GDT: Spring Training Games, Week of 3/9 - 3/15

[glory]

No way a Kirk extension should approach $20M AAV. He should definitely be extended though. The catching depth in the system is beyond trash. If the Jays are selling at the deadline then maybe they trade for a “catcher of the future” but if their goal is sustainable contention then at some point they’ll need to have a young player on a team friendly extension. Shapiro clearly doesn’t have the “sell your prime away for these magic beans” mind tricks that AA has.

[Terminator]

So we've got the following wave of Buffalo Boys who are ready to crash upon the beaches of Toronto:

• Wagner
• Roden
• Schneider
• Barger
• Clement
• Jimenez
• Loperfido

Behind that is a SECOND wave of guys that need a couple months in the minors before they reach shore:

• Orelvis
• Clase
• Schreck
• McAdoo
• Kasevich

We also have a sneaker wave that could strike at any moment. These are older guys with zero pedigree but they could still unexpectedly strike shore when you least expect it (like Clement):

• Lukes
• Stefanic
• Berroa
• Straw

And finally, behind all of that we have a TIDAL WAVE of a player coming and when he hits TO the World Series will be easy to make:

• Nimmala

[Brownie19]

Term - if we just keep saying it, people will believe it.  I mean - I see that strategy being used everyday with great success.

[Brownie19]

Yikes - sounds minor enough, but not what we wanted to hear...

Max Scherzer has been scratched from Thursday’s start due to right thumb soreness.

 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters the club is being “extra careful” with the decision to scratch Scherzer from his next scheduled outing due to right thumb soreness.

[max silver]

24 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Yikes - sounds minor enough, but not what we wanted to hear...

Max Scherzer has been scratched from Thursday’s start due to right thumb soreness.

 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters the club is being “extra careful” with the decision to scratch Scherzer from his next scheduled outing due to right thumb soreness.

That's infinitely less concerning than forearm/elbow/shoulder soreness. 

[Vancouverite]

7 hours ago, Laika said:

On an individual basis none of these Buffalo guys are special and they are more likely to bust than not 

HOWEVER the Blue Jays have literally never had this kind of viable young position player depth. At least not that I can remember. One or two of these guys could have a Reed Johnson or Kevin Pillar type of impact 

Reed f'ing Johnston. he was my favorite player when i was a kid and just got into baseball. I thought him and Frank Catalanatto were the bomb

Interesting fact, Reed Johnson put up a 4.4 WAR for the Jays in 2006. If only organizations cared about WAR back than.

[Vancouverite]

6 hours ago, Terminator said:

So we've got the following wave of Buffalo Boys who are ready to crash upon the beaches of Toronto:

• Wagner
• Roden
• Schneider
• Barger
• Clement
• Jimenez
• Loperfido

Behind that is a SECOND wave of guys that need a couple months in the minors before they reach shore:

• Orelvis
• Clase
• Schreck
• McAdoo
• Kasevich

We also have a sneaker wave that could strike at any moment. These are older guys with zero pedigree but they could still unexpectedly strike shore when you least expect it (like Clement):

• Lukes
• Stefanic
• Berroa
• Straw

And finally, behind all of that we have a TIDAL WAVE of a player coming and when he hits TO the World Series will be easy to make:

• Nimmala

yup i like the depth coming up. Not all of these guys will stick but, if even 3 or 4 out of these guys become regulars for us over the next 2 seasons it's a huge win. 

Roden, Barger, Orelvis, and Wagner have solid potential 

Leo Jimenez is the wild card for me. His defense is very good and in the batters box my eye test tells me he can be a good hitter.. a .250 / .350 / .750 with 10-15 HR power and solid defense at SS. He has a good eye at the plate and he's only 23 years old! Lots of potential here.

[Terminator]

46 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

yup i like the depth coming up. Not all of these guys will stick but, if even 3 or 4 out of these guys become regulars for us over the next 2 seasons it's a huge win. 

Roden, Barger, Orelvis, and Wagner have solid potential 

Leo Jimenez is the wild card for me. His defense is very good and in the batters box my eye test tells me he can be a good hitter.. a .250 / .350 / .750 with 10-15 HR power and solid defense at SS. He has a good eye at the plate and he's only 23 years old! Lots of potential here.

Yeah most of them project around 2 WAR or so. If we can get a couple of them to hit their 75-80th percentile projections then we would have some damn good players on our hands.

[John_Havok]

5 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

Reed f'ing Johnston. he was my favorite player when i was a kid and just got into baseball. I thought him and Frank Catalanatto were the bomb

Interesting fact, Reed Johnson put up a 4.4 WAR for the Jays in 2006. If only organizations cared about WAR back than.

They probably cared that 4.4 fwar was his only good season, and didn't even come close to that total combined over the entire remainder  of his career. 

[BB17]

15 hours ago, jaysblue said:

You don't need to extend Kirk for $20M AAV per season lol. 

I think you can extend him for way less. Sean Murphy two years ago got 6 years/$73M at $12.17M AAV and was coming off a 5.2 WAR season and was 27-years-old. 

As well, if I recall, there hasn't been a catcher in free agency who got big bucks over the last two years, so nothing really for Kirk's camp to compare with. 

Murphy had 3 years of control left and was set to hit FA at 31, while Kirk is 2 years away and hitting FA at 28 so its a little less comparable than you think. The market seems to have gone up a decent amount in the last 2 years too, just look at what Soto got compared to Ohtani the year before.

If you don't sign Kirk now, he's probably not going to sign and walk to FA where you're playing with fire. So I'd rather sign his FA years at like 17M per year than try to get too cute with the negotiation. Once a guy hits FA all it takes is one team and maybe Kirk says I'd rather play closer to Mexico and signs with say the Padres.

 

[max silver]

9 hours ago, BB17 said:

Murphy had 3 years of control left and was set to hit FA at 31, while Kirk is 2 years away and hitting FA at 28 so its a little less comparable than you think. The market seems to have gone up a decent amount in the last 2 years too, just look at what Soto got compared to Ohtani the year before.

If you don't sign Kirk now, he's probably not going to sign and walk to FA where you're playing with fire. So I'd rather sign his FA years at like 17M per year than try to get too cute with the negotiation. Once a guy hits FA all it takes is one team and maybe Kirk says I'd rather play closer to Mexico and signs with say the Padres.

 

[jaysblue]

9 hours ago, BB17 said:

Murphy had 3 years of control left and was set to hit FA at 31, while Kirk is 2 years away and hitting FA at 28 so its a little less comparable than you think. The market seems to have gone up a decent amount in the last 2 years too, just look at what Soto got compared to Ohtani the year before.

If you don't sign Kirk now, he's probably not going to sign and walk to FA where you're playing with fire. So I'd rather sign his FA years at like 17M per year than try to get too cute with the negotiation. Once a guy hits FA all it takes is one team and maybe Kirk says I'd rather play closer to Mexico and signs with say the Padres.

 

Are you really comparing the contract Soto got compared to Ohtani when talking about Kirk?

I know the market has gone up over the last couple of years for FA's, though we've also seen it crater with some top FA's as well. 

What does Kirk base his new contract off of? Will Smith in March 2024 signed a 10-year extension worth $140M including a $30M signing bonus along with deferrals. He's not getting anything close to what Smith got with LA. 

I don't think Kirk is in any position to demand top value just yet given his offensive production the last two seasons with a 96 wRC+ and 94 wRC+ in 2023 and 2024 lol. Defensive minded only catchers who are good for 2-3 WAR aren't difficult to find and don't usually cost a lot through FA. 

I'm all for signing Kirk to a modest extension that buys out 3 or 4 years of free agency. You don't have to throw close to $20M at him in order for him to sign on the dotted line lol. If you give him a 5 or 6 year extension similar to what Murphy got or a bit more, he likely accepts once he sees all that guaranteed money. 

[jaysblue]

9 minutes ago, max silver said:

I wish the dislike button still existed. 

[BatFlip]

13 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

I wish the dislike button still existed. 

I wish a tar and feather button existed.

[max silver]

7 minutes ago, BatFlip said:

I wish a tar and feather button existed.

I semi-jokingly requested that one earlier.

[BB17]

5 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Are you really comparing the contract Soto got compared to Ohtani when talking about Kirk?

I know the market has gone up over the last couple of years for FA's, though we've also seen it crater with some top FA's as well. 

What does Kirk base his new contract off of? Will Smith in March 2024 signed a 10-year extension worth $140M including a $30M signing bonus along with deferrals. He's not getting anything close to what Smith got with LA. 

I don't think Kirk is in any position to demand top value just yet given his offensive production the last two seasons with a 96 wRC+ and 94 wRC+ in 2023 and 2024 lol. Defensive minded only catchers who are good for 2-3 WAR aren't difficult to find and don't usually cost a lot through FA. 

I'm all for signing Kirk to a modest extension that buys out 3 or 4 years of free agency. You don't have to throw close to $20M at him in order for him to sign on the dotted line lol. If you give him a 5 or 6 year extension similar to what Murphy got or a bit more, he likely accepts once he sees all that guaranteed money. 

I know what you're saying, and I would try to get him to sign for like 4/60 with a couple club options attached. Considering he comes from Mexico and hasn't made much money yet you think you should be able to lock him up to a pretty team friendly deal. 

Just would be nice to see this FO make a deal with a player where the moment it's signed you think "thats a good contract". Berrios and Grichuk are really the only 2 players I can think of off the top of my head who they signed before FA to extensions. Berrios deal looks decent, grichuk's wasn't.

[Spanky99]

Decent lineup today, for our viewership. Easton Lucas has gotten a long look as a starter this spring.

[Spanky99]

Duck snort ribeye for Varsho, lol. 

Nice baserunning by Vlad.

[Spanky99]

Is that a woman behind the plate umping, or a short dude with long hair? 🤔

[Spanky99]

If we ever have to see Lucas pitch for us this season, God Help Us!

[Spanky99]

Scherzer's MRI came back clean on his thumb, he'll be back on the bump in a day or 2.

 

[gruber9292]

Bo sporting some love handles this year, wtf. 

[Orgfiller]

34 minutes ago, Spanky99 said:

Is that a woman behind the plate umping, or a short dude with long hair? 🤔

It is a woman, Jen Pawol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen_Pawol

Buck shouted her out earlier in spring, she's just the third woman to ever umpire a Spring Training game, and is on the shortlist to get called up to ump MLB games this season. She did AAA games last year and was an umpire for the AAA championship game. I don't know how often AAA umps become full-time MLB umps but she seems as close as any to making the jump.

[Spanky99]

4 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

It is a woman, Jen Pawol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen_Pawol

Buck shouted her out earlier in spring, she's just the third woman to ever umpire a Spring Training game, and is on the shortlist to get called up to ump MLB games this season. She did AAA games last year and was an umpire for the AAA championship game. I don't know how often AAA umps become full-time MLB umps but she seems as close as any to making the jump.

Yeah, I end up finding her name and searched it, thanks.

 

[Orgfiller]

Yarbrough is FIRED UP trying to make the team. Pumping 88-89 mph, pure heat from him. Almost even touched 90 one time.

[Spanky99]

Why did Dylan Carlson sign with the Orioles, what a dingleberry?

 

[Orgfiller]

Does this look like a guy that's content eating up innings in AAA? I don't f***ing think so, he's carving these guys up with unhittable stuff.

[Orgfiller]

Vlad in midseason form already, making ridiculous baserunning decisions that turn into stupid outs.

[Spanky99]

Vlad ya dummy, even though I think he was safe. 🤣

[gruber9292]

And Vladdy rejected $500M? Lol.. 

 

Varsho another HR