Mr. Biagini, Mr. Joe Biagini: The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays

i have to admit, i can't stop thinking about what a rebuild would look like. i'm excited to see how Vlad develops and beyond him, the Jays have some decent, good-but-not-elite prospects. Alford, Telliz, Urena, Gurriel, Foley, Bichette, McGuire, Zeuch etc – there's great depth there, although not a lot of "buzz"-worthy names. if they could add one or two top prospects at the deadline, i think we'd have a pretty exciting team in a few years.

seems like a "big" April win if they can pull this one out.

joey sombrero

he is making me, and my two year old, very sad.

I checked the boxscore last night just before turning in, and Bautista was 0-4 and down to .102--figured I'd be posting in the morning about his possibly historically brutal (for a player of his caliber) start. Surprise, surprise.

I listening to the whole thing.

I guess it's still early, but Pillar and Bautista are both at -0.1 dWAR for the season. Something seems fishy.

After last night, they've lost six games by one run and four by two runs.

I know Stroman's off to a pretty good start, but the ceiling on how good he can ever be over a full season would seem to be ordinary at best if he's striking out fewer than six batters per nine. Is there any starter who's effective nowadays with that kind of strikeout rate? In Fangraphs WAR list for last year, no one in the Top 30 had a K rate lower than 7.32; in the top 50 the lowest was 6.01, which is a little better than Stroman's rate right now. That belonged to Bartolo Colon.

Fangraphs as always been underrating that kind of pitcher (the groundout/sinker expert), something even they aknowleged at some point (covering Buerhle I think).

But then using fangraphs leaderboards, in k/9, Stroman isn't far away from Porcello, Quintana and Tanaka in 2016, I mean if he becomes that kind of ace over the next 3-4 seasons, the Blue Jays are over the moon.

Hard to say where he settles in--he's had two years over 7.0, one year between 6.0-7.0, and this year he's at 5.6. Maybe there are still (rare) exceptions, but Buerhle at his best goes back 10-15 years, and even there, he was ever one of the 10 best starters in the game? Maybe he grazed that list once or twice. I'd use Baseball Reference's list of last year's best starters for the same comparison, but their new design (which I hate) makes that difficult.

Maybe Stroman can have a Buerhle-like career, I don't know. I think he needs to keep his K-rate up near 7.0, though, to be anything more than a #3 starter.

("was he ever one of the 10 best"--transposition)

i've never seen a runner score like Coghlan just did! Leapt right over Molina (clipping him on the head).

That was unbelievable

Instant classic

Lovely.

Can't believe that worked

no bench for extras :/

I want to go to bed, but now I'm worried I'll miss some other ridiculous play.

Stroman pinch hitting. I can go to bed now.

!

Pinch hit double

Double?!?!!?!!!

Man or ass Stroman

man

lol i don't think coghlan touched third

classice mookie comment

yes, classice.

that slide was amazing

First jays game I've caught this season that I've enjoyed but at the back of my mind is the thought "they won this with a crazy slide, a pinch double by a pitcher, and two(?) runs scored via errors. Don't get excited".

welp

;_;

ah it's ok the next game starts in 1hr 45m. sure it'll go swimmingly. and no, there will be no relievers doing double-shifts today.

Team looks into the abyss, abyss looks back.

I'm ready to write off the season now.

the abyss boo's.

my facebook as awash with friends trying to unload tickets.

come see the Mets and i'll try to get up there this summer

'sanctuary ballparks'

ha ha! my partner is brown - 100% not crossing that boarder anytime soon. sorry. would love to come back to new york tho, maybe i'll come down for a long weekend with my kid post-impeachment.

well i'll have to rob a bank and come to Ontario then.

well, we have an air b n b bachelor in our basement that comes with a hefty ilx discount if it helps!

apparently jarrod saltalamacchia's jays career is over

1-for-25, 1 BB, 16 K, -80 wRC+, 0-for-9 vs base stealers, -0.7 bWAR, -0.5 fWAR in 10 games

RIP saltalamacchia

He had a good name

Sanchez was pulled after 13 pitches today.

Didn't realise how bad of a season Devon Travis is having, holy mackerel.

tbf, it is hard to discern who's doing especially bad in that lineup right now.

Mr. Biagini, Mr. Joe Biagini.

I don't get it. The more guys get injured - the better they do!

... and the wheels have fallen off again. I'm not one to get uptight about stuff like bat flips, but the last innings of a third straight blowout loss on the road against a last place team is a *really* bad time to start showboating.

It's so egregiously uncalled for (still haven't seen the clip) that I almost wonder if it was meant solely to stir up the Jays.

I doubt any of our new infielders can pitch as well as Goins tho. We’re fucked.

Is the Donaldson signing a wait-and-see move? Enough money that, with those two guys on their way, he'll consider resigning if they look competitive a year from now (if the Jays still want him, that is)?

That wasn’t an extension - they just came to an agreement to avoid arbitration.

I understood that, what I meant was that by avoiding arbitration they maintain a good-faith relationship, and there's at least a chance Donaldson will resign next year if Donaldson's still playing well and the prospects for 2019 look good. (Whereas an arbitration hearing ensures he leaves after this year.)

It's the typical running in place non-move that Jays management excels at. If they trade him now then it's a clear sign that they're punting the season but the same time they don't want to sign him to an extension and commit to being competitive. Gord Ash would have been proud.

I think most of the arb eligible guys have managed to come to an agreement tho, haven’t they?

And, in regards to running in place - in this case, I’m ok with it. I feel like they’re a league average corner outfielder and a 5th starter away from having a shot at the wildcard. They are going to have to decide at the deadline this year - are they competitive - or are they selling (Donaldson). Then they can suck for two years until the Tulo and Martin contracts are up, which coincides with Vlad and Dante Jrs being ready - ideally Sanchez and/or Stroman are extended and they can plug whatever holes we have with FAs in 21/22.

i think they ought to trade him now. he's a great player but he's also 32, and whoever signs him as a free agent is going to be paying for age 33-whatever. he also happens to play vlad jr's position.

zips projects the jays winning 83 games and being the first team out of the playoffs (albeit five games behind the second-wildcard angels). that's pretty good and certainly within the margin of error, so it would be hard to just punt on 2018. but if they could get a decent return on donaldson i think it still would be worth it.

on a completely different note: http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/01/11/doug-ault-and-the-triumph-of-joy

wow at all the snow on the field in that video!

sometimes I'm astonished at what teams will part with at the deadline for a rental, partial-season player. tho the market for a 3b would be more limited than OF or P, i still like their odds of getting a good return, should they move him in August.

that, and knowing what i know about Jays (non-hardcore) fans – dealing him in the offseason would cause a minor revolt. would be a much easier sell if they're having a repeat of 2017.

Will have to read that Doug Ault piece. I was sitting in Mr. Lightfoot's grade 11 history class, with three or four of us listening to a transistor radio (with his okay).

All of last year's great teams had, and still have, a lot of depth. The Jays don't have much depth, especially on offense. They might luck into a WC spot if everything goes right, but that doesn't happen most years.

If there was ever a year for throwing in the towel, it's this year. Trade Donaldson, get Sanchez healthy again, commit to Stroman, get in on next year's historically great batch of free agents, and get Vlad and Dante Jrs ready. We could have a kick ass team in 2019-2020. Instead they'll hedge their bets and fall behind teams that stuck to their plan all along.

I don’t think they’ll be able to spend much until Martin and Tulo are gone in 20/21

As I see it there is three teams that will fight for the wild card spot: Twins, Angels and Jays. That's a low amount of odds to get in a one play-off game against either the Red Sox and the Yankees. It does not seem really worth it.

IT IS WORTH IT WE HAVE SO LITTLE HERE!

Also maybe I should do a new thread...

I wonder if we could have gotten McCutchen. The two guys San Francisco gave up look pretty good. Obviously, I wouldn't want the Jays to give up Jesus or Godot.

Anyway, we are making moves:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22110273/toronto-blue-jays-announce-plans-extended-protective-netting-rogers-centre

They did... signed Granderson.

They've plugged the 25 HR/.220 hole left by Bautista.

Sooner or later the Jays front office is going to learn that every cheap player they sign on a flier doesn't always pan out.

But it might take another ten years of mediocrity for that to happen.