Olerud363

It will be really interesting to follow Spencer Horwitz next year. International league is psycho this year, but kid did what you should do in a pyscho league. 143 wRC+ and numbers comparable to what Overbay did in the PCL. Is this kid (and others) digesting all the new info? Will it translate to the majors?

Don't forget Covid happened. Teams were likely way behind on their advance scouting, game planning, and super-magic-fairy dusting. So in 2020 and most of 2021 teams were focused on navigating Covid, getting up and running again, getting the fans back, getting through the season with 1/2 the team testing positive at once... hell maybe the advance scouts couldn't even get into the ballpark, the announcers couldn't a lot of times. Then 2022 all this is up and running again, and even more so in 2023.

Yo Bro! Fire Shapiro.

I've never figured out if this guy is just a English speaker giving a massive multi year troll job, or a English as a second language guy, who didn't grow up on baseball so his messages are a bit simple and unsophisticated. I guess I lean towards the former, as there has been zero evolution or learning about the game for this person since they started the posting.

I have no clue at this point. I'd be open to this. The free agents have all been great. Maybe even Chapman takes a QO. I'd also be open to a major rebuild, with the intention of a quick turn around. Jays all of a sudden have a good collection of major league ready young talent. Not saying the talent is going to be all that but supplement it with what you can get for Bo, Springer, Berrios, Gausman, Romano, Mayza, Kikuchi, etc. Then go wild on the pitching and hitting labs, see what you have in everyone even Bowden Francis, even Mitch White. I know others think it's hopeless but try rebuilding Vlad's value, let him have fun with young guys for a few months with no pressure.

I wouldn't be opposed to doing this except not trading Vlad, Kirk, Manoah low, or Davis Schneider high. Everyone else no problem. You could get fair value for them and start the rebuild. Just can't sell Vlad, Kirk, Manoah this low. Need to figure player development. No question in my mind Vlad would have more 2021s if the right organization gets him physically and mentally right, and Jays need to another crack at him. Kirk is almost as good as a minor league hitter as Vlad was, and also needs the team to get him on track. Schneider is at a high point sure. However if the organization is going to come back from this fast they need to develop some of Schneider, Orelvis, Roden, Barger, Howritz, Pallmeganii. Jiminez, Teiderman and Pearson. Sell everyone else. Revamp advanced scouting, game prep, player development, nutrition, and mental prep. And f***ing develop some positive prizes, get Vlad back on track for gods sake (then trade him with one year left year I guess). Surprises to the positive side not negative for once. If you want to come back in 2 years, not 5 need to develop the current prospects, current low point players, and prospects acquired in trades.

How do you fix this in the context of corporate ownership? Say what you want about the Red Sox, but John Henry gives his baseball ops leadership team 4 years, and moves on. Moved on from the groups that won the 2013 and then 2018 World Series. In the years he overlapped with the Jays Chaim Bloom, who just got fired, beat them in Playoff wins 6-0.

THIS! Especially number 2. Biggest series of the year, Rangers prepared, Jays not. Number 1 of course too. Every day should be devoted to understanding why the Braves are hitting .260 .340 .500 as a team, and VGJR and Kirk hitting .250 .330 .380. Manoah? Damn right. Don't let the guy become a free agent and get his act together with somebody else.

Jays need to have some of these guys surprise to the upside like Teoscar Hernandez did. At least they have multiple 'interesting' prospects knocking on the door (Schneider, Orelvis, Palmegiani, Roden, Howritz, Barger, Jiminez). Multiple kicks at the can at least. After Guerrero and Kirk surprising to the low side, fans deserve someone surprising to the high side.

Yes it is. I guess because of the automated strike zone which makes everything really hard to understand just using previous knowledge of how to judge triple a stats.

lol. Aren't they kicking the 90 year old home plate lady out of her seat so Shapiro can give a sweet old lady's seats to a fellow corporate s***-bag? Can't even make this s*** up. Needs to be fired this morning. On top of everything else he is apparently turning the 100 level into a play pen for the rich. AA (Hypothetically if he was still here) - I love you home plate lady and your seats are yours forever. Everything I do is for you so you can see one final championship. We assigned 10 psychologists, 10 nutritionists, and 10 hitting experts to personally monitor Vladimir Guerrero Jr. so he can continue his 2021 form and bring joy to the fans who where his Jersey, great joy... and joy to you too, home plate lady, even though you don't have a jersey. Do you want one? I love you home plate lady. Shapiro (on cell phone from Ohio) - Get that bitch out of those seats.

But it's a serious point. The idea that Gausman is easy to gameplan for and is giving away fastball/splitter if a team knows what to look for is something Buck Martinez has been talking about since early 2022 when he started having weird bad games all of a sudden. He blew in the biggest game of the season and it was predictable this would happen, facing a good team that probably prepared like hell for this start. Frustration is justified given this has been a thing for almost his entire Blue Jays career.

Do they even use advanced stats in arbitration? If they compare him to Soto (which they can using homers and RBIzzzz) they can easily show Vlad = Soto and I think Soto got 23 million at this age after a 20 homer 65 rbi season. Hell maybe Vlad deserves more! In all seriousness they can pretty much show he is equal to Soto except for walks (which no one will care about), but 80 extra walks a year makes a big difference in WAR obviously, but maybe not arbitration.

I think Atkins, Schneider and the coaching staff have to go. I've been asking Shapiro to please resign, but I do not think that will realistically happen. I think the entire organization needs to revamp their focus on player development including development at the major league level and game preparation. Every organization (except the Rockies) is supersmart, and you need people who will stay up all night, put everything they have into it, getting the resources the players need to be their best. You also will maybe have to make unconventional decisions. I don't even care what permutation of players they end up with. Payroll should remain high. They should try to win next year, but what will lead to winning is having every asset perform at their highest level possible. Notably this year 1. 3 young players, all with weight issues have seen their careers crash, these three players should have been worth 10 wins combined, maybe 15 but were 0. There is some tough love needed here in terms of attitude, dedication to fitness, ability to receive instruction and maybe some load management. Maybe Vlad should not be playing 160 games. Maybe Manoah should not have pitched 190 innings last year. 2. Another young hitter Varsho, crashed with respect to previous MLB performance and minor league stats. 3. Team since 2020 has performed awful in late season important series. I'm considering here WildCard 2020, Yankees home series 2021, WildCard 2022, and Rangers Series 2023. Season has to end sometime. But all these series were essentially the first elimination series of the year, and Jays are 0/4. Something psychological? 4. Jays team power is way down and the problem is not the collection of players. Varsho, Chapman, Vlad, Kirk, Springer even Bo are at career low for ISO. Compare to Braves everyone at career high as a group. 5. With Pearson maybe healthy (or who knows), and Tiederman maybe healthy (who knows) you need a front office who can get the most out of guys like this, neither is in any way ready for a starters workload, but in 2024 get the most out of them and use them in creative ways to compliment the weaknesses of the current starters. Whatever the case need a front office and on field management that is creative, unconventional, cares about the players, has great people skills, can communicate with the fans, and will stay up ALL f***ING NIGHT, knowing it's a game of war with the other front offices.

If the latter does he just take the qualifying offer? Would someone give him a 1 year 20 million if qualifying offer is attached?

His minor league isolated slugging was .180, he was something like .320 .420 .500 minor league hitter. His iso was about .180 through all star break 2022 and overall stats reflected what he was in the minors. Something changed around then and he became a complete noodle and has consistently his .250 .330 .330 since then. This is why Shapiro need to f***ing go. Kirk was almost as good as Guerrero as a minor league hitter. REPEAT. In case you do not know this. Kirk was almost as good as Guerrero as a minor league hitter. The three greatest minor league hitters in Blue Jays history are Carlos Delgado, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, and Alejandro Kirk. That two of them are here right now should have been amazing. But somehow these two amazing, once in a generation minor hitters, are s*** in the majors.

Looking over the box score again I changed my mind. Opening with Mayza would have made a difference. You never know for sure but say he came in and pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball to start it, got through Seager and another left handed hitter once then handed it off to Gausman with 1 out in the 2nd, Gausman probably get's through the 2nd and maybe get's in a rhythm. Bottom line is with the advance scouting and game prep at the level it is Jays need to change it up sometimes. Their best pitcher obviously can be planned for... I mean it's common sense he only has 2 pitches, and for 2 years in a row his grandpa stats, ERA and W-L, have been far behind his advanced stats and stuff (W-L obviously a reflection of some bad luck, but ERA a reflection of clusters of runs ? ) Counterpoint might be that for most of the year Jays had the best starters in baseball. Counter-counterpoint is that the pitching looks good because of 80 defensive runs saved or something, so it isn't really as good as it looks and some of these guys need openers. Openers?? What kind of crazy ******** is that? Tried it a few years ago and everyone hated it. f*** it. Be the organization that bucks the trend, goes back to openers to try to counter game planning, and get's ahead of the curve for once. AND WHILE WHERE AT IT WHAT ABOUT SOME GAME PLANNING ON THE OFFENSIVE YOU f***ING LAZY BASTARDS?? I am assuming at least Dave Hudgens will be released and can watch Biden Impeachment in his house next year, instead of the clubhouse before game-time.

Now up to .278 .353 .535 in Buffalo.

I doubt opening with Mayza would have made a difference. The Rangers were f***ing prepared as hell for Gausman as anyone with a brain knew they would be. I don't know what happened to the Rangers for the 20 games before this series. In a way it was bad maybe that they slumped as I think their advance scouting, game prep and focus for this series was off the chart. Like I knew they would, like any team facing Gausman in a big game has, they were prepped as hell! Please Shapiro resign. You are a f***ing god damn piece of s*** brainless, soulless corporate Robot that has failed city and the fans. f*** YOU! The game has changed. Jays front office would be smart in 2012, but is not creative enough, not hard working enough, not analytical enough, do not know the advances in nutrition, game prep, and psychology well enough.

Both Bautista and EE were 30 and 32 years old in 2013 and the Jays tried for a contention window with their two big players aged 30-33 and 32-35. I see the thinking with Tulo and Donaldson. 30 and 31 in 2016. Build around those 2 for another 4 year run. 2016 to 2019 (like they might extent Donaldson or something if healthy). Unfortunately by 2018 at age 32/33 Donaldson/Tulo played 20 games total at an age where Bautista/EE were still playing 300 productive games

It's insane. Beavers, Cowser, Basallo, Kjerstad, Holliday and Henderson and Rutchman already there. These f***ing bastards made a freak park and now are going to throw out a line up of 7 or 8 home grown left handed hitting sluggers and have the f***ing best homefield advantage in baseball.

I'd open with Mayza. Not sure what the gentlemen's agreement is in this situation. Like how far in advance do you have to announce that to give the other team a chance to react? I doubt Texas would change anything anyway. Not trolling or joking on this one. The thinking is Gausman is great. One of the best pitchers in baseball obviously. His weakness that has stopped from winning a Cy Young is that occasionally teams either seem super prepped for him and recognize the splitter and jump on him early, or very occasionally he doesn't have enough control to get the fastball low enough to fool them. Perhaps it is a bit of both. f***it. Open with Mayza in the most critical game of the year. Gausman can still go 7 after that and get a win.,

I've gone all in on the narrative that while smart enough, Shapiro and Atkins have no real connection to the city or passion for the team, and do not have the obsessive work ethic of other front office executives. Win or lose they have no emotional reaction. AA on the other hand is devastated by each win or loss, each success and failure. I didn't believe this at all until this season, but it now makes sense to me. Something is just missing from this organization. Some personal touch. Not trolling, at this moment this is the explanation that makes sense. Maybe just emotionally burnt out on this team, so my judgement is not too good right now.

There is no recession, is there? Like on a serious note what is happening right now is very hard to define. There is massive differences in cost of living geographically. GDP is kindof OK? Like not gangbusters but not decreasing as in recession. Unemployment is low Inflation is high, but maybe getting a bit lower Cost of housing is crazy high for some people, fine for others. Credit was easy to get until a few months ago. Interest rates were zero for a long time, now they are 5%. I know I joke around too much and am irrational sometimes. Serious question what is happening with the economy. My understanding... 1. Interest rates up so if you have any loans or debt that are adjustable not good! 2. Housing prices increasing including rent 3. Some other inflation Between the three if your budget worked out fine in 2021 it is not working out fine now... but not technically a recession.

Shapiro - Atkins, why is attendance so low in September? Atkins - I don't know sir. The games are cheap. Only a couple of hundred per person with good seats and beer. Shapiro - Is it the start time? Atkins - Well, if you are like me, and work 10:00 to 4:30 you have plenty of time to get there. Shapiro - Yes, I work 11:00 to 3:30 which gives me too much time to get down to the ballpark. Atkins - What is cost of living like in Toronto? How much extra money to these Canadians have? Shapiro - I'm not sure. Have not been down to Toronto, at least not lately. But they have credit cards and we installed credit card machines. So they can just use their credit cards. They do have credit cards in Toronto right? Atkins - I don't know sir. I have not been down to Toronto in a few years either.