General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2021)

[Jays24]

Merryweather threw 16 pitches today, only 8 for strikes, while hitting a batter and a base hit.

 

He's not ready for the Yankees series.

 

Sounds like a great day for most of our bullpen lol.

[Dick_Pole]

Jays start September 4-0. Four games over .500. That's already more games over .500 for any one month this season lol.

[Ehjays]

Blue Jays Hopeful Of Retaining Marcus Semien, Robbie Ray

By Mark Polishuk | September 5, 2021 at 5:53pm CDT

 

Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray have been two of baseball’s best players this season, let alone big reasons why the Blue Jays are still in the hunt for an AL wild card berth. Both are scheduled to hit free agency this winter, and it isn’t any surprise that the Jays have interest in keeping both players in the fold. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Jays have already tried to sign Semien to a contract extension, while the club intends to discuss a long-term deal with Ray after the season.

 

The wording would seem to imply that the Jays have yet to broach an extension with Ray, which might not necessarily mean that the team is prioritizing Semien. Ray (like many players) might simply prefer to not talk contract during the season, in order to focus solely on baseball. Also of note, Semien is represented by the Wasserman Agency, which has traditionally been more open to in-season negotiating — in the last month alone, Wasserman clients Travis d’Arnaud and Brandon Crawford each inked new deals to remain with their current teams.

 

Barring a truly massive offer from the Blue Jays, it was probably unlikely that Semien would’ve accepted an extension this close to free agency, as the veteran infielder looks set to land the pricey multi-year deal that eluded him on the open market last year. Semien didn’t hit well over the first month of the shortened 2020 season, leaving him with only a .223/.305/.374 slash line in 236 total PA even after he hit much better in late September and during the Athletics’ playoff run. Rather than take a multi-year contract at a lowered cost, Semien opted for a one-year, $18MM deal with Toronto, betting on himself to deliver bigger numbers over a full season.

 

That bet has paid off handsomely, as Semien hit his 35th homer of the season today, and is now batting .266/.334/.530 over 601 plate appearances. With the abbreviated 2020 season folded between Semien’s big years in 2019 and 2021, his three-season cumulative total of a .268/.346/.501 slash line over 1579 PA works out to a 128 wRC+, solidly placing him amongst the best middle infielders in baseball. Semien had been a starting shortstop in Oakland before becoming the Jays’ second baseman this season, to accommodate Bo Bichette at short.

 

Ray also had something to prove in the wake of a rough 2020 season with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays, and he moved quickly to rejoin the Blue Jays on a one-year, $8MM pact soon after the opening of the official free agent period. Ray had always been plagued by inconsistency and high walk totals during his five-plus seasons in Arizona, but after working with the Jays’ coaching staff and overhauling his offseason training regimen, Ray has blossomed as a candidate for the AL Cy Young Award.

 

Including today’s 6 2/3 shutout innings of work against Oakland, Ray has a 2.60 ERA and 32.3% strikeout rate over 166 frames. Perhaps most importantly, Ray has only a six percent walk rate — easily his career best, and in the 82nd percentile of all qualified pitchers this season. Ray has also gained enough innings to qualify as baseball’s all-time leader in K/9, with an 11.2 total over his eight MLB seasons.

 

In short, both Semien and Ray project to be two of the offseason’s top free agents, and re-signing both could potentially cost the Blue Jays upwards of $200MM. While it remains to be seen if the Jays will indeed be able to bring even one of the duo back for 2022 and beyond, money alone shouldn’t be a deterrent. The signings of George Springer and Hyun Jin Ryu are evidence that Toronto is willing to spend big in free agency, and many of the Jays’ young stars are either cost-controlled via arbitration or (in Bichette’s case) are still over a year away from arbitration eligibility. The Blue Jays also don’t have that much money on the books in future years, creating the possibility that both Semien and Ray could be slotted alongside Springer, Ryu, and possibly major extensions for the likes of Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Teoscar Hernandez.

[Grant77]

2 games back in the loss column behind 2 pretty s***** teams that have been incredibly lucky. Things are looking up for sure.

[InvincibleTiger]

Hope we don't get a letdown series after a big homestand.

[max silver]

Can Ray sustain this long term?

 

Have to be sure before you throw $25 million + at him for multiple years.

 

Is there really any reason to doubt this is what Ray is going forward? This started in spring training, and after hurting his elbow and having a little bit of a slow start after coming back he's been dealing ever since. Maybe he won't be challenging for Cy Young awards every season but I really think he's going to be a top of the rotation pitcher for the immediate future.

[The Iceman]

3 x $20 million NP for Ray

Years 4 or beyond I do not think will hold up well.

[Stangstag]

3 x $20 million NP for Ray

Years 4 or beyond I do not think will hold up well.

 

Its probably going to take 100 over 5 years

[max silver]

3 x $20 million NP for Ray

Years 4 or beyond I do not think will hold up well.

 

There is zero chance a 3 year deal is going to get it done. Ray is not turning 30 until October. Like any other free agent signing the latter years are likely to be less productive than the earlier years, but barring something like a 6 or 7 year deal I think a Ray signing will most likely produce decent value.

[saskjayfan]

3 x $20 million NP for Ray

Years 4 or beyond I do not think will hold up well.

 

Ray is probably going to come top 3 in Cy young voting. Bauer got 2 and 85. There's zero chance Ray would accept 3 and 20.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Blue Jays Hopeful Of Retaining Marcus Semien, Robbie Ray

By Mark Polishuk | September 5, 2021 at 5:53pm CDT

 

Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray have been two of baseball’s best players this season, let alone big reasons why the Blue Jays are still in the hunt for an AL wild card berth. Both are scheduled to hit free agency this winter, and it isn’t any surprise that the Jays have interest in keeping both players in the fold. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Jays have already tried to sign Semien to a contract extension, while the club intends to discuss a long-term deal with Ray after the season.

 

The wording would seem to imply that the Jays have yet to broach an extension with Ray, which might not necessarily mean that the team is prioritizing Semien. Ray (like many players) might simply prefer to not talk contract during the season, in order to focus solely on baseball. Also of note, Semien is represented by the Wasserman Agency, which has traditionally been more open to in-season negotiating — in the last month alone, Wasserman clients Travis d’Arnaud and Brandon Crawford each inked new deals to remain with their current teams.

 

Barring a truly massive offer from the Blue Jays, it was probably unlikely that Semien would’ve accepted an extension this close to free agency, as the veteran infielder looks set to land the pricey multi-year deal that eluded him on the open market last year. Semien didn’t hit well over the first month of the shortened 2020 season, leaving him with only a .223/.305/.374 slash line in 236 total PA even after he hit much better in late September and during the Athletics’ playoff run. Rather than take a multi-year contract at a lowered cost, Semien opted for a one-year, $18MM deal with Toronto, betting on himself to deliver bigger numbers over a full season.

 

That bet has paid off handsomely, as Semien hit his 35th homer of the season today, and is now batting .266/.334/.530 over 601 plate appearances. With the abbreviated 2020 season folded between Semien’s big years in 2019 and 2021, his three-season cumulative total of a .268/.346/.501 slash line over 1579 PA works out to a 128 wRC+, solidly placing him amongst the best middle infielders in baseball. Semien had been a starting shortstop in Oakland before becoming the Jays’ second baseman this season, to accommodate Bo Bichette at short.

 

Ray also had something to prove in the wake of a rough 2020 season with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays, and he moved quickly to rejoin the Blue Jays on a one-year, $8MM pact soon after the opening of the official free agent period. Ray had always been plagued by inconsistency and high walk totals during his five-plus seasons in Arizona, but after working with the Jays’ coaching staff and overhauling his offseason training regimen, Ray has blossomed as a candidate for the AL Cy Young Award.

 

Including today’s 6 2/3 shutout innings of work against Oakland, Ray has a 2.60 ERA and 32.3% strikeout rate over 166 frames. Perhaps most importantly, Ray has only a six percent walk rate — easily his career best, and in the 82nd percentile of all qualified pitchers this season. Ray has also gained enough innings to qualify as baseball’s all-time leader in K/9, with an 11.2 total over his eight MLB seasons.

 

In short, both Semien and Ray project to be two of the offseason’s top free agents, and re-signing both could potentially cost the Blue Jays upwards of $200MM. While it remains to be seen if the Jays will indeed be able to bring even one of the duo back for 2022 and beyond, money alone shouldn’t be a deterrent. The signings of George Springer and Hyun Jin Ryu are evidence that Toronto is willing to spend big in free agency, and many of the Jays’ young stars are either cost-controlled via arbitration or (in Bichette’s case) are still over a year away from arbitration eligibility. The Blue Jays also don’t have that much money on the books in future years, creating the possibility that both Semien and Ray could be slotted alongside Springer, Ryu, and possibly major extensions for the likes of Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Teoscar Hernandez.

 

Love it.

 

Bring back Ray and Semien

Go get Schwarber and Syndergaard

Trade for Jose Ramirez

 

C - Kirk

1B - Vladdy

2B - Semien

3B - Ramirez

SS - Bichette

LF - Gurriel

CF - Springer

RF - Hernandez

DH - Schwarber

 

Bench - Grichuk, Espinal, Jansen/Mcguire

 

SP - Ray

SP - Berrios

SP - Ryu

SP - Manoah

SP - Syndergaard

 

 

Could you imagine? Good luck navigating through that line up.

[dineke]

Do we actually have the payroll room to realistically bring back semien and ray?

 

If we have to choose one I think I'm on the side of bringing back semien just because my baby brain still remembers how Sanchez magically threw strikes as a starter one year and went back to walking everyone the next.

[BigCecil]

Nice to see Pearson get some swing and miss yesterday. Wasn’t leverage. But still a good sign and confidence builder.

[glory]

Do we actually have the payroll room to realistically bring back semien and ray?

.

 

There is also the impending decision to make on Berrios after 2022. Not sure the team is going to want too many big free agent contracts on the books and then have to deal with Vlad and Bo in a few years (along with rising arb numbers before that). It doesn't mean they won't try to bring both back, but those two + Berrios all being on the 2023 team seems unlikely, although Ryu and Grichuk both coming off the books in two years will help (damn that Grich contract feels like it's Pujols' contract in length).

[jerb]

 

Kaitlyn McGrath

@kaitlyncmcgrath

 

Julian Merryweather just walked onto the field so safe to say he’s up with the #BlueJays

[glory]

 

Kaitlyn McGrath

@kaitlyncmcgrath

 

Julian Merryweather just walked onto the field so safe to say he’s up with the #BlueJays

 

Man, I know Merryweather staying on a field for more than 10 seconds is asking a lot (same with Pearson to some degree) but a pen of Romano, Pearson, Merryweather, Mayza, Cimber, and Richards actually looks very formidable. I'm sure Buntoyo will find a way to give Soria a bunch of 7th or 8th inning high leverage spots because of vetrin presents, but if he keeps that to a minimum, then there's real upside for once this season for the pen.

[gruber92]

 

Kaitlyn McGrath

@kaitlyncmcgrath

 

Julian Merryweather just walked onto the field so safe to say he’s up with the #BlueJays

 

I hope they didn't bring him up too early. He wasn't exactly dominating in AAA. Hopefully he's the type that will step it up on the big stage.

[Virgil_Hiltz]

I hope they didn't bring him up too early. He wasn't exactly dominating in AAA. Hopefully he's the type that will step it up on the big stage.

 

Better a wee too early than too late!

[Krylian]

Seattle ahead of us in the WC race.

Run differential,

 

Toronto +128

Seattle -46

 

FML and Happy Labour Day!

[InvincibleTiger]

Seattle ahead of us in the WC race.

Run differential,

 

Toronto +128

Seattle -46

 

FML and Happy Labour Day!

 

Seattle's record in one run/extra inn games...

[John_Havok]

Seattle's record in one run/extra inn games...

 

Yeah, statistical anomalies are fun

[Spanky99]

Nice to see Pearson get some swing and miss yesterday. Wasn’t leverage. But still a good sign and confidence builder.

 

That was some filth we watched last night, nasty.

[Dick_Pole]

Jays doubled their odds of getting into the playoffs today to 25%, more than Oakland and Seattle combined.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds

 

Boston down to 78% chance, Yankees 82%.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Overton claimed by the Pirates and AJ Cole has been outrighted.

[Spanky99]

Overton claimed by the Pirates and AJ Cole has been outrighted.

 

Making room for Merryweather, it's happening! Suxxx about Overton.

[Jays24]

Making room for Merryweather, it's happening! Suxxx about Overton.

 

Ya not sure why they even called him up if they didn't plan to use him properly.

[Spanky99]

Ya not sure why they even called him up if they didn't plan to use him properly.

 

What do you mean, properly?

[Jays24]

What do you mean, properly?

 

I meant what's the point of calling him up when you put him on waivers so soon. Hope they don't do the same thing with Baker.

[Spanky99]

I meant what's the point of calling him up when you put him on waivers so soon. Hope they don't do the same thing with Baker.

 

I don't think so, with Baker, but agreed on Overton he could've stayed our long man.

[jerb]

 

Ken Tremendous

@KenTremendous

 

The Blue Jays have the 3rd best run differential in the A.L. If they made the playoffs, I'd pick them to run the table.