What is Unique about the Blue Jays franchise?

[Kevin Gerrity]

Hoy,

 

I have not watched baseball since I was in the 6th grade. That was nearly 20 years ago. Back then The only games I could find on TV were Atlanta Braves games, but I never really became a fan of them (or any other team, obviously). Anyway About a month ago I was thinking about how I enjoyed watching baseball games and decided I wanted to become a fan of a team. The only team I've ever cheered exclusively for is the Utah Jazz (I'm from Utah); I'm a die hard fan! (But rest assured I respect the Raptors organization and btw they have had a terrific year!). So searching for a new team to cheer for was definitely a new step and I've been out of watching baseball for so long I have a lot learn and perhaps relearn about the sport, but I am genuinely committed to getting there. I did some research over the past few weeks and after weighing various bits of information, I decided I wanted to become a Blue Jays fan.

 

So anyway, I'm curious from a die hard fan perspective, what is it about the Blue Jays franchise is unique/something you take pride in. As a Jazz fan, I could spout off scores of things so I figured asking you guys would be a good start to understanding the fanbase, organization, culture, history a bit better.

[Spanky99]

lol... yeah and the rainbow led me to a truck of Guinness. Not Gold, a truck full of Guinness, just imagine!

[Grant77]

We're glad to have you aboard! This is the best place to discuss the Blue Jays. You'll find no shortage of diehard fans to discuss baseball with.

 

I suppose the most unique thing about the Blue Jays is that we play in a different country. That's given us certain advantages and disadvantages over the years, but it's cool to have the entire nation as the fanbase as well as a fair number of American fans like yourself. If you get a chance to watch a game in Seattle, you'll find that our fans out West take over the entire stadium.

 

In terms of the history of the team, you have to start with 1992 and 1993.

 

 

That's perhaps the most clutch hit in baseball history and a defining moment for the team.

 

Before that, we were expansion cousins with the Mariners in 1977 and have seen a lot more success over the years. Before the 92/93 Championships our trademark was being the best team in Latin America, getting a ton of players from that market.

 

Since 92/93, we have floundered as an average team that is never really below average, but not good enough to win a Championship. Unlike the NBA, there is no salary cap in baseball, so the Yankees and Red Sox often dwarfed our payroll in that period.

 

Recently, the team had a renaissance under a divisive general manager named Alex Anthopoulos. He has since been fired, but the new leader Mark Shapiro has continued that success and the team is looking like they have a good shot at the playoffs this year.

 

I won't ramble any more, but feel free to ask anything specific.

[Kevin Gerrity]

lol... yeah and the rainbow led me to a truck of Guinness. Not Gold, a truck full of Guinness, just imagine!

 

 

Haha fair enough...

 

 

I've actually had a pint of Guinness at the Guinness factory in Dublin. Good times.

[Spanky99]

Haha fair enough...

 

 

I've actually had a pint of Guinness at the Guinness factory in Dublin. Good times.

 

I'm jelly.

[Abomination]

If you get a chance to watch a game in Seattle, you'll find that our fans out West take over the entire stadium.

 

I'll second this, it really is something to see on TV or in person. Probably 75% of the stadium in Seattle is filled with Jays fans. Very unique.

[Kevin Gerrity]

We're glad to have you aboard! This is the best place to discuss the Blue Jays. You'll find no shortage of diehard fans to discuss baseball with.

 

I suppose the most unique thing about the Blue Jays is that we play in a different country. That's given us certain advantages and disadvantages over the years, but it's cool to have the entire nation as the fanbase as well as a fair number of American fans like yourself. If you get a chance to watch a game in Seattle, you'll find that our fans out West take over the entire stadium.

 

In terms of the history of the team, you have to start with 1992 and 1993.

 

 

That's perhaps the most clutch hit in baseball history and a defining moment for the team.

 

Before that, we were expansion cousins with the Mariners in 1977 and have seen a lot more success over the years. Before the 92/93 Championships our trademark was being the best team in Latin America, getting a ton of players from that market.

 

Since 92/93, we have floundered as an average team that is never really below average, but not good enough to win a Championship. Unlike the NBA, there is no salary cap in baseball, so the Yankees and Red Sox often dwarfed our payroll in that period.

 

Recently, the team had a renaissance under a divisive general manager named Alex Anthopoulos. He has since been fired, but the new leader Mark Shapiro has continued that success and the team is looking like they have a good shot at the playoffs this year.

 

I won't ramble any more, but feel free to ask anything specific.

 

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I was aware of that Joe Carter home run. I watched it a few weeks ago. What a play! My avatar name is actually from one of the characters in Big Daddy where he references Joe Carter and the Blue Jays (The only reference to the team I could recall in pop culture.)

 

How do you feel about the Farm system the Blue Jays have? Any guys in the pipe the fan base has big hopes for?

 

Also, what pieces do you think the team is missing to take the next step?

[Kevin Gerrity]

Oh and one more question guys, any Blue Jays specific podcasts you'd recommend?

[Spanky99]

Oh and one more question guys, any Blue Jays specific podcasts you'd recommend?

 

Swing and a belt... Shulman

[Orgfiller]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I was aware of that Joe Carter home run. I watched it a few weeks ago. What a play! My avatar name is actually from one of the characters in Big Daddy where he references Joe Carter and the Blue Jays (The only reference to the team I could recall in pop culture.)

 

How do you feel about the Farm system the Blue Jays have? Any guys in the pipe the fan base has big hopes for?

 

Also, what pieces do you think the team is missing to take the next step?

 

The farm system is pretty comfortably in the top 10 in the MLB. We have generational prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., son of HOF player of the same name who played primarily for the Expos (the only other Canadian MLB team in existence) and the Angels. Other prospects of note include Bo Bichette, who plays in the same minor league team as Guerrero Jr., Nate Pearson - our top pitching prospect, Anthony Alford, Teoscar Hernandez (not quite a prospect as he's a bit older and has MLB experience), Danny Jansen - top catching prospect and breakout guy from last season, and a few others. Check out the MiLB recaps on the front page as well as the prospects thread for more in-depth analysis and to gain more familiarity with the farm system. It's been highly revamped since the previous GM traded many prospects away (in his defense he did acquire ans develop a good number of them) and we're very excited for the future with our current front office in charge.

 

Basically the team is in a state of retooling while we try our best to put forward a viable MLB product. It has the talent to make the playoffs this season, but it is not one of the top tier teams in the league such as the Houston Astros or the LA Dodgers on the NL side so we'll be content with anything further than a won Wild Card game. A number of the prospects which I mentioned are pretty advanced and should see playing time in the majors as early as this season or the next, with others not too far behind. The new group have done a great job of addressing depth both on the MLB and MiLB side of things.

[Grant77]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I was aware of that Joe Carter home run. I watched it a few weeks ago. What a play! My avatar name is actually from one of the characters in Big Daddy where he references Joe Carter and the Blue Jays (The only reference to the team I could recall in pop culture.)

 

How do you feel about the Farm system the Blue Jays have? Any guys in the pipe the fan base has big hopes for?

 

Also, what pieces do you think the team is missing to take the next step?

 

I can't speak for others, but I'm extremely excited about the farm system. One prospect in particular, Vladimir Guerrero Junior, is the best in the game and maybe the best that we have ever had. He was born in Canada and his father was a Hall of Famer with the now defunct Montreal Expos.

 

Vlad Jr. is only 19 years old, but he looks like he is ready to be one of the top hitters in the league in the very near future. We have another prospect named Bo Bichette who is not far behind, giving us the league's best prospect duo. The rest of the system is also pretty good and I'd say we're around the 5th or 6th best in the league overall.

 

I think that most of the pieces needed for the next step are already with the team. We just need to integrate the prospects that I noted above into the existing roster and we'll be looking at a long period of success.

 

The most important issue for us right now is to retain recent league MVP Josh Donaldson, who is a free agent at the end of the year. Also important is to sign core pieces like Roberto Osuna, Aaron Sanchez, and Marcus Stroman to long term deals.

[Kevin Gerrity]

I can't speak for others, but I'm extremely excited about the farm system. One prospect in particular, Vladimir Guerrero Junior, is the best in the game and maybe the best that we have ever had. He was born in Canada and his father was a Hall of Famer with the now defunct Montreal Expos.

 

Vlad Jr. is only 19 years old, but he looks like he is ready to be one of the top hitters in the league in the very near future. We have another prospect named Bo Bichette who is not far behind, giving us the league's best prospect duo. The rest of the system is also pretty good and I'd say we're around the 5th or 6th best in the league overall.

 

I think that most of the pieces needed for the next step are already with the team. We just need to integrate the prospects that I noted above into the existing roster and we'll be looking at a long period of success.

 

The most important issue for us right now is to retain recent league MVP Josh Donaldson, who is a free agent at the end of the year. Also important is to sign core pieces like Roberto Osuna, Aaron Sanchez, and Marcus Stroman to long term deals.

 

Okay, okay. The potential for the team sounds exciting. What is the feeling on resigning Aaron Sanchez? Will the Jays have the money to offer/Does he want to stay? what about the other guys?

 

Also, is there restricted free agency in the MLB (this has saved my Jazz countless times haha). And do you think there will ever be a salary cap in the MLB?

 

sorry I'm asking so many questions. Genuinely curious.

[Grant77]

Okay, okay. The potential for the team sounds exciting. What is the feeling on resigning Aaron Sanchez? Will the Jays have the money to offer/Does he want to stay? what about the other guys?

 

Also, is there restricted free agency in the MLB (this has saved my Jazz countless times haha). And do you think there will ever be a salary cap in the MLB?

 

sorry I'm asking so many questions. Genuinely curious.

 

MLB has something called arbitration, which is similar to restricted free agency. Other teams can't make offers, but players can dispute their salary in arbitration if they can't settle with the team.

 

We control Aaron Sanchez through 2020 via arbitration so an extension is not urgent, but it is generally a good thing to lock up your star young players to contracts. He seems to like it here, so I don't see any issues in that regard. The Jays are an average team in terms of payroll, so we should certainly be able to afford extensions for all of our young players.

 

As for the salary cap, I can't see that happening. There's already a lot of tension between the players and the union that could eventually lead to a strike. The new commissioner is generally seen as incompetent by most fans, making several very unpopular decisions.

[Abomination]

We'll put it this way on Vladdy: He just turned 19 a month ago, he's played 7 games above A ball, and Steamer is projecting him to be slightly above average if he were to get called up tomorrow . That's basically completely unheard of.

[Bobthe4th]

Okay, okay. The potential for the team sounds exciting. What is the feeling on resigning Aaron Sanchez? Will the Jays have the money to offer/Does he want to stay? what about the other guys?

 

Also, is there restricted free agency in the MLB (this has saved my Jazz countless times haha). And do you think there will ever be a salary cap in the MLB?

 

sorry I'm asking so many questions. Genuinely curious.

 

Stroman is more likely to sign an extension than Sanchez. Sanchez’s agent is Scott Boras who is notorious for getting his clients inflated contracts in free agency.

 

There is effectively a soft cap as a hefty luxury tax has to be paid for payrolls over a certain amount ($197m this season). It’s unlikely the players union would agree a hard cap, MLB players are already unpaid in the beginning of their careers anyway.

[FrozenRopes]

Their home stadium is in Canada.

[Terminator]

We have a stupid cheer song we sing during the 7th inning stretch and we have cute cheerleaders sing it. We play on turf with a retractable dome. Only team in Canada is fun. We have a huge fanbase of casual fans to draw from, when the team is good we have some of the best fans in the league. They travel to Seattle like crazy. Travel elsewhere pretty well too.

[Dick_Pole]

We have the best damn OT politics/news threads of any MLB fan message board, which I am sure you're quite familiar with. A very unique characteristic of the Blue Jays' organization.

[Captain Adama]

We have a stupid cheer song we sing during the 7th inning stretch and we have cute cheerleaders sing it. We play on turf with a retractable dome. Only team in Canada is fun. We have a huge fanbase of casual fans to draw from, when the team is good we have some of the best fans in the league. They travel to Seattle like crazy. Travel elsewhere pretty well too.

 

Depends on your criteria for best fans are.

[Terminator]

Depends on your criteria for best fans are.

 

That is true. I guess really large amount of fans from which there is a lot of enthusiasm that the franchise can draw from in terms of ticket sales, print media, etc.

[fatcowxlive]

Depends on your criteria for best fans are.

 

If the criteria is either "fiery passion/very vocal when we have a winning ball team" or "ability to outnumber in away stadiums" we'd be pretty high up lol