Barger has had an incredible season going through 3 levels. The AFL is next.

I reread the C's Plus interview with Barger. I love all the interviews. I believe that Barger is naturally right handed but bats left. He is going to try switch hitting in the off season. He said batting right "he can still swing it, the bat speed is there, but he needs ABs".

He has done better in each level he got promoted to this year. Better Avg, same Hr power in all levels, K rate in A+/AA was 29/28% but has dropped to 15% in AAA. SSS in AAA bb/k 5/4 so he is handling AAA pitchers well.

That's a legit improvement bpoz, I had slept on that k rate declining.  Barger and Lopez are interesting IF options for next year - anyone have any idea how Barger is at SS
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Interesting Mike Green, I was skeptical of Chapman at SS, but he's got the best IF arm I can remember on the team since .... not sure, tbh.  I've dissed the FO for being cautious, going in on reclamations and off seasons rather than elite talent coming off elite seasons, but the Chapman trade was a HR.
I always plug Tammy Rainey, here's her last 'fortnight on the farm'.  A great run through not just off top prospects and draftees, but sleepers to watch for. 

https://bluejaysnation.com/2022/09/27/one-last-fortnight-on-the-farm-vol-12/

I think that Atkins and his FO including Schneider have to decide how they will distribute the playing time to the ML club.

C has 3 worthy players. If 1 is traded a 3rd emergency C will be necessary to handle injuries. Getting the 3rd C should be easy.

2B has a lot of players but nobody has won that position full time. Biggio, Espinal, Merrifield can all handle it part time and bat at the bottom of the lineup.

3B Chapman will be 31 for the 2024 season which will be with someone he signed with as a FA.

The OF is like 2B in that only Teoscar is consistently very good offensively. Springer, Gurriel and Tapia are all good enough but not great. Springer due to injury and a lot of DH time so room for improvement. None can handle the elite defender role to protect a lead. Also most should leave as FAs or somehow the team will get old fast.

O Lopez has had over 500 AAA ABs so he does not need any more AAA development. He could replace Espinal on the bench. Espinal could be traded to someone that wants a solid defensive IF. Biggio/Merrifield would handle 2B/OF. Or keep Espinal.

Barger has to play everyday. If he can hit AAA with a high Avg and power then he probably gets promoted and Schneider has to play him somehow.

Moreno & Barger have the potential to be good offensive players. So when the inevitable injury happens they will get an opportunity to keep the offense strong.

Good points bpoz.

IF: Vlad/Bo/Chapman locks, 2B and backup the issues. Biggio/Espinal very solid at 2B, Merryfield also - so the 3 of them give you backups (Espinal can cover SS/3B, Biggio 1B, Merryfield spare OF). If any traded then Lopez is into the mix.

OF: Springer, Gurriel, Hernandez the starters but Gurriel & Hernandez are free agents post 2023 so a plan for replacing one or both is needed. Tapia is a decent 4th OF, but no more than that, and Zimmer/JBJ are both pure defense guys - no better than #5 in your OF depth. Biggio & Merryfield can cover the corners when needed.

C: Kirk, Jansen, Moreno are 3 solid starters but only 1 can start, and ideally only 1 more on the ML roster. Yeah, you can keep Moreno in AAA for another year but his value would start to drop if that is done so ideally you'd trade one of them. Which one depends on what you can get for each. I love Kirk but could live with him being the one traded if a young all-star level OF comes back. Jansen probably has the least value, but also might be the one most in demand due to his veteran status and solid rep on defense.

ML Ready Prospects: Moreno obviously, Addison Barger is interesting - takes over the 3B/SS 'next in line' position from Jordan Groshans and can easily be left in AAA all year unless he keeps hitting like he did this year in AAA (7 games, 1.253 OPS), Orelvis Martinez at 20 in AA is still a very hot prospect despite his 203 average and high K's (30 HR will do that) and should get time in AAA next year with any luck but shouldn't be in the majors until 2024 unless he starts to control the strike zone better. Spencer Horwitz has a good bat but is a LF/1B so very limited on the field - he was tried at 2B but flopped it seems (1 game a year, I suspect more out of desperation than skill). Zach Britton another bat who plays LF/C in AA. Davis Schneider also is an interesting bat (2B/3B/LF).

One can quickly see most top prospects are infielders or limited to LF/C which isn't ideal. We need a solid CF backup/ML ready player to allow Springer to have DH days and RF days to rest a bit other than Tapia (nightmare on defense), and Zimmer/JBJ (great on D/no O). I suspect that is what the Jays will chase this winter in trade or free agency. Kevin Kiermaier is a likely free agent (Tampa unlikely to pick up his option) and should be under $10 mil per to sign. Do the Jays go for him? Super D, offense at Tapia level but going into his age 33 season so could fall off a cliff quite easily and soon. Or do they trade with someone like Arizona who has tons of LH hitting CF quality defense guys?

I think it’s absolutely crucial that this team gets a left handed CF with an offensive output equal to Gurriel or Teo, so that Springer can move to RF to reduce the wear and tear.

John & bpoz make excellent sense.

One thing we haven't touched on is the quality of the trade chips we have. One of Jansen/Moreno is surplus; we don't need to keep both Espinal and Merrifield. If we are going out to acquire another starting OF (presumably that left-handed CF), we should put Gurriel or Teoscar on the trading block.

One further option is to trade Chapman. If the team is high on Barger (another LHH), then keeping Chapman for his final season before free agency doesn't seem necessary. And even if Barger isn't ready, Espinal at 3B is an average player with his league-averagish offence and plus defence.

As well as a CF, it would be great to get another front-line starter. If Stripling leaves, we have Manoah/Gausman/hope for a Berrios rebound/pray for rain. And we play in a domed stadium. Presumably this will be a priority in the free agent market, but we should have the assets if a good starter is available through trade.

Espinal likely isn't worth trading, teams won't give up much for a light-hitting SS. He's more valuable to the team as the utility infielder. The Jays got lucky this year with healthy seasons from Bichette and Chapman, but they may not be so fortunate again next year. There isn't much of an infield surplus considering they clearly don't like Biggio's glove besides for at 1B.

They will definitely need to add a starter, and they will need a couple of relievers as well, especially a lefty. Trading Gurriel or Hernandez for an SP with the same one year of control makes a lot of sense.

The FO definitely considers next year and a few years after as a playoff contender. Hoping for 1st in the AL East I expect. For 1st 96 wins could do it which we have not done in a while.

A good bench/backup is essential especially if a star goes down. Biggio/Espinal/4 & 5 OF is most likely the bench. We will know within 2 months into the season if Barger is ready. Then he waits like Moreno did. Moreno did not get much of an opportunity this year.

Improved pitching on paper for Opening day is probably an off season goal.

I am waiting to find out what kind of money the FO is willing to spend on FAs. Good/expensive or not.

Extra pen help should be cheap. A Yimi Garcia type is under $10 mil/year. This could really help. A shot in the dark like Ray & Matz like in 2021 is not as guaranteed as the Yimi Garcia type of acquisition IMO. Yimi, Ray and Matz were all cheap and they all worked. Ray & Matz overperformed for us.

A good front line CF (great D & good enough O) would cost a lot. He would replace one of Gurriel/Teoscar. Jansen and one of Gurriel, Teoscar should get you the good CF if available in trade plus a good reliever OR a SP of some kind. This would change the core a bit and Teoscar's Offense is hard to replace.

Who had the better 2021 between Teoscar and A Judge? Both had 550 ABs.

I don't know what the Jays' evaluation of Barger's defence is, or where they see his role, but at the moment Espinal is the only guy they trust to play 2b, SS, and 3B. Chapman & Bichette have been remarkably durable this year, but you can't assume that will happen next year.

Meanwhile, I don't see Biggio adding much value to the team if he's limited to 2B & 1B. The team has been talking about his supposed versatility for years, but all we've learned is that he's an OK 2B, a bad 3B, and not much of a hitter for 1B regardless of his glove.