5ToolPhenom

Wow, nice catch by Acuna. Saves a run.

Stantons had a great year and all, but I thought he might REALLY rake in the A.L east. Maybe just a bit of a "down" year by his standards.

Oh yeah, it's far from over, but the Sox can beat you in so many different ways.

I just noticed how many former Jays are participating in this particular playoff. Definitely a lot more than what we usually see. Then I started to think about "what team doesn't have a former Jay?". Nothing really relevant about it. I just thought it was a neat tidbit.

Red Sox are more balanced. Yankees, as good as they are a little more one dimensional.

There's a ton of ex-Jays in the playoffs this year! Makes it difficult to chose a team to root for. Indians have the most. Braves are the only team with none but they have AA so that kinda counts:p

Man, been a pretty boring game. I was too allured by the price on the Braves lol

I put some money on the Braves tonight:( Ryu's just mowing em down.

The other day I was remembering how John Farrell routinely had Corey Patterson in the 2 hole hahaha

It's clear he's been given the boot

I don't get it. It's not like he seems like an unlikable guy or a dork or something. There's no good reason why he couldn't be marketed better.

I know he's been hurt a bit but Bryant isn't looking nearly as impressive this year. He's especially having an ugly game tonight. 3K's in 3 AB's and an error in the field.

It's crazy how good Trout is. Looking at his fangraphs page is like looking at fine art. Can you imagine if he played in the A.L East bandboxes? Shame on Manfred and the league for not marketing him better... I know a lot of people make the excuse that he plays out West, but it sure didn't hurt Griffey Jr any.

Old lady totally just Bartman'd the A's. There was bases loaded with 1 out and an old lady reached over the fence and caught a foul-ball that Piscotty would've caught. They reviewed and called no fan interference. The Angels went on to score 6 after Simmons ripped a single and Cowhart hit a Slam. Brutal, especially considering that I have money riding on the A's! The ump was totally squeezing Trivino too. I'm down for robo-umps.

Profar continues to tear it up. Was at 3.2 WAR before todays game and has already went 2-2 with a dinger and just ripped a double. Pretty huge for Texas if he ends up living up to the hype.

I'm sure they would've got over it in a hurry with Flaherty mowing down the league.

I agree. He reminds me a lot of Brandon Morrow. A guy with a big arm and a lot of potential who just can't seem to keep it together long enough to be an effective starter. Last time Sanchez was good was 2 years ago, which is essentially an eternity in baseball years.

When I said "why take the risk" I was referring to waiting until the trade deadline as opposed to trading the vets before the beginning of the season when we would've got greater value. I understand what you're saying, but they could have acquired a haul if they traded Donaldson in the off-season and they could've sped up the time-frame of the rebuild by starting at the beginning of this season as opposed to wasting at-bats on players who have no future here. Doing the least they could in the off-season and then hoping for the most isn't a smart strategy. I'm just not sure I buy the narrative that they were forced to cater to the casual fans. If that were the case we would've seen Vladdy up this year.

Don't you guys think that Shapiro and Atkins should've been able to read the tea-leaves a little better though? I think as a rational fan when you weigh the options, it's clear there would've been a much better case for cashing in with a rebuild than to risk things with a pipe-dream of making the playoffs in a division with Red Sox and Yankees in 2018. I only ask because I never really see them criticized on this forum whereas on other sites it's the complete opposite! I'm surprised by what a stark contrast the fan reactions are. I personally fall somewhere in the middle.

It really is a shame that everything that could go wrong did... and more. JD, Osuna, Sanchez and Tulo were basically AWOL for the entire season and the ace of the team is going into September with a 5.54 ERA. Even the most casual baseball fan knows there'd be no chance at competing under those circumstances. With all of that considered, I guess I'm still annoyed by the half-baked approach that Shatkins took this year. They supplemented the holes in the roster with no risk signings in the hopes that maybe there would be a run left with what was left of the core. That's a pretty egregious misstep considering the vastly superior lineups fielded by the Yankees and Red Sox. They were seemingly hoping that there might be a fleeting chance at sneaking into the 2nd wildcard position, which begs the question, why take the risk? Long shot scenario, they sneak in and have no shot at competing with the powerhouses in the playoffs anyways. The popular assumption seems to be that Rogers has some sort of metaphorical gun to their heads and if that's the case, is the money they're being paid enough for these guys to wanna put up with that in the first place? Whatever the true reasoning, there's no denying that this season was a massive wasted opportunity and a setback for the timeline to compete.

I'm with you. You've made some ballsy predictions and have been on point. Seems a lot of the folks here aren't giving you proper dues.

haha ahh I love John Gibbons.

Gotta give ya credit where due. Teoscar has been tough to watch lately.

Haha yes Gibby! Pillar just trying to pad stats.

Got my TV playing the Jays game and my computer airing the ARZ/SD game. Ahh f***... Don't tell me Jays are gonna lose against Sparkman.