jaysblue

Braves calling up Bryce Elder tonight and heading into this season was their 6th starter after losing out to Lopez in Spring Training for the final spot. Elder is only 24 and was an All-Star last season and finished 12-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his 31 starts. I'll take Elder as depth over someone like a train wreck in Manoah any day of the week.

Lmao you really are something.

I don't think anyone on here has said the very good GM's like AA are perfect. AA has made some mistakes or questionable decisions in Atlanta as well. Nothing wrong in questioning him. Yeah AA miscalculated the value of Contraras and trading him away was a mistake. As for your comment about Atlanta's pitching depth, it's incorrect. Darius Vines was pretty solid in the bigs last season and did pitch well in his first start this season. Solid minor league track record as well and is only 25. I mean he's nothing special but not a bad depth option if you need him for a couple of starts. Braves also have Bryce Elder who is getting called up for tonight and likely now will take Strider's spot in the rotation on a full time basis. Elder is only 24 and was an All-Star last season and finished 12-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his 31 starts. Not bad for your 6th starter and he has proven he could pitch a full season out of the rotation. Other options the Braves have: Huascar Ynoa, Dylan Dodd, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Allan Winans. As well, their top pick in the 2023 draft Hurston Waldrep could be MLB ready in July if he dominates in AAA. So overall in total, I count 7 total viable possible SP options after their top 5 of Strider, Fried, Sale, Morton and Lopez.

Seattle got a break against the Rockies in the bottom of the 9th. Said fan interference with Dylan Moore in left field.

I'm more middle ground than anything. Did I claim every move made this offseason by Atkins was the wrong decision? I stated many times I had no issue with the Jays bringing back KK or signing IKF as long as it didn't tie them down financially from making other moves when they need to and also had no issue with the Turner signing as well. I probably did mention I preferred a bat with more power like Hoskins or JDM at DH, but I never said Atkins was an idiot for signing Turner at all. Go find those posts! Again thanks for painting me as an Atkins hater on here, which I'm clearly not. Geez you can't even offer criticism or your own opinions about this team or else some posters lose it!

Just pointing out how those moves were both perceived differently on this board. If Atkins trades for players like Soler, Duvall and Rosario at the trade deadline and the Jays win a World Series, they were all shrewd moves and Atkins is a genius. No luck involved whatsoever.

Gotta hope Leafs can pull out a win in Game 2 and come back to Toronto with the series tied.

I'll go with Biggio today.

Agree with everything you said. If the rotation stays healthy and performs as last season, the Jays are still a mid-to-high 80 team. The hope is this front office actually goes out at the trade deadline and addresses the lineup if it still is a problem come June/July. Can't waste another season with how good this pitching staff has been. Rotation depth has evaporated quickly from the beginning of the season like you said, but some posters on here take the blue pill so they won't acknowledge that. Yariel Rodríguez was called up just last week to take the last spot in the rotation, Tiedemann is on the IL now, Manoah looks like a mess still, and White is gone. Bowden Francis and Paolo Espino look like they would be next in line, with maybe someone like Adam Macko in the wings. Hopefully when the roof is open, we start seeing the ball carrying more at the Roger's Centre. Gotta get some bats going, especially at home!

When something bad happened with this team last season, it was always just because of "bad luck' which was being thrown around as an excuse way too easily by some members on this board to give Atkins and the FO a free pass. Yes, there was some "luck" involved obviously with signing KK and Belt last offseason. They were definitely shrewd moves and the Jays got more than what they expected from both of them given their age, injury concerns and prior season. Belt was 35 and coming off an injury plagued season and KK was 33 and had durability concerns. Both players looked like they were past their prime and came with some risk. Jays took a gamble on them both for bounce back seasons and it paid off. Sometimes these types of deals work and sometimes they don't. I've always gave Atkins credit and praise last season for the KK and Belt signings. So I guess all the trade deadline deals AA made in 2021 for Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario were all shrewd trades and AA was a total genius? I remember some posters on here saying AA was just lucky they rode bats like Duvall, Soler and Rosario to a World Series. Obviously "luck" definitely played a role with those moves given they came with some risk. Sometimes trades like that could work and sometimes they don't. So if Atkins was a genius for signing KK and Belt last offseason, we could say AA was a genius for trading for Duvall, Soler and Rosario at the 2021 deadline. But yeah funny each were perceived different on this message board.

Yes there is a certain amount of luck involved if every member of your rotation stays healthy and makes 30+ starts. You can't guarantee that from season-to-season. Didn't I also give Atkins credit for building a fantastic rotation that was able to stay healthy and durable? I never said the Jays only made the Postseason because Atkins was lucky. Again you're putting words into my mouth in order to fit your narrative. Yes a big reason why the team was a borderline WC team last year was due to their starting rotation pitching very well and staying healthy. If they lost Gausman or Berrios for an extended period of time, wouldn't have been good. The pitching - both rotation and bullpen - carried this team on their shoulders and into the Postseason. Wasn't the bats lol.

Wouldn't surprise me at all regarding Kikuchi. Varsho is an easy player to root for. Glad to see him bouncing back after his disastrous 2023 season. Hopefully he makes everyone forget about Moreno and LGJ.

Jays bullpen should be fine even without Green. Pearson this season so far has looked fantastic.

You need to look in the mirror yourself man. Calm down. It's posters like you and Brownie who name call and insult others, insinuating that they're stupid and shouldn't talk baseball on this forum. Never saw posters like you both in over my 20 years on this board.

Happy to see you getting this excited on April 21st! Kikuchi is my sleeper pick for AL Cy Young. Think he gets 200+ K's. Glad to see Varsho swinging a hot bat right now. Looks like he's returned to form and should be good for 25-30 HR's.

You're second and not too far behind him IMO.

Lmao keep drinking the Kool aid. Leafs played fine maybe for 1.5 periods, but after it was all downhill.

You always take the blue pill and live in an illusion. Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in 2024!

You're a huge narcissist and one of the most insufferable posters on this board. I don't ever recall coming across a poster as annoying and insufferable as you since I joined this board in 2003.

LOL give me a break. You really need to go back and read my posts. I've given Atkins plenty of credit when it's due and also have been critical of him. I'm one of the more rational posters on this board.

The Leafs aren’t beating the Bruins haha. This team has no goaltending and defensively is vulnerable. Only way Leafs win a game is if they score 4-5 goals.

Leafs suck lmao

He's favourite now in Vegas for AL MVP. Bobby Witt Jr. is second favourite and Mike Trout is third favourite. I bet Bobby Witt Jr at 21 to 1 before the season. Now he's 5.50 to 1.

The issue is you have two extreme sides that are either really pro-Atkins front office or anti-Atkins front office on this board. When the Blue Jays win, you start to hear the pro-Atkins side getting all cocky crowning Y-Rod as a possible Cy Young contender, Garcia as a possible Mariano Rivera and IKF as such an amazing signing. All after just 20 games this season. Additionally, the pro-Atkins side does fail to recognize or acknowledge some of the teams glaring weaknesses, such as question marks in the lineup or the low ranking farm system. They are blue pilled into an illusion and believing what they want to believe. You'll never convince them otherwise or change their mind. They won't allow any criticism whatsoever of Atkins and this front office. When the Blue Jays lose, you do have some complainers on here or trolls in the GDT's that are way too negative and extreme in calling Atkins and this front office one of the worst, when in reality, Atkins and this front office have done a very good job over the last several years fielding a competitive team. Some of the criticism is ridiculous and they definitely do it to stir stuff up amongst the pro-Atkins group. Blue Jays can't win every game, but with this group it sounds like its all doom and gloom when the Blue Jays lose a game. Lastly, you have posters who are in the middle ground. They're rational in understanding some of the organizational flaws and acknowledge the strengths/weaknesses. They're not too extreme one way or the other, but are realistic when looking at the bigger picture. Always open for discussion without name-calling or insults. Unfortunately the pro-Atkins and anti-Atkins side have taken control of this message board, making some threads insufferable to read through which is likely turning off the posters who fit in this group and even new posters from joining the board.

Looking really forward to seeing what Y-Rod does in his second start. Would be something if he could be a solid mid-rotation starter for them!