Sorrow

I don't see any changes until at least June. I do think that Schneider needs to start playing Schneider in LF full time and treating KK, Schneider and Varsho as a bit of a platoon based on match ups. If someone has really good fastballs start KK over Schneider as an example. I do think this line up would look a better when Jansen is back with Jansen hitting 5th, Biggio 6th, Schneider 7th, Varsho 8th and IKF 9th that bottom half all of a sudden looks a lot better. Jansen is probably the best hitter on the team and it does lengthen the line up. Kirk needs to be hitting way down in the line up when he is playing. Since July 1st of 2022 Kirk has a 91 wRC+, .297 wOBA .245/.327/.334 triple slash, he should likely be hitting 9th behind Varsho, KK and IKF.

Answering BTS first, the velocity was better but still inconsistent from inning to inning. He'd look good for an inning and then come back out and it would be 89-92 and then back up. I'm hoping that this is more like we'd see from him in Spring Training, I think Buck mentioned he only threw like 3 innings in Spring Training so this could very well be his arm just needing catch up. In an ideal world I think we'd IL him and then have him start a 30 day rehab stint and just treat it like Spring Training.

Of the two I'd sign Bichette long term but not Guerrero and I think with Bichette's hitting profile that unless he becomes a lot more patient of a hitter, more like he was in the minors as an 8-9% walk rate with a 19.5% k-rate (similar to 2024 actually) I don't see that bat aging well into his early 30s when his reaction times slow down a bit.

This team would look a lot better with Kirk on the bench in favour of Jansen and Schneider starting everyday in LF.

I'm very high RT. He has front of the rotation potential but I'm also aware that there's no such thing as a pitching prospect.

I don't disagree with that but I do think that how AA built 2015-2016 was terribly short sighted and it really sours me to his legacy, instead of burning almost all of his prospect capital on the Marlins and Dickey trades in 2013 he likely could have built a team equally as competitive but sustained the winning for years longer by just waiting a season or two if he didn't for whatever reason decide that the 2012 team wasn't a 73-89 team but was a team that had a true talent of 80 something wins instead of legitimately being a true talent low 70s win team. I personally feel that Atkins has been a better GM than AA was while AA was with Toronto, but AA is obviously a much better GM today than Atkins is.

I know some people are going to say inning limits increases are BS but there's probably merit to it. I can't find it but there was a podcast with Gausman done in January I think and he even mentioned that the innings increase Manoah did from 2021->2022 was something like 67 innings + playoffs and it was greater than a 50% increase in innings which was always the hard and fast rule. Gausman mentioned that Manoah was basically unable to throw until almost January and struggled with weight training because of shoulder fatigue and soreness all winter. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's still recovering from that it contributed to a small tear somewhere in his shoulder that hasn't been found so far in imaging. Tiedeman has probably a 75 pitch limit, if he is effective and in the zone that's probably enough pitches to get through five innings but if he's striking out 7+ guys in 3-4 innings but it's taking 6+ pitches an at bat he's not really being overly efficient with the pitch count. If the goal is to let Tiedeman throw as late as possible into to the season it makes sense to limit his pitch counts early in the season and once the warmer weather hits increase it a bit.

I think Francis would excel as a long reliever. Let him come in if a starter is hurt or doesn't have it and just do what he does twice through the order. He has good stuff and looks like he belongs in the big leagues. Even in his two starts while he's given up a lot of runs he still hasn't actually looked bad.

It's going to be interesting to see what Toronto does in the coming few seasons. I know people dislike Atkins but he's been one of the most successful GMs that's ever ran this franchise. Outside of the 1985-1993 front office he's probably been the second most successful GM we've had, making the playoffs three times in his tenure so far even if we haven't gone anywhere in the playoffs and continually building a successful team. I'd argue that at this time he's a better GM than Anthopolous was before Anthopolous left and went to the Dodgers for a bit and learned more. There's going to be a lot of money coming off the books in the near future.

Danny Jansen is the 21st best hitter in baseball since May 21st of 2021, with a minimum of 650PA, with a 132 wRC+. The guys around him are scrubs like Pete Alonso, Manny Machado, Julio Rodriguez, Fernando Tatis Jr, Jose Ramirez, Vladdy, Austin Riley. Among Catchers Jansen is the best offensive catcher in that time frame, the guys behind him are Rutchsman at 129, Garver at 128 and Smith and 127. I think an ideal line up once Jansen is healthy is realistically something like Springer, Turner, Bichette, Jansen, Guerrero, Schneider (LF), Biggio, IKF, Varsho The lineup with Schneider and Jansen playing everyday all of a sudden looks a lot deeper.

It’s concerning see Mayza sitting at 91.6MPH. I don’t think his stuff can play if the fastball is there.

To be fair to Ricky Ro he had massive knee issues. From 2012-2014 he basically pitched with a partially torn tendon and no cartilage in both of his knees.

Fast Eddies is a small fast food chain in KW and Cambridge. I’ve always liked their burgers and they do chili cheese fries so it’s a solid win lol.

Speaking of fast food burgers I’d agree that Wendy’s is solid. My favourite is still Fast Eddies. It’s the closest I’ve come to finding more of a California style smash burger in a fast food place in Canada. Harvey’s for me is the worst, their burgers are bland and have a really odd oil texture that does not agree with my stomach. That being said it’s a lot cheaper, more flavourful and really easy to make good burgers at home.

I'm expecting Manoah shoulder surgery announcement before May, misses the year and is released this winter. Namala hit a nice home run though of Gipson-Long who has had a decent start to his MLB career.

He doesn’t look hurt but I think he’s struggling with the cold. It’s 9 and feels like 7.

It sounds like it's time to take a break from the Jays my friend. Life is far too f***ing short for this much frustration about a sport. Watching baseball is like any other passive hobby and past time and it should bring you enjoyment, if the game isn't enjoyable turn it off and do something else, read a book, bake bread, make a shepherds pie, play guitar, go for a walk, watch HGTV and fold laundry. Yeah the team sucks to watch and I find myself spending a lot of the game doing something else myself or just turning it off and doing something else. I'm not saying this to be condescending or anything along those lines but you used to be a super happy poster and seeing how negative you've become is s***.

I'm hoping that we see something like this today. RF. Springer SS. Bichette 1B. Turner DH. Vogelbach LF. Schneider CF. Varsho 3B. Clement 2B. Biggio C. Severn but if Kirk is in move him up a bit. Guerrero looks like he needs a day or two off. He has no plan at the plate, is behind on meatballs and looks like a sulking toddler. He's frankly looked like that since they traded Teo and Gurriel.

That sucks, I dislike the Red Sox but I generally like Trevor Story and don't like seeing any players get this kind of injury. It brings back Darrell Ceciliani vibes and that injury was a career ender.

Looking at the guys the only two players who I’m really concerned about are Guerrero and Kirk. I also know the sample size this year is noise. Kirk’s walk rate has tanked and his k rate has increased and he has shown no power this season at all. Guerrero has also increased his walk rate but his k rate has also gone way up and again the power is way down and he looks lost at the plate. Bichette was hurt and has a .143 BABIP, Varsho has an increased walk rate but needs to start showing some power, Biggio looks good, IKF is looking fine for what he is, Clement and Schneider need more at bats, Springer is just being BABIPD he has a .095 BABIP with a 20% wall rate to a 14% k rate. He likely will never be peak Springer again but he likely is around a 120 wRC+ bat which is a great bounce back. You can’t say anything negative about Turner right now. The team needs more power and you’ll hope that you get that with Springer, Guerrero, Jansen and Schneider as the season goes on and hopefully Bichette and Varsho are also in that 25+ category. I do think the team needs to find a way to sign Jansen for 4-5 years as I don’t think you can count on Kirk as a catcher starting 4/5 games.

At $19.9M or the balance of it plus likely 25M in 2025 I don't think much. If he has a year like last season he's likely getting non-tendered and he looks even worse this year.

If we get around to it he could pinch hit for Guerrero and have Turner move into 1B after.

I'm not worried about Bo and I'm not worried about Varsho yet either. Varsho is walking more than in prior seasons, K-rate is about the same but he has a really low BABIP and some luck should balance that out but he shouldn't be hitting 5th. I am worried about Guerrero and Kirk getting too much playing time.

I genuinely think all you've posted in the last two months is doom and gloom, we're a week into the season and yes it's s***** baseball but if it's not something you're enjoying there's a lot else to do lol.

Mayza averaged 93.7 last season and is at 89.8 this season, that's a massive drop for one off season.