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Reports came out over the weekend that Cleveland is planning to change their team name. I'm surprised they held out this long.

Reports now that the Jays have also signed Michael Brantley

The Jays traded for Steven Matz: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/blue-jays-nearing-deal-to-acquire-steven-matz.html He wasn't good last summer, but I guess we're hoping that was an anomaly. Not that he was especially good the seasons before last summer. He showed some promise during his first two seasons in the league and has fallen off since then, it seems like (you can tell how closely I follow the Mets ) Most pitchers really like working with Jays' pitching coach Pete Walker, so I hope the Jays coaches and analytics team can help Matz unlock some more of his potential. I like the idea of having another lefty in the rotation, even if he's just an end of the rotation innings eater type of guy. Maybe he'd even be a long reliever. I guess we'll see how it all plays out in the spring! edit: Forgot to mention they got Marcus Semien on a one-year deal as well. Even if he's not as great as he was in 2019, he's still an upgrade over some of the guys they were running out in the infield last summer. I think it's a nice little signing. Can't believe the A's couldn't keep him on a similar contract. Either he wanted out of Oakland, or Oakland just isn't spending _any_ money this year (they're a bit of a trash organization...)

The Jays signed George Springer yesterday! They finally found somebody who would take their money Nice addition to the outfield. Honorable mention to Kirby Yates as well. I hope he will continue to be a reliable guy in the bullpen.

The Yankees really kicked the shit out of the Jays this week The scores were 20-6, 13-2, and 10-7. Lots of homeruns were hit against Jays pitching. Last night the Yanks hit 5 homers in a single inning! Ugh.

29 runs is nuts, but I think the 19-0 shutout is perhaps more impressive. The Tigers only had 2 hits the whole game

I wonder if they'll play games today. Apparently the Jays/BoSox had just taken the field yesterday when news started going around about the NBA strike. Other MLB games were walked out on, but the Jays game went ahead. They won, though it's hard to say how focused the players were on the game with all the stuff going on. Also the Jays traded for Taijuan Walker today. If the season keeps going then they'll definitely need the pitching help. Sounds like the cost to acquire him wasn't very high either.

Big day of games today! Some are meaningless of course, but there are still some races to watch. Last night they said on the Jays broadcast that if they win today and the Yankees lose then they can jump up in the standings and be the ALE 2nd place team instead of a Wild Card team. If I'm reading the standings correctly, that would put the Jays in 5th place. A 4/5 matchup (likely against Chicago) might not be much better for them because the White Sox have a lot of talent... but avoiding the Rays in a 1/8 matchup would be pretty darn nice.

I am excited too! But also... the Jays struggle mightily at Tropicana Field, so if they play the Rays in a #1 vs. #8 match up then I'm a bit worried They're gonna have to play really well to beat anybody as a Wild Card team, but the Rays are just always a problem for Toronto.

The Brewers are in, Giants lost. 4 NLC teams in the postseason (Cubs, Cards, Reds, Brewers).

RIP Twins Boooooo Astros The Rays jumped all over Ryu and the Jays are basically dead

It would be great timing for the Yankees if some of their big names start getting healthy now and they go on a run in the postseason. It wouldn't shock me... but it's not what I want to see! Maybe this will finally be the year for this Dodgers team that has consistently been one of the best teams in the MLB for a few years now? I'm not really cheering for them, but they have enough players that I like that I wouldn't mind if they take the World Series. Once the Jays are out of the picture, I will be jumping on the San Diego bandwagon (I hope I didn't just put a hex on them)

Forgot to reply to this bit earlier I will never find baseball boring, but I think the game - especially in the later innings - has gotten painfully slow. Sometimes it feels like there is absolutely no flow/rhythm to the game. There are some things that have a big impact on overall game time that will be hard to change, like TV commercial breaks probably aren't going anywhere, but they can do things with the rules to encourage a better flow to the game. The 3 batter minimum rule has helped a bit I think, but what gets me the most is slow pitchers. I hate watching guys that take so much time between pitches. It's truly awful. The worst is when you've got a slow pitcher who has a habit of stepping off the mound, and a guy at the plate who wants to step out of the box after every pitch. MLB still isn't doing enough to cut down on that stuff. I now realize how lucky I was as Blue Jays fan for so many years, they had some really fast workers (Halladay, Dickey, Buehrle). Buehrle especially. He didn't waste time and almost never shook off the catcher. His philosophy was that he wasn't the game caller, the catcher was, so he'd just do his best to execute every pitch that was called. You love to see it.

I didn't get to see the game last night, but it sounds like it was pretty exciting. Over four hours long though - oof. Some of the games I've watched this postseason have been awful in terms of pace of play. Slow pitchers really turn me off from a game.

Maybe the balls are juiced. There has been a lot of speculation about the balls over the last two seasons. Some of the opposite field homeruns you see these days don't look like they're hit well enough to be homers, it's weird. The ball just kinda gets flung over the fence.

I actually watched the Jays lose twice yesterday

I wonder if they will try to finish the season with fewer teams if COVID issues persist with e.g. The Marlins. Can't help but feel like it's all going to fall apart soon though.

And here I am thinking these are best-of-7 series Guess I wasn't paying very close attention. Kershaw wasn't great night, but good enough at least. Jansen tried to blow it in the 9th though I doubt we'll see either team that's down 0-2 come back for a 3-2 win. Perhaps there is still some hope Oakland and NYY being down 1-2, but those odds probably aren't great either. Dodgers/Braves should be a good NLCS if that's how it ends up. I don't really like any combination of teams on the AL side.

They lost both games of the double-header yesterday How will they lose tonight?

Robinson Cano suspended 162 games for PED violation This is his second violation so he got a full season ban. If the 2021 season is a shorter schedule then I wonder if the ban carries over into 2022..?

The Jays should have gone 2-1 over the weekend, maybe even 3-0, but the bullpen let them down Giles looks like he's going to be out for a while, which kinda sucks. I'm not a huge fan of Giles, but when he's pitching well he does get pretty good results. Who knows, maybe none of it matters. The Marlins have 8 players and 2 coaches (according to the report I read) that have tested positive and have had to cancel their home opener. Is this the beginning of the end already..?

MLB is investigating it. I think he could get a fine, not sure about a suspension though.

Fingers and toes crossed! They're definitely not a favourite to win it, so I assume those bets would pay out pretty well if they do win it.

It's comforting to know that some things are still normal in 2020

The Rays better not let it go to game 7 Tough finish to Kershaw's start last night.