Well, the flood gates sure opened up today. The Jays have added their fifth starter, while some notable names came off the board.

Transactions:

Unlike yesterday morning’s article, I won’t be covering every single transaction that took place on Saturday. Just the notable moves.

Yusei Kikuchi to the Blue Jays:

I wrote about this shortly after this broke. If Pete Walker can help fix Kikuchi’s game, the 3 year, $36 million contract may come off as a steal. Furthermore, the Jays look to have one of the best starting rotations, except for maybe the Mets.

Luke Maile to the Guardians:

Former Jays’ catcher Luke Maile has signed with the Guardians. I only bring this up because I bought a child sized Luke Maile jersey (accidentally back in 2018, as it was an inside joke between my editor and I. Nothing for the best for the Maile man, as he always delivered.

Chris Bassit to the Mets:

We’ve acquired RHP Chris Bassitt from Oakland for RHP Adam Oller and RHP J.T. Ginn. pic.twitter.com/yCdDk9oEPr

— New York Mets (@Mets) March 13, 2022

So, this wasn’t a signing, but it’s still notable. The Mets traded two right handers, Adam Oller and J.T. Ginn to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Chris Bassitt. The Mets now have a starting rotation of Jacob DeGrom, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and former Jay, Taijuan Walker.

The last two didn’t have a great season, but the first three pitchers in that rotation are crazy.

Isaiah Kiner-Falefa to the Twins, Mitch Garver to the Rangers:

Catcher Mitch Garver is headed to the Rangers in the deal for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 12, 2022

Kiner-Falefa is a good defensive shortstop who can occasionally hit for power as he had eight home runs in 2021. Garver, a catcher, is looking to find his 2019 form where he hit 31 homers for the Twins, more than every other season combined. Garver hit 13 in 2021.

Joe Kelly to the White Sox:

I doubt the Jays were ever in play to sign the right hander who has recently transitioned to the pen, but the White Sox added another good bullpen arm. They had previously signed former Jays prospect, Kendall Graveman, former Jay, Liam Hendricks and closer Craig Kimbrel. The White Sox bullpen is arguably the best in baseball.

Rumours:

There are a fair bit of rumours, but we’ll focus on Blue Jays related rumours.

Villar and the Jays:

I won’t lie, this has been a mess. Hector Gomez announced that Villar had turned down a one year, $6 million dollar contract from the Jays. Then he “uno” reversed us and said that Villar had not turned down the contract. At this point, who knows if the Jays are even interested in him.

Blue Jays “active” in the market:

Per a Shi Davidi article, the Jays are looking to add an infielder (Jose Ramirez? Matt Chapman? Carlos Correa?), relief help (Andrew Chafin? Kenley Jansen?) and a left handed outfielder (Kyle Schwarber?). This is all speculation, but the Jays have shown a willingness to throw the big bucks around.

Top free agents remain available:

I mentioned in yesterday’s round up that Freddie Freeman would likely make his decision in the next 24 hours. He has yet to make his decision, but it’s likely between the Braves and the Dodgers.

Carlos Correa, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and other top free agents haven’t signed yet, so the best is yet to come.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. Hopefully some more news will break tomorrow morning, as I really want Jose Ramirez on this team.