Brownie19

Apparently the Tigers are willing to move Tarik Skubal prior to the trade deadline. Skubal and Jimenez would be a sexy (but expensive) package for the Jays.

My point is the Nats didn't go out and build a lock down bullpen. Doolittle was awful in 2019 (4.25 FIP, 5.08 xFIP), as was Rainey (7.08 BB/9!!!). That bullpen was way shittier than the Jays current pen. It just so happened that those 2, along with Hudson got hot at the right time and when combined with Corbin pitching from the pen and Stras & Max going deep into games, they were able to win with a different formula than the common formula you see these days were starters go 4-5 and then the pen locks down the 5-9th inning. The Nats did go into it with a completely different strategy and were aided by some of their best bullpen arms peaking at the right time. Of course this also destroyed Stras and Corbin...I seemingly forgot that Stras is essentially dead now. Man did he get paid just in the nick of time!

um...Washington in 2019?

Joe Jimenez would be a great target. We'd have him for this year and next. He comes with risk as his track record is sketchy, but something certainly seems to have clicked this year. Add Joe Jimenez and Raisel Iglesias and the bullpen would be set without gutting the farm.

I've been following baseball long enough thanks. Long enough to know we aren't going to trade for 4 relivers at the deadline. A Luis Castillo trade would be incredible and I have no trouble adding some type of swing man or a marginal starter with options that we can stash in AAA to add depth to the rotation, but after that, it's an elite bullpen arm we need. It's not depth.

Man - that's an interesting question. $14.5M AAV and you own him until 2025. He's 32 this year, so we have him through his age 35 season. He's certainly fill an immediate need for us and wouldn't cost much in terms of prospect capital. Lots of risk though. I'd vote yes.

This is like talking to the wall. I'm out.

This team isn't adding 2 starters and 4 bullpen arms...WTF man? Gaus, Manoah, Berrios, Stripling - why do we need 2 more starters? You want to run a 6 man rotation? or do you want us to add some crappy veteran and hide him in AAA to guard against injury?

Robles f***ing sucks man. He doesn't get on base. Zimmer is in the 96th percentile for sprint speed, Robles - 86th. Robles may be more apt to steal a few more bases, but this isn't a massive upgrade.

Yikes. The Jays knew there was a strong likelihood that Semien would only be a Blue Jay for 1 year. Why on earth would you hamper Bo's defensive development at SS by moving him off the position for 1 year, especially when Semien isn't 'miles' ahead of him defensively? Is Espinal better than him as a SS? Maybe, but I'm not 100% convinced he'll be a major league starter for the next 5 years (I love what he's been for the team, but he may get more and more exposed as a full time player. He hits lefties well, but righties are killing him. A platoon with Biggio may be our best bet in the playoffs). I know defensive values are challenging and iffy, but Bo's defensive value this year is already more than it was last year and is ahead of guys like Trea Turner, Tim Anderson and Kiner-Falefa. It often takes SS's time to develop defensively and for a 24 year old, Bo is holding is own. You think KC should move Witt Jr. off SS too? I can't say I disagree with moving Bo down in the lineup a bit more, but I do trust the Jays know what they are doing and know what's best for Bo and the team.

I don't think he's a sizable upgrade at all. Zimmer posted an 89 wRC+ last year with semi-regular playing time. Robles has been worse than that over the past 3 years. If he came here and got 2 at bats per week like Zimmer, there's a good chance he'd produce just as crappy as Zimmer is. As long as Zimmer doesn't complain about his role, he's doing a great job at it.

A lot of talk that having the draft when they did was a bad idea. Too much on teams plates to have the draft, be trying to sign those players and have the trade deadline all within like a 2 week period.

I mean he averaged 146 games in the 4 season prior to signing in LA.

Chapman continues to crush it for the Jays. 136 wRC+ in June and 152 wRC+ in July. The peripherals indicated this was coming and it's awesome to see. He could be a 4 to 5 WAR player for us.

It's really a shame this guy is Ezekiel Carrera defensively...

Man - this reminds me how sad it is to see what Rendon has turned into. I thought he was one of the safest bets out there for a mega money deal. Good defender with a low K | 150 wRC+bat, 6 WAR player who was heading into his age 30 season. If you were going to sign a 30 year old player, I though Rendon was one of the safest and best bets in baseball. I guess that's baseball for you.

Anyone know if Vlad weighs more this year than he did last year?

I was simply trying to get clarification on who suggested that "managing the egos of millionaires is impossible because they’ll do what they want anyway". I assumed you were referring to me and I wanted to clarify that's not what I said. I understand why Charlie was fired and I'm not losing any sleep over it. I think some of the comments about what fans "knew" are a bit much though. I can also buy you're suggesting that Charlie could conceivably hold minor leaguers accountable, even though you think he couldn't do it at the ML level. It's ironic that Bo wants (needs?) a tough Daddy in the clubhouse. If he was playing better this year, Charlie may still have a job. Will be interesting to see if a new manager makes a tangible difference. Hope it does!

Obviously I'm talking about what happens when the pitcher slumps or has some struggles. Pitching coach tells him it's because his release point dropped - but that conflicts with all the training he did this past winter at Driveline where they worked to lower his release point to create more movement/spin. I'm just curious if it's more difficult for hitting/pitching coaches these days because players are getting such improved training by true professionals in laboratories during the offseason.

Who's suggesting this? I've obviously enjoyed this debate over the past few days, but I was suggesting that I don't think yelling at adults is overly effective. I also was asking which managers consistently hold players accountable for mental errors and poor play as I don't think you see this on a regular basis. I agree that players should be held accountable, but I think most of that happens behind the scenes. I think rarely do managers show up players in game by pulling them or benching them. Are guys given the night off as punishment on a regular basis? Hard to know these days as the benefits of giving players more days off is now so popular you'd never know if it was disciplinary or for physical reasons and teams aren't going to release that info to the public. You're second part is interesting though as a lot of players also have their own coaches/teams that they train with in the offseason. If a pitcher trains with driveline all year and they work on mechanics, pitch grips, spin rates, tunneling, etc. I wonder how often there is conflict with the team coaches. The coach wants a higher release point and different pitch usage than what the pitcher has trained with all winter. This was likely not a huge issue 20 years ago, but I have to think team coaches have to be a bit more open to the idea that 'their' way may not be the only way and they probably have to work with the players a lot more to work towards a common goal. Another example would be a player works with some proven training facility all offseason, comes to camp with a new leg kick...it's not like the hitting coach can or should just tell him to scrap that idea. Interesting stuff.

Do you think accountability is key at the major league level, but not required in the minors? If anything, I'd expect it would be more important in the minors because the players are younger and more immature. Developing good habits and establishing expectations from the organization would seem like a priority to me.

I missed the game. Did Schneider go out and use his elite move of making the struggling pitcher laugh on the mound to settle him down? Let's go kick the crap out of KC now boys!

I'm amazed at that. I wonder if that's a record or something???

That's a beta move. An Alpha comes in and makes it known there's a new Sheriff in Town. Bench Vlad for showing up the coaches last night and his s***** performance overall. Bat Bo 8th, Gurriel 2nd, stop giving Kirk days off and tell the starter (in front of the whole team) he's expected to go AT LEAST 7 innings tonight because the bullpen is s***. Take away all electronics from the clubhouse and any amenities they have. Cold showers only until they start winning. Burn the HR jacket too. We need a man to manage this team.

Agreed. I hope he makes them all shave and get haircuts too. No long hair, no beards, no sideburns. If they bat flip or don't run out groundballs - benched. We need more order on this team.