Mr. Biagini, Mr. Joe Biagini: The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays

i find this Carlos Ramirez guy we called up super interesting. a converted OF, he hadn't given up a run in ~37 IP in AA/AAA – with a K/9 over 10. and he just threw 2 shutout innings in tonights game.

For all the injuries we've had this year, the difference between last and a wild-card spot looks to be all the blown saves and late-game losses. The Jays lead the majors in walk-off losses, they're 5-12 in extra innings, and Osuna's save percentage is 80% (nine blown saves in 44 opportunities). Maybe they should think about Ramirez for next year.

i like the guy, but... BLASPHEMY!

They're +5 wins ahead of their expected record based on run differential. Their problems run a lot deeper than that.

Overall, for sure--they've got lots to address if they want to keep pace with Boston and New York next year. But with so much parity around the A.L. wild-card spots, better late-game performance would have them still in the race.

my plan is to go into coldsleep for a few years until Vlad and Bichette can save us.

because of his promotion to high a, bichette lacked the plate appearances to qualify for the midwest league batting title. so they added on an 0-for-61 -- taking him from .384 to .316 -- and he still won by 11 points lol

Wow! Does that affect his official stats? Because right now it's really enjoyable to go to his stats and see a .384 up there

no i'm pretty sure it's just for awards purposes

Phew. Crisis averted.

I love bo and vlad but I think they should be traded to the Rockies and a new Montreal franchise. Sorry, blue jay fans.

So tired of Osuna. I normally wouldn't care at this point, but I'm in a pool where I can win some money, and the Jays are killing me.

Better late game performance would have prevented this game from going 18 innings (and counting).

Or we could have won 2-0...Honestly, I don't get why you guys are so attached to Osuna.

Meanwhile, our catchers are nearing completion of an excellent reenactment of 1968: .176/.277/.308. They have hit 18 HR, which is probably above league average for the position.

This year, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

Average team at catcher in the AL (includes Toronto): .242/.310/.404, 18 HR. Being at the league average in HR and 100 points lower in slugging is probably some kind of achievement.

Or we could have won 2-0...

That's what I meant!

Oops--I thought you were calling attention to the great relief work after Osuna.

I know it seems like I'm dumping on Osuna, because...well, because I'm dumping on Osuna. The effects are so noticeable and immediate when you've got a slumping closer. A slumping hitter you can carry; even a starter who is always making you play catch up, you win a few of those games. The slumping closer usually directly converts wins to losses, or you get a nightmare like last night, where you not only lose the win, you end up emptying the bullpen. I guess he's earned a certain amount of loyalty, but I don't know patient I'd be knowing how replaceable closers are.

sounds like the Jays fans still travel well in Minnesota.

Mr. Biagini, Mr. Joe Biagini is getting lots and lots of chances and only rarely taking advantage of them.

goodbye?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/is-this-the-end-for-jose-bautista/

will be at the game today. so i'll have seen the last game as a Jay for Halladay, Wells and Bautista.

Correction: just realized the Yankees series is here. So never mind what I just said.

Was that the last game before he was traded to the Phillies in the offseason or the last game when he came back for a day and retired?

Vernon Wells or David Wells? :)

We hear about this every TV broadcast in Toronto, but some notes on Ryan Goins' serendipitous RBI total (hit his second grand slam last night). He mostly hits 8th or 9th in the lineup, has just under 400 AB, and is hitting .228 with 8 HR. He's basically a terrible hitter--.225/.273/.330 lifetime--but will end up with 60-65 RBI this year.

Men On: 170 AB, .288/.330/.459
RISP: 95 AB, .337/.376/.558
Bases Loaded: 14 AB, .714/.688/1.214 (20 RBI)

Great send-off for Bautista: popped up in his final AB, but numerous standing ovations throughout the day, and he got to do the extended trot in, hugging every player along the way, when Gibbons sent out a defensive replacement in the bottom of the 9th.

Jose's 9th-inning exit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xseb-868_pg

Great moment.

I'm glad no one--Bautista, the other players (who let him take the field alone before the game), Gibbons--tried to keep up the pretense that he might be back next year. Bautista paid lip service to that idea post-game, but not in any serious way.

It's better left unsaid, and no team ever comes out and says that a player definitely won't be back.

It's too bad that in a different era, a player like him could hang around a bit longer as a power threat off the bench, getting 150 at bats per year. But with teams carrying 12 pitchers these days nobody has a bench anymore.

I think Teoscar hitting as well as he has the last few weeks has also really driven home the idea that Bautista’s time here is over.

he's unfortunately been Albert Pujols-level bad this year, too

which i guess at one point was a sentence i never thought i'd type

Donaldson has homered his first two times up against Sale tonight. The announcers said his 23 since the break is the most in either league--doesn't sound quite right (I would have thought Stanton has more than that).

How's this for a small-sample hot streak: his last five road games, Donaldson's 14 for 19 with 8 HR.

lol yeah Stanton has 31

One of the great finishes in team history: we spend the last day of the season not in last.

(To be clear, every single other day we were.)

We waited until the last minute with them last year too!

We beat out Baltimore on the last day of the season again!

So it was almost like making the playoffs ... almost.

The unplayoffs.

Apologize for unplayoff

Still basking in the wild success of the Troy Tulowitzki acquisition, the Jays are now thinking about Carlos Gonzalez.

Career:
Home - .323/.383/.593
Away - .252/.308/.427

2017:
Home - .323/.403/.520
Away - .203/.274/.332

Put aside whatever I've said about Arenado or Blackwell--at least those guys are in or even just entering their prime. The idea of investing in Colorado hitters past their prime falls somewhere between dubious and doomed.

Somewhere between dubious and doomed: The 2018 Toronto Blue Jays

That's good! Set it up.

By the way, by "Blackwell," I meant famed arbiter of fashion Mr. Blackwell, currently enjoying a comeback in Colorado.

Should they keep Donaldson, y/n.

I mean the AL is lost for the foreseeable future.

I'm not completely buying in on that. Last year's Stanton trade was the Sale trade, and the Red Sox were going to have by far the best rotation in the league. Guys get injured or underperform, stuff happens. The Jays have almost nobody signed past next year, they can easily sign Donaldson and keep adding pieces.

https://cdn.fangraphs.com/tht/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pic-01B.png

vlad jr is gonna be so good

And there’s Bo too, not far away. 2021 cant come soon enough.

The Indians, Yankees, Royals, and Dodgers have had some success the last few years by loading up on bullpen arms and using a five-inning strategy. We're going to try the same things with spare-parts middle infielders. (Solarte looks pretty good, I guess.)

I doubt any of our new infielders can pitch as well as Goins tho. We’re fucked.

Is the Donaldson signing a wait-and-see move? Enough money that, with those two guys on their way, he'll consider resigning if they look competitive a year from now (if the Jays still want him, that is)?