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I'd wait to see how Vlad looks this season before handing Hoskins a full time first base position. Vlad and Hoskins generally have produced similar defensive metrics aside from Vlad's poor 2023 showing. Aside from that Hoskins is coming back from major knee surgery so playing him in the field everyday is a remarkably bad idea.

What would be wrong with someone like JD Martinez, Rhys Hoskins or Joc Pederson? I want an above average bat DH type added and all of these could reasonably be expected to supply a similar amount of overall offense to Soler. The team has Vlad who is a 30 home run bat, Bo, Springer and Varsho who can be expected to produce 20-25 home runs, and Jansen who is a 15 home run bat with potential for more if he finally stays healthy. Schneider might be a 15-20 home run type of bat as well depending on playing time. But this is a team with zero power to you? Ok then.

It's a small sample size alert kind of situation but Biggio looked entirely competent at third base last season and it's fully backed up by the metrics.

From what I can gather CBD is really prone to reacting with a lot of different medications. I'd wager that combining CBD oil with anti-psychotics would be rather counter productive.

Yup time to tuck tail and run away.

Let's compare what each of Moreno and Kirk had accomplished in their respective careers with nearly identical levels of playing time up to the point of comparison at the point where Moreno currently sits. Moreno 453PA 104 wRC+ 2.4 FWAR Kirk 451 PA 143 wRC+ 3.7 FWAR I think Kirk is a more talented hitter with a higher offensive ceiling and right now he's arguably the more complete defender as well. Much like was the case with Moreno Kirk's numbers receive a massive boost from a hot streak, but the duration and strength of this hot streak far more impressive and likely to be reproducible in the future compared to what Moreno produced. Moreno 92 PA .349/.413/.627 179 wRC+ 8.7% BB 19.6% K 0.4 BB/K .400 BABIP 35.7% HR/FB Kirk 172 PA .361/.448/.639 211 wRC+12.2% BB 9.3% K 1.31 BB/K .352 BABIP 23.3% HR/FB There are a lot of indicators that outline how Moreno's hot streak is going to be very difficult to replicate, including a sky high .400 BABIP and unsustainable 35.7% home run to fly ball rate. A lot of Kirk's success was driven by elite bat to ball skills as evidenced by the superb 1.31 BB/K ratio, and far more reasonable BABIP and home run per fly ball ratios.

It doesn't really seem as though Shapiro stated that the team was going to have waves of impact talent specifically, just a steady stream of prospects available in the minor league system. After the initial wave in 2019 this has largely slowed to more of a trickle, but the system is actually back to the point where there is actually a wave of talent nearly ready to be infused into the major league roster. With continued development the next few seasons could potentially see the graduation of 3 above average position players, a top of the rotation type of arm, and a lot of high octane relief options to allow the team to build an inexpensive bullpen aside from a fewer expensive options at the back of the pen. https://www.thestar.com/sports/blue-jays/shapiro-s-blue-jays-rebuild-starts-with-deep-farm-and-strong-stomach/article_b99c8ef2-c66d-584b-acaa-81b336021128.html

There is definitely a greatly increased possibility that this is a window team but this if far from determined. To avoid this a lot of things will need to go right in the next few years though. Manoah, Kirk and Vlad will all need to show that 2023 were speed bump years for them and not a regular occurrence. A few of the minor league players from the pool of Tiedemann, Orelvis, Barger and Roden will need to morph into above average regulars at cost controlled league minimum salary levels, and they will possibly need to add an impact player in next year's offseason to offset the impending free agency of Vlad and/or Bo should neither of them be retained. There is a ton of money coming off of the books in the next 3 seasons and Rogers has given the club the possibility of spending to luxury tax levels to purchase free agent reinforcements as needed so there is ample opportunity to add more talent as needed from free agency to supplement the team.

Interesting comparison offensively but Outman appears to have the not so insignificant advantage of being a fantastic defender in center field.

This is very well stated. The Blue Jays definitely need to improve the minor league system but too many people are acting like it's completely devoid of talent which simply isn't true. There is a lack of potential impact talent compared to better systems as too many of the Jays minor leaguers seem to fall into the 45/45+ bracket (Fangraphs) or largely top out in the 50 bracket (MLB Pipeline) with very few players currently grading higher than this. This has somewhat hampered the team's ability to trade for players to supplement the roster as it removed them from contention for the services of elite players such as Juan Soto both when he was traded initially and when he was traded earlier this offseason. The 2019 team saw the biggest infusion of talent with Bo, Vlad, Romano and Cavan graduating, and it seems like there are people that expect it should be like this every season based on the "waves of talent" statement from Shapiro which was a stated goal. The team has basically been graduating one quality prospect from the system in each season since the rebuild finished. I haven't compared graduation numbers from other teams as I don't follow other team's systems as closely. 2020 saw Kirk and Espinal graduate, 2021 saw Manoah graduate, 2022 saw Moreno make his major league debut, 2023 saw the debuts of Schneider and Horwitz, and 2024 has potential graduations of Tiedemann with Barger, Martinez and even Roden as possibilities.

To me it read like the woman was effectively pimping out her daughter. It's entirely possible that's not the correct conclusion. In retrospect it's not "worse" than what Franco was doing but this woman completely neglected her duty to protect her own child and instead chose to profit by becoming complicit and covering up the activities of a pedophile for money. At the same time by not going to the authorities she allowed Franco to continue victimizing other young girls as well. As a father to a young daughter I'm just as disgusted by the mother's actions if not even more so.

The mother deserves far worse.

Bogaerts doesn't offer a ton of excess value on his contract given the fact that it basically lasts forever so I don't see why anyone would offer a top prospect in return.

Is this picture available somewhere? I saw a workout photo of him earlier in the offseason but he was wearing a loose baggy t-shirt and it was impossible to gauge whether he had slimmed down or not.

Paredes produced a .314 xwOBA last season. He produced 31 home runs vs the 24 expected home runs based on quality of contact. I'd sure as hell not offer Tiedemann for a player that relies on wall scraper home runs to produce the bulk of his offensive value.

I think the Machado deal is simply going to prove to be unmovable. From what I can gather the yearly luxury tax outlay for Machado is not going to improve for other teams if there is cash included in the deal. Machado is still going to be taking up $32 million on the luxury tax ledger until he's in his 40's.

The team would still need another outfielder to replace Springer in this scenario.

Depth starter with options.

I just don't see the wisdom in expending serious cash to upgrade a strength when the team has so many offensive holes which need to be filled.

Just think of how bright the future could be if Vlad eventually earns himself an extension and Machado is acquired through trade. The team could be paying something like $65-70 million combined for a couple of out of shape lazy DH types.

The Jays poor baserunning was certainly an issue in 2023 but it's far from being a primary issue behind lack of run scoring. The 2022 team still scored the 4th most runs in MLB with a 25th ranked baserunning value of -10.5 BsR. The 2023 team was a little bit worse on the bases at 27th place/-12.4 BsR. Lack of extra base hits with runners on base and poor situation hitting were far more pressing issues in need of correcting.

Could have fooled me.

Is this a case where Tiedemann *can't* go 5 innings in AAA, or is this more of a case of the organization being ultra cautious with the build up of their prized pitching prospect to avoid reinjury?

We shall see if Tiedemann proves to be an oft injured pitcher in the future or if the 2023 issues will be largely put behind him. It just seems a little premature to immediately conclude that he should be opening games moving forward based on a single season where he experienced some bicep/shoulder issues.

I recall 100 innings as a multi inning reliever was the stated goal for Pearson in 2023 during last year's offseason. He eventually only reached about 60 innings total though.