jimedmonds

if Biggio is still putting up same numbers by the end of July, is it fair to say he has upgraded to legit MLB regular potential?

As someone who lives overseas and relies on this board and a few other sites to get more detail on the Jays, I would even pay you guys for your efforts. Nothing massive, but if the content is informative and entertaining, would pay/donate something to the tune of $5 USD per podcast (or $10 USD a month). If enough people are keen, could see this growing.

is it generally agreed that Roger Clemens' 12.1 WAR is the single-season record in the modern era? If so, anyone else thinks that Ohtani will likely smash that record this season?

fair to call Profar a complete bust at this stage?

any chance Biggio can become a legit MLBer? i.e. utility infielder

Sleeper: Deck McGuire (not a true prospect, but a solid bullpen reclamation project) Bust: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (what a shame) New Legit Guy: Danny Jansen (becomes the undisputed top C prospect; up by September)

of course they are - are we working under the premise that each of these 'bold predictions' are evaluated discretely? that's nonsensical as per the broken clock, twice a day phenomenon. but pretty bold if all twelve of those predictions come to fruition this season.

- Acuna and Ohtani actually win ROY awards - Houston repeat as WS champions - Phillies actually become a respectable 70+ win team and more teams will try to emulate Kapler's unconventional methods - Vlad Jr. becomes the undisputed best player not in the MLB - Bichette and Pearson take big steps forward this season - Alford becomes a regular contributor while Pompey is no longer with the organization - Donaldson, Estrada, and Happ are traded before the deadline - Jays win 75-80 games - All Stars: Osuna, Sanchez, Donaldson - Hernandez has an 800+ OPS season - Estrada and Happ regress even further - Bautista retires at the end of the season

i lol'ed

what are his SP and DH comparables? Even if he is average at both, i.e. #4 starter with a Sean Casey bat, that's still like 4 WAR at season

I was extremely sad to hear of Halladay's passing. He is my favorite athlete of all time among Toronto based teams and arguably, my favorite athlete in all of sports. Not just for his exceptional talent, but his personality, demeanour, professionalism, and dedication - I never believed in having sports idols or having children look up to sports athletes as role models (as opposed to less celebrated and famous individuals in science, social causes, etc.), but all of those aformentioned traits exemplify what a quality individual he was and do make him someone worthy of others to admire and try to emulate. It's unfortunate that his life ended early the way that it did - as much as it's a red herring to discuss whether these circumstances were avoidable or not. As I get older and experience the loss of loved ones, I always remember a proverb that I read a while back which really resonates with me. I'll try to paraphrase as I think it applies here - every man (or woman) dies thrice. His first death is when his body ceases to function. His second death is when his body is buried within the earth. His third and final death is when his name is spoken by others for the last time. As sad as I've been feeling since hearing of his death, I take some solace in that proverb - it gives a sense that even though he has physically passed, the fact is that he'll live on in both our individual and collective memories for generations to come.

imagine if Bautista got that $150M for 5 year deal that he was clamoring for last year... I think Cabrera will rebound next season if healthy, but probably a slow decline from here on out. Hope he doesn't put up Pujols numbers for the remainder of his career - probably won't because I actually believe he is 34 years old. When you put Pujols' current season into context of production from a 45 year old, it's actually quite remarkable.

give me his projections in terms of next year and at his peak. if he signed in the AL, will he actually be deployed as a pitcher and DH or are we talking about an ace-potential pitcher who can hold his own in inter-league matches and as a spot pinch hitter?

agree with Bobthe4th that without Bo and Vlad, this would be a rather pedestrian group. Having said that, there are some good wildcards in the mix, along with a few of the new guys with high-end potential like Warmoth and Pearson. I think they're still 2-3 years away from fully replenishing the farm, but it has happened a bit sooner than I had expected. I'm just glad that there are some f***ing good positional prospects for once - who was the last one, Travis Snider? When was the last time the Jays had at least two half top-end positional prospects that they developed? I can only think of Shannon Stewart, Shawn Green, Carlos Delgado from like 23 years ago - but happy to be enlightened by more recent examples

RE Bold: I completely agree - but rather than be contrarian, why can't we just evaluate my original post on the basis of hindsight. RE Italics: I didn't suggest or imply s***. I'm just asking a simple question - you're inferring way too much into my thought process behind a rather innocuous post to generate discussion on a September morning without much happening on the Jays front... It's not ignorant - Norris and Hoffman were highly rated, but not nearly to the extent that Syndergaard was. My post also also wasn't anything about the value of the players or their respective returns - you mentioned that, or inferred from my post, rather. It was simply to evaluate that, of the prospects that were traded away, how many of them materialized into premium players. But I think most people were less distraught about Norris (although there were still a few) going for a perennial all-star in David Price for half a season in the middle of a pennant race than they were for an aging knuckleballer who really shouldn't have won the Cy Young over Kershaw that year. Forgot about DeSclafani. He definitely turned out well. Any others?

who are some Jays prospects/under-25 youths in the past decade that were traded away and whose absence we have grown to regret? I honestly can't think of too many in spite of the general outrage when the transactions transpired, especially with respect to AA's deals. actually, the only one that comes to mind is Syndergaard - but we all knew how moronic that was at the time and don't need hindsight for that. other guys like Norris, Hoffman, Castro, D'Arnaud, Alvarez, Hechavarria, Nicolino, Marisnick - jury is still out on a couple of them but so far, doesn't seem like we'll miss them all that much.

remember the whole meme with Jeff Kent being the gay man's dream? i never understood what that was all about and just assumed that he was openly gay. apparently it's something to do with his mustache or something

if he has a potential plus arm, feels like a waste to keep him at 1B. as long as he can play to a DWAR neutral level at any position, it's a win in my books. If he can do that at any position other than 1B, that's definitely an even bigger win. on a side note, I still feel like this team sucks balls in terms of positional prospects. I'm only excited about Vlad and Bichette. Alford is going to be a solid regular. not convinced on Jansen/McGuire and have little expectation of Teoscar being a poor man's Jose Cruz Jr. the arms look good, but definitely more positional talent and general hitting is needed.

would you be happy if Bichette became the next prime Jeff Kent and Vlad Jr. became God?

if he could be neutral on DWAR at 3B or 1B, that's still like 6-7 WAR potentially in his prime. Any chance he could be above average in 3B or is he too much of a fatass to have the range? Like Sandoval did it in 2011 for 106 games and was a +1.8 DWAR and he was very rotund. halp enlighten, baseball experts!

Vlad Jr. is the top prospect in baseball, in my opinion and it's well deserved. I wish him all the best - does he have 5x all-star, 8 gold gloves, HOF-worthy but robbed by Crooked Cooperstown, and an appearance on a celebrity TV show potential when he calls it a career?

what about me in my prime? 60/60? p.s. how am i not in the HOF? ridiculous!

Rogers announces a new policy starting in 2018 that they will perennially match the highest salaried team. it's Feb 1st, 2018 and Billy Epler calls to offer Mike Trout in exchange for Vlad Jr., Bichette, Alford, Pearson, Warmouth and Borucki. Assume that JD is willing to sign a 5 year extension for $30M. Do you guys pull the trigger?

Teoscar Hernandez is my hero

what this team sorely needs is me in my mid-20s. p.s. how am i not a hall of famer? i know not first ballot, but if kirby puckett is there...