Brock Beauchamp

Obviously, I want the forum to grow, no doubt about that. But even the forum staying the same size is okay with me because we're building so much around it. The forum might grow a little while the rest of the site blows up with traffic. It has happened before. The thing about forums is that if things stay the same, the forum will ultimately die. It becomes insular, threads too long, users are unwelcoming to newbies, etc. And ultimately, people drift away one by one because life changes for each of us. I don't have numbers but I almost guarantee that this forum is less-trafficked than it was five years ago. Why am I confident in that? Because 99% of forum-only sites are less-trafficked than they were five years ago. Reddit, Twitter, etc. has just killed independent forums. It's something to keep in mind. Certain things that have just "always been that way" should be challenged from time to time. And it's kinda my job to do that. But I want to work with all of you and will always hear your input before making a decision.

Alright alright alright, let's talk about this. I thought we could wait for awhile but people have strong opinions so let's hear 'em. We have two options: 1. Keep the rumors in the Jays forum. 2. Create a dedicated rumors forum, like we have on... I think two?... of the other sites. Example: https://brewerfanatic.com/forums/forum/6-transaction-rumors-proposals/ If you have suggestions or want to say something specifically, do it here.

Are you kidding me? I also run Twins and Brewers sites! They've done NOTHING! Their rumors? NOTHING! EVERYTHING IS NOTHING (seriously, baseball is coming to a reckoning with the current financial disparities between teams)

I agree on that threshold, it's basically my goal. Most of the time, I stick to reports from established beat writers and work upward from there. I try to think of it through the lens of "would MLBTR post this?" In the case of this particular rumor, they also posted it.

We're gonna have some work to do here, I knew that coming in. I was immediately told there are some serious grudges to work past. Some really s***** things have been said, I've seen some of them. I'm sure there's a lot more. If I have to cut down on name-calling and wildly inappropriate s*** like calling people "drunks" by giving people vacations, I will do that. All I ask is don't be part of the problem by name-calling back. Let them hang themselves with their own rope.

I sent you an email about it, as I gave you a temporary password. May want to check your spam folder because I sent one a few days ago and it sounds like you didn't receive it.

Honestly, the rumors sections are one of the most controversial parts of the sites, which is why I'm open to treating them differently on each site. Some people *really* like rumors; it's a form of wishcasting and dreaming on fun stuff. Some people absolutely DESPISE rumors. In the long run, rumors are really good for the site gaining traction with google and social media, which brings in new users. So it's a matter of finding ways to incorporate them in the least obnoxious way possible for all involved.

Either way, if anyone has a problem with literally any poster, my door is open. Starting fights on forums is what destroys them over time. Feuds start, rifts grow as a handful of posters declare war on one another, and everyone else leaves because it gets in the way of actual conversation. Calling a person a name never improves the situation. It changes nothing for the better.

Stop insulting one another. Now, please. If you can't have a conversation without name-calling, don't have the conversation. We're all grown-ass adults here, please act like it.

PMing you.

Is your screen just blank? What's happening? If you can attach a screenshot, that would help. Or email brock.beauchamp@jayscentre.com.

LOL. That's fine, I get it. Every forum has their preferences. At some point after the season kicks off, remind me to open a conversation about this so as many people can chime in as possible. I'm 100% fine with creating a rumors forum, I'd just like to have as much input on it as possible.

These serve purposes beyond the forum, which is why they exist. But I'm happy to have a conversation about WHERE they appear in the forum. On maybe half of our other sites, we have a "transactions & rumors" forum specifically for this stuff. We can talk about it more during the season, as the rumors are going to dry up soon and won't come back until June.

That was a series of unfortunate events. I've been sick and went to sleep early. The sites went down almost the exact *moment* I fell asleep. Then I slept in because, again, I was sick. Woke up and the sites had been down for almost 12 hours. So I notified our database guy... and he had his kid in urgent care. So yeah, this kind of downtime is VERY unusual, as in we've never had an 18 hour downtime before.

Within baseball circles, I’m not sure Morosi has ever been taken seriously. He’s perhaps the least reliable big name other than ol’ Bob, who has flipped all the way over to hilarious with his inaccuracies. I find Bob incredibly entertaining.

In a lot of cases, I think this is very true. But this information is coming from a reporter in Houston where Bregman played. There isn't a lot of incentive for him to just make crap up, especially if it doesn't involve the Astros at all.

I'm funneling all spam bot DMs to your account. Sorry, someone had to take the bullet and I chose you. (just kidding, let me look at settings)

I wholly endorse this, thank you Laika.

Welcome to the site, thanks for signing up!

This is one of my favorite parts of the site software. Instead of building a top-down list of prospects, we let the community have a voice in our rankings. Are you a prospect hound? Then help us build our inaugural top-20 prospects ranking! Here's the rundown how to participate: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It literally requires 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your dirty little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://jayscentre.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple, you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no great way to make something like this be as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you wish to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp as it appears). Mention the prospect you want added and I will do that asap. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in this forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock, asking to have your vote deleted. It will be removed and you can vote again. Voting will close at end of day Friday, January 24th!

Hmmm, "Canadian team" leaves it too open to interpretation. Gonna need more specificity.

Teams did some really stupid crap back in the day.

Great story, Seth! I had no idea there was a contract dispute between the Jays and Celtics, which adds an interesting twist to the entire situation.

Oh, I have that forum hidden. If you're in the old timey member group, you can see it. I've been super sick the past two days and completely forgot to mention this. If anyone wants to be moved into the old timey member group, just @ me in the forum here.

Yeah, I was deciding whether to update the payroll tool but given how late it is in the offseason, decided to punt on it this year. Will fix the other two, thanks.