Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
When news broke Friday that Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki opted to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, social media immediately turned its attention to the lowly Toronto Blue Jays. Reported finalists for Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto's services, the franchise had again missed out on a prized signing.
Blue Jays fans were, however, handed a consolation prize earlier Friday when the organization acquired outfielder Myles Straw and international bonus pool space from the Cleveland Guardians. The swap notably gave Toronto more international pool money than either the Dodgers or fellow finalists the San Diego Padres could offer Sasaki.
The Toronto Blue Jays lead all of baseball in silver medals, losing out to the Dodgers once again
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 17, 2025
honestly the jays could hoist a “finalist for ohtani, soto, burnes, & sasaki” banner and it’d still be less embarrassing than the one they put up for making the wild-card round as a *7 seed* in a 60-game season
— Joe Wolfond (@joey_doubleyou) January 17, 2025
Blue Jays fans deserve better than this. So many exhausting near-misses & the resulting team just isn’t good enough.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 17, 2025
The Blue Jays after another offseason in which they did next to nothing but came close to signing a lot of good players #BlueJaysInterested pic.twitter.com/C46bJloRqS
— Alex Chippin (@Chippin_13) January 17, 2025
Outside of money there really wasn’t a single thing in the Blue Jays favor when it came to signing Roki Sasaki
— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) January 17, 2025
And if one thing was very clear was that money was not a big motivating factor for him considering he left MILLIONS on the table to post early in the first place
So, I swung and missed on Roki Sasaki, as did the Blue Jays, who should invite Glenn Close to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day. She holds the record for most Oscar nominations without a win (8). The Jays and Glenn Close (as in CLOSE). Every time.
— Dave Hodge (@davehodge20) January 17, 2025
Roki Sasaki just became the Kevin Durant of baseball without throwing an MLB pitch, quite impressive
— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) January 17, 2025
Maybe if Schneider could play the bongos Sasaki would’ve chose us pic.twitter.com/AmIoWrUXT5
— Daulton Varsho Fan (@JaysFan21) January 17, 2025
Roki Sasaki: I'm signing with the Dodgers
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 17, 2025
Blue Jays fans: pic.twitter.com/AGVTlCQ6wz
I’m sorry, Toronto.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 17, 2025
Wouldn’t mind this as much if not for paying to take on Myles Straw’s contract.
— Josh Goldberg (@JGoldberg12) January 17, 2025
If he’s a free agent right now, what’s he getting 2-3 mil maybe on a 1-year deal? Instead you’ve got him for 2 and it counts against the CBT. Rough
Designated for assignment by Cleveland in March 2024, newest Blue Jays acquisition Myles Straw is currently slated to be the team's 7th highest-paid player in 2026 ($7.4 million)
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 17, 2025
Honestly, did we really think Sasaki was signing with the Blue Jays?
— Dave Worlin (@daveworlin) January 17, 2025
Hey, at least we got another guy in Myles Straw to OPS under .600.
Myles Straw pic.twitter.com/u3ICbVFh7M
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) January 17, 2025
