jaysblue

I agree. Look at some of the Jays top relievers under JPR and AA regimes and even Atkins. Some of these guys were starters in the minors as well. Here are some names off the top of my head. If I forgot anyone, sorry. - Casey Janssen - Brett Cecil - Scott Downs - Jason Frasor - Jordan Romano - Liam Hendriks - Roberto Osuna - Marc Rzepczynski - Brandon League - Joe Biagini It is easier said than done, but most of those arms I listed are from the JPR and AA regimes. Not many successes under Atkins and company. Some of those arms you can develop from within the organization and you can also acquire/target those arms outside of an organization which is what we saw under the JPR and AA regimes. Ideally, would be nice if Pearson and Merryweather turn out to be bullpen successes and elite arms, which helps greatly. Though we're at a point now heading in 2023 where you can't just throw all your eggs in one basket and hope that Pearson is your bullpen saviour and answer. Hope they do a better job at targeting arms outside of their organization and also do a better job with arms within their organization.

Would be nice to see Ryu contribute at some point in 2023 if he came back healthy. Definitely is some nice SP depth to have after the All-Star break.

Tough to find a clean up guy like Harvey Keitel.

Yeah Vladdy needs to do a better job at not hitting the ball on the ground. Needs to elevate the ball more. Shocked Bo is that high to be honest. Hope they resolve this issue for next season.

Kikuchi would have struck him out!

They will find a way to even embarrass themselves more than the Blue Jays.

Clevinger is done IMO. Not the same pitcher he once was which is a shame.

Lmao what?

I just find some posters on here throw around excuses such as "bad luck," "randomness," and "it was a great deal at the time," way too often when someone criticizes this front office. Look, Atkins is a solid GM and has done a solid job during his tenure in Toronto. He's made some fantastic moves over the years such as bringing back JA Happ for the 2016 season, trading Liriano for Teo, buying low on Ray and Semien while also refraining from signing them to monster contracts, signed a top FA in George Springer, signed a top FA starter in Ryu (at the time), traded and extended for Berrios, signing Gausman and trading for Chapman last offseason. The team is coming off two 90 win seasons. They have a solid core in place. They need to add some final pieces to take this team to the next level however. There are some areas he could improve such as filling out the entire roster rather than leaving the bottom part pretty bare thin. We've seen that the past two seasons with the bench and the bullpen. Lastly, like MikeM said, this front office needs to do a better job at developing young arms in their system and targeting arms. Would make it much easier to sustain a stronger rotation and bullpen at the MLB level. So does Atkins deserved to be fired? I don't think so. I do think he's on thin ice for 2023 and if this team disappoints again by either failing to the make the Postseason or make a deep run in October, he's likely gone. Upgrades need to be made on this team, especially in the bullpen and roster depth. For posters saying everything is fine, they need to give their head a shake. If the Jays enter 2023 again with a mediocre pen, an OF like Tapia on the roster and no roster depth, you'll have the same outcome as in 2021 and 2022.

My two picks for upsets are the Guardians and the Phillies. If the Phillies can squeeze out a win in Game 1, they'll have Wheeler and Nola next lined up. Good position.

It's a decent benchmark for sure, but do you think locking up Manoah to that money & years right now is a huge priority or necessary? If Manoah lets say all of a sudden regresses a bit next season, which most likely he will, and posts an ERA closer to 4 with low K numbers and higher BB numbers, or even suffers through a major injury during the duration of that contract. There is a lot of risk. I'm not crazy for giving Manoah an extension at this time anyways. Still have him under control for 4 more years and go from there. Whereas Strider has ace type upside which is why AA locked him up this early. Manoah likely settles in as a No. 2 or 3 starter moving forward.

I kind of feel the Blue Jays got extremely lucky winning the top Wildcard seed. When you consider their thin rotation: imagine if Gausman or Manoah missed significant time? You could have kissed the Postseason goodbye! Imagine if the Jays lost Romano and/or someone like Bass/Garcia/Cimber, this bullpen would be a complete disaster. The Jays actually were lucky none of their main guys got hurt and missed significant time. But since we're talking about "randomness" we've seen injuries happen over a 162 game season. The Jays would have been caught with their pants down. The bullpen was a middle of the pack pen from Day One, not a bullpen that you would feel confident with to make a deep Postseason push. This front office needs to do a better job at addressing these areas during the offseason. Again, given the talented core this team already has in place, upgrading the bullpen should be icing on the cake.

Jim, this team should have won Game 2 leading 8-1 and have played a Game 3 this series. No excuses. I agree the Blue Jays are still a better team on paper than the Mariners, though at the end of the day the Jays didn't get the job done. The way they lost especially was embarrassing. If they won Game 2 and lost a close one in Game 3, sure it's unfortunate and yes you can use the randomness excuse. Also, next time to avoid a short Wildcard series, maybe the Jays should win the division so they wouldn't be in this position. Though I guess they weren't good enough to win the AL East so you should start asking questions why they weren't...

It's not one of the worst pens in the league obviously. Though it wasn't a good enough bullpen to make a deep Postseason push. What is wrong with that criticism? I'm not sure they made the pen "way better" at the deadline. I liked the acquisitions of Pop and Bass as I mentioned numerous times. Did any of them really make an impact or a difference especially in this Wildcard series? I'm not blaming the entire loss from Saturday on the bullpen. It was a combination of many things, mostly Schneider's in-game managing decisions. Though part of that combination was because of their bullpen and Tapia - which we can question the front office on why these areas weren't addressed better in the offseason or at the deadline. Was Tim Mayza really that good this season? 3.98 FIP and 0.1 WAR this season along with only an 8.14 K/9. I think the Jays can definitely find a better lefty this offseason. Anthony Bass was really solid all year and even once he was traded to the Blue Jays. Is he the perfect guy to bridge to Romano in the 9th? Not too sure. Yes he had a bad outing and its just randomness, though you can't always use that excuse. He gave up 3 hits, and I don't recall any of them being weak groundballs or bloopers. The Cards had a 2-0 lead, which is a lot easier to blow than a 8-1 lead, wouldn't you agree? As well, their bullpen got them to the 9th with a 2-0 lead and Helsley blew it. Though also there were reports his finger was still an issue. So comparing the Cards BP blowing their 2-0 lead to the Jays bullpen blowing an 8-1 lead is a weak argument.

Their bullpen was a middle of the pack bullpen. They have solid pieces sure and Romano did an awesome job this season. I know it's only one game, but they couldn't even secure an 8-1 lead from the 6th inning on in the most important game of the season. Upgrades need to be made and they need to target more high K arms. You can't expect to bring back the same bullpen with no additions at all, especially after the bullpen was one of the reasons why they missed the Postseason by one game in 2021 and why they aren't playing baseball tomorrow in Houston!

I'm down for that Jay. Do you want Duran back or not?

This bullpen wasn't good enough for a deep Postseason run. Those are the facts.

Most valuable players this season? Manoah, Gausman, Romano, Kirk Most improved player? Stripling Biggest dissappoint of the season? Berrios How do you rate the front office? Shapiro: A - he has a great vision for this organization and has done an amazing job in improving the baseball experience at the Rogers Centre with the building improvements and renovations over the years. On the business and marketing side of things, I think he's been a genius. You're not going to find a better President and baseball mind leading this organization. Atkins: C - I was impressed by him making some big additions during the offseason such as Gausman and trading for Chapman. Pretty much he replaced Ray and Semien and did even better which was tough to do. So kudos to him for that! However he ignored other parts of the roster such as the bullpen and roster depth, which we saw impact the team this season and was a reason why they couldn't even win on Saturday. It's frustrating because this team does have a solid young core and the window is now. He pretty much wasted 2021 and 2022 in my opinion by cheapening out and not addressing other areas on this roster that needed to be addressed for this team to take the "next level". How do you rate the Coaching Staff? John Schneider: I think Schneider did a fantastic job taking over for Montoyo though his managing decisions in the most critical game of the Jays season were frustrating. I'm sure he'll learn from his mistakes, though I question his decision making in a big game after what we witnessed on Saturday. Whether it was him making the calls or the FO, it was one of the worst managed games I've ever witnessed since watching this team. If there is a more exeperienced manager available than sure, but I'm ok with Schneider working with this team for another year and having a full ST under his belt as the main guy. Pete Walker: I don't really have an issue with him. It wasn't his fault Berrios sucked this season. As well, with Kikuchi, he could only do so much. As for the bullpen, it's not like he could transform all of those arms to 10-12 K/9 guys. I don't think Walker is a Pitching God like he was made out to be, but also don't think he's bad. He deserves to stick around. Martinez: the hitting took a step back this season. I would like to see him work with Guerrero in elevating the ball more rather than hitting the ball into the ground. We never saw Guerrero make any adjustments in the second half and that worries me about Martinez, but I guess one more year won't hurt. GAPS Analysis. What were we missing the most this year? : High K bullpen arms; a solid reliable 4th outfielder who could field and also hit. I know some people hate this but I think this team needs another left-handed bat in the lineup. Rotation depth, though they got by since Gausman and Manoah along with Stripling stayed healthy. Otherwise this team would have been in trouble. Overall team culture: they're still a very young and immature group IMO. I think they have great chemistry, but they talk more with their mouths more than focusing on what they do on the field. Like Vladdy saying "this is my house" or Manoah talking about pressure, or them wearing a damn home run jacket everytime some hits a HR. They need to let their play on the field do the talking. They seem like a bunch of spoiled kids who have no discipline. This team needs a tough manager, someone who tolerates no BS. Having a beta type manager won't work with this group IMO.

I would probably lean towards one of Kirk or Jansen, depending on what they could bring back. Keep Moreno since he'll be under club control for 6 more seasons. I don't think you'll be able to package Moreno with anyone else to bring in an elite arm or player in return.

Brought back Andrew Wiggins.

I will pick

I like Joc Pederson against RHP, though not as an everyday player. You need a solid platoon partner with him or else he'll be exposed playing everyday. If the Blue Jays could find a Reed Johnson type player, they would make a nice platoon in LF/DH.

Gausman didn't fail the Jays in the playoffs, Schneider did.

Yeah it's a good benchmark, though Strider is still a better arm moving forward IMO. Some risks signing Manoah long term. He's been solid but I think you can expect some regression moving forward: 4.17 xFIP in 2021 and 3.98 xFIP in 2022. He's still a solid starter but don't think we'll see him with an ERA in the low 2's again. I don't think he's an ace and I hope the Jays don't pay him like one. Not crazy about locking him up long term right now.

Yeah I doubt the Jays are targeting him and doubt deGrom would come here as well. Carlos Rodon is more likely. Similar to Kevin Gausman last offseason. If you can sign Carlos Rodon to Kevin Gausman type money, definitely think he's worth it!