Blue Jays (Fluharty/Arrighetti) vs Yankees (Schlittler): 8/21/26, 7:05pm

[glory]

9 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

If the Jays are OK paying $8 million or whatever for a bench player with great OF defense and good speed, it doesn't bother me. Having players like that around sure doesn't seem to hold them back from spending big and/or chasing big name FA's

A 66 wRC+ is certainly terrible, but Straw does his job for the most part.

We wouldn't even notice his bat if Vlad and Springer weren't lugging around sub 100 wRC+ bats this season. They are the ones hurting this team the most, not Straw.

From 2022-25, Straw has been the 3rd worst hitter in baseball (wRC+), minimum 1500 plate appearances. JS thinks he’s actually good, so keeping him not only means allocating $8M to a bad player but it also carries excessive playing time risk. The Jays are much better off using Lukes as the 4th OF and using that Straw money elsewhere.

[max silver]

1 minute ago, glory said:

From 2022-25, Straw has been the 3rd worst hitter in baseball (wRC+), minimum 1500 plate appearances. JS thinks he’s actually good, so keeping him not only means allocating $8M to a bad player but it also carries excessive playing time risk. The Jays are much better off using Lukes as the 4th OF and using that Straw money elsewhere.

I'd be fine with Straw being on the club if Schneider stopped using him in key offensive situations on a regular basis. Straw has been passable offensively as a Blue Jay if he were to be utilized in more of a 5th outfielder role, but he's received far more playing time than that particularly with the injury riddled state of the Blue Jays roster this season. I thought it was ridiculous Straw came up to bat several times late in yesterday's game when Cameron was left on the bench for an opportunity that never came.

[jaysblue]

$8M is a lot to pay for a fourth/fifth outfielder whose main value comes from his defense. The Jays were fortunate to squeeze 1.8 WAR out of Straw last season, just like they got unexpected value from some of the other veteran bench guys. You can’t really count on players like Straw or Heineman to provide that kind of production year after year. Sometimes they give you a surprisingly useful season, but more often than not that ends up being the outlier.

That said, knowing how Atkins tends to operate, I could still see them picking up Straw’s option. They usually prefer to cover potential holes early rather than leave themselves exposed, and exercising the option would at least guarantee them a capable defensive CF in case they aren’t able to sign or trade for a better option later in the offseason.

[glory]

54 minutes ago, max silver said:

I'd be fine with Straw being on the club if Schneider stopped using him in key offensive situations on a regular basis. Straw has been passable offensively as a Blue Jay if he were to be utilized in more of a 5th outfielder role, but he's received far more playing time than that particularly with the injury riddled state of the Blue Jays roster this season. I thought it was ridiculous Straw came up to bat several times late in yesterday's game when Cameron was left on the bench for an opportunity that never came.

That’s the biggest factor. Straw can’t hit lefties. Never could. But he bats from the right side, makes contact, and is a vetrin, so JS will no question use him in a platoon next season (probably with Bateman). Then when injuries hit you have a 50-60 wRC+ player getting tons of plate appearances, including last night in the 9th inning of a close game, because the manager thinks that player is better than he actually is (or maybe blind 2025 loyalty). Honestly I wouldn’t want Straw back on a minor league contact just because of how JS would use him. Bringing him back for $8M on top of that would be insane.

[max silver]

9 minutes ago, glory said:

That’s the biggest factor. Straw can’t hit lefties. Never could. But he bats from the right side, makes contact, and is a vetrin, so JS will no question use him in a platoon next season (probably with Bateman). Then when injuries hit you have a 50-60 wRC+ player getting tons of plate appearances, including last night in the 9th inning of a close game, because the manager thinks that player is better than he actually is (or maybe blind 2025 loyalty). Honestly I wouldn’t want Straw back on a minor league contact just because of how JS would use him. Bringing him back for $8M on top of that would be insane.

I would have thought that Schneider would have learned his lesson in the world series about handing Straw so many plate appearances in key situations but alas that wasn't the case. Last night was a perfect opportunity to give Cameron a start to see whether his AAA success would translate to the major leagues and whether he can be a steady contributor with the bat, but I can only guess that Straw was handed a start simply because he's capable of putting the ball in play and avoiding the strikeout vs actually possessing any offensive upside.

[glory]

56 minutes ago, max silver said:

I would have thought that Schneider would have learned his lesson in the world series about handing Straw so many plate appearances in key situations but alas that wasn't the case. Last night was a perfect opportunity to give Cameron a start to see whether his AAA success would translate to the major leagues and whether he can be a steady contributor with the bat, but I can only guess that Straw was handed a start simply because he's capable of putting the ball in play and avoiding the strikeout vs actually possessing any offensive upside.

When the Jays have a particular opinion on a player they generally stick to it. DS hit like Barry Bonds in 2023 and couldn't get a post season plate appearance that year, and has been used as a platoon bat ever since despite the splits saying otherwise. If the Jays think Cameron is a platoon bat, or only want to use him like one, then that's what they'll do. For better or worse. Good chance Daz isn't a big leaguer, but if Straw is the alternative, then there's really no excuse to not give Daz a chance given how he's done in the minors and given what the Jays needs are. They don't need more weak contact from one of the worst hitters in the sport. They need someone with pop, and maybe catch lightning in a bottle with someone they weren't expecting it get it from. But they obviously think differently. 

[John_Havok]

17 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

If the Jays are OK paying $8 million or whatever for a bench player with great OF defense and good speed, it doesn't bother me. Having players like that around sure doesn't seem to hold them back from spending big and/or chasing big name FA's

A 66 wRC+ is certainly terrible, but Straw does his job for the most part.

We wouldn't even notice his bat if Vlad and Springer weren't lugging around sub 100 wRC+ bats this season. They are the ones hurting this team the most, not Straw.

One thing i just looked up from the Straw trade, IF the Jays choose to decline the 2027 option and buy it out for 1.75million...... Cleveland is paying all of the buyout cost.

They could choose to decline the option, make Cleveland pay the buyout and re-sign him for the difference... he still gets his 8 million but the Jays would only be paying 6.25. 

Naturally Straw would have to agree to this but... he seems to trule love Toronto and lets face it, his market in FA won't exactly be massive.

[John_Havok]

6 hours ago, glory said:

When the Jays have a particular opinion on a player they generally stick to it. DS hit like Barry Bonds in 2023 and couldn't get a post season plate appearance that year, and has been used as a platoon bat ever since despite the splits saying otherwise. If the Jays think Cameron is a platoon bat, or only want to use him like one, then that's what they'll do. For better or worse. Good chance Daz isn't a big leaguer, but if Straw is the alternative, then there's really no excuse to not give Daz a chance given how he's done in the minors and given what the Jays needs are. They don't need more weak contact from one of the worst hitters in the sport. They need someone with pop, and maybe catch lightning in a bottle with someone they weren't expecting it get it from. But they obviously think differently. 

It's kind of a weird situation, they either have 1-dimensional players who hit for some power sometimes and suck at everything else, or guys who have a good contact tool, almost no power, but play good to great D and run well.