Blue Jays (Lauer) vs Angels (Soriano): 4/22/26, 3:07pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Can Lauer get right today?

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Tyler Rogers	0	9	0	9	12	30
Tommy Nance	0	0	8	0	0	8
Spencer Miles	29	0	0	0	22	51
Mason Fluharty	0	0	18	0	7	25
Louis Varland	0	0	0	20	1	21
Joe Mantiply	15	0	0	0	0	15
Jeff Hoffman	0	26	0	17	18	61
Braydon Fisher	0	0	11	12	0	23

[max silver]

I thought Lauer generally pitched a lot better his last time out. I think he'd be better served to keep his thoughts to himself a little bit more as he's been complaining a ton to the media like he's a perennial Cy Young candidate vs a swingman type.

[mphenhef]

3 minutes ago, max silver said:

I thought Lauer generally pitched a lot better his last time out. I think he'd be better served to keep his thoughts to himself a little bit more as he's been complaining a ton to the media like he's a perennial Cy Young candidate vs a swingman type.

The irony being he is complaining because he wants to protect his value for free agency but being a bad clubhouse guy who runs to the media with every complaint will probably actually cost him money.

[hanton]

...I thought Keegan was posting breaking news lol

 

[Terminator]

I wonder if Lauer could end up being traded with Yesavage and Berrios close to returning.

If Gaus, Cease and Yesavage are locks, that leaves Berrios, Lauer, Corbin, and Scherzer for 2 spots. And we also have Bieber waiting in the wings.

Maybe the Padres would be a good fit?

[max silver]

6 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

The irony being he is complaining because he wants to protect his value for free agency but being a bad clubhouse guy who runs to the media with every complaint will probably actually cost him money.

Yeah it strikes me as coming across as being a selfish player. I'm sure he's far from the first player in his position to have these types of thoughts but most guys are media savvy enough to publicly state how they are happy to do whatever it takes to help the team vs causing waves in this fashion.

[Laika]

I think he's trade bait for sure 

The Astros are a mess and need pitching desperately and Toronto-Houston are trade buddies 

The Cards are miraculously 14-9 but have one of the grossest rotations out there

[Laika]

Lauer also might be DFA bait if nobody wants him 

f***ing 86 Stuff+ this year and making 4x what Patty Corbin signed for 

Corbin and Lauer are both just sort of a bet on who can fake it with plus command for 15 starts or so

Scherzer and Berrios might be in the same bucket 

This collection of has-beens is becoming pretty funny 

[Jays24]

Lauer was money practically all last season... he's had 1 really bad start, super sick during his other bad outing and 2 decent starts otherwise. 

Talking about DFA'ing him already is ridiculous lol.  He can be a valuable long man/lefty out of the pen, which this team needs.  

[hanton]

Don't count Lauer out just yet, he wasn't sharp in his last outing - something going on either he's still recovering or maybe needs more innings.  He told you all he doesn't like to be messed with....

[Laika]

Gausman, Cease, Yesavage, Bieber

Hoffman, Rogers, Varland, Fisher, Fluharty, Yimi, Nance 

Corbin/Scherzer/Berrios/Lauer for two spots

Who are you cutting or trading if everyone is healthy? Two need to go. Nance is out of options and has decent projections/stuff so he would be claimed. We have already cut Miles and demoted Mantiply here. The team isn't likely to put two starters in the pen as long-men.

• Berrios is not liquid, cannot be traded
• Scherzer could perhaps be put on the gentleman's IL
• Maybe Corbin could be traded for cash/PTBNL if he is pitching well

There isn't really a reason to prefer Lauer to Corbin. Corbin was also pretty solid in 2025, made 30 starts and was worth 1.9 fWAR. There is no "stuff gap." 

Lauer's gaping yap is not helping his case

Of course it's baseball so there will be enough injuries for this to not ever matter 

[Spanky__99]

GO JAYS GO, 4 in a row today, Lets GO!!!
 

 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

The irony being he is complaining because he wants to protect his value for free agency but being a bad clubhouse guy who runs to the media with every complaint will probably actually cost him money.

Exactly. Jays should trade him to a team like the Rays where they’ll f up his value a lot more

Dude is a bit delusional, the Jays have given him an excellent opportunity to display his talents and probably put him in a better position to succeed than most teams would have.

[glory]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

I wonder if Lauer could end up being traded with Yesavage and Berrios close to returning.

If Gaus, Cease and Yesavage are locks, that leaves Berrios, Lauer, Corbin, and Scherzer for 2 spots. And we also have Bieber waiting in the wings.

Maybe the Padres would be a good fit?

That was my thought as well. The difference between him and Corbin is practically nothing, and Corbin (given his age) probably won't care if he's a swing man after other pitchers get healthy, whereas Lauer will publicly complain about every perceived slight he can think of. The juice isn't worth the squeeze with Lauer once Yesavage, Berrios, and Bieber are back. Whether anyone will trade for him given his salary is a different story. Seems more likely to be a DFA candidate, but maybe the Jays get lucky and someone takes his money. 

[Stangstag]

36 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Lauer was money practically all last season... he's had 1 really bad start, super sick during his other bad outing and 2 decent starts otherwise. 

Talking about DFA'ing him already is ridiculous lol.  He can be a valuable long man/lefty out of the pen, which this team needs.  

Not if he doesn’t want the role

[Olerud363.354]

50 minutes ago, Laika said:

This collection of has-beens is becoming pretty funny 

Blue Jays built a commanding AL East lead with rotation of Gausman, Berrios, Bassit, Scherzer and Lauer.

 

[Terminator]

If it comes down to Miles or Lauer for the long man role it would be General Manager malpractice to dump Miles and keep Lauer.

If we can hang on to Miles for the year we'll have him under team control for a long time, and that will come with 2 option years. He'd be a good guy to stretch out in Buffalo and have as a depth starter moving forward.

Lauer on the other hand will be a FA and won't be back.

[Olerud363.354]

11 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Not if he doesn’t want the role

I seriously don't get it.  There used to be like 140 inning long man occasional starter relieve role where guys could go 12-3 easy vulturing wins.  Is like Arb against this kind of thing?   Or is it just misplaced confidence?  Like Lauer knows it is better to be 12-3, 3.55 as long man that faces middle of order only once, he know this is better then 4-11 5.44 with 32 starts... however he THINKS he'll go 15-5 in 32 starts. 

[Olerud363.354]

Got to give more prestige to the vulture role.

Full time opener would go 0-3 2.44.  If hypothetically full time opener 0 wins because would never go 5 innings. 

Full time starter (mediocre stuff) would go 4-11 5.44 because they would get crushed by top of the order 3rd time through. 

but... vulture (mediocre stuff) might go 11-4 3.55, because they'd be used more strategically.  Miss the middle of the order first and 3rd time, but get 15 batters (middle of the order once), and no worries about 5 innings for win, because they come in second inning. 

[Stangstag]

11 minutes ago, Olerud363.354 said:

I seriously don't get it.  There used to be like 140 inning long man occasional starter relieve role where guys could go 12-3 easy vulturing wins.  Is like Arb against this kind of thing?   Or is it just misplaced confidence?  Like Lauer knows it is better to be 12-3, 3.55 as long man that faces middle of order only once, he know this is better then 4-11 5.44 with 32 starts... however he THINKS he'll go 15-5 in 32 starts. 

I think it just comes down to money really. He’s upset he got less money in arbitration, and since he’s a free agent next year, he’s hoping to get a big contract maybe something like 3/45 as a starter. He probably feels like if he pitches in long relief for majority of the year then he won’t get that big contract he wants. And he might be right.

However, his numbers could very well look worse as a full-time starter as opposed to a long relief role. But that’s just the confidence of an athlete clouding his judgment.

And at the end of the day, he shouldn’t be airing his grievances to the media. 

[Laika]

Interesting Hoffman commentary 

 

[hanton]

"he's a big boy"  hmm ok.  that needs to be said?  Move on already, use him in lower leverage situations, for his own good and for the teams

 

[Jays24]

44 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Not if he doesn’t want the role

Then he would be traded, not DFA'd.  

[Stangstag]

3 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Then he would be traded, not DFA'd.  

Yes, DFA is a dumb suggestion but I believe that was being said as a way to potentially keep him and stash him in AAA. I doubt he would accept that though 

[Jays24]

5 minutes ago, hanton said:

"he's a big boy"  hmm ok.  that needs to be said?  Move on already, use him in lower leverage situations, for his own good and for the teams

 

Clearly hes not a "big boy" if they gotta keep catering to him.  We've all been waiting for a role switch thats been overdue so just do it. 

Who knows... maybe he finds himself back in the closer role but it should be earned next time, not given.  Thats how sports work.  

[Terminator]

If Lauer doesn't pitch well from here on out, what other choice will we have but to DFA him? The guy is a year removed from having to flee to Asia to continue his career and if everyone his healthy he's our #8-10th best SP.

But I expect he'll be better, the projections say as much. And I think we can trade him. But it won't be for much.

Jays fans need to get used to losing decent players for little to nothing. That's what happens when you have a good team and a 300+ million dollar payroll to plug any perceived holes each offseason. Decent players will get squeezed off the roster.

[max silver]

8 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Clearly hes not a "big boy" if they gotta keep catering to him.  We've all been waiting for a role switch thats been overdue so just do it. 

Who knows... maybe he finds himself back in the closer role but it should be earned next time, not given.  Thats how sports work.  

Good grief Hoffman isn't in charge of choosing who is closer for the team, that falls on the manager/coaching staff and front office. This is just as dumb as the criticism that Bo used to receive for refusing to move off of short stop when there was zero evidence to suggest he was ever asked to move in the first place.

[Stangstag]

42 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Clearly hes not a "big boy" if they gotta keep catering to him.  We've all been waiting for a role switch thats been overdue so just do it. 

Who knows... maybe he finds himself back in the closer role but it should be earned next time, not given.  Thats how sports work.  

I think you’re confusing Hoffman with Lauer

[max silver]

6 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

I think you’re confusing Hoffman with Lauer

I think Hoffman was been fully accountable to the media during his struggles vs Lauer who has been blasting the team's decisions on the regular despite his relative struggles this season. It's really puzzling that Lauer gets a complete pass despite the constant whining in the media and Hoffman gets called a baby when he's done nothing to warrant this type of criticism. 

[Jays24]

Wow what a catch!! You've been replaced Vladdy lol