Baseball Talk

[Eizan 129]

Hey, if the season ended today the Blue Jays are in the playoffs. The American League is just...bad except the Yankees. Rays look like they will start falling backdown with the rest of the league.

I have to feel Seattle may end up trading one of their 6 starters for another bat. 

[dr. b 498]

The Jays have played better lately. The win % is pretty solid in the last ~25 games. If they win tonight, it’s another series win—and they finally get back to .500. Winning series has to be the goal. Keep winning 2-of-3 whenever possible. They don’t seem like a team that will go on a long win streak at any point. They dig themselves into a hole to start the season, so winning the division is very unlikely, but they can certainly be a strong Wild Card team. And if they are healthy and hitting their stride at the right time in October, they could do some damage again. There are problems though. Lots of challenges on the pitching side. And Vlad isn’t right this year so far. Still solid and hitting for average, but the power is really lacking. Not sure why. Vlad needs to be more impactful for them to really make some noise. 
 

I don’t know what to make of the M’s. Happy to see them leading the division… but the competition is pretty bad  Even the White Sox have a slightly better (just barely) win % than the M’s! The AL Central and West are really hurting this year. I expected better from Houston and Detroit. Cleveland is above .500 but who knows for how long. 

[Eizan 129]

You know both Blue Jays and Mariners suck...

[dr. b 498]

I thought the Jays were turning a corner. Then a six-game losing streak happened  They could still add to it

[Eizan 129]

So...Red Sox 14 straight. When the Blue Jays gonna get hot? 

 

Don't worry, the Mariners will miss the playoffs by one game. So neither of us will get to enjoy the post-season. 

[dr. b 498]

I've been waiting since May for the Jays to get hot. Even up to All-Star break, they were only a handful of games back in the Wild Card race. The division is almost certainly a lost hope... But I keep telling myself, all it will take is a few weeks of good baseball to get back into it. And if they get hot in September/October then who knows what might happen! But it just isn't happening  Lost a series 2-1 against the White Sox after the All-Star break. Not totally surprising since the White Sox are actually a competent team again (I'm happy for their fans!) but the Jays should have enough talent to hang with them. Chicago outscored the 15-5 across those three games. Last night they get soundly beaten by the Rays, and they still have three more to play against Tampa this week. If the Rays sweep - which they probably should - then I'm about ready to just give up on this season and hope for better next summer  

 

The AL West is tight and nobody really seems to want to take control of it. I dunno, the AL just doesn't have many truly good teams so far this year. I could jump on board the White Sox bandwagon in October if they get there and both the Jays and M's miss out.

[dr. b 498]

@Eizan , happy B-day dude!

 

It's a bummer that your M's haven't been having a great July. The last stretch especially vs. Cincinnati, then on the road in Texas and LA. Starting to fall behind in the division...  But I'm sure they'll win one for you tonight against Minny! 

[dr. b 498]

Pretty busy deadline weekend for our teams.

 

M's

- Acquired Taylor Ward from Baltimore

- Moved on from Luis Castillo

 

Ward has consistently been a 2-3 win player based on BB-Ref WAR over the last few seasons. Hopefully he's helpful to the team over the next few months. He's not exactly young and I think he's coming up on free agency. I'm not sure if the M's are hoping to re-sign him or if he's just a rental.

 

When I saw the Castillo deal, I initially thought that Seattle was just punting on the rest of the season. Maybe they still are, but once I looked at Castillo's numbers this year, I realized that there's a bit more to the story. He hasn't been great and he's still owed a lot of money. Probably smart for them to ship him out while they had the chance.

 

Jays

OUT

-> Jeff Hoffman

-> Daulton Varsho

-> Kevin Gausman

-> Tommy Nance

-> Adam Macko

-> Arjun Nimmala (fairly highly ranked prospect currently in AA)

IN

-> Jose Soriano

-> Spencer Arrighetti

-> Jameson Taillon

-> Josh Smith

-> Various prospects and names I don't know  

 

The most intriguing deal here is the trade with LAA to get Soriano. He should be a part of the starting rotation right away, and stick around the next couple of seasons. Arrighetti has some potential to help them as well, although that seems like less of a sure thing than Soriano. Taillon will I'm sure pitch for them this season because they need bodies, but he's past his prime and you can't expect much. Also interesting that they're taking a chance on Josh Smith. He's had some moments in Texas but struggled this year. Maybe they can help him turn it around.

 

I'm sad to see Gausman go and hope they can re-sign him this winter. I'm less sad and more relieved to see Hoffman gone  And mostly indifferent about Varsho. Great OF defender but frustrating hitter that should be able to produce more power than he actually does. I wish him well in Houston.