2024 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Maybe things will change, but I see me watching a lot less Jays next season, and this year was the lowest amount in a long time. At this point I’m really not interested in investing much time to watch such a terrible product. Better things to do.

The Jays are doing a great job turning their fans off of baseball.

[flamingred89]

Well, now that we know we're stuck with them. What are they up against.

As per Baseball-Reference they have $116 million in payroll committed for next year. If they signed everyone at estimated arbitration salaries they will be up to $184 million. Including Vladdy. I really do think they will sign Vladdy so I will be curious to see how they structure the deal and if they "buyout" Vladdy's last arb year. So lets just say they have $190 committed.

From what I can put together I think their roster with the pieces they have would look something like this.

Lineup:

1B. Guerrero
2B.
SS. Bichette
3B.
LF.
CF. Varsho
RF. Springer
C. Kirk
DH. Horwitz

Bench: Schneider, Clement, Wagner.

Rotation:
1. Gausman
2. Berrios
3. Bassit
4. Francis
5. Manoah*

*if healthy

Bullpen:
CL. Romano
RP. Green
RP. Cabrera
RP. Burr

Lets assume their payroll stays the same at around $240 million. That leaves them with $50 million to sign a 2B, LF, 3B, backup catcher, possible starter, and a whole lot of bullpen help. If you want to add any kind of impact bat that will eat half their cash off the get go. This is going to be a tough ask.

I think if you know what Manoah's situation is you could potentially trade Bassitt to free up cash and bring in a bargain bin guy to fill out the rotation. Risk/Reward type of thing. But that was part of the downfall of this season. Just hoping for players to stay healthy and perform above their expectations. Not a reliable way to build a team.

I just hope Atkins can leave the "smartest man in the room" BS behind him. And just put together a damn team that makes sense.

[browna]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Regarding the last part, Zaidi is now available. Has an MIT education and was once sought after in every industry. Not sure he has the same bs ability as Shapiro, but it would be my choice.

No I meant the on field manager, not GM, may fall into Shapiro's lap...but a guy from MIT managing in the field would be wild.
Atkins is here to for another season, Schneider will be the fall guy (and I think his contract up after next year too), unless he doesn't get the chance.

[SuperMatt18]

Shapiro is going to end up getting himself fired by sticking with Atkins and Schneider.

No idea how Schneider especially keeps his job.

[Jason14h]

This is a very expensive roster without much upside and no prospects knocking down the door

That is not a good combination

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

Well, now that we know we're stuck with them. What are they up against.

As per Baseball-Reference they have $116 million in payroll committed for next year. If they signed everyone at estimated arbitration salaries they will be up to $184 million. Including Vladdy. I really do think they will sign Vladdy so I will be curious to see how they structure the deal and if they "buyout" Vladdy's last arb year. So lets just say they have $190 committed.

From what I can put together I think their roster with the pieces they have would look something like this.

Lineup:

1B. Guerrero
2B.
SS. Bichette
3B.
LF.
CF. Varsho
RF. Springer
C. Kirk
DH. Horwitz

Bench: Schneider, Clement, Wagner.

Rotation:
1. Gausman
2. Berrios
3. Bassit
4. Francis
5. Manoah*

*if healthy

Bullpen:
CL. Romano
RP. Green
RP. Cabrera
RP. Burr

Manoah won’t be able to pitch until around the trade deadline (over half the season)…based on typical recovery time from comparable surgeries. We don’t even really know what pitcher he was prior to the injury so it’s impossible to pencil him anywhere near the rotation at this point.

You are missing Yariel Rodriguez from your list. He is either going to be the fifth starter or a long man from the bullpen…he has no options for next season so he’ll be on the roster. I think there is a decent chance that he takes a significant step forward next season. He has really good stuff when it’s on. His first season wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. If he can be more efficient, I think he’s a pretty strong fifth starter. He doesn’t have to always throw for one earned run over 7 innings…if he can regularly give them 5-6 innings of 3 earned runs, he gives them a chance to win.

Brendan Little also has a much better shot than Burr of being in next year’s bullpen. There is a chance both of them are in the bullpen but Little is nearly a certainty.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

An interesting exercise would be how much each win above 81 should be worth. The idea is that replacement level players cobbled together will win x amount of games. But the wins above that should be worth more as 90 wins gets a playoff team.

The Jays will usually do badly here because they need overpays to get guys to play in Canada. But should not be this bad.

I agree with this sentiment, so I redid the sheet with the minimum payroll and minimum number of wins. So I added a column showing how much a team spent over the minimum (I used the As for that, as I think they're as cheap as you could get). Then I added a column for wins over the minimum (I used the White Sox for that, as I think they're as bad as you could get).

Then I divided the extra $ by the extra wins, which is how much a team spent over the bare minimum for each win over the bare minimum.

The White Sox are at the top with an infinite value, because they spent $71 MM extra on zero extra wins, and the Athletics are at the bottom at zero because they spent zero extra on 28 extra wins. The only other two teams worse than the Jays on this metric are the Mets and the Angels. Not exactly illustrious company in terms of management quality.

[browna]

Just saw the SNet clips, and Shapiro's comments about Vlad are ridiculous. He doesn't have to fawn over him, and yes there are negotiations to be had, but his uncomfortableness in giving Vlad a rating of anything more then "above average" is a slap in the face.

[Inferno]

[KelVarnsen]

I love that PinkCherry ad

[Parallex]

The Jays doubled down on a bad strategy and lost (again). I wager they triple-down on it next year and lose again.

It's silly that Atkins (at least) hasn't lost his job yet.

[Sylvanfan]

I'll guess that looking up pink cherry using my companies internet domain would be a bad idea.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Parallex

The Jays doubled down on a bad strategy and lost (again). I wager they triple-down on it next year and lose again.

It's silly that Atkins (at least) hasn't lost his job yet.

Anything is possible as has been evidenced with Atkins being kept on, but they can’t sell the same vision. I truly think a big plan was shared starting with the lazy approach of free agent spending. I can also see Springer being bought out. That offence in the OF was horrible. May be the worst OF hitting we’ve ever seen on this team.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I'll guess that looking up pink cherry using my companies internet domain would be a bad idea.

It's fine. It's a dessert company. Nothing more than that. Go ahead.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Anything is possible as has been evidenced with Atkins being kept on, but they can’t sell the same vision. I truly think a big plan was shared starting with the lazy approach of free agent spending. I can also see Springer being bought out. That offence in the OF was horrible. May be the worst OF hitting we’ve ever seen on this team.

You can’t buy players out realistically speaking . You designate them and continue to pay them .

You recoup whatever they sign With another team for (league min usually )

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

It's fine. It's a dessert company. Nothing more than that. Go ahead.

Correct

[flamingred89]

God ####ing dammit. Reports are that Terry Francona is going to manage the reds. I thought he'd be absolutely perfect for the Jays. And had a connection to Shatkins. ####.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

You can’t buy players out realistically speaking . You designate them and continue to pay them .

You recoup whatever they sign With another team for (league min usually )

Thanks for that. Would love to leave that contract behind. There are so many holes to fill this offseason. I truly don’t know how they do it without an unlimited budget. SP, Vlad and Bo are the only bigtime trade able assets to bring about sizeable returns. Not sure if there’s any interest in doing that. So I truly don’t know how they address their needs. I do know agents are going to squeeze Atkins knowing his situation of needing results.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

God ####ing dammit. Reports are that Terry Francona is going to manage the reds. I thought he'd be absolutely perfect for the Jays. And had a connection to Shatkins. ####.

they probably think he's over the hill, need young analytics guys

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

they probably think he's over the hill, need young analytics guys

I see one more starter getting pulled while pitching a shutout or no-hitter, and I'm going to pick a new team.