General Blue Jays Thread

polo007 · Post #2221 » by **polo007** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:45 pm

dagger wrote:Julian Merryweather leaves the 40 man roster to add Belt.

polo007 · Post #2222 » by **polo007** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:48 pm

Lateral Quicks · Post #2223 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 4:09 pm

Not at all enthused about Zach Thompson, but as the 7th guy in the starter depth chart he's not terrible.

Cueto just signed for less money than Belt. Assuming Cueto would have come to Toronto, I think he would have been a better signing. But we'll see... it mostly comes down to Belt's health status.

Post #2224 » by **Duffman100** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 5:06 pm

Lateral Quicks wrote:Not at all enthused about Zach Thompson, but as the 7th guy in the starter depth chart he's not terrible.

Cueto just signed for less money than Belt. Assuming Cueto would have come to Toronto, I think he would have been a better signing. But we'll see... it mostly comes down to Belt's health status.

Still need that 5th starter. Otherwise I feel like all these moves are for not.

agkagk · Post #2225 » by **agkagk** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 5:46 pm

Randle McMurphy wrote:Projected lineup vs. RHP:
Springer (RF)
Bichette (SS)
Guerrero (1B)
Kirk (C)
Belt (DH)
Chapman (3B)
Varsho (LF)
Merrifield (2B)
Kiermaier (CF)

Projected lineup vs. LHP:
Springer (RF)
Bichette (SS)
Guerrero (1B)
Kirk (C)
Jansen (DH)
Chapman (3B)
Varsho (CF)
Merrifield (LF)
Espinal (2B)

Even without another addition to the OF, they'll have some combination of Espinal, Biggio, Merrifield, Kirk/Jansen, Belt, and Kiermaier on the bench at all times with a healthy team. It's just a much deeper and more well-rounded roster than last year and probably the deepest from an position player perspective in the AL as well.

this looks like our ideal lineups, but i have sneaking suspicion that varsho will get every opportunity to be our new 5 hitter.

Post #2226 » by **Schad** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 5:50 pm

Lateral Quicks wrote:Not at all enthused about Zach Thompson, but as the 7th guy in the starter depth chart he's not terrible.

Cueto just signed for less money than Belt. Assuming Cueto would have come to Toronto, I think he would have been a better signing. But we'll see... it mostly comes down to Belt's health status.

Cueto has been awful (and oft-injured) for a number of years. He had a decent 2023 where he outperformed his peripherals by a lot, and his K rate fell to the worst rate of his career.

Is a pitcher who was quite bad from 2017-2021 suddenly good again? Maybe. Probably not. Thompson isn't anything special either, but the difference between Thompson and Cueto isn't massive, versus the upside of a bet on Belt's bat.

vaff87 · Post #2227 » by **vaff87** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:39 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
Lateral Quicks wrote:Not at all enthused about Zach Thompson, but as the 7th guy in the starter depth chart he's not terrible.

Cueto just signed for less money than Belt. Assuming Cueto would have come to Toronto, I think he would have been a better signing. But we'll see... it mostly comes down to Belt's health status.

Still need that 5th starter. Otherwise I feel like all these moves are for not.

You think all of the moves are irrelevant if we don’t have a better 5th starter?

Fifth starters are pretty much just there to eat innings and help you get through the regular season. In a playoff series they’ll only make an appearance in a wild extra inning game. Obviously, you would like to have more depth, but at this point in time I don’t think it’s critical. Especially because Kikuchi or White could end up being that guy. If they don’t, or we face injuries, we can make a trade during the season.

Post #2228 » by **Duffman100** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:41 pm

vaff87 wrote:
Duffman100 wrote:
Lateral Quicks wrote:Not at all enthused about Zach Thompson, but as the 7th guy in the starter depth chart he's not terrible.

Cueto just signed for less money than Belt. Assuming Cueto would have come to Toronto, I think he would have been a better signing. But we'll see... it mostly comes down to Belt's health status.

Still need that 5th starter. Otherwise I feel like all these moves are for not.

You think all of the moves are irrelevant if we don’t have a better 5th starter?

Fifth starters are pretty much just there to eat innings and help you get through the regular season. In a playoff series they’ll only make an appearance in a wild extra inning game. Obviously, you would like to have more depth, but at this point in time I don’t think it’s critical. Especially because Kikuchi or White could end up being that guy. If they don’t, or we face injuries, we can make a trade during the season.

I don't think they're irrelevant but right now we're not situated to handle any sort of injury at all to our starting rotation. We're also fully banking on Berrios coming back to form.

We have 3 very good starters, 1 guy that needs to bounce back and a whole bunch of meh. If one of those 3 starts get injured and Berrios doesn't bounce back, we're in some serious trouble.

rarefind · Post #2229 » by **rarefind** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:44 pm

While I am not banking on Ryu coming back in June/July and helping... Crazier things have happened.

polo007 · Post #2230 » by **polo007** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:03 pm

Read on Twitter

Lateral Quicks · Post #2231 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:05 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
vaff87 wrote:
Duffman100 wrote:
Still need that 5th starter. Otherwise I feel like all these moves are for not.

You think all of the moves are irrelevant if we don’t have a better 5th starter?

Fifth starters are pretty much just there to eat innings and help you get through the regular season. In a playoff series they’ll only make an appearance in a wild extra inning game. Obviously, you would like to have more depth, but at this point in time I don’t think it’s critical. Especially because Kikuchi or White could end up being that guy. If they don’t, or we face injuries, we can make a trade during the season.

I don't think they're irrelevant but right now we're not situated to handle any sort of injury at all to our starting rotation. We're also fully banking on Berrios coming back to form.

We have 3 very good starters, 1 guy that needs to bounce back and a whole bunch of meh. If one of those 3 starts get injured and Berrios doesn't bounce back, we're in some serious trouble.

I would just add that invariably a 5th starter becomes a 4th starter or 3rd starter at times over the course of a season due to injuries. So ideally you want more a mediocre innings eater in the role.

I think Mitch White will probably win the job, with Kikuchi as 6th option. I wonder if they'll give Pearson another go at starter. Any game Thompson starts is going to be very hard to win.

dagger · Post #2232 » by **dagger** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 12:06 am

Another minor league addition - Jay Jackson

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/blue-jays-jay-jackson-inks-milb-deal-with-toronto/

polo007 · Post #2233 » by **polo007** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 12:25 am

Read on Twitter

hyper316 · Post #2234 » by **hyper316** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:03 am

polo007 wrote:

Read on Twitter

I don't like these 1 year stop gap, they eat up at bats which will eventually end up leaving, rather than giving at bats to players to develop and stay.

LBJKB24MJ23 · Post #2235 » by **LBJKB24MJ23** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:52 am

hyper316 wrote:
polo007 wrote:

Read on Twitter

I don't like these 1 year stop gap, they eat up at bats which will eventually end up leaving, rather than giving at bats to players to develop and stay.

the only player he's blocking is realistically Janssen's and a little bit of Kirk's at-bats. Considering we traded Moreno away already, no need to worry about them not staying, for now.

polo007 · Post #2236 » by **polo007** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 5:11 am

Read on Twitter

vaff87 · Post #2237 » by **vaff87** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 5:35 am

hyper316 wrote:
polo007 wrote:

Read on Twitter

I don't like these 1 year stop gap, they eat up at bats which will eventually end up leaving, rather than giving at bats to players to develop and stay.

Guys like that can be very valuable in baseball.

Remember, Robbie Ray and Semien were basically stop gaps. Ray ended up winning a Cy Young and Semien ended up finishing third in MVP voting.

In 92 we had 40 year old Dave Winfield, in 93 we had 36 year old Paul Molitor. Both were crucial players.

Obviously, they don’t usually end up working out that well. But these types of guys can definitely end up being useful.

Post #2238 » by **Duffman100** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 5:12 pm

Just so I have this right,

LF: Varsho
CF: Kiermaier
RF: Springer

3B: Chapman
SS: Bichette
2B: Whit
1B: Vlad

C: Jansen
DH: Kirk

Espinal
Biggio
Belt
? one more guy?

Does feel that with Belt and Kirk a lot at DH that doesn't leave a lot of days to give someone like Springer at DH to 'load balance' him in case he's battling some nagging injuries. I do like the flexibility of Biggio and Whit playing multiple places.

Who do you add to that bench? A defensive SS to backup Bichette? Another outfielder?

Madvillainy2004 · Post #2239 » by **Madvillainy2004** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 5:58 pm

Duffman100 wrote:Just so I have this right,

LF: Varsho
CF: Kiermaier
RF: Springer

3B: Chapman
SS: Bichette
2B: Whit
1B: Vlad

C: Jansen
DH: Kirk

Espinal
Biggio
Belt
? one more guy?

Does feel that with Belt and Kirk a lot at DH that doesn't leave a lot of days to give someone like Springer at DH to 'load balance' him in case he's battling some nagging injuries. I do like the flexibility of Biggio and Whit playing multiple places.

Who do you add to that bench? A defensive SS to backup Bichette? Another outfielder?

I'd assume it's gonna be a lefty-masher bat someone like McCutchen I've seen discussions about. But someone of his kinda makeup would be perfect. I think we're mostly good with the infield. Espinal should be a good option for backup SS for rest days or worst case scenario for Bo.

Post #2240 » by **Duffman100** » Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:04 pm

Madvillainy2004 wrote:
Duffman100 wrote:Just so I have this right,

LF: Varsho
CF: Kiermaier
RF: Springer

3B: Chapman
SS: Bichette
2B: Whit
1B: Vlad

C: Jansen
DH: Kirk

Espinal
Biggio
Belt
? one more guy?

Does feel that with Belt and Kirk a lot at DH that doesn't leave a lot of days to give someone like Springer at DH to 'load balance' him in case he's battling some nagging injuries. I do like the flexibility of Biggio and Whit playing multiple places.

Who do you add to that bench? A defensive SS to backup Bichette? Another outfielder?

I'd assume it's gonna be a lefty-masher bat someone like McCutchen I've seen discussions about. But someone of his kinda makeup would be perfect. I think we're mostly good with the infield. Espinal should be a good option for backup SS for rest days or worst case scenario for Bo.

Okay cool, I wasn't sure how good Espinal was defensively at SS.