Brock Beauchamp

HEY LOOK EVERYBODY BASEBALL

This was a really fun read, well done!

Yeah, the three of them are killing it. Super-happy with the content they're producing.

And if that's true, the Jays made the right decision. As I said several days ago, it's going to be in someone's best interest the leak the number. Whose interest that is depends on the numbers exchanged but I think we'll find out at some point.

It's a spectator sport that involves fans and increasing competition for their eyeballs and their willingness to invest their personal emotion into the product. Ignoring the human element is a bad long-term plan and perhaps one of the biggest flaws of the early sabr movement. Though it's entirely reasonable to not believe Vladdy is worth an overpay. I happen to disagree.

It's also a growing process. A lot of these writers are new and have a lot to learn. The only way to effectively learn the craft is repetition. Some of the early pieces aren't going to be great. It's part of the process, just bear with us. You've all been quite patient with me and our group. When we launched Brewer Fanatic, oh lord... man, did I catch hell from that community. It was relentless. "You don't know what you're doing", "you're not a Brewers fan" (I am), it was non-stop. By Brewer Fanatic's third season, it was widely regarded as the best and most sabr-heavy Brewers site on the internet. We're gonna have our bumps along the way. We're gonna stumble and not be perfect. But many of these writers, largely under Davy Andrews' tutelage, are going to grow and become really good analysts. We're just not there on day one. With that said, I want to give a shout out to @sackydude, @Condor13, and @LetTheBallFly. Their minor-league coverage has exceeded all of my expectations, they're killing it from day one.

That's entirely fair, obviously criticism is welcome. Personally, while I may not have put it quite as hyperbolically as Megan, I agree that not getting a deal done with Vlad is a massive fail by the front office. Whether that deal happened two days or two years ago, I don't really care. At the end of the day, the job was not done and someone has to be the fall guy for it. And I'm fully aware and accept Vlad's flaws. I don't think he's going to be a player who ages gracefully. Still I believe he should retire in a Jays jersey, wearing only a Jays jersey for his career.

Obviously, creating a second account because you cannot access your original account does not apply to anything I said above.

To be blunt, we don't like alt accounts. I really don't like alternate accounts. I've seen many accounts created as burners and 99% of the time, they're intended solely to troll and cause trouble. In the past, I've straight-up banned all accounts related to a single user because of their alt accounts. While that may seem like an overreaction, it's very intentional on my part because the creation of an alt account solely to troll means that user is going to just cause trouble and troublemakers are more aggravation than any benefits they may bring to the community. From my perspective, t's best to tear off the band-aid and move on. I have several tools available to me to uncover alternate accounts. If I catch you using a burner, I'm not gonna be happy. So don't do it.

Welcome! Though be warned, I’m also a crybaby. Maybe not about Vlad but in general.

When breaking down individual players, I don't think defense is much cheaper than offense. I think the interesting model to look at is teams like the Brewers. They're above-average at almost every position and in the most Brewers-y way, they keep overperforming expectations almost every year. Are they looking at defense as a whole? As an example, it's less about the CF's individual metrics and more about how the LF, CF, and RF metrics combine together. We've certainly (mostly) moved past getting an edge from pursuing elite up-the-middle players but what about looking at how the individual pieces work together as a whole? Is that the current inefficiency? I don't know.

Are there really that many, though? We're averaging maybe 1.5 articles a day, which is half what most of our other sites publish and about 20% of what Twins Daily publishes. But ultimately, we will move the articles into their own forum. That's the goal in the long-term (maybe even mid-term) but we've found that if we move the articles to their own forum right away, no one comments on them. And if there are no comments, it's much harder to draw in new users.

Welcome to Jays Centre!

Remember that we don't take a single approach to coverage. While I personally lean hard toward analytics, we also post pieces that are more opinion and less stats. And Megan's pieces do really well with readers who aren't a bunch of basement-dwelling nerds like us. There's plenty of space for everybody and their own flavor of fandom.

Welcome to Jays Centre! Don't know about "elite"... DRS is pretty meh on Vlad while OAA flat-out hates him at first base.

Sorry. I could not resist. I have enough boomers in my life where I just had to hop over to one of my aunt's pages to find a copy-able version of that...

Hello It’s official. Signed at 3:23PM. It was even on TV. Mine really turned blue. Don't forget that tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka... new name, META) where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!!! I do not authorize META, Facebook or any entity associated with Facebook to use my photos, information, messages or posts, past or future. With this statement, I notify Facebook that it is strictly prohibited to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. Violation of privacy may be punishable by law. Here's how to do If you are thinking of getting off FB because of the volume of sales ads and trash stuff. So hold your finger anywhere in this post and click ′copy’. Go to your page where it says ‘What's on your mind?’ Tap your finger anywhere in the blank field. Click paste. This upgrades the system. Hello new and old friends! IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!!! Hold your finger anywhere in this message and “copy” will appear. Click “copy”. Then go to your page, create a new post and place your finger anywhere in the empty field. “Paste” will appear and click Paste. This will bypass the system…. He who does nothing consents According to the show 60 Minutes: Just in case you missed it: a lawyer advised us to post this. The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook Meta is now a public entity. Every member must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates. I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA

I understand tempers are high, and for good reason, but let's refrain from referring to team personnel as "idiots". They're not idiots, they're doing something you disagree with. And maybe it's the wrong decision but smart people also make bad decisions. But more importantly, calling people stupid and idiots brings nothing of substance to the conversation. Feel free to disagree with decisions, no need to make it personal.

Most free agent contracts are bad deals for the team. If we fret too much over worst-case scenarios, there's no point in ever signing a free agent or retaining a hometown star past their control years.

This is what chaps my ass about the situation. The Jays are obviously willing to offer sky-high dollar amounts to free agents. No, Vlad is not as valuable on the field as Ohtani or Soto... but he's more valuable from a fan standpoint than Soto. And it's okay to cater to the fanbase, as they're the ones who pay the contracts.

Like I said, I think we'll get numbers sooner or later. And when the dust settles, I suspect Vlad's numbers today are lower than he gets in free agency. Maybe not by much, but I doubt he's asking for $600m. He and his agent know he's a first baseman and not very good at the position. What's the point of asking for so much that you'll never get it?

We'll probably find out more in the coming weeks, as one of these sides is going to be motivated to leak numbers to win public perception. Either way, I consider this a pretty big fail on Atkins' part. You find a way to keep your stars, you just get it done.

This is how I view the situation. Frankly, it's okay to be a little stupid in these situations. Baseball is a spectator sport. The Jays have literally never had a one-jersey star in their 50 years of existence. It's not only okay but probably the smart decision to throw out your valuations and get it done (assuming Vlad isn't asking for something completely outrageous like $550m). Fan morale matters. Having a home-grown star stay in Toronto for his entire career matters. How much is that worth? Dunno, but it's the kind of thing that's really hard to put a number on and front offices that refuse to budge from their valuations are just wrong in special circumstances. If you're willing to pay Soto $700m, it's a no-brainer to pay Vlad $450m. Vlad won't put up the numbers of a Soto but he'll sell tickets, jerseys, and create consistency in the organization and that's valuable.

Welcome to Jays Centre!

Great article, Davy. I was wondering why Gausman took at step back last season, it makes sense he's toying with the idea of adding another offering to offset his four-seam.