General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2025)

[BB17]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Dunno what to make of this. 

Could be they know there is a chance they have to empty the pen on the non Gauseman start so better to do that Wednesday with the off day Thursday than decimate the pen Friday right before a big long stretch of games.

[Laika]

10 minutes ago, BB17 said:

Could be they know there is a chance they have to empty the pen on the non Gauseman start so better to do that Wednesday with the off day Thursday than decimate the pen Friday right before a big long stretch of games.

Makes sense. 

[John_Havok]

1 hour ago, BB17 said:

Could be they know there is a chance they have to empty the pen on the non Gauseman start so better to do that Wednesday with the off day Thursday than decimate the pen Friday right before a big long stretch of games.

Possible, but that seems like trying to manage a problem that doesn't exist yet. I'm not a fan of that approach when you look at the downside of what might happen if the first game after the day off they also get shitcanned and have to blow out the pen again. 

Take it as it comes and don;t manage problems that don't exist is how I would go at it. 

[BB17]

54 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Possible, but that seems like trying to manage a problem that doesn't exist yet. I'm not a fan of that approach when you look at the downside of what might happen if the first game after the day off they also get shitcanned and have to blow out the pen again. 

Take it as it comes and don;t manage problems that don't exist is how I would go at it. 

Its also the Mets home opener so you probably don't want to have Lucas shaking in his boots with a rowdy crowd on Friday. I actually don't mind them being proactive, you need to keep the pen rested as we saw what happened last year when guys got overworked.

My biggest gripe is having Lucas make the start as he looks awful and doesn't inspire any confidence.

[glory]

[Terminator]

[G-Snarls]

Kirk is excellent.  Great receiver/blocker of course.  

Love his swing this year. Throws look better too. 

2 years ago I mistakenly wanted him the least out of him, Jansen and Moreno. 

Now very happy Kirk is the one they kept and that they extended him. 

[Grant77]

So what do we make of Will Wagner so far? Can his knack for making hard contact make up for his lack of other skills and allow him to be a starter, or will he be limited to a platoon role?

[Spanky99]

19 minutes ago, Grant77 said:

So what do we make of Will Wagner so far? Can his knack for making hard contact make up for his lack of other skills and allow him to be a starter, or will he be limited to a platoon role?

Strong side platoon is the plan it seems.  Article from KM yesterday...

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/bo-bichette-george-springer-lead-blue-jays-hot-lineup-to-win

[Orgfiller]

19 minutes ago, Grant77 said:

So what do we make of Will Wagner so far? Can his knack for making hard contact make up for his lack of other skills and allow him to be a starter, or will he be limited to a platoon role?

All I'll say is he's been not a total butcher in limited reps at 3B which is already much better than anticipated. He's clearly put in the work to make himself stick which ups his utility tremendously. I wonder if he's at all playable against LHP with his contact based approach.

[Grant77]

11 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

All I'll say is he's been not a total butcher in limited reps at 3B which is already much better than anticipated. He's clearly put in the work to make himself stick which ups his utility tremendously. I wonder if he's at all playable against LHP with his contact based approach.

If he excels in his platoon role for a month or two, I would like to see him given an extended chance against lefties.

[Orgfiller]

[Laika]

[max silver]

4 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

All I'll say is he's been not a total butcher in limited reps at 3B which is already much better than anticipated. He's clearly put in the work to make himself stick which ups his utility tremendously. I wonder if he's at all playable against LHP with his contact based approach.

I think Wagner has looked very good at third base in spring training and early in the season. He's not a gold glove candidate like Ernie Clement but the defense has been very solid so far. 

[Terminator]

Can someone who has a subscription to that garbage MLBtradevalues website please punch in the following trade:

• Gimenez
• Kylometers Straw
• a good reliever
• Cash
• International Pool Money

for 

• a slap hitting first baseman with a bum wrist

I can only assume the calculation would serve as the equivalent of a DDoS attack and crash the site, hopefully forever

[Omar]

23 hours ago, Grant77 said:

So what do we make of Will Wagner so far? Can his knack for making hard contact make up for his lack of other skills and allow him to be a starter, or will he be limited to a platoon role?

The big obstacle for Wagner is his power numbers.  Can he break through the platoon role into a starter by being a singles hitter?  I doubt it but wouldn't mind being wrong. 

[glory]

I think the ideal spot for Wagner is a bat first utility player, but on this team when Varsho gets back, he needs to start at 3B vs RHP. I think the projections are way too kind to him, but if he's playing 3B at even an average level, then that would be a great scenario for the Jays. Much better than sticking him at DH and hoping he hits enough. 

[Masterbather]

I hate off days in baseball. I know they're necessary but it drives me nuts during the season.

[Perfect Game]

Shapiro will be the guest on the Gate 14 Podcast Sunday night,

 

[max silver]

6 hours ago, Omar said:

The big obstacle for Wagner is his power numbers.  Can he break through the platoon role into a starter by being a singles hitter?  I doubt it but wouldn't mind being wrong. 

I think Wagner has potential to hit a ton of doubles as the exit velocities are solid enough. I had a peak at his Statcast numbers and he's really struggling against the heater with a .215 xwOBA against the heater. That trend is going to need to reverse if he's to continue to enjoy success.

[Jonn]

Always get nervous for Friday games because I feel it’s going to be an Apple TV game. But I think were safe today.

[mphenhef]

On 4/1/2025 at 9:11 PM, G-Snarls said:

Kirk is excellent.  Great receiver/blocker of course.  

Love his swing this year. Throws look better too. 

2 years ago I mistakenly wanted him the least out of him, Jansen and Moreno. 

Now very happy Kirk is the one they kept and that they extended him. 

I was shocked to see how high his Caught Stealing Above Average was last year on Baseball Savant (97th percentile).  He made some serious improvements despite a poor pop time.

[Laika]

The Blue Jays have faced two of the shittier SP staffs in baseball. 

Eflin 
Morton 
Kremer 
Sugano 
Soroka 
Williams
Gore

Realistically this is like facing a fringe SP2 (Gore), one SP3 (Eflin), two SP4s (Kremer and Morton), and then three SP5s (Williams, Sugano, Soroka).

So five "backend' quality SPs in seven games. And no SP1s, let alone capital A Aces. 

It's nice that Gimenez and Springer and Bo and others are hitting but let's wait a few weeks and let the team run through some actual pitching staffs before we start jerking Ross off. 

[John_Havok]

1 hour ago, Jonn said:

Always get nervous for Friday games because I feel it’s going to be an Apple TV game. But I think were safe today.

One good thing about being a Jays fan... Apple TV doesn't care about Jays games enough to pick up more than 2 or 3 per season.

Next one is April 18th against Seattle, then there's no more scheduled until at least the end of june

[204Jays]

Im getting sick of what Im going to assume are Boras-paid updates (Heyman today) on Vladdy.

He's not worth $500M, team shouldnt give him $300M+

Spread it around and round out the roster. He's not generational as much as his team keeps trying to convince us.

[Grant77]

A second game lost already because we didn't invest in middle relief, via major league signings, or smart minor league signings. It was an obvious black hole and surely guys would have jumped at the chance to earn a spot.

Who's next in the merry-go-round of s***** ass relievers when Fluharty gets DFA'd?

[mphenhef]

4 hours ago, 204Jays said:

Im getting sick of what Im going to assume are Boras-paid updates (Heyman today) on Vladdy.

He's not worth $500M, team shouldnt give him $300M+

Spread it around and round out the roster. He's not generational as much as his team keeps trying to convince us.

Did Vlad switch agents?

[max silver]

5 hours ago, Grant77 said:

A second game lost already because we didn't invest in middle relief, via major league signings, or smart minor league signings. It was an obvious black hole and surely guys would have jumped at the chance to earn a spot.

Who's next in the merry-go-round of s***** ass relievers when Fluharty gets DFA'd?

The middle relief runs allowed didn't help but the team lost primarily because they failed to plate a single run.

[Grant77]

Just now, max silver said:

The middle relief runs allowed didn't help but the team lost primarily because they failed to plate a single run.

Well sure, but that wasn't the case at the time that I made the post. You can't expect to contend and have Fluharty out there in a 2 run game, with a 100% fully rested bullpen. That's downright embarrassing. They let the cheapest area to address as the obvious Achilles heel of the team.

[max silver]

1 minute ago, Grant77 said:

Well sure, but that wasn't the case at the time that I made the post. You can't expect to contend and have Fluharty out there in a 2 run game, with a 100% fully rested bullpen. That's downright embarrassing. They let the cheapest area to address as the obvious Achilles heel of the team.

The team is down an important reliever in Swanson. If/when he comes back Fluharty will likely find his way back to AAA.