Solaxys

Its unfortunate that in no universe do I see Arte giving up Ohtani. He'd literally be perfect to what we need atm. I don't see the Angels extending him (since Arte is definitely anti-luxury tax) but they'll give him a QO, he'll turn it down, and they'll take the draft compensation. Despite Angels' farm being one of the worst, Arte is going to milk Ohtani's star power to fill the seats than improve the farm system. Ohtani will also be 31 in 2024 for his FA, so is he going to command the 40-45M AAV that he expects based on last year considering age/health?

That's fair re-Teo's offense. Both their K-rates stick out like a sore thumb - 26.7% over those last 100 PAs and 25.2% for Bo. Both of them defensively as well, shrugs. Teo might still be favoring the oblique for the on-field plays or scared of injuring it again. We don't need a DH bat now but we will for postseason, which is what I meant to say there. Your posteason line up is 1B - Vlad, 2B - Biggio/Espinal, SS - Bo, 3B - Chapman, C - Kirk, OF - Springer, Gurriel, Teoscar. That leaves your DH spot to be Espinal/Biggio (whoever's not on 2B), Zimmer, Moreno/Jansen, Tapia, Lopez/Collins. The DH bat is the lowest priority anyway 'cause you can just as well run Moreno as C (if he continues to look good) and Kirk at DH or Jansen/Kirk if Moreno is traded.

Think 'selling' is the wrong word but, more appropriately phrased, should we relinquish the farm to make a deep playoff run this year or retool? The latter involves making trades like Jansen to the Astros for their best pitching prospect who is almost MLB-ready as a reliever, possibly a starter, rather than trading Groshans/Martinez/Moreno. --- We have some glaring holes even if we do make playoffs, and they are getting exposed every single time we face a possible postseason candidate (we have a winning record on Astros & Sox, but we haven't faced their resurgence yet and Astros are now projected to have the highest odds to win it all this season). 93% to make the WC berth and then eh, depending on a crapshoot to win a postseason series is a very aggravating way to go through your season. The most egregious of it is pitching (as a whole) as we only have two starters who have had success (we'll see if Gausman can have two strong back-to-back starts tomorrow) - Berrios/Kikuchi both have negative WAR. Stripling can be a starter but as seen against Yankees, he could at best go 3-4 innings defaulting to a bullpen - the veterans in the BP can't be trusted to not give up a run or get BABIP'd in case of Cimber/Phelps (even Mayza is unravelling). In the postseason, moving Berrios (in his current form) and Kikuchi to the bullpen does not inspire confidence. In other words, a combined bullpen game that the Rays can pull off is just not feasible with our current roster. Don't get me wrong - Castillo & Gage look promising, but this is their rookie year so we don't have much data on how they will fare across a season, what adjustments will teams make and in response, are adjustments available for these two to make. We also have significant inconsistency from Bo & Teo (300 PAs), both defensively and offensively (2 and 5 hitters). In fact, if Kirk has not become the player he has offensively, we'd have just Vladdy to feel ecstatic about and, perhaps with tempered optimism, Biggio & Gurriel. Our DH options involve Moreno (a rookie), Tapia or Zimmer - assuming the projected postseason roster is in play. I hate the way we use our DH spot (even though it makes sense) because it severely limits Moreno's playing time and his ability to grow/learn major league pitching. In effect, we need 1. A Bonafide postseason starting pitcher (unless Berrios finds consistency in the next 4 - though two of those starts are against As and Royals, so he has to show up for the Rays and Mariners games) 2. Two swing/miss relievers (at least one of whom is as close to elite as you can get) 3. A LH DH Bat And even then, you need Bo/Teo to start having competitive ABs (Teo has been having better ABs but he also started chasing that off-plate slider again) with their defense not being a liability, Chapman's offense to regress to the mean (he's still en route to be a 3 WAR guy as is), and no injuries whatsoever in the OF because our bench in that department (again) is Tapia/Zimmer. --- As for the discussion regarding FO, I have mixed feelings. I think Atkins wanted a much more competitive front-line and was willing to sign Verlander, Ray (but his vaccination status probably put a halt on this), and JRam. I think given all the restrictions he has had in front of him, he still managed to get Chapman and Gausman (and not leave those positions unanswered). He possibly had to take a gamble on Kikuchi (who he might've only been able to sign with a 3-yr contract else Kikuchi would've signed somewhere else) because that was the only 'starter' remaining on the market who was willing to come to Toronto. Pete Walker obviously signed off on the pet project that is Kikuchi - projecting that he can tweak something to make him another Ray. You just don't know what the realistic backend of building the roster was like and can't really sign off saying "oh they were just reckless or didn't care". Like, there is no way you can say Berrios being bad is on Atkins considering the history Berrios has had since his time in majors. Bullpen is another matter but I wasn't paying attention to what amazing bullpen arms were available in the offseason - any one that we could've realistically signed? That said, the pitching scouting/development needs some work (whether its already in motion and is taking time - you see the development in Hernandez, Tiedemann; or simply needs a revamp). Look at LAD, lots of starting pitching injuries - yet managed to find Anderson and turn him into a bonafide ace-esque pitcher. Yankees found Taillon, Holmes etc. We are dishing heavy money/prospect-player capital for average pitching while most of the high-end competitive clubs are finding relatively cheap assets and turning them into all-stars. /essay done

The red-hot Red Sox are coming - they are about to sweep the Guardians, and the way this has been playing out, its not going to be a fun time.

At what point do you not commit to making a deep playoff run though? As in, get into playoffs and then let Jesus take the wheel (like Braves/Nationals/w.e) rather than do everything in your power to win the WS? The way its been going, I feel we're still ways off and just need to slow the f*** down instead of burning the farm.

Gage & Castillo have been a revelation with all the s*** show this pitching has been elsewhere.

Ait. I am done. Got better things to do this afternoon than watch this guy give Brewers BP.

I think its just best to watch highlights whenever Kikuchi/Berrios start

sigh lol

Actually unreal lol. Looking like another Kikuchi outing.

Coin flip Berrios not going our way.

Chapman having some excellent contact of late.

First GDT! Kirk you beautiful bastard. 3-Run Bomb (Springer single, Vladdy walk) in the 1st inning off Chi-Chi Gonzalez.

https://imgur.com/a/bNOK0tu Dem strikes on Bo.

Trade Assignment Waivers I believe. You put the player up post trade deadline - if not claimed, can trade to any team. If claimed, you can revoke the waiver, work out a trade with the team that claimed the waiver, or send the player + contract to the team that claimed the waiver for a nominal fee. Alex Rios was put up; White Sox claimed him; Jays sent Rios over for 20k or something but shed the 60M left on his contract

Would you: Send Jansen to Astros to get Brown & Abreu And then send Brown & Martinez to As for Montas or Reds for Castillo (Jays get a swing/miss SP & a swing/miss relief pitcher; Astros get a catcher; As/Reds get two good prospects | might need one more prospect from Astros - Barber or Whitley to sort of balance the sheets, but I doubt they'd give up more in this trade)

If Kirk repeats close to this performance next year, he's definitely getting a contract all right. Good attitude, no-nonsense approach, works hard and shows it on the field, just an absolute stud.

That sound off the bat was something else; blasted to the sun.

Sox should take the WC spot 1 today barring no Guardian heroics in the bottom of the 9th. Thankfully, we have Gaus/Strip/Manoah lined up against them - so maybe, just maybe, we can take 2 if not all 3. Franco returning to the Rays series just in time for us, fun. I am just as well concerned about Orioles; 4 Game Win streak, 5 games off .500, 6 GB WC - sweeping the WhiteSox These 16 games coming up against them are not going to be walk in the park for the 'strength of schedule' argument especially when their bullpen is putting up some incredible numbers (2.69 ERA) Even if not this year, next year Os are going to play .500+ ball in AL East. f*** this division tbh. Every loss hurts.

jk. Verdugo hits 3-run bomb, 3 - 2 RSox.

Sox down 2 - 0 atm to Guardians going into 6th; maybe they take the L.

Kikuchi is awarded 2 ER (RBI single & Solo HR to Brousseau). 3 ER to Bo.

Was a good fun fight! f*** you Kikuchi & Bo.

Damn we tried.

LETS GOOOOO cf