Benito

I know right? And with his age, there can still be another bump in stuff. Easily most exciting prospect for me to follow down in the Jays farm.

Was such an enjoyable season. Berrios was pitching like an ace, and saved his best for September. Ray, Manoah, and Berrios, backed by that offence could have gone to the WS. If my waning memory serves me correctly, Jays needed Tampa to beat NY for 1 game tiebreaker? I would have liked our chances! Damn TB.

Less than a week away. When do final mocks typically get published?

I liked the trade when it happened, and obviously moreso now. I'm still interested to see how Hoglund develops. I liked the pick. Though I hear he is more a no.3 sp ceiling. Oakland seems to have good pitching development, so will be interesting to follow.

Adam Lind was a clubhouse problem? Interesting. All I can seem to recall was the guy had zero personality and quiet. Just figured he was one of those guys no one knew existed. Also, why did he retire again? Looking at his stats, his final year looked pretty good.

Honestly, probably the Jays, based on pre-season picks. I can't remember, but I think Vegas gave them high odds? Angels I think are another big disappointment, though not on same level as Jays and White Sox. They invested quite a bit on pitching in the offseason.

True.

I hear you. Only times I root for either team is when it benefits the Jays. Otherwise, anyone but them.

Can't believe I'm rooting for NY.

This season it's NY and Houston, and everyone else. Forget trying to catch NY, and just focus on the WC. Boston and TB are only 2 and 1 game ahead. Not a popular sentiment right now, but I don't want the team to concede the season just because Baltimore is better than expected. I doubt Boston and TB are conceding anything. Even Seattle kept fighting to get in the playoff picture. 75 games to go and people talk like 2 games back is insurmountable.

As bad as this stretch has been, Jays are still only 1.5 behind Boston. Silver lining.

Rays bullpen blowing the lead twice so far. Cinci tied on wp in bottom of 10th. Runner on 2B, 0 outs. Edit: Cinci wins. Thanks Reds.

I don't really know defensive metrics either, but do they take into account shifts? I think the Jays employ the shift more than most. Not sure how much Oakland employs them. Also, does Oakland's big foul territory have any effect in comparing Chapman's numbers with TO?

I find that sad. It shouldn't be too difficult to build a team that could contend, with two historic/generational/8-9 WAR players in a relatively weak division. Angels have had maybe 2 plus .500 seasons in last decade. Does Trout ask for a trade at some point?

I would add that with almost half the season left to play, there's plenty of time for under performing players like Berrios, Vlad, Bo, Teo and others to return to what they produced last season. Teams have been in worst positions than TO and turned it around in the second half. I don't think the FO will mortgage the future. It doesn't seem to be their MO. But I expect them be buyers.

I see your point. For sure it's always preferable to sign FAs than trade prospect capital, but Berrios did help us come close to a playoff spot last year. And having a roster capable of making the playoffs, helps to attract FAs. Maybe Gausman doesn't sign with the Jays if Berrios wasn't on the team for example. As it turns out, it might be one of those cases where Atkins sold high as I think both SWR and Martin have dropped out of the top 100 lists.

Berrios contract is fine. Starting pitching is expensive, and he's been consistently a 3-4 war pitcher with clean health history and in his prime years. This year is a mystery and an outlier based on his track record. There's a chance it does end up returning poor value over the length of the contract, but too early to make that statement.

At least he's hitting above Tapia. Small steps. I'll take it!

Agree with both Solaxys and Spanky. That's my general position as well. I know the FO isn't perfect, and there is still work to be done, but I am excited with what they've built so far, and continue to build still. My personal nature is to try to focus more on the positive than the negative. I think also, some of the criticism (which is fine to have), is partly the benefit of hindsight. Coming into the season, and based on the success from last year, we all knew the offence was the strength of the team. But I don't think it was an unfair opinion to have had optimism for the pitching as well. Berrios was excellent for us last year, and was very good overall for the season. Having Berrios, Manoah for a whole season, with Gausman added, gave the Jays 3 top of the rotation starters. The bullpen as well, Romano was great last year. Cimber, Mayza, Richards were all very reliable as well. That's 7 great to very good pitchers to pair with an elite offence. There's a reason many had the team as WS contenders. Not just media or Vegas, but rival fanbases as well. Reading our divisional rival fanbase forums preseason, consensus was pretty much Jays were one of the elite teams in the division, and a real threat to beat. Team got off to a great start but has since have had ups and downs, while showing flashes of the team many expected pre-season (8 game winning streak). Unfortunately, the team has been overall under performing expectations, especially the pitching as we are all painfully aware. But I still have optimism that the talent is still there to make the playoffs and go deep in the post-season. Call that vague or me being a homer, that's fine, but I'm still enjoying the season (if not as much as I had hoped). Jays are in a playoff fight in a very competitive division, and have some of the most exciting young players for me to watch and follow. Add some very exciting development down in the farm with pitching, and yeah, I'm good.

Ok. lol

Yes. And I can't wait for you to tell us again tomorrow.

Yes. We know. You've been repeating it seemingly every day. Rays, Astros, Yanks FO are great. Jays suck in comparison. New day, same story.

This. No question the team is not performing well recently, but this team has also shown it has the talent to click and go on a run. Just have to hope the timing aligns with the playoffs. They do have winning records this season again Houston and Boston. Two of the teams they could potentially face in the playoffs. Will they perform well then? Who knows. But this recent notion that the Jays can't compete with all these top teams is silly, when they've shown they can and have.

Yeah, I wanted to put Zulu at 5 as well, but wanted to wait until he can show that he can remain healthy for the season. Not that Groshans is a model of health himself. Most of the Jays potential high impact bats have graduated to the majors or traded away. Jays are now a bit thin in that area down on the farm. Hopefully with the upcoming amateur draft, they can restock on hitters.

Frasso probably ends the season in AA? Any chance for September call-up? Dude looks unstoppable. What does everyone have for top 5 prospects now? 1. Moreno 2. Tiedemann 3. Martinez 4. Frasso 5. Groshans Too aggressive?