jaysblue

Yeah if the NLCS is between the Dodgers & Braves, could definitely be more entertaining and better than the World Series. Only team in the AL that could match those squads would have been the Rays at the start of the year when they were healthy and playing their best baseball. Right now, maybe the Astros given their rotation and lineup.

I'll take Adam Fantilli with the second overall pick. I added him to my queue.

Dodgers almost made an epic comeback. A lot of long balls last night geez. Dodgers/Braves for sure would make a fun NLCS!

Obviously.

Between him and Ohtani, I don't think we've ever seen two athletes as exciting as them across all sports. MLB needs to do a better job promoting their stars.

He's gonna give them 5 innings despite the disastrous start. Its a 4 game series, so at least the Dodgers won't blow through the bullpen tonight. Some starters would have been out by thr 2nd or 3rd inning.

Acuna hits a grand slam to become the first player in MLB history to hit 30 HRs and steal 60 bases in the same season.

Lance Lynn getting hammered. He sucks!

Fire the hitting coach.

With the #2 pick, I would like to take the second best player in the draft. Thank you!

The Tribe had some great arms during that time. Loved watching both Carrasco and Salazar. Kluber was awesome as well.

I'll take 7-2 or 6-3 from the Jays over the next 9 games. With the way the Rangers have been playing as of late, definitely will be in a good position before that series starts like you said. Jays just need to take care of business against these weaker teams! Rangers face the Twins this weekend, Astros next week and the A's afterwards before the Jays series. Hope at best they go 4-5 over those 9 games. Looks like I might be owing Stangstag $20

The Ohio teams going all in haha

Yeah so will be tough for a team to claim multiple players considering they need to make room on their 40-man roster and take on the remaining salaries of those players. Maybe a team claims two players at the most. Hopefully the Jays could land one of those bats.

So a team like the Marlins could claim all those players if they wanted to?

Braves vs. Dodgers series starts tonight in LA. Strider pitching Game 1 against Lynn! Should be a fun series to watch!

I definitely see those teams claiming pitchers before bats. Toronto shouldn't have an issue getting one of those bats - Grichuk, Bader or Renfroe - if they put a claim in.

Yeah gotta hope the Jays could at least sweep the A's, Royals or Rockies. Nats haven't been playing that bad as of late. 6-4 in their last 10. Mets are in last place in the NL East lol.

Kershaw will never leave the Dodgers.

It's a number of factors like I've said. It's mostly on the players, as is always the case. Though Atkins and the FO aren't off the hook and do deserve some blame as well IMO. You can't just give them a free pass. Especially given that from 2021 till now have been disappointing results when all things considered, in what should have been their prime years/window to contend for a World Series.

I've said majority of the blame should be placed on the players. I think everyone agrees. Though Atkins and the FO will and should get some blame as well to an extent. They're the ones who put this roster together and are responsible for the farm system. You can't just give them a free pass especially if they miss the 2023 Postseason and based on the previous season results as well. Like BigCecil said, maybe the FO realizes earlier this lineup needed a bit of a shakeup and instead is more proactive leading up to the trade deadline in targeting some bats. Could have made a difference maybe.

Something you have to consider if you're the Jays to shake things up. Alonso is a sure bet to hit around 40 HR's. The difference is in age and years of control. Alonso will be 29 next season, Vlad will be 25. One less year of control with Alonso than Vlad. Regardless if both have monster seasons, they both are going to require a big extensions, which I'm not even sure the Jays would be on board for. Alonso looks like he's a sure bet to be a 3-4 WAR player, with the potential for a bit more. Should be good for .250/.340/.500 with around 40 HR's. Think of him as a 1B version of Troy Glaus. Vladdy on the other hand right now doesn't even look like a 1 WAR player, but if he returns to his 2022 form he should be good for 2-3 WAR. Vladdy at his best/peak though can be a .300/.400/.600 type of bat with 6-7 WAR like in 2021. Alonso will never be that kind of guy. Higher floor/lower ceiling with Alonso because you know what you're going to get. Lower floor and higher ceiling with Vladdy.

Yeah still some time. Jays could still win the series today against the Nats and all they need is to go on a run. It's not over yet by any means.

Yeah unfortunately Atkins will take a lot of blame from the higher ups in Rogers and the media if the team does fail to make the Postseason. Don't think he deserves it, but like you said he's already used the fire manager card once and likely can't use it again. Hopefully there are changes in the coaching staff (hitting) which I think are warranted.

It's not that easy to just assume that. - Springer will be a year older and looks like he's regressing. - Vlad is the X factor really. If he bounces back and comes close to his 2021 form, this lineup looks a lot more different. Jays are kind of stuck in limbo with him. You either trade him for another hyped up player who has disappointed thus far (sometimes a change of scenery does a player or pitcher good) or you keep riding with him in hopes he gets motivated before he becomes a FA and has another monster season or two. Regardless, not an easy decision for Atkins or any GM for that matter. - Kirk needs to get into better shape and find his power stroke again. I don't think he'll improve on his 2022 season, but hope he could be a .250/.370/.400 guy with 10-15 HR's. Some question marks still remain but Vladdy and Kirk are still young enough to make some changes and improve. More worried about Springer due to his age. As for the pitching, does Gausman keep pitching at this high level or does he regress/slip a bit? Gotta hope Gausman can still be a 5-6 WAR pitcher. Berrios looks consistent and is what he is. Who knows what Kikuchi you get. I would make Manoah fight for a rotation spot, wouldn't just hand him one. As for the bullpen, likely will be some turnover as there always is.