General 2018 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[Jonn]

I love the aggressiveness. They must have thought Pearson would have murdered the mid-west league. I was also quite convinced that Vlad Jr and Bo would start at Dunedin for the weather factor alone.

[metafour]

Damn that's an aggressive placement for Pearson.

 

Not really, the difference between the NWL (Vancouver) and the MWL (Lansing) is minimal at best. Sending him to Dunedin also means he's not being thrown into the likely s*** weather in Lansing.

[P2F]

Yes for sure.

 

I fully expect to see Vlad and Bo in the Blue Jays lineup this coming September.

 

If the Jays are in the playoff chase and Bo and Vlad continue to mash in the minors, I think we'll see them earlier.

[SaskJaysFan_2]

If the Jays are in the playoff chase and Bo and Vlad continue to mash in the minors, I think we'll see them earlier.

 

To replace who? Unless there are more injuries I don't think so.

 

As much as I would like the FO to jettison Morales, that's not going to happen. Maybe if one of the new INF depth pieces really sucks. But even then it is unlikely. Maybe if they just move Tulo to the 10000000-day DL.

[AledmysDiaz]

I hope people understand that it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows for Vlad and Bo in the minors. One of them or both of them may struggle and take a step back.

 

It's all part of the development. Of the two Bo is the one more likely to struggle with AA pitching but you never know.

 

I would hate to see this fanbade when in June Bo has a .700 ops in New Hampshire.

[Maico450]

I love the aggressiveness. They must have thought Pearson would have murdered the mid-west league. I was also quite convinced that Vlad Jr and Bo would start at Dunedin for the weather factor alone.

 

Bo and Vlad Jrs bats seem ready for the upper minor leagues. I wonder if the defense is lagging behind. They have only played on the road this spring, so I have yet to see them play defensively.

[Spanky99]

To replace who? Unless there are more injuries I don't think so.

 

As much as I would like the FO to jettison Morales, that's not going to happen. Maybe if one of the new INF depth pieces really sucks. But even then it is unlikely. Maybe if they just move Tulo to the 10000000-day DL.

 

They can call em up a day before March, and be eligible for the stretch run and PS. It's an option.

[Spanky99]

I hope people understand that it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows for Vlad and Bo in the minors. One of them or both of them may struggle and take a step back.

 

It's all part of the development. Of the two Bo is the one more likely to struggle with AA pitching but you never know.

 

I would hate to see this fanbade when in June Bo has a .700 ops in New Hampshire.

 

lulz...

 

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/nicholas-cage-you-dont-say.gif

[P2F]

To replace who? Unless there are more injuries I don't think so.

 

As much as I would like the FO to jettison Morales, that's not going to happen. Maybe if one of the new INF depth pieces really sucks. But even then it is unlikely. Maybe if they just move Tulo to the 10000000-day DL.

 

You want me to predict that now? There are far too many variables to do that accurately this far out. Injuries are a huge part of professional sports, and you can take it to the bank that some of our regulars will miss significant time throughout the season. Aside from injuries, other factors for a possible call-up include underperforming roster players, trades, DFAs, outright releases, bereavement, paternity, waiver claims, etc.

 

All I'm saying is that I don't expect this FO to suddenly be all that conservative with the development of Bo and Vlad. It wouldn't surprise me to see the two aggressively pushed if the Jays are in a chase and the FO deems them ready for at least a taste of the biglys.

[glory]

The issue with calling up Vlad is if the team is out of the race, there's no reason to call him up and start his service clock, and if the team is in the race, who does he replace on the big league roster? If they are trying to get him to become a competent 3B, then he's likely better off playing 3B somewhere rather than DH'ing because Morales sucks. In the latter scenario, the Jays would be better off trading some 40 man roster clutter for a mid season rental than promoting Vlad so early.

 

To me, it's becoming more likely that Vlad is the starting 3B in 2019 after JD bolts. His bat is damn near ready now, and one more year of seasoning might be all he needs. For service time issues, I'm being greedy though. Call him up mid-season 2019. Unfair to the player, but dammit I want Vlad in a Jays uni as long as possible!

[Spanky99]

The issue with calling up Vlad is if the team is out of the race, there's no reason to call him up and start his service clock, and if the team is in the race, who does he replace on the big league roster? If they are trying to get him to become a competent 3B, then he's likely better off playing 3B somewhere rather than DH'ing because Morales sucks. In the latter scenario, the Jays would be better off trading some 40 man roster clutter for a mid season rental than promoting Vlad so early.

 

To me, it's becoming more likely that Vlad is the starting 3B in 2019 after JD bolts. His bat is damn near ready now, and one more year of seasoning might be all he needs. For service time issues, I'm being greedy though. Call him up mid-season 2019. Unfair to the player, but dammit I want Vlad in a Jays uni as long as possible!

 

He just answered it above, c'mon man. The scenarios are abundant, we'll see. It's that simple.

[Carlos Danger]

Very worried about a lot of aspects of this team.

 

I think we will see the combo of Smoak, Morales and Martin is a horrible middle of the order. Talking about a High K , DP threesome. Smoak had a good half-year, and it was the first half. Martin has not been good since fall 2016. Morales is regressing and too slow.

 

I still am baffled as to why Gibbons keeps hitting Martin so high in the order.

 

The bullpen is not a strong spot as some have said in the media.. or a position of strength. Really have no idea if Osuna will be consistent, Loup sucks.. the rest of te guys are crap shoots.. Too many good game, then horrible game guys..

 

We need a back-up catcher that hits better than a pitcher.

 

Granderson was left off the playoff roster and many thought he would retire..

 

No team speed if you actually have the first choice starting line-up of Travis, Tulo and Pierce

 

Like the depth pieces.. But still very worried about a threesome of Smoak, Morales and Martin..

 

No SP depth!!

 

Rather see Danny Jansen up this year then Male. Think 1B will be a weak spot.. No good replacements available yet..

 

I think they need to get T Hernandez in there consistently somehow...

[Terminator]

I think they need to get T Hernandez in there consistently somehow...

 

Agreed. He could be one of our better position players.

[Laika]

You can make specific negative points about almost every team in baseball.

Try to do the same thing you just did but list positives instead.

 

Or better yet, remove your own bias and see what the team-level projections say (Toronto tied as the 8th best team in baseball, 86 wins, 2nd Wild Card spot).

 

To say that Martin has not been good since 2016 is just not true. Last year he had a 100 wRC+ and was worth 1.8 wins in only 365 PA. Sure, he shouldn't hit 5th. But the team has some decent lineup flexibility and guys like Grichuk, Granderson, Pearce could all slide into the 4th through 6th spots if the other guys falter. It's really not a big deal.

 

They already have a massive backup C improvement in Danny Jansen - he's just starting the season in the minors for common sense reasons but he's basically MLB ready.

 

Saying that they have no SP depth is also a bit of a lie. Biagini is arguably an MLB quality #5 SP and he's starting the year in AAA. Guys like Borucki, Guerrieri, Pannone (after 80 games) are basically MLB ready and they actually have upside too, so they are actually the best type of depth in baseball (antifragile depth).

 

I agree that the bullpen is just mediocre but there's really no basis in data for saying that Osuna is inconsistent.

[Bobthe4th]

[P2F]

[Bobthe4th]

[Bobthe4th]

 

Always good to have bullpen depth in the minors.

[The Iceman]

Team needs to sign an experienced SP for Buffalo.

Someone along the lines of Anderson who finished up here last season. An experienced arm that can make 7-10 MLB starts and not kill the team. We will at some point need a 7th SP no doubt.

[Terminator]

Team needs to sign an experienced SP for Buffalo.

Someone along the lines of Anderson who finished up here last season. An experienced arm that can make 7-10 MLB starts and not kill the team. We will at some point need a 7th SP no doubt.

 

We did pick up Sam Gaviglio recently. He is projected to be a good enough #7 starter type according to Steamer and Zips.

[John_Havok]

Team needs to sign an experienced SP for Buffalo.

Someone along the lines of Anderson who finished up here last season. An experienced arm that can make 7-10 MLB starts and not kill the team. We will at some point need a 7th SP no doubt.

 

Biagini, Rowley, Borucki. ... but I think you're looking at a more veteran type of arm. Yeahnit probably wouldn't hurt to have a guy like Garza around to try and help the young guys. Hard to see him signing a pure minor league deal though.

[Carlos Danger]

I was saying that Martin should not be hitting anywhere below 7th IMO... I think maybe we agree with that.. I am more frustrated at Gibbons consistently putting Martin middle order.

 

This is a blurb from FS: When you have two distinct halfs in a year, I don't' think that is being consistent: Osuna had a tale of two seasons in 2017, the young closer pitched his way to his first All-Star game appearance after a first half earned run average of 2.06 slamming the door on 22 games. The second half of the season was not as kind to the young closer as he struggled with anxiety issues and his earned run average ballooned to 4.97. Plus he led the league in blown saves last year.

 

I acknowledged they did well on position depth.. A Year too late, but I think they did well this year.

 

Biagini has not proven he can be a good major league starter yet.. not even 5th spot.

 

Again, my issue is with Smoak (horrible second half and spring so far) Morales, bad 2017, and Martin, hitting too high in order. I wish they would mix it up so you don't have three station to station, high K guys hitting three in row.. It appears that is the order Gibbons favors.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Carlos Danger

[Boxcar]

You can make specific negative points about almost every team in baseball.

Try to do the same thing you just did but list positives instead.

 

Or better yet, remove your own bias and see what the team-level projections say (Toronto tied as the 8th best team in baseball, 86 wins, 2nd Wild Card spot).

 

To say that Martin has not been good since 2016 is just not true. Last year he had a 100 wRC+ and was worth 1.8 wins in only 365 PA. Sure, he shouldn't hit 5th. But the team has some decent lineup flexibility and guys like Grichuk, Granderson, Pearce could all slide into the 4th through 6th spots if the other guys falter. It's really not a big deal.

 

They already have a massive backup C improvement in Danny Jansen - he's just starting the season in the minors for common sense reasons but he's basically MLB ready.

 

Saying that they have no SP depth is also a bit of a lie. Biagini is arguably an MLB quality #5 SP and he's starting the year in AAA. Guys like Borucki, Guerrieri, Pannone (after 80 games) are basically MLB ready and they actually have upside too, so they are actually the best type of depth in baseball (antifragile depth).

 

I agree that the bullpen is just mediocre but there's really no basis in data for saying that Osuna is inconsistent.

 

Smoak was also good the entire year, not sure what's up with the half year nonsense. He maintained those sweet periphs all the way to October but had a 40 point BABIP dip in the second half.

[bzapple]

Agreed. He could be one of our better position players.

 

He'll get his shot, between Granderson's age and Pearce's fragility/suckiness, there should be plenty of outfield reps for the taking. No need to force prospects into full time duty too soon.

[vdubmvp]

Hmm I wonder if we'll see an influx of new posters here now that the old board has finally been shut down.

 

https://www.mlb.com/social/?redirCnt=1&mobile

[P2F]

Oh f***.

[Boxcar]

Hmm I wonder if we'll see an influx of new posters here now that the old board has finally been shut down.

 

https://www.mlb.com/social/?redirCnt=1&mobile

 

How and why did you discover this, traitor?

[vdubmvp]

How and why did you discover this, traitor?

 

I was trying to go to the mlb.com message board (which is different from bluejays.com, where we all used to post) and got that message. Is that ok with you?

[Boxcar]

I was trying to go to the mlb.com message board (which is different from bluejays.com, where we all used to post) and got that message. Is that ok with you?

 

Yes

[Carlos Danger]

Smoak was also good the entire year, not sure what's up with the half year nonsense. He maintained those sweet periphs all the way to October but had a 40 point BABIP dip in the second half.

 

Ok, let me clarify and say last two months vs whole second half. Regardless, it was not a good entire year.

 

August: .240/.307/.481 with 6 home runs in 26 games.

September: .183/.315/.323 with 2 home runs in 27 games.