Alright, I’ve got uniform-related questions for you… Other than the Jays, what are your favourite jerseys in the game? What colour, if any, would you like to see used more by teams? Would you like to see the Jays get a City Connect jersey? If teams decided to get rid of either home whites or road greys, which would you rather see go?
Just to have some fun with the Davis Schneider thing, what do you think about Devon Travis as a possible comp ? He sure has the same feeling of being a sparkplug!
Hey Stoeten - first time, long time. Want to ask about where you think things stand from a Vlad extension standpoint. Specifically, do you think him having a down year makes it more challenging for the two sides to find common ground? As a franchise player with the pedigree and ceiling he has, the assumption has always been it'd take the sort of mega-deal a superstar like that deserves to lock him up long term. But with now 2 straight seasons middling production, and his defence cratering his WAR this year, won't it be tougher for the Jays FO to justify that sort of contract? And from his standpoint, seems like it would get easier to bet on a return to MVP form over the next 2 seasons if the Jays offer isn't at the top of the market?
Am I crazy for hoping for either the #1 or #6 seed for the playoffs? Baseball's flukey, we dominated the Red Sox last year, and now there's reversion. But in looking at our record against the AL East this year vs all other comers, if we can't get a first round bye, I'd rather face the Twins than TB or BAL in Round 1. Even better if we're the 6, Texas gets the 1 and the AL East winner drops to the 2 seed.
Put another way, is there anything statistically significant in our lack of divisions wins that we need be concerned about in the playoffs, or is the W-L record just noise?
With Romano, Richard’s, Green and Bo all likely (hopefully) coming off the IL in the next week or two, there will need to be some roster moves made. Injuries can always come up of course, but if not what do you see happening in order to clear space for them? I think Espinal has options and can certainly see him being sent down, but that doesn’t solve the 40 man crunch that’s looming.
Being greedy - here's another one. Jordan Hicks has been used a lot since we got him. Do you think that because he's a rental, we're going to pitch him until his arm falls off? Assuming he's not the next coming of Brad Hand of course.
I was going to ask about the RISP situation as well, but am late to the party. Surely something like this has to be random? And how much does RISP determine who has made the playoffs over the years - is there a correlation (deep dive for Nick?). I'm watching the game and just saw D-Schneid hit his home run. What a wonderful moment! He plays all the positions that Biggio plays....hmmmm, bit too early to speculate on that.
This is not so much a baseball question as a (*shudders*) discourse question.
The Jays on Aug 4, 2021 were 56-49, and were 59-46 on August 4, 2022. Today, at 60-50, the Jays are essentially playing the same they were those two years. Run differential may be a bit worse, but I think objectively, it would be very hard to say that this team is *significantly* worse than the last two years.
And yet, it seems that the general mood around this years team among fans has been far worse than in years past, and I would count myself among those feeling a lot worse about this year's team. There are many possible reasons (the RISP issue, the AL east Issue, the PTSD from the wild card series, the looming clocks on Vlad and Bo, to name a few) but I think something not mentioned enough is the general shift from "El Barrio" to captains class/red-assery/"serious" ballplayers, and how that can affect the enjoyment of watching the team.
To be clear, I'm not criticizing the changes made from a roster construction sense, but I think it's certainly more "fun" to watch Teo and Lourdes goofing off in the dugout, and just being generally fun people, or the home run Jacket. Compared to Varsho/Merrifield/Chapman sitting there stoically, and I wonder how much of that plays in to the fans psyche, and overall feeling about the team over a very long 162 games. Do you think there's anything to this?
PS. what is the name/artist of that absolutely lovely song at the end of Blue Jays Happy hour? Have been trying to find a full length version online with no success
> the general shift from "El Barrio" to captains class/red-assery/"serious" ballplayers, and how that can affect the enjoyment of watching the team.
I think that's an interesting point that I hadn't really considered. The team vibe does seem - flat?
Those great 2015/16 teams had this scrappy, junkyard feel. They had a ton of swagger but still played with this big chip on their shoulder. It was a vibe that worked kind of whatever the record, if they were down, there was this kind of grim determination and that chip on the shoulder came into play "this isn't the try league", and if they were doing well, they had the swagger.
Then yeah, as you say, the last few years the team had the barrio, and this general feeling of fun and lighthearted-ness. It was frustrating when the team was scuffling, but fun when they were doing well.
Now I would be hard-pressed to define a vibe or feel associated with the team. The team doesn't seem to have gelled, at least to the fans (or this fan).
I wonder if, for all their talk of character, the front office has created a sterile, corporate clubhouse that just isn't that entertaining.
Great comment and question - I can help you out on the song. Took me ages to figure it out despite asking Andrew in the comments section *COUGH*. The song is 'Dead Like Me' by Your 33 Black Angels. Agree...great song.
Trading away Hernandes and Guriel is an unmitigated disaster.Together last year they scored 129 runs and had 265 hits, and that was a down year for Guriel.They haven't replaced this production and the players they kept have regressed.Next year they should not be so focused on defence and concentrate on the offense.Obviously that is how the other teams are beating us , no matter how great our pitching is.
Looking forward to the offseason, the Jays have a few free agents and some obvious roster spots and needs to fill… if you were in the GM chair, do you push in all your chips to try to win a championship while Bo, Vlad et al are still here, especially knowing that if it fails you can move those guys after the 2024 season and potentially rebuild quickly-ish? I’m really hoping for a continued run of success for years to come and for those guys to get locked up long term, but I’m just thinking about potential contingencies in case it just doesn’t work out.
Also on the RISP topic (too hard to avoid), why not throw a teeny bit of more money at the problem by adding more coaching? I.e. adding a couple assistant hitting coaches? Or having Victor Martinez spend more time in the clubhouse? In short, this particular problem feels like one that is between the ears and that additional coaching could help. Thoughts?
Hey Stoet. Just to move away from the trade deadline and this up and down season we seem to be having, I have a quick uniform question for you: I’m loving some of the city connect jerseys that teams are using (Cinci and Seattle to name 2). I’m hoping the jays come out with one in the next couple of seasons. My question is: if you had full creative control from management, how would you design the jersey? And would you throw in a nickname, as well? That’s is again for all the great writing. SD
1. Any ideas on the RISP issues? Just a recent blip or...?? I looked through fangraphs batted ball data for qualified jays, across low/med/high leverage, as well as RISP etc, and didn’t see any weird BABIP or GB/FB outliers (except LOL varsho). Weird and annoying!
2. Sign Nelson Cruz.
3. Was listening to trade deadline pod. Perhaps the reason they delayed IL’ing Bo was to maintain bargaining power. Doubt it made a difference.
Hey Stoeten, I'm wondering if there's enough data yet on the ballpark factor this year, or maybe there won't be until the full reno is done next year. Only because based on the eye test from both watching games and going to games, it feels like Rogers Centre is playing way more like a pitchers' park than expected. When I saw the pre-season images of the outfield walls and bullpens, it felt like there could be a lot of home runs to right field, even though the walls are higher. And that might have explained the FO's thinking in bringing in Belt and Varsho as well as all the talk about "balance". For the Jays offence, clearly that hasn't played out. Does this strike you as a case of the ballpark dimensions playing out differently than expected or is it simply a lot of hitters underperforming at the same time? Whatever it is, clearly Ryan Mountcastle loves what they've done with the place!
I can get my head around individual players having bad stretches of production with RISP over the course of a season, but pretty much an entire team for an entire season? And guys that don’t necessarily have a history of such futility? Help me understand.
Really enjoy your writing and look forward to every piece. Thank you.
With Davis Schneider getting called up, what is the case against churning the bottom of the roster more with a sputtering offence. Getting rid of Espinal and Biggio and seeing what Orelvis Martinez and Addison Barger can do? This may be the allure of the unknown, but the upside of 1-2 more good bats is quite meaningful right now with the big bats either injured or underperforming.
Alright, I’ve got uniform-related questions for you… Other than the Jays, what are your favourite jerseys in the game? What colour, if any, would you like to see used more by teams? Would you like to see the Jays get a City Connect jersey? If teams decided to get rid of either home whites or road greys, which would you rather see go?
Just to have some fun with the Davis Schneider thing, what do you think about Devon Travis as a possible comp ? He sure has the same feeling of being a sparkplug!
Hey Stoeten - first time, long time. Want to ask about where you think things stand from a Vlad extension standpoint. Specifically, do you think him having a down year makes it more challenging for the two sides to find common ground? As a franchise player with the pedigree and ceiling he has, the assumption has always been it'd take the sort of mega-deal a superstar like that deserves to lock him up long term. But with now 2 straight seasons middling production, and his defence cratering his WAR this year, won't it be tougher for the Jays FO to justify that sort of contract? And from his standpoint, seems like it would get easier to bet on a return to MVP form over the next 2 seasons if the Jays offer isn't at the top of the market?
Am I crazy for hoping for either the #1 or #6 seed for the playoffs? Baseball's flukey, we dominated the Red Sox last year, and now there's reversion. But in looking at our record against the AL East this year vs all other comers, if we can't get a first round bye, I'd rather face the Twins than TB or BAL in Round 1. Even better if we're the 6, Texas gets the 1 and the AL East winner drops to the 2 seed.
Put another way, is there anything statistically significant in our lack of divisions wins that we need be concerned about in the playoffs, or is the W-L record just noise?
With Romano, Richard’s, Green and Bo all likely (hopefully) coming off the IL in the next week or two, there will need to be some roster moves made. Injuries can always come up of course, but if not what do you see happening in order to clear space for them? I think Espinal has options and can certainly see him being sent down, but that doesn’t solve the 40 man crunch that’s looming.
Being greedy - here's another one. Jordan Hicks has been used a lot since we got him. Do you think that because he's a rental, we're going to pitch him until his arm falls off? Assuming he's not the next coming of Brad Hand of course.
I was going to ask about the RISP situation as well, but am late to the party. Surely something like this has to be random? And how much does RISP determine who has made the playoffs over the years - is there a correlation (deep dive for Nick?). I'm watching the game and just saw D-Schneid hit his home run. What a wonderful moment! He plays all the positions that Biggio plays....hmmmm, bit too early to speculate on that.
This is not so much a baseball question as a (*shudders*) discourse question.
The Jays on Aug 4, 2021 were 56-49, and were 59-46 on August 4, 2022. Today, at 60-50, the Jays are essentially playing the same they were those two years. Run differential may be a bit worse, but I think objectively, it would be very hard to say that this team is *significantly* worse than the last two years.
And yet, it seems that the general mood around this years team among fans has been far worse than in years past, and I would count myself among those feeling a lot worse about this year's team. There are many possible reasons (the RISP issue, the AL east Issue, the PTSD from the wild card series, the looming clocks on Vlad and Bo, to name a few) but I think something not mentioned enough is the general shift from "El Barrio" to captains class/red-assery/"serious" ballplayers, and how that can affect the enjoyment of watching the team.
To be clear, I'm not criticizing the changes made from a roster construction sense, but I think it's certainly more "fun" to watch Teo and Lourdes goofing off in the dugout, and just being generally fun people, or the home run Jacket. Compared to Varsho/Merrifield/Chapman sitting there stoically, and I wonder how much of that plays in to the fans psyche, and overall feeling about the team over a very long 162 games. Do you think there's anything to this?
PS. what is the name/artist of that absolutely lovely song at the end of Blue Jays Happy hour? Have been trying to find a full length version online with no success
> the general shift from "El Barrio" to captains class/red-assery/"serious" ballplayers, and how that can affect the enjoyment of watching the team.
I think that's an interesting point that I hadn't really considered. The team vibe does seem - flat?
Those great 2015/16 teams had this scrappy, junkyard feel. They had a ton of swagger but still played with this big chip on their shoulder. It was a vibe that worked kind of whatever the record, if they were down, there was this kind of grim determination and that chip on the shoulder came into play "this isn't the try league", and if they were doing well, they had the swagger.
Then yeah, as you say, the last few years the team had the barrio, and this general feeling of fun and lighthearted-ness. It was frustrating when the team was scuffling, but fun when they were doing well.
Now I would be hard-pressed to define a vibe or feel associated with the team. The team doesn't seem to have gelled, at least to the fans (or this fan).
I wonder if, for all their talk of character, the front office has created a sterile, corporate clubhouse that just isn't that entertaining.
Great comment and question - I can help you out on the song. Took me ages to figure it out despite asking Andrew in the comments section *COUGH*. The song is 'Dead Like Me' by Your 33 Black Angels. Agree...great song.
Hey, sorry about that man! Those guys are my pals and I always try to answer that one when it comes up, must have just missed it!
The band are your pals?
Trading away Hernandes and Guriel is an unmitigated disaster.Together last year they scored 129 runs and had 265 hits, and that was a down year for Guriel.They haven't replaced this production and the players they kept have regressed.Next year they should not be so focused on defence and concentrate on the offense.Obviously that is how the other teams are beating us , no matter how great our pitching is.
Looking forward to the offseason, the Jays have a few free agents and some obvious roster spots and needs to fill… if you were in the GM chair, do you push in all your chips to try to win a championship while Bo, Vlad et al are still here, especially knowing that if it fails you can move those guys after the 2024 season and potentially rebuild quickly-ish? I’m really hoping for a continued run of success for years to come and for those guys to get locked up long term, but I’m just thinking about potential contingencies in case it just doesn’t work out.
Also on the RISP topic (too hard to avoid), why not throw a teeny bit of more money at the problem by adding more coaching? I.e. adding a couple assistant hitting coaches? Or having Victor Martinez spend more time in the clubhouse? In short, this particular problem feels like one that is between the ears and that additional coaching could help. Thoughts?
Hey Stoet. Just to move away from the trade deadline and this up and down season we seem to be having, I have a quick uniform question for you: I’m loving some of the city connect jerseys that teams are using (Cinci and Seattle to name 2). I’m hoping the jays come out with one in the next couple of seasons. My question is: if you had full creative control from management, how would you design the jersey? And would you throw in a nickname, as well? That’s is again for all the great writing. SD
Hey bud.
1. Any ideas on the RISP issues? Just a recent blip or...?? I looked through fangraphs batted ball data for qualified jays, across low/med/high leverage, as well as RISP etc, and didn’t see any weird BABIP or GB/FB outliers (except LOL varsho). Weird and annoying!
2. Sign Nelson Cruz.
3. Was listening to trade deadline pod. Perhaps the reason they delayed IL’ing Bo was to maintain bargaining power. Doubt it made a difference.
Hey Stoeten, I'm wondering if there's enough data yet on the ballpark factor this year, or maybe there won't be until the full reno is done next year. Only because based on the eye test from both watching games and going to games, it feels like Rogers Centre is playing way more like a pitchers' park than expected. When I saw the pre-season images of the outfield walls and bullpens, it felt like there could be a lot of home runs to right field, even though the walls are higher. And that might have explained the FO's thinking in bringing in Belt and Varsho as well as all the talk about "balance". For the Jays offence, clearly that hasn't played out. Does this strike you as a case of the ballpark dimensions playing out differently than expected or is it simply a lot of hitters underperforming at the same time? Whatever it is, clearly Ryan Mountcastle loves what they've done with the place!
I can get my head around individual players having bad stretches of production with RISP over the course of a season, but pretty much an entire team for an entire season? And guys that don’t necessarily have a history of such futility? Help me understand.
Really enjoy your writing and look forward to every piece. Thank you.
With Davis Schneider getting called up, what is the case against churning the bottom of the roster more with a sputtering offence. Getting rid of Espinal and Biggio and seeing what Orelvis Martinez and Addison Barger can do? This may be the allure of the unknown, but the upside of 1-2 more good bats is quite meaningful right now with the big bats either injured or underperforming.