Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[Brownie19]

24 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

You're an idiot.

Go eat a dick friendo (or preferably - don't attack me).  Vlad deserves ALL the smoke.  Sid's a media guy looking for views and clicks.  It's what he does.  The fact Straw gives him the time of day is embarrassing.  If Straw wants to help the team, then be the vet who has the honest conversation with Vlad about making changes.  Maybe try being a bit more serious and ending the stupid gatorade jug dumps.  WHY NOT?  Why the f*ck wouldn't he try something different?  Clearly what he's doing isn't working.  

I mean obviously there's a possibility Straw has done this and Vlad told him go fly a kite, or that they honestly believe Vlad is doing everything possible to get on track - but I'm not sure I buy that.  He's been a low IQ player for years - one with seemingly no ability to make the necessary adjustments to reach his potential.  It's super sad.  I mean thank god he gave us his best in the playoffs last year.  That does mean something to me, but otherwise, he's been far too inconsistent for a "star".

Also - Straw has always been a hot head with fans.  Remember when he was trying to fight fans in the stands?  Little man syndrome.

I don't even particularly like Sid, but there's no reason for Straw to get involved.  Media is always saying unnecessary things to gain views and clicks.  Christ - half the fans also hate players at times.  How to you get baited into that as a professional?

[Spanky__99]

16 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Go eat a dick friendo (or preferably - don't attack me).  Vlad deserves ALL the smoke.  Sid's a media guy looking for views and clicks.  It's what he does.  The fact Straw gives him the time of day is embarrassing.  If Straw wants to help the team, then be the vet who has the honest conversation with Vlad about making changes.  Maybe try being a bit more serious and ending the stupid gatorade jug dumps.  WHY NOT?  Why the f*ck wouldn't he try something different?  Clearly what he's doing isn't working.  

I mean obviously there's a possibility Straw has done this and Vlad told him go fly a kite, or that they honestly believe Vlad is doing everything possible to get on track - but I'm not sure I buy that.  He's been a low IQ player for years - one with seemingly no ability to make the necessary adjustments to reach his potential.  It's super sad.  I mean thank god he gave us his best in the playoffs last year.  That does mean something to me, but otherwise, he's been far too inconsistent for a "star".

Also - Straw has always been a hot head with fans.  Remember when he was trying to fight fans in the stands?  Little man syndrome.

I don't even particularly like Sid, but there's no reason for Straw to get involved.  Media is always saying unnecessary things to gain views and clicks.  Christ - half the fans also hate players at times.  How to you get baited into that as a professional?

[Spanky__99]

Brownie you bring up conjecture all the time, when it comes to FO's, Clubhouse and team all the time, in what's behind closed doors. 

Here's a guy that just calls a spade a spade, yet here you are projecting your hype and value to what you think, Sid's a toerag pal.

Hate Vlad at your own fruition, but, own your stupidity.

[Omar]

 

 

[Olerud363.354]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

He didn't ruin Sid?  Vlad is a f*cking joke.  Sid is spot on here IMO.  If teammates aren't man enough to do it, then the organization needs to. Tell that stupid, fat f*ck to get in the lab and rebuild his swing.

I've no idea how to rebuild a swing but a couple of obvious things are some load management and strike-out more.  

Strike-out rate is 1/2 of Aaron Judge's and weirdly lowest of Vlad's career in his worst season.  Swing less, swing hard, and fix the attack angle whatever that is, but the last one I just know because Laika said it. 

Needs load management.  Play 5 times a week.  5/6 games or 5/7 if no off day. 

The fact that they haven't load managed him, even with obvious injuries is very weird and maybe fits the narrative no one is man enough to try and fix things. 

[Spanky__99]

 

[Spanky__99]

Welp...

[Stangstag]

4 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

 

I don’t necessarily care about changing free agency, but i’ve seen TONS of people online begging over the years for a shorter FA window because the offseason is too boring 

Sometimes these owners/players get so caught up in what THEY want, they forget the bigger picture is that the fans need to be on board.

[John_Havok]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

I don’t necessarily care about changing free agency, but i’ve seen TONS of people online begging over the years for a shorter FA window because the offseason is too boring 

Sometimes these owners/players get so caught up in what THEY want, they forget the bigger picture is that the fans need to be on board.

I read the new proposal from the owners and it's honestly pretty stupid overall. Everything they offered is contingent on a cap/floor system being agreed to

They want weekly rosters where you set your 26 man roster on a Sunday or whatever and stays locked for the next 7 days (injury exceptions of course). Basically brings back the problem of a starter getting blown out early, having to use 4 or 5 arms to finish a game and setting your pen back by a few days. Even if you were carrying an extra arm, 2 games in a row like this and you're basically done for the week. This is stupid. 

Option limits change from 4 to 5, IL is now 1 week and two weeks rather than 10 and 15 days, 60 day IL is a 12 week IL, pitcher limit change up to 14 from 13 ... Reasoning given by MLB is "This reduced transactional frequency would help teams maintain a more consistent roster, allowing fans to build a deeper familiarity with players while also mitigating instability for players."  - really just sounds like they want less transactions for some reason. Kinda hard to imagine this being "better" given the amount of injuries a team can sustain over the course of a season. I would guess though the PA might like this as it would increase the likelihood of guys reaching option limits and thus trades and new guys being added to the 40 man roster... probably a very small effect overall though. 

Rule 5 draft changes to allow anyone under 20 to be grabbed at the 4th draft after their signing rather than the 5th, 20 or over can be taken at the 3rd draft after their signing rather than the 4th. On the surface this seems like  good idea, but I don't see how much impact it would actually have since an 18 year old high school draftee is almost never ready by the time he's 22, though college bats (depending on age) could be eligible up to 2 drafts earlier. Rule 5 is barely a needle mover in the MLB so this is largely an optics move IMO. 

The free agent signing period thing... also seems inconsequential to me. They basically want it to all signings have to be done in a 2-3 week window at the Winter meetings which is like Dec 1-21 (give or take) then shut down again until the 1st Monday in February. Trades would also be not allowed from Dec 21 to the first Monday in Feb but would be allowed as usual from the end of the WS moratorium until the end of the winter meetings.   They say they want to build excitement on the FA signing period like in the NFL and NBA...realistically it's just about giving players and agents far less time to shop around and get more money from somewhere else as needs change in the offseason. 

[Omar]

Waking up this morning with 27 games left on the schedule and then noticing that Laika has locked the Jays Playoff Tracker thread.