On off-season plans, Semien and Ray, priorities, the infield, sneaky pick-ups, rotation help, Tampa-Montreal, José Ramírez, Michael Brantley, Randal Grichuk, and so much more!
Ye gods man this was a massive effort! Especially since so many questions were similar. Patience is a virtue! In terms of Jays coverage, who have we got? Kaitlyn at your ex-employer is great, but a one person show. There's Gregor Chisholm, who's excellent, and Mike Wilner who's still transitioning to the written word, and Rosie and her purple prose at the Star. The Sportsnet crew are great and I enjoy reading Jeff Blair's opinion on things. I never look at the Sun (nothing against them - I just don't) and Cathal Kelly is a wonderful writer, but seems to hate everything about the Jays, and then there's the various blogs out there of which I'm partial to Bluebird Banter the most for some reason....but without massaging your ego, your stuff is the best. It's the Jays content I look forward to the most. I really hope this Substack stream works out for you. I think you earned my everlasting loyalty with that DJF piece about Gibbons getting Devon Travis to bunt...I wish I could find it. It was one of funniest things I've ever read.
Thanks so much man! There's a lot of great coverage of the team and great people doing it, but there are definitely days where I feel really good about what I contribute, and I'm glad you and others enjoy it!
So glad you're loving the move to this in your career. I had wanted to chat with you about this the other day but it clearly wasn't the kind of night for that sort of convo. Too much fun to be had!
Wildest Grich conspiracy trade so far is eating enough salary to swap for a pitcher with control like Alcantara. I know, madness; but the Jays surely have leverage on a truly small market team. Along with some prospect pieces in the deal essentially arranging a swap for a piece we need can be seen as "saving" money.
Completely agree with your injury take. Was having a discussion with a friend the other day about high school players and their parents now pushing for TJ surgery just to get it out of the way. Ugh. Creepy. How long until we're talking about what kind of body modification augmentation is permissable? UCL brace repair with internal brace augmentation is actually getting more popular with younger players and gets them back in 6 to 7 months. TJ Jr. is actually a doctor and champion of a 'back to nature' move of just rest and make the lifestyle changes to let your body heal and strengthen. What a concept man.
Thanks so much man! I'm still not sure about Grich, but I'd definitely be cool with it if the Jays can figure it out. The TJ stuff with high school players is so grotesque for sure! And even though the surgery is routine, a college pitcher died this year from complications because of it. That's obviously extremely rare and I don't think what precisely happened there has been made public, but any sort of invasive surgery like that is inherently risky! Wild.
My understanding is that Berrios is very interested in testing the FA market. I believe there are comments from him saying this. I would prefer him over Ray based on age, consistency, but wouldn't it make sense to try and lock up our potential Cy Young winner and not wait on Berrios' decision?
That's true, he talked about that in Minnesota (link below). But there's still a year to go, and there's risk on his side of waiting and hoping to stay healthy and keep performing for another year if the Jays put a whole bunch of money on the table. There should be a way to get a deal done this winter that works out for everybody. They'll just have to pay.
A wise consideration. I'm thinking go the other way. Slap Berríos upside the face with a wet mackerel of an offer that will banish all such thoughts about running out on us. I have to think the Jays have some appeal. Clearly a fun team to play on, and if you say José can you see the dynastic team we're building here, why wouldn't he want to play for us?
Ye gods man this was a massive effort! Especially since so many questions were similar. Patience is a virtue! In terms of Jays coverage, who have we got? Kaitlyn at your ex-employer is great, but a one person show. There's Gregor Chisholm, who's excellent, and Mike Wilner who's still transitioning to the written word, and Rosie and her purple prose at the Star. The Sportsnet crew are great and I enjoy reading Jeff Blair's opinion on things. I never look at the Sun (nothing against them - I just don't) and Cathal Kelly is a wonderful writer, but seems to hate everything about the Jays, and then there's the various blogs out there of which I'm partial to Bluebird Banter the most for some reason....but without massaging your ego, your stuff is the best. It's the Jays content I look forward to the most. I really hope this Substack stream works out for you. I think you earned my everlasting loyalty with that DJF piece about Gibbons getting Devon Travis to bunt...I wish I could find it. It was one of funniest things I've ever read.
Thanks so much man! There's a lot of great coverage of the team and great people doing it, but there are definitely days where I feel really good about what I contribute, and I'm glad you and others enjoy it!
So glad you're loving the move to this in your career. I had wanted to chat with you about this the other day but it clearly wasn't the kind of night for that sort of convo. Too much fun to be had!
Wildest Grich conspiracy trade so far is eating enough salary to swap for a pitcher with control like Alcantara. I know, madness; but the Jays surely have leverage on a truly small market team. Along with some prospect pieces in the deal essentially arranging a swap for a piece we need can be seen as "saving" money.
Completely agree with your injury take. Was having a discussion with a friend the other day about high school players and their parents now pushing for TJ surgery just to get it out of the way. Ugh. Creepy. How long until we're talking about what kind of body modification augmentation is permissable? UCL brace repair with internal brace augmentation is actually getting more popular with younger players and gets them back in 6 to 7 months. TJ Jr. is actually a doctor and champion of a 'back to nature' move of just rest and make the lifestyle changes to let your body heal and strengthen. What a concept man.
Thanks so much man! I'm still not sure about Grich, but I'd definitely be cool with it if the Jays can figure it out. The TJ stuff with high school players is so grotesque for sure! And even though the surgery is routine, a college pitcher died this year from complications because of it. That's obviously extremely rare and I don't think what precisely happened there has been made public, but any sort of invasive surgery like that is inherently risky! Wild.
Here's hoping Tommy John Jr. can foment a revolution in sanity.
My understanding is that Berrios is very interested in testing the FA market. I believe there are comments from him saying this. I would prefer him over Ray based on age, consistency, but wouldn't it make sense to try and lock up our potential Cy Young winner and not wait on Berrios' decision?
That's true, he talked about that in Minnesota (link below). But there's still a year to go, and there's risk on his side of waiting and hoping to stay healthy and keep performing for another year if the Jays put a whole bunch of money on the table. There should be a way to get a deal done this winter that works out for everybody. They'll just have to pay.
https://www.startribune.com/jose-berrios-twins-free-agent-contract-status/600079217/
A wise consideration. I'm thinking go the other way. Slap Berríos upside the face with a wet mackerel of an offer that will banish all such thoughts about running out on us. I have to think the Jays have some appeal. Clearly a fun team to play on, and if you say José can you see the dynastic team we're building here, why wouldn't he want to play for us?