AL Wild Card Series: Toronto Blue Jays (#8) @ Tampa Bay Rays (#1) Sep. 29th - Oct. 1st

[Brinbe]

you can see the hunger in those eyes... man, this team could be real good once they age into their primes.

rare to see teams so tightknit like this.

[TOStateofMind]

Well that ended in a blink of an eye. Despite all the flaws they still gave a decent season considering their age. Lots of room for growth and improvement.

[Lateral Quicks]

Well, that wasn't even close.

I hope they bring back Shoemaker next year. He should come relatively cheap due to his injury history and age, but he's been really good when healthy. Maybe we'll get lucky and get 150+ solid innings out of him next year.

I'd roll with Ryu/Shoemaker/Pearson/Borucki to start next year; then let the other 101 starters fight for the 5th spot.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Whose our starting rotation next year? Is Ryu under contract still?

What additions would you like to make to the team if you were the GM?

[Natural11]

So it turns out that tanking game 60 to play the #1 seed wasn't the best approach after all. Mild shock.

It was nice to see some of the young guys come into their own, but a combination of Montoya, Buffalo and frequent sloppy play put a damper on what should have been a season to celebrate.

[Metallikid]

I'm not a fan of nice dad Montoyo either. The kids need a kick in the pants now and then.

Charlie "We're just happy to be here" Montoyo

[Metallikid]

So it turns out that tanking game 60 to play the #1 seed wasn't the best approach after all. Mild shock.

It was nice to see some of the young guys come into their own, but a combination of Montoya, Buffalo and frequent sloppy play put a damper on what should have been a season to celebrate.

It really was a bizarre move, and sure Cleveland also has an incredible pitching staff, but it seemed eminently reasonable to say - and I did - that we should have preferred playing a team we hadn't seen all year to a team that had already figured us out.

[JaysRule15]

I preferred Tampa over Cleveland, just because Cleveland was on like a 8 game streak and had the high velo starters who always give us trouble.

We had played close games against Tampa all season long. Today was a clunker, but it just sucks we couldn't win yesterday when we got great pitching.

[Steelo Green]

Jays this postseason.



It’s okay, they’re young and just at the start. Making it was a win.

[polo007]

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Blue Jays’ Montoyo says series against Rays was a great learning experience

8:55 | September 30, 2020

Charlie Montoyo talks with the media about the Toronto Blue Jays being eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rays and shares his thoughts on the season.

[dagger]

Well, it was an interesting season nevertheless.

This team made strides, but let's face it, it's still a good ways from real contention. We'll need to scrounge a couple of starters via trade and free agency (including possibly bringing Shoemaker and Walker back, although I view both as a 3-4 types, and I'd like to sign or acquire a solid #2). Roark gets to show up in camp, but if he hasn't visited a shrine, kissed a holy relic, and recaptured some of his past talent, they should just eat his contract. Ryu and Pearson should be solid. And there are several minor league starters in that bullpen group: Merryweather, Hatch, Kay, Zeuch and Murphy. One or two of those ought to be stretched out.

The position situation isn't bad, the young hitters ought to do better against good starters in time, but there should be a readiness to move off the veterans like Shaw, Panic, even Grichuk who had his flashes but in the end always falls back into bad pitch selection habits. It's hard to know where the minor league situation stands, but I imagine that our next big prospects in line - Manoah, Wood Richardson, Martin and Groshans - are likely mid-2021 or 2022 arrivals at the MLB level. The team has decisions to make about catchers - there are three on the 40 man roster and both Adams and Moreno have to be protected or will be exposed to the Rule 5 draft. So I imagine a catching prospect might be trade bait.

[Randle McMurphy]

Well, that wasn't even close.

I hope they bring back Shoemaker next year. He should come relatively cheap due to his injury history and age, but he's been really good when healthy. Maybe we'll get lucky and get 150+ solid innings out of him next year.

I'd roll with Ryu/Shoemaker/Pearson/Borucki to start next year; then let the other 101 starters fight for the 5th spot.

Stripling will be starting. They didn’t trade what they did for him to have him pitch out of the pen. They also aren’t going to just throw 12M down the drain on Roark either, he will start in the rotation too until he proves he cannot.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Borucki’s days starting are done for.

Shoemaker would be fine to bring back, but I really think the Jays should be looking at bringing in another impact starting pitcher. That and defense is clearly what they are lacking right now.

[SharoneWright]

Well, it was an interesting season nevertheless.

This team made strides, but let's face it, it's still a good ways from real contention. We'll need to scrounge a couple of starters via trade and free agency (including possibly bringing Shoemaker and Walker back, although I view both as a 3-4 types, and I'd like to sign or acquire a solid #2). Roark gets to show up in camp, but if he hasn't visited a shrine, kissed a holy relic, and recaptured some of his past talent, they should just eat his contract. Ryu and Pearson should be solid. And there are several minor league starters in that bullpen group: Merryweather, Hatch, Kay, Zeuch and Murphy. One or two of those ought to be stretched out.

The position situation isn't bad, the young hitters ought to do better against good starters in time, but there should be a readiness to move off the veterans like Shaw, Panic, even Grichuk who had his flashes but in the end always falls back into bad pitch selection habits. It's hard to know where the minor league situation stands, but I imagine that our next big prospects in line - Manoah, Wood Richardson, Martin and Groshans - are likely mid-2021 or 2022 arrivals at the MLB level. The team has decisions to make about catchers - there are three on the 40 man roster and both Adams and Moreno have to be protected or will be exposed to the Rule 5 draft. So I imagine a catching prospect might be trade bait.

Good post.

Ya. The catching hierarchy needs to be sorted out in order to make sure we know who our keepers are.

Also, Stripling better be a starter for us for the next 2 years, considering the price we paid to get him.

I think we need to stay patient. I'm even prepared to view Ryu as a bridge to 2023 so we can remain competitive and put our younger guys in meaningful baseball games towards the end of the season. That's valuable, to the extent that I don't even think we necessarily should blow our wad on another top-end starter yet. Much better to end up at a place that includes a core of Biggio, Bichette, Gurriel, Guerrero, Groshans, Martin, Kirk, Pearson, Kloff, Manoah, SWR in 2013 ----> all still cost controlled and booming at the same time.

[JaysRule15]

I really hope we bring Taijuan Walker back. He looked pretty good in his starts with us.

[SharoneWright]

I really hope we bring Taijuan Walker back. He looked pretty good in his starts with us.

Shoemaker and Walker made 6.2M combined this year. When we eliminate Anderson's 8.5M next year, we have about 15M to sign both Shoemaker and Walker and be budget neutral. Ryu is locked in at a number. Pearson is locked in at a number. Stripling will be signed for cheap. That's your 5, followed by the AAAA challenger group. Roark can try out, but is likely dead money.

[Schad]

My guess is that one but not both of Shoe/Walker return, with Stripling/Roark as swingmen. That leaves two rotation spots to fill, and we have more than adequate resources to fill them if we want to be aggressive.

One of the more obvious targets would be James Paxton. He comes with quite a bit of risk -- he has always had injury woes and his velocity was way down in his handful of starts this year, though that could have been his forearm problem rather than anything long-term -- but as with Ryu the upside is that he has been consistently good at pitching when he's pitching. I'm guessing that the enmity with the Jays is likely gone given that everyone from that regime is pretty well gone, and we're now willing to deal with Boras. We have demonstrated that we're willing to gamble a bit on term, and Paxton's next team will probably be determined by the team crazy enough to give him four years.

[Lateral Quicks]

Well, that wasn't even close.

I hope they bring back Shoemaker next year. He should come relatively cheap due to his injury history and age, but he's been really good when healthy. Maybe we'll get lucky and get 150+ solid innings out of him next year.

I'd roll with Ryu/Shoemaker/Pearson/Borucki to start next year; then let the other 101 starters fight for the 5th spot.

Stripling will be starting. They didn’t trade what they did for him to have him pitch out of the pen. They also aren’t going to just throw 12M down the drain on Roark either, he will start in the rotation too until he proves he cannot.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Borucki’s days starting are done for.

Shoemaker would be fine to bring back, but I really think the Jays should be looking at bringing in another impact starting pitcher. That and defense is clearly what they are lacking right now.

I agree that Roark will start the season in the rotation. I just hope they don't waste too many games before they realize he no longer belongs in a major league rotation.

You're right, I forgot to include Stripling. He'll have a spot locked down, and hopefully his 2020 performance was a blip.

I would buyout Chase Anderson's option - that's a no brainer for me. He never should have been signed in the first place.

I think Borucki deserves another shot in the rotation. He looked good until injuries set him back. We could also use another left-handed pitcher in the rotation.

Shoemaker, when healthy, is arguably a #3 guy given his performance over the last couple years. I'd absolutely bring him back for a couple years and cross my fingers that he can give us 100+ innings a year.

Ryu/Shoemaker/Stripling/Pearson/Borucki, in no particular order.

I agree that we should probably look to bring in a better defensive SS. 3B is a bit of a whole - until Groshans is ready, hopefully - so if Biggio can handle 3B and Bichette can handle 2B, we don't lose much offensively in the short-term by bringing in a more defensive-oriented SS.

[I_Like_Dirt]

A utility infielder would be great but only as a one or two year placeholder. The Jays still have a fair few infielders in the minors that aren't too far away.

Honestly, this team mostly needs some time. If Vlad and Jansen can figure their swings out and Bo can settle down a bit and Biggio (and Jansen) can start earning the respect of the umps, the bats become much more consistent overall, which was the real problem this series. And getting Kirk more experience isn't a bad thing, either.

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[bluerap23]

So...is Bo Bichette always going to be a shortstop?

He's looked like a long-term 2B to me since he's been in the majors. Making that move would also allow Biggio to play the outfield (which is also probably where he is destined to go). I think this team should be looking to acquire a defense-first shortstop for sure this offseason.

Not sure how Bo would feel about it. I’d give him at least another year at ss. Could see it the following year with Groshans at ss.

[bluerap23]

My guess is that one but not both of Shoe/Walker return, with Stripling/Roark as swingmen. That leaves two rotation spots to fill, and we have more than adequate resources to fill them if we want to be aggressive.

One of the more obvious targets would be James Paxton. He comes with quite a bit of risk -- he has always had injury woes and his velocity was way down in his handful of starts this year, though that could have been his forearm problem rather than anything long-term -- but as with Ryu the upside is that he has been consistently good at pitching when he's pitching. I'm guessing that the enmity with the Jays is likely gone given that everyone from that regime is pretty well gone, and we're now willing to deal with Boras. We have demonstrated that we're willing to gamble a bit on term, and Paxton's next team will probably be determined by the team crazy enough to give him four years.

Is Bauer realistic? Apparently he wants one year so gives us great flexibility. Hopefully prior relationship with Shapiro helps. I also want Walker and Ray back. Can’t have too much pitching and we should be able to afford them.