jaysblue

Burr has a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings this September with 15 K's lol.

So by your accounts, has Green been a solid arm this year or has he been somewhat of a disappointment and are there concerns with him moving forward?

Of course you can't lol. And nice cherry picking as usual. Take away that rough week and a half where he allowed 11 earned runs, and it makes things all better! Can forget he's going to be 34 and about the career worst K/9 of 7.74, 4.35 FIP along with 0 WAR this season!

Green, Swanson and Romano are likely back. Just hope this FO doesn't put all their eggs in one basket by relying on them as the main guys like before. I could see Burr returning. Yarbrough is a FA, but as a long man he could be alright. Just a low K/9 so I think the Jays could aim higher.

Ryan Burr: 12.91 K/9, 3.52 ERA, 2.84 FIP and 0.5 WAR with 44 K's in 30.2 innings. He's been pretty darn good. I think Burr definitely deserves a look next season and is looking like he could be a very nice BP piece.

I like Varsho and have stated numerous times he's an easy player to root for. Have nothing against him whatsoever. Even as a 3.5 WAR centre fielder who is a defensive wizard with the glove and with some occasional pop, will take that from him. Reality is, the trade wasn't a dunk by Atkins as it was made out to be last season and even in the early part of this season. Two years in a row with a 88 and 99 wRC+ and sub .300 OBP's from Varsho isn't that encouraging. Varsho is going to be 28, yet he still has untapped potential and could get better, though a 24-year-old Moreno doesn't? No different than Kevin Pillar's 2015 season. Hope the Jays could win the trade, but not looking that way, unless Moreno has a serious injury and misses significant time for one or two years. Overall, wish the Jays could have used Moreno in a package for a better player, but it is what it is.

Gave up a 23-year-old catcher who is under club control for six years for a player who has been no different than Kevin Pillar in 2015. You guys always talk about "club control" when it comes to the Teo/Swanson swap since Swanson as a reliever had 3 years of control, but all of a sudden six years of control for a young promising 23-year-old catcher isn't that big of a deal lol. If Moreno lets say gets 2.5 WAR this season and averages 2.5 the following four he's still under control, including his 2023 season of 2.3 WAR, that's 14.8 fWAR. That's also pretty conservative for projections, and he definitely has the upside to produce more moving forward. If Varsho ends up averaging 3.5 WAR for the following two seasons, along with his 5.4 WAR he already accumulated during his first two seasons with the Jays, that's 12.4 fWAR. Also, the fact the Jays lost a 2 WAR season and 24 HR's from LGJ in 2023, which would have helped the lineup greatly, gives the D'Backs almost 17 WAR total. Regardless, Moreno doesn't have to produce +5 WAR seasons for it to be a net win for the D'Backs lol. Varsho needs to start producing 4 or 5+ WAR seasons over his next two years at the age of 28.

Dalton Varsho hasn't had as good of a season yet with the Blue Jays as Kevin Pillar's 2015 season lol. So in essence yes, Atkins had to trade the organizations top prospect for an outfielder who so far has been no different than Kevin Pillar was with the Jays in 2015/2016 haha. Like that's kind of sad.

Commanders upset the Bengals 38-33 wow! 0-3 now for Cincy who were considered SuperBowl contenders. Bills crushed the Jaguars haha.

Yeah not AA's greatest trade, but you love bringing that one up all the time for some reason as its the only trade AA has made in Atlanta lol. Imagine trading away the Jays top prospect at the time who was a 23-year-old catcher under club control for 6 years along with one-year of an outfielder with pop for an outfielder similar to 2015's Kevin Pillar haha. Geez would have thought Atkins could have done better than a Kevin Pillar type outfielder! You don't trade your top prospect in a deal for an outfielder/player like that.

I mean, the Braves are still 85-71 and that's without Acuna and Strider for the entire season. As well they had guys on and off the IL all year like Albies, Harris, Murphy, and Riley. No excuses though. If the Blue Jays lost Vladdy for an entire year along with someone like Gausman and had a bunch of other key guys on and off the IL, would just be bad luck and Atkins gets a free pass from you guys lol. As well, Jays likely are a 60 something win team if that happens. At least the Braves have been able to keep afloat and still in Wild Card contention despite all the injuries they've had.

Even Will Smith has had a down season by his standards. 108 wRC+ and 2.4 WAR in 124 games. It happens with the top catchers every so often.

5.6 and 5.4 WAR seasons in 2022 and 2023. Consider it a blip on the radar and I expect him to bounce back next season. If he's having a poor offensive season again in 2025 and 2026, then I would be concerned.

There are Orioles fanboys on this board? Like geez so any positive comment towards the Orioles in any baseball discussion, I guess that considers you a fanboy.

Skenes is 41 to 1 for NL Cy Young, which actually are good odds. But yeah I think Sale gets it and he's the heavy favourite at 1.04 with Wheeler at 13 to 1.

Skenes is favourite in Vegas at 1.65 with Merrill at 2.25 odds now. Skenes would have been great bet a month ago. I believe Merrill was favourite and Skenes was around 4 or 5 to 1 odds.

I'm gonna try to go down to Pittsburgh in April or May next season for one weekend to catch a series. Definitely want to see Skenes pitch in person!

Pitch forks coming out now haha.

Sure, but the Jays will have to spend some money in order to make key additions. Rays could be dangerous next season without making any big money additions. Their rotation of Bradley, Littell, Pepiot, and Baz is young, cheap and could take the next step forward. Plus they get Shane McClanahan likely back. They have some intriguing BP pieces as well. As for their lineup, they lack a true stud, but maybe Caminero breaks out big, and they have a bunch of solid pieces all around. They don't have to spend $50-$60M in order to contend.

I know the Rays sucked this year but you get the feeling they will be serious contenders in the AL East next season.

It's a real shame this FO hasn't been able to develop pen arms or starters over their time here in Toronto. Like even with the BP struggles this season, you would think they would have pivots down in Buffalo who could have stepped in and do a decent job. Yeah I think Y-Rod can be a valuable piece as either a No. 4/5 starter or worst case he can be a valuable bullpen arm who might work his way into high leverage. Given the bullpens struggles in 2024 and if the Jays need to save money, wouldn't mind seeing Y-Rod being used in the pen if they decide to spend $15-20M on signing another SP this offseason. Prepare Y-Rod as a starter heading into 2025 regardless since it's easy to transition him to the pen and he could even be used as a multiple-innings option.

Yeah I expect the bullpen to be better next season and hope some guys bounce back but it isn't a guarantee that everything will be a complete 180 in 2025. Some legit concerns with Swanson whether he can be relied on for high leverage situations after posting a -0.7 WAR season. Green will be a year older and coming off a season worst 7.94 K/9 which is concerning. Romano's best days might be behind him at the age of 32 and he's going to be expensive likely via arbitration given his past track record. Genesis Cabrera and Zach Pop don't inspire confidence. As well, need to replace some vacancies left by Yimi Garcia, Tim Mayza, and Trevor Richards/Nate Pearson. Hopefully guys like Ryan Burr and Dillon Tate could impress in ST and stick in middle relief. Also, we'll see what role Y-Rod carves out in ST. Too many red flags IMO with this pen to automatically go from one of the worst to one of the best pens again in baseball in 2025. Just my two cents. But I don't expect the bullpen to be as bad in 2024.

"The Yankees designated Marinaccio for assignment Friday. Marinaccio has collected a 3.86 ERA and 25:10 K:BB over 23.1 innings during his time with the Yankees this season. A career 12.6 percent walk rate is scary, but the 29-year-old also has a career 28.3 percent strikeout rate and is under team control for multiple seasons. He figures to draw interest via trade or waivers." Would be an interesting target for the BP and who would be cheap. Hope the Blue Jays claim him.

Yeah exactly. Had some years where Kansas and Detroit were also terrible. White Sox are a disaster haha.

Would definitely be in favour of bringing back Kikuchi if the Jays can't land someone like Flaherty.