General 2020 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[Ex Player]

The way I see it is,if only baseball was played on a sheet of ice.

Figure skating of course, Trudeau just wouldnt be into hockey

[Boxcar]

Grichuk

McGuire

Panik

 

Romano

Font

Hatch

Murphy

 

Borucki should disappoint. People are expecting way too much based on the mirage of 2018.

I expect Kay and Dolis to be contributors so I won't consider them possible surprises.

 

I'd really like to see Fisher surprise as well.

 

I also can't wait until Alford is released and we can stop being delusional about his ability every year.

[Laika]

I'd really like to see Fisher surprise as well.

 

I also can't wait until Alford is released and we can stop being delusional about his ability every year.

 

I'd like to see Fisher surprise too but I think there's a 90% chance he is just clueless and sucks.

[BTS]

Anyone know how Buffalo’s park is likely to play?

[Jonn]

I think Buffalo will be the best option for home games.

I cant believe they're even considering Dunedin with all that heat and humidity

(plus they are in their rainy season now)

 

I disagree. Judging by the information we have got so far. Buffalo has always been looked as the emergency option and nobody’s first choice. Buffalo just doesn’t have the infrastructure to host a major league team under normal circumstances let alone with the Covid issues and trying to keep everyone distanced as much as possible. Looks like they leaning towards neutral sights. Pittsburgh is being strongly speculated on Twitter because they don’t have many conflicting home dates with the Pirates. And obviously the 2 teams never play each other. Still close enough to Buffalo to have the taxi squad in close proximity.

 

I think if the Buffalo thing happens it will be because they had no choice. Buffalo needs a mini renovation to make it work regardless. And whose paying for that will be interesting. The Stadium is owned by the city but do you think tax payers will be happy paying for renovations for a team they will likely never be allowed to watch live lol. Either this is coming out of Rogers pocket or MLB’s. That’s why neutral sight makes the most sense.

[saskjayfan]

Grichuk

McGuire

Panik

 

Romano

Font

Hatch

Murphy

 

Borucki should disappoint. People are expecting way too much based on the mirage of 2018.

I expect Kay and Dolis to be contributors so I won't consider them possible surprises.

 

Borucki has had some success in summer camp. He has a new pitch mix and I like his mental make up. He doesn't have to put up his 2018 numbers. Having such a low HR rate is unlikely, but as a 5th starter he really only needs to put up a 4.3 FIP and you'd be pretty happy. I'd call it 50/50 whether he or Thorton for that matter achieve that level or better.

 

I think the more likely mirage is McGuire. I'm hopefully Jansen has a much better season though.

 

My two picks would be Rowdy first and Romano second.

[Ex Player]

Play the raffle. Help the team out a bit:

 

https://jayscare5050.com/

[Carlos Danger]

Grichuk

McGuire

Panik

 

Romano

Font

Hatch

Murphy

 

Borucki should disappoint. People are expecting way too much based on the mirage of 2018.

I expect Kay and Dolis to be contributors so I won't consider them possible surprises.

 

Blasphemous talk about Aceucki. You will be wrong again!

 

I do agree McGuire and Hatch are the real deal. Nothing has changed with Grichuk IMO. Streaky hitter who Ks too much for me and isn't even plus D. I want an upgrade.

[glory]

I disagree. Judging by the information we have got so far. Buffalo has always been looked as the emergency option and nobody’s first choice. Buffalo just doesn’t have the infrastructure to host a major league team under normal circumstances let alone with the Covid issues and trying to keep everyone distanced as much as possible. Looks like they leaning towards neutral sights. Pittsburgh is being strongly speculated on Twitter because they don’t have many conflicting home dates with the Pirates. And obviously the 2 teams never play each other. Still close enough to Buffalo to have the taxi squad in close proximity.

 

I think if the Buffalo thing happens it will be because they had no choice. Buffalo needs a mini renovation to make it work regardless. And whose paying for that will be interesting. The Stadium is owned by the city but do you think tax payers will be happy paying for renovations for a team they will likely never be allowed to watch live lol. Either this is coming out of Rogers pocket or MLB’s. That’s why neutral sight makes the most sense.

 

I think the best case scenario would be sharing a park with another MLB team. The only minor league facility that might make any sense is Dunedin, but the team/players would probably like to avoid Florida for now. Buffalo is apparently fine as a stadium, but I doubt players want minor league accommodations (small clubhouses, etc) during a pandemic, plus MLB is going to make all its money this year on TV, so if that stadium is not TV friendly, then that will be a problem.

 

The plus side if they have to go to Buffalo is practically everyone in the starting lineup aside from Grichuk and Shaw has extensive experience playing in that stadium, so maybe there's some type of comfort/home field advantage there, but if Pittsburgh is possible without conflicting with the Pirates, then that's a no brainer.

[glory]

So who is going to be the biggest upside surprise this year? Is it Rowdy who's on a tear? Anthony Alford seems on life support but he's hit a couple bombs in summer camp. Does Derek Fisher turn potential into consistency. How about Teoscar taking his hot streak in the second half and showing he's made material change. Is Jordan Romano going to be an impact reliever? Does Trent Thornton build on last year and keep improving? Does Borucki put injuries behind him and show that his new cutter will only allow him to build on his 2018 performances? Who else? Who do you have?

 

Grichuk has a 89 wRC+ for his career from March/April to June, and a 118 wRC+ from July to September/October. I don't know if he's just better in warm weather, or whether he needs to be really bad for 200-300 PA's before he gets going, but either way, I'll predict he does better than average during the 60 game season.

 

My other sleeper is Hatch. I think he turned the corner after the trade, and stuff is there.

[Ex Player]

This is why not letting Jays play at RC is so retarded

 

[BlueRocky]

So who is going to be the biggest upside surprise this year? Is it Rowdy who's on a tear? Anthony Alford seems on life support but he's hit a couple bombs in summer camp. Does Derek Fisher turn potential into consistency. How about Teoscar taking his hot streak in the second half and showing he's made material change. Is Jordan Romano going to be an impact reliever? Does Trent Thornton build on last year and keep improving? Does Borucki put injuries behind him and show that his new cutter will only allow him to build on his 2018 performances? Who else? Who do you have?

 

Blasphemous talk about Aceucki. You will be wrong again!

 

I do agree McGuire and Hatch are the real deal. Nothing has changed with Grichuk IMO. Streaky hitter who Ks too much for me and isn't even plus D. I want an upgrade.

 

McGuire really just needs to be a defensive stud as a second catcher, but he has flashed some ability to hit in the small sample, any offense you get from Reese is a bonus.

 

Hatch could very well be a piece of the puzzle. I’m not sure to what extent, but there’s multiple roles open for him as a depth starter, long reliever, or even setup man. The whiff and spin rates are encouraging but he’ll have to prove it in the majors. The org seems to like him so he’ll get opportunities.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Romano becomes a lights-out BP arm, but there’s still some question marks about the consistency of his slider, I have high hopes for him. The velo uptick to 96-99 and ability to control the FB is encouraging.

 

Derek Fisher breaking out from mediocrity would be a pleasant surprise and potential impact piece, but I’m not holding my breath. The bar has been set so low for our outfield as it’s full of quad-A and fringe talent right now. It’s an abyssal gap in production after Gurriel and “summer” Grichuk. Davis & Alford are realistically depth outfielders.

 

If I had to chose one major breakout this year it would be Danny Jansen. He obliterated baseballs in spring training and has completely change his routines over the offseason. If the minor league skillet translates to MLB, he’s a top 10 catcher.

[Bobthe4th]

[jaysguy44]

How exactly do they expect us to play in a MLB stadium as our home stadium down South on such short notice?

 

Highly doubt that happens

[Pendleton]

Blasphemous talk about Aceucki. You will be wrong again!

 

I do agree McGuire and Hatch are the real deal. Nothing has changed with Grichuk IMO. Streaky hitter who Ks too much for me and isn't even plus D. I want an upgrade.

 

Remains an awful attempt at a nickname. Reads aloud as "A sucky". There's no wit or play on words there, it just doesn't work. To be fair, he's a lot more likely to end up sucky than an ace.

[philly30]

Wilmington, Delaware would be an option, close to other teams

[Brownie19]

I disagree. Judging by the information we have got so far. Buffalo has always been looked as the emergency option and nobody’s first choice. Buffalo just doesn’t have the infrastructure to host a major league team under normal circumstances let alone with the Covid issues and trying to keep everyone distanced as much as possible. Looks like they leaning towards neutral sights. Pittsburgh is being strongly speculated on Twitter because they don’t have many conflicting home dates with the Pirates. And obviously the 2 teams never play each other. Still close enough to Buffalo to have the taxi squad in close proximity.

 

I think if the Buffalo thing happens it will be because they had no choice. Buffalo needs a mini renovation to make it work regardless. And whose paying for that will be interesting. The Stadium is owned by the city but do you think tax payers will be happy paying for renovations for a team they will likely never be allowed to watch live lol. Either this is coming out of Rogers pocket or MLB’s. That’s why neutral sight makes the most sense.

 

Anytime you have the opportunity to play in PNC Park - you take it!

[Spanky99]

I'd really like to see Fisher surprise as well.

 

I also can't wait until Alford is released and we can stop being delusional about his ability every year.

 

He has the statcast numbers, if he could just get the ball in the air.

[Jimcanuck]

How exactly do they expect us to play in a MLB stadium as our home stadium down South on such short notice?

 

Highly doubt that happens

 

Lot of options. Big question is, pitchers park or hitters park. What better suits the Jays?

[BTS]

Lot of options. Big question is, pitchers park or hitters park. What better suits the Jays?

 

One of the only potential park effects I can see meaningfully impacting the team is a HR-suppressing park with a cavernous OF. The team's outfielders are not good defensively.

[Jimcanuck]

One of the only potential park effects I can see meaningfully impacting the team is a HR-suppressing park with a cavernous OF. The team's outfielders are not good defensively.

 

Good point. The Buffalo park dimensions seem relatively small. I'm looking at other parks in the New England area (e.g Hartford). Easy travel to Boston, NY, Balt.

[rookiefuzz]

If old Globe Life Park is still up and running, why not play there for the year? Seems like an easy solution. Would get their own park too.

 

I haven’t seen what Texas’ Covid numbers are like tho. So maybe it’s completely out of the question.

[Laika]

Entirely speculation but I think they'll work out some arrangements with several MLB teams, one of which will be the Rays. They can primarily train at Dunedin and play at the Trop. TB and TOR have 10 scheduled home games that would conflict:

 

Aug 25-26-27

Sep 10-11-12-13; 25-26-27

 

Toronto would have to find an MLB team that is away on those 10 days and use their stadium.

 

Yeah, Florida is a Covid mess but the team can just bubble hard. I dunno.

 

Marlins are away on the August conflict dates and the final three September conflict dates. Braves are away on the first four September conflict dates.

[glory]

I'd rather they just use Dunedin rather than share with the Rays. Shapiro claimed Dunedin has everything they need, except it's in a Covid hot spot. The Trop is a mess of a stadium. Just play in Dunedin if Florida is the direction they go in.

 

Man, if the Jays win the 2020 World Series, then Canada better get no claim to that title.

[Jonn]

Entirely speculation but I think they'll work out some arrangements with several MLB teams, one of which will be the Rays. They can primarily train at Dunedin and play at the Trop. TB and TOR have 10 scheduled home games that would conflict:

 

Aug 25-26-27

Sep 10-11-12-13; 25-26-27

 

Toronto would have to find an MLB team that is away on those 10 days and use their stadium.

 

Yeah, Florida is a Covid mess but the team can just bubble hard. I dunno.

 

Marlins are away on the August conflict dates and the final three September conflict dates. Braves are away on the first four September conflict dates.

 

Lets pray that dog s*** stadium is not even a consideration. One team shouldn’t’t be forced to play there let alone 2. I do think it makes sense just to host home games in the opponents stadium. Atleast it makes it easy. Wouldn’t be surprised if they just do that. Wouldn’t be the first time either. We have hosted home games against the Phillies in Philadelphia before. So its not completely unprecedented.

[Jonn]

I'd rather they just use Dunedin rather than share with the Rays. Shapiro claimed Dunedin has everything they need, except it's in a Covid hot spot. The Trop is a mess of a stadium. Just play in Dunedin if Florida is the direction they go in.

 

Man, if the Jays win the 2020 World Series, then Canada better get no claim to that title.

 

If the Jays make the playoffs I’m confident they will be allowed to use Rogers Centre in that circumstance.

[glory]

If the Jays make the playoffs I’m confident they will be allowed to use Rogers Centre in that circumstance.

 

If things in October are as bad as they anticipate, then they might bubble the playoffs since it is fewer teams. I doubt the Jays are going back to Toronto in 2020 even if they somehow make the playoffs.

[Abomination]

If the Jays make the playoffs I’m confident they will be allowed to use Rogers Centre in that circumstance.

 

Yeah. From what the government said, it seemed to suggest they might be allowed to if the playoff teams weren't from hot spots.

[Spanky99]

Entirely speculation but I think they'll work out some arrangements with several MLB teams, one of which will be the Rays. They can primarily train at Dunedin and play at the Trop. TB and TOR have 10 scheduled home games that would conflict:

 

Aug 25-26-27

Sep 10-11-12-13; 25-26-27

 

Toronto would have to find an MLB team that is away on those 10 days and use their stadium.

 

Yeah, Florida is a Covid mess but the team can just bubble hard. I dunno.

 

Marlins are away on the August conflict dates and the final three September conflict dates. Braves are away on the first four September conflict dates.

 

If they were to go this route, why not use Buffalo as the taxi squad and play out of Yankee stadium? Screw the Trop and FLA.

[philly30]

If old Globe Life Park is still up and running, why not play there for the year? Seems like an easy solution. Would get their own park too.

 

I haven’t seen what Texas’ Covid numbers are like tho. So maybe it’s completely out of the question.

 

Texas is a mess