InsideThePark

Gimenez is already up to 1.36 WPA this season. Double 3rd place and almost a quarter of the way to last years leader Ohtani with 5.89. In just 2 games

Certainly it's not the way MLB counts blown saves. You can blow a save in the 6th in theory despite that pitcher was never going to finish the game. Pitcher could K 2 guys in the 5th, 2 in the 6th and then blow it and it's a 4 K blown save. Could be the first ever 9th inning 4 K blown save win

Hoffman with 36.00 K/9 and on pace for 162 wins this year. Can't complain about that /s

3 years ago Jax was 27 in his first year of being a reliever with a 9.71 K/9, worse ERA and worse FIP than Varland has now. Sure would have been nice to trade for him then for cheaper than he cost today, get the last 3 years he had and still have him for this deadline and beyond. If only someone had to foresight to try something like that. Surely it's better to wait and pay more for less. Of course there's way more risk with trading for the shutdown pen arm before they've got 3 years of results to back it up, but that's why it's cheaper.

Trey YesavageJoJo ParkerArjun NimmalaRicky TiedemannJohnny KingKhal StephenAlan RodenJake BlossOrelvis MartinezLanden MaroudisJonatan ClaseJosh KasevichKendry RojasGage StaniferRJ SchreckYohendrick PinangoJuaron Watts-BrownAdam MackoSam ShawBrandon Barriera

I scrolled through the prospect list a couple months ago looking for the first HS lefty from Florida and knowing nothing else about him just assumed the jays would draft him in round 3. They seem to like doing that every year.

Arjun NimmalaTrey YesavageRicky TiedemannAlan RodenJohnny KingOrelvis MartinezKhal StephenJake BlossLanden MaroudisJuaron Watts-BrownJonatan ClaseRJ SchreckJosh KasevichKendry RojasBrandon BarrieraYohendrick PinangoGage StaniferAdam MackoSam ShawCristopher Polanco

Good on Schneider for knowing the obscure extra inning no DH rule that had Gimenez running instead on Hoffman. I was getting annoyed that they'd lose Hoff to a pinch runner after his 7 inning 9th not knowing the rule. I am curious if you could choose to use the pitcher to run anyway or if it's automatic. For example lets say instead of Gimenez - Springer(Hoffman) to end the 9th it was Kirk - Springer(Hoffman), and then Hoffman throws 20 pitches in his first inning. Could the Jays choose to use Hoffman as the runner and then pinch run for him with Straw knowing Hoffman won't be back out anyway rather than be forced to use Kirk as the runner or lose Kirk for a pinch runner.

As soon as the ink dries on the IFA contract he's just like any other "prospect". If the Jays wanted to they could go offer Orelvis Martinez or Arjun Nimmala a 6 year contract extension right now. Sasaki would be no different. I'm not suggesting they sign him the way the Dodgers signed Yamamoto. That's not allowed because Sasaki is under 25 so he goes into the IFA bucket which is restricted. But once he's your player you can in theory extend him. Someone else mentioned that the MLB has said they would frown upon that as circumvention of the IFA system. Which to be fair if it's agreed upon prior to the IFA signing then it is. But it seems weird to me to tell a team they're allowed to extend 1 "prospect" but not allowed to extend another. How long has to pass before it's no longer circumvention of the IFA system? He plays 1 year for league minimum and then you give him a 5 year contract? Is that allowed? The league can't force you to go year by year the way the Jays have done with Vladdy. At some point in the process before they reach 6 years service and become a free agent you're allowed to extend them. When? Should be immediately as long as there's no evidence that you did it to circumvent the system.

You're allowed to sign "prospects" to MLB contract extensions before they've played a single MLB game a la Jon Singleton. Even a Cy Young caliber pitcher isn't going to make more than 60 million through pre arb and arbitration. Something like 800k, 800k, 4 million, 10 million, 16 million, 25 million. Give him more than that for 6 years. Sign him to the normal IFA contract, then immediately extend him for 6 years 80 or 100 million. If he's as good as everyone says he is he'll be worth way more than that, but he'll get more than he would by going the traditional route than I assume he'll go. This isn't some advantage that only the Jays can do or anything, but nobody seems to want to go that route. Ohtani only got about 40 million from the Angels over his 6 arb and pre arb years going mostly year by year. Sasaki going to turn down double that?

The same Biggio with a 131 wRC+, 4th highest on the team, and the same IKF with the 3rd highest fWAR(among position players) on the team? It's a small sample that I don't really expect to last either, but while they're producing you can't just replace them with a minor leaguer and expect the rookie to do better. All the fringe parts of the roster have actually been really good to start the year. IKF, Biggio, Clement, Schneider, and Vogelbach all with a wRC+ over 100. Kiermaier is the only one under and his defense has been enough to make him a positive FWAR player still. You probably need to ride that out unless Orelvis OPS is 1.200 by the end of May and you can't keep him down any longer

We need to be patient with Alec I think. Give him a few more years of development and by 2028 he might finally be good enough to be as good as a 18 year old rookie making his pro debut.

Manoah is going for Dunedin Sunday? Interesting, milb scoreboard finally got updated with starting pitchers once the milb rosters got released and have Maroudis' pro debut on Sunday. 1 would assume Shi has the accurate info. I wonder if Landen will go after Alec or if they'll push him to Tuesday.

Parsons lasted even longer than my low expectations thought. Shouldn't have been there to begin with. I don't expect Espino to last much longer TBH. Danner should be up here but they need length. By the time they don't need length Romano or Swanson or both will be back.

Laika posted Little, Zulu, Danner, and Pop. I don't see Parsons there unless you're referring to something further back. With Mitch White in the pen I don't really see the need for the starter depth to be in the pen to start. He might be someone I'd call up if the pen was gassed for some length but not sure they need that to start the year. Once Manoah, and Yariel are stretched out Parsons is probably 5th on my list of guys I'd go to after the 5 who start in the rotation(Manoah, Yariel, White, and Ricky). I'm not sure I see much there with Zulueta or Pop long term either, and I don't know much about Little. Danner I would for sure hold onto. I don't claim to be the most knowledgeable guy here but if I had to DFA 1 of the 5 it's probably Parsons.

You would be correct that I haven't watched much spring baseball. IIRC I saw Parsons pitch once. I just don't really value spring performances that much when the road team sends about 20% of their MLB roster and everyone expected to be on an MLB roster is out of the game by the 6th. Parsons 6.2 innings of 4.05 ERA baseball with a K/9 of 6.8, BB/9 of 5.4 and 1.20 WHIP just doesn't stand out all that much to me when you're facing minor leaguers for half the game. Statistically Pop and Danner have both been better and we're talking about DFAing them.

Wes Parsons should be closer to the DFA to open up a spot for Vogelbach consideration than consideration for the opening day roster.

IKF finishes in the top 3 fWAR on the team Tiedemann pitches 50+ MLB innings with a ERA below 3.20 Berrios continue the opening day starter curse with an ERA above 5 and misses a month and a half due to injury Bassitt wins AL Cy Young Barger is starting in the OF by the all start break. Votto doesn't play a single game for the Jays Jansen signs an extension mid-season and then puts up a .900+ OPS post extension Romano goes 40 for 40 in saves

Not sure but he's been there this week. There was jet tracking that basically confirmed his Dunedin trip earlier. His flight to/from Dunedin and Atkins shortly thereafter to Nashville. Enough to clear the coincidence barrier. This one's departing from the same LA airport but it's a different jet, one that's been to Toronto a few times. Literally could be anyone. But it is potentially noteworthy.

That sounds awful. Today I stayed at home and watched the Ottawa Senators dominate a hockey game, only for my teams only good goalie to stand on his head to somehow have the lead. Then he got hurt, and will be for a while. I don't think either of us had fun.

I don't really see them getting rid of any pre-arb guys until they need the roster spot. So while I expect Parsons and Little to be gone for sure at some point. I don't think they really care if it's before Friday. Heineman going would be whatever. Given how injury prone Jansen is and Kirk's body type you'll certainly need a 3rd catcher at some point in the season. If they don't care if it's Heineman or whatever other random guy you sign to a minor league deal to be added once needed they'll likely DFA him to make room at some point. If they prefer Heineman they may not. The arb guys are at a decision point. Cimber is a pretty clear non tender. I think Espinal and Richards stay but could be trade candidates. Cimber non-tendered, and eventually Parsons and Little being DFA would get them to 36. Depending on how many FA they sign that might be enough but Heineman, Lopez, Lukes, and Clement are probably your other 4 options for DFA if you need more space.

The season started out really bad, but as the year went along a lot of guys started to turn it around and made some big strides. Along with a really solid draft I would say that probably got us back to around average. There wasn't anyone who was really dominant start to finish without getting injured like we had with Ricky last year though I guess Roden could be pretty close.

No because someone had to be demoted for Francis to be added to the 28 man roster as well and anyone demoted couldn't pitch in the WC or ALDS as they'd have to be down for 15 days. Mayza and Cabrera had options but they need them. Ryu could have been DFA'd but they might need him in the ALDS if they make it. It was more a 28 man roster decision than a 40 man roster decision. But once it's decided that Jackson is the odd man out and he has to be DFA'd to get off the 28 man roster that opens up the 40 man spot too and your options grow to basically anyone in the organization.

On the road the Jays are hitting as well as they did last year. At home they're hitting much worse with way less HR than last year. On the road the Jays pitching is actually worse than last year. At home it's way better. Following numbers are from 2 weeks ago when I did the math, likely haven't changed much Hitters: 2022 Jays at home: .261/.326/.434/.760, 102 HR 2023 Jays at home: .247/.323/.398/.721, 77 HR 2022 Jays on the road: .266/.331/.428/.759, 98 HR 2023 Jays on the road: .265/.335/.432/.767, 95 HR Pitchers: 2022 at home: .248/.306/.411/.717, 102 HR 2023 at home: .227/.303/.386/.689, 91 HR 2022 on the road: .245/.309/.387/.696, 78 HR 2023 on the road: .251/.313/.416/.729, 92 HR I don't know what the did with Rogers Center that made it a pitchers park and notably very difficult to hit homeruns specifically but it's happened. OBP isn't that much different as a whole. Average has dropped some but slugging is way down across the board as if there's way less HR as a whole. The walls alone shouldn't do it. Is the air circulation all different compared to last year and having some affect. It feels like we've been way worse with the bats and way better pitchers this year but it might just be perception because of the altered home ballpark.

Green is a lock. Espinal and Richards are as good as locks too even if it might annoy some. Schneider is close to a lock. Decision probably comes down to whether you want Eden for pinch running or a 10th pen arm.