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Does he really need to take more time from other more interesting questions by providing data reinforcing what we all know: Soto is ‘way better’ than Teoscar. Soto is 26 with a career 36.4 bWAR v. Teoscar (32 y/o) with a 17.1 bWAR.
Congratulations to Wilyer Abreu and Chris Sale on their Gold Gloves!
You mean Vaughn Grissom didn’t win one? jk
let – Maybe Casas visualized it for him. ;O)
Diggerydoo;
What data?
There’s lots of data. People like you in America think that if someone quotes data / statistics then it’s a fact and can’t be questioned.
But anyone can take selected data points and make an argument. People do that on here all day and night. Writers and posters. So?
There is no objective data. Never has been. Never will be. Things are subjective.
Your rotisserie league might run data through a different algorithm then other posters rotisserie leagues. So you might do better or worse than them, depending.
“Atkins has done a solid job as GM overall but I have serious concerns over the state of the farm system, and how the big league roster seems to have already missed its window of contention.”
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Disagree.
With few exceptions, he pretty much signed or traded for past-their-prime veteran players and took on their salaries. Those players have gotten less productive while their salaries have gone up. USA Today states that the Jays had the 7th highest payroll in MLB in 2024. Their team finished 5th in their division. The roster has too many veterans that can’t be moved, and few players with upside remaining (I’ll give him the Ernie Clement acquisition). During the past few years the Jays were hardly considered major WS contenders. At best it was: “Make the playoffs and maybe they can get hot”.
You’re correct about the farm system – but that’s a part of the job. They’re in a very bad spot as of today.
Yano felt like that comment was a bit of an oxymoron. How can have done a good job while also having never rebuilt the farm system in the time since AA left. Only thing he’s done is done a good job signing some FA’s but then again he’s also done bad with signings as well (Springer and Ryu)
I don’t see how Mark can say Atkins has done a good job when his farm system stinks, He doesn’t want to trade guys who probably should be moved at this point and he finished last in his division. If that’s a guy doing a good job then I misread the job description somewhere. That’s kind of failing on every level.
Mike – You know he’s a Jays fan, right?
If he can’t be objective on the team then he should be avoiding questions about said team
If it’s a case of not wanting to criticize the performance of front offices in general, then that’s not inherently bad by itself either. But it then means there’s no reason to comment on front office performance at all if it’s just going to be fluff
I imagine a more complete answer IF you genuinely like the moves would be to say that on paper Moves A, B & C should’ve worked better but didn’t and they now have to fill holes at X, Y & Z to get back to a competitive level, etc
I know he’s a Jays fan. I’m a Cubs fan. Hoyer’s done a decent job but maybe he’s not the GM type because he’s built a stud farm system that for whatever reason he seems unwilling to use at all, Or at least not enough. He’s made a bunch of horrible veteran FA signings who are overpaid and have more no movement clauses than is remotely necessary. So instead of hiring a GM who can do that he hires a lackey who doesn’t really speak. Ever. At least I’m realistic. It would seem that a team that wants to be an under the Tax team( And I have no problem with that) Wouldn’t want a guy handing out bad contracts. I’m realistic. Breslow came from the Cubs. Scott Harris came from the Cubs. Both would have been better than Hawkins IMO. Why weren’t they hired and allowed to walk? I’ll tell you why. Because they threatened Hoyer’s job. He’s good at finding these guys. He’s also good at letting them walk when they get too close to his job. Somebody said something about an extension. I hope this is a win or go away year personally. And Hoyer’s done a better job than Atkins. Just sayin.
When you keep trying to sign “value” guys, you’re going to get bit but Hoyer has not done anything remotely close to a bad job.
Suzuki and Imanga have been great free agent signings.
Happ and Hoerner have been good extensions. Swanson has been a good free agent signing as has Taillon.
Horrible signings have been Mancini and Neris.
Hendricks and Gomes were understandable misfires for option pick ups. Smyly was dumb.
Busch was a really solid trade. Paredes is wait and see. PCA was a great trade.
My only real complaint about Hoyer is going “value” over impact. Cubs have a great farm that is finally giving us results at the big league level (PCA, Little, Brown, Hodge, Amaya and some others). Shaw and Caissie both seem close but not fully ready so I don’t get the complaints about not playing them.
Bellinger opting in is a huge win for the Cubs. Right field defense just got significantly better.
, Left handed line up improved, depth improved and it’s only a year. I think most teams would have been happy to give Bellinger a 1 year deal at around 25 million.
I know you think Caissie is going to be a 25 homer 30 double gold glove defender from the jump but his game power isn’t there yet. He will likely force a move mid-season or next year
My only reply to that is horrible signings:
Mancini
Hendricks
Smyly
Bellinger- 2nd contract
Shawn Armstrong – to go over the Tax( Really?)
Wisdom
Madrigal
NMC’s for everybody!
The Cubs need to stay in a lane. But first they have to PICK a lane. Do they want to be the Rays ,Guardians, Twins and compete with youth and a good farm system.
Or do they want to be the big FA signing team? And sign shiny baubles?
It’s almost impossible to be both.
Look all the people who say Ricketts should just throw money around are idiots. People forget that Ricketts took a stadium that was literally dropping concrete chunks on peoples heads and completely rebuilt the whole thing. He also rebuilt the neighborhood basically. He started a TV station and sunk millions into the minor league system nobody talks about. Then he got hit with a pandemic that basically stole 2 years of revenue from him. I have ZERO problem with him wanting some of that money back. Anybody would. ANYBODY! You can be the Rays and Guardians with money and compete and go in once in awhile on a shiny bauble. You need to have around 20,000 bucks available around the deadline IMO for the unexpected. Hoyer has never figured that out. In fact he hasn’t figured out a lot of things about salaries and NMC’s apparently. He hasn’t been bad but he hasn’t been SMART either.
Last time I checked, the Astros have been doing both and have done quite well for a decade.
Bellinger isn’t close to being a horrible contract.
So you quoted two whole bad actual free agent signings. Smyly and Mancini. Yeah, clearly Hoyer is doing a horrible job. Two losing/rebuilding seasons. The bum!
Soto being LIGHTYEARS better than Teoscar is not an “opinion” or feeling. If you can’t come to that conclusion on your own you may need to pick a new sport.
Soto is so much better than Hernandez that there really doesn’t need any more elaboration than “way better”. You’re talking about a future first ballot hall of famer at 25/26 years old vs an occasional fringe all-star.
I’m not sure Soto is going to be worth what he’s going to get paid. But anybody with 2 eyes knows that Soto is light years better than Teoscar Hernandez. That’s not even a debate. I think it’s about to be proven that fools and their money are soon parted again. After last years TV debacle and the Ohtani sweepstakes that only 2 teams were realistic players( Everybody else was just fooling themselves) It’s about to get stupid again. I just hope Hoyer keeps it in his pants this year. Burnes would be the only guy he should go after and if he gets 200 million, I’d be out at about 5-150 and say have a nice day.
Burnes, Snell, Fried and the kid from Japan. If I was Hoyer, I’d sign two and trade Taillon.
I would sign/trade for two TOR starters and sign/trade for a high leverage reliever. Cubs should have the money to make two significant signings and a trade with enough to spare to round out the roster and keep a bit of mid-season surplus money
7:20; hope Orioles get Bregman. Move Westburg to 2b. That would give Birds 2 adult RH bats in the everyday lineup.
They’re big on Mayo. He’s cheap.
No matter who signs Bregman, he’ll get at least 2 years on his contract where he’ll be paid a lot of money and be over the hill.
Maybe the Jays / Atkins can sign him.
You might want to look into O’s 3B prospect Joshua Liranzo.