And the Winner Is...

Stop the presses, hold that tweet. The Toronto Blue Jays have won the offseason. That is, if reports of the Jays signing outfielders George Springer and Michael Brantley are true, and there’s no reason to think otherwise. Oh, the folks at MLB.com, Thomas Harrigan in particular, are probably happy beyond belief. The Jays actually followed Harrigan’s encouragement to go big. Shame on you for not beating Toronto to the punch, Mets’ front office. You guys still have a front office, right? Then again, New York could argue they’re the ones who won the offseason by trading for shortstop Francisco Lindor and signing free-agent catcher James McCann. The Mets might also point out that the Jays have just added some seriously veteran talent at serious cost. The 31-year old Springer reportedly signed a six-year, $150 million deal while the 33-year old Brantley may want in the neighborhood of three years at the same $16 million per he earned last season with Houston. Not my money. Hey, here’s a thought—lock the Jays and Mets in a room with free-agent starter Trevor Bauer. Whichever team signs Bauer gets declared the official winner of the offseason. Then, maybe a few weeks later, we could start an actual season where the winning officially counts.