crazy and spend on everyone and anyone that will take their money.

“I think Rogers Communications just needs to make the pivot and just say, ‘Alright, we’re going to sign Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, we’re going to get everybody that’s still available'. They could do that and they're one of the few teams, I think in baseball, where it would make more sense for just this mighty conglomerate that owns a country to spend money and just do something to keep the fans entertained.”

On Monday, the Blue Jays did just that, finalizing a five-year deal for Santander in a market filled with four-year offers. It took a little extra lifting, but Jays fans got the "better" they deserved by adding a real slugger to start a fresh week. Now, let's see how far they'll go before spring training.