Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s Blue Jays-centric chat, in conjunction with our recent Jays Offseason Outlook piece.
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The issue I have with the Jays is reflected in the chat’s transcript……
Almost all questions were who can we trade to get guys to shore up positions: primarily SS, CF, relief pitching.
There was only one question about youngsters coming up:
8:03 what sorts of pieces would the jays be willing to deal from their farm system? given their pitching problems tiedemann should be untouchable, but is everyone else up for grabs?
Mark P
8:04 Tiedemann is almost surely not being dealt, you’re right. Beyond that, doesn’t seem like Brandon Berriera is going anywhere, or probably any of the higher-rated pitchers. (Arms are too valuable for the Jays.)
First off, as pointed out the other day by some posters, the Jays have pretty much developed one pitcher in the 7 Shapiro-Atkins years. It wasn’t the guy I was reading a few years ago was a can’t miss ace. I don’t remember his name….or what became of him.
The only youngster on the roster standing out is Gabriel Moreno. I haven’t seen him catch and run a game, he only started 17 games there. But the talk is about him manning a different position. 1b and 3B seem pretty well taken. Which leaves the corner OF’s and DH. Both of those seem to be well populated.
Every year the teams I see that make major improvements in their W-L record have a number of players that improve quite a bit. Both a mixture of veterans and young players. Other than Moreno I don’t see someone young coming in with a large potential upside. And it appears their veterans are pretty much what they are (which is why everyone is proposing trades.
IMO the Jays need an infusion of young players. They also need to make their pitchers better. Overpaying F/A relief pitchers coming off of good years seldom works – relief pitchers are notoriously up and down. Teams have to develop their own. And the Jays haven’t done a good job here.
In short, that team has to get younger.
They’ve had pitching development setbacks for sure. Much of it injury related in the way it impacted them this year. But do you not see them working toward the getting younger goal? Their deadline moves were all guys with control. White and Pop both with 5 years left. They traded away mostly prospects who were going to be pushed out of the system by roster crunches anyway. Bowden Francis, Adrian Pinto, Alex De Jesus join Pop as secondary pieces in recent trades that add to the system.
They have invested huge resources into the PDC that they haven’t yet been able to fully utilize because of the pandemic and lockout.
They’re developing position players. I don’t feel great about imminent starting pitching depth but there are guys making progress and starting to touch the upper levels. I’m really intrigued about relief pitching in the system. I love how aggressively they have moved some of their relievers and how they drafted so many fast track reliever types this past draft.
At any rate, I think they have been operating with the future in mind more than you see.
A lot of Jays fans were upset that they didn’t empty the farm for rentals like Syndergaard and Robertson at the deadline. I think they showed the restraint you seem to want them to. While the tax number looks high, the real world dollars aren’t because of some front loaded contracts that they could afford to put down payments on because of the production they were getting from pre arb players. Berrios is backloaded because of the opt outs on his contract. They have a fair bit of money coming off the books after this season and they’ll regain some flexibility.
Not one question about the possibility of signing deGrom. Well done Jays fans. It may have something to do with the host being a Jays fan, but almost all of those questions were based in reality.
Where do you think deGrom goes?
Probably stays with the Mets. Maaaaybe the Giants. Only so many teams shopping in that aisle. The Rangers could do it but shouldn’t. The same for Baltimore. People mention the Dodgers, but I don’t see a fit. There was a point in time when the Cubs would have been players, but not now.
There’s only 1 owner in MLB silly enough to pay 43+ million a year for a starter in his late 30s. That’s the team he’s already on
SS is not an issue. Bichette may not be Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel with the glove but he’s still young enough to improve. 2B they have Merrifield/Espinal/Biggio. CF is Springer unless they find an upgrade, which they probably won’t. They need a LH bat but I’m not sure what position outside of an OF corner or DH they can get one
That Burnes trade with Milwaukee proposed in the chat remind me of some of the lopsided trade proposals Blue Jay fans made for Jose Ramirez last offseason.
As an outsider, the Blue Jays definitely need to address their bullpen. After they address it, they should address it again.
Well said, John!
Wait so the Groshans and Pearson for Jram were crazy ideas who’d a thunk
bigdaddyt;
Nate Pearson. That’s the guy I read about!
Can’t miss superstar ace. Now 26 years-old and has thrown 33 MLB innings in 2 years. I assume he’s been injured.
Jordan Groshans was traded to Miami for a few relief pitchers.
“Jram” has an outside chance of getting into the HOF.
LOL
Cleveland has 3 young players for each or those two that are better than them.
Not sure where else to post this , but interested to hear others answers. Where do you go for your MLB news including reading/responding to posts??? For me, in order of time allotted, would be: MLBTR, The Athletic, MLB App, ESPN MLB, and Bleacher Report. Curious where y’all spend your time and if I’m missing out on anything good lol. Thank you
for me i usually go to mlbtr than sbnation than fansided
Mariners tried using kikuchi in the bullpen already, it didnt work out to well.
The Blue Jays should be the ones exploring a Kirk/Moreno deal for Bryan Reynolds. He is a clear CF upgrade and they have the young piece the Pirates would likely want for him. If they can’t get that done they should be looking for a deal for pitching for 1 of there catchers…Maybe the Ray’s would oblige and then they should sign Nimmo. Pairing Nimmo and Springer would give the Jays a top end CFer on most nights both have some injury concerns, but when both are available it upgrades the corners.
I also think the Jays should be after another top flight pitcher like Rodon…
After that they need to refocus there minor league development to match that of the Yankees/Dodgers/Rays etc in terms of developing high impact low cost relievers.
The Jays are a juggernaut if they can figure out the relievers without splurging, CF, and 1 more starter
Jays are far from a Juggernaut.
I have to chuckle when I read about having money for extensions of Vlady, Bo and Manoah. There’s 0 chance Vlady or Bo don’t go to free agency. I would trade them both when they have a year left or even 2 years. BUT I would work very hard on getting Manoah extended, he’s the cream of the crop!
The Jays have done a great job of bringing young talent onto the roster in the last few years. With Vladdy, Bo , Kirk , Gurriel Jr. , Manoah , Moreno , Romano , Espinal and Biggio all coming through the system. Teams don’t normally hit on so much talent so fast so I can certainly understand if the system takes a year or two to catch up while building up even more talent. The Jays traded away a few pieces as well to keep the playoff machine moving forward which is to be expected. The Jays had one of the top offensive teams in baseball and yet the overall feeling was the offence just never really clicked on all gears. That is an amazing thing to have and we will have that next year as well. The Jays will be competitive for the next few years and that’s all we can ask for. There are no guarantees in life so enjoy the ride.