glory

First game, Tapia starts. Thread is necessary.

The Jays would have to miss the playoffs entirely for Schneider not to be named the full time manager after this season, IMO. Seems like more of a formality, but I guess we will see. The last time the Jays were looking for a manager it was in a season where they were expecting to tank hard after being bad for 2 straight years. The job should be a lot more attractive now than it was then, so hopefully they do an actual search at the end of the season. Maybe Schneider ends up being the right call regardless. We will see.

Montoyo will be back working in the Rays org in no time. He's never going to be a manager again, but he'll still be in baseball, I'm sure.

Oh my god, best news of the season.

Always have to enjoy this lineup when we get it. Probably won't see it again for a few days at least (unless the team losing actually smartens them up).

With the way the Jays use DH, I don't think Horowitz has a future here even if the bat is legit.

If they fire Charlie then it’s going to be Schneider replacing him. I don’t know if that’s better or the same (can’t be worse, I hope).

The Jays were a World Series pick by many outlets if I recall correctly. They have to be the biggest so far. The White Sox were supposed to win their (s*****) division but the Jays were supposed to be the best team in the AL (or at least damn close to it).

Probably a frightening thought for every team in the league other than this one.

If the Angels sell, then Syndergaard seems like he would be a possibility. He’s lost about 3-5 mph so he’s not the same guy but probably still good enough to slot in the bottom end of the rotation (behind Manoah, Gausman, and hopefully an improved Berrios) and shouldn’t cost much. As far as the relievers, look for any relievers with walk issues and hard contact issues but still strike guys out. Atkins loves those buy low types.

Yeah I think we underrate the level of risk involved in the Springer/Gausman/Berrios contracts. There’s real decline potential there in the latter parts of those deals, and if the team is not developing the next Vlad/Kirk/Bo/etc by 2025 then it’s going to be tough to create the sustainable winner they always talk about once Vlad/Bo are either extended or leave. That’s not even factoring the lack of pitching development (aside from Manoah) that hasn’t gotten better over time. With that said, I agree with not going to all in this deadline. They are not catching the Yankees, and really only have 1, maybe 2, threats to their WC spot (Mariners and maybe CLE since they play in a s*** division). Do enough to get a WC spot and then hope Manoah/Gausman/Berrios can get you to the DS. After that it’s a crapshoot.

That's the scary part here. When the Jays were a few games above .500 around the deadline last year they had like a +100 run differential and weren't even allowed to play home games for the first 4 months of the season. You could at least argue that they were grossly underachieving and a 2nd half run like they had was possible. The current team is playing about to their expected levels, and now have injuries/ineffectiveness which is exposing their biggest weaknesses (SP depth and relievers). They'll need a bunch of reinforcements at the deadline, and need to start getting serious here. If they want to be cute and give 500 PA's to Tapia because they want to develop his bat, or calling up scrub after scrub to pitch out of the pen, then be prepared for these results.

Eh, they've been bad for years, but they are still future hall of famers, and they won't be taking a spot from anyone. I don't see an issue with celebrating their careers, although I don't think Cabrera is retiring after this season, so they should have waited until next year's AS game for him.

I really don’t care about Trout (he signed that long ass extension knowing they were a dumpster fire so that’s on him), but I hope Ohtani is smart enough to get out of there when he’s a FA. I’d prefer if the Angels traded him this month to jump start the much needed tear down but I have a feeling they are going to milk this for as long as they can. We as baseball fans just have to hope Ohtani doesn’t take an extension before he has a chance to test the market.

The White Sox and Guardians are in the s***** AL Central, so I guess we can't rule them out as being able to go on a run. The Mariners are in a division with one great team and mediocrity/bad everywhere else. The M's have been on a roll, have good SP/RP, and Julio Rodriguez is a beast. A week or two ago I would have said the Jays were a playoff lock, and maybe they still are to some degree, but it doesn't look like a certainty right now. This isn't an underachieving team with a +100 run differential like last season. They are pretty much where they should be from the looks of it, if not a bit lucky (though schedule has been tough). The Jays only have 3 years with Vlad after this one. They already wasted an opportunity last season. They can't waste anymore.

Yeah, Charlie's only/main skill seems to be dealing with players (it's certainly not in-game stuff), so for him to make that quote about Kikuchi is pretty alarming. Although to be fair, it's infuriating as a fan to watch Kikuchi when he's not on, so I can imagine it being a lot worse in the field and dugout when you're playing behind him. As far as Biggio, it seems the organization (Charlie plus everyone else) thinks that Tapia has more potential. The most logical thing to do, especially when he's on a hot streak, is to play Biggio everyday all over the field. That's really the only way this "we need to DH regulars everyday" concept makes any sense, when you plug a good player into different spots so the regular can DH. For them to be using that on a -0.6 WAR player instead is baffling. It's something bad organizations do, not what the Jays should be doing. The Jays are in a playoff spot, and probably will get a WC spot when all is said and done (unless the Mariners go crazy in the 2nd half.....can't see anyone else as a threat), but man is this team flawed and not fun to watch right now. Although this could work out in the end if they hold on to the 3rd WC spot at the end of the season and face the Twins in the WC round instead of Red Sox/Rays.

The Raptors definitely benefitted from Siakam's development in 2018-19, but Kawhi was a one year rental for a mostly veteran team who had been good for many years but could never get over the hump. It was either continue being a 2nd round team until contracts ran out or go for the home run trade when it became available. That trade fit the timeline for that particular group. If you add Durant, then yes you have him for 4 years (unless he demands a trade after 1), but he's also on the back end of his prime/career. So if Barnes doesn't really take off until year 3 or 4, then KD is kinda wasted here because you can't maximize his best remaining years. The only way for a KD trade to make sense is if they can keep Barnes and Siakam (to a lesser degree FVV as well but I'd be fine if he had to be moved). I'm also a little iffy on OG being able to take the next step. He's a very good two way 3+D player, but he can't create his own offense consistently and that's going to put a ceiling on him. The difference between him and Siakam is pretty significant, IMO. I'm more bullish on Achiuwa turning into something given his defense and improving ability to hit 3's. A center who can guard multiple positions and spread the floor on offense is a huge luxury. A lineup of FVV/Barnes/KD/Siakam/Achiuwa is a title contender. Probably the best team in the East one through five. IMO either find a way to get KD with OG/Trent as the main pieces (with picks, etc, attached) or keep the status quo.

I think the difference is that DeRozan was vastly overrated as a player, and wasn’t a great defensive player. Getting Kawhi and Green for essentially him and a backup center was a heist. In this case, Siakam is actually a very good two way player. He’s not easy to replace because of his defensive ability, and he’s already proven he can be the 3rd guy on a championship team (played closer to a 2nd guy in the Finals). Replacing Siakam with KD is a clear upgrade but I think they’d miss Siakam enough to where it would hurt them a bit. Durant with Siakam and Barnes still here is a title contender. Without Siakam it would still be a really good team but a lot would be riding on Scottie’s development.

The only way adding Durant makes sense is if the rest of the roster is good enough with him to win a championship. That won't be the case if Siakam goes the other way (I won't even talk about Barnes since there's likely no chance the Raptors trade him). My guess is KD would want to come to a team with Siakam, Barnes, and Fred on it. Not sure the Nets would take OG, Trent, and a bunch of picks, but I don't see the Raptors offering much more than that. KD has 4 years of control but those years mean nothing. He can demand a trade in 6 months and he'll be gone. That's just the way the NBA works. Getting KD is not the important part of this, it's getting KD and being good enough to compete for championships that is the key here.

The Jays want to give DH days to Springer, Vlad, Hernandez, and Gurriel every week. With Springer it’s understandable but they use the other guys as if they are in their 30’s. Again, broken record, but if this is the way they want to use DH then it’s bordering irresponsible to hoard all the catchers when it’s leading to 500 Tapia plate appearances. Just trade Moreno for Bryan Reynolds or something and fix this s***.

Yeah it looks that way. Pitching depth in the upper minors is ass, and the only position player that can help from the upper minors happens to play a position that the Jays are practically elite at without him. This season and next season is probably going to be on the back of whatever big league moves Atkins can make. It's not going to come from the system.

Why the hell would they use Castillo a day before a double header with Hatch pitching one of the games? Biggio better play more than Tapia going forward.

Chapman is so good defensively.

I’m legit surprised Romo wasn’t brought in yet.

Yeah they need a SP and about 2 high leverage (high velo) bullpen arms. They should also look to upgrade on Tapia as far as a LH OF (especially since the team/Buntoyo don’t like playing 2 catchers together often), but they can probably get by with the offense for the most part. It’s the pen that’s going to hurt them.