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I just don't think the Jays are interested in lower end outfield upgrades this off-season. They've already passed on inexpensive guys like Pillar and Calhoun who would have upgraded the overall roster, but without the baggage that Puig brings. Rightly or wrongly they look committed to figuring out which guys in their glut of AAA and AAAA outfielders has a chance to turn into something. Could certainly be that none of Alford/Fisher/McKinney/Davis ever amount to even 4th outfielders though.

Hey at the very least I can help generate new Jays content by sharing my unpopular opinions. Although I don't think there was any squabbling going in with regards to Cavan Biggio if that is the previous article you are referring to, we seem to be in agreement that he's a very good underrated player.

I guess I just don't agree with the projections for Teoscar vs. Puig. Initially I missed the fact that the fangraphs depth chart projections for Puig were only for 86 games vs 125 for Teoscar, my bad there. To my eye Teoscar showed real improvements both in the field and with the bat last year, and I just don't see why he should project so low for 2020. I guess the projection systems don't think his improvements were sustainable. I saw a player in 2019 that was getting better, I just don't see why he projects to get worse going forward. When I look at Puig's numbers I see a lot of red flags that suggest he's going backwards in a lot of key categories, his plate discipline numbers are declining, and his walk and k-rates are also getting worse over time, not just a one year dip but something that's been happening over several seasons. His BABIP wasn't overly low, and WOBA and xWOBA are within a few points of each other, so to my (admittedly untrained) eye this suggest that his bat going forward very well could be only league average. Maybe he outperforms his 1.2 WAR in 2019, but I wouldn't be willing to bet money on that. With the off the field and on the field issues that have plagued Puig I guess I just don't think the upside outweighs the drawbacks. This seems to be an unpopular opinion but it just looks like to me that Teoscar and Puig are very likely to put up similar value on the field. But one guy hasn't even hit arbitration yet and gets paid peanuts, and the other guy is a free agent that will get paid real dollars. One guy seems to be liked by his teammates (although the sunflower seed thing would be annoying as f***) and hasn't caused any issues that we know of, and the other guy wore out his welcome with the Dodgers.

Most of the bad boy types you mention are far superior players compared to Puig at this point of their respective careers. Star level production would certainly incline a team to deal with a guys ******** compared to someone who projects to be average. I just don't see that Puig has 4 win upside at this point of his career given how long it's been since he was able to offer that level of production. The team I think Puig may be the best fit for is the Indians. They have a terrible looking outfield, and should still be competitive in the AL Central. They should already be familiar with what he offers both good and bad, and would already be familiar with how he fit with their particular squad. Indians are notoriously cheap though, especially when it comes to making outfield additions as that's been an ongoing area of concern for them for a lot of years.

Puig is far from some type of angel. He has repeatedly clashed with his teammates and coaches even refusing to accept coaching input, and is always a moment away from snapping on the field and starting a fight with the opposition. Baseball fights are generally nothing events, but from time to time guys actually end up injured after these fights occur. I'd be livid if one of the Jays young players were to end up hurt because management decided to sign a powder keg personality like Puig. Given the emphasis placed on culture by the Jays front office this is exactly the kind of guy they would stay away from. There is very little upside to signing a guy like this. You likely exhaust the rest of your available payroll and take away money that could be used for sensible mid-season improvements if the opportunity arises, take playing time away from young players that are out of options, bring a potentially disruptive presence into your clubhouse, and all of this is for a guy that is potentially not even an upgrade on what you already have. Projection systems are far from infallible, there is a possibility Puig is declining based on his three year output, and ends up even worse than 2019. This is a team that isn't likely to contend, and still in their rebuild state. How does bringing in a guy like Puig make sense for the Blue Jays? Let's say he is a small upgrade, adding a single win to the roster despite all the potential drawbacks seems pointless if you believe this team is like to win 75 wins, and even if you think they are closer to 80+ wins I don't see a huge benefit either.

What does Puig even guarantee though? In 2019 The guy put up WAR of 1.2 with a WRC+ of 101. He simply isn't the same guy that he was in 2013/2014 when he created such a sensation.

Teoscar put up a 142 WRC+ in the second half last year, there is massive potential in his bat. Whether or not he can sustain anything close to that over an entire season remains to be seen of course.

I just don't really see how Puig is a great fit for this roster. If he could play center field he would be a lot more interesting. Atkins is on record that he was amenable to bringing in outfield upgrades, but only if they were notable improvements on what was already on the roster. They have already passed on better options such as Marte and possibly Akiyama depending on he adjusts to MLB pitching, so bringing in Puig seems super unlikely at this stage. Gurriel likely outperforms Puig by several wins, only issue likely preventing this from happening would be health issues for Gurriel. Grichuk and Puig are likely to put up similar value by the end of the year, but Grichuk can play center field and is getting paid $10+ million already, so the Jays are sort of forced a little bit to play him regularly to attempt to salvage some value from that deal. I view Teoscar as not having hit his ceiling yet, and the potential he has shown with the bat leads me to believe this guy should play every day until you fully establish what he is capable of going forward. This is still a development year at this stage, and bringing in a guy who is incredibly likely to be a marginal upgrade doesn't make a lot of sense when looking at things from more of a long term perspective. Yasiel Puig looks to be going backwards with the bat, and optimistic scenarios have him putting up a 2 win season, hence likely a marginal upgrade over guys already projected to start. I see no reason to completely write off talented young players before exhausting all options for major league playing time, and that is what happens to either Fisher or Alford for certain if you sign Puig. Sure it's possible that Alford and Fisher both end up flaming out completely, but they aren't there yet, and writing them off at this stage accomplishes nothing. If we are to believe reports up to this point the Jays have likely exhausted most if not of their available payroll to start the season, there might not be money left to bring in Puig anyway. Perhaps jettisoning Drury off of the roster could save a little money, but that wouldn't free up enough cash to sign Puig in all likelihood. And we haven't gotten to the character related issues yet, this is likely the biggest reason aside from money that the guy hasn't found a job yet.

I wonder what other offers Moustakas had on the table? 4 years and $64 million was pretty crazy given the way players of his ilk had been paid recently.

I'm not so sure Puig is worth the headaches the on the field shenanigans are inevitably going to lead to. He projects very similarly to Teoscar at this point, and bringing Puig aboard very likely leads to no room for Fisher or Alford on the roster as Puig leads to 4 MLB outfielders on the roster. I'd rather Fisher and/or Alford get a decent shot to prove themselves before most likely losing them to waivers. This team isn't expected to compete, so I think it makes more sense to see what the current crop of guys is capable of.

Nice, I didn't know that spin rate information was readily available for minor league pitchers.

According to this chart Hatches fastball could be a sneaky good weapon with regards to swinging strikes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HI-dikWN64clxSGJu2QV8C64R9Bkzt8K-jFaeHj4X7k/edit#gid=0 It looks like Hatch would likely fall into the 8.5-11% range where this article (while a little old now as it's from 2014), shows fastball swinging strike percentage was only 6.95 for 4 seam fastballs: https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/swinging-strike-benchmarks-for-pitch-types/

Here you are again dazzling us again with your unrelenting sense of optimism. I find myself wondering if there has been a skill change with his control, wouldn't it be hard to fluke your way into a 0.51 BB/9? According the Fangraphs it takes 170 batters faced for walk rates to stabilize, so Hatch has quite a ways to go on that front as he only pitched 35 innings with a whip of 0.76. He likely only faced in the neighbourhood of 75-80 batters total, so there is almost certainly some regression expected here, but even so that's a very impressive walk rate. I am taking the whole narrative about the shoulder inflammation causing the control woes with a bit of a grain of salt as well, but given the arsenal present and nice second half results I would hope for more than middle reliever here.

Sportsnet put up an interesting piece on Thomas Hatch today. It's revealed within that the main reason that his control improved so dramatically after his trade to the Jays was that he was suffering through a pretty severe case of shoulder inflammation for a good part of the season. Once he healed up fully he had a dramatic turnaround in his walk numbers at AA for Toronto. https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-thomas-hatch-finding-success-health-change/ This seems like a guy who is being overlooked by much of the scouting industry. His numbers in New Hampshire are pretty damn impressive, 0.51 BB/9, 2.25 xFIP jump off the page immediately when perusing his numbers. He was hurt a bit by the homerun, but perhaps the 20.8% HR/FB will normalize, previously his high was only 10.4%. It seems he possesses a high spin fastball, effective slider/cutter, and a nice splitter like changeup. What is a realistic ceiling for this guy? I wonder if mid-rotation is attainable by this guy personally, it sounds like he has a lot of good tools at his disposal.

I read that he thinks his new delivery is actually allowing him to utilize his lower half more effectively, and it may have unlocked further velocity for him. The shoulder issue last season was supposedly due to the high frequency of bullpens he was throwing, and just some inflammation without any actual damage, so with that it appears he has been mostly healthy going all the way back to 2016.

When it comes to the Blue Jays the old adage of hoping for the best but expecting the worst in my view is the best way of looking at things. That leads to the possibility of being pleasantly surprised when things go well but not crushed when they inevitably turn to s*** like most years.

I'm hopeful for a good season as well. Our depth starting options this season (Yamaguchi/Kay/Borucki/Murphy/Hatch)are better than most of the actual starting options last year for most of the season. Add in further growth from the young hitters, and a potentially better than expected bullpen, and this team has a good chance to be far better than predicted by the projection systems.

I wouldn't go near something like that if it were up to me. Potentially paying Sale $60 million for the next few seasons for little to no return is incredibly risky. The Jays already have an expensive risky veteran in Ryu on the roster that could easily end up hurt a good chunk of the time, so instead of just tying up $20 million a year for a super variable return, now you have $50 million tied up instead. And there is zero guarantee how Sale would bounce back after surgery either. Makes much more sense to take the money you'd be paying Sale and sign someone with a little less terrifying range out potential outcomes.

No doubt the body composition has to have improved, but the guy should put more effort into dropping some unnecessary weight than seems to have happened up to this point. With his history of knee trouble already continuing to carry around 250+ pounds on his shorter frame really can't be good for his long term well being, regardless of how he's put together. Reports say he didn't change his diet at all, still the same rice and beans diet as before with an increase in strength and conditioning work. The physical work was a good start, but even a few months on a weight loss specific diet would likely do wonders for him.

Mitchell sounds very intriguing, but the diabetes is scary for me. Past diabetics for the Jays include Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan, both guys had a hell of a time healing up from even seemingly minor injuries. That certainly adds a layer of risk to this player compared to some other guys that will be available.

It's been a good news bad news kind of off-season for new managerial hire Ron Roenicke. Good news is getting hired in the first place, but it's the result of a cheating scandal, not exactly because you earned a managerial spot after an extensive hiring process. And the bad news has come in spades, with the Red Sox trading away their best player plus one of their better rotation options, and now with the potential long term loss of Sale things look even more bleak.

You could almost substitute Dalton Pompey into your story. At the end he would end up with a concussion after the stack of dimmer switches falls onto his head.

If the stars were to fully align we could see a game where Anthony Gose pitches to Jose Bautista and vice versa. Gose could actually be an interesting player though, pinch runner, backup outfielder, reliever all rolled into one.

Results look very nice. Any word on what his stuff looked like?

Definitely a cool story, we shall see if there is enough left in his bat for the two way player plan to work out for him.