Rival Executive Says Guardians Fleeced Blue Jays

The disastrous offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays reached another new low when they were left at the alter once again on another star free agent when Roki Sasaki chose the LA Dodgers over them on Friday.

But to add insult to injury, the Jays are now also saddled with the $11.8 million owed to minor league outfielder Myles Straw. That was part of the trade that they made yesterday with the Cleveland Guardians just to get an extra $2 million in international free agent pool money to offer to Sasaki.

Now Jays insider Ben Nicholson-Smith is quoting a rival executive who bluntly stated that the Guardians took advantage of Toronto's situation and fleeced them.

The Guardians knew (the Blue Jays) were desperate. Masterclass to dump off so much money.

Jays GM Ross Atkins took the bait from Cleveland, getting the $2 million extra he thought might convince Sasaki to come north of the border, but now just being stuck with a speedy, defensive outfielder who can't hit, and spent the entire 2024 season in the minors.

And as the executive pointed out to Nicholson-Smith, "the $11.8 million they’ll now spend on Straw could have gone toward another reliever or a bench bat."

Another exec told the Jays reporter, "the optics were terrible."

The Jays are still linked to potential free agent bats Anthony Santander and perhaps Pete Alonso. For Atkins' sake, he desperately hopes at least one of them will take his money.