2019 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Roof-Daddy]

It's just what I'm going to do. I really don't have to explain myself.

They just started a rebuild. They're supposed to suck right now. No point in bitching about everything they do or don't do. But go nuts if that's what you enjoy.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

It's just what I'm going to do. I really don't have to explain myself.

They just started a rebuild. They're supposed to suck right now. No point in bitching about everything they do or don't do. But go nuts if that's what you enjoy.

They started a rebuild one year too late and got zero value for assets that likely would have netted some great prospects a year earlier all because they wanted to milk one more half a season out of the cash cow.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

They started a rebuild one year too late and got zero value for assets that likely would have netted some great prospects a year earlier all because they wanted to milk one more half a season out of the cash cow.

Yeap.

Nothing can be done about that now.

Hopefully they don't repeat the mistake and get some good assets for Stroman and Giles

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

They're supposed to suck right now.

They are but I don't think that's really the problem people have with them. It's the way they conduct business. Starting from trying to make it sound like they gave Price an offer when really they didn't. Not all of it has been bad but it's been enough for people to have little faith that it won't be a long rebuild.

[flamingred89]

For me it’s 100% the way they’ve conducted business so far. It started with Shapiro being announced as president and forcing AA out. That was a strange situation with the team coming off it’s most successful season in 22 years and fans flocking to the stadium. I understand that Beeston retiring played part but that was a black mark on a very special season.

Then there was the “offer” for Price. Which I was really ok with because I feel like pitchers are vastly overpaid and that Price contract is an albatross of sorts. But the he said/she said of how that played out was very misleading.

Then there was the EE scenario where Atkins panicked and signed Morales. Letting a very popular and productive slugger sign with an AL rival.

Then there was the mishandling of Donaldsons health and basically turned him into negative assets.

Now they’re toying with Stroman and souring another relationship. I get that during a rebuild you flip assets, but he’s a pitcher, not yet in his prime, that wants to stay. So let’s screw with him and throw a long term contract to Grichuk. Who’s the same age and is barely a replacement level player.

These are just some of the reasons why I don’t like the way this management team has handled things and I do fear for some unnecessary dark years.

[bluejays]

This management team is owed no benefit of the doubt. AA's management team drafted their big prospects. When it comes to the rebuild, they've mismanaged almost every asset they've had and got C-grade prospects back generally. So where's the quality I'm expecting to build my hopes on? I will say the jury is out on their own draft choices, but I can tell a snake oil salesman when I see one and these guys fit that bill. With AA there was a vision to some degree where you seen him get high potential prospects, or high draft picks. What these guys are doing with the mediocre prospect acquisitions, and the general terrible timing of asset management, I simply don't get any of it. Maybe they're up to something brilliant which none of us can't see.

[Jason14h]

There’s nothing to get. Their directive was to clear all payroll and hopefully allow Rogers to sell the team.

However the Grichuk signing makes no sense. Maybe he saw the official memo from Rogers to management ��

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by fleury

AA's management team drafted their big prospects.

BA just came out with their top ten list of Blue Jays prospects, every single one of them except for SRF was drafted or signed by the Shapiro/Atkins management group.

1. Bo Bichette, SS

A broken left hand slowed Bichette's ascent, but he has been back since June and continues to show why he's one of the game's elite prospects. He has excellent bat speed, a knack for finding the barrel and has shown he can stick at shortstop where he has quick feet and good body control.

2. Nate Pearson, RHP

Pearson's pure stuff ranks among the best in the minors, with a fastball that sits in the upper-90s and consistently reaches triple-digits, complemented by a swing-and-miss slider in the upper-80s. The caveat with Pearson is his workload—during the first half of the season every other start, the Blue Jays limited him to two innings—but if Pearson proves durable enough to handle a starter's workload, he could anchor the front of a rotation.

3. Jordan Groshans, SS

Groshans hasn't played since May 13 due to a foot injury. It's been otherwise all arrows up for Groshans since signing as the 12th overall pick in last year's draft, with Groshans showing an impressive combination of hitting ability and power.

4. Eric Pardinho, RHP

A sore right elbow prevented Pardinho from pitching until June 26, but his mix of stuff and feel for pitching remain well beyond his years, with Pardinho already in low Class A Lansing as an 18-year-old.

5. Alek Manoah, RHP

After getting a good return on an extra-large, power-armed first-round pick in Pearson, the Blue Jays went even bigger with another hard-throwing first-round pick this year, drafting the 6-foot-7, 275-pound Manoah at No. 11 overall. Manoah pairs a mid-to-upper 90s fastball with a hard slider that has plus potential.

6. Alejandro Kirk, C

Kirk is a polarizing prospect among scouts. Some are quickly turned off by his body type, but Kirk has improved defensively and he's a natural hitter with good plate discipline and excellent hand-eye coordination.

7. Gabriel Moreno, C

An athletic catcher with great bat-to-ball skills, Moreno started to show a little bit more power last year and has continued that upward trend this year with low Class A Lansing.

8. Sean Reid-Foley, RHP

The 2019 season has been a struggle for Reid-Foley, the latest in a career of zigs and zags for a pitcher who has shown promising stuff but has often battled fastball command. Those control troubles have continued to hurt Reid-Foley this season.

9. Miguel Hiraldo, SS

Hiraldo earned praise from scouts as an amateur as one of the top hitters in the 2017 international signing class, a reputation he lived up to last year and has continued to show this year in the Rookie-level Appalachian League.

10. Orelvis Martinez, 3B

Martinez signed with the Blue Jays last year for $3.51 million, the highest bonus for a 16-year-old international signing in the 2018 class. Making his pro debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, Martinez projects as a strong, physical player whose offensive tools are ahead of his defense, with Martinez likely to play third base.

[cross16]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

BA just came out with their top ten list of Blue Jays prospects, every single one of them except for SRF was drafted or signed by the Shapiro/Atkins management group.

In addition to this, they drafted Biggio and signed Guriel Jr as well.

Takes time to rebuild but I'm with you in that I'm willing to wait because so far I've been impressed with their drafting and player development and it's been a huge upgrade over previous Blue Jay management groups. That and I also think there's too much talent in their managment team for this to fail.

[bluejays]

Got a Score mobile alert saying the Mets are considering dealing Syndergaard to the Padres for prospects. They would then acquire Stroman for those prospects. Without knowing who those prospects are, it'd likely be in the right direction if it were SD's prospects of all teams, but I'd be curious to see which ones in SD's prospect depth chart. Anyway, I see no scenario where the Jays keep Stroman after hanging him out without a contract discussion. No chance they turn around and ask him to sign a contract.


On the other hand, could be Jays floating that out there so the other NY team ups their offer (though different leagues).

[GirlySports]

Tap tap tap us this thing on?

Jay's come back from 9-2 to win 10-9 in 12 innings.

[flamingred89]

That was a pretty sweet comeback.

Just another 6 home runs for the Jays. They got some pop in those bats.

[Roof-Daddy]

Haha nice comeback. #### you rays

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

BA just came out with their top ten list of Blue Jays prospects, every single one of them except for SRF was drafted or signed by the Shapiro/Atkins management group.

I am with you in this regard. I do think it's fair to be upset at the front office for some definite bungles, as a lot are, but there have been some definite positive steps that you have to give the front office credit for. They aren't just these Cleveland cronies that are here to decimate the Blue Jays and rub their hands in glee as they see dollars being saved. The 2015, 2016 iteration of the Jays was successful, but also extremely old and their competitive window was clearly over. They missed the sell off by a year, as they should be held accountable for, but the tear down was inevitable regardless of what year it should have happened.

First of all, and most importantly to me, they have significantly improved the the farm system in pretty short order. In 2016 their farm system was ranked 24th, in 2017 20th, 2018 they were 8th and at the beginning of this season they were 3rd. Incredible for a team that had traded away basically every single prospect of value in the system besides Vladdy Jr. In short order they drafted Pearson, Bichette, Biggio, Groshans, Manoah, signed international prospects Pardinho, Gurriel Jr (to a contract that is looking pretty damn valuable right now) to only name a few. Obviously a lot of these guys might be total busts but it definitely doesn't hurt to have some highly touted, and still extremely young, prospects in the pipeline.

Making significant upgrades to the Dunedin facility and make it a state of the art training, rehab and coaching facility is something that I think is awesome as well and deserves some serious praise. A lot of what I am reading/listening about baseball now is that all front offices are extremely adept at analytics and there is not much disparity in how front offices value players. The big movement is towards development from the second the players enter the organization, which is what I see this regime doing with their Dunedin upgrades. I am pretty sure Paul Beeston still uses a rotary phone, so it's nice to see this front office do everything it can in terms of using advanced development models to gain an edge on the competition.

-Turning Osuna into Giles plus.
-Turning J.B. Woodman into Aledmys Diaz and then into Trent Thornton.
-Trading Connor Greene and Dominic Leone into Grichuk.
-Picking up Sogard as a free agent for league minimum, guy is worth 2.0 WAR
-Picking up Galvis for 4 million dollars, 1.6 WAR. Incredible value.
-Signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr to a 7 year 22 million dollar deal. He has an OPS + of 139. 1.9 WAR, leads the team in HR, and is making 1.9 million dollars this year. That is crazy value.
While some of these aren't exactly earth shattering they managed to unearth some value from virtually nothing or a tainted product (Osuna).

Paying their minor league players more deserves kudos.

Shapiro is making efforts to significantly improve the fan experience at the SkyDome and it sounds like he is hoping to do a major renovation. Obviously a lot of what his plans are are disguised in his typical corporate double-speak but one of his major moves in Cleveland was upgrading Jacobs Field and I think he has a real desire to make massive improvements to the Skydome.

Bringing in former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington. When he was let go of the Red Sox he had left them behind: Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Brock Holt, Eduardo Rodríguez, Blake Swihart, Travis Shaw, Henry Owens, Christian Vázquez. Not a bad guy to have on your team.

Yes, the Jays suck, a lot, but there is still a lot to be optimistic about.

[Roof-Daddy]

Sogard has been pulled from the line up today. He's apparently not injured either.

Sounds like a trade may be coming soon.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Sogard was a late scratch today but is still in the dugout. Probably a good idea to keep him out.

Exit: beaten!

[GirlySports]

Sanchez is dealing. Struck out first 6 batters.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

6 batters, 6 k’s for Sanchez. Where has this been all year?

[Roof-Daddy]

Lol

Sanchez strikes out 6 in a row to start the game

[Matty81]

Lol traded to Tampa as per Passan's twitter