Laika

I don't think it matters. With so few teams picking we should be able to rifle through this thing rather quickly.

Yeah by "a couple of established stars" I meant those three dudes.

You'd take the kid 1-1 over a couple of these established stars, eh? interesting I don't like that he's french

which Tkachuk should I take 1-1? Plinky or Dinky?

nice

At least we know that if Vlad lets a bullet fly it is very likely going straight into the ground

He's a clown. I find it rather sad that he gets a pay cheque from the Athletic that could go to a worthwhile writer, but I assume he justified it with clicks...

This is really the problem with the award. If Mike Trout is the best player in the AL every year, he should win the MVP every year. I don't see why the manager of the year needs to be from some upstart team - it should be perfectly valid to just award the managers of strong teams that were expected to be good, if the manager did a good job. Of course the main problem is that it's very hard (impossible) to tease out the actual influence any given manager is having. Montoyo was under fire all year long and made a number of stupid decisions though so this nomination seems completely blind to that information.

If any current Blue Jay is going to fat finger something...

lol baseball

When does the cutdown happen? Should the dispersal teams basically just be drafting 15 skaters and 10 prospects and then calling it quits as far as human assets are concerned? Or should we be picking more than 15

Sometimes. It’s a case by case basis. It would be hard to justify a mechanical overhaul to a player like SWR in light of the results to date. I’m assuming he also does not have a horrific arm action like Osuna... it’s probably just a bit late

Injury risk. If a pitcher's arm is not on time it increases stress on the arm. This is perhaps the biggest reason Roberto Osuna was sent straight to the bullpen.

Most players have home/away splits. I don't care about them very much in any given season let alone a very shortened one like 2020. xwOBA does not care about park though. It's just EV, LA, and speed I think. Completely neutral. Completely disagree with his offense being a function of Yankee stadium. He should be fine anywhere.

Manoah had an elite statistical profile in college. Arguably the top D1 player based on stats alone. He missed bats, had good control, and a good batted ball profile. He was also able to get opposite handed hitters out even without much of a changeup. Law's concerns RE: SWR are based partially on mechanics. But, SWR is also a control + strikeout guy without an amazing batted ball profile. The one blemish on his MiLB stats is a tendency to give up line drives. Perhaps he is filling up the zone with non-elite stuff? The number of pitches someone has can be focused on too much. Give me a guy with a 70/60/45 arsenal over a guy with a 55/55/50/50 bag, or whatever. Just playing Keith's advocate, here.

I don't think there's an elephant. 2019 wOBA - .375 (517 batted balls) xwOBA - .384 2020 wOBA - .422 (175 batted balls) xwOBA - .355 extremely good xwOBA figures in 2016 and 2017 too. Even if leaving Yankee stadium will decrease the HR totals a bit, those are probably just turning into doubles.

Fangraphs thinks Semien will cost more than LeMahieu. Either player helps Toronto a lot IMO but I have some personal fears with Semien. He was a shite defender until recently and has been a below average hitter in the vast majority of his seasons. DJLM's last two offensive seasons have been so fundamentally sound that his bat inspires a good deal of confidence going forward, confidence that I don't have in any specific part of Semien's game.

There is already talk about cities basically bidding on being the Raptors' contingency plan for next season. The Blue Jays will have an ironclad contingency plan that probably sees the organization get most of the gate revenue. I know that does not do much for lost impulse season ticket sales, but I'm not sure the uncertainty about where 2021 will be played for Toronto really matters allllllll that much.

Swap out Jansen for Kirk and it might be a top 1 offense

Kluber is cooked.

Baseball free agency moves very slowly

In this market I'm thinking a bunch of veterans, including Archer, will end up signing one year deals for insignificant dollar amounts. $1M to $8M range and the decisions will mostly be about player preference (city, playing time, etc.)

https://www.mlb.com/news/2020-mlb-offseason-bold-predictions Bauer to Jays? J.T. to Mets? 7 bold predictions 1. The Blue Jays will blow your mind Hey, Blue Jays fans, how does adding Francisco Lindor sound? Or how about Trevor Bauer? Or in the immortal words of a little girl on an Old El Paso commercial that became a popular meme, “Why don’t we have both?” OK, so the "both" idea is crazy. But … not necessarily impossible? (Important legal notice: I am not responsible for the unmet expectations of Torontonians should any of the following not actually happen.) As of this writing, the Blue Jays’ payroll is projected to be under $80 million, well below what it would have been in 2020 had the virus not intervened. Bauer is one of the most fascinating free agents in history, given his past stated preference for only signing one-year deals (a stance from which he has already begun to backtrack), his outspoken social media presence and the simple fact that he’s the only free-agent starter coming off an elite season. Doing a one-year deal would be ridiculously risky for him, but I do think it’s possible that Bauer signs a shorter-term deal -- perhaps three or four years -- for max average annual value, and the Blue Jays are a team that could pull it off. And while Toronto fans despised him during the 2016 ALCS when he pitched for Cleveland, they’ll get over it if/when he’s grouped with Hyun Jin Ryu and Nate Pearson atop the rotation. 2020 Free Agent: Trevor Bauer Oct 24, 2020 · 0:29 2020 Free Agent: Trevor Bauer Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins have a history with Bauer from their Cleveland days, and they have a history with Lindor, too. Yes, they already have a fantastic young shortstop in Bo Bichette, but they recognize the need for an established presence in the lineup and their need to improve defensively. They also have the farm-system depth (MLB Pipeline ranked them seventh in the sport) and, again, the financial room to get a Lindor deal done, with Bichette shifting to third. The cost for Lindor will likely not be as punitive in these circumstances as it would normally be. Put Bauer and Lindor on a team with a bunch of burgeoning stars, and you’d have to talk about the Blue Jays as a serious threat to win the World Series next season. I don’t know that even one of these things will happen, let alone both. But I do know a big move is well within the realm of possibility for Toronto, and that makes it an interesting club this winter.

I'm thinking about it, or something similar.

How old do you think Mr Clean is? What race do you think Mr Clean is? You’re probably a shorter, uglier Mr Clean who smells like Axe instead of lemons