jaysblue

Haha but Joe Carter is a Blue Jays legend! Alomar or Bautista's bat flip would be great as well.

Miss seeing ECJF post on this board. Would be nice to see Gibbers return as well!

Coming out of the pen to "Bullet with a Name" by Nonpoint blasting on the Rogers Centre speakers! Accardo did a very formidable job taking over the closers role in 2007 when BJ Ryan went down for the entire year! Sucks Accardo the following seasons was awful.

Hector is trolling Jays fans.

Yeah exactly. If they were willing to stretch the payroll for someone like Ohtani or Soto, they shouldn't be worried about spending a bit more, even if it means going over the tax threshold for one season.

Don't forget Rich Hill.

Yeah given the payroll constraints, I think they can target a cheap starter instead. Someone like Turnbull or maybe Michael Lorenzen, who could flip between the rotation and BP if need be. Adding an extra arm for depth and allows the Jays to push Y-Rod to the BP. Can fill two needs with one move.

This team as it stands now is likely a 78-80 win team. Like you said, can't just add Anthony Santander. If they go out and spend the $80 or so million to sign Tony, need other moves to compliment that signing and get the team to around 85-86 wins. Not sure they do that and/or have the payroll to do all that.

More like Martin Perez or Jose Quintana.

Newcomer of the Year: Jays24 Most Valuable Poster: BTS Humorist of the Year: Terminator Most Insightful Poster: BigCecil Ross Atkins’ Biggest Fan: Brownie19 Best Foreign Poster: Angrioter Thread of the Year: Countdown to ST and Around Baseball Drama Queen Award: Stang Ross Atkins’ Biggest Hater: Masterbather Infrequent Poster of the Year: Chappy Best Moderator: BTS Who do you think is the oldest poster award: TheHurl

Yeah that's the reality. We've gone from Ohtani, to Soto, to Teo, to Burnes to now signing someone like Austin Hays and Jose Quintana. Still a lot of holes for this team to fill before spring training. If Vladdy and Bo give you a combined 10 WAR, they likely are in it for majority of the year, but that still won't be enough. We'll see.

I mean, Laika is mentioning some way worse names that are going to cost pretty much the same and who have lower upside. Kepler has had success at the MLB level and would have been a nice bounce back candidate. All I was saying is a team like the Phillies could patch up their roster with these type of guys because they have a strong core already in place. The Jays aren't in that position.

Yeah that's what they seem intent on doing. I don't agree with it, but whatever. I think if you keep Vlad and Bo around, you have to make some bold moves. I think you get more for Vlad right now than you do at the trade deadline. Forgot about Flaherty, and agreed he would be a nice signing if you can get him on a 5-6 year deal. Would be a nice arm to have around for the re-tool/rebuild post-2025.

You're a complete tool! What did I just say about Atkins that is ridiculous? Sure you might disagree with me on some things, and that's fine. But at least stop being an arrogant prick like you are when someone criticizes this front office!

Can start using this thread for Around Baseball discussion at midnight!

Opening Day is the real New Year and so much better!

Yeah 100%. The list of quality FA's keeps getting smaller and smaller. Only a few left like Santander, Bregman, Pivetta, Profar and some elite relievers still remain available. The rest have question marks. Nothing wrong with that, but you can't fill every hole on the roster with players who are question marks and expect to contend in the AL East. Maybe one or two spots, but even still that requires having a strong core in place. Like for example, the Phillies were able to roll the dice on Kepler in the outfield since they already have a strong lineup. Roll the dice to see if he bounces back. If he does, great value signing. If not, it's not the end of the world. They don't have to sign Santander to a $100M deal. When I suggested Kepler earlier as an option this offseason if the Jays needed to save some money, others told me that was awful and even said players like Kepler or Pederson are moves you make in January lol. Even those options are dwindling since the Jays have been just sitting idle. Laika's solution is pretty much fill every position with a veteran stopgap on a 1-year deal and hope you get lucky. While I agree with that to an extent given the Jays situation, then you need to explore options of trading Vladdy and Bo. Keeping them around is a waste since you're just keeping the status quo. If you keep Vlad and Bo for a run in 2025, you have to go all-in signing top players rather than signing cheap scrubs. That window has likely passed, unless the Jays go big and sign Bregman/Santander and or Pivetta, which is highly unlikely,

League should be on Fantrax. Would make things easier. I even hate the Yahoo interface and roster page. Looks so damn confusing.

Welcome to the new board Brownie! Hope we can put aside our differences in 2025! I agree with you that Atkins doesn't stand out in the category of the "very best" or the "very worst." He's been a decent GM and has done a lot of good things, especially in his earlier years. His magic has worn off the last 2-3 years though and with a very poor farm system, high payroll, a simple-minded approach when it comes to building a roster and the uncertainty him and Shapiro have created with this organization moving forward, his time likely has expired. There have been a lot of missed opportunities as well during his tenure, but we'll have to agree to disagree on those.

Jesse Litsch was a cool guy. Easy to root for and had solid years in 2007 and 2008 on the mound. When I was in Philly for the Jays/Phillies home series in 2010, stayed at the same hotel as the Jays. At the bar after the Friday night game, Litsch was at the hotel bar and actually came to talk with us for like 10-15 mins. He was saying how he was good buddies with Ryan Howard and saying you should see house haha. But otherwise, great with fans and likeable guy!

Should put up Joe Carter's 93 walk-off HR trot as a replacement!

Grant won't be happy haha

Looks great Brock! Awesome work!

Woah awesome!