The Offseason: 1/21/2021

The Blue Jays struck a deal the other night by handing George Springer a big ol’ deal of six years at $150 million that might have some ripple effects in Philadelphia.

At the outset of free agency, it felt like Toronto was in on every free agent there was. Everybody was linked to the team because they had money to spend and roster spots to use. They’d have to overcome the issue that is playing in Canada during the pandemic and the exchange rate on money, but those aren’t that big of a deal in the long run. Yet they were rejected by player after player until Springer took the money and ran. Now they’ve probably spent a large portion of their budget on him and may not have much room for another big signing.

This ties into the Phillies as it was thought that the Blue Jays were the last big competition for J.T. Realmuto. It would be natural to connect the dots and figure that signing Realmuto was at this point a mere formality. Let’s just hope there are no “mystery teams” at this point.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• In case you cared, Odubel Herrera is unlikely to return to the team in 2021.
• Matt Gelb ($) gets into the possibilities that the team might be able to spend more than they had anticipated at the beginning of the offseason.

MLB news:

• J.A. Happ signed with Minnesota, signing a one year deal for $8 million.
• The Blue Jays had a day. First, as we saw above, they inked Springer last night and yesterday they thought they also had Michael Brantley in the bag as well. Oops.
• Wade Davis, in what could turn into an underrated signing, went back to Kansas City on a minor league deal yesterday.
• The Angels were in desperate need of bolstering their starting rotation and went out and did so by agreeing to a deal with Jose Quintana.

Rumor roundup:

• Maybe the Blue Jays aren’t done with their bullpen, hoping to give the guys there a helping....Hand.
• The Dodgers might be eyeing Trevor Bauer on a shorter deal.