glory

Latest from Mitch Bannon:

Whoever was doing the Jays international signings in 2015-2016 hit a grand slam with Kirk, Moreno, and Otto Lopez in the same signing class/year. Haven’t had much success internationally since but that’s essentially three 5 WAR players in 2026 (Kirk prorated due to injury) from one class. Pretty damn impressive.

The 2021-25 Jays was a hell of a run, definitely by this franchise’s standards. Springer was a huge part of that and left his mark on the org.

Phillies starting Nola on 2 days rest apparently. Eight days ago they were tied for WC1 and were 5 up on the D-Backs. Crazy to think they might miss the playoffs entirely now.

The Jays had 3 catchers and Kirk was coming off a 4 WAR/129 wRC+ season at age 23. The only alternative was to move Moreno to 2B/3B. I honestly wouldn't have been against it, as the Jays signed KK that year anyway, so they didn't really need a CF for 2023 and could have just put Moreno at 2B and ran with it, but whether that was the best use of the catcher surplus would have been highly debatable. Varsho was probably the wrong guy to get in return. It was the ultimate buy high and they didn't even play him in CF for half of his remaining years of control.

The issue with trading Vlad will be the length of his contract. Even if he has a 2024-25 type of season in 2027, is another team going to covet 12 more years of a 1B with Vlad's track record? Or if he somehow has 3 straight elite seasons from 2027-29, is another team absorbing another decade of that? The latter scenario might give a glimmer of hope, but Vlad hasn't had 2 elite seasons in a row yet, and he'll be 28 next year. I don't think it's happening at this point unless he starts taking coaching/adjustments seriously. Most likely scenario IMO is either having to live with a s*** load of negative WAR seasons as he tries to hit enough singles to reach 3000 hits by 2040, or cut bait half way into the deal if it gets to the point of hurting the team. I'm not sure which scenario is more likely but unless Arte Moreno stays on for another season or two as Angels owner, I don't see a logical trade fit, unfortunately. Would love to be wrong on that one.

Everyone (except Vlad) knew he was going to get booed out of the building if he didn't come out and apologize before the game. Will it work? Who knows. They gave him a curtain call for hitting 1 HR at home this year, so I don't think they'll boo him that much now that he's done some damage control.

Hopefully Springer gets 3 days worth of standing ovations. Other than that, ready for the 2026 season to end.

Lowe went from a -14 OAA in 2025 to a +14 OAA in 2026. Arraez had a similar jump in defensive metrics. I didn't watch a single moment of them playing defense in 2026, so can't comment on the eye test, but that seems a little suspect to me, at least in terms of how I'd value them long term. Suzuki being a power hitting RHB and an OF probably makes more sense for this team.

Really easy to appreciate the JD, Bautista, Edwin, Russ, etc, era in hindsight. It was fleeting, but man, those guys raked and were super competitive. Agreed about JD, he's super smart about hitting, and doesn't hold back.

Donaldson and Martin discussing Vlad:

The Jays could agree to eat 100% of Vlad’s remaining deal and the Mets still say no to that one. Id put the chances of trading Vlad at less than 1% but only real shot with Arte Moreno gone is probably AJ Preller. Let Vlad have a bounce back year in 2027 then immediately call Preller. Take back Xander, who cares, just get out of the contract. Wishful thinking though.

Yeah that’s kinda the elephant in the room for 2026. The Jays had way too many hitters who either overachieved in 2025, aren’t very good in general, had no track record to depend on, or a combination of all 3. Vlad s***ing the bed gets the headlines, as it should, but there was a lot of faith put into 2025 performance. Probably way too much.

Last season he played until Game 7 of the World Series, then the WBC (which most non-US players treat like the World Series), followed by the 2026 season. I think best case he gets a long off season to rest his body and mind and he comes back strong in 2027 (which might get delayed anyway so even more rest). Other than that, I don’t know what we can be optimistic about here as it relates to Vlad. I have no clue if he’s a 6 WAR, 3 WAR, or 1 WAR player next season, that’s not an ideal scenario for your best and highest paid player.

If 2025 played out exactly the same way except Vlad wasn’t extended, then I don’t think there’s any universe where he isn’t brought back. Ed would have bent over even more than he actually did if he was negotiating with a FA Vlad who was coming off the 2025 post season run. Vlad could have asked for Soto money, equity in the team, and booty calls on demand, and Ed would have given it to him. In a sick way the Jays probably saved money by giving him 14/500 when they did rather than have Ed have to beat whatever Cohen was offering. Thats the depressing part I guess. We can’t even dream on “what if he left and we signed Pete instead”. It was never going to happen.

Vlad got his $500M and still had an amazing playoff run shortly after, so maybe there's hope that this season isn't the beginning of his Anthony Rendon phase, but I don't know how in the world a baseball player can make that quote to begin with, much less make it as he puts up a sub-100 wRC+ and 1.1 WAR at age 27.

I really hope that's AI and/or bad translation. If not, wow. 13 more f'n years of a guy who is already coasting.

Firing Popkins because the slap hitters surrounding the roster couldn't generate enough power to do any damage would be pointless. Santander and Barger were two of the biggest power threats in the lineup and they either didn't play all year or barely played. The one power hitter on the team did well (Okamoto). Kirk has been good since getting healthy. Everyone else is either playing to expectations (Gimenez, Lukes, Straw) or regressing to a more normal level of production compared to 2025 (Springer, Clement, Varsho, DS, Heineman). Vlad finished a season as a 1 WAR player like 18 months before he got $500M and there are quotes dating back to 2020 when Montoyo/Martinez were talking about trying to increase Vlad's launch angle. He is what he is and no coach has been able to get through to him. He will either be elite, good, or trash in any given season, and we won't know which one until it happens. He's the one real outlier as far as performance vs projections but no hitting coach is going to get through to him either way. I think Tony Taters is probably cooked, he's effectively missed 2 seasons in his 30's and he only has one skill that relies on bat speed. Probably not the best contender to age well. But aside from that, as long as 2027 Vlad is closer to good/elite, then I think the offense likely does better next season organically just by health (Barger) and whatever additions they make. If Taters is done or struggling then Keys as the DH would add a nice injection of youth/upside to the lineup. They need more of that.

"We are still determining whether he can start over the weekend" - John Schneider post game.

They are definitely tempting fate with Miles’ workload.

The AL Central putting belt to ass on the teams the Jays choked against. Not fun.

Considering what they gave up for him, I think this is a case of feeling that Soriano has another gear in him. Same logic behind giving Cease what many considered an overpay last winter but knowing the underlying numbers and maybe tinkering with his pitch mix can lead to better results. Soriano and Spaghetti felt like more 2027-beyond trades rather than 2026 trades. The Jays making a small run in August clouded that a bit.

The lockout happening after the 2025 season would have felt like a giant relief given how 2025 ended. Lockout is going to suck this year as I really want to see how the Jays can fix this roster, but we'll have to wait possibly a long time to find out.

The results + velo drop is kinda concerning. If the Jays lose this series then I'd probably lean towards shutting Cease down.

Sunday's game is listed as TBD vs deGrom. Probably need to win the first two, though it's baseball so who knows.