OverDrive - Phillips on the Blue Jays' roster next steps, Bieber's opt-in and the free agency outlook

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays' season overview, Shane Bieber's opt-in for the team and the rotation for the roster, how the group can run it back, the free agency outlook, Toronto being a larger market and more.

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Alpine credits, where homeowners get approved. Just for license 12-616. All right, Steve. Go ahead. Take us through your thought process here. Shane Bieber opting into his contract, $16 million next year with the Jays. Yeah, I have to say, I was pretty surprised by it. I thought Bieber would opt out.

I think there's a market for him beyond the one year at $16 million. And, you know, he couldn't be offered the qualifying offer because he was traded during the season. And so I thought for sure with what we saw the final starts and then in the postseason, I mean, postseason, he didn't be sure he gave up the whole. run, but, you know, out of the bullpen. But he's going to keep getting better, the more removed he is from Tommy John's surgery. Two times a Young Award winner. He's an all-star.

I mean, for me, this is a coup for the Jays to get him to come back for $16 million. I mean, the reality is I thought he might get a two-year, a three-year deal, even at about $20 million per year, that people were willing to go there with him coming back from the Tommy John surgery. And so I think it's a really good one. you know, that they don't have to make up for as many innings as maybe they had to. You know, Scherzer and Bassett, now you can pick and choose.

And I think Eric Lauer for me would be the next guy. I try to bring in and sign. I mean, he didn't make a lot last year, so even if he'd give him a big raise, it's going to be a very reasonable contract. He was more than serviceable for the Js. And so, but this is big. I mean, it's, you know, now to go with Gosman.

You've got to hope that Jose Perios is better and able to come back and with Traya Savage. I mean, it's, it's, it's, It's got a chance to be really nice at the front of the rotation. Steve, what's the secret sauce for someone in a management position dealing with the Blue Jays where there is such a positive vibe right now and moving into next year and not getting sucked into thinking, you know, I got to bring that guy back because he's a part of the mix and that guy back because of age and just having the understanding that it was so good,

but you just can't fall into the trap that the performance will match next year. Like everything will be the same. Right. How do you deal with that? A hundred percent. Yeah, it's an excellent point. It's one that they got caught up in a little bit before, too, thinking, okay, we're going to get people back and they're going to be better. But, you know, what you don't understand is that not everybody's going to have the same season. I mean, you know, I think, I mean, Barger and Nathan Lucas and Ernie Clement and Alejjo Kirk all had kind of career years for themselves. And, you know, the reality is there will likely be some regression toward the mean.

And they're going to fall back a little bit, not all, but some, you know, and my experience is not everybody stays the same. Some do. Some get a little better. Some get a little worse. And so I think you have to consider changing it. It can't be the same. I think the Philadelphia Phillies have gotten themselves in trouble because they keep trying to bring back the same cast. I'm thinking this time it'll work, this time work. And you need to have some new energy. You need to have a new feel. You need to have a new flow to the way things go. And so it's not as simple as let's bring back Bo, let's bring back Beaver, and let's get fast at back in the mix, and let's go try to do it again with the same cast of characters.

I think you need to have some freshness and something different about it going into the next year. And so I'm cool with Beaver. I think it's a really good one for them. They didn't have them all year, so it's not exactly the same as all season long. You've got a guy who really wants to be there, obviously, because I think you You could have made more if he'd gone out to free agency. But I do think that you can't get caught up in doing the same thing. I think about Theo Epstein when he was with the Red Sox back of the day.

He made some really hard decisions. He traded away Nomar Garcia-Para in the year they went to the World Series. He did not bring back Pedro Martinez or Derek Lowe or Johnny Damon. He let them walk. And it was the right move, despite the fact being a really tough thing to do, where I think in the past teams like the San Francisco Giant, they've said, well, let's bring back the guys who helped us win. Let's reward them.

But you're not paying them for what they did. You're paying guys for what you think they're going to do. And if you think they're not going to be as good as they've been or that the market's going to be greater than what you think, that you do have to walk away and find the next guy ready to blossom and go. And so I think there is some, you know, threading of the needle that the Blues Day's front office is going to do. The good thing is, good news is they've got so much flexibility. I mean, if you want to get an outfielder, legit guy, Trey, Kyle Tucker or whatever, okay, then play barger at third and Clement at second.

If you want Bichette back, okay, you can play him at second and go with Jimenez in Clement at third and put barger in the outfield. You know, you've got so many moving pieces. You want a shortstop? great. You move them in as the second and keep Clement at third. And so they really do, they're in a nice spot with that. And getting Bieber in a place keeps them away from being desperate to have to get something done because they've positioned themselves nicely to pick and choose now where they go in the starting rotation. With Steve Phillips, and there really are, you know, a lot of names that are going to be out there,

you know, in free agency. Kyle Tucker obviously at the top and that's going to take a lot of money. but Schwarber is going to be out there. Breggman opted out. He's available. Alonzo opted out. He's going to be available. You know, do you see them, what do you see them looking for offensively? Let's begin there. Do you think it's a power bat? Is it someone, you know, are they as concerned about that? Are they banking on Santon Dare actually having a complete season that's somewhat productive? How do you see them handling that? Because I think what you pointed out is has to be considered, like regression. I throw George Springer into that. Springer just had a career year at 36.

I don't know if George is going to do that again, and Kirk and Barger and Lucas and Clement and if Bichette walks, you know, all of a sudden you look offensively and you think where are they going to find some run production? So do you have anyone in particular or any approach you think they might take? Yeah, so for me, I don't love, you know, Sontan Dair in the outfield, but you've got Springer who ended up having a D8 sum, And so it sort of eliminates the everyday DH from your thought process.

So the swarver guy like that doesn't really fit what they need and where they are right now. And so, but a Kyle Tucker would for me, and Alex Bregman would for me, that if you don't get Bichette back, and I mean, I'd like to try to get Bob Bichette back if I were Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro. I think the market is going to be robust. I think anybody that wants a second base and shortstop or third baseman is going to be in on them. I think if Bregman doesn't go back to Boston, Boston's going to be all over him. You know, he's kind of a young guy that would, a young veteran that would blend in with the young core that they have there and, you know, I think grow with them in the future. So I think I could see him as a second baseman or a third baseman going into Boston and the green monster would play well for him.

And so, you know, but I think that they need to be open to a big position player. and then beyond that, even if it's Bichette, I think, you know, if you can find another guy and then what it does is allows you to trade from a position of depth where if you add a third basement and you add an outfielder, you know, because look, there's talk to Dodgers and want Kyle Tucker, right? And so let's not be, let's be greedy here a little bit. You know, you've got some money coming off the books with Bassett and Scher and those guys. And for me, you just drew 40,000 a game for, you know, the last, you know, 30-some home games, I think that to be able to afford two big bats, it would be really good for this team.

And, you know, whether it's a Tucker or a Bregman or, you know, you're going down the road and trying to find, you bring back Bichette and you get Tucker, I think you have to be an open mind and consider big things right now. And because doing little things is not going to make up for the possible and likely regression of some of the other players on the roster. So, Steve, we were talking about it yesterday and asked this question to the guys who will ask it to you. With this long run and what some of the pieces that are in place, does that make Toronto an attractive place for free agents? You know, we've seen in the past years they've taken big swings at guys, but maybe for a mid-level guy, would they be looking at it? and say, you know what, that's a roster I need to be a part of,

or the city was electric, the country, all of that type of stuff. Does that factor into some of the decisions? It does. So when I traded for Mike Piazza, it made us cool. You know, it made us, like, we were, when I was trying to make trades for guys, in the New York Mets, we were at everybody's no trade list. Nobody wanted to come play for us. But when Piazza played for us, it gave us a sense of credibility of, like,

like, wow, like, he's good playing there. I should really consider that, too. And I do think that this run to the World Series and the engagement of the fans and the players complete buy-in on trying to win for the fan base. And Beaver say, no, I'm going to go back there because I really liked it. Bassett and Scher crying because they, you know, they're going to miss, you know, what was just the greatest experience of their careers. I do. I think that this postseason, in the way that the Toronto City and fan base and franchise played,

how well the players talk about they're treated and taken care of, really is that that is something that other players listen to. And Shane Bieber's wife and other wives and their comments and their post on Instagram, other wives are watching that. because for many of the players who choose not to go to Toronto, it's more because their wife is like, I don't know. You know, it's a different country. For other wives to share a positive experience, it was a long way to other players being open to go to Toronto. Well, we're into the off season.

It comes at you quick, man, and there's going to be a lot more over the next month, month and a half. So we look forward to catching up with you again down the road. Thanks for doing this, Steve. You've got it, guys. No rest for the weary with this. It's right back to getting it done. Ross Akins headed to Las Vegas for the general managers meetings

and ready to start building it up to the roster again for next year. Can't wait. It'll be great. Thanks, Steve. You've got it. Thanks, guys. Steve Phillips are TSM Baseball Insider. The biggest songs in the world.

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