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As much as I would love a healthy deGrom, he likely would never sign here in Toronto and I wouldn't want to hand him a monster contract given his health record.

In terms of WAR, there are 45 other relievers who have a higher WAR than Romano. He's been a solid closer and has done a decent job in the role thus far, though what other options did the Blue Jays really have? Roberto Osuna > Jordan Romano.

It's only been a week so still way too early to declare winners though okay! Yankees look very vulnerable right now and don't think they are locks for the World Series as they looked a month ago. Definitely have a lot of issues. I like the Blue Jays roster when healthy better in a short series than the Yankees.

Yes once fully healthy with Springer, they have positional depth with Merrifield, Biggio, Espinal (one of them starting at 2B), Tapia (-0.2 WAR), Collins, Zimmer (-0.3 WAR). Tapia and Zimmer have both been negative WAR players and playing them over a long period on a consistent basis hurts the team more than helps, though yes as much I would love an upgrade, you can live with them as a 4th or 5th outfielder when everyone is healthy. Zimmer actually posted a 1.4 WAR last season, so when utilized right he's valuable. The Merrifield trade definitely helped with roster depth since he can play CF when Springer is DHing or out of the lineup with Biggio/Espinal playing 2B, or Merrifield plays 2B on a more regular basis. Back in May when the Jays were missing Lourdes and Teo, Jansen, Springer on and off as well, Biggio was in the minors still figuring stuff out, that is when you really saw the Blue Jays depth tested. Most posters on here were having panic attacks. Kind of funny how now most have forgot that now since the Jays lineup is pretty much at 100% (outside of Springer). Though I'm sure if the lineup suffers an injury or two where someone is out for two-three weeks, people will be crying and wishing the Jays had more roster depth. Additionally, we've already seen the rotation losing Ryu and now Stripling, the rotation is quite thin if they lose another arm especially someone like Gausman or Manoah. If they lose one of their top arms for 3 or 4 starts or longer, that will be tough to overcome. As for the bullpen, I applauded the Bass and Pop trade and said both arms are upgrades to the pen. All I was saying is that during the offseason it felt like the Blue Jays FO somewhat neglected the BP and roster depth and during the offseason that's when its best bringing those guys in whether on MLB deals, or even minor league deals. Whereas at the trade deadline, you're always paying a premium. The Jays don't have a strong bullpen like they did in 2015, so I'm a bit skeptical of this bullpen pitching 3 or 4 innings in a close game against a top team, especially on the road. Though regardless, it's still decent and Atkins made solid upgrades with Bass and Pop like I said. The Blue Jays have probably their best core in place since the 1992/1993 World Series since most guys are still young, in their prime or just entering their prime and under club control still for the next couple of years. I don't think you or me or other posters want to see the Blue Jays miss the Postseason again this year by only one game. I definitely think this roster can succeed in the Postseason, though it's just a matter of getting there. If this club is healthy and there is no significant losses in the rotation or lineup, they should easily get there.

Where did I say the Blue Jays should trade Moreno and Tiedemann for BP arms? I said the Blue Jays FO should have done a better job in the offseason addressing the bullpen and roster depth so they wouldn't have been in this position. It seems like they ignored both and instead focused on the starting 9 and rotation. It's easiest adding to the bullpen and roster depth during the offseason. Not sure why they couldn't add to those areas of the roster as well during the offseason.

Watched the Mets/Braves after the Jays game was finished. deGrom was dealing. If he could just stay healthy, he's the best arm in baseball IMO.

It's okay. If he did that in his debut with the Blue Jays, fans would give him a free pass.

Just the other day, weren't some posters on here saying the Padres team was such a fun team to watch? Haha

It wouldn't be justified. A team with this young core and talent shouldn't be missing the Postseason by one or two games. It's unacceptable. The Blue Jays are never going to have a core with bats like Vladdy, Bo, Teo, Lourdes, Springer, Chapman, Kirk, and Jansen or a top rotation with Gausman, Berrios and Manoah every season for the next decade. Windows in baseball aren't open long. Players get injured, leave via free agency or trade, regress, and start becoming too expensive via arbitration or free agency. The Blue Jays have a two-three window for winning a World Series with this current core, lets be realistic. You want to win a World Series with Vlad, Bo, and Manoah when they're under club control and not costing the club huge dollars. Once they start costing the Jays huge dollars after 2024 or 2025, will be difficult to address other areas on the roster. I don't think most posters wanted Atkins to pillage the farm this trade deadline. We wanted him to make the roster upgrades that helped the Jays make the postseason. Like Terminator said, if the Jays suffer an injury to Gausman or Manoah, they'll have a huge uphill battle the rest of the way. The Blue Jays should not be missing the Postseason two seasons in a row with this core, especially with an extra team making it in this season. Every game counts and the Jays can't be throwing away games because they're starting a pitcher like Thomas Hatch for three or four games down the stretch.

Yeah my issue with the Blue Jays front office is the inability to improve the bullpen during the offseason after experiencing what they did in 2021 like you said. Even still, they waited right until the trade deadline to acquire Anthony Bass and Zach Pop. Any upgrades to the BP would have been nice in June if they were available. The team IMO hasn't really focused on bullpen depth and roster depth at all. It's like they completely avoided it which during a 162 game season can come back and bite you hard if injuries pop up. Outside of the starting 9 in the lineup and the top 4 or 5 in the rotation, the rest of this roster is extremely thin.

I think majority of the population has had COVID already by now, including myself last spring. Two days of body aches/fever along with a head cold which lingered a couple of days after. I don't feel any "long COVID side effects" at all. Too be honest, I've had worse before. Keep your immune system strong, eat healthy, make sure you take Vitamin D, C and Zinc consistently, drink some scotch haha, and most people will be fine. Any new variant that comes out will continue to be weaker and weaker, which happens with any virus. The first strain that came out in 2020 was very strong and had a toll even on healthy people, but we're way past that now. Yes the virus effects everyone differently as with any other virus or illness. But we can't stop living our lives and have lockdowns every winter. Blue Jays games are full of fans now, with no masks. People are out dining at restaurants, music festivals, concerts, travelling. This is all pretty much over now. Who cares who is vaccinated or not, it doesn't make a difference! Time to move forward and live life. That's all I will speak on the subject because I'm done with it! Let enjoy the last two months of the season of Blue Jays baseball and make some noise in the Postseason! Cheers!

Nah, because Jim and Dinger are stubborn. Obviously yes age related decline with Didi is definitely a reason for the significant drop-off. Also, doubt Scion came on here to spread fake news. He was just saying what Didi has gone through these last two years. His drop-off obviously isn't all because of the vax injury but I'm sure it did effect his athletic ability somewhat. Same with some other athletes as well. Another example, look at Jeremy Chardy, the French tennis player. For Dinger and Jim to completely dismiss that is ignorant. Medical treatments, medicines, and vaccines aren't one size fits all. Anyone with brains would know that and know that certain people react to medicines differently than others. For example, I try a prescription for a week or two and its not producing results. Doctor prescribes me another prescription for the same condition and I'm seeing better results. Not rocket science.

You do know that medicines, vaccines and medical treatments aren't one size fits all. Anyone with brains would know that.

Derek Dietrich is still around? Wow!

Yeah some athletes have got caught. It's not a majority of athletes in every professional league, though there are definitely some who have fake vaccine cards.

I know an ex-MLB player who said there were some players who actually never got it, though have the papers. In the US and other countries, certain states don't use or require anything to be uploaded to apps like here in Canada. So it's a lot easier down south and in other countries than Canada. As well, I know someone in media who told me some Blue Jays players were hesitant and didn't want to get it though they eventually got their shots before the season started. As for other sports, there were news stories about some NFL players who got caught using fake cards at the beginning so they wouldn't forfeit salaries, go for extra testing etc. I'm sure there were athletes from other sports as well. Not saying every athlete did, though I'm sure there are several athletes across many different professional sports who never actually got the shots. Athletes have the money as well to access that type of service.

A several number of athletes did, from what I've heard haha.

Edwin was as well.

Can I trade my team for his?

The guy really needs to cool it and keep personal views to himself. I can't believe he was still obsessed with all the vaccine stuff.

Drury always had breakout potential IMO. He showed some glimpses with the D'backs in 2016 and 2017. He sucked with the Yankees in 2018 and then was traded to the Blue Jays. Never got settled here in Toronto. A lot of guys don't put it all together until 29 or 30. Look at guys like Bautista, Nelson Cruz, etc. Not comparing Drury to any of those guys, but he can be a guy who hits 25-30 HR's every season. He definitely will get a nice payday in the offseason.

It's just a joke geez. Lighten up Jim.

https://www.islandernews.com/lifestyle/homes/almost-330-000-people-have-moved-to-florida-during-the-past-year-migration-is-expected/article_78860b40-aa7d-11eb-957d-1f0232e9d6d0.html https://www.narcity.com/so-many-people-moved-to-florida-from-these-two-popular-us-states-heres-why Amazing weather pretty much year round (May-September it's a scorcher though), very cool and vibrant cities, towns and places, beautiful coastlines, Spring Training, no state income tax, lower cost of living in comparison to other states. What's not to love? Just need to bulldoze the Trop and build a new beautiful ballpark haha.

Traffic is a "goddamn nightmare" in Toronto and every heavily populated area pretty much haha. The 401 is actually ranked as one of the worst highways in terms of congestion in North America. That bottleneck from 427 to the 400 is the worst supposedly.

That was good haha! We need laughter sometimes!