jaysblue

Spanky survived the night!

Yup, glad to finally see the media actually call out the failures made by this team especially yesterday. Sportsnet still tried to sugarcoat it with: "the same group will be back next season with other new players to complement them, this team is still young and exciting, a learning moment for this team etc."

They really need an old school manager who won't tolerate that clowning around and BS. If I'm Schneider or a new manager who walks into that clubhouse Day One of Spring Training, I grab that Home Run jacket and burn it in front of the entire team. Send a message!

Tough call. After watching last night's dumpster fire, I would vote an easy yes, especially if it was the FO making those in-game calls pulling Gausman, bullpen management and substituting Tapia in for Merrifield etc. He's the one who hired and spent money on that department doing the analytics and it blew up in their face! If the FO was making the calls on the field yesterday, then there is no excuse! You need to go back to the fundamentals and assess the game situation at the time. In at 8-1 game, Gausman still needs to be pitching at 94 or 95 pitches. In my opinion, and I've said this numerous times throughout the season, he failed to address areas on the end of the roster that needed upgrades such as the bullpen and roster depth. I don't really understand it. Like you have a solid young core, you made some big moves signing Gausman and bringing in Chapman last offseason. He never complimented those moves and this talented roster which is the frustrating part. Go out and add quality bullpen arms that you can rely heavily on in a close game. Heck these guys couldn't even close a 7 run lead from the 6th inning on. Go out and improve your roster depth by adding quality players who when are playing won't hurt your team more than help. We've seen two disappointing years in a row where the Blue Jays missed the Postseason by one game and where they got beat 2-0 after hosting the Wildcard series at home. It's inexcusable given the core and talent this team has. It's gone to waste because this FO seems too cheap to add an elite reliever or two or to actually add some solid roster depth. You can't neglect the end of a roster, and they've done that the past two years. Is it Atkins fault that Vladdy, Bo, Berrios underachieved this season? No, blame has to be put on the players, not him. Is it Atkins fault that Montoya and Schnieder didn't have an elite pen to work with all season or a deep enough bench when injuries occurred and had to give close to 500 PA to Tapia? Yes.

According to some homers on this board, Atkins built an amazing bullpen especially after acquiring Pop and Bass at the trade deadline!

Yeah Romano came on and got two big outs. Almost got out of that mess in the 8th if it wasn't for that bloop hit. As for his performance in the 9th, Schneider left him in for too long or shouldn't even have had him start the ninth. Again awful management by Schneider today. The guy made some boneheaded moves all game. One of the worst managed games I've seen in a long time.

Nah, Springer is the type of player this young team needs. As long as he's producing 4-5 WAR per season, he's valuable. It's going to be tough signing another player of his caliber in free agency as well. Blue Jays FO should look to move Springer to a corner like RF perhaps next season while DHing him 30% of the time. Go after a defensive minded CF through free agency or trade.

Also, can the Blue Jays just burn that Home Run jacket and never use one again. It's just so annoying!

Blue Jays fans said the same thing before this series and look what happened. Its Postseason baseball. Mariners likely will make a series of it IMO.

Not Miami. They'll be Postseason contenders soon. As for the Rays, they need to build a new ballpark. Build it either along the waterfront of St. Petersburg where all the nightlife/restaurants are or completely move to Tampa.

Yeah I took the train to Long Branch tonight after the game - was packed in like sardines. At least I didn't have to go too far. But even for two people on the GO Train and from Long Branch which is only two stops from Union - $20 RT. I've stopped drinking at these venues. The prices are ridiculous and they keep gauging fans. Some fans buy 3 or 4 drinks each at the games. That's close to $60 for just four cans of beer lmao. You would think someone would start a movement and encourage people to stop paying these ludicrous prices at sporting events! Maybe put pressure on these venues to lower their prices. Beer cans should only be $8-10 at most, and that is still even expensive. $15 for a Mill Street Organic LMAO. I can buy a 6 pack for that same price.

Don't watch or listen to Sportsnet. They will prop up this team like no tomorrow. Even after today's loss, they were saying how the future still remains bright and the Jays will be back better and stronger even next year. Biased coverage!

Agree with everything you said. A lot of blame can fall on Schneider in this one. The more I'm reading posts on this forum and watching the highlights, the more and more he should be held accountable for this loss. Pulling Gausman in the 6th after getting two outs was a huge mistake. He had an 8-1 lead, he's your ace, he's getting paid $100+ million and he just got two batters out. No need to go to Mayza against Santana. As well, given the situation with Game 3 tomorrow, you wanted Gausman to go deeper to save some important bullpen arms in a do-or-die game. Like even using Romano for two innings today, would have he been available for tomorrow after throwing 30 pitches or more? Also, considering the Jays don't have an elite bullpen, you need to get more from your starters especially when you have your ace on the mound. Big time fail by Schneider. Tapia is the other problem. He could have caught two balls that dropped in front of him in left field. I was even saying to myself off the bat these are catchable, though Tapia comes sliding in like he's making an extremely difficult catch. Again, some accountability needs to be taken by either this front office or management staff on why they kept playing Tapia so much and especially in the Postseason. Just awful. Put JBJ or Zimmer, and likely they catch one of those balls that drop. Like you said, the trade deadline for the Blue Jays was very meh. Yes they made some nice acquisitions though none of those players took this team to the next level.

Yeah they really blew Game 1. If they were able to comeback today to tie up the series, they had a great chance against Suarez in Game 3. Would have been nice to see Pujols, Molina, Wainwright along with Goldy and Arenado in a World Series. Cards will be back and stronger for next season. One of the best organizations in all of baseball.

I'm going with the Tribe over the Pinstripes!

I'll make these moves in MLB The Show! Just watch!

Over the last couple of years with sporting events in general, I've become like that. I love going to live sporting events, especially if I'm travelling and have a chance to visit different ballparks or sporting venues or to see a Toronto team on the road. Though for home games here, I've cut back a lot. I used to go to like 20-25 Blue Jays games per season like in early part of the last decade. As well went to every home Postseason game in 2015 and 2016. Even for the Raptors, as a season ticket holder, I would go to maybe like 10-12 games per season, though now maybe 3 or 4. I have no problem watching a game in the comfort of my own home. Don't need to worry about spending 40 or so minutes packed on public transit, spending money on the tickets + $100 on food/drinks and then 40 minutes or so on public transit back. Don't have to wait in line at the restrooms, wait in line at concessions. I know I'm sounding old now haha. Also, I do like listening to the TV commentary and watching replays, where at the games you don't get that. I've learned my lesson when it comes to Blue Jays and Raptors Playoff tickets. Best to buy them off StubHub on game day for cheaper prices than the box office. Go to a Playoff game that means something like a Game 5 or Game 7 or a series clincher if you could. Like even with today's game, I was dreading just getting downtown and the crowds. This was my only second Jays game this season. As much as it was a great atmosphere and if the Jays managed to have a walk-off in the 9th, the place would have been electric. Though I would have been perfectly fine watching the game at my own home, drinking my own beer, ordering a pizza or cooking some wings in the oven, or watching the game at a place like Earls during Happy Hour (which I did before going down to the game haha). Even with the high cost of everything these days and inflation, need to cut back in certain areas. Going out to a sporting event these days is costly. Money for the tickets, along with money for transit/parking + drinks/food. Even at today's game, I didn't buy a beer at all. Can't justify spending $15 for a Premium beer when I could buy that same beer can at the LCBO for $3 or even get a pint of beer at a bar for $7 or 8. Biggest ripoff ever!

Agree 100%

I even downloaded the Sportsnet app and signed into my Sportsnet Now account to watch the replay of that play at the game and was even saying Bo shouldn't have gone that far and let Springer go for it. Was a complete disaster.

1. agreed: Blue Jays should trade for both Ohtani and Trout. 2. Blue Jays should trade for Liam Hendriks and Devin Williams 3. Trade Bichette and sign Trea Turner 4. Sign Carlos Rodon and sign Verlander. Plus we already have Ohtani with the Angels trade.

But he wasn't haha.

Yeah the question marks are there, agreed. I still would give them another chance in 2023 to see if they come close or return to their 2021 form. Even if Bo and Vlad do what they did this season in 2023, Blue Jays are still a Postseason contender. You just need to patch up other areas on the roster. There could be some drop-off from Manoah, but lets hope that is picked up with Berrios rebounding in 2023. As well, it would be nice if the Blue Jays can sign an arm like Carlos Rodon to this rotation. Would really take this team to the "next level."

Yeah something is fundamentally wrong with this team. Some changes do need to be made this offseason.

Nah they traded for Zach Pop and Anthony Bass at the trade deadline, this bullpen even got better!

My two cents on this season: - this roster was flawed from Day One. The homers on this board who love Ross Atkins/Shaprio and who kissed their ass all season and at the trade deadline need to really give their head a shake. There is something fundamentally wrong with this team. Two years of disappointing results. - Weak bullpen: again we saw how this bullpen had some holes especially in a game like this. No way you blow an 8-1 lead. Mayza and Bass were awful. Garcia and Romano did a solid job. Though if the Jays want to shorten the game, they need an elite pen. And we saw they don't have one to finish a game from the 6th inning with an 8-1 lead. I said this even after the trade deadline. - Weak roster depth: I liked the Merrifield acquisition at the trade deadline but this team since last offseason never focused on building roster depth. We saw them throw away ABs on Tapia and Zimmer most of the season. Please go out and get a solid reliable 4th outfielder during the offseason instead of ignoring that part of your roster. - Trade deadline: while I said the Blue Jays didn't do that bad at the trade deadline and approved the moves they made, they weren't any acquisitions that took this team to the "next level." I hope this team during the offseason decides to focus on other areas of the roster rather than just a starting nine and the front of their rotation. We saw this team lacking in the bullpen and with their roster depth all season long. Most importantly, some serious questions need to be asked about their so called franchise players - Vladdy and Bo. Are they going to be the leaders of this team and take this team to the "next level"? I still give them both another chance in 2023, though if they both don't live up to their expectations again, then you have to shake some things up. The 2023 season is very important. You still have Teo and Chapman under control. Springer and Gausman will be a year older and you hope Berrios rebounds. You still have your main young core under control such as Vladdy, Bo, Kirk, and Manoah. No messing around and being cheap on building a stronger roster. The window is now!