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Blue Jays offseason review chat
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Jays fan
8:00
Kevin Gausman was an upgrade on Robbie Ray. Agree?
Mark P
8:01
Agree. I'm more comfortable with Gausman as a big-ticket contract than I would've been with Ray
uhhhhh
8:02
merrifield seems to very overlooked. are people forgetting his value? if he does what he did in KC its invaluable
Mark P
8:03
Merrfield is 34 and is coming off two subpar offensive seasons in a row.  It's understandable why he isn't being considered a key part of the roster, even if I do think he brings a lot to the table and can help the Jays this year
NoSaint
8:05
Are the Jays more likely to make a trade early in the season or at the deadline and will it be a depth move or a big splash?
Mark P
8:05
Probably closer to the deadline.  Atkins swung earlier trades in 2021 to add relief pitching, but that was perhaps a unique situation since the bullpen was in such dire straits at that point
8:06
As to how big of an acquisition might be made.....too many factors to consider between now and the deadline.  The Jays did comparatively little last year, but also swung big in landing Berrios the year prior
JP Riccardi
8:06
I don't get how some BJ fans seem to hate Shapiro / Atkins. IMHO, they've done an outstanding job. They were in a wild card with the Orioles and returned to respectability WAYYYYY faster. Do you agree that they've done a great job?
Mark P
8:08
In defense of the Orioles, I'll say that Mike Elias had a way trickier job to do in completely rebuilding the organization (i.e. in things like international scouting), plus Baltimore's ownership was open to to such a big teardown.  The Jays ownership wasn't willing to entirely blow things up to that level and forfeit multiple seasons, which led to the awkwardness of 2017-18 and the team trying to kinda contend but also realistic of the fact that a rebuild was needed
8:09
But in general, I do think Shapiro/Atkins have done a good job.  They got a lot of heat in their tenure for a) "tearing down" a contender, even though the 2016 Jays were an old team that were kind of running on fumes, and b) not being Alex Anthopoulos.
Guest
8:10
PR move only. Votto to Jays. What is the odds for this happening.
CanCon
8:10
Do you see a scenario where the Jays trade for Votto at the deadline?
Mark P
8:11
Votto would have to approve the deal via his no-trade clause, and the Jays would also have to have an actual need for him, which might not be the case with Vlad/Belt/Kirk in the 1B/DH picture.

The Jays hope to be contending for a championship and need all 26 players on the roster to be contributors.....no "PR moves" allowed.
Barriera
8:12
I’m the next big thing coming to Canada, I’m thinking June, thoughts?
Mark P
8:12
Barriera has yet to throw a pitch as a professional.  Make it June 2026.
Lukes Skywalker
8:13
What's the solution to the team wide offensive droughts that showed up tonight and plagued them last year?
Mark P
8:15
I'm not putting much stock in today's game since between today and the opener, it was a very "that's baseball" example of variance.

But last year's team struggled at consistently delivering with men on base, and you're right that the Jays had a couple of team-wide simultaneous slumps.  Simply getting some left-handed regulars into the lineup might help because now opposing pitchers can't have the same approach to almost literally every hitter (as they did in 2022)
Keith
8:15
MLB GM jobs are hard. To say Shapiro/Atkins have done an outstanding job is more of an overstatement. Sure they have been solid but they also have their fair share of misses (see: Kendrys Morales, Randal Grichuk, Tanner Roark, Kikuchi, Chatwood, etc)
Mark P
8:18
It helps that none of those misses have ended up being too devastating to the team as a whole.
Adam
8:18
Do you think that Otto Lopez is the first non-catcher position player up if an injury happens since he call play pretty much everywhere?
Mark P
8:18
I'm very much in favor of seeing what Lopez can do with more playing time.
Craig Biggio
8:20
Have the Blue Jays been a little flighty with my son Cavan?  Do they worry about him playing multiple positions and being "more aggressive" at the plate?  Would they be better off letting him play 2b, walk 120 times a year and get driven 100 times by Vlady and Bo?
Mark P
8:22
I do think that some teams have hurt the development of some prospects by moving them around the diamond too much, or in trying to turn them into multi-position types when the player would be better off just focusing on a single position.

Injuries have also hampered Biggio, but I'd argue that the Jays have given him a good share of chances.  On paper, the Jays would love having an everyday LHH regular to plug into the lineup at 2B
Douglas
8:23
Belt looks like he would have benefitted from some more spring training ABs. Why is he batting so high?
Mark P
8:24
The top three in Toronto's batting order likely won't change all season, so after that, the plan is to start going lefty-righty unless there's a southpaw on the mound.
Adam
8:24
Think we will ever see Vlady at 3rd this season?
Mark P
8:24
Not outside of a late-game emergency scenario
8:26
That's it for tonight's chat, thanks for all the questions!
8:27
fyi, if you're interested in more baseball Q&A, one of the many benefits of our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription is the exclusive weekly live chats. The more limited field means you're about 10 times more likely to get a question answered, as opposed to battling for space with so many other questions in today's chat. For more on our memberships, check out this link: 

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