The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays

[Phil C. McNasty]

If you let Google artificial intelligence do your thinking for you I guess he does have a point

I think it's more important to have a better won loss record than a higher run differential...one means nothing and the other puts you in first place

In my opinion its better to have a high RD than a low one.
The only reason 3 of 4 Yankee games this week were close is because Yankees can put 8 runs on the board very quickly.

But of course at the end of the day W/L record is all that matters, so you're right there

 

[K Douglas]

When Capitan Kirk runs the bases he reminds me of Devon White. Devo is still with the Jays as a player development assistant. Which confounds me, why isn't he on The Level of Excellence? One stat stands out in particular, he hit 34 triples as a Jay, he made life easy for those batting behind him.

Devon White should definitely be on our level of excellence. Played 5 seasons here and earned 5 gold gloves and 2 rings. His best statistical year with us was the year before we won our first world series. 40 doubles, 10 triples, 17 homers, 110 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a 6.3 WAR. Dude was like an antelope in CF he tracked down pretty much everything with relative ease. Integral to our success as a franchise.

 

[Fun For All]

Devon White should definitely be on our level of excellence. Played 5 seasons here and earned 5 gold gloves and 2 rings. His best statistical year with us was the year before we won our first world series. 40 doubles, 10 triples, 17 homers, 110 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a 6.3 WAR. Dude was like an antelope in CF he tracked down pretty much everything with relative ease. Integral to our success as a franchise.

Five seasons is not enough to be put on the level of excellence... 14 players won two World Series with the Blue Jays are you gonna put them all on?... he was good probably better than average but a little bit short in the excellence category

 

[onomatopoeia]

Would you say the Baltimore Orioles recent rebuild was a success?

2025 MLB Team payrolls

Don't judge the Orioles by this season. They have tons of young, controllable cheap talent. It's unfortunate that most of them are having bad seasons at the same time. I expect them to dump their expiring contracts, and fill pitching needs at the deadline, or in the offseason. They'll also get a blue chip first round pick next July.

What do the Blue Jays have to trade, if they are buyers at the deadline? I can't think of much. In the meantime, I expect the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners to be buyers. If the Jays stand pat, they'll be passed in the standings. The Yankees, Tigers, Rays and Astros are all better teams than the Jays. The Red Sox might also be in the mix. The Jays can realistically hope to finish somewhere between fifth and eighth in the AL. To me, that's like when a Canadian wins the wood medal at the Olympics. Canada is usually happy when they're fourth best at something.

I don't think that trying to be a Wild card team leads to any real success. Keep in mind that Rogers doesn't have TV rights after the Wild Card round, so getting into the post season is profitable, but advancing into the rounds that count costs more than it yields.

The two AL teams which 'get it' the best are the Rays and the Astros. What those two teams have in common is that they move talent when the future cost will exceed the future performance. They know how to contend and rebuild at the same time.

You build a contender with young and inexpensive high upside players, then add free agents to fill specific needs. The Blue Jays do the opposite; they put most of their eggs into a few baskets, then fill half of the roster with 'guys named Raoul'.

Once the A's move to Las Vegas, it's going to get a lot worse for Toronto, because they'll drop another spot on the 'preferred destination' list.

 

[K Douglas]

I think if the Jays are going to contend seriously they need to address the lack of starting pitching depth. Do they make a play for Kikuchi again? I wonder who else is available.

 

[Toronto Passions]

I think all they need is one high leverage arm in the bullpen and only replace Santander with an additional bat, if he's not coming back. If his rehab is working and he is back by late August at the latest, just leave the OFFENCE alone.

I hope the All-Star game wakes Guerrero up and put him in the right rhythm.

Philip

 

[bemeup]

Once the team gets back to full health, there will be some interesting lineup decisions to be made. Springer and Santander in RF and DH, Varsho in CF, Straw and Lukes platooning in LF, Barger at 3B, Bichette at SS, Giminez at 2B and Vladdy at 1B. So that leaves Clement without a position. To solve this dilemma, Jays could try to trade Bichette for pitching, or even Santander if any team would want him.

 

[Fun For All]

In my opinion its better to have a high RD than a low one.
The only reason 3 of 4 Yankee games this week were close is because Yankees can put 8 runs on the board very quickly.

But of course at the end of the day W/L record is all that matters, so you're right there

Run Differential means nothing

 

[onomatopoeia]

Chris Bassitt is another strong candidate. I think he has one more year with the Jays correct?

Bassitt is a free agent after this season.

 

[Zoot Allures]

I'm not a pessimist, Philip. I'm a realist. Regardless of any moves they make, the Blue Jays will not advance beyond the Wild Card round this year. To me, going all in to try to sneak in as the fifth or sixth seed is a recipe for future disaster.

Play for this year, and you get essentially nothing in return for Bichette, Bassit and Scherzer, and you're stuck with Gausman and Springer on expiring contracts next year.

As of right now, the Jays are eighth in the AL in run differential. That's often a better indicator of true performance than won-lost record.

If i wanted to get rich in the near future, I'd invest in stocks which are under priced with a high upside to increase in value. I wouldn't buy a handful of scratch lottery tickets. What you see as optimism is, to me, gullibility. The Jays would win the World Series this year, if this was a Disney movie made for a 'family' audience, ie: little kids. it won't happen in real life.

I agree, if this was their philosophy ,going back to the Bautista days, we would have been real contenders years ago

How has the win now philosophy worked since 1993 ?

This year is a fluke and we have a long way to go before it is the real deal. If we had been swept by the Yanks instead of us sweeping them this would be a different disscussion.

Trade for a real contender instead of being a possible pretender

This year some of those guys we traded for have panned out and given the bottom of the order contact and speed

But now that we are in first and the deadline a few weeks away the Jays have to go for it, but how?

Trade for longer contract guys that cost two quality young players or rentals which cost one ?

If we do not make noise in the playoffs, if we make them, then lose our F/As maybe you will see my point as we flounder yet once again next year with a possible pretender

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

I think its all irrelevant anyways because Shapiro's contract expires this year, so assuming he wants to stay in Toronto he will go all out and make Jays a contender this year to try and extend his contract for another year or two.

Thats of course if Rogers wants to re-sign him

 

[Toronto Passions]

I think its all irrelevant anyways because Shapiro's contract expires this year, so assuming he wants to stay in Toronto he will go all out and make Jays a contender this year to try and extend his contract for another year or two.

Thats of course if Rogers wants to re-sign him

It's a miracle what a winning team can do your mindset. Now, suddenly, I don't mind these front office Idiots lol.

Philip

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

It's a miracle what a winning team can do your mindset. Now, suddenly, I don't mind these front office Idiots lol.

Philip

Unless we go on a 10-game losing streak next week, then I want them gone again

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

We may never lose again

 

[Insidious Von]

Who is David Hopkins?

 

[Toronto Passions]

Addison Barger with another walk off. Seriously though I knew this guy was going to be something. And now he's starting to form a plan and he's hitting breaking balls. Freaking awesome.

Philip

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

And the Yankees lose 11-6

Jays ALE lead now 3 games

 

[Zoot Allures]

Who is David Hopkins?

I thought it was Mattingly but it is Hopkins who has the Jays being patient and looking for that one good pitch they can hit

He has their bats on on upward swing path except for Vladdy
who still swings down but even Vlad is getting the ball elevated more and his power gets more grounders through the infield

Varsho and Sandman will be back after all star break but it will be a few more weeks until they are ready . They will put Varsho in the lineup for his defence with Sandman going to Buffalo

No rush getting Sandman back in and watching him strikeout
as his bat is not urgent and they are better off without him until he shows he is ready

Jays have more contact and more speed and that is the difference along with a contagious winning attitude

They are real and I admit I never saw it coming

 

[tml]

Addison Barger with another walk off. Seriously though I knew this guy was going to be something. And now he's starting to form a plan and he's hitting breaking balls. Freaking awesome.

Philip

Let's hope the league doesn't figure him out the way they did with Manoah, Schneider(Davis), and Francis.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

I haven't been able to verify this, but somebody on twitter posted that we have the exact same 51-38 W/L record as the 1993 Blue Jays team did on this date