Won't be easy but lets hope.

We probably need 7 SPs to get through the season. Probably more. After the 5 of Ryu, Manoah, Berrios, Stripling and Pearson we probably use combination SPs that can get us 3-5 innings before we go to the 1 inning relievers.

The bright side of this is that there is a lot of opportunity for anyone that can take advantage.

Hatch, Thornton and Kay have to give 65-80 pitch games and get through 3-5 innings. Their competition will be any SP that may or may not be added to the 40 man roster for rule 5 protection. Maybe Logue or Max Castillo (both not that highly regarded in prospect evaluation lists). But they should also be judged on pitching results when given a chance in the Majors. Same as everyone else in this paragraph. There will be NRIs that will get a chance to prove themselves like SRF, if they bring him back.

Just to add to my post above. That post was very tame.

Regarding the near future. Vlad 2022-25 is Arb1,2,3, FA. This is very scary to me. I will not worry but this is possible. A long term contract is possible. The 10 year contracts like Trout, Betts and Lindor are possible but scary. Trout's injury stage is starting. Vlad could also age like Miggy or Prince Fielder.

If they can pick up a couple of starters, I’d like to see them try to stack Pearson and Ryu. Pearson throws 3 innings followed by Ryu for 5. Would save both arms, and give the competition fits going from a flame throwing righty to a deceptive lefty. Tampa would be emptying their bench by the 4th. This would also give us a good look at Pearson as a quasi-starter.

In this scenario Stripling or Pearson could fill in for a start or two in a pinch before they dig into their questionable depth in the minors.

On a different note, I would be surprised if one or two of their new starters and relievers aren’t reclamation projects. Walker is a difference maker so find him one or two more to work with.

Ryu mixed with someone would make a lot of sense. Pearson is a very different look from him - although that would be a headache for the catcher. I'd start Ryu, then bring in Pearson as Ryu has always been a starter and should go 5 regularly - 8 out of 31 starts were sub 5 innings this year (vs 7 times reaching 7 IP). For those cases you'd have someone else come in to clean up the mess and give Pearson a clean inning to start. On the other hand, Pearson rarely showed any endurance so far (2 1/3 IP his longest this season, 2 times reached 5 in 2020, over 24 games in the minors only reached 5 IP twice. Max of 6).

Last year 6 guys had 10+ starts (Ryu/Ray/Matz/Manoah/Stripling/Berrios). 4 more had 2-5 starts each (Kay, Thornton, Zeuch, Hatch), and 6 more had just 1 start (Pearson, Milone, Merryweather, Bergen, Phelps, Roark). So there was the big 6, then 19 more starts to deal with. 1 of those was the famous May 24th where Stripling came in relief and did 7 shutout innings to start his big comeback. So 7-8 guys who can start is plenty really - if they are effective at all. A lot of those guys were openers or experiments until Manoah was ready to come up/Berrios traded for.

IMO if the Jays get 2 solid starters to finish a big 5, with Stripling as #6, then Pearson, and Hatch should do the job with Kay, Thornton, etc. as the backups beyond that. It seems (according to FanGraphs) that Hatch and Pearson has 2 options left as does Kay & Thornton. I think they are missing this years lost options though so all 4 should have 1 left each. Regardless, they can be sent down to keep building up their arms and be ready to fill in as needed. I'm also certain the Jays will sign a couple of AAAA guys to eat AAA innings and be ready if needed to fill in with replacement level quality.

I suspect the Jays will mainly look for guys ready to help them win this year. Reclamation projects will be for the back end of the pen or AAA unless they are guys who have a great track record but were off in 2020/21 thanks in part to the messed up schedule.

I see  0 chance that Ryu would work after an opener.

The trajectory for Pearson might be a shutdown after the trade deadline.
They can't stretch him over 6+ month if he has gas in the tank for only 3 or 4.

The pen is very much set.
There is a hard limit of 13 pitchers, so only 8 relievers.

Romano
Mayza
Cimber
Richards
Merryweather
Stripling
Borucki (unless you trade or dump him)
(Only this one spot left for rotating guys with options.)

(Castro, Snead, Saucedo, etc...)

They need a lot of AAA guys as Romano, Merryweather and Borucki are not known for staying healthy.
I don't know how people feel about dropping Borucki.
He could be very good if he'd work with 3 pitches, like when he was a starter.
Not sure that's in the cards.

Of note: via the Trade Values website which isn't perfect by any stretch but does factor in years of control and contract as well as likely production, the value they put on the various players I list above...

• Marlins: Sandy Alcantara 78.4, Pablo Lopez 57.1, Elieser Hernandez 5.2
• Reds: Luis Castillo 68.3, Tyler Mahle 40.4, Jesse Winker 19.1 (LF)
• A's: Frankie Montas 39.6, Sean Manaea 18.5, Chris Bassitt 17, Matt Chapman 24.1 (3B)
• Jays: Kirk 15.8, Gurriel Jr 14.5, Biggio 12, Jansen 20.7, Groshans 24.5, O Martinez 25, Teoscar 25.3, Pearson 9.1

The Jays is to give a more neutral view on what those guys are worth. Seems Pearson has dropped drastically from 'no trade' to 'meh'.

This makes the A's look like a lot better match than the Marlins or Reds due to lower values, plus of course the Jays know the A's guys can play vs AL teams (NL East and NL Central teams play a lot vs inferior competition). Still, Alcantara would be sweet to get.

Kay started throwing a lot of cutters last year after he had success with it because the hitters were not expecting it.
He needs to go back to mixing his arsenal better and working in the strike zone.
Thornton has to go back to starting.

Also, pitchers need to pay attention to the defense.
You can't focus on painting the outside corner in the shift.
Maybe they need a better pitching coach in AAA.

Scottt - dang, didn't notice how full the pen appears. Of course, the same was said last winter. Romano, Mayza, Cimber, Richards, and Stripling I figure have good chances to stay healthy based on 2021, but anyone who bets on Merryweather being healthy is likely tossing their money in a garbage can. Borucki I see as marginal at this point as he did well in 2020 but that was the freak show season, and his wildness is scary (3.9 BB/9 lifetime in majors, plus 8 walks in his 9 minor league innings this season).

That said, I see the pen as a luxury item - to be addressed once other holes are filled (rotation, 3B/2B, LH OF). Ideally the Jays keep hunting for bargains for it to fill in holes and be backups in AAA. Saucedo, Castro, Snead are all good rotation pieces. Ideally we'd get one more solid reliever who could close if needed (Graveman would be nice depending on his contract demands for example).

I'd be happy with Gray+ someone else who can provide depth like Cobb or Pineda. That would give the Jays Berrios, Ryu, Manoah, Gray, and Stripling/other guy/Pearson/Hatch/ which I think is good enough. Obviously, if Jays can get a starter from Oakland or Miami, that changes things a lot. Also think Gray may have some really good upside pitching away from Colorado.

I very much doubt the Jays are holding a bullpen spot for Julian Merryweather. His 13 appearances last year were the most he has managed since 2017, and he finished with a 4.85 ERA and a 6.48 FIP. He should not stand in the way of an upgrade.

I suspect the Jays see Merryweather like I do - if he is healthy he could be a big bonus, but that is a massive if. Useful to keep around and see if you get lucky, but at the end of spring if he isn't one of the top 8 relievers available then so be it. Same for Borucki. Romano, Mayza, Cimber, Richards, and Stripling are locks. So up to 3 open slots. I expect the Jays to try to lock down one at least with a solid guy for under $5 mil on a maximum 2 year deal unless a really good guy falls into their lap. I wouldn't be shocked if they resign Phelps as he has been a very good reliever since 2016 with the exception of his 10 games in Philly in 2020. It all would depend on his health.

I suppose you can sign an extra guy and make a decision at the end of spring training or even wait until someone gets hurt or underperforms before you bring the optionable guys up.
In the end, you'll still need a bunch of arms with options to go through the year.
I like Hudson.

I agree that BP is a lower priority than SP and 3rd base, but about equal with a lefty bat. The pen has only 4 reliable arms and given how many they went through last year, I'd be surprised if the GM isn't good on his word to add depth. If he has to drop someone like Borucki (or start some of those with option in the minors for a while, even Pearson) then so be it. Otherwise he's playing with fire, especially if one or two of the 4 get injured.

He doesn't need to spend a tonne of dollars on BP adds, so I think Atkins will try to deal with all 4 of those priorities; how successful he is, time will tell.

Jon Gray is one of my favorite realistic targets as well. Should have a reasonable AAV over a 3-4 year deal, and he still has some upside left moving away from Coors Field. Put him with Pete Walker and see if he can take the next step. As is, he's a perfectly solid SP. Not having the QO attached is another positive.

The SP market is going to be very competitive. It reminds me a bit of two years ago when the Jays ended up with Ryu (and Roark but I'm trying to block that from memory). The Jays will have to overpay to get who they want, but given the lack of SP depth throughout the organization, they don't have much choice. As long as it's not an overpay for Roark 2.0, it should be fine. They don't even average-ish innings eaters. They need quality arms.

Damned if I know how to project pitchers.  So far, Steamer projects Gray at 2.4 WAR in 169 innings and Matz at 2.3 WAR in 158 innings.  I like them both a little better than the Steamer projections.

I like Gray as well, but interestingly, for his career he has performed slightly better at home. Pick your stat of choice, but using OPS as a rough guide his career home/away split is 737/765.

I’d be ok with Gray, but frankly, if they are shopping in that aisle rather than the highly priced aisle, I’d prefer Matz back. Gray feels very similar in look and feel to Berrios and Manoah. Matz would offer a bit better SP balance.

Matz and Gray don’t seem that far apart as pitchers. You’d rather have Matz...if his 2021 was for real. And that recency shine is what his agent will be banking on.

Jon Becker’s comprehensive offseason matrices include averages of various contract estimates. Here’s what it has for years and AAV of the mid-range starters:

Carlos Rodon 3 / $16
Jon Gray 3 / $14
Steven Matz 3 / $12
Anthony DeSclafani 3 / $12
Alex Wood 2 / $14
Yusei Kikuchi 2 / $9
Alex Cobb 2 / $8

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18OhPfaSZXWAV39MRGpzxce6mdRpOdnRJPO0xCERAESs/edit#gid=1573740645

Let’s try shortening that link

https://bit.ly/3ook945

IMO #1 should be trying to sign an ace level pitcher (Ray, Scherzer, or trade for Alcantara). Get that #1 guy, then fool around in the bargain bin for a #5 (Matz, Grey, etc. whoever signs for reasonable terms - 2 years at $10 mil or less, worst case Pearson, Hatch, and Stripling among others fight it out in spring for that final slot). But no question first priority, and bulk of cash, should go to finding a #1 to go with the other #1's here (formerly Ryu, currently Berrios, and future in Manoah).

Would definitely take Gray over Matz. He's just better and more consistent and it feels like he could have another level. Last year felt like Matz's other level which is sort of an average Gray season. Would be fine Matz who will be cheaper and still be a significant rotation help. Would be fine with both as well. Jays need a lot of quality innings.

Not sure they have financial space for a number 1, a Matz type back end starter and a big bat at 2nd or 3rd.

But agree getting a 1/2 starter is key. Then maybe a guy like Matz minus 1 year that needs a good pitching coach to raise his game …. This might then leave room for another big infield bat and some other pieces.

Bit of a tricky year for Atkins. While he does have some financial room and trade capital, which lever does he pull first for what asset and what is the trickle down impact?. I don’t envy him in what will likely be a very competitive market and likely a smaller window given a possible lockout.

This puts me in a small minority, I'm sure, but with Pearson, I think I take off any inning limits at all with him and just see if he can be a starter or not. He turns 26 next August - if he doesn't start pitching some significant innings now, he never will. And I have no interest in the guy as a reliever - it's not like relievers are that much more likely to give you a ton of useful years. Using fangraphs for a quick look, from the top ten relievers in 2016 (by WAR), those still around and good in 2021: Chapman (not great the last 2 years, just good), Jansen (who came back this year after looking a bit cooked), that's the whole list. And those are HoF caliber relievers if they finish their careers strong (by reliever standards...).   The rest are out of MLB or right at replacement level. Not cherry-picking either, the next ten are much the same.  Great relievers don't last any more than starters. Just coach him properly, figure out how to pace him, and see if he breaks.
I'm not saying you ride him like a rented mule - most starters are 5IP guys now anyway, so 150 IP is a good result - but I think taking the shot at a star turn for him means running him out there and seeing what happens. I don't think he'll get through spring training, based on his track record, but I want the team to see if the guy who was supposed to be a star can actually be a star.

Seems realistic for Matz,  Kikuchi and Cobb.

MLBtraderumors has Rodon signing for 1/25M.
Gray, 4/56M.
DeSclafani, 3/42M.
Alex Wood, 3/30M.

It would be helpful for the FO to have some guidance from ownership as to the team’s finances over the next 3, 4, 5 years. It seems to me that it would be hard to make good decisions for 2022-23 without that information.

greenfrog - I think they have that - payroll in the 8-12 rank for MLB each year with a bit of flexibility if needed mid-season when the team is in contention but not a ton. $150-$170 mil a year, with some growth possible.

I don't know who Becker is, but I know Boras and I expect Semien to hold on until the very end unless he's getting a huge contract.

The Jays had that type of offseason with Springer.
That was fine because he was the only option to fill the glaring hole in the team.
Semien is not the best option to fill the lineup. That would be a left hitting third baseman.

It's the CBA that's holding things, not the ownership.

Having some more balance in the lineup would be good, but the primary criterion should be quality. A lineup that tilts right with a 6-7 WAR player like Semien is better than one that substitutes a 2-3 WAR left-handed bat bat to achieve “balance.” The Jays were largely unbeatable last year once the lineup was fully healthy and productive.

26 is not old for a pitcher and lower body injuries are not a big deal.
He could put it together and be dominant for several years.
He's been burning options, but not service time.
It's going to be hard to slot him in the rotation if he doesn't start accumulating innings next year.

If you add an established closer in front of Romano, the bullpen starts to look really good.

After losing 95 games in 2019 it would have been hard to get FA pitching to Toronto IMO. With Boras representing Ryu the key factor was $ and the Jays met that. Signing Roark was a mistake in hindsight. He looked like a solid #4 that could have been a #3. Again $ was probably a factor. Chase Anderson was also a potential solid #4 but Milwaukee decided that they did not want him so they gave him away to the Jays to save $10 mil. Milwaukee made the right call.

By winning 91 games in the 2021 Jays should be considered a good team. FAs will be more open to signing with the Jays now.

The Jays got Springer because teams willing to spend chose other players. There may have only been 3 teams left that were interested in him when he decided on the Jays. The Jays probably made the best offer to Semien. Ray chose the Jays because his mission was to prove himself and get a big contract. Matz had no choice. We traded surplus unproven SPs for him.

Basically for free agents the top factors are $$$, years, location, contender. Jays have the $$$ and could give the years if they choose and are a contender. Location is the only negative, but not a killer as Springer showed last winter. Semien I suspect wants badly to go back to the west coast where his family lives - can't blame him on that. Ray is tougher to call - he is from Tennessee so Atlanta and St Louis are closest but still a flight away from where he grew up. He has 3 kids and is a strong Christian according to his twitter. That suggests he'd like to stay in the US south, but who knows? The Jays pushing his merch has to help (ego is a big thing for pro athletes), feeling like there is unfinished business here and the team is still a strong contender has to be a plus as well. Guess we'll see what happens.

Being a strong contender is normally most helpful with guys who are future HOF quality who want that ring badly. That brought Dave Winfield, then Paul Molitor here in the early 90's. Very few Canadian players in baseball so not many who would choose to 'come home' (ala Semien I'm assuming wanting to be back in the Bay area where his family is). Ryu took a 4th year to get him to sign (and that year is looking more and more like a write off after his flopping at the end of 2021 but no playoffs in 2020 without him, and probably not contending in 2021 either).

Re AWeb's comment on Pearson, I'd try to get either 100 innings in relief out of him in bigger chunks of 3-4 innings or 150 innings in the rotation.  They do need to decide what they are doing at this point. 

I support giving Pearson another shot at starting. One advantage of an innings limit though is that multi-inning high level RP are extremely valuable in the post-season. Seems like a bridge they can cross if/when they ever get to it.

I'd love it if the Jays got gutsy and did a tandem starter for one of the slots with Pearson getting 3-4 innings in relief of someone starting (maybe Stripling, but ideally a soft control LHP to maximize the contrast). If the starter is knocked out mid-inning you bring in someone else to finish the inning and Pearson starts the next one and goes 3-4 before you go to normal pen usage. If you plan it out he'd get steady innings and 33 appearances of 3-4 innings so 90-120 innings assuming he is knocked out early sometimes too. Then in 2023 he could shift to full time starting if he shows he is ready. Of course, that also means the pen is one guy short the other 4 days, but a 7 man pen should work fine those days one would think.

Safest decision regarding Pearson is to package him with Kirk to make a deal for Alcantara. If he turns into an ace it’s ok because you got one back. This way you don’t have to trade any key piece off your roster like Gurriel or Hernandez. You also get to keep Martinez and Groshans. Now resign Berrios and your SP is set with three ace level pitchers until the middle of the decade. Now you don’t need Ray and you can spend on the infield and balancing the line up, then a solid #5 starter. If we’re already debating whether Pearson can go 6 innings or more than 100 IP in a season or even if he needs to be kept to the bullpen…what does that tell us?

Turn a question mark into an asset - trade The Big Hope.

It's a good idea, but I think Miami would want more for Alcantara, who is coming off a 4.2 WAR season and is cheap and controllable for three full seasons. Pearson, Kirk and Groshans might get it done. Miami is probably angling to get Moreno or Orelvis from the Jays.

Tigers sign ERod to 5/$80 which seems a little high but not crazy to get a guy to sign early. Tigers are going to spend money. I'm for trading Pearson as well. Don't think you're getting Alcantara but he's be a big piece in any deal for an established player. At this point, would rather another time am bet on him.

Very nice move by Detroit. Their pitching is deeper now. They could challenge CWS or 2nd WC which means means pennant race revenue.

Tigers sign ERod to 5/$80 which seems a little high but not crazy to get a guy to sign early.

It's lower than the predictions over at Fangraphs (same total contract value but for one extra year) and about equal to what MLB Trade Rumours predicted. I don't think it's a little high myself, particularly given the fact Rodriguez's health issues do not seem to be a concern going forward and his age. I would have been completely fine with the Jays signing Rodriguez to this deal (I say this in the abstract, obviously there would be variable such as whether this closed the door on Semien, as well as Ray, etc...).

I suspect what made Rodriguez sign this offer was the opt out after the second year, which will let him hit free agency again at 30 if he's been successful in Detroit.

Agreed about trading Pearson if he can be a piece in bringing back a top flight player. I'm not sure the Marlins would have interest in him though since they have a surplus of SP's to begin with. My guess is they'd want Moreno in return for Alcantara. Either way, if the Jays could sell Kirk/Pearson for a legit difference maker, then it's definitely worth looking into. Maybe the Reds would have interest in that type of offer for Castillo. It depends on how Pearson is viewed. Does he still have top prospect shine or has his value decreased to the point where he's more valuable to the Jays than he is in a trade? Hard to say at this point.

With Rodriguez signed already, it looks like the SP market is going to be competitive.

I am assuming the door to Ray & Semien is already closed - Hope the jays get some lefty bats in FA - also I'd see what the market is for some of our RH bats including Kirk/Gurriel/Hernandez/Vlad in search of quality, controllable pitching. I'd also be ok with the Jays slow playing the market and waiting until the new year to strike.

Safest decision regarding Pearson is to package him with Kirk to make a deal for Alcantara.

I really like that idea. Though as greenfrog said it'll probably take another fairly significant piece to get that done.

Vlad!?

Safest decision regarding Pearson is to package him with Kirk to make a deal for Alcantara.

I'm good with that too. May be adding Groshans gets it done; the FO would then have money for a solid infielder (ideally 3rd base) and for other gaps (left handed bat and BP depth). A new infielder would fill the gap till Martinez is ready and leave Moreno at catcher.

Other similar SP options would work too, as long as they have at least 2 years till FA, and - much preferably - 3.

If a US ballclub has to bid 5/80 to land ERod, then the Jays probably should have made the QO to Matz.

It's just one data point on the free agent market.  Rodriguez's ERA last year was poor, but all the other metrics were good- xERA, xFIP, FIP.  If you look at his last two seasons- 2019 and 2021 as he missed 2020 due to the effects of COVID, his bWAR was 7.9 made up of 6.1 in 2019 and 1.8 in 2021 while his fWAR was 7.5 made up of 3.8 in 2019 and 3.7 in 2021.  Either way, he's a considerable better pitcher than Matz statistically speaking and he's 2 years younger. 

Matz isn't in the same ballpark as ERod who is two years younger and much better. Maybe Matz gets paid a ton but the calculation by the Jays was right. Matz isn't worth a 1/$18.4 contract. Finances are always finite and that money can be spent better elsewhere.

Every year I expect underperformance by a significant number of players. Even great players like M Trout and J deGrom. Trout only had 117 ABs and deGrom 92IP.

Trades or FA signings can look great in the off season and terrible during the season.

If there is a player opt out after 2 years, then you cannot look at his deal as a 5/80 deal. Its a two year deal with an excellent insurance policy attached. You can value the insurance aspect differently and you'd need to see how the cash is spread out over the life of the contract, but I would guess that his deal is really something like 2/40 to 2/45.

I’m confused about the insurance comment. If ERod gets hurt, he opts in. How is that a benefit to the Tigers?

It is insurance for the player, not the club. It is downside for the club.

If he's great, he'll opt out. If he's terrible, he will not. If he's mediocre, he may or may not opt out.

It is a much worse deal for the club than if there was no option.

Yeah, those opt in years have real dollar value to the player and real dollar cost to the team. They materially alter the way to look at this deal from a "normal" 5/80 deal.

Jon Morosi is reporting that the Red Sox, Jays and Angels were all involved in trying to sign E Rodriguez. If true then the Jays had a leak in their FO which is bad. Personally I think he made that up.

Morosi makes everything up. I wouldn't take anything he says about rumors seriously.

I think the more likely source of the leak is ERod's agent.

The Marlins needs a catcher. If Kirk is the best player available they will probably take him.
A good pre-arb player is worth more than a good player who is getting good money through arbitration.
Prospects are worth less because nobody can tell if or when they will produce.
Moreno looks like a good gamble, similar to d'Arnaud maybe.
AA kept JP Ariencibia who looked like a good hitting catcher but was weak defensively and his poor plate discipline got exposed rather quickly. d'Arnaud has been injuried a lot, that is not something you can reliably predict.

Moreno looks too good to trade.
I'd rather have Moreno and a 3/30M pitcher like Matz than shipping him out for a somewhat better pitcher who will make around the same money.

E-Rod might be 2 years younger, but Matz has been much healthier throughout his career.

The Tigers have structured the deal so that if ERod is good over the first two years, they’ll get a great bargain. Looks like they’ll pay him 14M each of the first two years and then about $20M/yr in the latter three years.

It reminded me of the Jays’ deal with AJ Burnett years ago—the quid pro quo for the opt out is a backloaded deal. If he gets hurt in year 1 or 2, the team is no worse off than it would be if it was a normal 5-year contract. If he is great and wants to opt out, then they had him for a bargain price.

Morosi makes everything up. I wouldn't take anything he says about rumors seriously.

There is a world of difference between those two sentences. I think it's defamatory to suggest that Morosi rose to national prominence by "making up" rumours. You're basically accusing Morosi of sitting at his computes and spinning a random 30-team wheel and then then tweeting a connection between the team that wheel lands on and some prominent free agent.

I think it's perfectly fine to say that you don't take his reporting seriously because, as Paul says, perhaps he uncritically reports rumours that he is fed by interested sources and/or reports rumours that are not vetted as carefully as rumours that other writers report are. But there is a significant difference between passing something along without doing the ideal amount of verification (to the extent one can verify a rumour that won't be confirmed by the club in a position to confirm it) and suggesting that someone just creates rumours out of nothing while sitting at their computer chair.

I like ERod and think he is a quality starting pitcher. Do I think he is several orders of magnitude better than Matz (5/$80m with a player opt-out versus 1/$18.4m)? Nope.

Thomas, Morosi does this song and dance every year. If he has ever broken significant news before, I haven't seen it. His Tweets are basically: insert FA or trade candidate, hashtag a team (or multiple teams), link FA/trade target to that team(s), and then see how many clicks it generates. Rinse and repeat. Maybe "makes everything up" was too harsh, though.

If you look above I mentioned 4/$80 was the expected price for E-Rod, but geez, making the last couple of years a player option is really dumb IMO - if he plays better than expected or prices go up you lose him with no compensation. If he does worse you still pay out the money. Not a good combination. If I ran a team I'd avoid those if at all possible. Just no upside to a team.

Morosi rose to national prominence at Foz riding Ken Rosethal's coattails. He is a speculator at best.

He's a nice guy though (clearly I am not) and I've had great conversations online with him about Lake of the Woods and northern Michigan cottage country.

Came across this in the BA Atlanta prospects chat (in response to a question about Shea Langeliers):

Carlos Collazo: Based on everything I have heard from the industry I would lump Gabriel Moreno in with Adley Rutschman as the elite catching prospects in the game. Even if I personally view Rutschman as the clear-cut top catching prospect in the game, there are plenty of scouts who LOVE Moreno. It’s tough to crack the top five catching prospects list, because the group we currently have is incredibly deep and strong."

Good to hear about Moreno.

Rookie of the Year was announced today and the only Jay on the list was Alec Manoah (2 3rd place votes). With only 3 slots it is hard to get mentioned. The Rays won with Randy Arozarena [LF/RF], and had the 3rd place guy as well in Wander Franco [SS] (2 first place votes) and the 7th place guy in Shane McClanahan [LHP - 25 starts 123 IP 115 ERA+]. Sheesh. Those Rays have so many prospects who make it. Guess they need to with their low budget.

Or perhaps, with all those successful, inexpensive prospects, they don't need a big budget.

Without really doing anything TB has a very talented and young rotation. W Franco and a few others give them star position players. So they became younger very fast and may or may not have the best record in the AL next year.

It will be interesting to see who is better in the next few years between L Patino and M Gore. Also how will Patino compare to B Snell.

I would not be at all surprised if K Cash is poached from TB.

Berrios extension incoming per Heyman, Rosenthal.

(Morosi likely to confirm soon.)

Berrios extended. Sounds like 7/140, but not confirmed yet.

As though tempted by fate itself, Jon Morosi seems to have broken a Syndergaard-to-Angels story.

I feel like the guy on twitter who breaks up no-hitters by tuning into watch in the 8th or 9th inning.

Syndergaard received an 18.4 million qualifying offer from the Mets so the Angels lose a second round pick as a result of signing him. The ESPN article I read said the Jays and the Yankees showed the most interest along with the Angels. The Yankees will probably be hot after Ray, too. Seeing Robbie in pinstripes would be vomit inducing for me.

A lot of action happening early in the off season.

The writers now have something real to talk about so I will not criticize.

If Thor had multiple suitors then maybe nobody offered 2+ years. But if he got $21 mil then he scored big. If he pitches well the Angels will try to extend him. He should like playing with Trout, Othani and maybe a future HOF if Scherzer or Verlander sign with the Angels.

I would have thought the Angels would have at least sought an option for the price of a 2nd round draft pick and $21 million. Hard to get fussed about a one year deal, but it seems like an overpay when you consider a lost pick.

Graham Spraker has dominated the AFL more than any other pitcher- 10.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks and 16 strikeouts.  He's been used as Mesa's closer, and was aces in the All-Star game.  I have no idea about what he's throwing, or if he's picked up several km/h on the fastball.  He did make it as far as triple A this year, and youneverknow.