General 2019 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[tbad]

 

That is the most diplomatic way to say this team has f***ing sucked

[5ToolPhenom]

Haha, yes Ross, that would be the crux of the situation

[Ex Player]

Sogard is now batting .303 and has a OBP of .371

[BTS]

 

lol

[DigitalRock]

 

Atkins talks like a robot.

[Spanky99]

Sogard is now batting .303 and has a OBP of .371

 

.506 SLG, .368 wOBA, 133 wRC+, @ 1.6 fWAR

[The Iceman]

Does anyone else get pissed off when the ump misses balls and strikes when we see the results on the pitch tracker?

I loved the pitch tracker when it came out and now it just frustrates me.

 

Last night in his last AB Biggio (Who is becoming my fav Jay) took 2 pitches because he knew they were balls, not because he was fooled. And both were called strikes including a called 3rd strike. Biggio did not get upset and walked to the dugout. So that K shouldn't have happened but is pinned on Biggio. Pisses me off.

[Terminator]

Sogard is near the bottom of the league in Barrel %, Exit Velocity and Hard Hit %. He does have a great launch angle though and combined with his BB rate he looks pretty useful. Still, I'd expect he comes crashing back to earth at some point.

[Ex Player]

That key pitcher we got in Pillar trade isnt doing so well this year. He's also injured now too.

Looks like control might be an issue as he walks way too many:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=depaul000jua

[Slade]

 

Probably the best Atkins quote to date.

[jmomcc]

Sogard is near the bottom of the league in Barrel %, Exit Velocity and Hard Hit %. He does have a great launch angle though and combined with his BB rate he looks pretty useful. Still, I'd expect he comes crashing back to earth at some point.

 

Is there something to him crushing high pitches in the zone. He seems to hit them pretty well and the league is throwing more of them.

[Brownie19]

That key pitcher we got in Pillar trade isnt doing so well this year. He's also injured now too.

Looks like control might be an issue as he walks way too many:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=depaul000jua

 

In other news. Pillar still has a negative WAR on the season (-0.4), including -0.1 as a Giant. The fact that Shatkins got anything at all for him is probably a small miracle.

[Krylian]

In other news. Pillar still has a negative WAR on the season (-0.4), including -0.1 as a Giant. The fact that Shatkins got anything at all for him is probably a small miracle.

 

Trading vomit for diahhrea is hardly praise worthy

[Laika]

Trading vomit for diahhrea is hardly praise worthy

 

They shed his salary, so eat s*** you dork.

[Terminator]

Atkins just did an hour long interview on Stoeten's podcast. It's behind a paywall now since Stoeten works for The Athletic. Does anyone have access to that and would you care to post some highlights?

[Krylian]

They shed his salary, so eat s*** you dork.

 

If this was a salary cap league I'd be more impressed. At $5.8M, what would his WAR need to be to justify that. 0.7?

 

Don't get me wrong, I wanted Pillar gone as much as anyone...I guess I just don't think it's that incredible of a feat.

[Terminator]

I'll give it a listen but I don't know if I can make it through an hour of Atkins.

 

That would be awesome. Looks like Stoeten asked him a few interesting questions and Atkins doesn't do a whole lot of interviews so it'd be nice to hear what he has to say.

[Ray]

Atkins just did an hour long interview on Stoeten's podcast. It's behind a paywall now since Stoeten works for The Athletic. Does anyone have access to that and would you care to post some highlights?

 

I've uploaded it here for anyone without a subscription: https://gofile.io/?c=GAtLDh

 

You can listen to it on that link or download it and listen to it at your own leisure.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Ray

[Terminator]

Happ was best deal available.

 

Grichuk: Raw power, exit velocity, solid run and arm tool, defensive versatility. Trying to make difficult adjustment to be more disciplined.

 

Individualized approach for each player. E.g.: Nate Pearson is big and strong already. Focusing on mobility and pitch development with rapsodo. Other players would require power and strength instead.

 

blah blah culture and vets. Russ/Tulo stuff. Waste of a question.

 

Stroman: Same answer as always in regards to extension. Talks about what goes into giving a guy an extension.

 

Obsessed with depth.

 

We have money. References Gurriel (lol ok, he cost nothing).

 

Merryweather: Work ethic. David Phelps says Merryweather has great work ethic. After TJ, hit 100 mph. Never walks guys. Has swing and miss. Can spin ball.

 

Interview is only 25 min. Questions were atrocious.

 

You owe me a 5th in the LOD for making me listen to this.

 

Lmao my bad. Thanks for doing that though you're the man.

[Captain Adama]

The questions did suck, but what did you expect with Stoeten doing an interview?

[Laika]

The questions did suck, but what did you expect with Stoeten doing an interview?

 

heavy breathing and eating noises

[Ray]

Atkins said that Ryan Borucki was throwing 95-96 mph in bullpen sessions and is close to returning.

[DigitalRock]

I hate how Atkins talks, he sounds like an AI. He says a lot but never really says anything.

[Krylian]

I hate how Atkins talks, he sounds like an AI. He says a lot but never really says anything.

 

Isn't that like most execs?

[Jonn]

Vlad is in the homerun derby despite only having 7 career homeruns.

[Spanky99]

Vlad is in the homerun derby despite only having 7 career homeruns.

 

6 of those 7 HR's in the last month, plus he has light tower power!

[Terminator]

Vlad is in the homerun derby despite only having 7 career homeruns.

 

So should rookies never be in the home run derby? None of them will ever have high career home run totals.

[Pendleton]

Vlad is in the homerun derby!

 

Cool, that will be fun to watch and draw extra attention to the event

[jmomcc]

Vlad is in the homerun derby despite only having 7 career homeruns.

 

God damn.. some people are just relentlessly negative.

[BlueRocky]

Lmao my bad. Thanks for doing that though you're the man.

 

He mentioned a few other things, just off the top of my head and paraphrase:

 

- our bullpen hasn’t had much velocity, and acquiring it can be difficult. They’re happy with Jordan Romano’s development and he surprised some people

 

- when considering extension talks, they look at projections of how they think players will perform in the next few years (he’s referring in general, but kinda hinting on both Grichuk and Stroman). The team has more information about their own players than any other organization and can make those assessments more accurately, sometimes it’s difficult to acquire that information about names in other orgs during trade discussions

 

- Atkins did a study on Merryweather while he was still in Cleveland. He’s been closely following him ever since. Recovery from TJS allowed guys to fully learn about how to take care of their arm and rebuild the mechanics, and proper form, this sometimes can increase velocity dramatically as the case with Merryweather

 

- He highly values talented players/prospects that not only enjoy playing baseball, but enjoys the process. Guys with tremendous work ethic and loves working on their own craft. Cited Merryweather as one of those.

 

- He feels doing something really special can take sacrifices, like one step back for two steps forward approach (citing the tanking) and how teams like St Louis Cards and SF Giants always seem to have competitive teams despite being small market because their farm systems are always exceptional. Atkins wants to build an elite farm system to promote long term success