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Post by blny on Sept 30, 2015 17:48:22 GMT -5
With a 10-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th in Baltimore, the first game of the double header, the Jays are about to clinch. Some 8 games back on July 29, they're about to clinch with 5 games left to play. The Royals have been quiet of late and the Jays could even seed as the best in the AL. Stroman has been nothing short of sensational since his return. Now through 8 innings, he's barely cracked 100 pitches.
What's another 5 runs in the top of the 9th?
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Post by franko on Sept 30, 2015 19:45:36 GMT -5
I'm in KC, and fans here are gobsmacked. can't believe it. many are thinking that there is no way the Jays don't take the World Series.
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Post by CentreHice on Sept 30, 2015 20:15:47 GMT -5
42-14 since acquiring Tulo....and he'll be back soon.
Donaldson, Revere, Price....and I'm probably missing other acquisitions.
Stroman's return couldn't have come at a better time, too.
AA has to be a lock for executive of the year. Gibbons no doubt has had a lot of input...
Well done, boys! A remarkable team at the plate and in the field.
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Post by blny on Sept 30, 2015 21:27:28 GMT -5
AA had the senior scouting staff in attendance tonight. They were behind the Jays dugout and got onto the field to celebrate with the team. Might be AA's best move.
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Post by seventeen on Oct 1, 2015 1:11:51 GMT -5
What AA hasn't gotten enough credit for is the work he and his scouting and development staff have done every year. They drafted very well, especially pitchers, and did a very good job developing them. Without that armory of potential talent, they don't get Donaldson, they don't get Tulo and they don't get Price, not to mention Revere. While it seems AA pulled off some awesome deals in a one week period, it's actually been 5 years of work with a hiccup 3 years ago when they did the Mets and Marlins deals and gave up some earlier prospects (Syndergaard and D'Arnoud primarily).
What he did learn recently was to not be married to your prospects and to be willing to let them go in the right circumstances. He's also learned the value of character in a player, so he's concentrated on obtaining guys with good character. The Jays will play the winner of the Wild card game. I hope its not the Yanks as I'm tired of playing them and I don't want them to have any chance of winning another World Series. (My apologies to Yankee Habs fans).
Anyway, congrats to the Jays. I hope their pitching continues to hold up. Price doesn't have the best record in post season, but he should have more run support than Tampa used to give him.
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Post by CentreHice on Oct 1, 2015 3:52:34 GMT -5
The Jays will play the winner of the Wild card game. I hope its not the Yanks as I'm tired of playing them and I don't want them to have any chance of winning another World Series. (My apologies to Yankee Habs fans). Don't they have to finish with the best record in the AL to get the Wild Card winner? KC still has a shot at that. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 1, 2015 7:06:57 GMT -5
Went to my first two Blue Jays games a few weeks back ... I had been to a few Expos games back in the day, but never any Blue Jays games ... the whole experience was outstanding ... the dome was open so the CN Tower pretty much dominated the entire area ... saw David Price pitch one day and Marco Estrada pitch the next ... sat 9 rows up from the field, right beside the Blue Jays dugout for the first game and 30 rows up from 3rd base for the second one ... made for some excellent photos and much-needed shade (brutal humidity that weekend) ... I thought I'd be the only one with an Expos casquette on, but they were scattered all through the TO crowd ... watched all of the first game last night and part of the second ... I think that was probably the best I've seen Marcus Stroman look ... Joey Bats looks like he did when he topped the majors in HRs two years straight ... very, very happy for this club ... if 15-2 doesn't show how badly they want it, nothing will ...
Chapeau!!
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Post by franko on Oct 1, 2015 7:11:06 GMT -5
The Jays will play the winner of the Wild card game. I hope its not the Yanks as I'm tired of playing them and I don't want them to have any chance of winning another World Series. (My apologies to Yankee Habs fans). Don't they have to finish with the best record in the AL to get the Wild Card winner? KC still has a shot at that. Magic number 2, I think. Tie goes to the jays |
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Post by blny on Oct 1, 2015 9:19:32 GMT -5
AA eluded to the character thing last night. "We know the kind of player we want" etc. Moving Lawrie out for Donaldson (and Brett had a good year in Oakland), and moving Reyes, was huge. Those two moves had the greatest impact on the core culture of the room. It's a tight knit group. That stuff goes a long way, and is more important than anything else this time of year.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 1, 2015 9:49:24 GMT -5
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Post by blny on Oct 1, 2015 10:02:25 GMT -5
Muni's post game interview is classic. "I'm drunk!" "We go to Bush party!" lol
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Oct 1, 2015 11:52:52 GMT -5
It has been such an amazing run, hard not to get caught up in it. 22 years is a heck of a long time.
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Post by blny on Oct 1, 2015 12:07:06 GMT -5
It's made all the more amazing when you realize there isn't a pitcher on the team with 15 wins in a Jays uniform. Price has 18 total, but only 9 with the Jays. Dickey, 11 after a fantastic second half. Buehrle leads with 14. Estrada and Hutch have 13.
I would absolutely love to see Rogers step up and throw a $30 million a year deal at Price. With him and Stroman, that's two legit 20 game winners imo. Dickey would continue to eat up innings. Buehrle's innings would have to be replaced. Estrada too.
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Post by franko on Oct 1, 2015 12:54:24 GMT -5
It's made all the more amazing when you realize there isn't a pitcher on the team with 15 wins in a Jays uniform. Price has 18 total, but only 9 with the Jays. Dickey, 11 after a fantastic second half. Buehrle leads with 14. Estrada and Hutch have 13. I would absolutely love to see Rogers step up and throw a $30 million a year deal at Price. With him and Stroman, that's two legit 20 game winners imo. Dickey would continue to eat up innings. Buehrle's innings would have to be replaced. Estrada too. New management team coming, one that may sign players for more than 5 years - a problem in the past. |
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Post by blny on Oct 1, 2015 13:19:46 GMT -5
No doubt the 5 year cap was an issue. AA has done enough to at least keep his job. He hasn't vocally expressed interest in the President's role, but maybe he gets it. Dombrowski chose not to come to Toronto ( a situation Leafs fans are all to familiar with - being rejected lol).
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Post by jkr on Oct 1, 2015 14:34:33 GMT -5
No doubt the 5 year cap was an issue. AA has done enough to at least keep his job. He hasn't vocally expressed interest in the President's role, but maybe he gets it. Dombrowski chose not to come to Toronto ( a situation Leafs fans are all to familiar with - being rejected lol). Can't remember the guy's name but they have named a new president - he is leaving Cleveland to take the Toronto job. |
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Post by seventeen on Oct 1, 2015 14:44:35 GMT -5
Shapiro? Something like that, I think.
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Post by blny on Oct 1, 2015 17:02:57 GMT -5
Whoever it is, allow for 7 year contracts. Give Price whatever he wants. He's fit in really well. He spends time in the BP with the relievers. He's gelled with his teammates. He's not hung up on particular cities. With the offense here, Stroman to mentor, and the fact Price is only 29, it's a perfect scenario.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 1, 2015 18:18:14 GMT -5
Well, they're going to have to restock the farm system ... Alex Anthopoulos went all-in putting this team together and he had to ante up ... watching the game right now and the announcers mentioned that they were "tickled" at landing two pitching prospects for Ben Revere ... Anthopoulos also took some criticism for not making a move last year, but I think turned out to be the right thing to do ... however, the only prospect I know from this list is Dalton Pompey ... back to what's going on now ... I heard on the broadcast that some of the Orioles players were in awe of the Jays after their 15-2 loss ... some were saying that they don't know how the Jays won't win the World Series ... the pitching has to hold up ... the bats are there ... probably smelled like a stale brewery on the field today ... Cheers. |
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Post by blny on Oct 2, 2015 10:46:33 GMT -5
They certainly depleted their pitching depth at the minor league level, but Hutch and Stroman are only 24. Sanchez is still very young. Word is that many teams were wanting Stroman in return, and AA wasn't having any of it. Given those three guys are solid major leaguers, and one looks like a 20 game winner already, I'm not too concerned. In the pen, Cecil, Loup and Hendriks are all just into their primes. Osuna is 20.
Goins is young, and has shown he can play second and short (his natural position) very well. His bat has come around with playing time. Smoak, Revere, and Pillar are all in the primes of their careers. Travis is, by many accounts, a better player than Goins. He's 24.
There's overall depth at the major league level imo. Pitching depth can be replenished, and AA and his scouts have shown consistent ability to identify good young pitching.
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Post by Tankdriver on Oct 2, 2015 12:09:45 GMT -5
The only guy I was sad to see go was Hoffman in the Tulo trade. I was never sold on Norris, or Boy,d so losing them to the Tigers for Price wasn't so bad. Now we just got to keep him. Next years rotation will be Stroman, Dickey, Hutchinson, Sanchez and maybe Osuna or a F.A. (Cuerto, Greinke, unlikey imho) if they can't sign Price. There's also Doug Fister from the Nats, who the Jays have had interest in before. They better win this year or next because after that E.E. and Joey Bats are F.A. and will get more than the 15 million they are making now, plus Donaldson will be pushing 10 million after arbitration this year. What helps is that Buerele's 22 million is coming off the books, plus Estrada's 5.5 and Navarro's 5 million.
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Post by seventeen on Oct 2, 2015 12:23:25 GMT -5
AA has indeed done a great job of scouting and developing pitching prospects and that will be important, but as you say, blny, I think enough parts are there for the team to do well next year as well. Alex will have to fill some holes though. If MLSE can bring themselves to sign Price, that's the key for me. He's capable of 20 games as is Stroman. With two aces in the line-up, you're going to win a lot of games. They'll have to pick up Dickey's option. He's still throwing well and he doesn't have to be the man. You mentioned Sanchez and Hutchison and there, I'm not quite as confident. Sanchez has the ability to become a better than average pitcher, or he might end up as a career bullpen guy. I thin he needs to develop better precision with his fastball (the same lament of pretty well every pitcher in the bigs) and develop one more pitch. I think he has two in his arssenal and he'll need another to be a consistent starter. The potential is there. Hutchison, I've lost faith in. He's had numerous bad outings lately and even when he was winning earlier this year, his teammates were scoring tons of runs for him. He was giving up a lot, but had the horseshoes and was at least keeping the team in the game until the hitters came through. Now, he's giving up big innings, in the first, second and third. I don't know what the issue is, but if its not corrected, I wouldn't count on him for anything next year. So, if Price is signed that makes 3.5 to 4 decent starters, which means you have to find another, perhaps in the Free Agent pool. If you could re-sign Estrada for a reasonable amount, he'd be the prime choice. I think those 5 guys could stay reasonably healthy, and AA would have to sign some depth guys. The bullpen would also need some work. Osuna is set, Cecil is set and Hendriks is there as well. Loup, IMO, wouldn't be in the Pen if he was a right hander. My blood pressure goes up 50 points when he comes into a game. After that its a mish mash, but that's not all that different from every other team, and better than most who don't have a $220M budget. Positionally, I think Revere is a FA and Pennington is a FA. Saunders should be back, but it would be really nice to have Revere return. If not, and Goins is still hitting well, why not try Devon Travis at left field? I'd rather keep Goins at 2nd. He's a better fielder than Travis and his hitting is not much worse at this point. Defence is so critical and the Jays are strong in that area with this line-up. The core guys are all back, so positionally, the Jays are looking good for next year. AA just has to do some tweaking and sign a few guys currently in the line-up. Simple.  . |
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Post by blny on Oct 2, 2015 13:47:13 GMT -5
There's no doubt that Sanchez and Hutchison are question marks. Long relief? Starters? They're both young, and not in their primes yet. A rotation with Price, Stroman, Dickey, and maybe Estrada if he doesn't cost too much can manage one of the two being in the rotation at a time. Maybe they alternate. Hutch won games this year, with unreal run support. I could live with him in the 5 hole. Eighteen to twenty wins from Price and Stroman plus 11-14 wins from Dickey and Estrada (or his replacement) works out to 58-78 from your top 4. I'd take that rotation. According to the link below, Ben Revere has arbitration rights the next two seasons. He made just over $4 million this season. He's lead the NL in hits. Adds speed to the order, and is a traditional lead-off hitter. He's a .300 hitter, who sprays the ball all over the field. Given he turns 28 in May, I'd be more than willing to discuss multi year deal. Sure up that lead off spot, and have someone on base for Donaldson 35% of the time. Pompey would be cheaper, but I'd rather have him as the 4th outfielder for a season. www.spotrac.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/ben-revere/ |
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Post by CentreHice on Oct 2, 2015 17:04:41 GMT -5
I understand why the Jays played their B-team the last two games….but KC has now tied them going into the final 3 games of the season.
The only good thing is that the Royals are on the road against the Twins, who are still definitely in a battle with the Angels and Astros for the final wildcard spot.
Then again, maybe the Jays want to avoid the wildcard in the ALDS…as it could be the Yankees.
Something about the Yanks…
Not that the Rangers are any pushover….but you look at the run differentials. Jays are sitting at +227, while Texas is only +13. Crazy.
Sure would be nice to have home park all the way through, though.
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Post by blny on Oct 2, 2015 17:50:08 GMT -5
Royals were ahead going into Monday passed.
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Post by franko on Oct 2, 2015 17:56:33 GMT -5
hmmm. I guess the magic number is 3. 4 games left.
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Post by CentreHice on Oct 2, 2015 22:07:12 GMT -5
hmmm. I guess the magic number is 3. 4 games left. Pretty sure there were only 3 games left before today. After the games tonight, both teams will have played 160. |
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Post by seventeen on Oct 3, 2015 0:24:13 GMT -5
It would be 2, would it not? If Jays win tomorrow and KC loses, then the best the Royals can do is tie the Jays, which would still give the Jays home field advantage.
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Post by franko on Oct 3, 2015 9:51:31 GMT -5
It would be 2, would it not? If Jays win tomorrow and KC loses, then the best the Royals can do is tie the Jays, which would still give the Jays home field advantage. Yup. that was posted before the Jays W last night. |
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Post by seventeen on Oct 3, 2015 11:24:32 GMT -5
That shows I'm not on HabsRus often enough.  |
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