Toronto Blue Jays

[2014olympicgold]

Also here’s the other sides of the deals:
Mets were talking to the Rangers I think about a trade revolving around a prospect named Olt, who never fulfilled his projections
Mets were also talking to the Orioles about Bundy, who had injury issues and fizzled out really.
AND the deal for Dickey had to involved d’Arnaud because Mets had little hope in catcher prospects and they wanted a young hard throwing pitcher. They obviously got Syndergaard, but the Jays had picked someone 4 picks before Syndergaard who had (at the time) the same bottom line attributes. Tall, hard throwing, young, high end talent. But that player had an elbow injury in July (I think) of 2012, so the Mets decided to focus mostly on Syndergaard. That player the Jays didn’t trade….Aaron Sanchez. Now his development hasn’t been the same as Noah’s, but we wouldn’t have a competent setup guy without him.

[bondon]

lol David Cooper. The heir to Lyle Overbay at first base.

Yeah honestly the Dickey trade looks back in hindsight but the fact of the matter is that at the time we really needed an inning eating starting pitcher that we could slot at the front of our rotation...a guy who could frontman a rotation and have the durability to give you 200+ innings which is pretty much what Dickey represented. Just sucks that we bought really high on him after his Cy Young year. Just speculation on my part, but I bet AA had already had his eye on Dickey before that season.

Don't forget the timing and context too...that's really key. We had just landed the Miami deal, which in popular opinion made us look like frontrunners to take the AL East. AA was looking for a boost to take us to that next level and give us a strong starting rotation. Sound familiar? I for one am happy that the Dickey deal and the backlash that he received these past two years (in some cases people calling for his head) didn't dissuade AA from being the same guy he's always been. Take the chances, because if you do your homework (which I don't think anyone can dispute that he does when he's able to pluck guys like Bautista and Colabello off other teams for nothing) and you play your cards right, you're gonna hit it big eventually.
Our prospect depth was another thing to consider too. Our system was regarded as one of the deepest prospect pools at the time; we had the big 3 pitching prospects that everyone was interested in (Syndergaard, Nicolino, Sanchez). even after the two big deals we still had Sanchez, we had just drafted Stroman.

To put it in another way, look at the Halladay deal that AA made. AA got what was perceived to be a great package in Drabek, D'Arnaud, and Taylor. He immediately flipped Taylor for Brett Wallace which got him even more praise. Fast forward 5 years later and only one of those 4 names are doing anything worth really noticing. Thank god for AA, he managed to turn Michael Taylor into Brett Wallace into Anthony Gose into........yup, Devon Travis, who based on his performance this season looks like he's going to be a staple in this lineup. Or not, with AA you never know. But that's the best thing about AA, he does his homework and takes chances

TL: DR - The best GMs are the GMs that do their homework and aren't afraid to put their neck on the line to make the team better. The RA Dickey trade was a risky trade but I wouldn't want AA to operate any other way because if he did we probably wouldn't be in the postseason

[Axeman33]

Estrada was incredible tonight. Dude is unflappable. I love his competitiveness... he looked sooo pissed when he left for the dugout despite pitching an almost perfect game.

Two left with Stro and Price on deck... I feel good about Stro, but the thought of Price in an elimination game makes me shit bricks.

As sad as it is, me too.

[blayze]

Got nothing in this morning's World Series public sale. As usual.

Looks like I'll be paying 2-3x the price to go to those games if we make it...

[bondon]

Got nothing in this morning's World Series public sale. As usual.

Looks like I'll be paying 2-3x the price to go to those games if we make it...

Right there with you. Sigh...

[2014olympicgold]

Got nothing in this morning's World Series public sale. As usual.

Looks like I'll be paying 2-3x the price to go to those games if we make it...

I had tickets. Then I got excited and kicked my legs out under my desk and took the power cord along with it. Turned off my computer and lost them. fudge

I shall think positive. The last 2 games I went to see them, they’ve lost. I’m not going for the better of the team, the fans, and Canada. You’re welcome.

[PenguinHunter]

Anyone making the trip to KC for the next two gameS?

[2014olympicgold]

Yeah, trades are easy to criticize in hindsight. I'd rather have AA's approach where he isn't afraid to pull the trigger. I mean, if he worried about making mistakes, we wouldn't have Donaldson. Or Estrada. Or Tulo. Or Price.
The Dickey deal was terrible, for sure, but AA has made way more good deals than bad.

My favourite part of the presser yesterday was the rather odd moment between Gibbons and that guy who asked who would be the Jays' game 6 starter.
Gibbons was kind of stunned. Like he didn't know how to answer such an obviously dumb question.
I think he wanted to say "buddy, haven't you been watching or listening to anything?! Didn't you hear me say already that it lined up perfectly for game 6 not needing to use David tonight?!"
Instead he just paused, and calmly said "it'll be Price."

Man, reporters.

After every top inning, I was yelling at the tv - "get him some FRICKEN RUNS. DON'T WASTE THIS PERFORMANCE." Tulo's hit was a beauty. And it was nice to catch a break on the Bautista walk. That was strike 3, and if I'm pitching... I'm furious not to get that call. The Edwin ball 4 was definitely a ball tho.

I'm nervous about Price too in game 6, but he did pitch very well in game 2, except for the one disaster inning. Let's hope for a similar performance and perfect D behind him.

Reporters need you to 100% what they think they're asking. Some are just too dumb to realize they won't get the answer, but some are just so dumb and aren't paying attention to the others they just always ask the same questions and someone else

[Axeman33]

What a brutal way to end the season. Just disgusted.

[LawMan]

Brutal 9th inning for sure. Navarro not being able to make contact hurt, not sure why Gibby didn't use Smoak there. The 2nd strike was a brutal call. Revere not making contact hurt even my re. With runners on 2nd and 3rd that was the perfect time to run the squeeze play, except I'm not sure Gibby know anything about small ball.

Finally, our MVP chasing a bad pitch to end the year hurt bad.

Overall it was a pretty awesome season, will be interesting to see what AA does in the offseason, assuming he's brought back. I'll be quite interested to see if Gibby is brought back, the Jays made the ALCS but I think that was more in spite of him then because of him. This one is gonna hurt for awhile.....

[blayze]

There's really no excuse for 0/11 with runners in scoring position, and not cashing in a runner on third with no outs.

Joey can only bail us out so many times... we deserved to lose.

Nevertheless it was an amazing ride this year. They've re-engaged me as a fan and I'm excited for next season.

[Godin]

I'd rather they went down 1-2-3 in the ninth then give us that much hope. Tough to watch with 2 on with none out and not cash in. Hard to get down on anyone though. We just always expect them to come through.

[Zorro]

True fans stick with their team no matter what happens.. Was I disappointed? Forsure.. But it just wasn't meant to be..

Go Jays Go!!

[2014olympicgold]

I went complete blackout on Saturday and Sunday to make sure I didn’t see any highlights of that game. As bad and good calls usually even themselves out, it’s tough to have it go against you in the 9th. But give it to the KCR pitchers, they shut everyone down but 1 in that game. 2 outs, Donaldson up to bat, that’s what you wanted in the regular season, however it seemed like his 9th inning reputation got to him in the playoffs, he just wasn’t the same.

On to next yr, and the Jays are actually looking really good for next yr. minus a few arms.
Francis (FA), Hawksins (Retire), Pennington (FA), Estrada (FA), Navarro (FA), Price (FA), Buehrle (Retire?) and Lowe (FA) are the only guys leaving this offseason with a bunch of arbitration guys. Goins, Pompey, Schultz, Travis, Tepera, Revere, Smoak and Osuna are all arbitration I think and that’s not bad. They will all get a raise but they’ll be Jays most likely, and if they’re not we get a draft pick compensation so it’s practically trading them away.

The biggest question for me is their 2B situation. It’s a great “bad” situation to have, but who gets put in at 2B? Goins is an A+ defender, but Travis could be a great lead-off making Revere a great order turner with Pillar.

Well thanks to them we got to see a lot of good games, and the first playoff series win since 2004 for the city. To put an emotional stamp on so many people across Canada/World means they were doing something special, because no one cares when the season ends normally for the Jays

[Axeman33]

I fully expect the Jays to re-sign Estrada. Price is a big question mark though. I think he truly enjoyed his time in Toronto and realizes they still have one of the best teams in the league but I am sure the money will be the deciding factor for him (when isn't it) and he will move on. That being said, there are some very good FA's available to be snagged to help out the rotation; Greinke (who will probably cost as much as Price so he's unlikely), Cueto, Zimmerman, Leake, Iwakuma, and Kazmir to name a few.

With Price moving on and Buerhle more than likely retiring, that's two big arms that will need to be replaced. Hutchinson is still a question mark but will be back in the rotation near the bottom of the order.

It's going to be an interesting off-season, as short as it will appear. Let's not forget, they still have to re-sign AA yet too.