Brandon Belt signing with the Jays

[Omar]

Well I hope we can keep Vladdy off his feet for 40 to 60 games this season with Belt at 1B with Vlad as dh. Rest might do wonders for Vladdy's bounce back season.

 

This team will definitely have a different "character" this season.

 

Hopefully Biggio sticks around somehow. He's probably the most likeable player on the team.

 

Can't wait for spring training.

 

Let's go Brandon:p

[Omar]

The Barrio 2023:

 

[Eat My Shatkins]

Man, a healthy Belt could just mash in Rogers.

 

Might as well sign another starter, outfielder and bullpen arm now that we're into luxury tax territory.

[Spanky99]

Did he take a dump in your mouth or something? 🤷🏽*♂️ only reasonable explanation for all this hate..

 

lmao

[G-Snarls]

Oddly I thought we were done making moves but now with this move I feel like now there are now going to more moves

[max silver]

Oddly I thought we were done making moves but now with this move I feel like now there are now going to more moves

 

Atkins and Shapiro did emphatically state that reaching the CBT tax wouldn't be a limitation on their spending, but does that include jumping past the first tier of spending? Time will tell. At any rate I think this was a great offseason to spend given the upcoming Rogers Center upgrades as the team's revenue stream should be improved quite a bit once the updates are finished.

[jaysblue]

Belt will have a higher WAR than Bellinger this season.

[THANOS]

Health was an issue in 2021, but Belt hit 29HR in 97 games lol. He's healthy now finally. He could be a beast. Not out of the realm for a healthy Belt playing DH against RHP only to drill 30+ bombs and have a mega wRC+ by end of season.

 

Lineup looks nasty

 

RHP

 

1. RF Springer

2. SS Bichette

3. 1B Guerrero Jr

4. DH Belt

5. C Kirk/Jansen

6. LF Varsho

7. 3B Chapman

8. 2B Merrifield

9. CF Kiermaier

 

LHP

 

1. RF Springer

2. SS Bichette

3. 1B Guerrero Jr

4. C/DH Kirk

5. C/DH Jansen

6. 3B Chapman

7. CF Varsho

8. LF Merrifield

9. 2B Espinal

[THANOS]

Yup. It’s insurance incase of injuries and we are maintaining a well balanced lineup on a day to day basis even after losing Teo. The offense is structured well and we’re just a 5th SP and another pen arm away from being set for opening day imo.

 

Yep, but I'd be cool with just a cheap AAA guy at this point. No need to fork out 5M for a Wacha type.

 

I hope we can get Alex Reyes on a spring invite, if he'll accept it.

 

I only want to guarantee these roles in the BP.

 

1. Romano

2. Swanson

3. Bass

4. Garcia

5. Kikuchi/White

 

Then the other 3 spots can be a battle in spring between Cimber, Richards, Mayza, Pop, J Fernandez 1, J Fernandez 2, Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather, Alex Reyes & Zach Pop.

 

Hopefully it ends up with 1 of the Fernandez clones, Pearson & Reyes/Pop rounding out the last 3 spots based on performance.

[Captain_Obvious]

I can't wait for Spring Training to start. Less than two months to go.

[Dick_Pole]

Seems like the $10 million earmarked for Bellinger went to Belt instead. With some adjustments made to the OF defense to make this work for the roster. Imagine the usage of Belt under Montoyo's watch lol.

 

The Jays look like they've been going for higher floor, lower upside type of players this offseason. Which is fine given the streakiness and variability of possible outcomes for the top end of the roster. Just guarantee a playoff spot and worry about the rest once they get in.

[AMS528]

Ok smart guys. How is it trolling when I get almost everything right? I nailed KK over Bellinger as well as the Jays trading Moreno and keeping Kirk. I've also been telling you all Craig Biggio's son sucks and I was right about that too. The dude is now 4th on the depth chart for 2B (Barger is better than him too).

 

I think the only thing I've gotten wrong was my pro-Tilapia posts but those I will admit were trolling. Everything else was 100% the real deal.

 

It's definitely kind of trolling when it's this obsessed. I get not liking Biggio, whatever. But he has produced somewhere between 5-6 WAR over his 330 games with the Jays. He was terrible in 2021, and decent last year. Like Tapia sucks, Randal Grichuk sucked.

 

Cavan Biggio makes no money and produces decently enough for it. I think objectively he doesn't really suck.

[max silver]

Seems like the $10 million earmarked for Bellinger went to Belt instead. With some adjustments made to the OF defense to make this work for the roster. Imagine the usage of Belt under Montoyo's watch lol.

 

The Jays look like they've been going for higher floor, lower upside type of players this offseason. Which is fine given the streakiness and variability of possible outcomes for the top end of the roster. Just guarantee a playoff spot and worry about the rest once they get in.

 

Varsho and Belt both offer very high potential upsides. Varsho has 5+ win potential and Belt is one season removed from a 157 WRC+. Swanson is coming off of a season where he produced 1.7 FWAR so he shows a very high ceiling as well.

[Carlos Danger]

Send Biggio for Houser from the Brew Crew. Gives the Crew some salary relief also.

[Terminator]

It's definitely kind of trolling when it's this obsessed. I get not liking Biggio, whatever. But he has produced somewhere between 5-6 WAR over his 330 games with the Jays. He was terrible in 2021, and decent last year. Like Tapia sucks, Randal Grichuk sucked.

 

Cavan Biggio makes no money and produces decently enough for it. I think objectively he doesn't really suck.

 

Almost all of that WAR came with the juiced balls. He's a slap hitting high launch angle guy and with the new ball he's ass.

 

Kind of like Didi Gregorious with dead balls but worse because he can only play 2B and not SS.

[max silver]

Almost all of that WAR came with the juiced balls. He's a slap hitting high launch angle guy and with the new ball he's ass.

 

Kind of like Didi Gregorious with dead balls but worse because he can only play 2B and not SS.

 

Only about half of his WAR came with juiced balls in 2019. MLB has been progressively deadening the baseball starting in 2020. Gregorius has produced WRC+ values of 69 and 58 in the last two seasons, surely even you can recognize that Biggio isn't THAT bad.

[Dick_Pole]

Varsho and Belt both offer very high potential upsides. Varsho has 5+ win potential and Belt is one season removed from a 157 WRC+. Swanson is coming off of a season where he produced 1.7 FWAR so he shows a very high ceiling as well.

 

What I meant with that wrt Varsho is that most of his value is defense. So there will be little variability in his outcome. Will probably be pretty close to a 4-5 WAR player barring injury. Floor: 4, Ceiling: 5. That's exactly what this team needs with a guy like Guerrero who we don't know will be a 3 or 7 WAR player or Bichette who made his season in the last six weeks of the year.

[Terminator]

Only about half of his WAR came with juiced balls in 2019. MLB has been progressively deadening the baseball starting in 2020. Gregorius has produced WRC+ values of 69 and 58 in the last two seasons, surely even you can recognize that Biggio isn't THAT bad.

 

Oh ok only half of his career WAR came in his rookie year 4 years ago with juiced baseballs lol

[max silver]

Oh ok only half of his career WAR came in his rookie year 4 years ago with juiced baseballs lol

 

He produces at a rate of about 2-2.5 WAR/550 plate appearances off of the bench. He did this in 2020 and 2022 with deadened baseballs compared to the launching pad balls of 2019. The one time in his career where he was legitimately bad was 2021 when he dealt with a multitude of injuries and largely played in a position he's not suited for. He's still cheap salary wise and will most likely continue to be as he doesn't excel in categories that are largely valued in the MLB salary arbitration system. The over the top hate just isn't warranted here. For the relative peanuts he is paid he provides plenty of value to his team.

 

If another team deems to be a desirable trade target then Biggio can be moved to improve the team in another area, but if he's kept he's a nice bench piece who can still provide plenty of value to the Jays. He may potentially be helped out by the upcoming shift ban, and if/when MLB implements an automatic strike zone he stands to benefit as much as anyone in MLB.

[WryNGinger]

Oh ok only half of his career WAR came in his rookie year 4 years ago with juiced baseballs lol

 

You don't try to talk baseball. You draw lines in the sand and thump your chest like a 16 year old douchebag that needs a punch in the teeth when you get anything right. You don't add value if all you do is come on and spike the ball when you get something YOU consider right. No one wants to read you rehashing your low event successes in life or what a bad ass you must be...boring as f*** is what you are. Stick to opinions and your reasoning and people will respect you because of it. Don't force the narrative.

[Terminator]

He may potentially be helped out by the upcoming shift ban, and if/when MLB implements an automatic strike zone he stands to benefit as much as anyone in MLB.

 

Yes all he needs are several more league wide rules changes and about 3 season ending injuries to move up the depth chart and he'll become a productive player again.

[Terminator]

You don't try to talk baseball. You draw lines in the sand and thump your chest like a 16 year old douchebag that needs a punch in the teeth when you get anything right. You don't add value if all you do is come on and spike the ball when you get something YOU consider right. No one wants to read you rehashing your low event successes in life or what a bad ass you must be...boring as f*** is what you are. Stick to opinions and your reasoning and people will respect you because of it. Don't force the narrative.

 

LOL the Bellinger Fanboys could at least dish it back but you Biggio fanboys clearly have your panties in a bunch over all this. Please get your T-levels checked but in the meantime I'll try and be as nice as I can here.

 

You idiots have all been on Craig Biggio's sons nuts for years and I've been telling you guys he sucks for just as long. I don't know if you guys are colorblind or what but if you look at his statcast page you'll see a lot of blue. That's bad in case you didn't know.

 

But if you don't believe me, we acquired another bat which moves him down the depth chart even further. At this point he's running out of room and in danger of being optioned to Buffalo (again), proving me right yet again but god forbid I point this out.

[max silver]

Yes all he needs are several more league wide rules changes and about 3 season ending injuries to move up the depth chart and he'll become a productive player again.

 

It's obvious you have nothing of substance to add to this discussion so you might as well continue to troll away and pat yourself on the back. Biggio (2.4 FWAR/550 PA) was far more productive on a rate basis than Merrifield in 2023 (1.5 FWAR/550PA) and produced similar value when factoring in playing time to Espinal (2.5 FWAR/550 PA).

[Terminator]

It's obvious you have nothing of substance to add to this discussion so you might as well continue to troll away and pat yourself on the back. Biggio (2.4 FWAR/550 PA) was far more productive on a rate basis than Merrifield in 2023 (1.5 FWAR/550PA) and produced similar value when factoring in playing time to Espinal (2.5 FWAR/550 PA).

 

He's barely cracking the Mendoza line these days and he's currently 3rd on the 2B depth chart and dropping. Truth is he's probably 4th as Barger is better than him too. Yet pointing any of this out is a troll to you because those WAR per 550 PA numbers you are pulling out of your ass are so valid (again he put up a great year with juiced balls 4 seasons ago which is pumping that number up).

 

Seriously, read his statcast page for about 30 seconds and if your feeble baseball brain can actually process any of it you'll see that it paints a very ugly picture. His xwOBA was .288 this past year and .285 the year before that. That's not good.

[max silver]

He's barely cracking the Mendoza line these days and he's currently 3rd on the 2B depth chart and dropping. Truth is he's probably 4th as Barger is better than him too. Yet pointing any of this out is a troll to you because those WAR per 550 PA numbers you are pulling out of your ass are so valid (again he put up a great year with juiced balls 4 seasons ago which is pumping that number up).

 

Seriously, read his statcast page for about 30 seconds and if your feeble baseball brain can actually process any of it you'll see that it paints a very ugly picture. His xwOBA was .288 this past year and .285 the year before that. That's not good.

 

Golly gee maybe a Statcast page isn't the be all end all for determining a baseball player's value to his team. Daulton Varsho had a .298 xWOBA in 2023, so I guess you can start preaching to everyone how bad he is with the bat as well. Biggio isn't and will never be a Statcast darling when it comes to quality of contact, but that's not necessarily how he has typically provided value to his team. It's easy to rant and rave about how bad a player is if you only focus on their weakness and ignore all of their strengths. Biggio's greatest asset has been elite plate discipline, and he continues to get on base at a decent clip despite the low batting averages.

 

The WAR per 550 plate appearances are for 2022 only, and nothing to do with his early career numbers so you can stop harping on about 2019 like it's somehow relevant. Biggio got off to a very rough start in 2022, however after returning from Buffalo he managed to produce at a higher than league average rate with the bat with a 109 WRC+. That's pretty good for a player with no talent like you are claiming. After returning in late May he produced at a 3.2 FWAR/550 rate. Here's a newsflash for you, that's really damn good for a utility player. Statcast ranked him as a well above average defender at second base and even or better at all of the other positions he manned as well so he has displayed a lot of defensive utility as well.

[Terminator]

If you Biggio stans don’t want to take my word for it would you at least take the Jays opinion into account? If Biggio is so damn good why would the team trad what little starting pitching depth it had for the corpse of Whit Merrifield? If Biggio was any good at all they wouldn’t have done that.

[glory]

Wow. Wasn’t expecting the Jays to sign Belt or shoot past the luxury tax to sign him. If they still have money then another SP would be nice.

 

So the lineup against RHP will now have 3 LHB, possibly 4 if Biggio is still on the team and playing at 2B. Roster balance certainly isn’t an issue anymore.

[Krylian]

I'm still not convinced they remain in luxury tax territory when the season starts. But if they are, good on Rogers for whipping their wallet out and not being afraid to use it.

[BigCecil]

Solid signing in this heated market. Assuming he is healthy it gives us the strongest bench options I can remember. We have a couple of legit LHH bats now.

[Stangstag]

I'm still not convinced they remain in luxury tax territory when the season starts. But if they are, good on Rogers for whipping their wallet out and not being afraid to use it.

 

Only way they could realistically get back under is if they offload Merrifield somewhere