BigRed

This is what I worry about. Everyone is laser focused on everything that went right in the playoffs (and all the big moments), but people are forgetting how average they were down the stretch. They had like 2 weeks (12 games I believe) with a magic number of 7 (combined Jays wins / Yankee losses) to clinch the division and it came down to the last game. Replay that WS against the Dodgers 100 times and I doubt Snell gets shelled in both starts like that more than a handful of times. Game 5 with all the wild pitches / passed balls was so bizzare. My point is the Jays had a lot of timely hits and luck go their way thats going to be difficult to reproduce. The chances of Springer having that type of season again? Cmon. Guys like Clement, Barger, Lukes, etc played out of their minds for what they were brought in for -- and to expect them to maintain that is a lot of pressure and probably a bit unreasonable.

I think when you look at the last 2 seasons, it's not unrealistic to expect some regression. I don't think this is the 74 win team from a year ago, but I don't think they are truly a 94 win team either. Not looking at the losses to the Dodgers, they had a lot of timely contributions, especially from the bottom of the order that's going to be hard to reproduce / replicate. If Bo leaves that's going to be a huge blow, but Im not conviced hes worth the 25-30M over 7-8 years that he will probably get either. They should hopefully get a boost to the starting pitching with Yesavage, but I wouldn't be shocked to see this team slip back closer to the mid 80s in wins.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/daulton-varsho/19918/spray-charts?position=OF Look at his spray charts. Why are we even pretending to be worried about a line out to 3rd or short? He had one infield lineout all season to 2nd. I'm not blaming Schneider, but I'm assuming between him, the bench coach, hitting coach, and everyone else feeding them information on the bench that somebody should have been aware he just doesn't line out to that part of the field. I think Barger being doubled off in game 6 absolutely had an impact on how they played IKF there. They were worried about a <1% scenario instead of just playing the odds. Another way to look at it simply that it was much more likely for Varsho to hit a ground ball somewhere between 2nd and 1st base, than it was him lining out to 3rd, short or the pitcher. Schenider must have been aware that they'd take the single out at home over a DP & conceeding the run with the score what it was, at that point of the game.

The Dodgers have now been in the WS 5 times in the last 9 years, winning 3 times. Probably as close to a "dynasty" that we will see in modern pro sports, and they have a good chance of winning several more in the coming years with Ohtani's contract structured the way it is. The fact that they have the payroll they do, while paying Ohtani 2M/year is completely absurd. The MLB should have absolutely stepped in and not allowed the contract to be structured the way it is, but I doubt they had the authority to do so, or simply didn't care. The league has done everything in its power to cater to him. They made the "Ohtani rule" after all... Even if the MLB limits/ends deffered salary in the next CBA - the damage has been done. The Dodgers have a very good chance of making the WS 4-5 more times over the last 8 years of Ohtani's contract. You have to wonder when the rest of the league/owners will get fed up of money buying playoff births, deep playoff runs or championships -- but im guessing some of the smaller market teams enjoy the CBT cheques they get every year. Plus everyone is going to point to the Mets, but if they keep spending the way they are, it's only a matter of time before they see some deep playoff runs. If the dodgers run it back again for a 3rd time I think you're going to have a lot of upset owners and fans -- whether the owners/front offices speak up is another thing.

If Schneider is trusting enough of Varsho to keep the bat in his hands and not have him lay down a bunt, why wouldn't you tell IKF to take a slightly bigger lead with a lefty pull hitter at the plate? If Varsho lines out to 3rd or short and IKF gets doubled out, you tip your hat and chalk that up to bad luck on a ball in play to a part of the field that he doesn't really hit to. Look at his fangraphs spray charts -- I don't see a single line drive to 3rd or short. That said, I don't blame IKF. He's not the best runner to begin with. Varsho needs to get that ball up in the air deep. There's a dozen other plays you can point to that if they went the jays way we'd be getting ready for a parade.

What a sad game. Can't hit a beachball

Well the only good news from this is hopefully Fatboy John Schneider won't be back next year after the Jays lose game 6

JS should just go auto Autoerotic Asphyxiate himself in the locker room. What a disgrace

He needs to be launched to the sun or the moon. Either one would would work

You're joking, right?

I'm actually surprised this wasn't seen by more people ahead of time. When it was obvious that Bo wasn't coming back I didn't have a lot of hope for this series, much less a probable WS vs the Dodgers. When you're only carrying 4 MLB level bats (Springer, Vlad, Kirk and Varsho) and everyone else is an AAA/bench level player you can only expect so much. The narrative from sportsnet / Buck has been that we have all these lunchbox-type players, where every night somebody steps up... -- and maybe with some timely luck & hits, that can carry you a little bit more consistently thru the regular season when you're not playing playoff calibre teams nightly, but against top quality competition it's probably not a great recipe for success. And I realise our SP hasn't really been an issue, but relying on Gausman who has a +4ERA in 5 post season starts, and a #2 who has 5 career MLB starts is eventually going to catch up to you as well.

Are you some sort of wizard

As crappy as the way the seeding worked out, the Jays are going to have their work cut out for them with either the Yankees or Sox. Pointless to worry about what happens in the other bracket. The Jays won both season series 8-5, but their starting pitching has had some poor outings lately. Gonna need to get more than 4-5 innings out of your aces with 4+ earned runs to have a chance

Buck talking about home field advantage thru the AL playoffs / best AL record. Lets worry about this game and winning a single playoff game first.

Well Otahni's deal certainly helped set the bar higher for Vladdy's contract. The Jays couldn't afford to lose him to the Yankees. What blows my mind is Bo is predicted to sign for around the 180M similar to Adames -- wherever he goes. I know his defense is not great, but he's at valuable position and his bat makes up for it. The difference in money that Bo will probably get vs Vladdy is kind of a head scratcher.