General 2019 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[Captain Adama]

This is brilliant, hire a former Expos employee and Canadian to head of PR team, who's job is to literally pander to Canadian fans.

[Bobthe4th]

This is brilliant, hire a former Expos employee and Canadian to head of PR team, who's job is to literally pander to Canadian fans.

 

Plus no one has to read his articles anymore where he shoehorns references to the Expos into every single one.

[Carlos Danger]

Plus no one has to read his articles anymore where he shoehorns references to the Expos into every single one.

 

Bob and I are in complete agrement on this one.

 

WTF— His colums sucked..

[Bobthe4th]

[Bobthe4th]

Wall is the most interesting invite IMO.

[Krylian]

Wtf:

 

 

Lol

[Spanky99]

Why haven't the Jays signed John Axford yet? It's a no brainer?

[Spanky99]

I'm telling you guys, this is a half finished AI that Microsoft or Apple decided was headed for failure so they just released it to f*** with people.

 

lol... I hadn't seen this before, Gold Jerry Gold...

[Spanky99]

He's playing the Pan Am games qualifiers with his bro and there are reports that they are actually having fun. Completely new look for him. Should be interesting to see him in Spring if he makes it there.

 

Speaking of which... Canada won today. 4-1 over Panama.

[Laika]

He's playing the Pan Am games qualifiers with his bro and there are reports that they are actually having fun. Completely new look for him. Should be interesting to see him in Spring if he makes it there.

 

Wtf? They make teams f***ing qualify for the pan am games?

[Spanky99]

Wtf? They make teams f***ing qualify for the pan am games?

 

Canada's the two time reigning champions, and they have to qualify, lol. *Shhhh... Boxcar8, might be around*

[43211234]

Anyone here go to the baseball in the Pan Am games when it was in Toronto? I went one day and saw 3 games including Canada v USA

 

 

Looking back the USA team turned out some quality major leaguers. Much more than you would expect from a tournament held during the middle of the professional season.

 

 

Name, Position, Hometown, Organization

Albert Almora, OF, Hialeah, Fla., Chicago Cubs

Jake Barrett, RHP, Upland, Calif., Arizona Diamondbacks

Buddy Baumann, LHP, Chicago, Ill., Kansas City Royals

Aaron Blair, RHP, Las Vegas, Nev., Arizona Diamondbacks

Brian Bogusevic, OF, Oak Lawn, Ill., Philadelphia Phillies

Dusty Coleman, IF/OF, Sioux Falls, S.D., Kansas City Royals

Casey Coleman, RHP, Fort Myers, Fla., Kansas City Royals

Zach Eflin, RHP, Orlando, Fla., Philadelphia Phillies

Brian Ellington, RHP, Gainesville, Fla., Miami Marlins

Eric Fryer, C, Columbus, Ohio, Minnesota Twins

Josh Hader, LHP, Millersville, Md., Houston Astros

David Huff, LHP, Hunnington Beach, Calif., Los Angeles Dodgers

Travis Jankowski, OF, Lancaster, Pa., San Diego Padres

Ryan Kelly, RHP, Hilton Head, S.C., Atlanta Braves

Patrick Kivlehan, OF, Nyack, N.Y., Seattle Mariners

Casey Kotchman, IF, St. Petersburg, Fla., Kansas City Royals

Scott McGregor, RHP, Cincinnati, Ohio, Washington Nationals

Tommy Murphy, C, West Monroe, N.Y., Colorado Rockies

Andy Parrino, IF, El Cajon, Calif., Oakland Athletics

Tyler Pastornicky, IF, Bradenton, Fla., Texas Rangers

Nate Smith, LHP, West Chester, Ohio, Los Angeles Angels

Jake Thompson, RHP, Rockwall, Texas, Texas Rangers

Dan Vogelbach, IF, Orlando, Fla., Chicago Cubs

Jacob Wilson, IF, Bartlett, Tenn., St. Louis Cardinals

Edited January 30, 2019 by 43211234

[Orgfiller]

Anyone here go to the baseball in the Pan Am games when it was in Toronto? I went one day and say 3 games including a Canada v USA

 

 

Looking back the USA team turned out some quality major leaguers. Much more than you would expect from a tournament held during the middle of the professional season.

 

 

Name, Position, Hometown, Organization

Albert Almora, OF, Hialeah, Fla., Chicago Cubs

Jake Barrett, RHP, Upland, Calif., Arizona Diamondbacks

Buddy Baumann, LHP, Chicago, Ill., Kansas City Royals

Aaron Blair, RHP, Las Vegas, Nev., Arizona Diamondbacks

Brian Bogusevic, OF, Oak Lawn, Ill., Philadelphia Phillies

Dusty Coleman, IF/OF, Sioux Falls, S.D., Kansas City Royals

Casey Coleman, RHP, Fort Myers, Fla., Kansas City Royals

Zach Eflin, RHP, Orlando, Fla., Philadelphia Phillies

Brian Ellington, RHP, Gainesville, Fla., Miami Marlins

Eric Fryer, C, Columbus, Ohio, Minnesota Twins

Josh Hader, LHP, Millersville, Md., Houston Astros

David Huff, LHP, Hunnington Beach, Calif., Los Angeles Dodgers

Travis Jankowski, OF, Lancaster, Pa., San Diego Padres

Ryan Kelly, RHP, Hilton Head, S.C., Atlanta Braves

Patrick Kivlehan, OF, Nyack, N.Y., Seattle Mariners

Casey Kotchman, IF, St. Petersburg, Fla., Kansas City Royals

Scott McGregor, RHP, Cincinnati, Ohio, Washington Nationals

Tommy Murphy, C, West Monroe, N.Y., Colorado Rockies

Andy Parrino, IF, El Cajon, Calif., Oakland Athletics

Tyler Pastornicky, IF, Bradenton, Fla., Texas Rangers

Nate Smith, LHP, West Chester, Ohio, Los Angeles Angels

Jake Thompson, RHP, Rockwall, Texas, Texas Rangers

Dan Vogelbach, IF, Orlando, Fla., Chicago Cubs

Jacob Wilson, IF, Bartlett, Tenn., St. Louis Cardinals

 

I went to one of the games, Cuba vs USA. Josh Hader pitched and was downright dominant, the only players I remember recognizing were him and Jankowski.

[Carlos Danger]

Why haven't the Jays signed John Axford yet? It's a no brainer?

 

Because he sucks and should only be even considered if a minor league deal..

[Spanky99]

Because he sucks and should only be even considered if a minor league deal..

 

No s***, and asked for it via social media?

[Krylian]

Because he sucks and should only be even considered if a minor league deal..

 

Seriously. What's the fascination with Axford. Is it just cause he's Canadian? Are we really still doing that.

[KevinGregg]

Because he sucks and should only be even considered if a minor league deal..

 

Axford doesnt fit the MO of what shatkins is doing with the pen - lots of high upside arms with question marks. Axford is more of a low upside dude but he still has question marks cuz hes 36. I'd rather take a flyer on someone else for sure

[Boxcar]

Seriously. What's the fascination with Axford. Is it just cause he's Canadian? Are we really still doing that.

 

Spanky is all about having Canadians. I don't really know why, but some people just get overly attached to weird things and can't let them go. Maybe they think because a guy's Canadian, they can live vicariously through them? Who knows. It's a retarded thought process that I can't bother to try to understand.

[glory]

Seriously. What's the fascination with Axford. Is it just cause he's Canadian? Are we really still doing that.

 

He is Canadian and wants to play in Toronto. That's really it. Nothing to do with talent or value.

 

Shatkins doesn't care about optics so if they don't want him they won't sign him. This isn't Beeston's Jays.

[Grant77]

I fail to see why we wouldn't bring back a reliever that made a positive contribution to our team both on and off the field. There's no risk on a minor league deal.

 

The pendulum has swung in the other direction where too many people hate a player because he is Canadian. Everyone needs a dose of common sense.

[BTS]

I fail to see why we wouldn't bring back a reliever that made a positive contribution to our team both on and off the field. There's no risk on a minor league deal.

 

The pendulum has swung in the other direction where too many people hate a player because he is Canadian. Everyone needs a dose of common sense.

 

Maybe the team sees 5-6 arms ahead of him in line for a 25-man spot and doesn't see any path to a 40-man spot for a replacement-level 36-year old right-handed reliever.

[Grant77]

Maybe the team sees 5-6 arms ahead of him in line for a 25-man spot and doesn't see any path to a 40-man spot for a replacement-level 36-year old right-handed reliever.

 

That could be the case and I'm not saying that they need to sign him.

 

From a fan's perspective, however, the bullpen outlook is worse than it was last year and 2018 Axford would be a useful piece for us as things stand right now.

[TheHurl]

Jays new bench coach teaching the local media

 

[Pendleton]

Jays new bench coach teaching the local media

 

 

You can hear the gears grinding from here

[Terminator]

After looking at his profile for a bit I think everyone is being too harsh on Axford. He isn't that bad. He got hosed with his ERA last year because of a crap LOB%. Decent strikeout guy, good GB%, velocity is holding up- main problem is he walks too many guys. I'd definitely sign him to a minor league deal though.

[Spanky99]

Spanky is all about having Canadians. I don't really know why, but some people just get overly attached to weird things and can't let them go. Maybe they think because a guy's Canadian, they can live vicariously through them? Who knows. It's a retarded thought process that I can't bother to try to understand.

 

Wrong, nothing wrong with a minor league deal and spring invite, idiot.

[Carlos Danger]

After looking at his profile for a bit I think everyone is being too harsh on Axford. He isn't that bad. He got hosed with his ERA last year because of a crap LOB%. Decent strikeout guy, good GB%, velocity is holding up- main problem is he walks too many guys. I'd definitely sign him to a minor league deal though.

 

My opinion on this is as follows: I think we will actually have a good team. We have a bunch of young guys who were better then the veteran talent we kept putting out there last year. They are hungry and there is competition for every spot just about. The SPs are hungry either to keep a spot or rebuild their value, and almost all have upside. The team will get a big shot of adrenaline when Vlad is called up and/or if someone like a Bichette, Biggio etc makes it up.

 

Having said that, we will be a young team and young teams generally play with their emotions on their sleeves. I would really hate for a guy like Borucki to go out and bust his ass pitch 6 solid innings, the young guns play good D and build us a lead, only to have it all disappear because some has been relief guys blows it all away and doesn't even give the closer a chance. I think with this young team, those kind of losses will be very demoralizing more so then our teams of the past 4 years.

 

I want to give new guys with upside a shot vs a guy we know sucks and will probably suck more after he has aged another year..

[Boxcar]

Wrong, nothing wrong with a minor league deal and spring invite, idiot.

 

Plus, he's Canadian. You're right, that definitely tips the balance.

[Spanky99]

Plus, he's Canadian. You're right, that definitely tips the balance.

 

[Boxcar]

 

I wonder if Corey Koskie will come out of retirement to be a utility guy for us. He's Canadian, I think that would be enough to overcome the fact that he's old.