Blue Jays Discussion: 2024 Season (better title pending)

[Dr Pepper]

I was at the game last night. I had to post to comment on the renovations. The fan experience is much improved at the dome. The crowd seemed to be more engaged and the renos look great . If you have not gone to the dome, I highly recommend you do. Really enjoyed the game experience. I will be definitely going a lot more to the games this year.

Been to two games this season and I've noticed the attendance at least hasn't seemed to dip.....so regardless of how listless the team on the field plays, at least the Jays execs can sleep easy knowing those gate numbers are still thriving.

I would be shocked if he's done as a Jay. He showed significant signs of improvement his last few starts. They're not just going to cut him while he's rehabbing or something. At the very least he'll get a chance to work his way back and help out mid-2025.

I suppose anything's possible and I'd love it if he came back better than ever - and in better shape, too. Maybe the Jays hold him for longer than I expected.

 

[Suntouchable13]

What an embarrassment if Vladdy gets voted as the starting 1B at the All-Star game. If you telling me that he is the best 1st baseman in the AL, then that's more of an indictment on the sad state of the position. He is slugging .398. I am getting really tired of him.

 

[MS]

What an embarrassment if Vladdy gets voted as the starting 1B at the All-Star game. If you telling me that he is the best 1st baseman in the AL, then that's more of an indictment on the sad state of the position. He is slugging .398. I am getting really tired of him.

OPS+ leaders amongst qualified AL 1B :

1. Ryan Mountcastle - 124
2. Josh Naylor - 123
3. Vladimir Guerrero - 122

Guerrero is the best defensive player of those 3 and has the highest WAR.

Guerrero being the starting AL 1B is totally justified. He's been the best 1B in the AL this season.

 

[tmlfan98]

What an embarrassment if Vladdy gets voted as the starting 1B at the All-Star game. If you telling me that he is the best 1st baseman in the AL, then that's more of an indictment on the sad state of the position. He is slugging .398. I am getting really tired of him.

Surprisingly, Vlad actually ranks 2nd in fWAR among AL 1B so far this season and he isn't far behind Carlos Santana who is currently 1st.

He also has the highest wRC+ among the 5 AL fWAR leaders at 1B. The other 4 are Santana, Mountcastle, Josh Naylor and Yandy Diaz.

I agree with the bolded though.

 

[Killer Orcas]

How the game has changed since I started watching in 91. It's all about speed now gone are the days of the big slow lumbering power bat at 1st. When I say speed it's not only the feet but the bat speed catching up to the flame throwers we have now in game. It's remarkable to think how many guys hit triple digits a game now compared to it being a rare occurrence or if ever back in 90's.

 

[Dr.Funk]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803499167232188733

 

[MS]

How the game has changed since I started watching in 91. It's all about speed now gone are the days of the big slow lumbering power bat at 1st. When I say speed it's not only the feet but the bat speed catching up to the flame throwers we have now in game. It's remarkable to think how many guys hit triple digits a game now compared to it being a rare occurrence or if ever back in 90's.

The insane increase in pitching velocity has just changed the fabric of the sport.

Back in 2000 or 2004 MLB was filled with these 38 year old roided up giants swatting 91 mph fastballs out of the park. And it's just escalated and escalated to the point where nearly every pitcher is red-lining themselves all the time, and starts are now 5 innings, pitching careers are absurdly short and basically just cycles of TJS, and hitters are basically all finished by age 35 because you're toast as soon as you lose the tiniest bit of fast-twitch response to straighten out a 98 mph fastball.

 

[trellaine201]

Can anyone analyze why Varsho sucks batting? OPS is blah. Such a shame. Really good defender.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Can anyone analyze why Varsho sucks batting? OPS is blah. Such a shame. Really good defender.

Launch angle issues (too many popups) and doesn't hit the ball very hard. His approach at the plate is fine at least.

The underlying numbers suggest he is vastly over performing across the board. We'll see how long he can keep this up (109 wRC+)

 

[Canucks LB]

Diehard Blue Jays fans, help me out with this.

I am what you might call a casual Blue Jays fan right now, but this was not always the case.

I actually grew up as a Blue Jays fan. When I was young, I witnessed two World Series. My father and mother were both huge Blue Jays fans as well.

After a while, I just kind of stopped following the team, but I would tune in from time to time just to see how they were doing.

I remember that incredible Bautista bat flip series—it got me so excited again, until everything fell apart.

Now we are in an era where every year I try to stay interested, but it’s just so incredibly boring.

I’m not trying to be mean or rude; it’s just incredibly boring. Watching this team for the last few years has been boring.

They do not seem to have any true semblance of structure, good coaching, or overall good communication from top to bottom.

Let me just say this: why don’t they just start over? It’s not like you’re going to get that many fewer fans going to the games. People are not going to the games to watch Vlad or Bo.

I think if they decided to just take a smart look, stop thinking about how good this team could be, and just sell, sell, sell for the next few seasons, when the good prospects come around, this organization would be exciting again.

They are not going to make the playoffs this year; they are not good enough. They are the definition of "mid."

It’s time to start selling every player you have and start over. Rip the Band-Aid off.

Just my two cents.

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803861173642903820

 

[MS]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803861173642903820

Even if it *should* happen I'd be stunned if they did it mid-season.

The first thing that should happen is a Seattle-style culling of Mattingly and the hitting coaches.

Since Seattle made those moves, incidentally, they're 12-5 and have scored 80 runs in those 17 games. 4.7 runs/game up from 3.6 before the changes.

 

[MS]

Diehard Blue Jays fans, help me out with this.

I am what you might call a casual Blue Jays fan right now, but this was not always the case.

I actually grew up as a Blue Jays fan. When I was young, I witnessed two World Series. My father and mother were both huge Blue Jays fans as well.

After a while, I just kind of stopped following the team, but I would tune in from time to time just to see how they were doing.

I remember that incredible Bautista bat flip series—it got me so excited again, until everything fell apart.

Now we are in an era where every year I try to stay interested, but it’s just so incredibly boring.

I’m not trying to be mean or rude; it’s just incredibly boring. Watching this team for the last few years has been boring.

They do not seem to have any true semblance of structure, good coaching, or overall good communication from top to bottom.

Let me just say this: why don’t they just start over? It’s not like you’re going to get that many fewer fans going to the games. People are not going to the games to watch Vlad or Bo.

I think if they decided to just take a smart look, stop thinking about how good this team could be, and just sell, sell, sell for the next few seasons, when the good prospects come around, this organization would be exciting again.

They are not going to make the playoffs this year; they are not good enough. They are the definition of "mid."

It’s time to start selling every player you have and start over. Rip the Band-Aid off.

Just my two cents.

Like I said a million times before last season on the Canucks board, this isn't how sports works.

Teams who have made the playoffs 3 years in a row and whose core players are in their early-mid 20s don't just 'blow it up' to lose $10s of millions finishing in last place for the next 5 years. Rebuilds only happen as a last resort after a team has aged out and there are no other options.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

After destroying the Yankees today (17 runs...must be nice), Baltimore is now 16-0-6 in the last 22 series vs the AL East

 

[The Nemesis]

Diehard Blue Jays fans, help me out with this.

I am what you might call a casual Blue Jays fan right now, but this was not always the case.

I actually grew up as a Blue Jays fan. When I was young, I witnessed two World Series. My father and mother were both huge Blue Jays fans as well.

After a while, I just kind of stopped following the team, but I would tune in from time to time just to see how they were doing.

I remember that incredible Bautista bat flip series—it got me so excited again, until everything fell apart.

Now we are in an era where every year I try to stay interested, but it’s just so incredibly boring.

I’m not trying to be mean or rude; it’s just incredibly boring. Watching this team for the last few years has been boring.

They do not seem to have any true semblance of structure, good coaching, or overall good communication from top to bottom.

Let me just say this: why don’t they just start over? It’s not like you’re going to get that many fewer fans going to the games. People are not going to the games to watch Vlad or Bo.

I think if they decided to just take a smart look, stop thinking about how good this team could be, and just sell, sell, sell for the next few seasons, when the good prospects come around, this organization would be exciting again.

They are not going to make the playoffs this year; they are not good enough. They are the definition of "mid."

It’s time to start selling every player you have and start over. Rip the Band-Aid off.

Just my two cents.

They aren't anywhere near the point of blowing it up. This is sort of like asking why the Canucks didn't just blow it up last season when they were mediocre and like 20 points away from any of the playoff teams in their division.

Take it from someone whose NHL team is in the midst of a scorched earth rebuild: It's not pretty, nor is it a reasonably quick fix or the thing you want to do unless you know that the pain is coming one way or another. Sure it's nice having Celebrini on the horizon but it's still going to be a 5-7 year process by the time things are said and done. Plus it's not even a guaranteed path to success because you could easily end up the Blue Jackets, endlessly running around in the basement hoping that one day you might actually make some progress.

 

[jetsforever]

Surprisingly, Vlad actually ranks 2nd in fWAR among AL 1B so far this season and he isn't far behind Carlos Santana who is currently 1st.

He also has the highest wRC+ among the 5 AL fWAR leaders at 1B. The other 4 are Santana, Mountcastle, Josh Naylor and Yandy Diaz.

I agree with the bolded though.

Pretty crazy that even in a down year for Vladdy, somehow all the other 1Bs are worse

 

[WeThreeKings]

You can't have the GM you are going to fire be in charge of the trade deadline.

I've said it in hockey, I've said it in Football and any sport.. the minute you start thinking about whether or not you need to change your GM or Coach.. just change them. There's very few times where holding off on making that change is a better outcome for the franchise.

 

[LaP]

You can't have the GM you are going to fire be in charge of the trade deadline.

Absolutely agree. The whole can't fire a GM mid season is BS. If you come to the conclusion that the GM is not the right man for the job and the TDL is not over yet you should 100% fire the GM.

 

[trellaine201]

Last thing we want is a GM giving away futures then fired.

 

[Dr Pepper]

With Shapiro and Atkins joined at the hip since their Cleveland days I'd still be surprised with a mid-season firing.

Greater chance we see Schneider handed his walking papers, sooner rather than later if the team continues to be mediocre.

 

[MS]

With Shapiro and Atkins joined at the hip since their Cleveland days I'd still be surprised with a mid-season firing.

Greater chance we see Schneider handed his walking papers, sooner rather than later if the team continues to be mediocre.

Yeah, I suspect Schneider will be made the scapegoat even though most of the things that have gone wrong (Mattingly, terrible off-season, Berrios situation in the playoffs) were forced on him by management.

 

[hoglund]

With Shapiro and Atkins joined at the hip since their Cleveland days I'd still be surprised with a mid-season firing.

Greater chance we see Schneider handed his walking papers, sooner rather than later if the team continues to be mediocre.

Remember that the Bluejays were hovering around. 500 in 2015 and at the trade deadline made a couple of trades and then they went on a winning streak everyone jumped on the bandwagon and they won their division. I hope that may happen again.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Remember that the Bluejays were hovering around. 500 in 2015 and at the trade deadline made a couple of trades and then they went on a winning streak everyone jumped on the bandwagon and they won their division. I hope that may happen again.

I do, but what I don't remember is all this optimism from management juxtaposed by an incredibly frustrated fanbase.

Maybe that was there too though.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Remember that the Bluejays were hovering around. 500 in 2015 and at the trade deadline made a couple of trades and then they went on a winning streak everyone jumped on the bandwagon and they won their division. I hope that may happen again.

That team was underachieving big time and certainly deserved a better record. They had something ridiculous like a +100 run differential despite the .500 record. Most runs scored by a mile in the first half, and while the pitching wasn't great, it was due for some better results

This current team is exactly where they should be given how they've played. Highly doubt they'll be able to turn it around

 

[Discoverer]

I do, but what I don't remember is all this optimism from management juxtaposed by an incredibly frustrated fanbase.

Maybe that was there too though.

Oh it absolutely was. The calls for AA/Gibby to be fired were at least as strong as what we're seeing today.