jaysblue

Spanky coming after you now.

Richards becomes the next Liam Hendriks.

If the Jays add two starters this offseason, Kikuchi probably would be better utilized out of the pen instead of starting in Buffalo.

I would even be open to trading some relievers if the team can make one or two upgrades to the pen. Just move everyone else down one spot on the depth chart. Bring in another elite late inning arm or two with high K rates, who could be a bridge to Romano. That means you move guys like Bass, Garcia, Mayza, Cimber down for the 6th/7th innings. I hope Pearson or Merryweather can have a breakout year out of the pen. Would definitely help!

After travelling through Asia extensively, my abilities to distinguish Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Filipino/Vietnamese/Thai is quite good.

Would rather have the Leafs suck now and hopefully turn it on for the second half and into the Playoffs.

I always get mistaken for another nationality and it doesn't bother me at all. I'm Canadian though background is Italian. I get a lot of people thinking I'm Middle Eastern like from Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan or Afghanistan, which I find interesting. Also, I get a lot of people thinking I'm Serbian or Portuguese. I'm proud of being Canadian and having an Italian background, though I wouldn't get upset if someone mistakes me as an American or Portuguese.

Yeah maybe the Yankees thought Donaldson could have aged like Beltre did with the Rangers. Urshela had the better year obviously, though I don't think the Yankees care about losing him unless he becomes a 4-5 WAR guy which I highly doubt.

Yeah I'm okay with the Springer contract, always have been. Though he is made of glass and a significant injury risk. As long as he stays somewhat healthy even with the odd recurring injury, he'll be fine.

A lot is riding on McClanahan and Glasnow staying healthy. Springs I could see regressing. Rasmussen is meh but still a solid No 4-5 starter. Patino I still like, but he's a lottery ticket and can't be relied on. Beeks is better as a reliever. Chririnos isn't anything special but could give them innings. Romero sucks. Not having Shane Baz healthy sucks. I actually feel safer with Gausman/Manoah more than McClanahan/Glasnow. Though far way more upside with McClanahan and Glasnow if they both stay healthy.

Blue Jays owe Springer, Ryu and Kikuchi $55M next season. If Springer, who we all know is made of glass, misses significant time with an injury, not good.

Was it a terrible trade at the time though? Money doesn't matter for the Yankees as it does other teams. Donaldson did put together a 5.2 WAR and 3.0 WAR season in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Whereas Urshela posted a 2.8 WAR and 0.7 WAR in 2019 and 2021. I think we can all agree that Donaldson was an upgrade over Urshela at the time of the trade. Obviously, the trade didn't work out for them given Donaldson's rapid decline in 2022.

Yeah Rays need a star bat or two for their lineup. Starting pitching is more than fine if they stay healthy. If the Yankees have a bad offseason, I think you can have a three way race between the Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles (if they spend money this offseason to complement their young core).

I don't think the 2021 Braves were "garbage" and "one of the worst teams ever" to win the World Series. They weren't the favorites or best team heading into the 2021 Postseason sure but they had the right mix of talent and luck regarding some players they brought in at the trade deadline. Things clicked for them at the right time. - Rosario hit .383/.456/.617 in the 2021 postseason. Had some solid years with the Twins before, nothing special. Posted a 4.0 WAR season in 2018. - Soler hit .242/.342/.606 in the 2021 postseason. 48 HR's in 2019. - Duvall sucks I know, though he still hit 38 HR's in 2021 and posted a 2.7 WAR. - Pederson didn't do much with the Braves, though had some big hits in the Postseason. I recall a lot of posters on this message board wanted the Jays to acquire Pederson at this past trade deadline. - Matzek was decent in 2021 (2.57 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 11 K/9 and 1.1 WAR). In the postseason he had a 1.72 ERA, 0.87 FIP and 13.79 K/9 in 15.2 innings. Better lefty than Tim Mayza! Will Smith wasn't that good, will admit. Braves had a far superior bullpen during the 2022 regular season and heading into the 2022 Postseason. The Braves in 2021 weren't that bad of a team, even without Acuna. AA did a great job acquiring some bats with previous success at the trade deadline to fill in for the injuries they had. Sure those turds got lucky and were productive, though they also had previous success at the MLB level before. Freeman, Riley, Albies, and Swanson were still solid. Yes, Riley and Swanson were better in 2022, though they still were solid in 2021 and progressed even more as you would expect with young players with their skillsets. Albies put up 3.9 WAR in 2021 while Acuna wasn't even at his best in 2022 posting a 2.0 WAR. Obviously, the 2022 Braves team is far better than the 2021 Braves team was on paper. Though I don't think the 2021 Braves were "garbage" at all. They had some solid young pieces who broke out, Freddie Freeman, some solid young pitching to go along with Morton, and got lucky on some trade deadline acquisitions that did an adequate job replacing Acuna and Ozuna.

What about Albies? You're completely ignoring and not acknowledging other factors that made the 2021 Braves team successful during the Postseason. Yes the 2022 Braves team overall is way superior on paper, not arguing about that. Though I don't think the 2021 team heading into the Postseason was all that bad.

Those turds actually produced though and that's all the matters haha. Soler actually hit well once he was acquired by the Braves and held his own during the Postseason. Also, that turd hit 48 HR's in 2019 so it's not like he was a nobody. Long term, obviously it's night and day.

Yes the 2022 team was far superior during the regular season than the 2021 team and moving forward they will continue to be one of the best teams in baseball possibly for the next decade. A lot of their young guys took the next step forward which you expect with that talent and Strider/Harris became superstars when they were called up. They also beefed up the bullpen like you said. The 2021 team still had Freeman, Albies, Swanson, Riley as an infield, all who were still solid during the regular season and peaked at the right time in October. In terms of their rotation, Fried, Morton and Anderson were still pretty solid. Sure they were underdogs, though they had young elite talent on the upswing along with some solid veteran pieces they acquired at the trade deadline who were productive. I don't consider them fluking it.

Other than the bullpen, was there much of a difference between the Braves 2021 and 2022 Postseason roster? BTS said the Braves didn't have Acuna, which yes hurt and impacted their success during the regular season, though AA made some solid trades who paid off. This 2022 team was without Ozzie Albies. As for the rotation, I don't see much of a difference between Fried/Morton/Anderson from 2021 versus Fried/Morton/Wright in 2022. Spencer Strider was a big part of their success this season, though he was not relevant in the Postseason unless the team was going to move on.

Was there a huge difference between the 2021 and 2022 Braves Postseason teams? Other than the bullpen, though the lineup and rotation IMO were close. Over the 162 game season, sure the 2022 Braves were vastly superior though come Postseason I don't think there was a huge disparity between both rosters. The 2021 Postseason team was without Acuna. The 2022 Postseason team was without Albies and Strider pretty much. Strider wasn't going to be utilized fully coming back from an injury and had no impact at all. They still had Fried, Wright and Morton, which is no different than last years rotation when you think of it (swap out Anderson with Wright).

Morton and Fried were very solid last season lmao. They're not the best #1-2 punch obviously, though they were solid all season. Anderson was always a solid young arm coming up and held his own last season. Braves actually had a solid rotation. As for their bullpen, agreed it was pretty mediocre and had question marks. A lot of their arms strung together good outings in the Postseason. In terms of their lineup, they still had Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies (who was healthy). AA made some solid under the radar trades and guys like Soler/Rosario produced for them down the stretch. Even Joc Pederson. They did a solid job at replacing Acuna. Based on their record in the 162 game season, yes they were one of the weaker teams in the 2021 Postseason, though they had a solid roster built for October and it's not like they completely fluked it.

There is a lot luck involved in the Postseason. Any team that makes it in can go the distance. Even the Blue Jays could have.

You can apply ifs and buts to both lineups. Pretty much the entire Postseason. Agree, Jays have a better lineup on paper and are much deeper. Phillies lineup does have some serious pop and for whatever its worth they do have some balance between left/right handed bats which is nice, which I know you don't think makes a difference. What you see with the Phillies lineup this postseason is everyone is healthy, they've had some big hits and they have Harper hitting like a beast. So definitely some luck going their way and hitting at the right time. It's worked in a short series thus far. In terms of bats at positions: Kirk/Jansen < Realmuto Vladdy > Hoskins Biggio/Espinal < Segura Bo > Stott Chapman > Bohm Teo > Castellanos Springer > Marsh Merrifield/Tapia < Schwarber Jansen/Kirk (DH) < Harper I give the Blue Jays the advantage in 5 of the 9 lineup spots. It's pretty even in terms of catchers and even at 1B (though give Vladdy the advantage still). In terms of disparity, Phillies lineup is weaker 1 through 9 overall. Casty, Marsh, Stott and Bohm are pretty much non-existent.

Yeah Bellinger isn't keeper worthy in a 12-team league. You can make the case in a 20-team or 30-team league using a final keeper spot on him. If you have an NA slot where you can stash Marte, that's even better.

Defensively, it's not close for sure. Phillies are awful. Offensively, when you have Bryce Harper the way he's hitting, along with some power in Hoskins, Schwarber and if Realmuto heats up, the lineup is actually pretty solid. I still take the Jays lineup on paper over the Phillies, though you probably need one of Vladdy, Bo, Teo or Springer to go on a tear like Harper did.

Was Atlanta really mediocre last season?