glory

Yup. In that spot you go with Pearson, Bass, or Dolis. You don't save them for a save situation, or for the game the next day, you try to win the 1st game at all costs and worry about the next one when it happens. No guarantee the Jays win that game even if they held the Rays to 1, but would have liked their chances better with Pearson/Bass/Dolis than Cole.

2016-2020 2241 PA, 101 wRC+, .242/.290/.477, 5.8 BB% He's the same guy except now with less exit velo and less strike outs.

White Sox with Anderson, Robert, Jimenez, Moncada, Abreu, etc, is going to be fun to watch for years. Hope they can win this game.

A ~100 wRC+ bat in RF with above average defense (presumably, defensive metrics can fluctuate) isn’t a bad player, but it’s not a good one either. I’ll take Teoscar’s below average D in RF if he keeps hitting the way he has since June of last year over him. Another negative, and this isn’t Grich’s fault, is that management thinks he’s better than he is, so he’ll bat much higher in the lineup than he should. Even if you don’t believe lineup construction is that important, you don’t want a .290 OBP in one of the top spots even if he’s hitting for power. It’s probably a moot point since they don’t give him $50m only to dump him a year later, but still, CF will remain a problem as long as he’s there.

Defensively maybe, but not with the bat. CF and 3B (or SS with Bo moving to 3B but that's probably not happening yet) are the two spots where the upgrades could be significant. Grichuk may not be better than Hernandez at this point (still need to see Teoscar do this over a full season). He's the one guy in the OF you upgrade on.

If Bauer is willing to take a one year deal on a team that would promise him 40+ starts a season, then do it and don't look back. If he wants a long term deal, and let's face it guaranteed money in your 30's when every pitcher is potentially a pitch away from hurting themselves is going to be too enticing to turn down, then that promise becomes too much. As far as the OF, if Springer is out of the question, then I'm fine with a Bradley/Davis platoon in CF. Instantly improves the defense, and offensively should be a league average or better. Grich isn't going to want to be the 4th OF, which is why you try to move him this winter. Won't get much back, if anything, assuming anyone even values him at 3/30 over the next three years, but he shouldn't be starting in the OF on a playoff team. I wonder what it would take to get one year of Lindor? Probably doesn't make sense for where the Jays are, but man would that be fun to watch.

At the risk of people throwing s*** at me, I'm rooting for Yankees/Astros ALCS (biggest franchise in the sport versus biggest villain in the sport), and Dodgers/whoever. The best chance for baseball not to be ignored by mainstream sports media over the next month is to have at least those three teams in the final 4. Then obviously, Yankees/Dodgers in the WS. That's my "best for baseball" rooting interest. In terms of which team I actually like from a player standpoint, I'd root for the White Sox and Padres, though I don't expect either team (the Pads possibly without Lamet and Clev) going that far.

Agreed about Buffalo. The Jays having to play there in 2021 could definitely factor into how successful they can be in signing free agents. There's no guarantee that they'll be allowed to play in Canada by the start of next season, so convincing a (good) FA to sign with a team that might have to play in a minor league park some/most/all season could be difficult. Plus, if there is a minor league season, how do you juggle the AAA affiliate in Buffalo with the Jays having to play there? Unless the Jays play in Dunedin instead. Lots of uncertainty there. Of course, money talks. Anderson's option should not be picked up. As mentioned, there will probably be a slow free agent market after Covid, so $9m for someone like him would be absurd. Pay the buyout, and get someone better. Roark should be dumped, but don't think he will be. Over a 162 game season when he doesn't have to pitch against all East teams, he might go from awful to just bad. Plus the money isn't going anywhere, they have to pay him anyway, so unless he's traded for a worse contract belonging to a more useful player, they probably hold on to him. I've said before I think there's going to be a s*** ton of non tenders this winter. I wouldn't make any unnecessary financial commitment until I know what's available. The supply is most likely going to exceed the demand. That's where the Jays can really take advantage (assuming Rogers will spend).

Yeah, Padres/Dodgers would be a great series. Hopefully the Pads win the next two.

At least Chuckles saved Pearson for today's game rather than using him in a one run game last night.

Yeah it was a one run game and they went to maybe their 4th best option in the pen, while the Rays went right to their best.

That extra day of rest for Ryu did wonders.

Jays are definitely not there yet, but this was the worst possible matchup for them. The Indians rotation probably kills this offense too, but at least it wouldn't be at the Trop.

Jays prioritized "health" over winning in the final game of the season. They're getting what they deserve.

That's the ball game.

Really wanted Vlad at 1B, Shaw at 3B, and Tellez at DH.

Shaw against a 98 mph FB could be ugly.

That could have been A LOT worse. Wow.

Bauer seems way too outspoken for the Jays front office, but he'd be a great signing.

It's probably too convoluted to execute in reality, but I think there needs to be some level of benefit to the higher seed in an expanded field due to the randomness of a short series (Dodgers/Brewers, for example), plus I think having every game in a 3 game series being an elimination game is probably good for networks. TV ratings are down for practically every sport during the pandemic, but I'm curious to see how the MLB playoff ratings do. If it turns out viewers like this format, then maybe fans don't really care about what is fair or not. More teams = more fanbases engaged. 12-14 teams making it with the best team in each league getting a bye and the other division winners getting to choose their opponents during the WC round is a good compromise, though.

I'm not saying the current team doesn't have personality, I'm saying I don't want to root for a team like that. The best thing about the 2015 team was that we had a bunch of arrogant MF'ers who would cuss the other team out, bat flip, etc, etc. The fact that they were good made it even better, but it was fun as a fan to root for. I don't want the Jays to become a robotic team like the Rays, don't even care if they're good. But that's just me. The Rays have a lot of stans on this board so I'm probably in the minority.

Unfortunately this "bastardized Rays" type of managing style is probably the norm with Atkins/Montoyo around. Even if the moves end up working or make sense at the time, being a fan of a personality-less, formulaic, numbers-obsessed team like the Rays is not appealing at all.

The problem is the Jays intentionally wrote it up to use that bullpen for at least 9 outs before the game even started. Shoemaker and Ray were both doing well when they were taken out.

Ray was doing well but the nerds in the front office only wanted 3 from him, so let’s take his ass out too. Cole giving the Jays what they deserve tonight.

f***, he actually hit that well.