Blue Jays Discussion: Off-Season Pt VI: I declare this the summer of George!

[TheImpatientPanther]

Steve is an idiot - that is all

How is Simmons still employed?
What a slimy POS he is.
Just digs deep for clicks.

 

[Maestro84]

Springer is wearing number 4. Last number 4 on the Jays was Drabek.

Man I forgot that dude existed....the fact that he was the Jays top pitching prospect at the time shows how far this franchise has come in the decade since lol

 

[phillipmike]

Stephen Blair just said on the radio that there is no doubt in his mind the Jays landed Gurriel Jr. because they gave Morales the 3rd year. Brunt responded with "oh i agree".

 

[dredeye]

Semien at the AL East Ballparks (minimum 60 PAs):

1. Baltimore (Camden Yards): 130 tOPS+

4. Tampa Bay (Tropicana Field): 114 tOPS+
5. Toronto (Rogers Centre): 113 tOPS+

14. New York (Yankees Stadium): 62 tOPS+
15. Boston (Fenway): 45 tOPS+

Great in Baltimore, Tampa and Toronto. Pretty damn terrible in Boston and New York.

He wasn’t good against the better opposition in the yanks and sox

 

[Discoverer]

Should we ban laser eye surgery and glasses?

Naw, just keep out all the guys who used greenies.

 

[BlueForever75]

He wasn’t good against the better opposition in the yanks and sox

Who cares, he also played half of his home games at the worst hitters park out there. Look at how Donaldson's numbers spiked when he came to Toronto from the graveyard.

Believe me Semien is a business man he knows what hes doing. Going to a hitter friendly park, changing to a position that next years market isnt flushed with. He's playing for a contract.

Great signing by the Jays.

 

[dredeye]

Who cares, he also played half of his home games at the worst hitters park out there. Look at how Donaldson's numbers spiked when he came to Toronto from the graveyard.

Believe me Semien is a business man he knows what hes doing. Going to a hitter friendly park, changing to a position that next years market isnt flushed with. He's playing for a contract.

Great signing by the Jays.

He’s in a bitter friendly division. It’s a smart play for sure to be here. I’m not worried about him at all.

 

[The Nemesis]

Anybody wondering why we have not brought back Walker to anchor the backend of our rotation?

I mean it seems like a no brainer.

Walker seems to (rightfully) be the fallback option. Teams aren't climbing over each other to sign him, so the Jays can afford to be patient and see if they can make a play for someone better before figuring out if they need him to either shore up an extra hole or fill the gap if they can't get any of the better options out there.

I like what Walker did with the Jays, but the underlying stats suggest his ERA last year was a mirage. And while he's always been something of an "outperform the metrics" pitcher, the farther we move away from the years where he was consistently good, the less chance that he can revert back to that performance level as the norm.

Basically he'd be a solid #4 in the rotation, but I'm not signing him over and above trying to get someone to slot into the 2/3 spot.

 

[BlueForever75]

He’s in a bitter friendly division. It’s a smart play for sure to be here. I’m not worried about him at all.

The East isnt what it used to be pitching wise. The Yankees only have Cole as a sure thing, and the Red Sox are lucky if Sale returns to what he used to be. Severino is a wild card, coming off injury. But the hay day where you had Yankees loaded with pitching (Sabathia, Tanaka, Happ, etc..) or Red Sox with (Price and others) is gone.

Best pitching rotation right now in the East probably lies with the Rays, and that is even questionable with them dealing Snell. With a couple of 3-4 type starters and Pearson developing like we expect, the Jays will have the best rotation in the East.

So Semien should do more then ok against their pitching staffs and hitting in the friendly ballparks.

 

[BlueForever75]

I dont think the Jays will acquire another pitcher through trade. As much as it remains a possibility, they will save that bullet for closer to deadline if they are in the playoff hunt which they should be.

I see them solidifying their rotation with two 3-4 type starters. Look for free agent signings such as Paxton, Walker, Odiruzzi, etc. Those dominos wont fall until Bauer signs unfortunately.

But it seems like that is the best way to go in the short term cause all it costs is dollars. I would be hesitant to give up prospects for Hendricks and Gray alone in any deal unless Bryant and Moustakas are included in the deals. Just not worth it for what your going to have to pay.

 

[BAM]

Only bad thing about seeing this new roster is the fact that we won't be able to see them in Toronto this year.

 

[dredeye]

The East isnt what it used to be pitching wise. The Yankees only have Cole as a sure thing, and the Red Sox are lucky if Sale returns to what he used to be. Severino is a wild card, coming off injury. But the hay day where you had Yankees loaded with pitching (Sabathia, Tanaka, Happ, etc..) or Red Sox with (Price and others) is gone.

Best pitching rotation right now in the East probably lies with the Rays, and that is even questionable with them dealing Snell. With a couple of 3-4 type starters and Pearson developing like we expect, the Jays will have the best rotation in the East.

So Semien should do more then ok against their pitching staffs and hitting in the friendly ballparks.

Blue you’re over analyzing my post a little. I’m sure I’m not being clear either. It does still suggest he struggled against the superior teams when they had good pitching. This year is a good time to be a hitter in our division because of what you mentioned. Pitching is weaker which should help out his offence. It is interesting how bad his numbers are against those upper tier teams though. But don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy we have him

 

[dredeye]

Only bad thing about seeing this new roster is the fact that we won't be able to see them in Toronto this year.

I’m praying by mid season they are playing here but the US really needs to get themselves sorted out first. 200k new cases a day isn’t getting anyone across the border. I’m sure in the states they’ll be able to pay to get the vaccine early which maybe helps. This is a terrible year to not be able to see games live

 

[BlueForever75]

Keep hoping the numbers continue to drop in COVID cases and things will begin to normalize again. First step is bringing them back to Toronto. After that the fans will come.

 

[BlueForever75]

Blue you’re over analyzing my post a little. I’m sure I’m not being clear either. It does still suggest he struggled against the superior teams when they had good pitching. This year is a good time to be a hitter in our division because of what you mentioned. Pitching is weaker which should help out his offence. It is interesting how bad his numbers are against those upper tier teams though. But don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy we have him

Sorry man. I think we are saying the same things. Time will tell how things develop for Semien. But great to have him. I have this feeling he will be putting up another MVP type season this year. How huge would that be?

 

[Beaumaris]

Bonds was a 3 time MVP before he even took steroids...he was arguably as good as prime Mike Trout BEFORE taking steroids.

And how would you know this ?

 

[dredeye]

Sorry man. I think we are saying the same things. Time will tell how things develop for Semien. But great to have him. I have this feeling he will be putting up another MVP type season this year. How huge would that be?

That’s kind of how I feel. A deep lineup so he’ll get pitches to hit. Hitter friendly parks. Weaker in division pitching this year. It’s all there for him to succeed.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

How is Simmons still employed?
What a slimy POS he is.
Just digs deep for clicks.

He works for a tabloid. It's practically the NY Post. If he worked for a legit paper he would have been fired long ago. The Bautista thing, the Kessel Kessel hotdog story, him calling out other writers for being "weasels" after being a total hypocrite. And that's only in recent years. I can't believe this guy still makes radio and TV appearances. Sports doesn't require the shock jock types IMO.

 

[theaub]

And how would you know this ?

The part where he won three MVP's and his career was almost as good as Mike Trout's prior to the summer of 1998.

 

[phillipmike]

How will 2020's surprise teams fare in 2021?

Blue Jays (32-28, third in American League East)

What went right in 2020: Toronto hadn’t had a winning season since 2016, when it lost to Cleveland in the AL Championship Series, back when it had José Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnación. The youth movement the Blue Jays invested in after that season finally paid off in 2020, with a terrific lineup -- which included seven players under the age of 30 who had an OPS+ over 100 -- and just enough pitching to make it to the postseason, before they lost to the Rays in the AL Wild Card Series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn't quite yet become the superstar everybody hoped for, but that was more than made up for by the rest of the lineup, particularly Teoscar Hernández, who had a .919 OPS. It’s certainly not ideal that the Blue Jays had this breakthrough without playing a game in Toronto, but it was an unorthodox year.

What they've done this offseason: Hey, how’s a little George Springer for you? Is that enough to build on? The Blue Jays went out and got the best free-agent hitter for their lineup. Then, Toronto added right-hander Kirby Yates to its bullpen and shortstop Marcus Semien to its infield.

The Blue Jays might not even be done. Rumors have them connected to right-hander Trevor Bauer, and even if they don’t get him, they’re certainly going to be adding to their rotation somehow. The Jays are better than they were last year. They are going for it.

What 2021 looks like: For all the love for the Springer move, the Blue Jays probably haven’t passed the Yankees in the AL East just yet. But getting Bauer might push them ahead. Either way, Toronto is a serious contender in 2021, and it took the first step forward in '20. Now, the Blue Jays just have to figure out where they’re going to play.

 

[Deebo]

'Some reason' isn't exactly rocket science here. He saw inferior players get adulated and paid as the sport and public turned a blind eye to the reasons those players got better.

So he did it for the money and the fame when he was already rich and famous.

 

[Scion]

Should we ban laser eye surgery and glasses?

There is a pretty significant difference between correcting someone's vision so that they can see like everyone else and taking steroids to improve your vision to a degree that is above and beyond anyone else.

 

[Kurtz]

There is a pretty significant difference between correcting someone's vision so that they can see like everyone else and taking steroids to improve your vision to a degree that is above and beyond anyone else.

My understanding is that steroids can remedy vision problems - just like Lasik/Glasses. I'm not aware of steroids being able to give you some sort of super vision if you already had perfect vision.

 

[Puckstuff]

Man the jays lineup really is stacked. Semien is like the all in one Villar-Shaw-Panik but better. He can play SS, 2B and presumably 3B because if you can play short 3B is easier. Grichuck can easily be a 2 WAR guy again and guys like him and Vlad are going to need to fight just for playing time. We have crazy depth. I’m liking the pen and I like Ryu, Pearson, Ray in the rotation and maybe we get something out of Hatch, Stripling for the rotation with Roark as cover for innings. Don’t forget we have Kay and Merrywheather too. So 1 or 2 more starters and this team is seriously in a good spot. At worst we pick up Walker at best maybe we get a lower tier free agent and a better starter via trade. With another starter I see this team hitting 90 wins. I’m confident we’re ahead of Boston and Baltimore. I don’t know enough about Ny and Tb to know how they will be next year but we will for sure be in the race this year

 

[phillipmike]

https://prosportsoutlook.com/outlooks/?league=mlb&team=2594

Pretty neat link