Laika

Obviously players that walk are good, players that hit for power are good, and players that do both are doubly good. Toronto was and is in the market of trying to acquire low-cost players with upside. In the modern game of baseball, one way to use fancy stats to sift for gold is to acquire undervalued players with nice exit velocity stats. The theory is that with some adjustments (launch angle, etc.) raw exit velo can be channeled into offensive production. It's possible to teach a powerful hitter to be more patient. With experience they can learn to lay off outside pitches. Or, as they become more establishes pitchers will pitch around their power more. It's very hard to teach a low power hitter to hit for more power. High BB% players are very much not a market inefficiency anymore; every team knows that outs are bad. There really is not a viable rebuild strategy in the modern game of baseball that involves going out and acquiring players that like walks. It's just not an efficient metric to focus on. There aren't much gains there. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing. Sometimes, a nice batted ball profile can indicate that a player has the ability to develop into a good hitter who also might have a nice plate discipline profile. Sometimes players with nice batted ball profiles are available for cheap because their approach, or luck, etc. has lead to poor production. It's less likely that players with nice plate discipline profiles will be available for cheap because a) they might already be good or they probably have highly regarded hit tools. It also might not follow, at least not as often, that nice plate discipline profiles will indicate that a player has the ability to develop into a powerful hitter (although this has happened historically, you could probably find examples). Regardless, a lot of the bats that Toronto is developing seem to be capable of taking walks so I don't think this really matters as far as Toronto is concerned. You're basically just pointing at 3 or 4 players on the current big league team who happen to hack away (Grichuk, Teoscar, Gurriel...).

Yeah, a 1 WAR player does not get 3/$28M in free agency, unless it's the Rockies inexplicably outbidding themselves for the next Gerardo Parra or whatever. It's silly to think that Toronto doesn't value OBP, or that they should place some sort of emphasis on OBP above and beyond general offensive production or overall value.

That must feel nice

I mean we can assume that when the organization outlined their developmental plan for Vlad a few years ago they were hoping / projecting that giving him more defensive responsibility would help him stay athletic. Who knows if they even give a s*** about him actually playing an MLB 3B anymore, in light of him showing up to spring training at 450 pounds and immediately getting hurt.

Bo-eautiful hair

Beautiful hair

Yes, this is basically the rationale I think. It's not likely that Toronto will internally develop 3 MLB starting outfielders for the current Vlad-Bo timeline, so they might as well extend the one currently on the roster given the facts that he is young and willing to sign.

Sad day for former Aces. Bumgarner is sitting 90, just gave up a grand slam. No strikeouts through 3 innings. I wonder how long Greinke can hang on.

On the other hand, they have tons of projected payroll space and extending decent players like Grichuk, Stroman is a lot better than Rogers just keeping the money. The cost is fine here I guess I just don't like the player as much as some others do.

Chris Sale sitting 89-90, topping out at 91. Just in case anybody missed the 8 posts.

Chris Sale looks hurt. Like he's not finishing his pitches. Very much seems to be entering that "2013 CC Sabathia" phase of his career.

I am not in love with it. Serious flaws in the offensive profile. Meh.

There are several ways!

I always like it when Toronto acquires someone who was on my deep fantasy league sleeper radar a couple of years ago. So today has been a good day because that would apply to Socrates, Hanson, and De Paula.

Good.

Acuna's signing bonus was only $100,000. He is from Venezuela so you can assume he comes from less than nothing (socialism).

The two team options at the end of Acuna's extension are unconscionable and I can only assume Acuna agreed to them under duress.

*stayed up drinking and realized the game was on, you mean?

I mean it would have been nice to get a Trent Thornton type but I'll settle for a Juan De Paula if that's what the market was. Pillar's value wasn't going to increase. De Paula's scouting report posted above is one of those all-too-common generic scouting reports that essentially tells us nothing. Maybe he is a legit SP prospect, according to data we don't have? Remember also that everyone grumbling in this thread also probably hated the Aledmys trade until like two days ago when they saw Thornton pitch. This front office knows what they are doing! lol Derek Law helps with the bullpen depth, which only recently became a major issue, of course. He doesn't have to have any real value, he just fits a hole at the moment. Not sure why they want Hanson but whatever.

It's hilarious how many Paddack scouting reports just put a tepid 55 or 60 on his changeup. Grow some pubes and put an 80 on it, you cowards! Here is the average Chris Paddack scouting report from 2016-2018 "Low to mid-90s fastball with good command/control. Changeup shows good bite and can be an out pitch. Curveball is inconsistent but can show good shape. Repeatable delivery and decent frame but some durability concerns. This is a #4 SP profile, thanks to the strength of the three pitch mix and command profile" When the actual scouting report is... "60+ FB with excellent command and control. Changeup is at least a 7, might be an 8. Those two pitches alone (and the command) make him a mid-rotation starter. Breaking ball is usable as a third pitch. If he can stay healthy, this is a front-line MLB starting pitcher."

They are both on my garbage LOD team so yes, I saw. I'm not talking about stats though - I'm looking at Urias' stuff. Sitting 95 (touching 97) from the left side with that off speed stuff and that command - it's bonkers.

Wow. Julio Urias looks like, I dunno, the best pitcher in baseball right now?

Blue Jays entire outfield: 5 hits (all singles) in 62 PA Dwight Smith, Jr., Baltimore Oriole: 6 hits in 16 PA.

I kind of liked Bengie, Buck, and Zaun. Coco Cordero is good one ^.

The Kevin Mench + Brad Wilkerson experience on the 2008 team is worth mentioning. Woof.