To What Extent Does Your Life Revolve Around Alejandro Kirk? (The 2023 Blue Jays Thread)

Well hopefully Bo is able to stay a little more level headed than Marcus Stroman (and his tweets)

One thing I don't get is Bichette's base stealing. Last year, he stole 24 in 25 attempts; this year, 9 out of 16. Has he gotten stupider or slower? I would have thought at his age, that would be relatively steady year to year.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Noticed that too and can offer no explanation

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Leo Morgenstern has the explanation (it's long): https://blogs.fangraphs.com/why-bo-bichettes-wheels-fell-off-in-2022/

Stroman was the exception here. When the sides take each other to court some unflattering things will be said, it's a business. It shouldn't affect things going forward.

Why the Jays don't negotiate extensions with their young players is a different issue, but then again, the players might not want it. Extensions were more common in the years leading up to the last labour agreement when free agency signings were more uncertain. After this offseason's windfall for FA's, I don't think anyone of the caliber of Bo/Vlad will rush to sign a long term deal until the year before they hit free agency at the earliest.

Long way off, but this looks promising:

https://ca.yahoo.com/sports/news/blue-jays-sign-international-free-agent-enmanuel-bonilla-to-franchise-record-bonus-173744656.html

That entire piece can be summed up by “just dumb luck I guess”! A lot of new acronyms in there for me, which I expect to forget most of. Interesting that he supposedly got super lucky in 2021. So I guess I can look forward to him getting thrown out a little less next season.

whoops - i was talking about the piece on Bichette and his speed vanishing

That was my conclusion too, after my eyes glazed over and I skipped ahead to the end:

His 2021 season represented something like his 80% percentile outcome, while his 2022 season represented something like his 20% percentile outcome. He got “lucky” one year and “unlucky” the next, and those two years happened to come back-to-back.

Fun Fact: Daulton Varsho was born 9 months and 1 day after his dad Gary's final MLB game.

(via u/thedeejus) pic.twitter.com/PiBdBpa9Vm

— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) January 27, 2023

I don't really remember this guy, but look at the photo--he's hitting cross-handed, no?

https://jaysjournal.com/posts/former-blue-jays-utilityman-getting-one-last-shot-world-baseball-classic-dominican-republic

OK, I guess it could be that he bats left and that's coming out of his swing.

boneface was switch, maybe he concocted a third swing

Just noise, but seriously: you're going to question Alek Manoah's work ethic? I think the guy would like nothing better than to throw 300 innings.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2023/02/02/my-job-isnt-to-please-you-blue-jays-ace-alek-manoah-speaks-out-after-analyst-questions-his-work-ethic.html

stroman also wasn't able to stay away from this one!
clearly that analyst is a clown, but i think manoah should have just stayed above and ignored him. dude's gonna have a rough time of it, if he feels the need to respond to every half notable clown spewing bs.

Are you trying to tell me that Marcus Stroman won't stop tweeting?

literally incapable!

Can't Stop Won't Stop: the Marcus Stroman Story.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-bo-bichette-agree-to-multi-year-contract-avoiding-arbitration/

"In the meantime, Bichette gets the biggest payday of his career — while terms haven’t been announced, one source suggested $33.5 million or so would be a fair number for the next three seasons."

glad that arb stuff is behind us for Bo. next up is putting that long-term-contract ring on Vlad's finger!

vlad seems destined to get a 14-year / $1.9 billion deal with the padres or something

(er, numbers exaggerated but not enough to seem that exaggerated. maybe he gets 10 years and a mere 400 million or something like that)

Considering how young he is (and what happened in the SS market) a 10 year deal wouldn’t feel unreasonable

Hey! (Even though he won't have a bat in his hand.)

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/encarnacion-returns-blue-jays-coach

just watched Tiedemann throw his first spring training inning. wow did the kid look good.

I'm so slow on up-and-coming players (I'm the guy who basically said "Who's Kershaw?" here about three years into his career). So I'm looking at his line for last year for the first time--pretty awesome over three different leagues.

Not a lot of innings - but he did that at 19!!!
Stuff was great. Electric fastball, great change and a fade away slider he located perfectly to end the inning.

Sort of a nothing story that is nonetheless interesting (and will be a contentious thing on social media for a few days):

https://torontosun.com/sports/baseball/toronto-blue-jays/no-jacket-required-blue-jays-pack-away-home-run-jacket-as-part-of-gritty-new-attitude

I'll half miss it, half won't.

(Sorry for the Sun link, Thermo, it's all I can find.)

Deep breath: https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-exits-right-knee-discomfort.

https://jaysjournal.com/posts/blue-jays-jose-bautista-to-be-added-to-level-of-excellence

Hardly a surprise, great news, but I always assumed he and Encarnacion would go up there together. Their prime Blue Jay years exist almost in lockstep. They're like Maddux/Glavine, Trammell/Whitaker, etc. Maybe it's just economics: two big showcase days are better than one.

Obvious Bats was going to go up there. EE I’m not so sure about.

You don't think so? Except for Henke inexplicably not being up there, I can't think of anyone else who'd be the next logical choice. But if that's where they do draw the line, just above Henke, then no, I guess he isn't a sure thing.

This is as good a place as any to repost some things I wrote in 2009 -- marvel at my innate (in)ability to spot future superstars. In my defense: Cito Gaston was managing the team and I was pissed off all season long:

Whose Baseball Team Is This? (2009 Blue Jays Thread)

Looking at Encarnacion/Bautista's time with the Jays:

EE: .268/.355/.522, 136 OPS+, 4.1 WAR/162, 1 incredible, iconic postseason HR
JB: .253/.372/.506, 136 OPS+, 5.0 WAR/162, 1 super-incredible, iconic postseason HR

Pretty damn close offensively; more defensive value for Bautista.

NoTime: you don't even mention Bautista in that post--how did not see that he was going to hit 54 HR in 2010?

Clem -- check the end of the first paragraph!

Snider never panned out (for any team) but he *was* regarded as a can't miss prospect by just about everyone. Good thing Joey Bats saved the team by retooling his swing!

Stepped on my own joke--you did mention him...(What you say is really funny, not that I'm any better at prognostication).

I liked him--and he was treated shabbily--so glad to hear this:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pat-tabler-blue-jays-new-gig

i like him, but was not a fan of him as a broadcaster.

From Dave Fleming's annual predictions (which he treats as a goof):

"This is a very small ledge to go out on, but I think Bo Bichette will either come in second the AL MVP race, or win it outright."

https://www.billjamesonline.com/bold_predictions_for_2023/

that's interesting! wouldn't have expected James to be too huge on Bo since he doesn't walk alot and his defence is mediocre

It's a guy who writes for James, not James himself. I like him; his predictions are intriguing, and he usually revisits to see how he did. Bo would have to have some really flashy old-school stats to get himself into an MVP race--he'll probably never have a really high WAR for the reasons you mention.

This doesn't quite jibe with his Bo prediction (or at least not with Bo winning):

"Bold time: Adley Rutschman will have a 10.0 WAR season in 2023."

As far as I can tell, Piazza's 8.7 bWAR in 1997 is the highest ever by a catcher. So it's probably safe to say a 10.0 would be worth an MVP.

Not if it’s 8 WAR of pitch framing!

My category is the Blue Jays for the monthly Zoom trivia group I'm part of.

Questions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RE-5sucHGRKMruARoDZNvgux8EI5qy_hz4zw19s7HfI/edit?usp=sharing

Answers: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v5Q0-b6rZnLXH0xSASkzTr0TmApXzsZq3VVYvI9KDNg/edit?usp=sharing

Realize that the first few questions are ridiculously easy...You can't assume people share your interests, so you have to have a few gimmes at the start.

Damn dude. #4 & 5 are tough!

the image for #6 D':<

sorry – 5 &6 are the really tough ones. tho i had also forgotten about #4

I added the question about the Caribbean pipeline this morning and made #10 a bonus, which shifted some of the numbering.

What an epic game to start the season

Saw the Jays score their early runs, went for dinner, tied when I got back, skipped out, caught the end online while in the middle of my trivia thing (where people mostly tanked on my Blue Jay quiz).

It was pretty tough!