The Cats Ass

Merryweather is still on the 60-day DL. So a 40-man spot would have to be cleared out for him.

Strider

Imagine if they started throwing money around and went after Correa and Trea Turner. Their 2 largest holes are SS and 2B.

The O's are legit, and are gonna be a pain for the next while. They called up the #1 prospect in MLB earlier this year. And they just called up the new #1 prospect. They have the top pitching prospect. They also have 3 other top 100 guys that are MLB ready now/2023 on top of that. They have also shown they're willing to spend when they're competing. They're at the very bottom in spending now, just 5 years ago they were top 10. I think we potentially see them sign a big name this offseason.

30% of our remaining games are against Baltimore. I think these are what will put us in or remove us from the playoffs.

Which one of you is bidding on the Fishing trip with Buck?

This is the best thing that could happen.

Verlander injured just in time for the playoffs.

Guess he was sitting 91-93 last year as well. So this isn't just a 1 year thing.

Wonder if Kloffenstein gets taken in the rule 5 this year.

STFu

From Keith Law. The Blue Jays took juco lefty Ricky Tiedemann with their third-round pick in the 2021 draft, their second selection because they lost their second-round pick for signing George Springer. Tiedemann went undrafted out of high school in 2020, went to Golden West College to try to improve his standing, and fared somewhat better. But it was only after signing that his velocity started to take off, as he would sit in the upper 90s in two-to-three-inning stints with a power slider. Since a mid-July promotion to Double A, Tiedemann has worked in three-inning stints as the Jays try to manage his workload – and, I think, perhaps to help him deal with some fatigue. He threw three quick innings on Friday night at Somerset, but his stuff was down and his command was way off. Tiedemann topped out at 96 mph and was mostly 93-94 mph with a huge, sweepy slider at 78-81 mph that hitters couldn’t touch, as well as an 82-84 mph changeup that’s an above-average pitch when he finishes it properly, although he had several that got away from him. He threw 39 pitches, just 21 for strikes, and the Somerset hitters offered at several of those that weren’t actually near the strike zone. Tiedemann’s delivery is rough for a starter. He starts on the extreme first base side of the rubber, and finishes on that same side of the mound, with a slightly low 3/4 slot that gives him great angle to the slider and makes him very tough for left-handed hitters to pick up, but that all makes it hard for him to locate his fastball to his glove side. He can sweep that slider down and in to righties and get a ton of chases there even from big-league right-handed hitters, but they’ll also be able to creep up on the plate because he’s not going to get the fastball or change to the inner third against them. If Tiedemann’s velocity is down just because it’s been a long season for him, and he’ll get back to 97-plus next year, then this is top-of-the-rotation stuff, with three pitches you could comfortably grade as 55 (above-average) or better. The delivery works against him though, in control and command. His whole package on Friday reminded me a lot of when I saw Andrew Miller as an amateur, another lefty with a slightly lower slot and a wipeout slider that killed left- and right-handed hitters. Miller ended up in relief for a few reasons, but one major one was that he couldn’t land the slider for strikes enough to adjust when better hitters started laying off of it. I’m not consigning Tiedemann to the bullpen in the future, but I would like to see what happens if the Jays moved him more to the center of the rubber so he could utilize the whole strike zone. • Orelvis Martinez set a New Hampshire club record this year with 28 homers, but it has come at a cost – the 20-year-old shortstop has a .277 OBP, and even that is boosted by 10 HBP. He’s a lot like Javy Báez was at that age … or, now, I guess … in that he has no apparent plan at the plate, and several times in the two games I saw it appeared that he’d decided whether to swing before the pitcher even released the ball. He swung at the first pitch three times in four plate appearances on Tuesday, putting it in play twice; and then did so twice in five plate appearances on Friday, along with a 3-0 hack where he grounded out on what I think was ball four. As I write this, he is 0 for 16 in the series against Somerset, with seven strikeouts and one walk, which came on five pitches with four nowhere near the zone. If you’re looking for a positive, though, he was better at shortstop than I expected (in one game, moving to DH in the second), with at least a 60 arm. • Addison Barger was Toronto’s sixth-round pick back in 2018, signing for just $271,000 despite a commitment to the University of Florida, and he’s been one of the Jays’ biggest breakout prospects this year with a .304/.369/.546 line between High A and Double A, including 21 homers. He’s gotten much stronger over the last year-plus, and the power is legit, at least against right-handed pitchers (he has 19 of his homers off right-handed pitchers). He’s not a shortstop, but could probably fill in there as a backup, and is most likely a strong utility infielder with some chance he could develop into a starter at third or second, or at least the heavy side of a platoon at either spot. • Right-hander Adam Kloffenstein was the Jays’ third-round pick in 2018, receiving an over-slot bonus just under $2.5 million. The high school teammate of now-traded first-rounder Jordan Groshans, Kloffenstein has seen his stuff back up so much that at this point I don’t think he’s a prospect even as a reliever. He’s down to 90-91 mph without life or movement on the pitch, and has a fringy slider in the mid-80s, which explains his 6-plus ERA in Double A this year.

Do you have examples? Verlander and Cole, two of the top guys I can think of have pitched poorly against this lineup.

Is this train similar to the town bike where everyone gets to ride it?

No space.

#1 for this offseason for me is Verlander. Give him a blank cheque for 2023. There's no other glaring holes that need to be filled, no one needs to get extended. This leaves financial flexibility heading into next offseason when we'll be losing 2 OFers, and 3B.

That's way easier said than done. Good players don't sign to be depth parts. They usually need to be developed or traded for. And it seems when we trade for good depth guys people cry. (White and Merrifield). Tapia was an above replacement player the previous 2 seasons, this was a worst case scenario season for him, I think he gets non-tendered this offseason.

You're forgetting an ALCS appearance.

That’s what a GG 3B can do for ya.

Who says Cimber isn’t a strikeout pitcher.

I expect the WAR Pigs to continue making the playoffs until the DDL is disbanded.

If I hold onto my playoff spot this will be 7 years in a row. Still looking for a title though.

5-Year Plan?

For you? Maybe Sept 2027.

I'd like to see Kirk standing next to Cruz for a comparison shot.