mellowgold2

I know why, obviously, but any top Blue Jays of all-time without Alomar will always look weird to me

Haven't been following closely but I hear Bieber, Berrios, and Yesavage are starting the year on the IL. So who does that leave in the rotation? Gausman, Cease, Ponce, Lauer, and...? Is Scherzer ready to go?

Okamoto doesn't like baseball?

Springer didn't even get comeback player of the year in the AL haha

Too bad we couldn't get him that ring.

Might I suggest Lineup 4: Springer Barger (L) Guerrero Bichette Varsho (L) Kirk Lukes (L) Clement Gimenez (L)

Carpenter is taking Castillo deep here.

The AL really is awful this year.

Not including Carpenter, the Tigers are 3-40 tonight.

Obviously a healthy-ish Bo makes the roster. And I think you add one of Bassitt or Scherzer, but probably not both. I don't think there's room for five starters. So probably Bo and Bassitt in. I would love to drop IKF but I don't think you can if Bo isn't ready to play in the field. Heinemann obviously has to stay, Straw has proven himself to be too valuable as a defensive replacement and a fantastic baserunner, and Schneider has been great, too. Bruihl is the obvious first cut, and then it likely comes down to Santander vs. Nance.

Lots of pinch hitting options today. Barger, Santander, Lukes.

Wow. You just know he'll end up in our division and will just be hyper focused on sticking it to us at any cost.

The only saving grace will be if we can hang on to the #1 seed, we'll play the winner of #4 (likely the Yankees) and #5. So if we're playing the Yankees, we'll definitely get some premium time slots. MLB's love of New York surpasses even their indifference/dislike of Toronto.

Buehrle?

Did Ross specifically say they're gonna try Varland as a starter next year, or are we just assuming?

Hilariously, Vlad's five SB are more than anyone else in the starting lineup.

If we add Santander and Garcia to the guys you mentioned, going into a playoff series we're looking at something like: rf lukes dh springer 1b vlad ss bo 3b barger c kirk lf santander cf varsho 2b giminez If we're facing a lefty, Clement plays third and barger is in right. First two bench spots are easy, Heineman and Ernie. And then you've gotta pick (likely) three of Straw/Schneider/France/Loperfido, if we go 14-12. Decent chance France is trash and makes it easy, but if he hits decently well, I think both him and Schneider are kinda redundant, and you need to pick one. Sure, having two right-handed pinch hitting options would be nice if you're facing a brutal lefty reliever in the varsho-giminez-lukes part of the order, but I think the other guys bring more to the table. Straw's baserunning/speed is obviously an asset and bringing him in for D for a guy like Santander would be extremely comforting as well. And Loperfido, if he keeps playing the way he is beyond this tiny sample (high BABIP and all), he's the kinda guy who gives you a little bit of everything. You're ok with him in either corner (I was mildly surprised to learn he hasn't spent any time in cf this year), he can run a bit and has a little pop of his own. The only thing is, he's the least likely to come in and be sent to the plate in a big spot, just because all of our best hitters are righties, and maybe not having a specialty like the other guys is what keeps him off the roster. As for the starters, ideally Beiber looks like himself, and then you've got the Beibs, Gausman, and whichever two of Berrios/Bassitt/Scherzer/Lauer are throwing the best when the playoffs hit. Which leaves eight guys in the pen Hoffman Dominguez Rodriguez Garcia Fisher Varland Little And....probably one of the other two starters as a long man. Edit: I just realized you didn't say PLAYOFF roster. I guess we gotta get there first.

Sounds like the Nats may be willing to listen on Gore. This should be the target if we're looking to add a starter, IMO. Young stud top of the rotation lefty with 2.5 years of control. Obviously it'll cost, but we could definitely use some long-term certainty in the rotation.