OverDrive - Phillips on Scherzer signing with the Blue Jays, the role with the team and Alonso's team sweepstakes

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the MLB, Max Scherzer signing with the Blue Jays, his role for the pitching group, Pete Alonso's team sweepstakes and the Mets' contract outlook of the players and more.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Steve Phillips our TSN baseball insider. In terms of wins and losses Steve, the addition of Max Scherzer, how much do you think that's worth for the Blue Jays? Well, yeah, it's hard to say, right? I mean, it's going to come down to health.

I heard you talking about it. You know, when he's healthy, I still think he's got a chance to be effective. But you know, he's had a neck thing and a back thing and a shoulder thing over the last few years. But you know, I think his value is not only what he does when he pitches on the mound, but having a guy like this, you know, his even choosing the Blue Jays as a statement right he's a hired gun a mercenary right now and he goes to a place where he thinks he's got a chance to win he wants to get another ring so he's going to place he thinks he has a chance to win he thought

the Blue Jays are one of those teams and so you know I think that that you know he could certainly win double-digit games for them this year Again wins are a byproduct of the team But if he stays healthy in that, you know, the expectation really is to be the fifth starter And I think he's going to exceed that for sure But they don't need them to be the ace and so whatever they get beyond being a fifth starter It's just icing on the cake I think but it's also the impact he has on Gosman and Bassett and Barrios and Abodin Francis

and on Alec Manoa as he rehabs and works his way back, trying to come back before the year's out. Like if Manoa five years from now is pitching well and reflects back on his time that he was with Max Scherzer and was impacted by him, that will be one of the big benefits and I think hopes that the Jays have that this will be a benefit for guys like Manoa down the road. So you just said something. So he chose Toronto and for a chance to win. Like where do you see, from the outside of this market, where do you see the Blue Jays at as far as their signings

and maybe the projection to have more of a winning team from what we saw last season? Right. So the story was that Scherzer and the Jays knew what the money would be. He was waiting for Pete Alonzo to sign. And that would put him over the top to think that Jays had a chance to win. Now remember, Scherzer's agent is Scott Boris. So is Alonzo's, so is Bregman.

Scherzer's signing and choosing the Blue Jays is with knowledge of those other negotiations. And because Boris is at the center of all of it. And so it honestly gives me hope that they're gonna to get one or the other of Alonzo or Bregman. Now, maybe it won't go that way, but, you know, Scherzer waiting and then going ahead and making his decision now, I think is likely an indicator that there's more to come for the Jays.

And so in my mind, they're a hitter away from being a playoff contender. They need either Bragman or Alonzo or both, right? Now, we're hearing that the Vladdy negotiations are getting closer and that, I mean, I don't know what reports believe or not believe that they're at about 450 million. And again, I don't know how reputable the information is on it, but if they're hearing

it from someone, maybe that will get done. So it doesn't mean that they're shying away from Alonzo though. They still seem to be in on it. They'll figure out maybe Vladdy playing some third. I don't love that idea. Alonzo playing first and using the DH role to sort of mix and match where they go. So they need another bat in my mind to truly finish off the job for the year. But they've got a chance to have one of the biggest saves of the year, even before the season begins if they're able to pull this off.

All right. Taking long term, you know, projections out of it simply for 2025, who would you choose and who do you believe would have a bigger impact on this team this upcoming season, Bregman or Alonso? I think Alonso. I think Alonso is gonna go off this year and just absolutely crush the baseball. I do, I think that, like he is, having gotten to know him in New York,

he is, he's a different cat. You know, he's a little Gary Carter-ish in that, you know, he's a little hokey, and you know, sometimes guys roll their eyes, but they still respect him because he goes to the post. Like Francisco Lindor went to ownership in New York and said, we really need Pete back. And so Steve Cullen's back engaging,

whether they get a deal done remains to be seen. But Alonso is, he cares about winning. He cares about a fan base. He cares about his teammates. He cares about, like he takes losses and they hurt. He's a great teammate in a lot of ways. He's just a little hokey. But you know, he loves New York, but it seems like New York sort of shut the door on him.

So if he doesn't go back to New York, he's going to come out this year and try to prove what New York lost. And I think that somebody's going to get them and be the beneficiary of that. So I would say Alonzo for me would be the most, and I think the J's need to focus on offense and not run prevention. Bregman's run prevention, not necessarily run production. He's on base percentage, not slugging and I think the Jays give me some time dare Alonzo Guerrero with Bichette coming back and let it go to war with that I

think got a chance to just absolutely pummel some teams. Hey Steve but you know the fact that the you know that the the Mets and Alonzo have not been able to come to terms here when you consider the resources of Cohen, the Mets owner, and when you consider the goodwill there, there's clearly a real love affair with Pete Alonso and that fan base and perhaps in that clubhouse, to your point about Lindor pushing to bring him back, is that a red flag for the Blue Jays? Like if the Alonso deal isn't good enough for the Mets, like should it be good enough for the Blue Jays? Yeah, here's what happened with the Mets and so Scott Boris effectively promised Alonzo that he was going to get them beyond Freddie Freeman and Matt

Olson and they had business of over 200 million dollars and and so when they engaged teams that needed first baseman, there were a lot of them that needed first baseman. They came out with that being their starting point. For a lot of teams, it's like, yeah, we're not paying a first baseman that kind of money. We're not paying a more one-dimensional guy. Although, by the way, Pete Alonzo's the best

at scooping the ball out of the dirt of any first baseman in baseball, the best. He's the best at scooping and saving errors of any first baseman in the game. But what happened was, everybody assumed that he was gonna be a Met. And that when he came out of the gate looking at 200 million,

everybody's like, first, that's a non-starter for us. And second, anything less than that, we know the Mets are going to match it. So we're not, we're going to, we're going to go away. So everybody went in a different direction because they just assumed he was going to be a Met. And so the Mets had played this out knowing he really wanted to be a Met. He kept telling everybody he wanted to be a Met. And so they were like, why would we chase a number for him? But I think what happened was because they didn't think

anybody else was in, they offered three at 70 as kind of a final offer. It wasn't good enough. Boris decided to wait on it. And then the Blue Jays came in and seemed like they're beyond that number. And so the Mets were like, well, we're not chasing it. We said, this is where we're not going. So I think it's been just a dynamic of the, uh,

the negotiation and uh, there's, listen, he is, I've been around the Mets team a lot and, and his teammates want him back and the fans want him back. And it really comes down to, they don't want to just play this negotiating game and they're frustrated by the process with Scott Boris. You heard Steve Cohen talk about that on their, their sort of fan fest, the amazing day.

And they call it just how frustrating because, you know, the short term deal that that Scott Boris wanted was a three-year deal allowing opt-outs after the first and second year, and when he got opted out, he then wanted to match the pay bonuses when he opted out. And that's like, what are you talking about? If you're gonna leave us, why would we give you a bonus and a buyout

if you're choosing to leave? And so I think there's some frustration there too, and I get it, because Scott can wear you down in a negotiation because when you tell him that doesn't work for us, and then two days later he comes back with the same structure, same proposal, you're like, I just told you that doesn't work.

I'm not negotiating and saying that doesn't work when it does. I'm telling you it doesn't work, but he can just keep coming back at you the same thing and I sent some of that frustration from the Mets. Do you think they can sniff out that like Alonzo's dying to still be a Met though? Like is that your read on the situation that they know Boris is up to his old tricks but they're like it's not gonna work because your client is dying to be a New York Met. Yes I think that there's no

doubt so after that amazing day that they had, where the fans were chanting Alonzo, Alonzo, bring back Pete, bring back Pete, and Steve Cohen said, listen, we've got a very expensive team. We've made a run for Pete. We have respect for Pete. We made a try at it.

It's just these, we're frustrated about the structures and everything else. At that point, from, the word is that Alonzo has told Scott Boris, get me to the Met, get me to the Met. And Alonzo got on a flight and flew from Florida to New Jersey to get to New York to try to go face to face.

And so Steve Cohen re-engaged with conversations, but they don't wanna negotiate against themselves and they keep believing he wants to be a Met. But I think at some point, you know, they started talking about in New York, they talked to the tigers about Spencer Porgelson. They talked to the Orioles about Ryan Mountcastle and they're looking at alternatives right now. And Steve Cohen said, every time we find somebody else new,

it's one less opportunity for Alonzo to be here. So I personally think he should be a Met, and that he should slot in behind Soto, and I don't understand why they don't see that rather obviously, but I do think that it's really just negotiating, but I think there's an opportunity, because if the J's come in at three at 90, I think they get it.

You know, on a short-term deal, I would do that. You know, I would do three at 90 for Alonzo on a short-term deal. And it would give them the highest AAV of a first baseman. It's short-term. I would maybe give them an opt-out after the second year if he wants it.

And that way it protects them with Vlad's negotiation, what he's doing and everything else. protects them with with lads negotiation what he's doing and everything else and I think that 20 million dollar difference is enough to get Alonso to say yes. Man, again listen it's heavy lifting right now but at the end of the day there's been so much noise there's so much negativity directed towards this team this front office in large part because of how poorly they played last year. Shapiro and Atkins have been here for a decade,

never won a playoff game, et cetera, et cetera. But if you find a way to get Alonso Santander, Fladdy's still here, Bichette's healthy, you bring in Hoffman, you bring in Scherzer, Jimenez, you know, like all of a sudden, you're like, that's a lot of turnover. It's a lot of positive turnover. Those are some pretty good ball players, Matt.

Like that's, they're a much better team on paper today than they would have been game 162. It doesn't matter how you feel about Ross Atkins. That's just a reality. That's a win. Absolutely. I mean, and by the way, they've got the fifth highest payroll, so they are spending.

And you know, they've got, remember, they're at like, they're already beyond the luxury tax threshold, the competitive balance tax threshold of 241 or 242 and so you know they're beyond that already and they're thinking about adding more and so and I look what I do appreciate is the acknowledgement of the critical nature of this year for this franchise. That if they didn't put it together to compete for this year and beyond, then it was going to be a rebuild. And, you know, if they don't get the Vlad thing done or not, but if they add and get

Santander and they get an Alonzo and they get a Bregman, it now gives them absolutely good reason to believe they can compete next year too, regardless of what happens with Vlad. Because look, if Alonzo goes to the match, he gets an opt out after one year and then they can't make the deal with Vlad and Vlad leaves, you can go get Alonzo in free agency. He's going to be cheaper than Vladimir Gerov, Jr. He's going to be a 40 home run guy, Alonzo, and you can keep building your team for next year too. So I think that this is so far, they need to finish the job though, right? They need another bat. They can't stop here because they're going to be a bat short. They need that other bat.

Remember, this is an offense. They used to have Piasco Hernandez, Lourdes Gouriel Jr. and Marcus Simeon and Vlad and Bichette. And then it went to Matt Chapman who run prevention, Gouriel left and Gavin Raynault left and then it got Varsho who was good defensively but left and they kept going run prevention, less offense. Run prevention, less offense to the point that it's not enough offense.

And so I, you know, yeah. And so I think they're, they're a battle way from really being able to celebrate it. An amazing off season. Great stuff as always, Steve. Appreciate you doing this. We'll do it again soon. All right, my pleasure guys.

Thanks so much. Steve Phillips, our TSN baseball insider.