NEWSLETTER
The Blue Jays have been one of the few teams this offseason who’ve been connected to a number of free agents and trades, owing not only to their young core and competitive roster, but also to the fact that they’ve more or less said they’re willing to spend.
Thus, after missing out on one-year trade piece Francisco Lindor, maybe they’d try to add a different one-year piece?
Apparently they’ve discussed it with the Cubs but not recently:
Sources: The #BlueJays, still seeking a major offseason move, are among the clubs that have checked with the #Cubs on Kris Bryant, but there haven’t been active talks between the teams in recent weeks. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 11, 2021
The interest makes sense (we’ve talked about it before), given all the above and the ease with which the Blue Jays could pop Bryant at third base and let Vlad Guerrero, Jr. man first base/DH. Bryant could wind up a significant add for the Blue Jays in a winnable AL East, and given the theoretically low acquisition cost, I don’t really see any issue in them putting together a package that the Cubs would accept if they accept Bryant’s full pay. (Insert any sighing here.)
But with arbitration exchange looming on Friday, like I’ve said, I don’t know that the Cubs are going to find a receptive market right now if they don’t already have something specific percolating on Bryant, per the rumors this weekend. And if they do, it sounds like it isn’t the Blue Jays.
I always think about the meta in these kinds of reports, too. Why is this coming out now? Who spoke to whom? Whose agenda is served?
To be honest, I don’t have a perfect theory, but it could be pretty simple. The simplest explanation would be that there was all that heat this weekend about Bryant and the Cubs, so Morosi reached out to a source with the Blue Jays to see if they were involved, and this is what came out. There might not be a grand scheme at work on this one.
