jaysblue

One of the best horror/thrillers I've seen in a long time. Same here, jumped out of my seat.

Grant loves the part of Schlittler trolling Boston and its fans haha.

I watched Obsession last night. Creeped me out. What a thriller!

I think the Jays need to squeeze as much offense as possible out of every position, especially with how the current core of the lineup is constructed. You can’t rely on Vladdy to consistently be an elite bat in the Judge/Soto tier. He’s absolutely capable of having a huge offensive season, but you can’t pencil that in as a guarantee every year. Same with Kirk - he can be a very valuable bat when he’s right, but he hasn’t consistently shown he’s a year-to-year 115 wRC+ type. There are stretches where the bat turns into a pumpkin and he’s closer to a 90ish wRC+ hitter. When you combine that with running Gimenez out there every day, and even someone like Clement despite the hot start, the Jays are still leaning on too many low-power bats. The lineup lacks real thump. That’s why Trout is interesting. If he’s healthy, he can still be a legitimate difference-maker offensively. He lengthens the lineup, gives them a true middle-of-the-order presence, and could take pressure off guys like Vladdy and Okamoto. A middle of the order built around Trout, Vlad, and Oka would be a lot more dangerous than what they’re currently running. Even if Trout costs you a bit defensively in CF, I think the offensive upgrade is worth it. If healthy, he can still be a 4–5 WAR player. Bring back Straw as the 4th outfielder/late-game defensive option, and I think the Jays would be fine. I want nothing to do with Grisham. As for Jazz, I’m a big fan of the bat and athleticism, but the defense worries me. He makes a lot of boneheaded decisions whether he’s at 2B, 3B, or in the outfield, and the injury history is also a real concern. If you could get Jazz on a short-term deal - something like one year with a high AAV - I’d be open to it. But I wouldn’t want to be the team giving him a big multi-year contract.

Geez two days without Blue Jays baseball or baseball in general really does suck. Mets/Phillies tonight only lol.

Try to get Mike Trout in the offseason. He needs out of Anaheim and with the Jays he would actually have a chance at a ring.

Can Kevin Pillar still play CF?

Likely trade route is the best option to find a CF. Steven Kwan, O'Neil Cruz, Garrett Mitchell, Colton Cowser, Lawrence Butler could possibly be available. Obviously some of those guys aren't defensive wizards like Varsho was.

Gotta admit JS looks really cool here:

Probably not. Given the season he’s had so far, and with his defense slipping a bit, I don’t see a team handing him a big 4- or 5-year deal this offseason unless he has a huge second half. I’d be open to bringing him back on a one-year deal to buy the Jays more time to find a long-term solution in CF. But I wouldn’t want to pay him around $22M if he accepts the QO. If they could bring him back closer to the $15M range, I think that would be much more reasonable. At that price, he still gives you value with his defense, athleticism, and occasional power, without locking yourself into a risky long-term commitment.

I agree it made sense from a timing/need perspective at the time. The Jays were trying to win, they had catcher depth, and Varsho filled a real need in CF/LF with elite defense and some power. My point is more about how the trade looks now compared to how confidently some people framed it a couple years ago. Maybe “landslide” is too strong, but there were definitely fans acting like the Jays clearly won the deal once Varsho settled in and Moreno wasn’t immediately an offensive monster. Varsho has been a good player here. No argument. But he also hasn’t quite become the 4–5 WAR, 30-HR impact bat many hoped for. And now, if he’s potentially gone after this season, that changes the long-term value discussion quite a bit. Moreno, meanwhile, is still under control through 2029 and is having a career year at a premium position. Kirk being good doesn’t completely erase that, because Moreno himself was still a major asset. You kind of wish the Jays could have got more for him at the end of the day, but understandable. So yeah, I agree it wasn’t a disaster and it helped both teams. But I don’t think it worked out “about as good as the Jays could have expected” either. To me, it feels more like a fair baseball trade/wash than some clear Jays win.

You probably did but I can't keep track since you flip flop all the time on everything.

So there’s a real chance Varsho could be gone after this season. It honestly feels like we acquired him yesterday in that trade with Arizona. So far, Varsho has accumulated 8.4 WAR over his four seasons here. He’s been a solid player and has brought real value with his defense, baserunning, and stretches of power, but he never quite became the 4–5 WAR, 30-HR bat that a lot of people hoped he could be when the Jays acquired him. Meanwhile, Gabriel Moreno is having a career year with the D-backs, posting 2.5 WAR in 69 games with a .301/.385/.436 slash line and a 129 wRC+, while still being under control through 2029. Since the trade, Moreno has totaled 10 WAR. I like Varsho, and I don’t think he’s been a bad player here by any means. But yeah, it’s hard to look at this now and say the Jays clearly ran away with the deal the way some people were claiming a couple years ago. At this point, it feels more like a wash than anything. Varsho has helped the Jays, Moreno has become a very valuable catcher in Arizona, and both teams got useful players. But if Varsho leaves after this season, that trade is going to look a lot more complicated in hindsight.

He was throwing a no-hitter geez, should have kept him in for the full 9 😂

Supposedly the Jays could be bidding for the ASG in 2028. Between them and Baltimore.

Yeah I think you have to go with a lefty masher in Philly.

Are you kidding? I think Sportsnet will show it. Opening Night this season was a Netflix exclusive and I ordered Netflix just for it, and it wasn't even airing on Netflix here in Canada. Sportsnet actually aired the game that night, so what a waste haha.

Who do we got in the HR derby tonight? I'm going with Schwarber or Harper since both are from Philly, but would like to see Murakami or Caglianone steal the show.

She was awful yesterday. As well, with the bad calls when the managers came out to express their case, you can tell both Stammen and Schneider felt awkward when they were arguing with her and they both kept it toned down for optics. Just my two cents. Agreed. I responded to his first part of the post which was baseball related. I don't understand how his last statement had anything to do with baseball or Maddison Shipman broadcasting her first games.

I really like Madison Shipman, and I think she’s done a great job. I’m not just saying that for the sake of it either. She genuinely offers valuable insight, whether she’s in the booth calling the game or on the pre- and post-game panel. I like Ben Shulman as well. He’s grown into the role nicely and brings a solid presence to the broadcast. Overall, Sportsnet has a really strong team covering the Jays. Between the play-by-play, analysis, and studio crew, we’re pretty lucky as fans.

2026 just doesn’t feel like the Jays’ year. Between the injuries at the start of the season, the poor record against bad teams, the overworked bullpen through parts of May and June, disappointing seasons from Vladdy and Springer, the lack of power in the lineup, and the team not being nearly as sharp defensively as last year, it’s been one frustrating issue after another. They’re lucky the rest of the AL hasn’t exactly been anything special. They’re only 2.5 games back of the Mariners for the third Wild Card spot, so they’re still technically right there. But there are also a lot of teams they need to jump over, including Houston, Minnesota, Baltimore, and Boston. WC3 is still dangling in front of them. It feels close, but also so far away. They really can’t afford to mess around after the All-Star break. They need to come out and go on some kind of run - something like winning 7 or 8 out of 10 and they need their key guys to finally step up. Vladdy and Kirk have to produce offensively, and arms like Gausman, Bieber, and Yesavage need to stabilize the rotation. Otherwise, they’re just going to keep spinning their wheels. And if they keep squandering these opportunities, that 2.5-game deficit is going to turn into something much harder to overcome later on in the season.

Like Stang said earlier, his postseason performance probably set expectations sky-high among fans and media. A lot of us likely thought he could step in right away as a potential #1/#2 starter, or maybe even have a Paul Skenes-type early impact. But in reality, if the BB/9 remains a concern and we’re seeing 6- or 7-walk outings every so often, some of his starts are going to be frustrating while he works through the growing pains. The encouraging part is that he’s still only 22, so there’s plenty of time for him to mature, refine the command, and correct some of these issues. But if the BB/9 sits in the mid-to-high 4s long term, that probably caps his ceiling closer to a #3/#4 starter. If he can bring the walks down while maintaining the strong K/9 rates, then you can start talking about him as a solid #2 or even a 1A-type arm for stretches.

Manoah pretty much posted a 4 WAR season in 2022 after his rookie season in 2021. Not sure if we see that from Yesavage right out of the gate, especially with the high BB/9 rates.

Misiorowski won't pitch today in the Brewers series finale with the Pirates. Damn, it would have been an epic pitching matchup with Misiorowski vs. Skenes. Was looking forward to it 🥲