Brock Beauchamp

I'll probably be shutting down this forum around 7pm eastern time, FTR. Tomorrow everything will (theoretically) appear at JaysCentre.com, probably mid-morning.

Testing comments!

Welcome to an all-new front page here at Jays Centre! Along with being a long-running forum for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays, we will now provide fans with thoughtful articles from fellow Jays fans and writers. It is all part of an ongoing effort to create a one-stop-shop, a community for passionate Blue Jays fans. Before we discuss the articles, you will notice that the forums are still complete and in mostly the same spot as before. It’s all still there. The only addition you may notice is that there is a new forum for commenting on the front-page articles. So, what can you look for and expect from the front-page articles of Jays Centre? To answer that, I’d like to encourage you to click on our sister site, Twins Daily, for what you might see over time from some of your favorite Blue Jays writers. Here is what you may find over time: Deep statistical analysis on a player or topic. For those who enjoy looking into baseball's many advanced statistics, some articles may help provide reasons for team or managerial decisions, situational analysis, and more. Minor league articles. The plan is to have daily minor league reports on the Blue Jays affiliates throughout the minor league season. You will see how the teams did, how the players performed, some highlights, and more. In addition, we will provide prospect rankings and more. Player profiles on major-league players or minor league players. As relationships are developed, we hope to do some player interviews and stories. Maybe there will be stories on current minor leaguers, big leaguers, or even former big leaguers who call Canada home. News articles from the day. If a player gets hurt, we will try to analyze how the front office will adjust the roster and maybe how the manager will alter lineups, rotations, roles, etc. Trade or free agent analysis. Draft coverage before, during, and following the MLB Draft. Historical articles digging into some of the great (or not-so-great) Blue Jays teams since the formation of the team in 1977. But the history of baseball in Toronto is long and filled with interesting topics and stories. Video! In the coming days, we’ll roll out our video section, which will feature short videos about Blue Jays major and minor league players. We are not looking to duplicate Twins Daily. This community is already so very strong, so passionate. We want to add to that community and provide more options for Blue Jays fans to connect to their favorite team. The articles, much like the writers, will likely evolve, and that’s a good thing. What if I want to write for Jays Centre? That’s a great question. I’m glad you asked. First, feel free to reach out to email at brock.beauchamp@jayscentre.com or contact any of the other writers and express interest. But, you will also note that the user blogs page is still there. If you’ve ever wanted an audience for your Blue Jays takes, this is the perfect place. We will frequently be monitoring the blogs, and if we see quality writing and interesting topics, we may reach out to you about writing on the front page. It is also noteworthy that we will be paying our front-page article writers. It’s certainly not enough to quit your day job. So don’t do that. However, it might be enough to show that we value your time, talent, and effort. We ask that you support our writers by clicking on their articles, reading them, and leaving comments, questions, and feedback on the topics. This is just an extension of the forums and another means of enjoying following the Blue Jays. I am seriously looking forward to knowing much more about the Blue Jays, their farm system, and more. You can also follow Jays Centre on X and Facebook. View full article

MLB Trade Rumors has reported that the Blue Jays are considered amongst "frontrunners" to sign outfielder Anthony Santander. Yes, yes. I know. The Jays have been in on several of the top free agents this winter but have yet to sign a prominent name, of which there are few remaining. Santander had a fantastic 2024 season, posting a 131 OPS+ for the Orioles. Earlier in the offseason, it was reported that Santander, who will play his age-30 season in 2025, was looking for a five-year contract. Fellow outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was recently re-signed by the Dodgers on a three-year contract, a far cry from the five years Santander is pursuing. Several teams are interested in Santander, including the Yankees and Tigers. View full rumor

Yes, I will start a thread and let people voice their opinions on word filters. A few words are off-limits (n-word, a bundle of sticks, etc) but the rest are fair game based on what the community at large thinks.

Without a doubt.

Gods yes. We run plenty of ads but have interstitial ads (the kind that take up the screen) disabled.

Oh, this is exciting! This forum will shut down some time tomorrow evening (Dec 30) and be down until Tuesday morning. It should reappear at the new domain relatively early in the morning, running the new software with all posts and users imported into the new site.

We have you covered. I also bought JaysCenter.com for obvious reasons.

There is a rumors section of the sites but I do most of the topic creation and rarely do posting after the fact. It's not super-informative most of the time and, as you said, just fodder to bring out the worst in people. Here is an example of the Cubs rumor section (which automatically cross-posts to the forum). Chicago Cubs Free Agents & Trade Rumors - North Side Baseball NORTHSIDEBASEBALL.COM The most recent Chicago Cubs trade rumors and trade targets. As for *how* these cross-post to the forum, we'll have open conversations about that. Each site has their own preferences and I try to give everybody a say in how things work/post.

I think that's more of an indictment of the Jays than anything I've done.

Oh, forgot to mention that all existing posts and users will migrate to the new board. Everything that exists here on BJMB will move to Jays Centre.

We'll be relaunching under entirely new software where clicking on the thread title automatically takes you to your last read post.

First, thanks to Terminator for the fantastic name suggestion. The moment I saw it, I liked it and so did the people who voted in the poll. Normally, I would have something like this planned out weeks in advance. Due to the holidays and weird circumstances in which this happened, I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this one. So I just gave our senior developer carte blanche to launch when he had the time. Even I'm not 100% sure when that is yet. It's probably Sunday, January 5th but could happen earlier than that. A lot will change when it comes to the software. The forums will look different but operate in a much more modern fashion (automatic tweet/video embeds, more reactions, user tagging, etc). On top of that there will be front page articles (which will roll out slowly as we start) and every user will be able to create their own user blog. A few weeks later videos will come and other stuff like that. One thing that will be a big change is that you will need to use an email address to log in, not your username. This is a basic security protection, as email addresses are obscured and usernames are not. So things might get messy as some of you have forgotten your usernames and/or passwords. If you have any difficulty logging in, I will be checking my email regularly so you can reach me any time at brock.beauchamp@jayscentre.com There will be bumps and bruises along the way, there always are. I will be as attentive as possible to help anyone navigate the process as it happens. Also, bluejaysmessageboard.com will automatically redirect to the new domain when the site goes down and is relaunched as jayscentre.com. EDIT: THE SITE WILL GO DOWN MONDAY EVENING AND REAPPEAR TUESDAY MORNING AT THE NEW DOMAIN.

To be clear, I'm not asking anyone to change their posting behavior. If you like super-duper-mega-threads, have at it. But I may occasionally split off a thread or start my own thread if it feels news-worthy. I generally have a pretty light touch on things but there are certain points I want to hit to draw in new users.

I have little to no use for Reddit but I do want a forum that's easy to follow with clearly delineated topics. And, as a person who has been running forums for over 20 years, so do most users.

I want to get up to speed on the team, which podcasts are your favorites?

The information in this article is all over the place. The Jays offered a "franchise record" contract. Someone (maybe) offered $250 million but we don't know who is was. If the Jays offered $250 million and were turned down, that's pretty damning... but I doubt that's the case. I'm skeptical of the $250 million offer at all, considering how much Burnes signed for in Arizona. But who knows? Maybe that opt-out after year two was really, really important to him. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/orioles-blue-jays-discussed-franchise-record-contracts-with-corbin-burnes.html

Let me know how you really feel about it. The censor settings are temporary. I need to "clean" the forums of several words before we can be approved for advertising. It's not even the F-word and whatnot that are the problem, but more nefarious words like the N-word and select others. Once I get a better idea of what needs to be done, I can un-censor more common profanity like the F-word.

I mean, maybe? But ultimately, I think it mostly comes down to money and terms. I haven't been embedded with the Jays like the rest of you have but it feels like Toronto is always "in the running" until actual dollar numbers come out. And on an individual case basis, that's not the worst thing in the world. It only becomes a problem when the almighty dollar becomes more important than signing literally *anyone*. If the Jays aren't going to make good enough offers to land anyone, it feels like a reboot is in order. Scuffling through mediocrity in this division will only lead to disappointment.

I wonder about Alonso. With so many teams making a run on first basemen, it feels like he might be left out in the cold a bit. Obviously, the Mets always have the money but so many teams shored up their first base for 2025 in like three days. The market has to be rather diminished on him, as half the league doesn't have any money to spend in the first place.

By the way, I won't hesitate to ban accounts that think it's funny to post fake news. My tolerance level for that nonsense is zero. It's not funny, it's just disruptive and annoying.

You misspelled Gremlins.