Spanky__99

Top 15 easy.

What does this mean, why are you on this forum? MODS!

A media reprieve of the recent firing of the PR staff, I assume. It was certainly in poor taste.

I don't understand why? There were a few 80+ page threads of people hating/loving on AA, par for the course, really. Just don't see why people still care so much, move on.

Have you seen the ad with Brandy and Doc, that was so surreal and difficult to watch, it was a nice celebration of life for him, Brandy and Carp teared me up. Sad the kids lose their pops so early in their life, sad. Such a difficult time for them. In case you missed it... *Brandy's nightmare*

They just finished winning the State Championship with dad coaching..

Nice deal, for both sides.

Molitor and Lovullo win MOTY.

I know, the trade would never happen, bruh, is all I'm saying.

I too liked the candid responses, refreshing.

Maitan and Soroka... Nah, as glory mentioned the only MLB team that's a fit if the Jays would move him, is the True Cards!

They have a lot of good young pieces other than just Acuna, but it just wouldn't make sense because of the one year, Phillips' talking out of his ass. He's a dumnass, lol.

GM Meetings Day 1: Jays ready to pursue Ohtani Scott Mitchell ORLANDO, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays want Shohei Ohtani. Now, the only question that matters is: Does the two-way Japanese sensation want them? Set aside the confusion surrounding the posting process and the ins and outs of the international bonus pool restrictions that the 23-year-old left-handed hitter and right-handed pitcher is subject to. The chase for the Nippon Ham Fighters star could boil down, very simply, to where Ohtani wants to play baseball. To quote Lloyd Christmas … so you’re telling me there’s a chance? On the first day of the GM Meetings in Orlando, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins admitted they’re ready to put a full-court press on Ohtani as soon as he’s officially posted. “We are extremely prepared,” Atkins said. “He fits about as well as anybody could fit for our team right now. He’s an incredible talent.” You’d have to be inside Ohtani’s head — or at least inside his inner circle — to know what cities he likes and what kind of quality of life aspects interest him. But two things are certain: One is that he’s interested in winning. The other is that he’s eyeing a chance to continue his career as both a pitcher and hitter. That’s something the Blue Jays can offer thanks to the American League DH, and it sounds like it will be part of the pitch. Atkins feels like the organization’s investment in high performance analytics may help on that front too. “There aren’t examples of it in the modern game, but data around recovery specific to that player, data around recovery relative to other players per position,” Atkins said. “We’re not going to have concrete research on how to have a two-way player, but to be a bit more scientific about it than subjective, I think, is a benefit to any organization that’s prepared to do that.” Since Ohtani is under the age of 25, he’s subject to bonus pool restrictions, which hard caps teams between $4.75 million and $5.75 million to spend each year from July 2 until the following June. Teams can also acquire up to 75 per cent of their original bonus pool allotment via trade. According to reports, only six teams have enough bonus pool money to even offer Ohtani six figures. The Blue Jays are not one of those six, but Atkins doesn’t feel that will be a problem if they get to that point. “I don’t think we would have to do too much entirely different than most teams,” Atkins said. “This is going to be an interesting process, for sure. There’s still a lot more information to come, but I think by all means that we are in a position where we’re prepared to be just as capable as most teams to acquire him.” Ohtani may not have the financial bargaining power that Japanese stars before him were afforded when they made the MLB move, but he still has the right to choose his destination, and that has every single team — some more realistically than others — at least holding out hope. ANTHOPOULOS MAKES BRAVE MOVE Two years after parting ways with the franchise he built back into a contender, former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was introduced as the Atlanta Braves’ new general manager Monday afternoon while the GM meetings were getting going. Anthopoulos was expected to hop a flight to Orlando late Monday to join his cohorts at the annual event and get right to work on an interesting Atlanta roster that boasts one of the best farm systems in baseball. The 40-year-old Montreal product, still revered by Jays fans for bringing post-season baseball back to Toronto, got exactly what he was looking for too — full control of baseball operations. “I view this as one of the premier jobs in all of sports with the young talent that we have here,” Anthopoulos said during the press conference. “There are some dynamic young players. There's no question that we certainly expect big things moving forward.” ATKINS’ TARGETS While Atkins had no interest in getting into specifics Monday, he did skirt around the subject of his roster priorities. As you can expect with a team that finished 10 games under .500, there are a lot of needs, but position players are atop the list. “Right now, I think the bulk of our focus is on position players,” Atkins said. “Part of that is where our team is, part of that is the market.” While the glaring hole in right field would seem to be a top priority, Atkins pointed to the need for more versatility on the roster, especially in the middle infield. “I think our priority is complementing our infield in some way with versatility,” Atkins said. “Someone who can, not just play when needed, but someone who could potentially get 600 plate appearances across our infield.” “We have to be prepared if Devon (Travis) is not ready to give us 600 plate appearances. If (Troy) Tulowitzki’s not able to give us 150 games, we have to be prepared to offset that. I think the best way to do that is to find someone that has the versatility that could also go to the outfield when we do have a completely healthy infield.” The well-travelled Eduardo Nunez, who’s played more than 50 games in his career at second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield, could fit the bill in that regard. Nunez has been worth a total of 4.8 fWAR over the past two seasons. AROUND THE DIAMOND Atkins, president/CEO Mark Shapiro, and a group of around 40 from the Blue Jays organization will attend Roy Halladay’s celebration of life Tuesday afternoon in Clearwater, Fla., about two hours away from where the GM Meetings are being held … Atkins shot down the report that Halladay had been turned away by the Jays organization when he wanted to work with their young pitchers. “What was reported wasn’t accurate,” Atkins said. “I’d rather not get into the details.” … Asked whether teams have been inquiring about third baseman Josh Donaldson, who’s slated to become a free agent after the 2018 season, Atkins didn’t say no, but reiterated what the franchise has been saying since June. “Every team also understands how much we value Josh Donaldson and how important he is to us,” Atkins said. http://www.tsn.ca/talent/gm-meetings-day-1-jays-ready-to-pursue-ohtani-1.914558

FWIW... Atkins says this information is inaccurate, so one of Shatkins or Elliott are full of s***...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/video/atkins-on-halladay-it-s-devastating-to-think-about~1259773

Steve Phillips seems to think Donaldson and Toronto are a fit with the Braves??? I know some of you guys joked about this, but the timeline/fit makes zero sense, iff AA did that, I think I'd piss myself laughing! http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/video/could-anthopoulos-braves-target-josh-donaldson~1259647

I'm glad AA has another shot at the GM role, it'll be interesting to follow his tenure. Many people thought he wouldn't be in this role again when he stepped away from Toronto, and here we are...

Nah, you didn't dream it, bottom of the article. https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles/elliott-r-i-p-roy-halladay?platform=hootsuite

Wow... can't believe Buffery(lol) got that much out of him, the other day he just made a minor quip on him. Unless that was in a media scrum.

lol

Surprise, surprise... Judge and Bellinger win ROTY unanimously... Only done 4 times, 1st time in 20 years, congrats.

Did Smith get injured tonight? Ughh... didn't come back out to the bench in the 2nd, must be hurt.

lol... you can't be seriously thinking Arden Zwelling has any type of pull, you're trolling right?

When he initially started, I liked a few of his ideas, kind of liked the out of the box thinking, but those feelings have changed drastically, he's a flipping toe-rag!

Meh, he can't police what goes on behind closed doors, he's an idiot.

Some decent content from Atkins... How will Blue Jays bridge gap between current core and emerging talent? Shi Davidi @shidavidi November 10, 2017, 1:03 PM TORONTO – Something Toronto Blue Jays fans should closely watch for as the off-season develops is how general manager Ross Atkins and company work to bridge the gap between the current core and the coming wave of kids led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette. Barring a long-term extension for Josh Donaldson, the window of opportunity opened in 2013 is due to shut once the superstar slugger becomes eligible for free agency after the 2018 season. The Blue Jays are intent on trying to leverage his final year, but the manner in which they go about addressing their offensive problems and pitching needs may also determine how difficult the looming transition will be. One strategic question to wrestle with is whether it makes more sense to add medium- or long-term pieces this winter so there’s insulation on the roster once the prospects start breaking through, or short-term pieces to create more of a clean slate. According to Atkins, the Blue Jays aren’t "thinking of it as an either/or." "We’re considering both," Atkins says in an interview ahead of the general managers meetings in Orlando. "It depends on whether or not you’re talking trade, you’re talking about free agency – ideally some hybrid of those. Last year the difference wasn’t necessarily where we are as an organization, it was more the very defined needs with the players that were exiting, Edwin (Encarnacion) and Jose (Bautista). Our needs are not significantly less defined, but less defined than a year ago. We are in a position to think about several different strategies to ultimately how do we win, and how do we sustain a winning team for a long period of time? That could come in either form, most likely, in the form of both." Pulling that off won’t be easy, especially with the Blue Jays determined to upgrade themselves without any of the prime prospects other teams will be seeking in trade. Justin Smoak’s emergence last year created some roster surplus with Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce, they have some depth in the bullpen and they likely won’t have enough 40-man roster room to shoehorn in all the prospects that must be added by Nov. 20 or be left exposed in December’s Rule 5 draft. That list includes Conner Greene, Thomas Pannone, Max Pentecost, Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire. Those are some assets to work with on the trade front and while Atkins says, "there are no plans to trade from our core," a point he made twice for emphasis, the Blue Jays could, "if we have to, exhaust those alternatives on what it could mean to trade from our core if we can create a better, sustainable model that doesn’t have big valleys, and have a steady climb." That would certainly open up some more avenues for improvement, and there should be all kinds of trade opportunity beyond the looming teardown of the Miami Marlins and Giancarlo Stanton selloff. Then there’s free agency and the one player who could potentially alter the club’s direction – Shohei Otani. The two-way Japanese star’s recent decision to hire CAA’s Nez Balelo as his agent brought a bit more clarity to his plans, as did the Nippon-Ham Fighters announcement that Otani will be allowed to leave through the posting system. Still, a new transfer agreement between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball needs to be formalized, so the process is somewhat stuck in neutral. "We’ll continue to work to understand that and stay at the forefront of making sure that we can be players in that market," was all Atkins would say on the matter. The Blue Jays scouted Otani heavily over the summer, sending multiple executives and scouts over to Japan for first-hand looks. Given that he’s only 23, he’ll count against the hard cap of $4.75 million-$5.75 million on teams’ bonus spending pools for international free agents, which means money isn’t likely to be the determining factor. The Blue Jays are largely tapped out of their $4.75 million allocation, but they did acquire some pool room from the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade for minor-leaguer Lane Thomas back in July, and are believed to have slightly more than $1 million to work with right now. Is it enough? Otani’s wants, desires and preferences are cloaked in intrigue – a true wild card. The rest of the free agent market offers far more clarity and the Blue Jays will take more than a week’s worth of work to Orlando, when things should come further into focus. "We’ve made contact with every potential free agent that could fit for us to their representation, to express our interest and start to talk about if that’s mutual or not," said Atkins. "We have not to date had discussions beyond the fit being a good one or not, but they are very telling to understand where that seems that there’s going to be more of a connection or not. I can’t get into specific players, but over the past week … on a scale of realisitic to unrealistic, we have a better feel for where certain targets fit on that scale. "Similarly, on the trade front, which teams have good fits for us. Those discussions have been going on for much more than a week. Now you’re starting to get a little more clarity as we head into the GMs’ meetings on which teams we should be spending more time with because we line up well, because there’s mutual interest in making a deal." The results will offer a glimpse into what lies ahead for the 2018 Blue Jays, as well as how things will shape up for an uncertain 2019 and beyond.