A hard no on Bryant. Guy is not the player he was from the '15-18, especially defensively. He'll be a DH or a first baseman before long, and lord knows we have enough of those types. I also think Hendriks is too much of a control pitcher for the meatgrinder AL East. I feel like facing non-shitty NL Central lineups all the time would inflate those numbers he's amassed for the Cubs. No fucking thanks.
I've talked myself into wanting Bauer. Two legit aces in the rotation alongside Ryu, maybe three before long with Nate Pearson coming. If run prevention is what you're after, hard to argue against signing a Cy-Young winner just coming into his prime seasons. And I don't really give a shit about his personality or politics. It is only because of our internet based world that a ton of these things are even known about people.
Bryant is only under control for a year, so "before long" doesn't matter much. And the reputation of the AL East as being some especially brutal division every single year is seriously unfounded. Maybe when both the Yankees and Red Sox were trying to outdo each other (and before the luxury tax became a de facto salary cap) that was true sometimes, but it's meaningless now. Furthermore, the NL Central had some poor teams last year, but that doesn't mean much either. We can see his stuff. We can see park- and league-adjusted numbers. He's a very good pitcher. And what is Ryu if not a control pitcher who just thrived in the AL East?
Bauer remains someone I don't think the Toronto Blue Jays shouldn't ask their fans to hold their noses and cheer for, even if some can look past it. I don't think that just because in another era we wouldn't have heard about it is a very good reason to excuse the online bullying, harassing, MAGA-tweeting, etc. We do know who he is, and my values as a person matter more to me than whether my baseball team can add an extra win or two over the alternative. He's a very good pitcher though, yes.
Yeah, I honestly don't know how they might view him. Look past the political stuff (which most teams probably would) and maybe he's even a guy who they think is a good teammate. He definitely works hard to improve and they love stuff like that. But then there's all the brand-building and the PR headaches -- and, for the Jays, as I was asked about in the most recent mail bag, the whole fact that they didn't want to keep an outspoken guy like Stroman. Complicated.
I saw that in the mailbag, and agree that it is complicated. Perhaps the Jays in a different point in the rebuild would have overlooked Stroman's personality, and conversely, Stroman wouldn't have been so openly critical of the front office) and been willing to hang on. Things were just so bleak in 2018. I dunno, the organization just seems much better position to take on somebody like Bauer.....as long as he produces.
Morosi tweets that the Jays had checked in on Bryant but no active talks in weeks. Gotta get that Trololosi bit going again.
The man knows how to play the game.
A hard no on Bryant. Guy is not the player he was from the '15-18, especially defensively. He'll be a DH or a first baseman before long, and lord knows we have enough of those types. I also think Hendriks is too much of a control pitcher for the meatgrinder AL East. I feel like facing non-shitty NL Central lineups all the time would inflate those numbers he's amassed for the Cubs. No fucking thanks.
I've talked myself into wanting Bauer. Two legit aces in the rotation alongside Ryu, maybe three before long with Nate Pearson coming. If run prevention is what you're after, hard to argue against signing a Cy-Young winner just coming into his prime seasons. And I don't really give a shit about his personality or politics. It is only because of our internet based world that a ton of these things are even known about people.
Bryant is only under control for a year, so "before long" doesn't matter much. And the reputation of the AL East as being some especially brutal division every single year is seriously unfounded. Maybe when both the Yankees and Red Sox were trying to outdo each other (and before the luxury tax became a de facto salary cap) that was true sometimes, but it's meaningless now. Furthermore, the NL Central had some poor teams last year, but that doesn't mean much either. We can see his stuff. We can see park- and league-adjusted numbers. He's a very good pitcher. And what is Ryu if not a control pitcher who just thrived in the AL East?
Bauer remains someone I don't think the Toronto Blue Jays shouldn't ask their fans to hold their noses and cheer for, even if some can look past it. I don't think that just because in another era we wouldn't have heard about it is a very good reason to excuse the online bullying, harassing, MAGA-tweeting, etc. We do know who he is, and my values as a person matter more to me than whether my baseball team can add an extra win or two over the alternative. He's a very good pitcher though, yes.
Yeah, I had not checked on the Bryant contract situation.
I guess we'll find out how attuned the Jays are to off-field considerations, and if they do sign him, how they manage questions about Bauer's makeup.
Yeah, I honestly don't know how they might view him. Look past the political stuff (which most teams probably would) and maybe he's even a guy who they think is a good teammate. He definitely works hard to improve and they love stuff like that. But then there's all the brand-building and the PR headaches -- and, for the Jays, as I was asked about in the most recent mail bag, the whole fact that they didn't want to keep an outspoken guy like Stroman. Complicated.
I saw that in the mailbag, and agree that it is complicated. Perhaps the Jays in a different point in the rebuild would have overlooked Stroman's personality, and conversely, Stroman wouldn't have been so openly critical of the front office) and been willing to hang on. Things were just so bleak in 2018. I dunno, the organization just seems much better position to take on somebody like Bauer.....as long as he produces.
Bauer wants his new team to work with him in building his brand. Hopefully that will be enough to put the Jays off any ideas of signing him.