Dick_Pole

Dick Pole never doubted for a second once the Donaldson trade whining started to drop.

Just spam his email every morning with this clip until he gets the message:

Nice. This fatty conversation helped the Jays cruise to another easy victory. Now let's keep it going. Why are all the white guys like Chapman built like UFC fighters but the Latinos except Espinal built like doughmen? Should the Jays resurrect the White Jays of the mid-2000's? Discuss.

Who got the Cy Young votes? Who led the team in ERA, pitching wins, IP? Who was named #1 starter this year? Who was tasked with starting the first playoff game last year? Just because a small cabal of dorks use their nerd stats to state that Gausman was relatively unlucky and predict that he would be better going forward doesn't mean that in 2022 Manoah didn't function as the ace to the franchise, to most fans and casual observers of the team. All that aside, you f***ing knew exactly what I meant by the short form "ace" in this context. Significant pitcher, pitcher expected to be #1/#2 in 2023 etc. Using the one word "ace" gets the point across that Manoah taking a s*** all over 2023 was a significant setback to the team but despite that, the pitching has improved. You could have just stuck with your first paragraph and leave that little piece well enough alone. But no no, you had to be pedantic about it so you can feel good about yourself being one of those lame *******s from last year "but Gausman was better than Manoah" for a few seconds of your pathetic life. Was it really worth it?

Last year in the Jays last game, it was s***** pitching and defense that cost the team. All year long we heard nothing but moaning from people about s***** pitching and defense. The team made aggressive decisions this off-season to address both issues and despite losing the ace of last year to obesity, these issues have largely been addressed. What do we hear now? Complaints that this team is boring, terrible and frustrating. Atkins should go full troll and acquire 26 Rajai Davis clones to fill out the squad for 2024. Imagine a team full of non-stop base stealing, bone-headed defense and a surprising amount of clutch hitting from such a noodle bat. That'll make this team entertaining.

Yes! This is exactly the type of non-factual, emotional and Jays-centric drivel needed that helped the team cruise to an easy victory today. Keep up the good work!

I just realized that the Jays aren't the main characters in this tragic story. It's the Rangers. They are following the 2021 Jays pattern. In 2021 Jays go into New York, facing a historical nemesis where many bad things have happened to the team. Against all odds they sweep the four games and look to be in control of their own destiny. Then a whole bunch of bad things happen after that series and they miss the playoffs. Rangers come into Toronto, a place where many bad things have happened to the team going back to the 1980's. Against all odds they sweep the Jays...then drop the next four...and counting.

Assuming expansion to 32 teams, I'm fine with an NHL-like division format. Unfortunately, i think what is being pushed is an NFL-like division format which would give me an aneurysm. There's a reason why the NFL needs - and can get away with - eight divisions of four. And even then you see the occasional 7-9 team get in. A sport with 162 games has no need for that setup.

This board never lies. More Donaldson whining and the Jays would probably win the division. Unfortunately I don't think we can fake it and the cautious optimism seeping in now probably means it'll be a struggle going forward. Why can't you dildos just remain hopelessly negative? Pretend that the Jays' shot at the playoffs is at the same level as you ever owning your own home in Canada.

Re: Cito, by people you mean that lunatic Olerud363 who has resorted to talking to himself. He doesn't count. Rest of the guys you mentioned seldom get talked about and if they do it's in varying contexts. It's always the damn Donaldson trade here.

Whining about a 5 year old trade again. Confirmed we have reached maximum Krylian-level negativity on the board and Jays are about to get hot. I assume we are not going to hear the end of the Donaldson whining until this generation of posters die out. Like I said a bunch of times before, pretend it was Donaldson and Liriano for Merryweather and Hernandez if your mental health is still suffering over it. While they were busy botching Donaldson they equally played Liriano like a fiddle. Hernandez for Donaldson would be a pretty good outcome. But no no no, gotta harp on the one bad while overlooking to equally good in hindsight moves. Because the other 29 FOs in the league always do everything 100% perfect. In another universe, the genius armchair QBs here would have seen Guerrero and Bichette on their second years of combined $800 million contracts. Now I can only imagine how many levels of f***ed this team would be in that universe. Under the current more or less stand pat iteration, this team has a lot of options moving forward, even if the on field product scheduled for its third 90+ win season in a row has been kind of disappointing. Also, I was one of the first ones to call out Atkins as a beta weenie. Now that the roster is looking at a second career as guests on My 600 Pound Life, people are finally catching on. No question a drill sergeant is needed more than a computer geek to run this team but if we are going to do an analysis on his tenure here, it might as well be a fair and balanced take. Moves wise he's okay. Money wise he's okay. Dork stats wise he's okay. Leadership wise he's s***. The three kind of balance out the one to the point where the Jays are a consistent above average team but World Series longshot. Can we live with that? Who knows. Phillies were a longshot last year and they at least played bridesmaid.

I don't use reasonings like this. I use stock market principles of board sentiment as contrarian indicator. Jays peaked just after the All-Star break after the Arizona sweep. Mouth breathers talking dumb s*** about 6 man rotations and Guerrero's Home Run Derby performance. That level of unchecked enthusiasm set the team back with six weeks of spinning its wheels at .500. With the board sentiment being where it is now, 10-7 is as sure of a shot as buying Canopy Growth was two weeks ago. 13 is like...75% guaranteed.

Then I am mis-remembering. They were 17 games over .500 on this date last year and 15 this year so it's not totally incomparable. I guess the Mariners took a s*** earlier than I remembered last year.

No, I wanna see a board meltdown if the playoff chances drop to 30% or whatever. Even better the guys who come in and cheer for the team to lose and miss the playoffs with the rationale being THAT is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back and some magical organizational house-cleaning reset take place (haha, what a bunch of rubes who think like this).

Didn't bet on that this year as my confidence was less so than last year. I did put some mid season bets of over 89.5-92.5 total wins, but the intense whining here has my confidence on 93 shooting up to over 90% now. 90 is basically a lock.

Yankees I see, as that fan base has had a wake up call to see how bad of a mess they are in. This is going to be a multi-year problem for them. Sox fans I don't see how. They were pretty much consensus last place pick in the AL East at the start of the year. If anything they have outperformed and their fan base should be reasonably content.

After reading the last few pages of intense whining, 93 wins and an easy slide into the playoffs confirmed. At this point last year the Jays were battling for a spot and ended up winning it easily. Don't remind me what happened immediately after. Before comparing YoY WAR, we still have a couple of weeks left. Bichette was still sub-3 WAR by September last year IIRC. That 16 point decline is probably going to be something like 12 by year end. Bad, but less bad. As for drafting, yes it sucks but you have to look at it holistically. This team has been mediocre at drafting and player development of its own prospects HOWEVER has been extremely good at developing other team's scrap heaps like Bautista and Encarnacion. That offsets much of the lost value from bad drafts. The rotation is not homegrown but who cares? Looks solid right now and that's all that matters. The spending on the rotation is not out of line compared to other upper mid to large market teams nor is it out of line compared to the performance.

Raptors being accused by the Knicks of stealing notes is some of the funniest s*** I've heard in a long time. Like someone trying to copy answers for a test from the class clown.

I get what you're saying and agree in principle. I just don't necessarily agree with the timing or that it has to be focused on Ohtani. If they can pull off a Francisco Liriano type of transaction, great I'm all for it. But Ohtani would cost significantly in terms of actual players/prospects. Something I am not sure the Jays are willing or able to do. As for transactions like Liriano's, has there been any indication that the Jays won't do a deal? I don't think spending is the problem here.

Sucks for him and hope for a full recovery. But we hear this happen once in a while. If there has to be someone with an unfortunate medical condition like this, it's better that it's the kid of an NBA superstar who already has his life set regardless if he plays pro ball or not and would forever be living in the shadow of his dad if he does. As opposed to some kid trying to work his way out of the ghetto and gets his meal ticket cut short.

??? I don't get this rant. First, the Angels are going to keep him after trading for Giolito so he isn't going to any team at the deadline. Second, the Jays would be outbid in terms of prospect capital if Ohtani was on the block. The only way they win the Ohtani sweepstakes is if they do something crazy like offer Bichette in the deal. Third, Ohtani as a FA next year likely stays on the West coast and if not, the Yankees would be the only team to court him eastward. I don't see how any of this stuff is related to Rogers grasping the purse strings.

They are top 20 because they are competent and consistent performers. Not because the Jays have been pulling them at the right time. 10-15 innings extra for each of them this year likely results in the Jays being a few games ahead of where they are now. If they are competent and consistent through 6 innings, they should be given a chance to be competent and consistent through 7.

Regarding the bullpen, it's less about performance and more about the abhorrent misuse. In a 2-1 tight game with your SP rolling and offense whiffing air you roll with your SP for as long as possible. The decision on Gausman gets a little bit of wiggle room this time around given his injury status and he wasn't great that game but this dolt of a management team system has consistently yanked him early when they haven't had to. A 32 yo 11-year veteran who has proven himself to be a top 20 arm in this game can afford to face hitters three or four times in a game. A guy like Gausman SHOULD be talented and smart enough to make in-game adjustments to the point where a third or fourth look is as new as it is with an RP. I hate these "trendy smart" analytics probably pushed by 120 pound nerds allergic to soy milk. If every team follows these dumbass rules "cuz analytics" religiously like they did bunting back in the 1980's, it turns from an advantage into a disadvantage. I don't care what they think they know, or what extremely asymmetrical access to information they have compared to myself. This s*** that they are pulling clearly does not work. A potential sweep of the M's turned into a 1-2 series. A team with a BP this good on paper per the stats should not be resulting in this many blown leads. This is why people think the BP is a lot worse than it is. If Gausman, Berrios and Bassitt at pitching well that day, they should go a minimum of 7 innings and a complete game should be goal. Especially if the Jays are going to go with a six man rotation.

Modified 6-man rotation hopefully translates into "6-man for now, and we evaluate Manoah on a start-by-start basis". His start in Seattle was just good enough to warrant another look. Not a fan of the walks but the pitches seem to be coming back a bit.

For those who say the Jays aren't a World Series contender...looking around the league, what team is definitely better than the Jays? I don't say this just as a homer but honestly no team stands out as dominating the league. It's wide open. There are two teams on pace to win less than 50 games yet on the top end there is maybe one that'll hit 100. That math leaves a ton of teams in the 90 win region with absolutely none of them not having their fair share of weaknesses as well as strengths.