glory

As mentioned I don’t think there was much Shatkins could have done. Clearly they do not value Vlad as a $500M player but Rogers wanted to get the deal done by any means. After a last place finish for a team that had to sell at the deadline in order to get under the luxury tax, I don’t think Shapiro on the final year of his deal was going to sway anyone’s opinion in ownership. Just do what your boss wants and smile during the press conference.

Why was Bassitt removed, other than Schneider’s drug addict-like obsession with pitching changes?

John Schneider got to use every reliever in the pen tonight, so tonight's post game press conference will be one of the rare times where the losing manager is smoking a cigar while answering questions.

It shouldn't take Nimmala based on Alcantara's season so far, but do they have enough aside from Nimmala to get a deal done? Depends on what the Marlins are looking for, I guess. I think Sandy should still have a good market. His salary is very reasonable for someone with his upside, and he's coming back from TJS, so he seems very fixable. Put the Jays defense behind him + Pete Walker (who has a good track record with big league SP's at least), and it has tremendous upside. Worst case you took a $17M gamble on a potential ace and it doesn't work out. I think he has to be the target, or as mentioned an upside play on Cabrera.

Yeah it’s either a long term upside play for someone like Cabrera or all in play for someone like Alcantara. Peralta either won’t be moved or would cost way too much to acquire. Anything beyond that probably isn’t a difference maker. Depends on what the mindset is. If it’s “just get in”, then a mid rotation SP works but won’t help push the team’s upside forward. If it’s to get in and actually have a shot, then they have to think big. Options are definitely limited. I think Alcantara is probably the guy. Whether the Jays have enough to get him, especially if they want to avoid giving up Nimmala, is the question.

Yeah since the start of 2024 he's firmly in the "mid rotation starter" range, which is fine, but he can't be relied upon as a top of the rotation starter anymore. The Jays really need to find a way to get a top of the rotation starter, someone who can start Game 1 of a playoff series. The only 2 SP's I can think of that might be available next month are Alcantara and Peralta. The latter may not be available and if he is will likely cost a lot due to low salary + a team option next season. Alcantara really is the only option here, and then you hope the Jays defense + getting more comfortable post surgery gets him back on track. If they go for a mid rotation or lower SP, then that might be good enough to get in, but still limits their upside.

Going to be interesting to see what Schneider does when Varsho and Santander get back. Right now having Barger in RF and Clement at 3B makes some sense given the options available and Clement's hot streak, but once everyone is back, then the logical lineup construction would be Barger at 3B and Lukes in LF vs RHP. I get the sense that Schneider would run into a brick wall head first before he puts Clement on the bench, so not sure how he's going to work around that. Finally developing an internal 3B option who can hit and defend, but putting him in the OF to accommodate a utility IF (granted one who is doing very well) is a bit disappointing. Barger should really be getting as many reps at 3B as possible. We will see what is done when Santander comes back. But yeah, Barger's development has been huge for this season. The Jays needed a couple of internal breakouts to have a real shot at contention, and Barger and to a lesser extent Lukes so far have been massive, in addition to the bullpen development (Little, Fluharty, Fisher, Yariel, etc). It's funny the front office is usually very good at FA/trades to compensate for their lack of development, but it's been the opposite this season. Long-term sustainability is a lot more realistic when it comes with internal development rather than external short-term vets, so 2025 has gone really well so far on a lot of fronts.

Man the Orioles are so sad. Up 8-0 and now down 9-8. Seems like another year where the Rays will inexplicably be one of the best teams in baseball by the end of the season, and it annoys me every time.

I like how the Jays added a bunch of runs and Chad Green sat down before Little did. Schneider was like "we added to the lead so let me save Chad for a higher leverage moment".

Wow what a huge win. Yankees lost, and the Rays down 5-1 in the 9th, so if the latter holds up then the Jays gain a game on both.

Rostering Swanson has hurt the team beyond his performance. The Jays have (smartly) only used him in very low leverage situations. However, a s***** reliever who can only throw 1 inning and is only used in blowouts is not advantageous at all. The team is much better off with someone like Urena in Swanson's spot since there have been times where the Jays have (in Schneider's mind) had to use good relievers in low leverage spots because they don't have a long man that could give them length. If Swanson was a bad RP who could eat up 2-3 innings to save the pen, then that would have been reasonable, but he's a bad 1 inning RP. Literally no reason to roster him other than perceived loyalty. Green is still on the team because of his salary, and unfortunately that might prevent him from being let go until at least the deadline (maybe a bad contract swap or something). I hope they think more reasonably given it's sunk cost and he's actively hurting the team given his place in the pecking order, but it's harder to rationalize dumping a $10.5M contract. Swanson's deal is cheap enough to where it doesn't mean much.

Yeah a sold out minor league park will likely be a better atmosphere, which is sad. Seeing empty seats at the Trop for playoff games was embarrassing. One of the only scenarios where playing in a minor league facility might actually help the aesthetic value of a playoff series.

Man, the Rays are going to host playoff games at a minor league park, aren't they? Not what MLB wants, but a half empty Trop during playoff time is probably the more embarrassing option.

I can understand both sides. Devers getting a verbal agreement in his mind meant it came from the organization, not Chaim Bloom specifically, and a new GM having to live up to a verbal agreement from a previous regime (one that he feels won’t help the team) seems unreasonable. There was probably a way to figure out a reasonable compromise but the relationship was likely beyond repair in Boston’s mind.

Gut reaction is this is a trade that will probably age better for the Red Sox than the Mookie deal did. Devers is a fantastic hitter but like Vlad really doesn't provide much else especially if he's not at 3B. They traded him too soon rather than too late, so from a timing standpoint if they wanted to move him then now was probably the right call. The Red Sox have to bank on their young position player prospect panning out. That will help their fans forget about Devers.

Only one shocked by that home run allowed by Green was Schneider.

9 starts in 2024 gave Francis over two months of rope to be the worst SP in baseball. That’s insane when you think about it. This team didn’t even want to play Davis Schneider when he hit like Barry Bonds for 2 months but 9 starts from Francis and he’s suddenly an established starter. I know options are limited but it would be hard for someone like Easton Lucas to be as bad as Francis, much less worse.

First batter Francis faces hits a 102 mph flyout that traveled 393 feet. Going to be a fun game.

Schneider using Fluharty and Fisher in a game the team is down 4-0 (now 5-0). I guess he's saving Green and Swanson for the next high leverage opportunity.

I guess the Jays were due for a bad non-Francis game. Use Green and Swanson in the final two innings, and save the entire pen for tomorrow.

Roden, Wagner, and Santander have a combined WAR of -1.2. They essentially replaced Roden and Wagner with Varsho and Barger in May, and have gone 10-2 since Tony's been on the IL. You replace really bad players (or players performing badly) with good ones, and that can help explain a difference in RD, especially when mixed with Kirk's resurgence and other internal improvement. I don't know if it's sustainable as is, mostly because 3 SP's and 2 bullpen games a week is going to heavily tax the pen and they can't get away with it for much longer, but the Jays I would imagine will be one of the more aggressive teams at the deadline, so external pieces are probably on the way. It's just a matter of how long they can keep this going until that happens. Scherzer replacing Francis is super important. I don't trust Max's health, but we just have to hope. Then add a SP at the deadline. Honestly, I don't know what to make of this team right now. Exceeding my expectations, and I'm enjoying the ride from May onwards.

They will need to add a SP (a really good one) at the deadline, plus get Scherzer back soon, but the 2023 model of pitching and defense combined with an offense that can actually do damage would be very interesting.

Jays winning every game from now on except the ones started by Francis would put them in decent playoff position.