Dick_Pole

As for the Straw move, given the lack of use for payroll space, this move is decent regardless of the outcome of Sasaki.

From a Jays fan perspective, this is the second best outcome. The Dodgers are supplanting the Yankees as MLB's team to beat. The AL East is losing strength to the NL West and NL East.

Let's hope this guy is severely anti-social and introverted so that invitations to players' homes was a nightmare scenario for him that he does not want to repeat. Actually him have an anti-social personality disorder would track well to Atkins somehow keeping that Jays in the running.

Reading these threads about him, my guess at what the Jays have as an advantage for him is a monopoly on the Canadian-Japanese market. There has to be an endorsement possibility and a revenue stream for Rogers somewhere in there.

When you manage your team to the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, that's the type of outcome you get.

Knowing Jim, he would take a team 10 games under .500 every year if that meant contention was perpetually only 3 years away. Pretty sure he applies Trust the Process to his career and love life as well. He is the 2016 Philadelphia 76ers in human form.

From one society being crushed under socialism to another. Makes perfect sense that he would feel comfortable here.

When no one takes the Jays money in FA, these are the types of deals that must be done. Gimenez was a good "buy low" candidate. In that they gave up very little in terms of players for him, not in terms of salary. Much like the Berrios contract, between inflation and steady play, I think it will age rather well.

Before I didn't care about the language thing, but last year's debacle with Ohtani and his interpreter changed things for me. Hey dumbshit, you're getting paid nearly 9 digits a year between your endorsements and your baseball contract (yeah I know, deferred). Maybe splurge a little on some Duolingo English lessons so you don't open yourself up to being an easy mark for scammers? Sammy Sosa bringing a lawyer to speak for him at the steroids hearing made sense. In a legal setting you do not want to mess around with any potential misunderstanding. Guerrero refusing English interviews while being an entertainer in a mainly English speaking region because he felt he was misinterpreted 5 years ago is top-grade diva behaviour and he needs to go.

I'm not so sure this narrative around trading him now will maximize his return than at the deadline exists anymore. With the expanded playoffs and the way the playoffs function (the bye round hasn't really helped teams that much), MLB has basically turned into the NHL and NBA where the first four months of the season don't matter. Back in the day when you had to win your division to see a playoff spot, the 3 extra WAR by having Guerrero on your team from April to July really helps. Now, not so much. It's a trade-off now. Guerrero has less team control by July, but each team has more information, including the Jays. The former obviously decreases his value. The latter increases his value to some teams, potentially more than the former decreases it and his value goes up. The biggest risk you have is if he falls off a cliff and tanks his value in July. But if that happens, there will be a limited bidding war for him during free agency and you might be able to sign him at a reasonable price. The second biggest "risk" is that he performs extremely well. So well that the Jays are contenders and won't trade him at all.

Good lord now I know things are getting bad. Hernandez falls off the board and now Grickuk is getting some love on here. People are getting so desperate they'll go nostalgia mode on anyone. Might as well check if Tapia is available.

Yeah, the Jays have the absolute worst combination possible. Crybaby divas who overestimate their value as the "stars" of the organization and a socially inept beta GM who rejects any responsibility, gets all squirrelly and evasive when things get tough and likes to throw his underlings under the bus. Who knows if Bichette and Guerrero were brought up this way (being sons of MLB stars likely doesn't help their perceived pedigree status) or if having this FO being their only exposure to MLB culture during their formative years made them into who they are. The Jays badly need Gibbons back in some material form. If I was a fan of a rival team who paid close enough attention, I'd be laughing my ass off about the Jays current no-win mess of a situation. Much like how we were laughing at the Orioles up until two years ago (whoops). You either don't sign these guys and see fan uproar and get a stench of being unable to keep your stars. Which has currently impacted the team's ability to sign free agents despite having money. Or you sign these guys and have contracts that will age terribly pretty fast with guys that have questionable locker room character and level of talent. Or you have this mongrel of a dufus trying to trade them and start a rebuild when his contract length lays out absolutely no incentive to do a good job of it.

50-something year old Delgado versus 20-something year old Guerrero in a fight live on Netflix. Unlike the previous 50-something versus 20-something, Delgado will be the heavy favourite.

Me, if they did:

After reading that interview, I realize that Guerrero is softer than Ben Simmons wrapped in Charmin toilet paper. I get it. These 20-somethings are too young to remember 9/11 or the Cold War or Vietnam or WW2 or the Great Depression or any kind of real hardship or disaster so everything is mental health. You either go the Jordan Peterson route...or act like Vlad. Fine. But the fact that he refuses to do an interview in English because of some perceived slight from 5 years ago (mind you, he is getting handsomely paid to provide entertainment to a primarily English speaking market) shows what kind of diva he is. The team that gives him a $400 million contract will absolutely come to regret it. I just worry that the loudmouth casuals will coerce this regime (the FO and/or Rogers themselves) into doing this stupid contract. Where was this money for Delgado? Now that's a man who deserved to spend his career here and probably would have racked up north of 500 home runs all in a Jays uniform.

Is the starring out of swears some kind of dumb new feature that no one wants or did Gruber actually take the time to censor himself while rage hammering his keyboard into obsolescence? Now I know how insane my rants sound when I do them.

As a top Atkins hater, I actually like this trade. Probably in the top 10% out of people here in terms of feelings about it. Wouldn't work if the Jays were operating like the Pirates. But they aren't operating like the Pirates. Ever since 2014 the Jays have shown a willingness to spend inefficiently in order to compete. Waving around the wallet includes taking on other teams' salary dumps that would be a clear win when money is not taken into consideration. Problem is that goes against the culture on this board that is dominated by advanced stats nerds and fellating of the Rays' FO.

So is it Guerrero or Kirk? Sad that the Jays can have multiple candidates for this worst baserunner crown. Especially since the Yankees exist.

Because I speak the truth, it's a relevant comparable to both the state of the Jays and the Liberal Party at this moment and I don't make politics 100% of my online persona (hint: look at your outdated profile pic).

When I say Atkins is a beta, I don't just mean how he is perceived by free agents or other GMs. Internal organizational disarray is the biggest sign and biggest hurdle to the Jays being a success. People brought up Guerrero's s***** baserunning and his refusal to change. That is on a nerd like Atkins who is too cowardly to set the cultural standard where s*** like that isn't tolerated. We all know his foot speed is his foot speed. Can't do much with that. The boneheadedness is unacceptable. Particularly with a guy who thinks he's worth $400 million or whatever.

People so desperate for the Jays to do anything that Hernandez for 3/$65M is a unanimous no-brainer here. Short memories about why he was traded for an RP and why people actually liked the trade at the time. It's true though that the Jays are constructed very differently where they can probably absorb his liabilities while desperately needing his strengths.

Atkins is going to outlast Trudeau. Truly incredible feat. Not sure if it's a function of Atkins being smarter than Trudeau or if it's a function of Rogers being dumber than Canadian voters* *Dumber in that it took them this long to smarten up and oust Trudeau. There are certain pockets of the internet, like Reddit, filled with very stupid people calling Canadian voters dumb for finally smartening up.

I'm surprised that Bichette is considered enough of a celebrity draw that UFC cameramen would show him lol. Especially with the new haircut. I wouldn't be able to pick him out of a crowd in this new state.

Like I've said for a while now, without the benefit of being "America's team", Cashman is too much of a dumbass to build a winner. Aimlessly throwing money around while spinning their wheels. The Yankees are on the brink of a collapse and watching them go down the toilet in such a spectacular fashion with a s*** ton of expensive contracts will be hilarious. At least with the Jays we have a bunch of warning signs that it could happen, so it won't be as painful if it does. And with a ton of payroll flexibility should the two "stars" leave. Yankees are second behind the Dodgers at +700 to win the 2025 World Series LMAO. I was wrong about them last year because they got Soto and Judge was still good. But all we need is Judge to channel some of his inner playoffs into regular season play for the first domino to fall. If Judge is not good enough to carry the lineup, the Yankees are basically the Jays with a better bullpen.

If Atkins signs Hernandez after all that (accurately described btw), that would seal his beta male status forever. This is a guy people here were mixed on because he was such a s*** defender and kind of a goof, now we desperately need him back with the way the team is constructed. Hernandez should have a clause in the contract that he can bang Atkins' wife in front of him upon request. If Atkins played this even just a little bit less clownish, we would be looking at Hernandez's second year of a three year $60 million contract.