The Jays are going HUGE...

One year ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were in Game 7 of the World Series. They lost it to the Dodgers. And of course, one year later, they had the worst offense in the entire MLB. And ahead of what's going to be an extremely busy month of November, a new report just dropped from Ken Rosenthal revealing the Jays... They're going even bigger than we initially thought as they're going to be very active, specifically involving one name that fans aren't talking about enough and certainly has a polarizing name and he's an outfielder. We're going to break down exactly what the report is, discuss what all this means. Going forward as folks, things are picking up pretty quickly with reports revealing that action is starting as soon as tomorrow. Let's start with a report from Ken Rosenthal. So he came out on foul territory and said, I expect the Blue Jays to be active. Now, of course, everyone expects the Jays to be active. Now, he continued and said they were 19th in OPS from the outfielders last season. Yes, 19th for a team that was one win away from a title the year before. And his exact words were, it's okay, but they need more. They know they need more. And he called Toronto quite a logical fit for the top outfielders on the market. Now, this report was back on Tuesday, but since then, we've heard multiple reports from Sean Devitty, Ben Nichols-Smith, everyone saying that they're going to be very active. Ben Nichols-Smith going as far as kind of to say that they know they're going to spend pretty big here and it's the year to be aggressive. But Ken Rosenthal linked. The Jays, to a very polarizing name, which is Randy Arozarena. And now I know a lot of you guys are thinking, and I'm going to dive into my thoughts on it and what the actual full report is. But first, I just want to rewind a little bit to last season. Keep in mind, the Jays team, they had a 691 OPS. Vlad only hit nine home runs, and no Jays hitter even got to a three wins above replacement. And the outfield is about to get thinner. George Springer is probably not going to return. Of course, they traded Dalton Varsho at the deadline. You have Brett Bateman, but how much faith do you have in him? At the end of the day, George Springer, he finished with a 726 OPS. They brought in Jesus Sanchez last year to try to fix it. Myles Straw's probably gone as well. When you look at all the OPSs, not very good. Randy Arozarena, he had an 865 OPS last year, which was significantly higher than every single one of them. The Jays definitely need an outfield bat, and he's the piece that actually does fit into the team. And the reason he's such a big target is because of how he actually plays the game. This 865 OPS was the best of his career. That was, of course, his sixth full season. He scored 113 runs, which was the second most in baseball, but he also stole 26 bases to go with his 26 home runs. Baseball Reference, they had him at nearly a six win above replacement, which was also a career best, and he did it on a Mariners team that was pretty underwhelming, finishing 10 games below 500 and they've completely shaped up their front office and their, of course, coaches. He wasn't just a lefty masher. He had a .957 OPS against left-handed pitching and an .827 against righties. At this point, he's shown to be an everyday player who is pretty decent in the outfield, steals bases, hits home runs, mashes lefties. It's almost exactly what this team needs. He's gone now, 20 homers and 20 steals, six years in a row. Over the last four seasons, he's hit 96 home runs. Vladdy hit only 88. It's not necessarily a shot of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It just kind of shows the type of power that A, this Jays team is missing, and B, the type of power that Randy Arozarena can give. But the obvious question of this is whether or not a 31-year-old can continue to sustain this because he's been pretty up and down. He certainly had a down year before, and it wasn't that long ago. And that's why a lot of people are wondering if this is a kind of just a contract year, insane season last year, if this is sustainable. Because in 2024, his OPS dropped down to 720. When you dive deeper, some of 2026 was definitely luck. His average on balls in play, so his BABIP was 333, which is significantly better than his 317 for his career. So it's a little bit of luck, but it's not a full-on fluke because there was real change to his approach, and it was a strikeout. So he went from 191 in 2025 all the way down to 145 this past year, and that's very, very impressive. And keep in mind, that's with basically the same amount of appearances at the plate. His on-base percentage jumped from a .334 to a .381. He walked 68 times, fewer strikeouts, more walks. His approach changed, and I think that's why the Toronto Blue Jays are being linked to him so much. Of course, we're all very familiar with him. 2020 wildcard series. He had the playoff Randy insane nickname be kind of born. If you want to call it that he went four for eight. He was insane. He kept going that October hit 10 home runs. The most anyone has ever hit in a single postseason in the World Series that year against the Dodgers. He homered in three to the six games. He is very, very good. We think back to last year against the Jays in game seven of the ALCS. It was, you know, it was a pretty crazy game. So he's already seen what Rogers Center is like in October. He's seen it from the other dugout. The question is. Does he make more sense than a guy like Seiya Suzuki? And that's where I become a little bit more hesitant because he is 31 and Seiya Suzuki is 32, but he's never hit free agency before. But let's talk about what he's going to cost. Now on November 2nd, the Mariners gave him a qualifying offer, one year, 23 million. He's going to turn it down. And keep in mind that comes with a catch for Toronto as because the Jays paid the luxury tax, signing him would cost them their second and fifth highest picks in the 2027 draft, plus $1 million of international bonus pool money. Now Bleacher Report projects his deal at five years, 140 million, which is about $28 million a year, which would bring him into his around age 37 season. Spotrac has it a little bit lower, five years, 127 million. So for a team that's not afraid to spend, I don't think the money is the problem. The bigger thing will be whether or not they want to use it on a guy like Randy Arozarena. Something to keep in mind here, and obviously it's not comparing apples to apples, but last season, obviously the Jays offered Tucker 10 years, $350 million. He declined. Bo Bichette, they offered him some money. Keep in mind, I'm not comparing these players to Randy Arozarena, but there might be an interesting scenario here where if they are after Randy or Arozarena, or even say Suzuki for that matter, it might come down to You know, length, opt-outs, things like that, where the Jays have been a little bit more stingy in the past. Now, they've still went big. They got Dylan Cease at seven years, 210. Kazuma Okamoto, four years, 60. And, you know, obviously the Vladdy extension. But keep an eye out for what actually will get this done and what Randy Arozarena is looking for. Because the front office has shown it will spend. And out of the names we've discussed, now, Ken Rosenthal will also link, say, Suzuki to the Blue Jays. But out of the names we've discussed here, Keep in mind, Arozarena is probably the easier one to get compared to, say, a Suzuki just because of the variance in his production. There's an interesting comparison here we can kind of bring. It's all the way back to 2021. Jays signed 31-year-old outfielder George Springer, who had just turned down a qualifying contract to a six-year, $150 million deal. And very similar situation in the sense that the Jays still had to give up their second-highest draft pick. And it's a very similar price to what Randy Arozarena will pay. Now, I think at the time, George Springer was a better player than Randy is right now. But with inflation and all that, it is a unique situation because obviously Randy's a very good playoff performer. And is he what this team needs? And when you look at mashing lefties, sure. When you look at being a speedster, sure. I just still prefer, say, a Suzuki. Which, before I move on, keep in mind, Ken Rosenthal, within that report, said they're also very interested in Seiya Suzuki. So there's been a ton of reports about Seiya Suzuki, about Randy Arozarena. Can they get both of them? Probably not, but you never really know. And keep in mind, with all this, the Jays are positioned better than almost anybody in the league outside of a couple other teams to make some big splashes. The Jays won't be the only team calling on Randy. Bleacher Report ranks the Phillies first among his best landing spots with the Red Sox second and the Jays third. Jim Bowden lists him as a fit in left field for Philadelphia. There's been some rumblings with Atlanta. He actually would make a lot of sense in Boston. You have, of course, the Green Monster over there. You'd be facing him 13 times a year. I'm hoping if he doesn't land in Toronto, which I still am not super sold on, I would prefer him not landing in the American League East because at the end of the day, we've seen that story before with the Rays, and he's a very good player. And he does reportedly live in Tampa and would rather stay on the East Coast. So Toronto checks that box. Rosenthal's first name for Toronto, though, like I mentioned, was actually Seiya Suzuki, calling him a natural fit for the Jays. So it seems very obvious that that's a good fit. And Suzuki, for comparison, 26 home runs with the Cubs, 841 OPS, doesn't really steal bases a year older, but I just think is a little bit more reliable there. Now, you could maybe go after both of them. They do. You could argue have a couple holes in the outfield, especially with the Anthony Santander stuff that's been going on. So I want to ask you guys, would you guys go after both? Who would you pick between Seiya Suzuki or Randy Arozarena? At the end of the day here, ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a massive, massive. Um, off season. And apparently it's going to start tomorrow. Like really start picking up. It's clear. The Jays are going all in here. I mean, the biggest reporters in the book, and I've been covering this team for years, the biggest reporters in the books are going after and saying, okay, the Jays are going to go after say, Seiya Suzuki, every single reporter that I've seen talk about Seiya Suzuki has said, the Blue Jays make the most sense. So I wouldn't be surprised if they get him. Do they go after both? I don't really know how that would fit. Do you rock an outfield of like, say, Seiya Suzuki, Brett Bateman and Randy Arozarena? What happens with Addison Berger? Do you platoon him? There are a lot of questions here, but at the end of the day, comment down below if you think the Jays are going to go get both of them or out of the two, who would you prefer?