Bergen and Romano both back from Rule 5 exile. Funny how that works.

That's because teams don't have the patience--if not the money--to develop a reliever at the MLB level.

The Jays did it with Luciano and Biagini because they were looking for starters.
Texas returned Romano because he didn't look good as a starter.
Bergen was returned because he wasn't a finished product.
I'm curious to see what he can do, especially with the 3 hitter rule.

Ideally, they  should try to give the catchers the platoon advantage going forward.
They really need it.

Yamagauchi threw 54 pitches on Thursday. Starting on Wednesday?
Kay will start on Friday.

Zeuch would be the backup option, I think.

Benintendi is on the IL, so we might see Pillar all 3 games.

From Dave Schoenfield at ESPN:

Are more pitchers getting hurt? Even factoring in that teams may be playing it more cautiously this year, the answer is a definitive yes. Pitchers placed on the IL in the first 31 days of the season:

2020: 98 (not including 20 for coronavirus)
2019: 51
2018: 43

I don't know about Andrelton Simmons, but I'd love grab Villar from Miami.

Might just need to knock them around because that's a team that is not making the playoffs.

Vlad Jr. Looked better st first base today. That's very good news.

Lets hope for another good week.

Bo gone after the game on August 15th - Jays record after that game 7-10, 5 1/2 out of first, 1 1/2 out of last playoff slot.

Ken Giles out after the game of July 26th - Jays 1-2 at the time, 1 game out of first, tied for last place in the majors.

OK - who here predicted the Jays would do better without Giles than with? 13-11 since he was hurt. Or better without Bo than with? 7-3 without Bo. Espinal hasn't exactly set the world on fire with his 167/188/200 line. What a weird little season we are having.

What a difference a week makes.Last weeks OP highlighted our fumbling and bumbling.

This week Gurriel wins the MLB play of the week award for the long run and rocket from the LF corner Friday. Today a perfect throw to Espinal to Jansen to nail Wendle. Biggio stretches out and throws out a runner at 1st (with a a nice scoop by Vladdy).

Roark with what I thought a smart play as well. Runner on 1st. Had a bouncer hit just to his left. Started bringing his glove up, but stopped and allowed the ball to go to his fielder who started the double play. Too many pitchers instinctively reach and deflect. Even if he'd grabbed it clean not sure he could have gotten 2.

This week Gurriel wins the MLB play of the week award for the long run and rocket from the LF corner Friday. Today a perfect throw to Espinal to Jansen to nail Wendle.

Normally I'd be asking why the team's best outfield arm was out in left field, but I just let these things roll over me now. Everything is weird.

"Normally I'd be asking why the team's best outfield arm was out in left field,"

2018-2020 only 7 outfielders with 20 or more assists.

4 players with 20
Benintendi (with help of monster) 21
Laureano 21
Teoscar 24

Yup, #1 in baseball over the past 3 years.

BaseRunner Kills are a wonderful thing, but I do think Teoscar's come from his legs much more than his arm.

I'm sure I don't need to say it, but just in case -- number of outfield assists won't indicate who has the best arm (though I would say Laureano has the best arm in the majors). Once people know there's a good arm out there, they get a lot more conservative. It takes a hardy fool to run on Mookie Betts these days.

Yet somehow Barfield got 20+ in 1985, 1986, and 1989. He had the most amazing arm yet people still ran and he still got them. It was a ton of fun to watch back then. Hernandez, for comparison, peaked at 11 in 2018, and Betts at 14 in 2016, 10 in 2015 and 2019. Just makes those years we got to enjoy Barfield in RF all the more amazing.

In 1985 Jesse Barfield, who had a terrific arm, led MLB with 22 assists. Yet, from 86-88 Barfield had 48 assists, 5 better than any other MLB outfielder. Players did run on his arm.

Players do run on even the best arms, because sometimes running is far better than not running.

hypobole - don't know if you were around back then, but I did go to games and watch virtually all that I couldn't be there on TV and they didn't run except when it should've been safe to by 1986. Yet he threw them out anyways. It was amazing to watch. It got to the point where you'd want a fly ball to RF whenever a runner was on 3rd with under 2 out just to see him throw it and the runner shaking his head as he went back to the dugout after being thrown out.

Read the story at FG about the end of the Braves Phillies game. Basically Swanson running was the right decision if he had a 39% chance of being safe. That's an average, though.

Imagine this, however. You're the Jays 3rd base coach in the situation above. Ball in the gap and your runner on base probably has only a 1 in 3 chance of scoring. Do you send him? Average odds say no. But you also know Joe Panik is the next batter, and Drury and McGuire are the only guys on the bench. You hold the runner on 3rd, he's almost assuredly dying on 3rd.

For the trade deadline, from Atkins' comments, seems like if they get a starter it's going to be someone who has a couple of years of control left. A rental is not worth it at this stage of rebuilding. If they can't get a starter with years of control, they should just give a shot to Hatch, Merryweather, Kay or Borucki.

The bullpen looks stacked already, their focus should be on improving the bench, need a bigger bat, and someone who has speed and plays good defence.

I worked 3 shifts back then. Caught a lot of games but missed a lot too. And yes, I remember Jesse's arm.

Here's something I didn't remember. The 3 season's prior to Jesse's 1985 breakout, he played just under 2500 innings in RF and committed 26 errors. (Teoscar is around 2200 the past 3 with 14 errors). Can't recall even one one of Jesse's errors.

John and a few others have mentioned Cobb as a possibility. But only 1 more year, which may be both good and bad.

From MLBTR:

Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that the team’s “considering” a pair of Pirates right-handers in Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl.In Williams or Kuhl, the Blue Jays would land a hurler capable of contributing to their rotation beyond this season. Both are controllable for multiple years, but Williams is the more proven of the pair. The 28-year-old was a solid starter for the Pirates from 2017-18 before falling off last year, when he logged 145 2/3 innings of 5.38 ERA/5.12 FIP ball, but seems to be amid a rebound campaign. Williams has made five starts in 2020 and posted 24 1/3 innings of 3.70 ERA/4.21 FIP ball with 8.51 K/9 and 2.96 BB/9. He’s on a prorated $2.825MM salary this year and has another two arbitration-eligible seasons remaining.

Kuhl also has two arb years left after 2020, though he’s currently earning a less expensive salary than Williams (a prorated $840K). The 27-year-old is off to a decent start this season after missing all of 2019 as a result of Tommy John surgery. Kuhl has made five appearances (three starts) in the early going, averaged upward of 94 mph on his fastball and registered a 2.84 ERA/4.98 FIP with 9.0 K/9 and 3.32 BB/9 over 19 innings.

Neither Williams nor Kuhl would command a haul for the Pirates, who are well out of playoff contention

It all depends on what the Jays think of their own prospects both from a kid POV and from the POV of how far they can get this year and how that affects the bottom line (thus improving money available for free agents).

Williams and Kuhl are the top 2 starters for Pittsburgh for what that is worth (they are 7-17) Kuhl has a 97 ERA+ lifetime over 332 innings and his FIP suggest the same this year so he is a 3/4 guy at best. Williams is more interesting with his 99 ERA+ lifetime but a 126 in 2018 over 170 IP suggesting he could be better, but his 80 last year suggests he could be worse. The HR is what kills him (sub 1 per 9 in 2018, 1.7 in 2019).

Both guys are tempting. Given their CF has a 12 OPS+ they'd happily take Alford if he is still in waiver land, and their 1B has a 49 thus making Tellez ideal for them. Heck, only their CA and DH are over 90 so they could use pretty much any bat. Lots of pitching nightmares too. Josh Bell at 1B would've been untouchable a year ago (All-Star with a 142 OPS+) and is under control for 2021/22 but makes $4.8 mil (prorated of course) this year. I could see the Pirates sending him away so they don't need to do an arbitration mess where they release him this winter. So if Tellez goes (with a kid pitcher and/or reliever) maybe try to take Bell back with a pitcher (when a team is down kick them hard) if the Jays scouts think he can make a comeback.

The Jays were down 1-2 when Giles left  because of Giles.
Would have been 2-1 otherwise.

The starting pitching was horrible in Atlanta after the long layoffs.

Espinal has not looked good, but has done the important things like moving the runners, sac bunting and yesterday he worked up a 2 out walk that lead to the 3 run homerun.

Panik and Drury just suck though.

I don't think Tellez has much value. Especially not to the NL as the DH thing is not settled as far as I know.

McKinney could have some value, but he's the guy who comes up if Hernandez or Gurriel are on the IL.

Teams trade vets for prospects.  In this case, I'd imagine some pitching prospects would go the other way.
Too many teams looking for pitching right now.

I understand the rental thing, but it's all about cost.
I'd hate to see another team get a decent rental for money only.

I liked how, after Grichuk hit the home run, Biggio was giving Espinal encouragement by telling him how important drawing the walk was in that inning. ( I can't read lips, I saw an interview with Biggio after the game.) Biggio already seems like an established vet even though he hasn't yet played a full season. He and Bichette are the kind of players you build a team around.

The thing is, Pearson and Shoemaker is 2 third of the playoffs rotation.

Hopefully, the cobbler comes back.

Williams does not strike out enough. Might as well go with Zeuch.

If we're thinking about playoff starts and the possibility of no Pearson and no Shoemaker, I think the Jays would be best to go with tandems after Ryu (Hi Mike!). Kay/Hatch or Font/Borucki for 6 innings is likely much better than what you'd get out of Roark or Anderson or the type of trade acquisition that isn't unjustifiably expensive. But in order to not remove so much from the bullpen and to maintain good will with the vets, call it Roark/Kay and Anderson/Borucki.

I love the idea of going after Jonathan Villar in trade. He'd be a massive upgrade over Panik/Drury.

I think they can only trade from the players pool, but a PTBNL might go around that.
Cherington might have some inside knowledge of the Jays system.
I'm not expecting to get a starter with a year of control for free.

I like Gaussman as a rental. Always had nice Ks.

Will be interesting to see if Vogelbach can do anything against Boston/Baltimore/Miami.

Also, the Rays will play Baltimore and Miami this week.
We'll see if they can knock them down.

And as for playoff rotations, tandems make a lot of sense when you have a bunch of pitchers of about the same quality.  The pitchers I like to see get the ball are Ryu, Romano, Kay, Borucki and Hatch.  You can give Roark and Anderson an inning or two in front of Kay and Borucki, use Hatch as your high leverage set-up guy throwing 2 innings a shot, and Romano in his conventional role. 

I get confused by all the speculation in the media. When Shoemaker was put on the IL Montoyo decided that Kay was going into the rotation. So he let him throw 50 pitches to help stretch him out.

Wags was not mentioned by Montoyo as far as I know. But he threw 47 pitches in his last outing. Him going into the rotation (Thornton) is speculation I believe.

I now believe the plan was to have long men in the pen that can be used after 2 days rest if they are needed. Therefore nobody got 3 IP in an outing (Kay, Hatch).

Regarding trades Atkins has said nothing really IMO. He is aiming for SPs. Also said that he would subtract from this team, to improve the team in 2020, 21 and 22.

It depends who you are facing. Tandems works great against the Rays who have tons of platoon guys. Less well against teams who have regular at every positions. Also, it works better if you start a righty, as the top of the bullpen is all right handed. If you start a lefty, they can make the lineup for him and replace the batters as soon as the lefty is gone.

Moreland has been the Red Sox best hitter and does not face lefties.
Devers is having a bad year. Badley isn't a factor. That only leaves Verdugo.
Pillar is the Red Sox's 3rd best player with 0.8bWAR.
He's got a career best OBP at .340 and I presume he would love to get traded to a contender.
Not sure why Cleveland isn't calling.

Moorland beat the Jays Aug 9th with a 2 run Hr against Hatch. No lefties were available for Montoyo. Maybe a ground ball pitcher like Zeuch may have succeeded. I don't know.

Wags was optioned on the 18th, recalled on the 19th, optioned on the 21st and recalled on the 23rd.
It don't know if they are stretching him or emptying the tank before optioning him.

The number of pitches and inning pitched depends on the results more than anything else.
Kay put 2 on bases without recording an out in the inning and was pulled in a close game.

Hatch might have been an option for Wednesday had he not pitched yesterday.

Merryweather and Borucki will both be out of options after this year and they both have a history of injury, so they'll probably stick to the pen. 
Hatch has just been amazing.

Yennsy Diaz is on the 45IL and probably done for the year.
It's a lot less clear about Luciano and Hecto Perez. Can they be moved to the 45IL?
I don't think we need to see Luciano this year, but I wouldn't mind Perez having a short stint in the pen, if he's healthy.
They you got Murphy.

And Giles is throwing around to some degree.

I think every team is faking injuries but I am not sure.

Years ago after the July 31 trade deadline almost every team put all their players on waivers. None got claimed because it was some kind of gentleman's agreement.

I don't know.
Trading is an important part of rebuilding.
Just look at Hatch. The Jays got him for Loup.

It makes no sense to me to sit on expiring contracts when there are no gate revenues.

Boston will send soft tossing Hart, than Eovaldi against our mystery Wednesday starter and then they'll have to pick someone to face Ryu.

Baltimore will bring Cobb, LeBlanc (who looked injured but I guess not), Milone and Asher.

Lots of lefty soft-tossers.

Alford should have cleared waivers by now.

They waited several day to put LeBlanc straight into the 45IL and recalled Keegan Akin, another lefty.

LeBlanc (who looked injured but I guess not)

He just got put on the IL

Don't think any team has any reason to fake an injury this year.

Wouldn't surprise me if the Jays went after Plesac or Clevinger. Long-term assets at SP, Cleveland connection. Jays would have to give up good prospects but we're at that point where the Jays want real improvements to contend.

Yeah, I dunno. The front office seems to value the club house too much and Rogers might not like players who go on the news for the wrong reasons.

This is from Buster Olney. The last line is interesting:

Execs say the trade talk has increased significantly around MLB on Monday, a week before the deadline. But so far, few actual sellers (Seattle mentioned a lot), and unclear which teams willing to take on $. "Every dollar is a big deal this year," said one official. "Every dollar."

Cleveland is a serious contender and probably would want ML talent and I'd be ok dealing any of our outfielders in a Plesac or Clevinger deal - I'd be hesitant to give up any good prospects unless it's a prospect for prospect type deal.

I don't think this regime will trade for players past their prime or in their prime unless they're a piece or so away. This regime wants players that are about to hit their prime with lots of control or else players in their prime with some upside still left and ideally no injury issues. CLE doesn't fit that unless they want to trade someone like Triston Mckenzie.

To be more specific, I don't think they will trade quality players away unless they are getting that type of return. For guys with big contracts like Nathan Eovaldi, I think this regime will consider it because of the low acquisition cost to the farm.

Latest injury reports:

-Pearson has flexor strain and hopes to play catch this weekend
-Thornton will get a 2nd opinion from Dr. Andrews
-Giles throwing a pen and may be close to return

I don't think the Jays will be interested in the Cleveland pitchers. I believe the Pirate pitchers will be their targets.

Charlie Montoyo says #BlueJays planning for bullpen days Wednesday and Friday, mentions Kay, Hatch, Waguespack as guys who can provide some bulk.

They are also talking about prospect Patrick Murphy, who's throwing multiple innings at Rochester

Pearson is probably several weeks away from returning to game action. This is the type of injury where pitchers can re-injure themselves if throw too hard, too soon. Pearson is such a fiercely competitive guy however time is not on his side: the post-season starts 5 weeks from today. Shoemaker is in a similar situation - seems unlikely that either will be back in time to contribute this season, though both could potentially be part of the playoff roster in some format.

Regarding money!!

If any of our young players get very good then we have to pay them accordingly. Betts was good in his last arb years and got big $. Even bigger $ as a FA.

We have to compete with TB. They will trade rather than pay big $. So no chance of a bad Stanton, Trout, Cole or Betts contract turning bad for them. They lost on Morton this year. If it was a full season the $ lost on Morton would be more. He would also be untradable.

As mentioned earlier we bumbled and stumbled a lot. We would be at the top or near if 3 of our losses were wins instead.

Shapiro mentioned that vets are needed on a championship team.
However, I don't see paying vets to long expensive contracts outside of Ryu and Grichuk for now.
I don't see why Rogers wouldn't take a rental if it's only money.
There won't be much else on TV in October.

If Yamaguchi starts tomorrow, after not playing for 5 days, I'll call that a start.
And if Kay doesn't pitch between now and Friday, I'll call that a start as well.
Maybe Font can open in front of them? Doesn't really change anything to me.

Barfield used to erase baserunners on utterly routine plays, where you just assumed the runner was going to advance, where it would never even occur to anyone not to run. It was something to see, I promise!

Yes. Barfield had the best arm I ever saw. Runner on 3rd, one out, I was hoping for a flyball to right field.

Biggio - Roman God of Walks?

Wow, I just saw John Sickels is giving up writing about baseball, for painfully traumatic reasons that not everyone will be comfortable reading about.

Is it possible that Biggio could be not only a good player, but a great one (at least in the Blue Jays pantheon)? In his first 127 games in the majors, he's amassed 3.7 WAR. That's outstanding. Currently he's hitting .284/.411/.529 on the season.

Time to change fonts, surely?

Clever and accurate in regards to Font.

I just saw John Sickels is giving up writing about baseball

Wow, that was harrowing. Shakes you to the core.

There was nothing wrong with walking Moreland.
He was 2 for 2 and they were up by 3.

Font faced 6 hitters and only retired one and that was the bottom of the lineup.
He's one of those guys who can implode at any time and he had no idea where the fastball was going tonight.
They should have had somebody ready to relieve him a lot earlier.

The bug in the eye thing was annoying too. It's quite possible that the ump didn't call that 3rd strike against Vasquez because he felt bad about the bug in the eye, but that made it full count.

One thing I find annoying is when they're trying to get someone to chase on one pitch and he doesn't bite so they go with the exact same pitch in the same location. I really don't get that. Throw some strikes, get ahead in the count and then try again? Sure, but as you fall behind they'll be chasing less.

I just saw John Sickels is giving up writing about baseball

Under the circumstances, can't blame him. Good luck and good fortune going forward.

First look at Travis Bergen.
Fastball at 94 with enough movement but no command.
Curve and changeup, I think.

So, no Eovaldi, they're going with an opener instead tomorrow.

I just saw John Sickels is giving up writing about baseball

Absolutely heartbreaking. Wherever John goes from here, I wish him nothing but the best.

Wilmer Font is Kerry Ligtenberg for a new generation. Discuss.

(In 2004, Kerry Ligtenberg appeared in 57 games for the Jays and in seven of them he melted down so completely he may as well have been setting himself on fire: 0-4, 1.2 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 27 R, 26 ER for a nifty ERA of 140.40. You might want to look again at the hits and runs he allowed while recording a total of five outs. It's not a misprint. In his other 50 games, he was perfectly adequate, going 1-2 with 3 SV and put up a 2.19 ERA in 53.1 IP. But when he stunk, he really stunk.)

Wow, I just saw John Sickels is giving up writing about baseball, for painfully traumatic reasons that not everyone will be comfortable reading about.

That's horrible. Thanks for sharing and calling attention to it. Definitely uncomfortable to read. I hope is able to heal as best as possible and commend him on his courage and on breaking 'the cycle of destruction.'

It's very brave of John Sickels to share his childhood trauma. I wish him all the best in his new writing career.

Baseball Reference indicates that Font got both a hold and a loss for yesterday's outing.  I think that the definition of the "hold" needs some work. 

I've been as open minded about Brandon Drury as anyone outside the Jays FO. Brian Cashman had given up 2 decent prospects for him, so it wasn't just Atkins who thought there was something there. And I could see he's tried different approaches. But it seems pretty well everything he's tried has only made him worse. His LD% is good. His GB% is low. He's had zero GDP's and zero IFFB's. But when it's combined with just about the weakest contact in the majors it's useless. I could write more, but he's not worth it. Get rid of him.

What's up with Sean Reid-Foley? Haven't heard a thing about him.

I was wondering about SRF, too. If he's not called up during a year like this then you have to wonder about his future with the club.

Scottt, the Jays got Hatch for Phelps, Loup got us Waguespack, but point made nonetheless. 

Brave of Sickels, good for him.  We need more of these stories in the public sphere, from people in all walks of life, but taking on that weight is very hard - impossible for some. 

I ran a Play Index (from BBRef's stathead) to see if I could find a comp for Biggio- a second baseman with an OPS+ between 110 and 130 in between 500 and 600 PAs through age 25.  I got one, Amby McConnel.  His SABR bio is a lot of fun, but his major league career didn't go far.  He really wasn't the same kind of player as Biggio, for what it's worth. 

Interesting bio, Mike. And McConnell also played for Toronto!

Pretty much every time they bring in Font, I feel they're going to lose. I had a similar feeling the first few outings for Dolis as well, but he seems to have stabilized a bit.

They seem fine in the aggregate - i.e. overall ERA. But it seems that they're great in low-leverage situations, but horrible in high-leverage situations.. So don't use them in high-leverage situations...

Font is best when opening for a lefty. Maybe Kay on Friday?

Right now Montoyo is trying to find somebody to pitch the 6th inning.
Borucki's last 2 outings were bad.
Gaviglio was terrible his first time out and he's only pitched 3 times since that, including yesterday.
In 3 innings, he's walked 5, struck out 1 and given 3 hits.
Kay would have been great, but he is being kept for Friday, or maybe today if Yamaguchi can't handle it.

Now, Font with Moreland on base or not changes nothing.
They were leading by 3.

BTW, Buffalo looks like Bug City.

I haven't seen it mentioned, but I am guessing Yamaguchi is starting one of these games where the Jays don't have a starter listed. He threw 32 pitches on the 18th and then 54 on the 20th. Since Montoyo doesn't seem to be comfortable using him in high leverage relief innings, then using him in the rotation might be a necessity at this point.

What is happening with all the top Jays prospects like Martin, Groshans, SRF, Kirk, and Orelvis? How is the team ensuring that this is not a lost year of development for them?

SWR, that is...not SRF.

Kaitlyn at The Athletic had an article a few days ago. Here's a bit for anyone without a subscription (subscription very much recommended)

Days at the site attempt to mirror what a baseball season looks like. Daily, players report to the field and go through their typical strength-and-conditioning workout. Then they take batting practice before playing a simulated game. Twice a week, games take place at night to keep players acclimated to playing under stadium lights.

The young starting pitchers, such as T.J. Zeuch, Simeon Woods Richardson and Joey Murray, use those games to get in their five innings of work, while hitters can get about five to seven live at-bats per game, Huckaby said.

About three or four days a week, the younger players, such as top prospects Jordan Groshans, Austin Martin and Alejandro Kirk, will participate in position drills, either in small groups or individually. Coaches offer guidance and instruction, but according to Huckaby, the veterans have also been helpful in teaching the younger players about pro baseball.

Here's some more C & P, this time from the FG Replacement-Level Killers series:
At 14-14, the Buffalo Jays have a 56.2% chance at making the playoffs, and their catching tandem of Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire, both of whom are just 25 years old, was promising enough to place seventh in our Positional Power Rankings less than six weeks ago, the highest of any team in the table above. The righty-swinging Jansen, who by the metrics — including Baseball Prospectus’ gold-standard FRAA, where he ranked eighth last season — is the better defender, and despite the ugliness of his batting line (.138/.301/.259), his 65 wRC+ is just three points below last year. The lefty-swinging McGuire, an above-average defender who last year hit for a surprising 128 wRC+, albeit in just 105 PA, is just 3-for-28 with a homer but no walks. Even so, signs here point to the Jays staying the course with the kids.

And for those wondering, yes the FG article did contain this line: "Somebody should be dialing Russell Martin’s number."

One last FG item. Zimmerman, their fantasy guy with this:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was in shape and then he wasn’t. He doesn’t seem self-motivated to improve so I’m worried his upside is limited and he might start aging earlier than normal.

Any signs about what the Jays will do with Kirk? Does he leap frog Adams? Does he become a 3rd catcher/bench player?

Really tempted to try Vladdy at 3rd, Tellez at first if Shaw is out.

Caleb Joseph is the 3rd catcher.

Dolis only pitches in high leverage situations.
The fastball has crept up and the splitter has improved.

I was fine with Cole in high leverage until last night.

Giles is throwing off a mount.

I only see Baltimore in the rear view mirror.

Jays .500
Batimore 14-15
Detroit 12-16 (so 4 games under)
Royals 12-18 (6 games under)
Seattle 12-19 (7 games under)
Texas 11-18 (7 games under)
Boston 10-20 (10 games under)

Beating Boston would be nice, but beating Baltimore is what really matters short term.

I'm a fan of all the young Jays, but personally I find Biggio currently the most fun to see. The elite eye in someone so young is different and really interesting to watch for now IMHO. Doesn't necessarily mean he is currently the best or will be the best, but as something different and fun to watch, he's got my vote.

BBRef's top 24 Jays has Aaron Hill's 17.1 WAR in the final spot. Last year, I thought Vlad would be the 1st of the kids to unseat Hill. Early this year I thought it would be Bo. Bo would still be the favourite, but it would not be a shock if it's Cavan.

If the Jays can move some of their outfielders for controllable pitching that would be great ( looking at you Cleveland) - I am interested in Franklin Barreto as a reclamation project - Barreto at 2B, Biggio in CF for the remainder of this season - I don't think the Jays should trade any quality prospect unless it's for a player with similar controllable years - making the playoffs this year would be nice but not worth giving up quality prospects.

Caleb Joseph is the mandatory catcher on the taxi squad, which doesn't require a 40 roster spot.
However, Adams and Kirk are both also in the player pool and Adams will require to be added to the 40 in December.
Kirk has another year, but he looks like he could hit MLB pitching right now.

6 days since Alford was DFAed. Must have cleared waivers, no?

Looks like supposed Jays trade target Trevor Williams may not be the answer. On the plus side, he has gone 5 innings on 82 pitches today. On the down side the 2 doubles, 3 HR's and 8 ER's are saying it may be best if he stays in Pittsburgh.

Maybe we was excited about the idea of playing in Buffalo.

I suspect they waited as long as possible to try to trade Alford before putting him on waivers. I believe the DFA period is 7 days and the waiver process is 2 days and must be completed during the DFA period. So they likely put him on waivers yesterday (day 5) and we will find out tomorrow (day 7) if he was claimed or will be outrighted off the Roster (and likely to the alt site Rochester).

What's up with Sean Reid-Foley? Haven't heard a thing about him.

Ask and you shall receive! He has been added to the roster tonight along with Derek Fisher. Bergen & Gaviligio sent down.

Merryweather gets the start tonight.  Grichuk back in centerfield and Shaw at third.

Yamaguchi will be bulk guy tonight following Merryweather

Excited to see Merryweather in a starting role. His stuff looked really good in relief.

Would like to see Merryweather get some run as a starter - a 4 pitch mix is encouraging and if he can maintain his velocity (I've read his FB is in the high 90's) deep into games he could be found money.

I was surprised that Merryweather is the hardest throwing pitcher in the organization. It would be interesting to give him some run as a starter.

Since 2017, Merryweather has 6 IP in the minors, 6 in the AFL and 3 this year. Don't think starting is in his future, except as an opener.

Don't think starting is in his future, except as an opener.

Inclined to agree. Let's see if he can stay healthy throwing one or two innings at a time.

The season just got weirder, just hopefully in a positive way. After the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the floor today in a protest against police violence toward the black community and with the NBA cancelling all of today's games, the Brewers and Reds mutually agreed to postpone their game as well.

Merryweather is a wild card in every sense, he could have any sort of outcome but the pitch mix has starter potential.

The solidarity in the NBA has been really impressive to me. I wonder how much of that was always there and how much the bubble process helps foster that even more. Be interesting to see if it spreads across to other sports as well.

If the Red Sox are looking to rebuild I sure would think a swap centered around Groshans + pitching for Bogarts would make a lot of sense. Bogarts would make a fine 3B. The Jays lineup looks very solid outside of 3B.

Hopefully the Jays keep SRF in the bullpen moving forward, he looked good.

It all started in the NFL where only a few guys participated and the blowback was huge.

But yeah, it's very interesting.
In France, when enough is enough, they do general strikes.
In the US, in many states, unions are almost non existent.
Sport strikes of all things, when at last one game is being canceled because of a hurricane.

He does look like a closer.
Maybe a short burst is better for him.
He's just too intense to last 5 innings.

I like that he simply attacked with a plus fastball.
Very nice.

I like that they're giving players a bit of exposure.

Just 2 games behind the Yankees now.

Bogarts, Vertugo and Devers are the 3 guys the Red Sox are not trading.
They could bounce back next year with Sale, Eovaldi and Rodriguez.
Moreland is interesting. He's on fire and might bring something, but he has an option for 3M next year.
Pillar, Valdez and Bradley are on the market. Martinez too, but he might not be bringing anything back right now. 

Jays playoff odds up to 70% at 538.

Padres chairman Ron Fowler on trades: “we know next year is going to be tough because we expect restricted seating (at home games) and full (player) compensation, so you have to go in with your eyes open.” Some teams will really be hurting financially. I guess the biggest issue for the Jays will be whether travel to and from Canada will be allowed by then.

There might be no unnecessary travel and  sports team could be asked to stay in hotels.
That's the current rule in Buffalo. Players only see their family on the road.

The hockey season will be impacted long before baseball.
There can be no hockey if teams can't cross the border.
Not going to happen.

The biggest issue for the Jays is that the NHL season might overlap the baseball season.

Around Oct/Nov I expect the annual flu vaccine. By ST (Feb) we will have an idea about pandemic restrictions. So a better than 50% chance for Not Normal baseball as Ron Fowler said. This will mean Plans/Versions A,B,C,D.

Regarding the Jays we have a top notch facility in Dunedin and a greatly improved one in Buffalo. This should be good for our player development.

Currently very few pitchers in our system have passed the test of being a good pitcher. 31 games left to continue on the way to establish successful results.

The Yankees playoffs odds are down to 96.5%.
Baltimore's are 19.7% followed by KC at 5.5%, Seattle at 3.6%, Detroit at 2.1% and both LA and Texas at 0.8%.

Big series against Baltimore coming up.

It was good to see Merryweather and Wamaguch effective against a good lineup.

Pillar said that he hopes to remain in Boston. Wrong thing to say. Nobody expects him to have ties to Boston or the fans there. 

Merryweather is a wild card in every sense, he could have any sort of outcome but the pitch mix has starter potential.

I don't know how long he would last in a SP role given that he has barely pitched since 2017, but I agree he has everything necessary to be a SP. Using him as a bulk opener is fine for 2020 to get his arm some innings, but I hope he's a SP candidate for 2021. If he can survive a SP workload, then there's a lot of potential there with his pitch mix. Worst case he can be an elite RP with his velocity.

Also, Baltimore as by far the worse schedule.
They have 8 left against the Yankees.
They play Atlanta, and the Rays. The Jays have the Phillies and the Marlins.
Best of all, the Jays finish the season in Baltimore.

Marc Carig at the Athletic has Montoyo and Dusty Baker as 'other candidates' for manager of the year, behind Kevin Cash.  Anyone think that's reasonable?  I haven't followed closely enough the past two seasons to have a personal opinion, but it does seem to give Montoyo more cred than he tends to get locally.  

The 9 Blue Jays with a qualifying no of PAs- Bichette, Hernandez, Tellez, Grichuk, Jansen, Guerrero Jr., Shaw, Biggio and Gurriel Jr.- have xwOBAs of .452, .426, .398, .388. .352, .349, .342, .342 and .329.  League average is .334.  When Bichette is healthy and if the spare parts are upgraded from dreadful to typical, this can be a pretty impressive offence.

I should have said worst case he's a RP. Period. However, he has a a chance to be elite in that role given his stuff. Being elite at anything is not anyone's "worst case".

jerjapan, you're absolutely right about outside perception and fanbase.

Outside perception - How well has the team done relative to the talent on the team?

Fanbase (all too often) - Why did the manager do that? I wouldn't have done that. Therefore, the manager is incompetent.

Fanbases focus too much on tactical decisions. So they criticize very specific events saying they can do that better. Similarly fans discount mentoring/teaching. It’s not visible and doesn’t show up in game action. So since Montoya is pretty conservative and doesn’t do things fans like like multi inning relievers or promote players they like I think lots of fans don’t like him. They prefer someone more active like a Gibbons.

Jays get Taijuan Walker...for whom?

A minor leaguer not on the 60-man player pool.

PTBNL so likely a prospect not in player pool. As Walker is a rental it is probably not an impactful prospect or anyone that we will miss.

Nice. T Walker will help. I hope.

Kudos to the FO. This team has played well enough to deserve the upgrade.

I doubt it would cost much of anything for what will end up being less than a month of Taijuan Walker. He's a warm body for a team who will be without 3 starters for the next little while (Pearson, Shoemaker, Thornton). Hopefully he can eat up some league average innings while here.

Looks like the 40-man is also full after the Vogelbach acquisition, even if you account for Perez, Diaz and Luciano being off of it. Maybe Thornton gets put on the 45-day IL? His prognosis doesn't sound good.

Thornton has indeed been put on the 45 day DL.

Looks like a serviceable guy rather than the retreads of last year.

I don't think it will be a nothing piece. Walker was desired by a number of teams. I can see a prospect in the 15-30 range in the Jays organization going.

It’s hard to judge until I know what is going the other way, but I suppose I am ok with Taijuan Walker. I honestly would have preferred stretching out some of the younger guys in the bullpen.

The Blue Jays official Twitter account tweeted out that it's "a player to be named later or cash considerations" in return for Walker. It doesn't seem like it will be a top 30 prospect in the system, but we will see.

Seattle are tied for 11th with KC. They have decided that they are out of it I presume. Which means full rebuild mode I again presume.

This means going the Blue Jay route from after the 2018 trade deadline. Jansen, Rowdy and Gurriel were brought up and SRF and Borucki to get their ML seasoning started.

I expect Seattle to bring up their close to ready prospects so as to get playing time. This means clearing out all the unwanted vets. Seattles transactions have become interesting to me now.

Atkins has made 2 trades in a row with Seattle.

PTBNL brings to mind Kevin Comer. Much of the fanbase were less than enthused. He ended up the only one of the 5 never to make the majors.

Walker is a decent replacement for Thornton.
The long ball is probably the biggest issue, but 8 walks for 25  Ks is alright.

They already have enough in the pen, especially with Giles returning.

I like the idea of rotating guys like SRF, Waguespack, Bergen and Gaviglio if they need more innings from the pen.

I think the Jays gave up something, but maybe not more than what they got for Eric Sogard.

Will take a while before he starts. Not tomorrow for sure.
Maybe he pushes Yamaguchi down a few days.

Phillies have voted not to play today.
The As/Rangers game will also not be played.
Boston players are considering not playing tonight.
(Which means Ryu would go with extra rest tomorrow and the game would probably be made up in Boston later.)

It's a bit of a downer if the Jays charter a plane to get Taijuan here tonight so he can start tomorrow and they don't need a starter until next week.

I guess Vogelbach must have had a couple of layovers on his way to Buffalo in comparison.