glory

Yeah this one is on Schneider. Using Garcia 3 out of 4 days was not smart.

Have to assume Hoffman is not available, and I think Jimi has thrown 2 out of the last 3. Would be nice to not have to use either of them.

From Clement, Straw, and Heineman, absolutely.

I'm glad they seem to have finally come to their senses and put Gimenez at 9. If he's hitting below Heineman then that means they no longer have delusions about how good of an offensive player he is. If you're lucky then he's around a 90-100 wRC+ player, and you accept that at the bottom of the lineup (have no choice due to the contract).

The biggest issue with the team right now is the rotation, but we will see about the offense. Removing Wagner and soon Roden, and replacing them with Barger (+ great statcast data) and Varsho should help. Lukes isn't a bad 4th OF option from the looks of it. Kirk is starting to hit the ball with more authority as well. Maybe things do start to improve from an offensive standpoint. Enough of an improvement? Remains to be seen. The rotation is still the biggest hurdle. Three geezers + Way Back Francis + pray. Not sure how they will get by with that over the long haul without massive amounts of luck.

The thing about the AL is that there are no great teams, but also only 2 real bottom feeders (White Sox, Angels). So unless the Jays are facing one of those 2 teams, I don’t think there is a cupcake series for them. Having this run differential even with their schedule is not a good sign. The Cubs have had an objectively tougher schedule and lead the league (tied) in RD. If it wasn’t for Jeff Hoffman this team is likely closer to their RD in win/loss. Varsho coming back helps, and they really need a surprise breakout or 2 (or 5).

Two straight wins on the backs of home runs. More of this please.

Having a chance to sweep the Red Sox on the road and resting Vlad in the final game (unrelated to injury as he pinch hit later in the game) was an act of a non-serious organization. Resting Springer is less egregious since he's old so he could be banged up or need more rest in general.

Kirk made a lot of hard contact tonight. Good to see.

October 8, 2022: Blue Jays lose in embarrassing fashion to the Mariners in Game 2 of the Wild Card Round. Less than two weeks later: In hindsight, we should have known right there that this organization wasn't serious.

Trade deadline: Bo, Bassitt, Green, Scherzer (if healthy) Should be shopped but won't be due to wanting to contend in 2026: Varsho, Gausman, Hoffman, Garcia Intriguing trade option if performance continues: Springer (salary will likely have to be eaten though). Unmovable due to contract: Vlad, Berrios, Gimenez, Santander, Kirk I don't think anyone above is getting a difference making return back except maybe Hoffman/Garcia given how valuable relievers are at the deadline. It's going to be a long road to get impact young talent back onto this team.

Depressing but spot on. Coming into this past off season you could have commended Shatkins for having such a clear long-term payroll situation where it would have been easy to pivot for the next front office, but then Atkins decided to help his future employer by taking $96M off their hands (and another $11M for a 5th OF), sign a one trick pony DH to a five year deal, and extend a catcher who had a 94 wRC+ and .098 ISO in his last 1015 plate appearances coming into the season and might be one of the most out of shape athletes in the league. That's not to suggest that those contracts won't provide on-field value, they could/might, but none of them are tradable and when you're paying full freight for players rather than getting some sort of team benefit out of it, then it's not advantageous at all. The next GM, whoever it is, will be mandated to compete in 2026, and I honestly don't know how that 1) has a chance of working out, and 2) makes the job desirable for a good candidate. For all we know Shapiro may have already been extended, but if the job is available, then I can't see it being one that a candidate with options is going to jump at. My guess is if the job is available then they'll give it to someone like Zaidi and try to have a quick turnaround rather than someone who sees logic in where the team is on the competitive cycle.

His team options after this season are for $20M annually so he’s no longer cheap either. Wouldn’t mind trading for him regardless if the cost is minimal (that’s all the Jays can offer anyway) since they won’t be rebuilding any time soon so might as well trade for someone with a high ceiling and hope it works, but he doesn’t present the surplus value potential that he used to. The bigger question I have is who is going to handle the trade deadline if/when the team is selling again? A top 5 payroll in MLB while possibly heading towards a 2nd straight last place finish and having one of the worst farm systems in the league doesn’t seem like a situation that warrants a front office extension. Shatkins shouldn’t be within 10 feet of the trade deadline if the team is selling again.

The Jays are now tied for the 2nd worst run differential in the AL and tied for 4th worst in all of baseball. Only the Orioles (lol), Rockies, and Marlins are worse. The sad thing is there’s not much the Jays can actually do. The minor league system is ass and the only injured player they are waiting on is a 40 year old Scherzer who might be washed anyway. On top of that they owe Vlad, Gimenez, Taters, Berrios, and Kirk about $430M from 2026-30 (never mind what they owe Vlad alone for the 9 years after that) so they aren’t going to rebuild. The path to fixing this isn’t very clear right now.

If finishing last again means Shatkins is gone, then I think I’ll take it at this point. This team stinks.

One thing Ross Atkins loves more than opposite field singles is players with options, no matter how marginal they are. I know the AAA depth aren't exactly high valued trade pieces but I can't believe some were not consolidated for more help even if it was for a middle reliever or a bench bat.

Yeah Barger has bat speed and exit velocity. I have no issues taking a chance on that and hoping it leads somewhere positive. There's not much power that can be squeezed out of Roden, Wagner, Clement, Gimenez, Kirk, etc, but I think that potential is there for Barger. Whether he's good enough to take that next step is the question. The other names you mentioned, not so much, certainly not Orelvis anymore since he's trying to hit singles the other way to suck up to the Jays brass.

“I honestly think that this team has forgotten how to pull baseballs. That’s why our home runs are down. You get into batting practice and you’re hitting balls to right-centre, left-centre, instead of working on the proper way of pulling baseballs, and elevating baseballs.” - Matt Stairs, 2008 Just for fun, the Jays 2008 BA farm system ranking: 25th Man, if the 2025 Jays had a few more white dudes and fewer Latinos, then this would be a JP Ricciardi team in every way.

This org is f***ed under this regime. No hitting prospect will ever fully develop at this rate when hitters are being told to not only go against their natural swing tendencies, but also adopt an approach that is less likely to make them effective big leaguers. It's possible Barger, Schneider, and Martinez all suck and wouldn't have developed anyway, but the Jays organization has done them zero favors from a development standpoint. What other org operates like this in 2025? No wonder so many young players who helped this team in 2020-22 suddenly lost their ability to hit for power. It couldn't have been Donnie (even though I like making fun of him) because this has infiltrated the minors too. Maybe James Click? Something changed in 2023, and man it has destroyed this team's short and long term prospects. It's up to Rogers now to make a change.

Nimmala is so screwed the longer Shatkins is here.

I didn't watch either of the games, but read that Gausman threw 50+ pitches in an inning. I understand they needed to eat up innings but that's a bit unreasonable.

Since returning from the IL in August 2023, he has a 0.9 WAR and 81 wRC+ in 587 PA with a .103 ISO (7 HR). Keep Ed Rogers away from the negotiating table on this one.

The entire dugout was probably sneezing when all the dust from the home run jacket flew everywhere. That hasn't seen the light of day in a long time.

I thought for sure the Jays would be at least top 3 in singles, but they are tied for 8th. The one/only thing they are good at and they aren't even top 5. Sad times. Maybe they can climb back into the top 5 in singles after tonight. Carrasco is good hitting, so it will be singles galore most likely.