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That was a bad look from Kirby for sure... but I think all the old guys getting outraged about it on X can just settled down. It's not such a big deal. The game isn't played and managed the same way anymore. It definitely would be a bad time for the M's to start falling apart though The Jays swept the Royals over the weekend. This week the Rangers come to town for four games. It's an important series for both teams! Toronto really needs to be ready for this.

Friday night: Jays WIN Rays LOSE M's LOSE Thank you, Texas and LAA! edit: Jays win again on Saturday afternoon! Can Texas and/or LAA help me out again tonight???

Well, that's that. Baseball is over for another long winter I was happy to see the 'Stros win it in the end. They're clearly the better, more complete team. You never know what can happen in a best-of-7 series, and it is also fun to see the underdog upset the favourite, but something feels right to me about the "better team" winning. It was an entertaining World Series and the Phils gave them a run for their money! But if the Phils want to be legit contenders next year then they need to tighten up their defense somehow. They're pretty bad on that side of the ball. Winning games with a high-powered offense gets you through the regular season well enough, but in the postseason when you're playing all the top teams, the margin for error becomes so thin. Need to play good defense. The biggest eye-opener for me from watching the ALCS and WS is that Jeremy Pena is one incredible player. He looks like a vet the way he carries himself on the field. Aside from the fact that he obviously looks young, you could never tell he's a rookie. What a talented a poised player.

NO

Well, Eizan, I don't think this is the year for either of our teams... I guess either of the Jays or M's could go on a run still in the second half and turn it around, and you never know when other teams could get bit by the injury bug or go on a slump... but it's not looking great. In the AL East, the Rays and O's just look too strong. And the Yankees are still a solid team. Part of me is starting to feel like 2021 was the real window for contention for the Jays, the year that Vlad was on an MVP pace but they missed the postseason by one game. That was a really good team. Last year they petered out in the Wild Card games, and this year they are looking rather mediocre. That's a bummer. The AL West is weird too. I expected the Rangers to at least be better than last year, but not this good! The Astros are still solid, and somehow the Angels are still seven games over .500 and we're getting pretty darn close to the mid-way point of the season. Have they finally figured out how to put a winning team on the field with Trout and Ohtani??? I dunno, maybe the collapse in the second half, but I expected them to have already collapsed by now. I am also pretty surprised by the D-Backs. I listen to lots of baseball podcasts, and the D-Backs were a bit of a hipster sleeper / dark horse pick for some of the more analytically inclined baseball writers and podcasters, because they do have an interesting group of young and talented players. I thought maybe they would show flashes but it would still be too early for them to really look good. So far they're looking great!

Yeah, Javier's starts have been stellar in the ALCS and WS! I think McCullers Jr. must have been tipping his pitches in the previous game. So many homeruns. I've been pleasantly surprised by this World Series. I hope it goes the full seven games. I'm really enjoying it.

Well... that's it for Seattle That's a bummer. A step back from last year. Hopefully they can change some stuff up in the winter and come back better next year! The Jays are in the WC for sure, but clinching because another team lost is rather anti-climactic. The Jays should have been able to beat the Rays yesterday. Ah well... Right now the postseason picture has Toronto playing Tampa in the WC series, as they're in the 3rd spot. That could potentially change though if both Houston and Texas lose today and the Jays win. I think the Rays will be more inclined to rest guys today because they used a lot of their big bullpen arms yesterday, and today's game doesn't really mean anything for them. Hopefully the Jays can finish on a strong note and beat up on the Rays today. Who knows what happens in the other games though. Houston plays Arizona and Texas plays Seattle.

I'm not really a hockey fan anymore, and certainly not much of a Leafs fan even if I still watched hockey. So they don't faze me anymore They always find a way to disappoint. I was more bummed about the Raptors this season. They have some talented players but they're an awful team. It was a terrible thing to watch. My Blue Jays might also disappoint me in the end this summer, but that could be more of an "out of their control" situation. The AL East is tough. They could win a ton of games and still come up short.

I can't stand the damn Rangers...

Ohtani is sort of within striking distance of Judge's HR total from last year, so maybe he wants to go for it... Or at least ensure he still wins the AL MVP. But, yeah, I think he'd be smarter to just shut it down for the year. The team ain't going anywhere. The Jays lost tonight. This series against Cleveland is going to be the death of me if they don't win Saturday and Sunday. This team is killing me

Fuck me I hate baseball

The damn Rays… They’ve mostly been playing bad teams, but still kudos to them for winning all the games. Toronto should give them more of a challenge—I hope One problem is that the rotation is lined up such that Berrios, Kikuchi, and Manoah will be pitching this weekend. Berrios might just be bad now, Kikuchi is super unreliable, and Manoah is struggling to start this season. Yikes.

They won’t be this good all summer, but wow the Rays are off to a hot start! It’s nice to see the Pirates winning some games early on. The way that team has been run is quite pathetic. I want to see nice things for their fans.

Opening Day is here! And somehow trades are still going down https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/04/twins-padres-trade-chris-paddack-taylor-rogers.html Paddack has really disappointed the last couple seasons after his exciting rookie performance.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/yankees-acquire-josh-donaldson-isiah-kiner-falefa-from-twins-for-gary-sanchez-gio-urshela.html Wow.

re: the Dodgers: I suppose I would bet on the under. They will likely be resting guys later in September, so there could be some random losses mixed in the final games. But 110+ wins is totally on the table. I wouldn’t be shocked at all. The Jays picked a great time to get swept by the Angels this weekend…

The Jays lost in Cleveland last night. Finally scored more than 1 or 2 runs, and they let the Guardians score more I don’t get it. The team is getting hits, it’s just their numbers with RISP that are bad. That’s gotta fix itself soon, I hope. Need more timely hits! The Yankees are in first place and their run diff is looking very nice. The Jays are negative right now

Ohhhh yeah! That’s worthy of a new season thread. @webhead can you split this into a new thread starting at Eizan’s post? 2022 Baseball season here we come!

In the end, Texas wasn't of more help, but he Angels took two games from Seattle! Toronto has a very thin lead at the front of the WC race. They get a much needed off-day tomorrow, and then they're off to Philly. That won't be an easy series, though the Phils are on a bit of a losing skid here...

Those annoying Yankees even beat the Mets twice earlier this week after getting beat up all weekend by the Jays. Maybe they're finding their way out of their slump now... If I had to put money down on a World Series prediction right now, I'd bet on an NL team to take it. The Braves have come on strong again of late, the Mets have been quality all season (that feels so weird to say ), and of course the Dodgers are still the Dodgers. Anything can happen in a seven game series, but I would be tempted to take any of those squads over the Yankees or Astros. edit: But I'm also hoping for a different AL team to come out of it this year, maybe a bit of a surprise team sort of like the Braves last season. Obviously I'm cheering for the Jays, but it would be cool to see the M's or Guardians take a run at the WS too. That Cleveland team is very pesky and has very good pitching. Just don't let it be the Rays, please.

The O's have a decent lineup, and some surprisingly OK arms in the bullpen. Not much starting pitching though. The Jays have been stinking it up lately. Can't seem to win a series anymore. The division is most likely out of reach now. But if they keep going they way they have in the last 1-2 weeks, they'll be dropping out of the Wild Card picture before long too. Ugh.

Nope, I didn’t think for a second that the Jays would land Ohtani. 10 years / $700 million is nuts. Imagine how much the Jays would have had to over-pay on top of that to win the deal. You can’t build a team like that. Unless you’re the Dodgers Seattle definitely appears to be clearing the decks to try to sign a big free agent. Maybe Snell or Bellinger? Yamamoto? Or are they losing money in their TV deal like how San Diego got messed around by Bally / Diamond Sports? That would also cause a team to cut payroll.

I am setting expectations low for the Jays. They didn’t do much in the off-season to improve the team. Really though, the biggest improvement would be for Vlad to play up to his potential. They should have been a better team last year and would have been if Vlad was hitting like in 2021. I can see the Jays finishing 3rd or 4th in the AL East and missing the Wild Card. It feels like their narrow window of opportunity from a couple years ago might have closed already The O’s are likely going to be a problem this year. I could see them struggling a bit after their big surprise last summer, and I’m hoping they stumble a bit… but really they should be a strong team again, and for years to come. The Rays always find a way to compete. I’m not counting the Yankees out just yet. And while I expect Boston to be a bad team this year, sometimes they can surprise you too. There will also be more heated competition for the WC spots from ALC and ALW teams like last summer. Overall my outlook isn’t great for Toronto this year. I hope to be proven wrong!