Blue Jays (Gausman) vs Rays (Rasmussen): 5/5/26, 6:40pm

[RA Whiffleball]

27 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

Nah, now more delusional Leafs fans are going to think they're winning the Stanley Cup next season 😂

Don't worry, Dubas's long lost twin will lead us to the promised land!

[Brownie19]

5 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Most people understand Barger is young, has upside, and could absolutely give the team a boost. Nobody is saying the opposite. But pointing out that there are still flaws in his game, or that expecting a sophomore slump is reasonable, isn’t “wishful thinking” or negativity. It’s just a realistic assessment of a young player who still has to adjust as the league adjusts to him.

Some posters seem to take any criticism of the Jays’ roster construction, development, or young players as if it’s a personal insult. That’s where these discussions go sideways. You can be optimistic about Barger and still acknowledge that there are legitimate concerns. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

The problem isn’t people being excited about him. The problem is acting like any cautious or critical opinion automatically means someone is cheering against the team.

Noone said he didn't have flaws. Nobody suggested he was an elite, absolutely can't miss player who will transform the lineup.  A fan of the Blue Jays just optimistically said he thought Barger would help the offense.  Telling him that's just wishful thinking is just utter nonsense. End of story.

Watching you jerk off your uncle is gross 🤣 Almost everything he says is negative drivel.  The organization is in the best shape it's been in the last 30+ years.  We were inches away from a championship. If you can't be optimistic about this organization right now - GTFO!

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Jays looking mentally defeated.  Tough loss 

It's hard to see. I imagine this one stings a lot.  They knew the expectations going into the year and it's probably really starting to weighing on them.

[RA Whiffleball]

59 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Noone said he didn't have flaws. Nobody suggested he was an elite, absolutely can't miss player who will transform the lineup.  A fan of the Blue Jays just optimistically said he thought Barger would help the offense.  Telling him that's just wishful thinking is just utter nonsense. End of story.

Watching you jerk off your uncle is gross 🤣 Almost everything he says is negative drivel.  The organization is in the best shape it's been in the last 30+ years.  We were inches away from a championship. If you can't be optimistic about this organization right now - GTFO!

So elegantly put, Why are you such an angry person? 

[jaysblue]

7 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Noone said he didn't have flaws. Nobody suggested he was an elite, absolutely can't miss player who will transform the lineup.  A fan of the Blue Jays just optimistically said he thought Barger would help the offense.  Telling him that's just wishful thinking is just utter nonsense. End of story.

Watching you jerk off your uncle is gross 🤣 Almost everything he says is negative drivel.  The organization is in the best shape it's been in the last 30+ years.  We were inches away from a championship. If you can't be optimistic about this organization right now - GTFO!

Ah yes, nothing says “rational baseball discussion” quite like telling people to GTFO because they don’t express optimism in the exact approved format. Also, the “uncle” comment is pretty inappropriate and unnecessary. You can disagree with someone’s baseball opinion without turning it into weird personal stuff. If the whole argument is that people are being unreasonable or incapable of discussion, maybe don’t immediately follow that up with insults and personal shots.

Nobody said Barger can’t help the offence. Nobody said he lacks upside. Nobody said the organization isn’t in great shape either. That’s the strawman here. The Jays can be in one of the best positions they’ve been in for decades, and people can still have concerns about individual players, roster construction, or how much immediate impact a young hitter is going to have.

Being “inches away” from a championship doesn’t mean every player projection suddenly has to be sunshine and rainbows. If anything, when you’re that close, the details matter even more.

But sure, let’s pretend the only two choices are blind optimism or negative drivel. Very nuanced stuff.
 

[jaysblue]

6 hours ago, RA Whiffleball said:

So elegantly put, Why are you such an angry person? 

As much as I like Brownie19 and Max - and I’ll admit I’ve gotten along with them much better over the last year or so - they can still come across as arrogant and like they always have the final word on everything.

The bigger issue is that whenever someone criticizes the organization, Atkins, or even just questions a certain player or roster decision, they seem to go straight into attack mode. It often feels less like actual debate and more like certain posters sticking within their own clique and piling on anyone who doesn’t share the approved opinion.

I was basically public enemy No. 1 on here a couple of years ago, and honestly, I’d consider myself one of the more rational posters on this board. Could I be wrong sometimes? Of course. Everyone is. But that’s the whole point of discussion. You debate, you disagree, and you make your case.

With them, though, it often turns into personal shots, condescension, and arrogance instead of an actual exchange of ideas. That kind of tone does turn people away from the board, because not everyone wants every disagreement to become some hostile back-and-forth.

[mphenhef]

7 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

It's hard to see. I imagine this one stings a lot.  They knew the expectations going into the year and it's probably really starting to weighing on them.

It's not going to happen here but the firing of a widely considered great coach in Philly really seems to have motivated the players to play better...I know it's got nothing to do with Donny Baseball.

[jaysblue]

The AL East is definitely an uphill climb right now, with the Yankees out in front and the Jays sitting under .500, but there’s still a lot of season left.

I get the frustration after April, but I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom either.

The Jays obviously didn’t get off to the start anyone wanted, and the division looks like it’s going to be tough - especially with the Yankees playing well and 9 games ahead. But baseball seasons are long, and things can change pretty quickly. Teams go through hot stretches and cold stretches all the time. A bad April doesn’t automatically define the rest of the year.

There’s still enough talent here for this team to go on a run if the lineup starts clicking, the rotation settles in, and the bullpen avoids extended rough patches. We’ve seen plenty of teams look mediocre early and then completely change the narrative by June or July.

Winning the division might be difficult, but it’s not impossible. And even if the Yankees remain tough to catch, the Jays don’t need to be perfect right now. They need to stabilize, get back over .500, and give themselves a chance to build momentum.

It’s fair to criticize the team after a disappointing month, but some posters acting like the season is already over feels way too premature. There’s still time for this to turn around.

[Governator]

 

28 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

As much as I like Brownie19 and Max - and I’ll admit I’ve gotten along with them much better over the last year or so - they can still come across as arrogant and like they always have the final word on everything.

The bigger issue is that whenever someone criticizes the organization, Atkins, or even just questions a certain player or roster decision, they seem to go straight into attack mode. It often feels less like actual debate and more like certain posters sticking within their own clique and piling on anyone who doesn’t share the approved opinion.

I was basically public enemy No. 1 on here a couple of years ago, and honestly, I’d consider myself one of the more rational posters on this board. Could I be wrong sometimes? Of course. Everyone is. But that’s the whole point of discussion. You debate, you disagree, and you make your case.

With them, though, it often turns into personal shots, condescension, and arrogance instead of an actual exchange of ideas. That kind of tone does turn people away from the board, because not everyone wants every disagreement to become some hostile back-and-forth.

They didn't start any personal attacks but knowing when to let things go would be good.

Attacking someone for saying when Barger comes back it could help spark the line up is unacceptable and just opened the door for back and forth. 

You also didn't help the situation by bringing it back up mid game, that derailed the entire game thread FYI.

Just let it go.

[Olerud363.354]

1 hour ago, Governator said:

They didn't start any personal attacks but knowing when to let things go would be good.

Attacking someone for saying when Barger comes back it could help spark the line up is unacceptable and just opened the door for back and forth. 

You also didn't help the situation by bringing it back up mid game, that derailed the entire game thread FYI.

Just let it go.

I haven't read the entire game thread so not sure exactly what happened.  

In terms of letting things go...  I don't know.  If you have a strong opinion human nature to keep bringing it up, obviously needs to be a balance.

Bringing it up 50 times a day -- too much

Bringing it up once every 2 days -- about right 

Bringing it up once a year -- too little probably. 

Also don't just bring it up when your opinion looks right,   If Barger hits .300 .400 .600 for a month and Jays go 20-5 Barger skeptics should bring it up and say wow!  proving me wrong, this is the best franchise in baseball.  If Barger hits .180 .230 .280 for a month and Jays go 5-20 finding themselves 20 games back in June Barger enthusiasts should bring it up and say 'boy, the negative Nancies sure were right this time, this is the season from hell and we may not see another meaningful game for a decade!'

 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, jaysblue said:

The AL East is definitely an uphill climb right now, with the Yankees out in front and the Jays sitting under .500, but there’s still a lot of season left.

I get the frustration after April, but I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom either.

The Jays obviously didn’t get off to the start anyone wanted, and the division looks like it’s going to be tough - especially with the Yankees playing well and 9 games ahead. But baseball seasons are long, and things can change pretty quickly. Teams go through hot stretches and cold stretches all the time. A bad April doesn’t automatically define the rest of the year.

There’s still enough talent here for this team to go on a run if the lineup starts clicking, the rotation settles in, and the bullpen avoids extended rough patches. We’ve seen plenty of teams look mediocre early and then completely change the narrative by June or July.

Winning the division might be difficult, but it’s not impossible. And even if the Yankees remain tough to catch, the Jays don’t need to be perfect right now. They need to stabilize, get back over .500, and give themselves a chance to build momentum.

It’s fair to criticize the team after a disappointing month, but some posters acting like the season is already over feels way too premature. There’s still time for this to turn around.

Thats just wishful thinking bro, the division is lost lets be REALISTIC

/s

Also this post is why people don’t hate you anymore. Level-headed takes will always be preferred over the extreme doom and gloom crap that certain people post 100% of the time

[Olerud363.354]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

Level-headed takes will always be preferred over the extreme doom and gloom crap that certain people post 100% of the time

Most of the doom and gloom so-called crap is basically correlated with fangraphs odds.  So I wouldn't call it crap.  Just different ways of looking at the same data.   A couple of points 

1.  Philosophy of probability and positivity - some may see 3% chance of winning division and despair in to hopelessness, others may cheerfully say 'there is still a chance!'.   Not much can be done if both realize the chance is 3% just view 3% with different outlooks.

2.  Not understanding the odds - maybe one group thinks it's 1 in a million to win a division and the other thinks it's 75% ... in that case you can try logic, links to fangraphs and other playoff prob systems to get both groups on the same page. 

[RA Whiffleball]

3 hours ago, Governator said:

 

They didn't start any personal attacks but knowing when to let things go would be good.

Attacking someone for saying when Barger comes back it could help spark the line up is unacceptable and just opened the door for back and forth. 

You also didn't help the situation by bringing it back up mid game, that derailed the entire game thread FYI.

Just let it go.

Anti-social buffoon, mouth breather, jerk-off (among others)...I mean, honestly.

[Governator]

1 hour ago, RA Whiffleball said:

Anti-social buffoon, mouth breather, jerk-off (among others)...I mean, honestly.

If someone is being optimistic, responding by being dismissive or trying to put them in their place is going to invite pushback. That doesn’t justify the insults, but it does explain the escalation. It’s a forum for the AL Champs, if your approach is consistently negative, expect people to respond accordingly. 

[Stangstag]

2 hours ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Most of the doom and gloom so-called crap is basically correlated with fangraphs odds.  So I wouldn't call it crap.  Just different ways of looking at the same data.   A couple of points 

1.  Philosophy of probability and positivity - some may see 3% chance of winning division and despair in to hopelessness, others may cheerfully say 'there is still a chance!'.   Not much can be done if both realize the chance is 3% just view 3% with different outlooks.

2.  Not understanding the odds - maybe one group thinks it's 1 in a million to win a division and the other thinks it's 75% ... in that case you can try logic, links to fangraphs and other playoff prob systems to get both groups on the same page. 

Shut up. Stick to the stupid schtick lol

[RA Whiffleball]

50 minutes ago, Governator said:

If someone is being optimistic, responding by being dismissive or trying to put them in their place is going to invite pushback. That doesn’t justify the insults, but it does explain the escalation. It’s a forum for the AL Champs, if your approach is consistently negative, expect people to respond accordingly. 

What negative? Re Barger, I said I hope he hits his stride. I also said we can't expect him to be our saviour. It's called balance. And I made that comment without childish name-calling. 

If you guys think you can bully me into towing the party line by calling me names, you have another thing coming.

[Jays24]

15 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

It's hard to see. I imagine this one stings a lot.  They knew the expectations going into the year and it's probably really starting to weighing on them.

Not sure if you saw the camera shot of the team right after the game ended.  Most of them didnt move a muscle just staring into the abyss.  Sucks man.  

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Not sure if you saw the camera shot of the team right after the game ended.  Most of them didnt move a muscle just staring into the abyss.  Sucks man.  

At the end of the day, they are human.  Baseball can be an incredible difficult game to play day in and day out from a mental perspective.  Too bad - I hope they find the joy again as it will help them perform better.

[Stangstag]

2 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Not sure if you saw the camera shot of the team right after the game ended.  Most of them didnt move a muscle just staring into the abyss.  Sucks man.  

Giving up the lead late is a gut punch