jaysblue

Stang, you owe me $20 from our Mariners/Rangers bet. No rush, but you likely have me on ignore. Just reminding you.

Regular season doesn't matter. I would rather face Texas in the DS over Houston. Astros have a way better rotation, bullpen and are an experience group. On paper, I still think the Astros probably are the best overall team in the AL entering the Postseason.

I was able to purchase seats for those Jays games the first day Postseason seats went on sale. I remember prices for Game 5 against the Rangers were selling for cheap on StubHub at the time. The 2016 AL Wildcard tickets on StubHub were expensive. I bought one pair and a single seat for myself during the Jays sale. Resold that pair which paid for my single seat. I have Raptors season tickets so had special membership prices. I was so close not going to that Game 7 against the 76ers. I was looking to sell my tickets since I went to one game that series already. Tickets were selling below face value on TM and people from Kijijji were even offering way less than face value. So I was like WTF. Me and my dad hopped in an Uber last minute and went down to the game. Definitely was worth it and glad nobody bought those tickets off me haha. Those Grey Cup tickets were expensive. I believe $250 each seat me and my buddy paid. But definitely worth the experience. As well the night before in Ottawa was a blast and Shania put on a great halftime show haha. Definitely got lucky attending those games.

I rank that 2016 AL Wildcard game as one of the Top 5 sporting events I've attended. In no particular order: - 2015 ALDS Game 5: Rangers vs. Blue Jays (Bautista Bat Flip) - 2016 AL Wildcard: Orioles vs. Blue Jays (EE walk-off HR) - 2019 NBA East Semifinals Game 7: 76ers vs. Raptors (Kawhi with the winning shot) - 2017 Grey Cup in Ottawa: Argos vs. Stampeders (huge snowstorm and Argos with an epic comeback) - 2019 NBA East Finals Game 6: Bucks vs. Raptors (Raps win to make their first ever NBA Finals)

Yup, I was also thinking the Royals in 2015 and Cleveland in 2016 in the ALCS were going to be easy paths to the World Series. Didn't turn out that way. The plus with playing the Twins is you would possibly face the Rangers in the ALDS if they win the division instead of the Orioles. Not sure how the Rangers/Astros tiebreaker works. Would actually rather play the Orioles instead of the Astros in the ALDS. Regardless, I'm just happy the Jays are in!

I have no problem playing the Rays in the WC since they aren't the same team back in May/June when they were healthy. Rays are still a good team but they're missing big key pieces. I don't think the Twins will be a walkover considering their excellent rotation of Gray, Lopez and Ryan/Ober.

Spanky's second favourite team is the Pirates. A Blue Jays/Pirates World Series would be awesome! I would definitely make the drive down to Pittsburgh!

The time to sign Bo long term was after his second season. Still could sign him long term though you're going to be paying him a premium FA salary. My only concern about Bo is the defense and lack of OBP skills. When he ages, his fielding might get worse and like you said his bat to ball skills could regress as well. He could end up like a Javier Baez or even worse Tim Anderson which is what I would be worried about.

Spanky is secretly cheering for the Orioles in the Postseason.

Didn't he fly to the East coast?

I think Stangstag has me on ignore. Can someone please remind him that he owes me $20 from our Mariners/Rangers bet. Never responded to my post yesterday.

As well playing and beating Minnesota means the Jays would meet the Rangers in the ALDS instead of the Orioles?

Blue Jays getting drunk tonight!

Looks like I won my $20 bet with Stangstag! Seattle definitely made me sweat the last two months haha.

Would be nice if the Jays could clinch earlier than later! Lets go!

Just off the top of my head: Maybe the Phillies in 2010? One of the Braves or Dodgers teams from the last couple of seasons? Astros? Nats when they won a World Series? Tough to recall.

Didn't Atkins target Ryu to a big contract a couple of years ago? How about other guys like Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, Clay Buchholz? They couldn't stay healthy and weren't effective. Kudos to Atkins for putting together a strong rotation. I don't think anyone is disagreeing that the rotation has been one of the teams main strengths season and Atkins deserves credit. But if it's bad luck for when players under perform or get injured, then we can say the same thing how there is some luck involved when an entire rotation stays healthy. As well, $93M is tied up to all those arms moving forward, which is a big chunk of the payroll. What happens if someone like Berrios or Bassitt or Gausman regress or miss time due to injury?

From MLB.com: 4-way tie scenario (for 3 spots) Scenario: Astros, Mariners, Rangers, Blue Jays tie Result: Mariners, Astros, Rangers IN; Blue Jays OUT If all four of these teams finish with the same record, ties would be settled in the following order: AL West title tiebreaker between the Astros, Mariners and Rangers Second AL Wild Card berth tiebreaker between Blue Jays and two remaining AL West clubs Third AL Wild Card berth tiebreaker between two remaining clubs When there is a three-team tie, if one team wins the season series against both of the other clubs, that team gets the tiebreaker. However, that tiebreaker would not be in play if all three AL West clubs ended up tied. The Astros won their season series against the Rangers but lost to the Mariners. The Mariners won their season series against the Astros but lost to the Rangers. And the Rangers won their season series against the Mariners but lost to the Astros. As a result, the tiebreaker would go to the team with the best combined winning percentage against the other two clubs. In this case, it would be the Mariners coming out on top and claiming the AL West title. (Important note: The Mariners have not actually clinched this three-team tiebreaker, but in order for the three AL West teams to tie with 89 wins, the Mariners need to win four of their final five games, which are against the Astros and Rangers. And if that happens, at that point they will have clinched the best record in games among the three clubs.) The same steps would be used to determine the winner of the second AL Wild Card berth between the Blue Jays and the two remaining AL West clubs. Because none of these three teams won their season series against both of the other two clubs, this tiebreaker would also go to the team with the best combined winning percentage against the other two. In this scenario, the Astros would prevail and claim the second AL Wild Card spot. (With no remaining head-to-head games between the Astros, Rangers, and Blue Jays, this one has already been decided.) The tie between the Blue Jays and Rangers for the third AL Wild Card spot would then be settled using two-team tiebreaker rules, starting with head-to-head record. The Rangers won their season series against the Blue Jays, 6-1, so they’d prevail in this tiebreaker scenario and claim the third AL Wild Card berth.

Yeah I believe the Astros and Mariners own the tiebreaker. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point.

Would be the ideal situation. Need Gausman for Game 1.

Yeah of course, that makes things easier. But still given the injuries we see with arms, no matter the track record, you think there is no factor of luck in the equation at all for the rotation staying healthy all season? For someone who uses the term "luck" on here a lot.

Will give Atkins the credit he deserves for putting this rotation together, but I do agree with your statement as well to an extent. Jays were extremely lucky with their rotation staying healthy all season. If they lose one of Gausman, Bassitt, Berrios, or Kikuchi for an extended period of time, could have been trouble. There was really no safety net considering this team struggled for a bit to replace Manoah until Ryu was healthy again.

Lions are for real!

I'm gonna have a glass of whiskey and smoke a Cohiba short after the Jays win tonight! Lets go!!!!!