MLB Hot Stove Update: George Springer and Kirby Yates sign with the Toronto Blue Jays

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s officially baseball season. The Blue Jays have been linked to nearly every star free agent this offseason, and they’ve finally landed a big one:

Springer projects to bat leadoff for Toronto, ahead of Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Vladdy, and company. His signing means that Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will handle left field and DH between them, as Springer and Randal Grichuk should cover center and left field duties more often than not. If you were hoping that Alejandro Kirk would be sneaking into the DH slot on occasion, I think you can stop hoping. If you’re drafting Kirk, you’re doing so under the assumption he can beat out Danny Jansen for the starting job. Me, I’m not convinced.

Overall, it’s a great landing spot for Springer. I love him at his current ADP of 55 and I’ll have a lot of him if that price remains static.

The Blue Jays also added Kirby Yates...

Yates had bone chips removed from his elbow in August of 2020, but if he returns to his 2018-2019 form for Toronto, he’ll be a massive bargain. This reads like an excellent gamble for the Blue Jays, as well as a good one for your fantasy team. For reference, Yates was drafted in Round 10 of my current 12-team NFBC50, at pick 119. You’ve got Josh Hader, Liam Hendricks, Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, Raisel Iglesias, and James Karinchak being drafted as “sure things” so far. After that, it’s a free-for-all at closer, and Yates was the next man off the board, just ahead of Ryan Pressly, Nick Anderson, and Taylor Rogers. If you want to acquire his services, that’s the price I think you’ll be paying pretty soon.

The biggest news is this torpedoes Jordan Romano’s value. If you got early shares of Toronto’s incumbent closer, those have taken a big hit.

What say you, sports fans? Do you see any other actionable news related to these two signings?