jaysblue

Ideally if money was no issue. Not sure the Jays could sign both Bregman and one of Teo/Santander etc. If they could, this team definitely becomes a serious contender.

Ugh these kind of posts are so cringe!

Projections aren't the be-all and end-all. Injuries do happen and other things. Kind of a little too optimistic on Kirk IMO at 4 WAR. The rest seem fine. Vladdy can possibly give the Jays 5-6 WAR. Bo can likely give us 3-4 WAR if he's back in form. Gimenez is likely around 3 WAR. If Springer can give us 2 WAR, would take it. For the rotation, let's hope we can squeeze out a bit more WAR from guys like Gausman, Berrios and Francis. Need a LF bat like Teo or Santander. As well, would be nice to add a DH like Pederson on top of that. Would roll the dice on Moncada at 3B if he came on a cheap one-year deal.

And the Jays rostered Justin Turner for half a season as well. Geez, no wonder why this lineup was so awful at scoring runs.

Oh calm down!

That's a shame. And ironic the market and Rideau Centre is right next to the Parliament buildings lol. You would think the area would be a bit better and not overrun with those type of people. If I had to live in the area, would either choose Gatineau (surrounding areas outside of downtown are nice) or Carleton Place.

I'm probably going to get tarred and feathered for saying this, but can't you say the same thing about the Jays wasting prime years of Vladdy/Bo/Gausman etc. over the last couple of years? I agree though the Orioles should be adding some elite arms to their rotation. They need more to go with Grayson, Kramer, and Eflin. Another #1-2 starter would definitely help them take that next step. Gonna be tough to replace Burnes unless they spend money.

When I was in Ottawa two years ago, two homeless people got into a fight at the CF Rideau Centre. Punches were thrown and cops had to come. Even outside the mall and around Byward Market, some homeless and drug addicts around. My dad went to Ottawa this summer and he even noticed that downtown Ottawa was pretty bad and he was shocked.

My team started off really strong and then has sucked over the last couple of weeks. Since Dick went on the IL, that is when the downturn started to happen and even with him returning, this group is not playing as hard as they were. I emphasize hard. That is the ingredient to success!

This front office sometimes needs to take risks and be open minded like they were back in 2020/2021, when they traded for Ray and signed Semien.

Luzardo is coming off an injury plagued season and even before never really has reached his full potential. He only has two years remaining and is arbitration eligible meaning he's going to get more expensive for the Marlins. He's also 27 already, with a bit of a spotty health record to date, so doubt he's part of the Marlins long term plans. I don't think he'll cost that much via trade as other arms would since its the Marlins. Would be a nice high upside arm to roll the dice on. I like Manaea but do you really want to give him a contract upwards of $75M over the next three years? Looks like his ceiling is just 3 WAR at most. Luzardo offers way more upside.

Put $100 on the Bills! Bills beat the best team in both the AFC and NFC this season! They're for real!

Luzardo would be a nice target for the rotation. Has #1-2 starter upside when healthy and is a southpaw. Still under club control for two more seasons and likely shouldn't be expensive via arbitration. Rather than signing Burnes to a massive contract or giving a second tier arm like Manaea 3 years at $75M like other arms in that group have got this offseason. Plus, doubt Luzardo would cost that much via trade. Gausman Berrios Luzardo Bassitt Francis Looks good!

Bills or Lions today?

Most of my team is on the IL now and LeBron James decided all of a sudden to disappear for no reason which leads me to believe he's on the Diddy list. Things aren't looking too good for the Tune Squad right now.

Nashville is one of the coolest cities in the States. If I had to live anywhere, would either be Nashville or Tampa.

Yeah I like Fried and all, but not sure he was an upgrade worth $218M more than Cortes.

Forgot about Jos Musgrove. But yeah AA definitely was smart and took advantage of the loopholes. He was one step ahead of other GMs/Front Offices in the games. We kind of need Atkins and this front office to be the same way in some different areas when it comes to player assessment and evaluation. Maybe we see it with them targeting high WAR defensive minded players like Varsho and Gimenez who seem to be undervalued and won't ever become crazy expensive in comparison to other players. First round draft picks can be a crapshoot and the success rate isn't as high as let's say in the NBA. We've known that in baseball for sometime. One thing AA did was draft/acquire high end talent which was sought after by the other 29 clubs, and therefore used a lot of those prospects as assets in trades to acquire elite players. He also was very limited when it came to spending in free agency, since Paul Beeston had the 5 year max rule for contracts. So AA had to be creative on the trade market since they couldn't spend a lot of money and years on free agents. Some trades were meh but some turned out to be really good. Regardless, yeah the draft picks under AA all didn't turn into studs. There were a lot of misses, so yes he wasn't a super genius or awesome in that department. Will give him kudos for exposing a loophole which allowed the Jays to restock their farm system quicker and also by using those assets in traded for MLB players. But still doesn't mean we should give Atkins and this front office a free pass when it comes to drafting and player development. They came in promoting how they would be that type of organization which focused on that area and have done a satisfactory job to this point.

Downtown Toronto wasn't as nice as it was 10 to 15 years ago. Definitely a lot has changed. Tent cities pretty much have popped up everywhere, lots of homeless and schizophrenics around especially on Yonge Street. You have guys shooting up in the streets as well sometimes in public which is awful. It's kind of depressing and feels like a Gotham City. Traffic is awful, so don't even bother driving. Always take the TTC, GO or UP. Even still, the TTC can be a hellhole or break down anytime so be careful. Restaurants/bars are overpriced downtown and aren't anything special. A lot better places for nightlife outside of the downtown core which are safer and less expensive. I only go downtown when a Raptors game is on or Jays game.

I get the feeling Barnes is going to be an injury prone guy for most of his career. The guy seems to get freak injuries all the time and misses a good chunk of time. Even that play earlier last week against the Knicks, there was no need for him to be that aggressive jumping trying to block Karl Anthony Towns from behind. Like need to tone down the aggressiveness in some circumstances especially plays where you can easily hurt yourself.

Yeah I hope the Jays would explore that possibility. If Atkins knows Vladdy is going to go to free agency and not sign a contract extension, have to explore that option. His value isn't going to be any higher like you said, with Soto just coming off the board.

The JPR regime was pretty awful at drafting/developing players. Off the top of my head, Adam Lind/Aaron Hill/Shaun Marcum/Ricky Romero were probably the best to come out of his draft picks. As for AA, he did build up the farm system very well during his time here and used those prospects as assets in trades. Did all of them turn into superstars? Not really other than Syndergaard for a couple of years with the Mets before he got injured. Matt Boyd, Jeff Hoffman, Travis d'Arnaud turned out to be alright down the road. For the Jays who they kept, arms like Stroman, Sanchez, and Osuna turned out to be really good. Devon Travis was a very nice trade - too bad he never managed to stay healthy. AA did sign Vladdy as an International FA and well he's the superstar of this team now, so that's gotta mean something. But yeah he wasn't turning out superstars or elite guys with every pick/prospect if that's the point you're trying to make. Wouldn't say the AA regime was awful at drafting/developing players.

Has it really got that bad? Last time I was there was in 2015.

Just upgrade the damn roster however possible. Screw the babel about "payroll can increase for a unique player" and then start listing all the second tier guys as "unique" after the first tier guys are off the board lol.