Terminator

Nah they just haven't even bothered pouring resources into it. They took over an old team and tried to keep it going for another year but otherwise they haven't even really tried to contend until last year (they sort of started to try in 2020). Like most smart front offices the bullpen is the cherry on top. You keep pointing to the Yankees and Astros as teams that are so great at building a bullpen but they are perennial contenders, of course they are constantly signing and trading for relievers. When you aren't contending it's just hard to justify adding high leverage relievers when the major offseason moves consist of signing an aging Curtis Granderson to a one year deal to hit in the heart of the lineup. Up until now there are some years they didn't even sign a reliever to an MLB deal. Other years they'll sign a Joe Smith or Oh for peanuts who will pan out just so they can flip them or they'll sign a JP Howell for nothing and they end up sucking. Either way, they've barely tried on the bullpen. Our CL is a Rule 5 returnee and our setup man was literally acquired in a trade for Joe Panik lmao. Yimi Garcia's 1 year 6 mil deal is the biggest deal they've made for a reliever. The bullpen can literally be fixed in one trade deadline. If not, it can be fixed in one trade deadline and one offseason. All they have to do is finally try and now that the FO has built a contender they will definitely start to put more of a focus on that part of the team.

Oh ok I see now. So we need to make better/more trades or free agent signings? Seems like one trade deadline can bring significant improvement then.

Wat

ROCKET RAIMEL'S BATTING AVERAGE HE'S WINNING THE BATTING TITLE THIS SEASON FOLKS

Whoever writes these taglines deserves a raise!

His Statcast page has been good all the way through last year. There's no dropoff in his velocity. The only thing I really see is that his slider usage is down. If the Jays have him crank that back up perhaps he can be a 4.00 ERA type of guy which will work as a 6th inning reliever. That's about the best I can say for the signing.

Yeah the performance of the two are almost inexplicable. Berrios can't get whiffs to save his life after 5 straight years of solid #2 SP history. Kikuchi cannot throw his fastball for a strike to save his life. In 3-2 counts he's throwing his slider, that's how bad his fastball command is. It's crazy.

I would totally tap this one though! But check out this fatty lol MOOOOOOOOOO

Charlie's new 8th inning guy

Ok if we are going to post pictures of political pundits and then judge their hotness (looks like the mods are the ones pushing this one so it's fair game!) then check out this f***ing cow! That's even with studio lighting and makeup and isn't a newspaper shot from 12 years ago. She actually goes on TV like this 5 nights a week! LMAO

We will see where we are once the trade deadline hits but at that point it could very well likely be a matter of" 1. The Yankees have put the AL East out of reach, and 2. The Wild Card spot is basically secured If that's the case, and since the optimal roster construction for the playoffs is a little bit different than the postseason, things like a depth starter, passable middle relievers or a mediocre lefty bat to play over Tapia (who has been good this month, Biggio could also be that guy) aren't as important. For the playoffs we should look to acquire an elite SP (or one better than Stripling, Berrios and Kikuchi) and a couple of hard throwing relievers. A copy of Baseball for Dummies for Montoyo would help as well. That's basically it. I suppose we could also look to get an elite left-handed bat as well and perhaps send someone like Gurriel the other way. So while it seems like the regular season Blue Jays have a whole bunch of needs, the playoff Blue Jays don't really have as many.

ROCKET RAIMEL takes FLIGHT With that range to go along with his rocket arm I have no idea how this guy hasn't won a couple of gold gloves already. Surely he'll get one this year.

Also, keep in mind that the FO has the team in position with a 95% chance of making the playoffs and that we are discussing trade deadline acquisitions like they a formality to happen at this point.

That's a big list? Lol I think almost every contender in the league will be looking at adding a starting pitcher and a reliever or two. Very very common trade deadline needs for a contender to have.

We should 100% be buyers. The playoffs will be easy to make and once we are there we need a reliever or two and another SP. This lineup with Gausman and Manoah anchoring a playoff rotation is a big time contender.

Yeah sometimes the pitch mix is by design and sometimes it's by necessity.

Lol the President of the Greg Bird Fan Club who blocks people when they bump/mention that terrible take now wants to dunk on Kikuchi for sucking ass. Congrats?

Lol fangraphs thinks we have a 93.5% chance of making the playoffs

And the f***ers walk it off.

Lol you are making huge generalizations based upon a good 1/3 of a season from the Yankees (who have won the division once in the past 10 years with 0 WS despite a massive payroll) who have a horseshoe up their ass right now and a rough couple of weeks from our rotation (who still are ranked 7th in WAR!). Even so, their SP WAR isn't that much better than ours to this point. They are 2nd in SP WAR and we are 7th with about a WAR and a half difference between the two of us.

Well we got the 6th starter from the Dodgers for a nothing prospect. If the Dodgers are as good as you say (and I agree with you on that) then that's a pretty damn good trade wouldn't you say? The bullpen needs to be better than it is. I agree with you. I don't think it's worth tanking the season so Atkins gets fired though. The injury luck has been pretty good, Ryu and Pearson notwithstanding. Regardless, I agree with you that the pitching needs to be better. Berrios and Kikuchi look like absolute dogshit and that's not good considering the amount of money we are paying them. They need to get it going and I think they can. The bullpen needs more high velocities arms but it's basically one trade away from being fine, two trades away from being good. Anyway, I think overall Shatkins has been doing fine, just need to shore up some of the pitching (which has been a lot better than you are giving it credit for this year!).

We're in the bottom 3rd in the bullpen but it's not a complete tire fire and we've invested almost nothing into it. It's a problem though and needs to be addressed at the deadline. AAA depth is bad too, there's not doubt. AA on down all have interesting names though. The random sixth starter that we worked into a #4 is Ross Stripling.

Lol they took Robbie Ray off the scrap heap and turned him into the Cy Young winner last year. Their 2019 first rounder looks like an ace. Really bad take my man.

Woah woah woah...let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Shatkins isn't perfect but they've been great so far and one of the better FOs I'd say. And on top of it you wouldn't hate a collapse? Lol this team is in prime playoff position and with a Gausman/Manoah duo at the top of the rotation they will be dangerous in the playoffs.

Yeah he and Biggio have been trending in the opposite direction, might be time for a strict platoon.