General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2025)

[Jimcanuck]

Barger probably isn't in MLB without the privileged upbringing.

So yeah, the phrasing is silly.

[L54]

9 hours ago, SeranthonySantander said:

Then on the other hand you have A Judges parents who took an unwanted baby who turned out to be on of the best players of all time.  Wonder if the birth parents know that.

Man I’ve often wondered this as well. Not that it matters but it’s an interesting thought 

Bless anyone who adopts kids 

[L54]

8 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Oh for sure, I don't begrudge any kid whose parent has the means to provide the environment to grow. 

It's just... that's the textbook definition of privilege, he didn't overcome privilege. The way the terminology is presented is laughable. 

It’s an awkward headline that’s for sure lol 

But you’re right can’t blame the dad who tries to develop their son as long as dad isn’t a douche bag. Many such examples 

[Terminator]

11 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

The way I read it is Barger was SOOOO privileged that even after his dad built a ball diamond and training facilities for him, home schooled him and hired a personal trainer - he still SUCKED and couldn't get playing time on one of the thousands of local travel balls teams - so his dad started his own travel ball team and filled it with Dominicans (was Barger a loser with no regular friends?) and FINALLY, after all of that, he finally became a legit prospect.  The epitome of "daddy ball" for sure.  In fact, he might be the biggest and most successful example of daddy ball in the history of baseball.

If Brownie Jr. is going to make the big leagues then dear old dad is going to have to step up his game.

Time to empty out that retirement account and start making some risky calls and puts. Junior's MLB career is on the line.

[Brownie19]

11 hours ago, Terminator said:

If Brownie Jr. is going to make the big leagues then dear old dad is going to have to step up his game.

Time to empty out that retirement account and start making some risky calls and puts. Junior's MLB career is on the line.

So true.  I have put (what I feel is) a lot of money into my kids to play sports (hockey and baseball).  The funny thing is you almost have to put a certain amount into them when they are young to put them in a position to take advantage of that opportunity when they get hair on their balls.  That's when it matters - that's when you find out if they really want it or not.  You find out who they really are once they get their first BJ.

 

[SeranthonySantander]

13 hours ago, L54 said:

It’s an awkward headline that’s for sure lol 

But you’re right can’t blame the dad who tries to develop their son as long as dad isn’t a douche bag. Many such examples 

You ever see those Facebook shorts with that kid, maybe 3, who hits pretty well?  Last one I saw he taught the kid to swing later to hit it up the middle or oppo.  We need to sign that kid.

[jmomcc]

I sometimes wonder how much better american baseball would be if they developed players the way soccer does in europe. 

If you are from a poor family in london and you show elite soccer potential, you are going to get elite coaching until you fail. People fall through the cracks but not that many. 

The american system is fantastic for the olympics as the high school and college system especially just puts money into sports that other countries can't compete with. But i think there is a reason that even though they have huge soccer playing numbers, that they still kind of suck. European countries are just better at developing soccer talent.

[mphenhef]

1 hour ago, jmomcc said:

I sometimes wonder how much better american baseball would be if they developed players the way soccer does in europe. 

If you are from a poor family in london and you show elite soccer potential, you are going to get elite coaching until you fail. People fall through the cracks but not that many. 

The american system is fantastic for the olympics as the high school and college system especially just puts money into sports that other countries can't compete with. But i think there is a reason that even though they have huge soccer playing numbers, that they still kind of suck. European countries are just better at developing soccer talent.

One also has to wonder how much of the increase in injuries has to to do with the increase of these travel ball teams that are sometimes going year round.  Pitchers throw so many bullets by the time they are drafted now without ever really resting their arms. 

[John_Havok]

2 hours ago, mphenhef said:

One also has to wonder how much of the increase in injuries has to to do with the increase of these travel ball teams that are sometimes going year round.  Pitchers throw so many bullets by the time they are drafted now without ever really resting their arms. 

This is one of the prevailing theories that goes alongside the increased velo/spin focus of arms across the sport. 

Chances are there is no single reason, but rather it being multi-factorial. 

[Pendleton]

On 11/17/2025 at 11:39 AM, Pendleton said:

 

Yeah he was 17th overall in catcher WAR. It had me sort of contemplating whether he'd draw interest this off season. The FA market for catchers is terrible and Heineman is probably at least low end starting catcher caliber if his great defense holds up to a much larger sample - even if the bat completely falls off. 

 

Given that there's always a shortage of quality catchers, I would be surprised if we didn't at least have some calls on Heineman. That's not to say he would return enough value to justify moving him. He surely has more value to a team who doesn't have a Kirk (or anything close) but probably not enough to bother creating a void. We do have a very possible future back up in the recently acquired Valenzuela, but it's likely best to give him some MLB time to prove himself defensively before making that call. 

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/top-sleeper-prospects-added-to-40-man-rosters-2025.html

 

Valenzuela mentioned here 

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Pendleton said:

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/top-sleeper-prospects-added-to-40-man-rosters-2025.html

 

Valenzuela mentioned here 

BA has him as a sleeper also.

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, Pendleton said:

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/top-sleeper-prospects-added-to-40-man-rosters-2025.html

 

Valenzuela mentioned here 

Perfect depth to have as a AAA catcher.  3 options remaining.

[Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

Perfect depth to have as a AAA catcher.  3 options remaining.

 

It was probably an astute move to acquire him for someone like Wagner who has such an entirely more narrow path to a big league career. 

[Laika]

39 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

 

It was probably an astute move to acquire him for someone like Wagner who has so an entirely more narrow path to a big league career. 

smart front office stays smart

trust the process 

[Omar]

 

[Laika]

https://goldin.co/item/oct-20-2025-alcs-game-7-actual-george-springer-7th-inning-go-ahead-homnxlcg?queryId=eyJxdWVyeUlkIjoiODlhY2EwNTE0ZGQxZTQ3ZDQ5YTc1NzFiMmUyNmJjM2IiLCJjYXJkSW5kZXgiOjEyfQ%3D%3D

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

https://goldin.co/item/oct-20-2025-alcs-game-7-actual-george-springer-7th-inning-go-ahead-homnxlcg?queryId=eyJxdWVyeUlkIjoiODlhY2EwNTE0ZGQxZTQ3ZDQ5YTc1NzFiMmUyNmJjM2IiLCJjYXJkSW5kZXgiOjEyfQ%3D%3D

That is pretty cool.  Someone bid the $10K for it.  

[Perfect Game]

 

[Jonn]

47 minutes ago, Perfect Game said:

 

Blue Jays just keep signing Cuban's.

[Brownie19]

This is great...

 

[Pendleton]

 

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Pendleton said:

 

That's sick!

[G-Snarls]

4 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

That's sick!

Launch angle about 40-45 degrees LOL

[mphenhef]

My god...Vlad with an aluminum bat...I wonder what the exit velos were?

[Olerud363.354]

Seems like in the Atkins press conference he said something like 'Bieber is probably going to be ready for Spring Training, taking it week by week. 

The whole thing is weird between making him the 3rd then 4th SP in playoff rotation, to him taking the qualifying offer.  Wonder what is going on.  Hopefully just a slow TJ recovery and nothing else. 

Also sounds like Berrios wasn't too happy watching playoff baseball. 

[Jonn]

49 minutes ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Also sounds like Berrios wasn't too happy watching playoff baseball. 

With the way he pitched last Season. He should be thrilled he had any affiliation with playoff Baseball.

[glory]

Bieber got TJS in April 2024, so by the time he started his first game with the Jays, it was 16 months post surgery (and he started pitching much sooner than that in rehab games in the minors). The fact that the Jays got what they got out of him is actually very good fortune. I think/hope he will be fine by Opening Day, but it does make sense to have an extra SP just in case, even if they end up moving Berrios. 

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Seems like in the Atkins press conference he said something like 'Bieber is probably going to be ready for Spring Training, taking it week by week. 

The whole thing is weird between making him the 3rd then 4th SP in playoff rotation, to him taking the qualifying offer.  Wonder what is going on.  Hopefully just a slow TJ recovery and nothing else. 

Also sounds like Berrios wasn't too happy watching playoff baseball. 

Was the press conference today?

 

[Terminator]

It was today and there is BNS's summary in tweet form

[Spanky__99]

Attaboy, Sheriff!

Also, this is a neat offseason tracker by SN... you don't have to roll through the 2800 word articles on MLBTR 😜

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/mlb-off-season-tracker-all-the-top-free-agent-moves-and-trades/