#alejandro-kirk

#alejandro-kirk

The Blue Jays' offseason has primarily been focused on run prevention to this point, as the club has added Chris Bassitt to their rotation, Erik Swanson to their bullpen and defensive specialist Kevin Kiermaier to their outfield.General manager Ross Atkins spoke with the media today as part of Bassitt's introduction to the press and said that their focus will now "shift to offensive improvement," per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

The hot stove was busy yesterday, and here are three things we'll be keeping an eye on throughout baseball today:
1. Catching market update The top trade target and free agent are off the board on the catching market, as Sean Murphy is headed to the Braves, and Christian Vazquez is set to sign with the Twins.

Fresh off the heels of an overnight signing, here are three things we'll be keeping an eye on around baseball throughout the day:
1.When will the Correa market heat up?Now that Xander Bogaerts is in San Diego and Trea Turner is in Philadelphia - both on 11-year contracts - Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson are the last two stars standing on the free agent shortstop market.

With a frenzied Winter Meetings in the rear-view mirror, here are some things we'll be watching around baseball throughout the day: 1.After Bogaerts stunner, what's next for the shortstop market?Late last night, the Padres and Xander Bogaerts agreed to a massive 11-year, $280MM deal.While things seemed to be progressing toward a reunion between Bogaerts and the Red Sox as recently as yesterday afternoon, the Padres managed to pry away Boston's longtime shortstop with a huge offer that runs through Bogaerts' age-40 season, wildly surpassing even optimistic predictions; MLBTR predicted Bogaerts would receive a seven-year, $189MM deal.

Yesterday was another late night from the Yankees' perspective, as the Bombers continued their West Coast road trip with game two of their series against the Mariners.However, there was still plenty of baseball that you could've watched prior to that, if you wished.Let's check in on that action and take a look at how some of the Yankees' AL rivals did on Tuesday.

Ryan Mountcastle scored the go-ahead run in the 10th inning when third baseman Matt Chapman's throw hit him in the back on Austin Hays's grounder, and the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 Saturday to become the second team to reach 30 wins."Our guys are really competing every game right now," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

Chicago White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal has not lived up to the contract which made him the highest-paid player in team history when he signed the deal back in 2019.Despite being a solid on-base percentage player who has hit for power in the past, his defense has been a liability and his inability to stay healthy has been a problem.

Alek Manoah's season went from bad to worse on Monday night.The Blue Jays right-hander gave up six earned runs and lasted just one-third of an inning as the Houston Astros dumped Toronto 11-4 at Rogers Centre."[I] understand this game is hard," Manoah said."It's going to kick you in the butt.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a go-ahead RBI double in the ninth inning, leading the visiting Toronto Blue Jays past the New York Mets 2-1 on Saturday.Guerrero's big hit came three pitches after Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.Home plate umpire Charlie Ramos called the first pitch of Guerrero's at-bat, which appeared to land low and out of the strike zone, a strike.

A .600 winning percentage would be good for a first-place position in two of the six divisions in Major League Baseball.It's not even close to top spot in the powerhouse American League East.The Toronto Blue Jays took a solid 24-16 record into Monday's game against the New York Yankees but were closer to the division basement than first place.

Brandon Belt hit a two-run double in a four-run first inning, and the visiting Toronto Blue Jays extended the Pittsburgh Pirates' losing streak to a season-high six games with an 8-2 victory on Saturday night.Jose Berrios (3-3) gave up two runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and one walk as Toronto won its second straight after a five-game skid.