glory

Morosi uses the Jays as clickbait due to its large social media presence. That's it. Much like Keith Law, he should be erased from being cited as a source.

I'd be surprised if the Jays sign any RP's to big league deals at this point. Spring Training will be easier to clean up some 40 man roster spots.

If Shatkins cared about optics (they don't), that's actually a pretty decent idea as long as the prospect coming back at least had upside. Won't happen though.

Yeah seriously I’m supporting Stroman now. Sure his whining on social media when Ryan Goins was let go was annoying but other than that he’s a good pitcher who wants the ball in big games, loves Toronto, and is trying to build a business on the side (and last time I checked that involves promoting the brand on social media and engaging with his followers). Don’t know why that angers so many people. No wonder baseball is so boring to the mainstream. It wants to stifle the personality off everyone. He’s not a Machado like douche like he’s portrayed here. Sign him to an extension.

If the Jays and Indians swapped divisions, the Jays would be heading towards their 5th straight playoff appearance in 2019.

Lindor could miss 20 weeks and the Indians would still win the Central by double digits. They'll take their time because they can afford to.

Yeah I never understood the appeal of this. I could maybe understand it if there was no interleague play, which would make the World Series a bit more interesting with that dynamic thrown in (Jays pitchers hitting in 1992 and 1993 was mind boggling for me as a kid), but with the way the league is set up now it's stupid and outdated. If Manfred is getting any heat for this change it is undeserved. This is one change that will help baseball.

I hope he picks baseball. Even if he ends up being a bust, MLB benefits from having the best athletes choose them over the NFL. If Murray chooses baseball and ends up being good, then even better for the league.

Yeah that's probably not going to end well, but versatility can't hurt.

If Kawhi leaves I find it hard to imagine Masai not blowing the team up. Even if they could make the playoffs without Kawhi, why wouldn’t they try to use the giant expiring contracts to add long term assets as opposed to keeping them, finishing as a 5th or 6th seed, and losing them for nothing? Cap space for the Raptors is meaningless. No good free agent with options wants to play here. Actually, considering who owns the Raptors, maybe a 45 win season and a competitive first round series would be preferable to a rebuild.

Yeah I think I read that analytics favor Gasol by a significant margin. He is better defensively, a better passer, and spreads the floor more. A lineup with Siakam/Gasol up front is going to be an upgrade. Enough of an upgrade to win the EC? I don't know. They couldn't really realistically improve at SG, SF, and PF, and Lowry is probably untradeable with his contract, so the only other option was to upgrade C, and they did. The way the roster is set up, Masai is preparing for a rebuild after this year. This is basically his AA-2015 push except he actually cares enough to maintain flexibility, whereas AA threw both his middle fingers up and knew he was gone anyway.

Gord Ash was one of the worst GM’s I have ever seen and probably will ever see in my lifetime. No way JP was worse than him.

Yeah even something more minor that eliminates the incentive to tank/openly rebuild would help the league. Like if the Jays knew they couldn't lose 90+ games in 2019, then they would have spent some money on free agents, as would the majority of the teams in the league in a similar spot. It makes sense. Plus, even when the Jays are rebuilding, I'd like to see a watchable product on the field.

There is a long string of tweets from Sherman about proposed changes. I agree with a lot of them. I really like forcing teams to be competitive rather than tanking and sitting on their money. The above seems a little excessive, but it's a starting point.

Like both changes if they happen.

Do Canadians have a really, really low standard for excellence?

Lol, I read the Thanos post and not the one he was quoting. My point still stands though. Stop quoting Keith Law. Don't even type his name out in parody. Please?

Is there a way to use the ignore feature for any post with Keith Law in it? Geez man, why do people keep quoting that guy?

Shatkins doesn't really put much value on defence (at least so far in their tenure). They like exit velocity, barrels, launch angle, etc, so Bryce is like the perfect Atkins player. The Jays won't be getting him, but kinda wish they were less risk averse and more willing to jump on opportunities, assuming of course that Harper would even want to sign in Toronto (he probably doesn't).

Steroid ball saved baseball, and now it's looked down upon while the game sinks into obscurity. What a joke.

Decreasing the number of regular season games while more teams make the post season is something that I will absolutely hate but seems like the only real compromise. More teams in means more fan interest in more cities. Right now the AL has like 4 good teams and whoever this year’s version of the 2018 A’s will be. That’s about it. Attendance and ratings are going to suck worse than ever before. There also should be a way to make tanking less appealing. I’m sure one sport will figure it out and the rest will follow. Man baseball needs to change so many things and we will be lucky to see any real change any time soon.

Yeah I don’t know when it will happen, probably when it’s already too late, but at some point they will lower the amount of games played in a season and shorten the season in general (late March to f’n November is insanely long).

Baseball has also followed the NBA in terms of teams intentionally tanking, and there's a lot of them now, so when more than half the league sucks ass and there are 162 games in a season, it's a really bad combination. They might have to start a system that does not incentivize rebuilding. Like there was nothing preventing the Jays from signing Morton, Happ, and Brantley (assuming they all had interest in signing with the Jays) while still hoarding prospects and rebuilding the farm system in the background. Instead they chose to sit on the money and purposely suck. Good for the team in terms of draft position and stuff like that, but horrible for the game when the majority of other teams are doing the same thing. Also, analytics (while it makes sense to use) probably bores the hell out of the casual viewer. Watch an episode of Inside the NBA with Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson. No one says a word about in depth stats. It's a bunch of guys shooting the breeze, making fun of each other, and watching basketball. It is simply more fun to watch even if you're not a basketball fan. In baseball, you either listen to Brian Kenny types or Harold Reynolds types. It's boring and unentertaining. Like I said this goes beyond cosmetic changes to the game. I think baseball should change a little bit, hell, look at the NBA during Jordan's time versus today. It's night and day. They changed so many rules but the NBA is more popular than ever. Baseball has to make some cosmetic changes, but also have to market the game better. Manfred has the toughest job of any commish in sports. Saving MLB long term is going to be very tough.

I don’t see any way MLB doesn’t end up like NHL where it’s completely off the mainstream radar and national TV deals are not as lucrative. It’s not about shortening the game, it’s about removing the stigma of it being “an old white man’s game”. That’s why Kyler Murray coming to baseball would be a coupe for MLB. Elite athletes choosing baseball over other sports needs to happen more often, and I see no reason why they would with minor league pay being nothing and now free agency not being lucrative to most free agents. The Bill James quote that got him in hot water is going to end up being close to a reality in about 10-20 years. At some point the league has to adapt to the social media era. Make the players more accessible. Encourage them to create social media content that appeals to young people. That’s probably a step in the right direction at least.

I would have agreed with you guys last year since the Jays were trying to be good enough to contend for a 2nd wild card spot, but in 2019 they are better off trying to get playing time for the younger players. Even if Teoscar, McKinney, etc, are not long term pieces, at least see what they have, maybe they develop better than expected. If not, you move on. If the Jays signed Happ and Morton for the rotation, and needed some offensive help, then I'd be down with the idea of taking advantage of the cheap FA market. But unfortunately the timetables just don't match up.