2020 Blue Jays Season Thread

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I'm just going to assume they're not going to land any of the big free agents this year and if they do I'll be pleasantly surprised. They might be the runner ups for all of them.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1350219121993142272

[KelVarnsen]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1349807411817828353

Vladdy looking good

[Roof-Daddy]

Kluber supposedly to the Yankees.

That's one that pisses me off.

Godammit anyways

[flamingred89]

Hearing that offer the Jays supposedly made to Lemahieu really makes me think he wasn’t ever planning on signing elsewhere. That’s a heck of an offer and glad the Jays took a real stab at it.

I’m still bullish the Jays will land a big fish soon as they’re in a great position to finish second in the AL east behind the Yanks. But damn, if the Yanks stay healthy they could be real scary this year.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by fleury

I guess the Bauer personality can be polarizing. All of us have worked with people who say me and I to everything. It’s all about them. To some personalities it’s nothing but to some it can be super annoying. I’m on the side that it comes across as their show and everyone else is in it. Right or wrong. Others have a thicker skin. When Stroman was doing more or less it rubbed a lot of us the wrong way. Not from a baseball traditional standpoint because I don’t care. But from a human standpoint that he should just shut up and pitch. Keep the emotion but quit the me me me. Bauer I feel the same way.

I guess for me I never seen either Bauer or Stroman as putting themselves ahead of the team. I think both players need to play with a chip on their shoulder to be at their best.

Baseball is a lot more of an individual sport than say hockey, and it's especially true for starting pitchers.

I just think those two pitchers just have a me vs the world mentality to give them a competitive edge, not to put themselves ahead of the team.

That's the way I read it, but I can see where you are coming from.

[Roof-Daddy]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1350477765003288576



I dunno, looks like some pretty good progress for Vladdy as far as fitness goes.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Good for Vladdy. He realized the only person who was holding him back was himself, took responsibility for his career and will only see positive results, and even for his own personal health, being that size that young has to be hard on the body.

[bluejays]

I'm a huge opponent of his weight issues, and from those pictures he look sooooo much better. But wasn't it a month ago in winterball he more or less was the same weight at end of last season? Maybe he's made progress in the past month or two. I hope so! I'd trade some power for a healthier player for longevity purposes as well as extra base hits. It works out.

[flamingred89]

Holy ####. Keep it up Vladdy!

This makes me really, really excited to see what he can do. We’ll still get our dose of the fat ball plays club with Tellez. So this is most excellent news.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Kluber supposedly to the Yankees.

That's one that pisses me off.

Godammit anyways

The Jays apparently tried, and failed, again.

You gotta think they'll sign at least one highly touted FA soon, but man they're really swinging and missing on a lot of players so far.

After Kluber threw a well-attended bullpen session in Florida last week, several teams began bidding aggressively, including a previously unknown suitor: the Toronto Blue Jays. This pushed Kluber’s base salary past what many in the industry expected, considering his recent injury history.

https://sny.tv/articles/how-corey-kl...nkees-rotation

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, it sucks.

Seems like the Jays will have to massively overpay to get anyone to sign with them, and I'm not sure I want them to do that anyways.

Build from within, make smart trades, and take the odd key free agent signing when the stars align...like with Ryu.

[Roof-Daddy]

So far the Jays were in on or close to signing/acquiring:

1. Ha-seong Kim
2. Lindor/Carrasco
3. Hendriks
4. Kluber
5. Lemahieu

Rumored to be "runner up" in most cases

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yeah, it sucks.

Seems like the Jays will have to massively overpay to get anyone to sign with them, and I'm not sure I want them to do that anyways.

Build from within, make smart trades, and take the odd key free agent signing when the stars align...like with Ryu.

They definitely need to add, building within is really hard and likely won't work in my opinion.

They have to find a way to sign the higher end free agents or work to make good trades.....

Without breaking the bank....

[bluejays]

I definitely believe they have to add to get better, or give the hope of getting better through an acquisition, but if they don’t get one of the big names I hope Rogers allows them to carry that over to next year. I’d be disappointing but not the end of the world. I truly believe next year is the start of going for it all as currently they’re still pretty raw in young talent. An extra full year can do wonders.

[JTech780]

The Jays are always going to have to overpay to get top end free agents, just because they are the only team in Canada. Right or wrong, Toronto isn't a coveted destination in MLB.

What further adds to this, is the fact that it is very likely that the Jays won't get to play in Toronto to start the season and possibly for the whole season. So are they playing out of minor league stadium again? Which big name free agent is going to want to sign with a team that is going to play in a minor league stadium?

As much as Shapiro and Atkins want to get a big name free agent, they are fighting an uphill battle.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by JTech780

The Jays are always going to have to overpay to get top end free agents, just because they are the only team in Canada. Right or wrong, Toronto isn't a coveted destination in MLB.

What further adds to this, is the fact that it is very likely that the Jays won't get to play in Toronto to start the season and possibly for the whole season. So are they playing out of minor league stadium again? Which big name free agent is going to want to sign with a team that is going to play in a minor league stadium?

As much as Shapiro and Atkins want to get a big name free agent, they are fighting an uphill battle.

While I know the minor league stadium thing has been floated around, I wonder how big that really is to a player if you’re paid your price? They have all the amenities of being a major league player, they did renovations so it’s not that big a deal, and you don’t ride a bus. I think the Buffalo thing as a city wouldn’t be great but the stadium I’d guess isn’t that bad.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Well, it's something?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1351357795128504320

[Jiggy_12]

Yeah, definitely something. Even when the big game hunting is on, these types of signings are always important. And the Jays have had a lot more hits than misses in recent years when signing these depth bullpen arms.

Necessary and essential signing.

Now, go get Realmuto.

[JTech780]

Nice signing. Chatwood has 96 percentile spin rate and averaged 94.7mph on his fastball. I think they are going put him in the bullpen, his velocity will play up there.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by fleury

While I know the minor league stadium thing has been floated around, I wonder how big that really is to a player if you’re paid your price? They have all the amenities of being a major league player, they did renovations so it’s not that big a deal, and you don’t ride a bus. I think the Buffalo thing as a city wouldn’t be great but the stadium I’d guess isn’t that bad.

At the end of the day it's still a minor league stadium, if you are getting similar money from two teams you are going to go with the team playing in a major league stadium.

Not to mention that most of these guys have families and having uncertainty about where the Jays will play next year would make tough for a family looking to plan housing and all the rest the goes with moving to a new team with a family in tow.

I am not saying that they won't get a big name, but the odds are stacked against them, and I think they will really have to overpay to get one of the big names.