jaysblue

Do the Jays really have anyone else? lol.

Gotta hope you ride the starters for 7 innings. No babying them. If you can squeeze an extra inning out of them, you probably have to.

As a free agent, he would be 28. If he has another two seasons where he's struggling to crack 100 wRC+ offensively or barely cracking 3 WAR, given his age and physical conditioning, not sure he gets much more than what he just got from the Jays. Glad the Jays didn't have to pay Kirk $20M like some on here suggested that's what it would cost 🤪

I doubt Kirk would have topped the Sean Murphy extension as a free agent, unless he all of a sudden regained his 2022 form with the bat over the next two seasons. The last two seasons he's been a 95 wRC+ bat with under 3 WAR. He needs to return to being a 125-130 wRC+ bat offensively in order to demand way more. If he sticks as just a 95 wRC+ bat and as a 3 WAR player, he's not getting much more than what he got now as a FA.

Yeah it's a win-win for both parties. Kirk gets financial security for him and his family at such a young age and is set up for life. If he suffered a major injury and missed a lot of time this season, he likely gets non-tendered and has to fight for a one-year deal like Jansen got this offseason for something under $10M. He enters the FA market during his age 32-season, so if he proves to be a 3-4 WAR catcher each season during the duration of his contract, he should still land a favourable deal afterwards as well. For the Jays, they are set behind the plate for the next five seasons and that should give them enough time to hopefully develop a young catcher or two in the minors via the draft etc. Signing Kirk to an extension now was the right move since if he rediscovers his 2022 bat, he likely would cost more. If he just stays as a 3 WAR defensive catcher, this contract is still very good. Just got to make sure you have a good backup and that Kirk stays healthy.

AL East: Red Sox AL Central: Twins AL West: Astros NL East: Phillies NL Central: Reds NL West: Dodgers AL Wild Card: Blue Jays, Athletics, Orioles NL Wild Card: D'Backs, Braves, Cubs - AL East is wide open this year given the Yankees and Orioles injuries. Wouldn't even count out the Jays or Rays, though think the Red Sox are in a better position. - AL Central is a tough one: tossup between the Twins, Guardians, Tigers and Royals. Not really sure who to go with, but I like the Twins if healthy. - AL West: will go with the Astros over the Rangers. Athletics I think win enough to grab a WC spot, but won't win the division. NL East: will be a battle between the Braves and Phillies, but will go with the Phillies since they're healthy and a veteran club. Bullpen will be the real test for them. Once Acuna and Strider are back, Braves will be threats. I think the Mets don't make the Postseason. Nationals could be a sleeper team and win 80 + games maybe but not enough to win a WC spot. NL Central: Cubs I suppose are the favourites but gonna go with the Reds. Think Terry Francona manages them to a division title with the talent they have. NL West: Dodgers lol.

Since Opening Day is this Thursday, post some of your picks below for the following: Divisional Winners AL/NL MVP, Cy, ROY, Comeback Player MLB HR Leader, SB leader etc.

The Rockies have to be the worst ran organization in baseball. It's a real shame since Coors Field is awesome to watch a game and one of my favourite ballparks.

Whoever was suggesting $20M AAV for Kirk a couple weeks ago was on something lol. Great signing if Kirk continues to be around a 3 WAR catcher and figured he would sign for something around $11.6 AAV over 5 or 6 years. No way he was topping Sean Murphy's contract extension and that was the benchmark used. If Kirk rediscovers some of his 2022 magic with the bat, he's likely a 4 to 5 WAR catcher, so good they locked him up now at this rate. Runs through 2030, so he'll be 31 by time it expires.

Clement having a monster spring which is great to see! Hopefully he's made some adjustments at the plate and some of that success carries over into the regular season. If he can be like a Brandon Inge at third base, would take that in a heartbeat! Roden deserves to make the MLB roster. Love his OBP skills and would be nice if he turns into a Brandon Nimmo type of player!

We need to use Fantrax for this league. I can't even sign into my Yahoo account. Always have to reset my password FFS and so annoying!

Anyone planning to see the Jays play in Minny this June? Thinking of going down to Target Field for that weekend series. Never been.

Would have Bo - Vladdy and Santander penciled into the No. 2-3-4 spots. The rest of the lineup is in the air. Could see some guys moving up/down based on performance. For leadoff, okay with Wagner against RHP and Springer against LHP. Like Term said, Springer better hit early on. If he isn't being productive, gotta try Roden or Barger.

Yeah for $20 why not. Put myself down on the list.

They've shown some images of what the ballpark would look like. Looks really cool! They likely keep the same jersey colours as the original A's. https://ballparkexperience.athletics.com

Yeah especially when teams like the Dodgers or Yankees come to town. Plus you know they're gonna spend money to bring in top FA's. I might try it for fun and see what they offer later on. If I could get decent two upper level seats for around $5K USD, would consider it. Plus a good excuse to do some weekend trips down to Vegas to watch some baseball haha.

$20 USD to be eligible for Athletics season tickets when they move to Vegas in 2028 haha. Ballpark supposed to hold 33K fans. Think it's a good opportunity.

Exactly. Pretty much deja vu! Agreed 100%.

Yeah the more I think about it, Barnes is more of a No. 2 guy than a franchise type of player. Barrett is just a volume shooter with no defense. Don't want him leading a team as the No. 1 guy. Immanuel Quickley is overpaid for what he offers. As much as I love Gradey Dick, think he would be better as a 6th man and 3-pt shooter off the bench. As a starter, his 14PPG and no contributions with boards/assists won't fly.

Raps should be a playoff team next year if fully healthy. Add some defensive-minded players this offseason and they should be good!

You should have kept him in the LOD

Also, imagine the equivalent if the Jays lost Gausman all year and if Bowden Francis was shut down for 6 weeks. Jays would be in way worse shape. Schmidt is pretty decent. Stroman was nice depth to have haha. Yankees have some decent young arms like Warren, and Beeter as well waiting in the wings. Bullpen wise, Devin Williams is probably the top closer in all of baseball when healthy. Weaver looked really good out of the pen last season and was elite. Cousins is really good. Leiter struck out 86 guys in 50 something innings last season. He's no pushover. Ian Hamilton when healthy can be sneaky good as well. I wouldn't write off the Yankees that easily as BTS is. They're definitely more vulnerable now, but still a contender in the AL East. Makes for the division being more open now which is nice.

Would love to hear your opinions on the Leafs haha.

I still have the Yankees ahead of the Jays this season. It's still a decent rotation and if the bullpen is "super thin" after Williams and Weaver, I wonder what you think of the Blue Jays bullpen after Hoffman and Garcia haha. I wouldn't write off the Yankees just yet. They're more vulnerable now, but still are a contender. Sure the Yankees aren't going to be a powerhouse like the Dodgers, but I'm sure they get lucky with a dead-cat bounce from either Goldy or DJ LeMahieu and one of their young players has a breakout lol.