Brownie19

I think the assumption is that Votto is going to cost next to nothing (I don't know, say $3), while JD Martinez (and Belt???) is going to cost you $15M

What's your solution? Sell him at 10 cents on the dollar? Career wRC+ while playing 1st base is 138. It's 120 when he DH's.

That's a good way to put it. Plate discipline can be taught and can change as players mature and gain experience. But there's no guarantee. Sometimes there are negative consequences of trying to be more discipline (we may have seen that with Bo to some extent). Undiscipline hitters also seem to decline faster when their physical skills (bat speed, flexibility, etc.) start to erode. Discipline hitters are often better at knowing what pitches they can handle (given new physical limitations) and which ones they can't. That said, Robert is still young enough that you probably don't need to worry too much about a physical decline and there's certainly potential to get even more out of him. As is, I'm not sure Robert is on the same level as someone like Soto, Betts, etc. - where you're willing to give up all your top farm system guys to acquire. I think his value is inflated because of the contract he's signed and the potentially excess value is provides. Then again, I didn't think Yelich was either and he went on to post B2B 7+ WAR seasons.

I think we found the board fluffer guys. Line up!

That's exactly how I'd feel. Also - if I'm going to bet on any 40 year old rebounding to provide positive value in the upcoming season - I'm putting my bet on Joey Votto and it's not remotely close. He's such a study of the game and has found ways to reinvent himself several times throughout his career.

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2758732/report-blue-jays-meet-with-candelarios-representatives

I suspect some will look to what Pujols did in his victory lap in St. Louis to justify the risk that he's a waste of space on the roster...

Is this still a thing? Are players concerned about joining organizations that use turf in their home stadium? I thought the new stuff was fine now and I don't think people turn into Andre Dawson or Vlad Sr. anymore (knees destroyed by painted concrete).

Michael A Taylor is a 1-2 WAR player. He isn't going to get paid, nor land a starting CF gig IMO. Everyone knows he's a backup.

This is true. We don't really have solid 4th OFers in house unless you want that to be Biggio. Taylor would be a solid 4th OFer who can start v. LHP, play all the OF positions, steal a base off the bench, etc.

What are you going to do, platoon him?

Oh - I'm not 100% sure I knew that's how it went. Thanks.

I mean if someone is stupid enough to give Teo $80M then good for him. Love that guy. But that's a hard no from a Jays fan.

Yeah - I don't know where those MLBTR predictions come from. I'd be shocked if they resigned KK. Not that I agree that someone like KK can't help a team win in the playoffs.

Starting Justin Turner at 2nd base is certainly too complex for me to wrap my head around.

Brenton Doyle won, so it appears they are no longer penalizing players for being s***** hitters (which they seemingly have in the past). Doyle is one of the worst hitters in recent memory to get 425+ PA's. Great fielder though.

You spent the entire playoffs bitching that the Jays FO doesn't know how to construct a team to win in the playoffs and your solution is to play 73 year old Justin Turner at 2nd base this year?

OK - then who are our targets?

OK - who else? We backing up the Brinks trunk to Jorge Soler? Big time power guy, career 171 wRC+ in the playoffs. Is that our guy?

Are you going to point out which FA's give you the competitive advantage in the playoffs?

Is Josh Allen morphing into Brett Favre? Gunslinger who turns the ball over more than you'd like.

Wheeler/Strider not nominated for NL CY Young is a big miss IMO - although we've discussed how complicated that award/race was this year already. ERA still seems to play a major role?

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If you ever gave up on him pitching, you'd immediately insert him into RF and watch him become a GG stud out there putz.

Trading Kikuchi to then sign Junis isn't adding starting pitching depth unless you were able to trade Kikucci for a SPer in AA/AAA who could also be part of your SPing depth - that would be ideal I guess. Not sure what you'd actually get for him. Affordable starter coming off a really good year? Maybe that would work. Weakening the #4/#5 spot "may" give you the ability to attract a couple of those fringe guys like Junis and Velasquez (which adds just 1 more piece of depth), but then you need to open up space in the bullpen for the other guy as he won't go to AAA. Not sure you're actually going to save any money though. Most of Kikucci's 2024 salary is probably needed to sign Junis/Velasquez. I think you'd have to be REALLY confident that Manoah was going to rebound and at least give you 160 IP, 4.00 ERA season to go for this approach. These types of scenarios may looks great on paper, but when you factor in that you have to compete against all the other teams for the FA's and such, it's really difficult to pull it all off unfortunately. You can't just hand pick a bunch of individual signings and say "the Jays should have done this".