jaysblue

The Jays almost won a World Series in 2016 during Atkins' first season here lol. Where have you been?

Considering the huge fumble trades that were a complete abomination, he brought Toronto closer to a World Series during his tenure than Atkins has thus far. But yeah I'm not disagreeing with you, those trades were awful.

Jays need to go 16-0! It starts tonight! Lets go!

It's hilarious how you've been whining about this team and front office over the last week. Completely different tunes from May and June. I mean you even criticized this front office at the end of the 2021 season and 2022, yet when I said the same thing as you back in the summer, you were calling me out.

At least Brownie, while he can be condescending at times, actually makes arguments. You just sit on the sidelines and offer nothing to the conversation.

I think Atkins deserves some blame for this season and I'm sure he would admit that as well. At the end of the day, he put this roster together. Majority of the players in this lineup have struggled, not just one or two players. So I'm assuming it's all just bad luck or maybe we have to question the decision making made by Atkins and the FO. They're the smart ones who know more than we do, and have access to projections that we don't. Can't believe so many of those projections went sideways, especially since these guys are all brilliant!

Yeah I don't think anyone is arguing those two trades weren't his best, but to define his tenure here by just those two deals is ridiculous. I think most of the decisions and moves by AA here were solid. He's the one who made baseball relevant again in the city of Toronto and across Canada. As for the Marlins trade: - Hech had a -1.3 WAR in 2013. He was solid in 2015 posting a 2.6 WAR. Otherwise, not really missed. - Yunel Escobar like you said was traded for political reasons, so AA had no choice. Marlins moved him to Tampa after and he had a 3 WAR season. Maybe Yunel doesn't get traded if he wasn't acting like a jerk. - Handsome Jake didn't do anything with the Marlins. He had solid years with the Astros as a 4th outfielder: 1.8 WAR, 1.2 WAR, 2.1 WAR seasons from 2015-2017. - Henderson Alvarez had a 2 WAR and 2.5 WAR season in 2013 and 2014. Wouldn't have made a difference in 2015 and 2016 whatsoever. - Anthony DeSclafani had solid years once he was traded to Cincy - 3.1 and 2.1 WAR seasons in 2015 and 2016. Has had a solid career as a mid-rotation/No.4 type starter. I'm not losing sleep over any of those guys to be honest. All of them were easily replaceable. We're talking about a slap-hitting/utility player, a 4th outfielder, and a starter with low K rates. Yunel was solid in 2013, 2015 and decent in 2016. Anthony DeSclafani was the one who ended up having a solid career, and would have been useful in 2015 and 2016 but oh well.

Yeah they were awful at the time considering but did the Jays really miss anyone of significance in that Marlins trade? At the time, it was tough signing big name FA's in Toronto so I understand some of the reasoning behind it and to be honest it wasn't all that bad. Reyes had a 2.5 WAR in 93 games in 2013 and a 3.8 WAR in 2014. Completely fell off in 2015, though AA traded for Tulo at the deadline. Mark Buehrle was really solid and durable here. Posted WARs of 2.2, 3.7 and 2 during his three seasons here. The X factor was Josh Johnson. If he was healthy, would have made the trade look better than it was. He was 28-years-old coming off a 3.3 WAR season and who had a 5.5 WAR and 6 WAR season in 2009 and 2010. Who would have thought Johnson was done after the 2013 season at the age of 29? The RA Dickey trade was the one that hurt. It happened because of the Marlins trade unfortunately. Definitely was a weird trade by AA and probably was his worst. Wasn't a fan of acquiring Dickey at that high price tag, but he for the most part was durable and ate innings. 1.8 WAR in each season here from 2013-2015 and a 0.8 WAR in 2016. Still, wish the Jays had Thor in 2015 and 2016.

Yeah the Jays have the starting pitching, bullpen and defense to go on a deep Postseason run for sure. Going to be tough to win 2-1 or 3-2 games every night though. I'm hoping we see a Dodgers/Braves NLCS. That will be an awesome series if it happens.

Yeah I don't agree that AA is only good now because he learned from being in the Dodgers organization for a couple of years. Yes with experience, most do gain more knowledge and get better. AA did a lot of great things in Toronto. He built back the farm system. Made some big trades that worked out and some that didn't. He locked up two core players in Bautista and EE to very team friendly extensions. Made some big trade deadline deals that turned this team into a legit World Series contender. He made baseball relevant again in Toronto. We could say Shapiro and Atkins walked into a good situation which they did. Baseball was extremely popular again here, they had a World Series contending team in 2016 and even believed they were competitive in 2017 before the injuries.

Yeah the new infield Club 100 looks pretty sick. They have something like that in San Francisco. Nice enclosed area so less crazy than the whole concourse. If the team doesn't win games and has a couple of losing seasons, attendance will take a slight hit though. That's the reality.

Season isn't over but yeah no room for error the rest of the way. Just have to take it one game at a time. Like some have said, tough to really cheer on and like this group given the way they've played this season. Still want to see Postseason baseball in Toronto. But if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Even when the Jays didn't make the Postseason before, I still enjoyed October baseball.

Yeah attendance numbers have been really good this season. Mostly earlier on because the Leafs/Raps were out of the Playoffs, the hype surrounding the new renos, and since it was summer. A lot of casuals or people I know who never went to a Jays game before went to a couple this summer. Sure Rogers isn't complaining but if this team doesn't produce a winner, attendance numbers will take a hit. I think the low attendance this series is a factor of many things: everyone back at school, people tapped out from the summer, and less excitement around this team/group given their struggles. Leafs and the Raptors are crazy expensive and awful. Mostly corporate owns a lot of those seats.

I bought myself a beautiful new Samsung 77" OLED TV with a soundbar, woofer and rear speakers. Its an awesome setup. No need to spend money on expensive tickets and expensive food and drinks at the Rogers Centre unless there is a particular matchup or player I want to see. I'll save my money and plan a weekend trip in October down in the States to see a DS or LS series. Get to experience a better ballpark and better teams at least!

I was saying this over the summer and was being heavily criticized for it by some members. I don't get the praise Atkins gets on here while those same posters don't give AA the credit he deserves. All excuses during the months of May, June and July and look at where we are now. This team is a borderline playoff team, plain and simple. Enough of "oh it's bad luck," or "it's early" or "just wait until the Jays have any easier schedule after the All-Star break." Now the excuses are "everyone in the lineup is largely underperforming and that was tough to project." While I don't believe all the blame should be placed on Atkins, he does own some of it. He's the one who created the roster and put it together. He's the one responsible for hiring the manager and coaching staff. He's the one who traded the teams top asset for Varsho who hasn't done much. He's the one who signed Springer to a long term deal. He's the one who made the decision to build the roster around the fact that Vlad and Bo were going to be their elite stars. He's the one who traded away some offensive minded bats like Teo and LGJ. He's the one who never addressed the issue with this lineup earlier on in the season or at the deadline when it was evident they could have used another power bat or two. There should be no excuses. This team was one of the healthiest teams in baseball and it's not like they lost 1 or 2 key players to long term injuries. A number of players like Kikuchi, Whitt, Belt and KK over-performed. The Jays even ended up getting Ryu and Green back for the stretch run. They had a lot of luck on their side considering. During his tenure, his teams have produced ZERO playoff wins to this date. Atkins has made some solid moves and has fielded competitive teams, but the homerism surrounding him on here is too much. So far his tenure here has been subpar when you look at the results to date.

That's why Spanky got hosed buying that Bo jersey over the weekend. The dude is gone after 2025 and that jersey will be 50-60% off!

If you're downtown sure. What happens if you live and work outside of the downtown core? Easily 45 mins to an hour commute each way. As well, factor in the cost to watch a game live now. Not like it was used to if you purchase from the Jays box office or from people outside of the Rogers Centre. If you want to purchase decent seats, buy food and have one or two beers, easily $100. Tough for people given the high cost of living and everything now to just do that a couple nights a week, unless they're running up a balance on their credit cards.

Hotel prices in Toronto are always crazy expensive. Heck even a s*** box near the airport goes for $200 a night. I don't know how some people travel here or in Canada for that matter. Glad you decided not to come down. Tickets (which have more than tripled since Shapiro took over) + $18 beers ain't worth it IMO. Better off saving your money and going down to the US for a weekend to see a DS or CS matchup. Planning to fly down to ATL one weekend if I could redeem points for my flights and if hotels aren't crazy expensive.

As bad as this series has gone, the Jays are still 0.5 games back of a WC spot. It's not like they're 3-4 GBs. But yeah these losses against the Rangers have really hurt. Jays could have put themselves in a better position if they won 2 or 3 of these games.

Geez Kirk has looked awful catching Hicks. He looks like he's checked out!

Imagine the newspaper ads in New York about Vladdy, Kirk, Varsho, and Manoah. They wouldn't survive. They're so lucky the Toronto sports media like Sportsnet were sugar coating this team all season. It's shocking to see the narrative change all of a sudden just over the last week or so. Even Buck Martinez saying the way the Blue Jays have played, they aren't a Playoff team.

Nice to see the crowd booing at Vlad. Enough sugar coating this team and this season! Time to start winning baseball games!

You dingleberry! If Allen wins the MVP, I'll buy you Muskoka beers at Joey's for Happy Hour. If Allen doesn't win, you buy them.

It's not all his fault, but yeah he deserves some blame. I couldn't care if Atkins stays another year or is gone. His tenure overall has been a subpar one in comparison to the AA years. Given the teams expectations, payroll, extra WC spots and balanced schedule, will be a huge disappointment if they still have ZERO Postseason wins after this year. Hasn't been able to take this team to the next level despite solid roster pieces to build around.

I just said it sucks for them. Not sad for them or anything.