Jimcanuck

An infield of Vlad, Javy Baez -2B, Bichette, and Moreno by July 2022, with Biggio and Espinal as reserves (and Grichuk who cares where), would be incredible IMO.

Note the bolded part in this BA article: As Gabriel Moreno dominated Double-A Northeast through the first two months of the season, Blue Jays farm director Gil Kim kept wondering if league pitchers would find a way to slow the 21-year-old catcher. A fractured left thumb on June 25 deprived Toronto of an answer. Moreno missed the rest of the season but returned to terrorize pitchers in the Arizona Fall League. “There's tremendous benefit and advantage in increasing his reps behind the plate and in him continuing to hone his swing decisions,” Kim said. “We definitely see a development benefit (in the AFL) as well as generally making up for lost time.” Moreno was batting .373/.441/.651 through 32 games with New Hampshire before the injury, and the organization was already discussing a promotion. The downtime ended that conversation, and by the time he was ready to return in September, Triple-A Buffalo was the only place for him to go. He appeared in three games for the Bisons, then headed to Arizona. Intriguingly, Moreno will take regular infield while primarily catching with Mesa, extending the work he did at the Blue Jays' complex in Dunedin, Fla. He played one game at third base for New Hampshire and could potentially see some action there in the AFL. The Blue Jays are relatively deep behind the plate with Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Reese McGuire finishing the year in the majors, but they have holes at third base and potentially at second base if Marcus Semien departs as a free agent. While the hot corner “is not (Moreno’s) primary position, it is an option that maybe down the road will be in play,” Kim said. “Right now we're focused on catching, but as we've seen, maximizing versatility is huge.” Kim said the Blue Jays were most pleased by Moreno’s “step up in leadership and routines” this season, despite his youth, particularly in “being able to get on the same page with the pitching staff and the coaching staff, review how we're going to attack the group of hitters that night, and review the next day how that went and being accountable to that."

One option no one has mentioned is Javier Baez. He'd be a more than capable 3B. Can play all positions except C so if someone emerges at 3B (Moreno), no plm.

Some evaluators opined that Moreno would have debuted last year if not for the injury. After the Super 2 in 2022 is likely (if Super 2 still exists). Hopefully Kirk, Jansen, or McGuire start hot and return a nice asset while making room for Moreno.

Writeup in BA today: Spencer Horwitz, 1B, Blue Jays — Though the AFL is packed with high-profile prospects, the league's batting leader has flown well under the radar. That would be Horwitz, whose two hits on Wednesday boosted his average to .408. His on-base percentage of .508 sits just eight points behind league leader Elijah Dunham. Horwitz didn't show profile power for first base during the regular season, but he controlled the strike zone with aplomb, drawing more walks (70) than strikeouts (68) between High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire. That trend has continued in the AFL, where Horwitz has nine walks and just six strikeouts in 12 games.

Not unrealistic, but I don't understand why the Jays would be focussing on position players. I know WAR can come from anywhere, but as we saw, bad pitching / bullpen is kind of important. Team can build up a 7 run lead, and one f***ing reliever lose it for them.

Just got a msg from a friend, he scored some free tix to the game and invited me, section 100. f*** yeah!

Doubtful the Jays will splurge on a long term deal for a position player like Bryant or Correa and be hamstrung when it's time to talk extension with Vlad, Bo, etc I would expect short term deals, nothing more than 3 years and mostly for pitching

Looks like a 3B to me!

2022 Draft looks pretty good https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2021/11/1/2022-mlb-draft-top-200-prospects

Ya, if some on the west coast miss an inning or two, that's a lesser problem than those on the east shutting it off in the 6th of 7th inning.

Jasson is eating his way to a Panda physique? One of the first things evaluators note about Dominguez is the way his body has changed. He has thickened up considerably into a much stockier player, which leads to questions about whether he can stick in center field. He’s already slowed down and now earns grades closer to average than the double-plus times scouts once saw.

"Stupid take"? lol It's my opinion that starting games after 8 pm and extending almost to midnight (EST) is not optimum. If you have evidence to the contrary, great. Otherwise, your opinion is just as stupid, to use your terminology.

MLB is doing itself a disservice with these long / late WS games. Not the way to grow a fanbase.

From https://futurebluejays.com/2021/06/26/gabriel-moreno-catcher-of-the-future/ The Blue Jays were doing their groundwork in 2015 with the 15 year olds who were going to be part of the next year’s IFA class. Venezuelan scout Francisco Placencia had multiple looks at a young middle infielder and thought he saw a catcher in the making. He perhaps didn’t have the stocky build of a prototypical backstop, but Placencia saw enough quick twitch reactions and a strong arm that made him think of an agile receiver. Gabriel Moreno was asked to go behind the plate. Initially, he balked. “I was scared, man,” he said later of that time. But when Sandy Rosario, who runs the Blue Jays international ops on a daily basis, made the trip from the Dominican to have a look at the future catcher Placencia raved about, Moreno relented. They were eventually able to get his name on a contract for a $25K bonus. For $25K bonus Moreno was obviously not a projected elite hitter. Jays are trying to maximize his value, and they thought an agile, strong armed catcher was it. Now that the bat is elite, they really need to find him a second position, to get that bat in almost every game and reduce wear and tear on the body.

I suspect he'll get a 7th year from someone, through age 39

Freeman a boss. What's he going to command in FA? 7/210? Vlad and Freddie can share 1B / DH

Agreed with everything up to this.

Or the DH replaced with another DH, or the pitcher hits from that point on. Really though, there is nothing wrong with the game as it is in relation to the DH. I would be most concerned about any change that might lead to more pitcher injuries, and this is one of them.

Also great for 40 man status and R5 eligibilities

Wow, hell of a pitch

Hell of an overpay for Rendon. What are you going to do about the deplorable pitching?

The next video that came up was this beauty

Moreno needs to move to 3B not only because it's a current need, but because his bat is too good to be compromised by the wear and tear of being a catcher. He can still be a secondary catcher. He may have been moved from the INF to C due to strong arm and build, before his bat exploded.