jaysblue

Got some cold cans of Asahi and Sapporo in the beer fridge! Perfect night to enjoy them!

LeBron would have sold more jerseys and season tickets.

Took LeBron. Never owned him in Fantasy Basketball and figured it would be fun to own him at least once, and the guy still at 40 has produced elite numbers. Otherwise would have taken Paul George, but LeBron is more star power haha. Emailed Fear the Dunk

Thanks! Nice starting the draft at 2:40 AM in the morning haha Will make my pick soon!

Hopefully the Jays promotional team doesn't do a Reese McGuire bobblehead giveaway haha. Yeah understandable. If there is $4 to $5M to play with, Grandal would be a nice get especially if he can put up 2 WAR again. Guys like McGuire or even Stassi or Hedge likely could be had for around a million bucks.

Sure I would bring Jansen back as well if he came back on a cheap one-year deal. Mentioned his name a while ago as well, but questions on if the Jays had enough money seemed to be an issue in the discussion.

Mods.

Grandal is coming off a 2 WAR season in just 72 games and 243 plate appearances, so yes he would. He has experience handling a veteran pitching staff during his days with the Dodgers & Brewers and is also a switch hitter. Sign him to start 40% of the games behind the plate, which helps keep Kirk fresh and in a worst case scenario if Kirk gets injured, at least Grandal can handle an everyday role for an extended period if need be. Signing Grandal to $4 or $5 million would actually be great value and a cheap way at adding extra WAR.

The leader of the Defend Atkins at All Costs Club just entered the chat!

Yeah exactly. I don't think it would be a bad idea to bring in a solid vet for $4 to $5 million if available. Doesn't hurt. A couple of guys likely could be had on cheap one-year deals such as Travis d'Arnaud, Max Stassi, Yasmani Grandal, Austin Barnes, or Austin Hedges.

LOL I ask the same question every time I have to respond to you're awful posts but this one is too juicy not to school you on! I guess by your logic, we can make the case that the Angels signing Pujols and Rendon at the time was alright and they were good deals. Pretty much with any deal, you can make arguments or rationalizations that at the time they were good deals and made sense. At that level of decision making, there is an arguable legit rationale for making those deals before they happen. But at the end of the day it's a business and you're judged on the results of your investments, especially over a decade sample size. Every GM or President does get some mulligans when it comes to injuries and or bad luck, as they should. No GM or President bats .1000 on anything. You're very generous when it comes to Atkins and this front office which is clearly evident, though when it comes to other teams making bad decisions, not so much. Overall, results matter at the end of the day. The people at the top are responsible for the on-field product. By your logic, results don't matter in any profession I suppose, as long as there was rationale for the decision at the time, which is absurd. If that's the way the business world operated, geez we'd be in trouble!

National League games on today, with the AL teams getting an off-day. Hope the Padres could tie it up!

Some teams as of now that could be in on Vladdy next offseason as a FA or possibly trade for him this offseason: Astros Dodgers Yankees Red Sox Mets Padres Cardinals Mariners Angels Nationals Tigers Astros need a 1B badly after running with Singleton + crap for most of the season. Vladdy would fit in fantastic with Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker as a dynamic young offensive core for the next decade. As well if the Astros don't bring back Bregman, Vladdy could also get some reps at 3B if needed. The Astros are in win-now mode and also Texas has lower taxes, which could entice Vladdy. Yankees have the money and need a 1B after Rizzo leaves via FA. If they re-sign Soto, they could open up the cheque book for Vladdy next offseason. Would lock up two of the best young bats in the game, to go along with Aaron Judge. That would be one of the scariest middle-of-the-orders in baseball. Dodgers have the money, so can never count them out. Freeman is getting older and is under control only through 2027. As well, the Dodgers do like to move guys around the diamond rather than having some guys set at one position, so Vladdy might be someone they can offer playing time at 3B, since they have a club option on Muncy after 2025, at $10 million, which they likely pick up anyways which is pocket change for them. Dodgers would have to get creative by trading Freeman at some point, since Ohtani occupies the DH spot currently, but if he moves to a corner OF spot, they could make it work with all 3 guys. Would never count out the Red Sox or Mets, since they have money and also are in need of a big bat. Padres have shown a willingness to spend big and they could us another big bat at 1B. Pairing up Vladdy with Tatis and Merrill would be a solid young core. Cardinals, Mariners and Angels are less likely but they have spent money before on big contracts. Mariners need a big bat badly and pairing Vladdy with J-Rod would actually solidly their middle-of-the-order for the next decade. Vladdy Sr played for the Angels, so maybe something is there. As for the Nationals & Tigers, depends on which direction they plan on taking. The Nationals are rumoured to be in on Soto this upcoming offseason, so that shows they are willing to spend money. The Nats are getting better and on the rise, so signing a bat like Vladdy to big money could benefit them. As well, there is always the Expos connection which maybe might play some kind of role, but doubt it. The Tigers, could be positioned to spend big on someone and Vladdy would be the most logical given his age and their timeline.

Phillies top of the order up. Too bad they couldn't keep the score 3-1 but oh well.

In Seinfeld they did haha.

At the time, looked good for optics showing that the Jays were willing to spend money on big FA's and to win. Same with the Hyun Jin Ryu signing the previous offseason. In terms of results, Springer was only great for his first two seasons here. Only got into 78 games in 2021 however. They did sign him as a 31-year-old so yeah there was obvious risk and given his injury history, likely was unable to hold up or play at an elite level through the entirety of his contract. Right now it looks like he's just a sub 2 WAR and 100 wRC+ guy making $25M. Gotta hope for a dead cat bounce from him. Teams like the Yankees or Dodgers or Red Sox or Mets could end up absorbing those types of contracts when they don't work out. Not so much for the Blue Jays. They have to be smart with their money. So yeah not the best signing by Atkins and it's looking like a mistake. Don't understand why that is so controversial. Let's talk about another Ross Atkins big signing: Kevin Gausman. He's been fantastic and even despite some regression this season, he still put up a 3 WAR season and made his 31 starts. Hopefully Gausman returns to his elite form in 2025 but even if he doesn't, he still likely provides 2.5 to 3 WAR over the next year or two. Overall, the end results have been really positive with Gausman. Green is a decent BP arm, but he's not worth $10.5M. So yes it's hindering the Jays from being able to spend money on other upgrades. If Green was making $4-5M, I wouldn't be too bothered by it. But if he's making $10.5M, you better be getting more than 0.0 WAR over 53 innings of work from him! Berrios at $18.7M AAV through 2028. Some huge red flags with him this season. You gotta hope Berrios returns to this 2023 form moving forward. Also, Bassitt at $21M for next season at age 36. As long as he eats his innings and provides a 2.5 to 3 WAR season again. Overall that's around $75M of payroll spent on all those 4 players alone (Springer, Green, Berrios, Bassitt) and you only got a combined 4.4 fWAR. At the end of the day, this is an aging/expensive team with no farm system that needs to address a lot of issues this offseason in hopes of being contenders in 2025. So yes, when they only have around $50M or so in payroll to spend on FA's, why is that? Who is responsible?

Was at that game. Those 2015 and 2016 teams were really fun to watch and definitely both came close to reaching the World Series. AA put together a solid core of bats and made some big moves ahead of the 2015 deadline, and Atkins did a solid job replacing David Price and some other key FA's to keep that window open in 2016.

As long as Soto puts up 6 to 8 WAR seasons from now until 2034 and doesn't all of a sudden drop to being a sub 2 WAR and 100wRC+ in his third season like Springer did, don't think you will hear me complaining.

A's will make the Postseason in 2025. I actually like them as a sleeper. Hope they can make a couple under the radar FA signings.

It would be cool to see Judge/Soto versus Ohtani/Betts/Freeman or Harper/Turner/Schwarber in the World Series.

Yeah from an entertainment standpoint, seeing the Yankees versus either the Dodgers or the Phillies in the World Series would be fun!

Braves still have Kelenic under club control until 2029 and it's not like he's costing $25M over 6 years as Springer is. He's only 25-years-old still and has shown flashes of his potential over short periods. Struggled in 2024, but he's still not a complete write off at his age. But yeah according to you a 28-year-old Varsho with a career 96 wRC+ still has room for more offensive potential. Maybe the Blue Jays make the Postseason if they had more funds available rather than wasting $25M on that stinker Springer contract and others. Would be a shame if they don't have any room in the payroll to add everything they need this offseason, because contracts like Springer and Green are hindering them from making those moves!

My picks: Tigers Royals Padres Phillies

Can't have a discussion with you period when it comes to Atkins and this front office. Yes you do have to judge a GM's moves on the results at the end of the day. That comes with any job. If a CEO of a Fortune 500 company blows billions of dollars on a bad decision, they made a mistake and are judged on it. They are held responsible. Did Kelenic really cost a lot for the Braves? Sure even myself at the time thought he was worth the risk/gamble and hasn't paid off. But it's not like AA traded a top 5 prospect or is paying him $25M AAV. Big difference. You keep giving Atkins a free pass on everything he does it seems. Like it's alright to admit that the Springer deal has been a mistake and has not worked out, which it hasn't. Like literally, people are concerned about how much the Blue Jays have to spend this offseason on roster upgrades and a reason why there isn't much wiggle room is because of contracts like Springer, Bassitt, Green, and Berrios, which total over $75M. At the end of the day, who is responsible for that?

Should be a fun series!