General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2025)

[max silver]

17 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

Realistically every team in baseball has to go through cycles. Certain teams have to do it more and we're one of those teams. This is about asset management and hoping that significant talent lines up for one really strong window, like in 2015 and '16 and then again in 2021. Those were windows of opportunity where the talent seemed to line up, in the case of '21 the front office didn't do enough early enough to fix the bullpen. This current roster is a complete Frankenstein stuck in mediocrity, that's the worst place to be.

I simply don’t think the situation is nearly as dire as you have been portraying for the last 2-3 seasons. The AL in general is wide open this season and I fully believe the Blue Jays have a very realistic shot to compete for the playoffs. I don’t think that trading either of Vlad or Bo this offseason would have brought back assets that outweigh what these players would offer to the Blue Jays in their final years of control due to the injury riddled season that Bo just endured and the fact that Vlad loses a lot of excess value due to the inflated salary he’s on track to earn.

[Spanky99]

Good luck, Max. 😅

[Spanky99]

Just get in and win Baby... ⚾👀😎

[John_Havok]

30 minutes ago, Spanky99 said:

Just get in and win Baby... ⚾👀😎

This is how I view sex. Just gotta get in and you have a decent shot at good things happening

[Jays24]

Hoping Straw starts at CF, Wagner at 3B and Rodon at DH (doubt they DH Santandar on opening day)

[Spanky99]

50 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Hoping Straw starts at CF, Wagner at 3B and Rodon at DH (doubt they DH Santandar on opening day)

Roden... the sky is going to fall tomorrow, isn't it?

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Hoping Straw starts at CF, Wagner at 3B and Rodon at DH (doubt they DH Santandar on opening day)

I feel like they’ll go with Clement at 3rd and Wagner DH.

[Spanky99]

Roden starts tomorrow in RF, with Springer at CF, Wagner DH's, Clement plays 3rd and Straw comes in late for CF and shifts Springer over to RF. 😜 

[glory]

6 hours ago, Stangstag said:

I feel like they’ll go with Clement at 3rd and Wagner DH.

Yeah this org seems to value service time and tenure on the team very highly, so I doubt they bench Clement on Opening Day in favor or two rookies. Best chance of both Roden and Wagner being in the lineup is if Springer is playing CF. I guess we will see. My guess is Roden is on the bench today and starts Game 2.

[Perfect Game]

Roster Moves

 

[Spanky99]

9 hours ago, Spanky99 said:

Roden starts tomorrow in RF, with Springer at CF, Wagner DH's, Clement plays 3rd and Straw comes in late for CF and shifts Springer over to RF. 😜 

Well lookie here, winner winner chicken dinner...

[Laika]

Nance, Pop, and Robertson all being DFA'd in one go. Potentially could lose a lot of decent RP depth here. 

Of course, it's that time of year where all teams are crunched so perhaps they can just be slid down to AAA. 

[Spanky99]

11 minutes ago, Laika said:

Nance, Pop, and Robertson all being DFA'd in one go. Potentially could lose a lot of decent RP depth here. 

Of course, it's that time of year where all teams are crunched so perhaps they can just be slid down to AAA. 

Nance will likely be taken of that group, or refuse assignment I think. They finally cut bait on Pop, that surprised me.

[Jays24]

11 hours ago, Spanky99 said:

Roden... the sky is going to fall tomorrow, isn't it?

This is the only time of the year where it's exciting as hell.  There's enough season left to complain about Gimenez being our cleanup hitter but not today buddy lol. 

[Spanky99]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

This is the only time of the year where it's exciting as hell.  There's enough season left for the sky to fall but today buddy lol. 

Well, what's with the sad face on my post about? Cheer up, I said Straw will come in as a late defensive replacement. It's not my fault I nailed it.

[Jays24]

1 minute ago, Spanky99 said:

Well, what's with the sad face on my post about? Cheer up, I said Straw will come in as a late defensive replacement. It's not my fault I nailed it.

It was because you were right and I was wrong lol.  Pumped for today regardless!

[Orgfiller]

33 minutes ago, Laika said:

Nance, Pop, and Robertson all being DFA'd in one go. Potentially could lose a lot of decent RP depth here. 

Of course, it's that time of year where all teams are crunched so perhaps they can just be slid down to AAA. 

Silver lining, this bumps up Mason Fluharty significantly in the RP depth chart. Josh Walker (L), Easton Lucas (L) and Dillon Tate (R) are the other 40-man relievers left in the minors. I'm assuming Jacob Barnes is immediately punted whichever of Burr or Swanson is back first. Lovelady actually projects decently, but I'm sure he's on thin ice as well.

Yariel could get bumped up to the rotation if Scherzer's thumb thing lingers or Francis struggles out of the gate. Although I'm not sure if Francis would get demoted, likely would just replace Yariel's role as a long/swing-man.

[Spanky99]

1 minute ago, Jays24 said:

It was because you were right and I was wrong lol.  Pumped for today regardless!

Easy W! Go Jays Go!

[glory]

Vlad's greed saving the Jays from a huge mistake, so I hope he keeps that level of confidence in himself and has a great 2025. I suspect if Shapiro is sticking around then a Canadian will be playing first base next season, either Vlad or Naylor, but a lot will ride on the type of year Vlad has. 

[mphenhef]

I was thinking this morning that I miss the homerun contest that used to run.  Then it dawned on me that the Yankees have as many homers in three pitches as we do in four games.  I miss the long ball.

[Laika]

Some very early Bat Speed information for those who cannot savant 

Player	2024	2025	Length Change
Vlad	75.9	75.3	-0.1
Kirk	70.1	73.7	0.2
Bo	70.4	71.8	-0.2
Springer	71.9	71.7	0.1
Santander	73.1	73.3	0
Gimenez	68.3	70.3	0.1

 

Kirk swinging faster but also a bit longer (not necessarily good). 

Bo faster and shorter (nice). 

Springer incrementally slower and longer (ugh)

Gimenez faster. 

I am sure none of this matters at this point. Probably not enough swings. But, watch Kirk/Bo/Gimenez. 

Schneider is swinging very short and slow so far. Weird. Clement swinging slow and long (horrible). Wagner and Lukes have very short, contact swings and Lukes is actually fast so far - interesting?. Roden is pretty vanilla in terms of speed and length. 

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Some very early Bat Speed information for those who cannot savant 

Player	2024	2025	Length Change
Vlad	75.9	75.3	-0.1
Kirk	70.1	73.7	0.2
Bo	70.4	71.8	-0.2
Springer	71.9	71.7	0.1
Santander	73.1	73.3	0
Gimenez	68.3	70.3	0.1

 

Kirk swinging faster but also a bit longer (not necessarily good). 

Bo faster and shorter (nice). 

Springer incrementally slower and longer (ugh)

Gimenez faster. 

I am sure none of this matters at this point. Probably not enough swings. But, watch Kirk/Bo/Gimenez. 

Schneider is swinging very short and slow so far. Weird. Clement swinging slow and long (horrible). Wagner and Lukes have very short, contact swings and Lukes is actually fast so far - interesting?. Roden is pretty vanilla in terms of speed and length. 

I've been tracking this as well. I've noticed that the average speeds in particular are swinging pretty dramatically at this point, it just seems like there aren't nearly enough data points to make any broad conclusions at this point. 

[Laika]

11 minutes ago, max silver said:

I've been tracking this as well. I've noticed that the average speeds in particular are swinging pretty dramatically at this point, it just seems like there aren't nearly enough data points to make any broad conclusions at this point. 

Interestingly, some of the numbers should already be stable, when it comes to average bat speed and swing length. I think these measurements are about as "sticky" as fastball velocity. 

I'd still give it a couple of weeks. And you never know who might be dealing with a nagging injury or something like that. But Kirk's bat speed being up 3.6 mph on average is probably already significant. He is TRYING to hit for more power and/or did something new in the offseason. Same with Gimenez. 

[Brownie19]

I'm happy to hear Kirk and Gimenez are at least trying to do something different.  Rebounds from these 2 players offensively would be massive for this organization.

[max silver]

9 minutes ago, Laika said:

Interestingly, some of the numbers should already be stable, when it comes to average bat speed and swing length. I think these measurements are about as "sticky" as fastball velocity. 

I'd still give it a couple of weeks. And you never know who might be dealing with a nagging injury or something like that. But Kirk's bat speed being up 3.6 mph on average is probably already significant. He is TRYING to hit for more power and/or did something new in the offseason. Same with Gimenez. 

Based on how many players had increased swing speeds in the early going I was sort of wondering if there was some sort of calibration issue. I recall that Springer was several MPH higher before the results were updated this morning, somewhere around 73.5 MPH or so. He's increased his fast swing rate by 10% which is encouraging and the overall quality of contact has been solid as well.

I also recall Roden was sitting about around 73 MPH before the results were posted. With Roden I'm thinking he hasn't been getting his best swings off recently with quite a few awkward swings/jam shots etc. 

[John_Havok]

45 minutes ago, max silver said:

Based on how many players had increased swing speeds in the early going I was sort of wondering if there was some sort of calibration issue. I recall that Springer was several MPH higher before the results were updated this morning, somewhere around 73.5 MPH or so. He's increased his fast swing rate by 10% which is encouraging and the overall quality of contact has been solid as well.

I also recall Roden was sitting about around 73 MPH before the results were posted. With Roden I'm thinking he hasn't been getting his best swings off recently with quite a few awkward swings/jam shots etc. 

Yeah, ive been watching the swing tracker during the games, Springer had the 3rd fastest swing out of anyone in yesterdays game at 81.8 mph on his lineout. He can still get the bat around just fine when he gets what he wants and takes his A swing. 

Problem was, with that swing he didn't barrel it and it only left at 75.4 mph. 

[Orgfiller]

1 hour ago, John_Havok said:

Yeah, ive been watching the swing tracker during the games, Springer had the 3rd fastest swing out of anyone in yesterdays game at 81.8 mph on his lineout. He can still get the bat around just fine when he gets what he wants and takes his A swing. 

Problem was, with that swing he didn't barrel it and it only left at 75.4 mph. 

Torpedo bat for George when?

[BB17]

2 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Yeah, ive been watching the swing tracker during the games, Springer had the 3rd fastest swing out of anyone in yesterdays game at 81.8 mph on his lineout. He can still get the bat around just fine when he gets what he wants and takes his A swing. 

Problem was, with that swing he didn't barrel it and it only left at 75.4 mph. 

I noticed that the first couple of games as well. Good to see him at least trying to hit for power early in the count. His exit velo is up at least so far this year which is nice to see.

[Laika]

Quote

The Blue Jays could push Gausman's next start back to Friday against the Mets, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Analysis

Gausman is currently scheduled to take the ball Wednesday versus the Nationals, but the Blue Jays might have Easton Lucas start that day if he's not needed in long relief before then. There does not appear to be anything wrong physically with Gausman, as this would simply give him a couple extra days of rest and also allow him to face the tougher lineup.

Dunno what to make of this. 

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Dunno what to make of this. 

Seems odd to be trying to matchup starters.  Not sure I buy that.  I suspect that's just one of the factors in that decision.  Maybe he's had a little trouble bouncing back early in the season (perhaps this year, or also in years past) and they want to get him an extra day once in awhile.