max silver

I recall how reports had the Guardians asking for both Moreno and Martinez as a starting point in trade negotiations. In hindsight that may have very well been a worthwhile trade to make, but there would have been no guarantee Ramirez would have been interested in signing with the Jays long term.

Because there are as many as 4 position player spots that need to be filled and the team doesn't have this many pitchers with actual trade value to bring back major league starting pieces. Second base can likely be filled internally with some combination of Espinal, (assuming he isn't non-tendered), Biggio and Schneider, and maybe in a pinch Horwitz could fill the DH/backup 1B opening, but third base and left field both likely need to be filled with external players.

Yeah that's the sad reality ultimately. I wonder how much more it would have taken to re-sign Semien when he walked in free agency compared to the already somewhat inflated contract that the Rangers offered. Those f***ers really stole our lunch that offseason as both Semien and Seager were preferred targets that we were simply outbid for.

The aspect that surprised me about this trade was that it removed two guys that may have been viable depth starter options as soon as next season. The organization has had a bit of difficulty in developing depth starter options and this particular issue really bit them in the ass in 2022, and if not for amazing rotation health in 2023 it would have been a big concern again.

The Blue Jays were reportedly serious bidders for the services of players like Corey Seager and Gerrit Cole but they've never actually handed out the type of money it would require to sign someone like this. This is the one player in MLB I'd even begin to consider handing out the $400-500 million or more that it would take.

Am I correct in assuming that vertical attack angle and 4 seam spin rate would be directly correlated?

Not so subtle dig at a certain passive aggressive poster who frequents here.

Nobody is "drooling" over the article. It simply states that the Jays are in a relatively strong place at the start of the post season.

I wouldn't mind seeing 1 year deals to the likes of Michael A Taylor and Jason Heyward. Taylor and Heyward would likely make for an effective platoon and would give the squad a few more high quality outfield defenders. Being able to mix and match Springer, Varsho, Taylor and Heyward would create an interesting lefty/righty mix that could be deployed depending on matchups.

Those prices all seem pretty team friendly. For those kinds of dollars any of those signings could make sense but I suspect the actual terms will eclipse those all by a large degree.

When you closely break down the numbers Chapman essentially played like an MVP candidate for nearly half of his season and was a little above replacement level for the rest. He was similar to Gurriel at the plate where he was a world beater when he was hot but pretty terrible when he wasn't. He started the season like gangbusters and looked like he was playing his way to a free agency mega contract. 36 GP 178 wRC+ 2.1 FWAR Then he hit the skids for an extended period. 49 GP 79 wRC+ 0.5 FWAR He heated up again in early July. 29 GP 139 wRC+ 1.1 FWAR Finally he went ice cold to end the season, with a finger injury likely contributing somewhat to the struggles upon his return 28 GP 50 wRC+ -0.1 FWAR You are left with a player that produced 3.2 FWAR in only 65 games when he was on top of his game, but struggled to only 0.4 FWAR in the other 75 games when he wasn't producing at the plate.

Yeah potentially losing Lantigua is going to absolutely cost Atkins his job.

Trying to re-sign Chapman is both reassuring and terrifying at the same time. Chapman could be a monster at the plate with a bit of an approach change but he just had a season where he was one of baseball's hitters for about half of the season (near MVP level overall play) and simultaneously awful for half of the season (replacement level value).

I really don't get the hankering for Votto. His numbers against right handed hitters the last few seasons are downright bad which really limits his potential usefulness. If he weren't Canadian I don't think anyone here would give half a f*** about signing him. I think it makes infinitely more sense to spend a bit more to bring back Belt who was far and away the team's best hitter for most of last season.

You are honestly f***ed in the head.

Getting him out of Safeco Field may be all it takes to get him back to being a middle of the order threat. Rogers Center was super pitcher friendly last season so I don't know if Toronto is the answer.

In my view the 2023 Blue Jays failed because half of the lineup simultaneously experienced down years at the plate. It would have made no difference whatsoever if there were a different manager in place.

If Ohtani ends up not being able to pitch long term his eventual contract isn't going to look nearly as good, but he'd likely still be a plus outfielder based on the physical tools he offers in elite speed and cannon arm.

Ohtani out WAR'ed Judge with his DH numbers only. I could swear I heard that Ohtani could also pitch too and wasn't only a DH most of the time...

Oh come on surely you must know that only closers should get paid actual money. From years of watching the Blue Jays play we all know that the best way to start the season is with a cheap bullpen because that's always worked splendidly.

When it's a guy who's historically been one of MLB's best relievers I think it's a worthwhile gamble to take. It's a helluva lot better than the idea of spending $50+ million on a closer at the very least.

There's no such thing as guarantees in baseball contracts.

The Blue Jays weren't a bad offense away from home, as they were 7th in runs per game and 5th by wRC+. They were excellent with runners on base away from Rogers Center as they produced a very good 121 wRC+. Their offensive issues were largely limited to Rogers Center, where they were really 23rd in runs scored and really poor in the clutch in particular with a lousy 83 wRC+ with runners in scoring position. Vlad and Varsho each had very pronounced splits with worse numbers at home, but each of their home issues was limited to RHP only. I think the home run scoring issues have a very good chance to be a weird one off type of issue that won't be repeated and don't see a need to essentially blow up a really large portion of the team. If you aren't a fan of paying one dimensional players you are certainly willing to pay an extremely high price for a player who very well may need to be a full time DH within a few more seasons. Soto was one of baseball's worst left fielders last season just ahead of the likes of Benintendi (this one is a surprise) and Kyle Schwarber. I still think Vlad has a similar physical talent level but I'm also becoming lukewarm to the idea he's ever going to become the consistent offensive threat his latent talent suggests should be possible. Trading him for the purposes of salary flexibility in return for what's likely to be a very weak return feels very risky as I get the feeling he is very motivated to improve on his poor results in the 2023 season. Given the quality of contact he produces he's likely a very small tweak away from returning to something that resembles the monster numbers he produced in 2021. Do have any links available that Manoah wants out of Toronto? Atkins is on record that Alek hasn't asked for a trade (that can be taken with a grain of salt) and I don't recall any credible reports to indicate the opposite is true.

Yeah this isn't a very fair comparison. Pearson has suffered a boatload of injuries throughout his career and if I'm not mistaken 2023 was the first time in his entire time as a professional that he didn't miss major time due to injury. If/when Tiedemann missed major time due to injury in his next 5 seasons then there will be a direct comparison between the two.

I was fine with either the 2 or 3 year options, but I imagine the front office declined the 3 year deal in the faint hope that Green would take the 1 year option.