glory

I don't know if Montreal is the solution, but I really hope whenever they start the 50/50 split that Montreal sells out every game. It will be easy to contrast rowdy and younger Canadian fans showing up to games versus a bunch of senior citizens in St. Pete sitting on their hands while the stadium has to give away free tickets just to get 10k into that shithole. The Tampa owner seems to want to get out as well, so hopefully it happens sooner than later.

The Jays in Brampton would probably still get 50k if they were a 100 win team. At the least they certainly wouldn’t have a shitload of empty seats for a home playoff game like Tampa did last night.

Agreed. The Rays roster on the Pirates with that stadium/fanbase would be incredible. Tampa is just the wrong market. If Montreal truly embraces baseball again when they do that 50/50 split, then that might be enough for me to stop hating the Rays too. I think for me it's the stadium and lack of fanbase. They don't deserve a team that good. All the other stuff sucks too, but I'd probably overlook that if it was a baseball hotbed.

Yeah, I'm sure location/family is a priority for him as far as which team to sign with, but if the Jays offer the most, then I think he re-signs. If the offers are similar between the Jays and a location he'd prefer (ex. Angels), then he's probably gone, so the Jays would have to go above and beyond, most likely. But it's possible. He signed a one year deal because he felt he was a $100M+ talent. He was right. Now it's just a matter of which team gives him the best deal.

Cleveland definitely seems to prefer a blend of young and MLB talent in exchange for their vets, so I could see them being interested in Gurriel along with prospects. Would CLE do something like Groshans, Kirk, Gurriel, and Biggio for Ramirez? I have no idea. I'm sure they'd love the cheap years of control on the latter 3. They could fill 3 MLB positions for cheap for the next 3-5 years, plus get a top 50ish prospect on top of that. I guess it would depend on how highly they view those players. If the Jays could get Ramirez without giving up Moreno or Martinez, then man, that would be incredible.

Cleveland really has no reason to trade Ramirez since he's so cheap (with team options) and they have like no payroll commitments next year after trading Lindor, but if they did happen to revisit this in the off season, then I wonder if there is a deal that can be figured out that doesn't involve Manoah, Moreno, or Martinez (and obviously Vlad/Bo) going the other way. Really anyone else on the MLB or MiLB roster should be available in that deal, but with Martin and SWR subtracted from the system, it makes it a bit harder to pull off that type of trade while still holding on to Moreno/Martinez. I doubt CLE would get too excited about Groshans and Kirk as a starting point.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/blue-jays-tried-to-acquire-jose-ramirez-robbie-grossman-at-deadline.html

Even if you are confident that 2021 Espinal is legit, I would still have him as a super sub to start the season. There's just too much volatility there offensively to be comfortable starting him out of the gate. The only exception would be if they re-signed Semien and had to go cheap at 3B. He'll still get a ton of PA's in that role either way.

Honestly, if the Rays were in a better market that had more (or any) fans, I might hate them less. Maybe. But combine all the crap together (horrible stadium, no fans, makes the game slower/more boring to the point where MLB has to change rules, no interest nationally, beat the Jays regularly, etc, etc), and there is not a single thing that is likable there. Every other market (except Oakland and Miami probably) would be packing the stadium to watch a team like that. Build a 100 win team in Toronto, and you'd have to push people away from the stadium on a random Tuesday evening. With that said, if they start to develop more exciting talent (Franco, Arozarena, Baz, etc), then that would be better than the generic platoons, openers, and all that other stuff.

The Astros are probably the best team in the AL. It's very close with them and the Rays. They should be getting more attention for how good they are. They are still excellent at developing talent.

Last year's Rays/Jays wild card round averaged like 500k viewers. No chance they would have put that on prime time. It would have been ratings death for Fox. They likely would have switched the order and had HOU/CWS on the prime time slot. Only reason the Rays are getting prime time now is because the Red Sox are a draw, and the Yankees would have been as well.

Not only is the team on the rise, but expanded playoffs is almost certainly to happen whenever the CBA is agreed to. If Montoyo starts 2022 as manager, then he'll probably be around for a while.

Stro is basically Berrios in terms of overall value. A consistent 3-4 WAR SP who eats up innings. That's better than a #4. It's probably a very solid #2-3. Between him and Ray, I think I'd probably prefer Stroman, but that's primarily due to expected cost. Ray could conceivably get a Patrick Corbin type of deal (6/140), though he's probably getting 5 years instead of 6. Stroman over a 5 year deal is going to get, what? Somewhere between $80-100m? It would likely be a significant cost saving and I don't even think it's a lock Ray is better next year or beyond. Stroman's floor is a lot higher, and Ray is coming off a career year. I could understand people not wanting Stro back, and I by no means actually expect either side to seriously consider it, but it wouldn't be a bad idea, IMO. I would obviously prefer Scherzer, Thor, etc.

I'd be fine with Stroman, and I don't even think it's outlandish to think he'd be as good or better than Ray next season (depends on how real you think Ray's 2021 was). It won't happen, and this is all window dressing so Stro looks good in Canadian social media circles, but give me the pitcher that wants the ball in his hand when it matters. Manoah gives off that vibe, and we know Stro has it.

I think it's more likely the Jays trade Kirk and use Jansen/Reese in 2022 until Moreno is ready than it is moving Moreno to another position. They have no reason to move Moreno off catcher unless they think there is a better long term internal option, and the only one who has a chance to fit that description on the current roster was riding pine in favor of Reese McGuire down the stretch.

Yeah I think Chapman is a nice target assuming he's available. A league average hitter with elite defense is his floor. He still has some offensive upside if he regain his pre-2020 form (maybe getting away from OAK would help), and the two years of control would actually benefit the Jays since it's a perfect length for someone his age + would give internal IF options (Groshans, Martinez) a bit of time. Not sure what it would cost to get him, but it should be no where near the price of getting Ramirez for the same years of control, and Chapman has proven to have Semien-2021 type of upside in terms of overall value.

I miss JD on the team as much as anyone, but do we really want him as the starting 3B in 2022-23? He was a 2 WAR player in 2021 while staying pretty healthy all season (543 PA). The defense isn't great anymore and he's become a bad baserunner on top of that (lots of lower body injuries adding up?). Grichuk is awful and not having him on the roster would be incredible, but I think having JD at age 36-37 probably doesn't move the needle much, if at all. On top of that he makes $21m in 2022, $21m in 2023, and then $6M in 2024 (buyout), with a $2m assignment bonus when he's traded. Even factoring the difference between his and Grichuk's contracts, that's still adding over $30m in payroll over 3 years for a player on the decline.

I don't follow the Mets, but I'd be surprised if they didn't offer Syndergaard the qualifying offer. He hasn't pitched in 2 seasons (aside from 2 innings recently) but a 1/18 type of deal for him would still have tremendous upside. If he isn't offered the QO for whatever reason, then I'd have no issues giving him a big one year deal. Hell, you could probably justify losing a pick in the 70's (or whatever it is) to get him on a one year deal if he's given the QO considering you'll get a comp pick for Ray to balance it out, but not sure what Shatkins would do in that case, especially given the 2 years off. If you're looking for the 2022 Robbie Ray, I'd say Noah has the best shot at it.

The only time I'll root for the Red Sox is if they face the Rays. Otherwise I hope the Yankees can win this one. Not looking good.

Sucks that the Jays aren't in this, but tonight is going to be a fun game. This rivalry, while it isn't as hot as it used to be, mixed with the win or go home aspect is very compelling.

Would be nice to get out of that contract, but no one is taking a replacement level 4th OF with nearly $19m left on his deal. Best bet would be to get an equally bad contract in return that has a bit more value to the Jays. Maybe the Brewers would trade JBJ for him? At least JBJ would fit the team better as a 4th OF (LHB, can legit play CF) and money with buyout mixed in is about equal. Either way, that's the type of deal that you would have to expect for Grich. That 5 year deal feels as long as Pujols' deal with the Angels.

I wouldn't say he's like Semien (whose ceiling is basically a MVP candidate), but Conforto could easily be a 3-4 WAR players next year, and from the left side which would help balance out the lineup a bit. It's too bad Michael Brantley didn't sign. He was practically the perfect player for this offense.

Semien has also been a top 5 WAR player in the entire league for the last two 162 game seasons. His 2020 season after the first 2 weeks or so resembled this type of player as well, except the season was too short for the overall numbers to look the part. There will be decline in his 30's, but if you wanted a safer bet to be worth the deal he's going to get, then Semien > Ray, IMO. The last start against the Yankees by Ray is kind of warning sign. A little dip in velocity or his command suddenly getting lost again, and he could be an albatross very quickly. Even with an offensive decline, Semien should still have the higher floor, and he clearly has the higher ceiling. I don't get Kawhi vibes with Semien either. Maybe he does prefer the West Coast, or a chance to play SS again, but I feel like he legitimately likes the team and would re-sign if the offer was the highest. Whether the Jays should give him a Springer contract is the question. You can't have too many of those because it might restrict available resources for extensions to young players. If they give Semien something like 5/125, then I'd probably avoid another big FA deal for a while, and try to get by with shorter term deals elsewhere.

ESPN is loving it. My gym was playing ESPN on TV this morning, and all I saw was hype for the Red Sox/Yankees series. That was more baseball coverage than they show most of the year. I know the game is on ESPN, so they benefit from the promotion, but I doubt they would have gone this hard with it if it was Toronto/Seattle. Combine that with Cardinals/Dodgers as the other game, and MLB is probably happy with the matchups, and both should be great games.

I'm not sure this is even MLB's call. They broadcast the AL on one network and the NL on the other. TBS and FOX are not going to want overlapping games against each other, and one network can't air two games at the same time, so you're left with having to spread the games out throughout the day. The other option is to extend the days between games so that each game can be on primetime, but then you're left with something like the NBA playoffs which run for 2+ months.