Olerud363.354

Reason for optimism. For example unlikely Springer repeats his 2025. However to make up the wins Gimenez doesn't have to be magic, just healthy and a .250 hitter instead of .200. Also Nathan Lukes. Heard a couple of people saying can't repeat that. Maybe not. But Lukes 2025 is the kind of piece a good organization can find again whether it is Santander coming back, or a new Buffalo Boy (Clase, Loperfido, Schreck) stepping up. Or something else unexpected.

Most important thing for a franchise is to challenge the 90 win mark every year and have every game matter. In the 2020s last game of the season mattered every year so far except 2024. I totally get how insane last nights game was. I slept 3 hours. I've never seen anything like that. In terms of long term fan experience it will fade. If Jays win 91 next year and lose in the wild card round, you will be happier, then if they won last night and won 75 next year. Other teams have gone through it. 86 Red Sox, 97 Indians, 2011 Rangers, 2016 Indians. I would add 2001 Yankees, except hard to feel to much pain going for a quadro-peet. If Jays win 90 next year and the magic Buffalo Boys development system still works next year I will be happy. If they win 75 and Shatkins is a mirage I will be sad.

Exactly. The Yankees fan base is miserable. Every 3 game losing streak in August is a disaster. The Dodgers fans take a pout and leave in the 7th inning in World Series games. They literally left and gave up their World Championship team. After Joe Carter hit the homerun in 1993 in a blink of an eye Jacob Brumfield was playing for Olerud (against righties), Carter was one of the worst players in baseball and given 3 years of 700 PAs with negative WAR. The franchise was a miserable mess literally 4 months later. Do you know what it was like going to the Dome in 97 watching Carter? I half wished he didn't hit that homerun. Do you think 2 years from now you would be happier if the Jays beat Cincinatti 4-1. Like if they had a Texas Rangers 2023 style ring? Don't get me wrong. Am not discrediting the ring. But how much of a difference in satisfaction is there between Rangers 2023 and Jays 2025?

On the other hand Giminez under-performed with the bat. Satander did nothing. Bichette was injured for most of the playoff run and we lost multiple runs in the World Series because he couldn't run (couldn't score last night in the second) and downstream effect of having to sub IKF. Berrios was a non-factor. Garcia injured.

For a team with financial advantages and good management they should get a decent shot at it every few years especially with the expanded playoffs. Should get a few more shots. Chances to win it all are still probably only 1/15 any year. Better than Pirates (now that I said that watch Paul Skenes lead them to a World Series)

Not sure if it does. However the deferred money is still spent this year. They have to buy like a bond or something. So I believe they have to buy a 48 million (or something) bond every year that will mature at 70 million when they owe it. I think the deferred also counts towards the salary limits. I heard somewhere that the Dodgers payroll is 350 million or something including deferred. However there is also the tax. So Dodgers are paying actually 500 million out including tax while Jays be not taxed or taxed little. So could be accurate to say Dodgers are paying twice as much in payroll costs.

Amazing season. If we lose it will hurt but after a few days or weeks we will all look back at this season as the one of the three best in franchise history. So many epic moments.

Same as Schneider's ball except to center. Either a) 'Pull dat ball' is not random Davis Schneider owned Blake Snell, got around on his fastball and it wasn't luck. b) 'Pull dat ball' is a bit random and if Barger or someone else 'pull dat ball' 99 mph launch angle 28 it a different game.

Shift rule? I remember Brett Lawrie led MLB in WAR a couple months into 2012 partly because he played between 3rd for right handed batters and deep second (shallow right) for left handed batters and the d-system had him with crazy range... So at least for a while Lawrie was shifting to the other side. Like until the shift rules you could do whatever the f*** you wanted. 5 outfielders. 5 infielders. Play anyone any where. And I believe there were rare cases of pitchers going to a position for a bit then back.

He got the bonus but some other guys didn't get big bonuses. I think everybody should have a couple of years MLB minimum. Barger, Loperfido, Lukes, Schneider, Fischer, Fluharty have probably only earned .... I don't know 1-1.5 million over a couple of years. Maybe Loperfido the lowest. I don't think any of those guys had big signing bonuses. Potentially those guys need to maintain accommodations in Buffalo and Toronto which can be a pain logistically. Financially part of it could be how much they are thinking ahead. Like after taxes they get 400k and that could be 95% of their lifetime earnings and they don't know what the future will bring so can't count on a big payday. Like the Barger on the couch thing. Does he feel comfortable yet spending a couple of grand on downtown accomdations for a week? Or is he thinking he has a few hundred k but that could be his life time earnings so can't blow it. Another question is how much into debt these guys might go living on a minor league salary.

Can they start him in the outfield, move to relief, back to outfield, repeat back to releif. I think rule wise they can. There would be practical issues (like warming up, who to play in the outfield when he pitches, and probably others).

Roberts says Ohtani might play outfield. Might pitch in relief. Might open. (game 7 which perhaps needs to be stopped to prevent such nonsense)... or maybe game 6 too. What are the rules on this. Game 6 I assume nothing too crazy. But game 7. He is in outfield can he come in to pitch occasionally then go back to outfield and like have a few batters scatterred over game? Probably nonsense because he wouldn't warm up, has never played the outfield and it would be weird pitching to a couple batters, resting in the outfield for a couple of innings then more... but... can they do this if they want to get creative? Have him open innings. Have him pitch against middle of order only. Then back next time Vlad comes up. If he gets guys out lesser pitcher finished inning. Have him come in if a jam... I don't know. What are the limits? I guess just it would be dumb and wouldn't work because Vlad would homer off him and the other pitchers like Glasnow/Snell are just as good ... and they can still get Ohtani in for normal inning or two without weird in and out.

Maybe 354 foot oppo in Yankee Stadium you could argue they get lucky. But even then nice job going the other way and taking advantage of the ball park.

Also 373 foot pulled fly ball. He pulled dat ball. Got around on it. I mean... he beat Snell right? Sold out for a fastball and got around on it. Don't understand what Snell is talking about there. Funny enough Mariners fans were talking the same thing about Springers game 7 homerun. It was only 99 mph so they sort of said he got lucky. First row. In both cases they beat the pitcher. Managed to pull a flyball. Pitchers job is to prevent them from pulling flyballs. Like Cal Raleigh hit a glorified pop-up down the line. But same thing. Pulled dat ball. That's why you pull dat ball if you can. Pitcher's job is to make sure batter doesn't pull a flyball.

I became a Jays fan in 1988. No internet. No forums. No chat groups. However there was Jays talk with Bob 'boccat' McCowan which was actually kind of a version of this. When did this group start? Honestly I want to say almost 20 years ago. I recall some of the posters that are still on this group posted on the Jays official forum at least as far back as the Aaron Hill years.

According the Schneider Springer has many problems some of which we will be surprised to learn after the season is over. Despite many problems which the known ones include broken knee, torn up oblique and the unknown ones are secret for now he is still deciding whether to play.

Is this AI generated? Jack Morris in 93 was worse than Mitch Williams and not rostered. Shane Bieber is not young. 93 pitching was shaky with old Dave Stewart (kind of like old Max Scherzer), shaky Juan Guzman (step back from 92 awesome Juan Guzman) and Todd StottleMyer who sucked and gave up 6 runs in the 15-14 game. 92 Jays pitching was awesome with David Cone, Jimmy Key, Juan Guzman at their best and Morris not at his best but still with mystique. 93 Jays pitching was mediocre and they won 15-14 games. 2025 Jays pitching is questionable with 10-11 'ace', a-baller Trey Yesivage, elderly Mad Max, and not exactly healthy Shane Bieber. lol. How could these guys possibly be going toe to toe with the legendary LA Dodgers? Dodgers take 18 innings to beat them and don't even win game 1?

I half joke. The Yankees one obviously silly. However with healthy Springer and Bichette Jays would probably be up 2-1 in this series. I honestly don't think the Raptors title is tainted at all. They had to get through a Bucks team that was very good and won a title soon after, and had to get through the Durant-less Warriors team who won 2 titles and 73 games in other Durant-less years. Depending on how the next games go I will taint the Dodgers 2025 title (if they win). They are down 2-1 right now in my mind with healthy Springer and Bichette.

Straw has more fWAR per inning than Barger all from base-running and defense. Whether you believe that or not I don't know. But probably any scenario 7th inning or later giving Straw one guaranteed base-running opportunity, potential defensive opportunities and 9th in the order favors Straw by whatever game modelling they do (where the simulated games mostly end before too many Straw at bats even if tied in 8th).

I don't think this is true. If you did in game modelling of every decision most would have increased the Jays chances of winning the next couple of innings, they just got screwed when the same decisions decreased the chances of winning the next 9 innings.

They construct multiple narratives and then double down on the one is that is right. If Ohtani is good tonight the Ohtani god woken up with pickoff/chants narrative will annoy the muck out of me. If Jays are scrappy with Clement and Jiminez 94 mph hits in the right spot the 'they don't strike out' narrative will start gaining a little more steam.

Yeah totally agree. Guys like Harold Reynolds always make ******** narratives then it stands out when they time it right. It wasn't Harold, but after Yankees won game 3 9-6 their was a lot of ******** naratives "shouldn't have let them win one", "you let us win one, now it's over". All forgotten.

Dodgers title will be tainted just as Raptors was in 2019. 2019 - Durant and Thompson go down 2025 - Bichette and now Springer hobbled. 2020 - Tainted because of Covid 2024 - Tainted because 3 Yankee errors gift wrapped game 5 2025 - Tainted because of Bichette and Springer injuries.

No idea if Dominguez was trying to go inside or outside when he threw the cookie down the middle to Ohtani in the 7th. Whichever way he missed by a foot. Hitting his ear might be a bit extreme, but if trying to go inside and you miss, miss hitting his back, not the middle of the plate.

You probably want to go to. Get tickets for yourself, Spanky and Grant for games 6 and 7. 100 level. 60 grand. I think Grant is mad at Spanky so need to bring them back together. I think 60 grand Canadian isn't what it used to be. Like you could get maybe a RAV4 for that but tickets to game 7 with Spanky and Grant is better. 2007 RAV4 for $4000 and the tickets > 2026 Rav4. My friend has a 2007 RAV4 and says he will be able to keep it going until 2035.