What is needed next year so that the Jays keep winning?

[L54]

Cause he fields like s***. His only ability is his arm.

 

It's not very fair to compare his ability in the OF to his ability at 1B.

[King]

Danny Valencia is a very good corner infielder bench piece. Too bad we DFA'd him.

[THANOS]

We have some pretty good value that could be redundant at the end of the year: Pompey/Pillar/Revere/Saunders/Hague; Smoak/Colabello (both of we move Jose to DH); Goins/Travis

 

Some of that along with Sanchez and Greene/Reid-Foley should be used to try and net Carrasco or Kluber. Both should cost around the same with Carrasco still unproven for more than 2 years and 29 years old in 2016, while Kluber is coming off a bit of a down year conventionally.

[BTS]

Danny Valencia is a very good corner infielder bench piece. Too bad we DFA'd him.

 

Yeah, that's a painful casualty of the payroll cap this year.

[FireAlexAnthopoulos]

- A real ace instead of a choking dog pretending to be one

- Rotation depth

- A manager with a functioning brain

[Terminator]

This team is going to kick ass next year. A decent offseason and we will be the favorites to win the AL.

[intentional wok]

- A real ace instead of a choking dog pretending to be one

- Rotation depth

- A manager with a functioning brain

 

Although I don't necessarily agree, I'll grant you the third one.

 

But the Blue Jays have everything else on your list. The Blue Jays are good enough to win the World Series. There is no "top" to get over. The playoffs comes down to who has the best or luckiest runs on a week-by-week basis.

 

Were the Texas Rangers too s***** to make it to the second round?

 

No, they weren't. They had a nightmare inning that cost them the season.

 

There's nothing that can be done except work hard to build a 162-game calibre team that will win 92+ games and earn another shot at the post-season.

 

That's it. There's no postseason formula. It doesn't exist. The game of baseball doesn't change with the stakes.

[jaysblue]

Sorry but this team badly needs a quality left handed bat.

 

Chris Davis is a FA...

[jaysblue]

This team is going to kick ass next year. A decent offseason and we will be the favorites to win the AL.

 

I agree. Though don't count out Boston or the Rays bouncing back, along with the Yankees being a force as well. Blue Jays should be the favourites, though s*** happens as we've seen in the past. Jays blowing close games they should win, injuries to core players, etc. Hopefully AA shows some of his magic this offseason.

[art_vandelay275]

Although I don't necessarily agree, I'll grant you the third one.

 

But the Blue Jays have everything else on your list. The Blue Jays are good enough to win the World Series. There is no "top" to get over. The playoffs comes down to who has the best or luckiest runs on a week-by-week basis.

 

Were the Texas Rangers too s***** to make it to the second round?

 

No, they weren't. They had a nightmare inning that cost them the season.

 

There's nothing that can be done except work hard to build a 162-game calibre team that will win 92+ games and earn another shot at the post-season.

 

That's it. There's no postseason formula. It doesn't exist. The game of baseball doesn't change with the stakes.

 

I'll concede that the best team doesn't always win in the playoffs but I would think it's pretty obvious that we have a flawed line-up with some parts (like SP) that are more glaring than others

 

Yeah there is no way to guarantee anything as far as playoffs goes but it is the job of management to remove/limit/minimize weakness and holes in our lineup with the $ that we have - just like every other team in the league

[intentional wok]

Well my point was never that the Blue Jays are a perfect team -- just an excellent one. Excellence can get you into the postseason but not necessarily through it. I'm also not really convinced that any weakness was exploited to put the Jays in this hole. They're mostly just getting beat by another skilled group of players. Mistakes have been made, yes, but none that have been so devastating.

 

(And no, Goins botched play in Game 2 wasn't devastating - and even then, Goins' defence is a plus. You can't account for errors by your top dudes.)

[bronson44]

Find somewhere to fit Zobrist on the team.

[RealAccountant]

Find somewhere to fit Zobrist on the team.

 

Zobrist is the best acquisition any baseball team can make.

[Terminator]

I agree. Though don't count out Boston or the Rays bouncing back, along with the Yankees being a force as well. Blue Jays should be the favourites, though s*** happens as we've seen in the past. Jays blowing close games they should win, injuries to core players, etc. Hopefully AA shows some of his magic this offseason.

 

I hear ya, all 3 of those teams could have bounce back seasons. But I don't think people realize how good this team actually is.

 

We will need to replace starting pitching but I believe we have the resources to do so. The pieces are there to win 95+ games next year.

[Followthelight]

Pitching.

[Grant77]

2017:

 

Tulo = 20

Donaldson = 20 (probably)

Martin = 20

 

Bautista and Edwin are probably close to 20 each. You're talking $100M for 5 guys, with like $35M left for the rest of the 40-man. And the 50 guys will be old as s***.

 

That's the cost of contention. A team with those five bats is the top hitting team in the league and an instant contender. We're also flush with inexpensive young talent like Travis, Stroman, Pillar, Osuna, Sanchez and Pompey, none of whom will make any real money for the next 3+ seasons.

[BTS]

That's the cost of contention. A team with those five bats is the top hitting team in the league and an instant contender. We're also flush with inexpensive young talent like Travis, Stroman, Pillar, Osuna, Sanchez and Pompey, none of whom will make any real money for the next 3+ seasons.

 

I don't think it's really possible to competently fill 35 roster spots on like $35M. Payroll would have to expand, or Edwin/Bautista would have to take less than market value. Either of which is obviously possible.

[Terminator]

I don't think it's really possible to competently fill 35 roster spots on like $35M. Payroll would have to expand, or Edwin/Bautista would have to take less than market value. Either of which is obviously possible.

 

I could see payroll expanding. Top 8 in attendance this year and we are making a pretty good playoff run. We were 10th in payroll coming in to this year off a season with pretty s*** attendance.

[reedjohnsonfan]

Sorry but the team was already the best in baseball. Anything can happen in the postseason, the last time the best team won might have been the Yankees in the late 90s if I am correct.

[L54]

Yup, we should probably see a payroll bump. Some will think we need to be the Dodgers though.

[Stangstag]

I don't think it's really possible to competently fill 35 roster spots on like $35M. Payroll would have to expand, or Edwin/Bautista would have to take less than market value. Either of which is obviously possible.

 

Drop Bautista, re-sign Edwin. Costs around 80mil for the vets, with a young core of Stroman, Pillar, Pompey, Travis, Osuna, Sanchez.

 

Not ideal, but it can work.

[Grant77]

I don't think it's really possible to competently fill 35 roster spots on like $35M. Payroll would have to expand, or Edwin/Bautista would have to take less than market value. Either of which is obviously possible.

 

Completely hypothetical and done quickly so don't criticize:

 

2017/2018:

 

C- Martin (20)

1B- Colabello/Tellez (maybe JB)

2B- Travis/Goins

3B- Donaldson (20)

SS- Tulo (20)

LF- Pompey

CF- Pillar

RF- Bautista/Alford (20)

DH- Encarnacion (20)

 

SP 1- Stroman

SP 2- Shark/Zimmermann (15)

SP 3- Hutchison (5)

SP 4- Sanchez/Osuna

SP 5- Greene

 

There's about 126 mil for the lineup and bench and leaves a reasonable 15 mil for the bullpen and depth.

 

That's not a perfect roster mind you, but I don't expect EE to get 20 mil and I also expect payroll to rise.

[Tuco]

Oh yeah, because the offence struggled so bad this year.

 

Sorry but this offense hasnt looked all that elite this postseason. It's becoming pretty clear the gameplan going around is pitch the Jays to the outside and let them beat themselves. Sure you'll get a night where it goes all right and you put up a 10 run game (ex Cueto) but then you'll also get games where guys like Young or Volquez or Gallardo totally shut you down. It almost reminds me of a fastbreak NBA team where they kill it offensively in the regular season with a certain style but once the playoffs start and the game becomes halfcourt, said team struggles to generate offense.

 

Whats the last champion team to not even have 1 above average LH'ed bat.

 

Yep thats right. This roster that involves this AMAZING offense doesnt have 1 single above average LH bat.

 

Starting pitching is abviously going to be a more obvious and talked about need but getting a good LH'ed bat to balance out our top 6-7 is important.

[John_Havok]

I don't think it's really possible to competently fill 35 roster spots on like $35M. Payroll would have to expand, or Edwin/Bautista would have to take less than market value. Either of which is obviously possible.

 

I think it's incredibly important for the team not to become the Phillies of the north, with more than their share of aging declining players on brutal contracts.

 

And with Martin, Tulo already locked up, unless both Edwin and Jose take below market deals, thats exactly where they are headed.

[Tuco]

Completely hypothetical and done quickly so don't criticize:

 

2017/2018:

 

C- Martin (20)

1B- Colabello/Tellez (maybe JB)

2B- Travis/Goins

3B- Donaldson (20)

SS- Tulo (20)

LF- Pompey

CF- Pillar

RF- Bautista/Alford (20)

DH- Encarnacion (20)

 

SP 1- Stroman

SP 2- Shark/Zimmermann (15)

SP 3- Hutchison (5)

SP 4- Sanchez/Osuna

SP 5- Greene

 

There's about 126 mil for the lineup and bench and leaves a reasonable 15 mil for the bullpen and depth.

 

That's not a perfect roster mind you, but I don't expect EE to get 20 mil and I also expect payroll to rise.

 

Greene

[John_Havok]

Sorry but this offense hasnt looked all that elite this postseason. It's becoming pretty clear the gameplan going around is pitch the Jays to the outside and let them beat themselves. Sure you'll get a night where it goes all right and you put up a 10 run game (ex Cueto) but then you'll also get games where guys like Young or Volquez or Gallardo totally shut you down. It almost reminds me of a fastbreak NBA team where they kill it offensively in the regular season with a certain style but once the playoffs start and the game becomes halfcourt, said team struggles to generate offense.

 

Whats the last champion team to not even have 1 above average LH'ed bat.

 

Yep thats right. This roster that involves this AMAZING offense doesnt have 1 single above average LH bat.

 

Starting pitching is abviously going to be a more obvious and talked about need but getting a good LH'ed bat to balance out our top 6-7 is important.

 

Saunders will make everyone forget this next year. Unless he trips on a chocolate bar in the clubhouse...

[BTS]

Completely hypothetical and done quickly so don't criticize:

 

2017/2018:

 

C- Martin (20)

1B- Colabello/Tellez (maybe JB)

2B- Travis/Goins

3B- Donaldson (20)

SS- Tulo (20)

LF- Pompey

CF- Pillar

RF- Bautista/Alford (20)

DH- Encarnacion (20)

 

SP 1- Stroman

SP 2- Shark/Zimmermann (15)

SP 3- Hutchison (5)

SP 4- Sanchez/Osuna

SP 5- Greene

 

There's about 126 mil for the lineup and bench and leaves a reasonable 15 mil for the bullpen and depth.

 

That's not a perfect roster mind you, but I don't expect EE to get 20 mil and I also expect payroll to rise.

 

What does the average team spend rounding out its 40-man over the course of the season, in excess of it's opening day 25-man roster? Isn't it like 10-20M?

[RealAccountant]

Russell Martin doesn't miss the playoffs much. Trust me we are going to the playoffs next year too.

[John_Havok]

Completely hypothetical and done quickly so don't criticize:

 

2017/2018:

 

C- Martin (20)

1B- Colabello/Tellez (maybe JB)

2B- Travis/Goins

3B- Donaldson (20)

SS- Tulo (20)

LF- Pompey

CF- Pillar

RF- Bautista/Alford (20)

DH- Encarnacion (20)

 

SP 1- Stroman

SP 2- Shark/Zimmermann (15)

SP 3- Hutchison (5)

SP 4- Sanchez/Osuna

SP 5- Greene

 

There's about 126 mil for the lineup and bench and leaves a reasonable 15 mil for the bullpen and depth.

 

That's not a perfect roster mind you, but I don't expect EE to get 20 mil and I also expect payroll to rise.

 

Not bad, but there's 0 chance Donaldson jumps to 20 million from 4.3 this year. He'll get paid, but a jump like that in arbitration is unheard of.

[KingKat]

Not bad, but there's 0 chance Donaldson jumps to 20 million from 4.3 this year. He'll get paid, but a jump like that in arbitration is unheard of.

 

Keep in mind that his chart is for 2017/2018.