KingKat

The only way EE signs with the Jays now is if he comes back to them for some reason. He would have to either not find the market he expected or just have major second thought about leaving. I wouldn't go as far as stating the odds are zero but there not all that higher than that either. It sucks but what can you do? For EE to stay he needed to meat the team half way, he said all the right things but he and his agent weren't actually willing to make the necessary compromise. I don't think anyone has a problem with this team setting limits. It's not that they don't have the payroll or willingness to spend in the short term but they aren't going to make big commitments in the long term. They have Martin, they have Tulo. Don't get me wrong, I like those guys a lot but those contracts have to be playing a big role here. Too many big deals to aging players and the team will find itself in Philadelphia Phillies territory. I'm glad they tried to find common ground. I'm glad they made an offer and put the ball in EE's court but they couldn't let sentiment trump reason.

This is a good point. I mean everyone would prefer him to have success than not but before anyone goes from underrating him to overrating him, it's good to remember that it's a small sample size from a player who has faded down the stretch before. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome but it's alright to be somewhat cautious in the optimism.

If they go cheap on the FA market, maybe we see some money going to extensions. Estrada would be a good candidate.

Look I know who he is but I don't want to keep playing whack-a-mole with new identity after new identity. "Gary" hasn't really done anything yet. I'm willing to give him some rope. If he keeps pushing the stupidity envelope, he knows what will happen.

Yeah. He fired Boras and he probably told the new guy (Wasserman) not to f*** around. Works for the Jays and their bird in the hand philosophy.

I've made this argument too. I feel like once the Jays made the foolish Marlins trade, they backed themselves against the wall because they still didn't have enough. So from that perspective it made sense. The real problem was the whole direction of that off-season.

Or, alternatively, Jays trade for Puig.

Yeah I get that the game is still in play for fantasy but things like having players frozen on your bench or whatever because you didn't set your rosters three days in advance has got to be annoying for more people than just me. Also back when I bet on football on Sunday, I liked to do the full slate. I guess one less game doesn't really change it that much. These quibbles are no doubt minor compared to how much the players must hate it.

So what if he's a UTIL player. He's only being paid like one anyways. Good on the Jays for filling a hole early at a sensible cost. The upside is gravy.

Clearly teams don't see him as an everyday player. Works for the Jays who both need a util guy in the short term and some young controllable talent for the future.

Ang's not feeling it but he's only being signed to be a depth guy. All the reports see him as a 3B but you have to figure that the Jays see him as viable 2B depth behind Travis. You have to figure they'll give him some OF reps too so that he can be a super-util.

Does anyone actually enjoy having a game on that day? Football fans like to gamble, they like to play fantasy, they like to play daily fantasy. Having a game on Thursday messes with all of that.

Chris Coghlan.

It's the same physique. People forget that he was always ripped. http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/9/1/8/152018918/cuts/ThamesE_1dpjkj6v_xze9gfcx.jpghttp://imgnews.naver.net/image/117/2014/03/08/201403081651452228_1_59_20140308165202.jpg

Mods?

MacArthur's tribute to Dickey. http://www.tsn.ca/radio/toronto-1050/macarthur-message-to-r-a-dickey-1.605062

I love that this front office managed to put the team in this position. At this time last year, Happ, Estrada and Liriano weren't acquired yet and no one knew if Sanchez would EVER cut it as a starter much less do so in 2016. Tremendous progress.

It can be a factor in the sense that Donaldson could help to assuage concerns that Reddick might have about playing in Canada. In that sense, it can help level the playing field for the Jays.

I'm very interested to see how another organization handles the Thole situation. Dickey doesn't have the kind of leverage he did when he was coming off a Cy Young season. A personal catcher is a big ask for a player of his caliber on a short term deal but apparently getting a new catcher to familiarize themselves with the kuckleball is too (at least that's what we've been told but several posters on here are skeptical of that). If they don't sign Thole and go with someone else, I expect a lot of people to express bitterness over the fact that the Jays were unwilling to do the same thing.

I don't think it's a garbage team in his eyes. I read somewhere (probably MLBTR) that he had a strong geographic preference for Atlanta.

These would have made excellent posts if the blog was still active.

Atm, Valbuena actually projects for a higher wOBA than Desmond. I really can't wrap my head around the keenness to buy high on Desmond.

There's not really much downside to riding it out with Travis. He's provided nearly 5 WAR over two seasons in spite of all the injuries and he's done so for peanuts both in terms of salary and acquisition cost (Gose). Unless the injuries take a turn for the catastrophic, they don't really get in the way of him providing value and if it turns out that his injury history is more blip than ongoing trend, the upside is pretty fantastic. All this at a position where there aren't any major alternatives on the horizon (sorry Goins fans).

Um... how about no?