General Blue Jays Thread

[ItsDanger]

Espinal is a better SS than 2B defensively. Like the 1 year Belt signing, fills a big hole if he's healthy. The other team options weren't ready for that role.

Mitch White isn't good enough to start. Hoping Pearson takes 5th spot. Tiedemann will be ready soon anyways.

[Schad]

Espinal has barely played SS in his major league career. Impossible to say that he's a good defensive SS when he has played less than the equivalent of 23 games there in three years, and hasn't played primarily at SS since he was in the low minors.

[JTT]

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.

I think anyone coming now will be from our minor league system as we don't want to add more contracts. A righty who can play the outfield as we have two left handed bats out there now along with Belt who may sneak into one or two games in the outfield as well. Primarily, I think it would be a fourth/fifth outfield type who can also serve as a pinch runner. Sounds like Otto Lopez to me. If they choose to go Lefty, Spencer Horowitz? I just can't imagine them going to the free agent market again. They need to leave some room for the kids.

Fifth starter, the same. Pitching is a position where we have several promising prospects, some that are pretty close and we shouldn't be blocking them for 35 year old pitchers who haven't been good in half a decade.

[Parataxis]

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 imagine on Load Balancing days, Springer moves to DH, Whit to Right, Espi to 2B, and Belt becomes a weapon off the bench.

[Lateral Quicks]

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 think Espinal is the backup SS. I also think Lopez makes the team as the final bench piece, and he can fill in at short in a pinch.

With a good spring Barger might make a case, but I think the braintrust will want him down in AAA showing a better K rate and getting more regular at-bats. He could be a real shot in the arm come mid-season though.

[polo007]

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[Randle McMurphy]

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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.

Develop who? We're trying to win a WS in 2023. Belt will help them do that if he's his usual self at the plate.

[Randle McMurphy]

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The Jays have way more money than anyone thought if this is the case.

[Schad]

We also don't really have anyone to develop. Horwitz is the only player we could conceivably bring up to fill 1B/DH/corner OF PAs, and he's not exactly a massive prospect. Hit well in AA, but at 24 he really should, and his power evaporated in Buffalo.

The only other two upper minors hitting prospects we have are Barger and Orelvis, two players that could very much use reps (and also wouldn't be used in that role anyway).

[Michael Bradley]

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The Jays have way more money than anyone thought if this is the case.

Yeah they appear to be close to reaching Tier Two of the tax threshold, so if they keep adding from here, then it's clear they are going all in for 2023. I would imagine they'll add at the deadline as well, so who knows where the lux tax payroll ends up by the end of the season. Glad to see them acting like a big market team.

[Lateral Quicks]

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The Jays have way more money than anyone thought if this is the case.

Yeah they appear to be close to reaching Tier Two of the tax threshold, so if they keep adding from here, then it's clear they are going all in for 2023. I would imagine they'll add at the deadline as well, so who knows where the lux tax payroll ends up by the end of the season. Glad to see them acting like a big market team.

It's all the more remarkable because most of the revenues are in Canadian dollars.

[polo007]

According to former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher David Wells, he doesn’t sign New York Yankees and 7 other cards. He only signs Toronto Blue Jays cards.

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[Lateral Quicks]

According to former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher David Wells, he doesn’t sign New York Yankees and 7 other cards. He only signs Toronto Blue Jays cards.

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I wonder if Wells would have had the longevity he had in this era where people focus so much on the strikeout. The guy threw ~3,400 innings and had a career K/9 rate of just 5.8. I'm not sure he would have kept getting opportunities if he were playing today.

Interesting that he only signs Jays cards. If I remember right, he was none to happy to be traded back to the Jays in '99.

[Randle McMurphy]

According to former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher David Wells, he doesn’t sign New York Yankees and 7 other cards. He only signs Toronto Blue Jays cards.

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I wonder if Wells would have had the longevity he had in this era where people focus so much on the strikeout. The guy threw ~3,400 innings and had a career K/9 rate of just 5.8. I'm not sure he would have kept getting opportunities if he were playing today.

I don't look at it like that. Wells and others like him were pitching to contact purposely to get deeper into games.

Greg Maddux's career K rate was little better than that, for example, and nobody doubts his value as one of the best pitchers of all time (or at least nobody should). If strikeouts were more valued in than era of baseball, I don't think there's much question guys as good as that (including David Wells who was a great pitcher for nearly two decades) could have/would have gotten many more of them.

[dagger]

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Biggio $2.8 million

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[dagger]

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[WuTang_CMB]

Love the culture shift.

[polo007]

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[polo007]

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[SharoneWright]

Bo is the Blue Jays’ Mitch Marner…

Big demands, a meddling father, hockey hair, impressive offensive production with only occasional contact,,, except Mitch has way softer hands.