Blue Jays Discussion: Trade Deadline Monday. What will the Jays do?

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xxOCZMSxx

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Jan 20, 2015
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Ten days to the deadline. Wonder how hard Atkins pushes for improvements

getting Bo and Giles back will help as well.
 
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hockeywiz542

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May 26, 2008
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The Next Big Thing: Blue Jays’ arms - TSN.ca

TORONTO — About a 30-minute drive to the west of Houston sits Sugar Land, Texas, a city of 120,000 residents and one well-known independent league baseball team named the Skeeters.

Over the years, many a former major leaguer has shown up in Sugar Land trying to revive a career. The franchise has never been one to shy away from headlines, even allowing Tracy McGrady to take the mound back in 2014.

The uniqueness of the baseball landscape in 2020 has the Skeeters roster once again loaded with former MLB talent looking for a place to play this summer, with the newly formed four-team Constellation Energy League giving out-of-work professionals a way to stay sharp.

Despite still having a job, Toronto Blue Jays prospect Adam Kloffenstein is one of them.

For a brief moment, he was a member of the Skeeters, before an independent league trade sent him to Team Texas, a squad put together by Roger Clemens and managed by his son, Koby Clemens.

It’s a unique career chapter that never would’ve been written had it not been for a pandemic.

“I’ve always known about them and stuff, but obviously never dreamed I’d play for them or anything,” said Kloffenstein, who will celebrate his 20th birthday next week. “But I also didn’t think I’d get sent home from spring training due to a virus overnight.”

There’s only one goal for Kloffenstein, who the Jays selected 88th overall back in the 2018 draft and handed an over-slot bonus of $2.45 million to lure into the organization: Get some work.

Combining two appearances with the Skeeters and five more with Team Texas, a group of players and coaches made up of mostly former U of T Longhorns — “a lot of burnt orange going on,” Kloffenstein noted — the 6-foot-5, 243-pounder holds a 6.46 ERA across 15.1 innings.
 

Discoverer

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Apr 11, 2012
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By all accounts, Montoyo seems like a great guy, and I want so badly to like him. But holy shit, Charlie.

I'm not going to agree with every move any manager makes, but I'll defend them if there's a reasonable amount of solid logic behind them. That's just not the case with so many of the things he's done this year... there's absolutely no justification for some of these decisions. It's baffling.
 

Haringoth

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Aug 2, 2019
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Really exciting paragraph in TSN's look at Jays pitching prospects.

"At the end of a recent live at-bat, Kloffenstein’s final five pitches registered at 98, 98, 99, 98 and 98 on the gun."

The rub with Kloff has always been his projection. Every scout loves his sequencing, secondaries and mentality, but there were some who saw his frame and saw upper nineties, and many more who thought his 91-93 was likely to be all he had in the tank.

If this new upper nineties is for real, and he can even be say 95 as a starter, he has some of the highest upside in the system.
 

The Nemesis

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Apr 11, 2005
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Really exciting paragraph in TSN's look at Jays pitching prospects.

"At the end of a recent live at-bat, Kloffenstein’s final five pitches registered at 98, 98, 99, 98 and 98 on the gun."

The rub with Kloff has always been his projection. Every scout loves his sequencing, secondaries and mentality, but there were some who saw his frame and saw upper nineties, and many more who thought his 91-93 was likely to be all he had in the tank.

If this new upper nineties is for real, and he can even be say 95 as a starter, he has some of the highest upside in the system.

That's super enticing if it's legit. I remember watching him with the Canadians and while he was good, it always felt lacking when most of his pitches sat 90-93.
 
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Canada4Gold

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Dec 22, 2010
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Shoutout to Calirhe Montoy. His name, like his lineups is completely out of order, and like his pen he didn't plan to leave enough stuff to finish it properly.

Damn is he awful. Thankfully we keep winning.
 
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Puckstuff

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Jays have a 2 game lead for the final playoff spot right now I think.

Amazing... no Austin Martin yet, no Jordan Groshans yet, no big trade yet, no big free agent yet (except Ryu), lots of pitching very very close (still have a top 5 farm in baseball) super young... players starting to break out, so much more talent coming. This teams potential is legit
 
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hockeywiz542

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The method behind Jordan Romano's pre-pitch madness – Sportsnet.ca

The mental aspect of relief pitching is just as important as the physical. Every tendency and beat is part of a careful concentration routine intended to clear the mind, settle the heart rate and prepare the body to deliver the next pitch with maximum effectiveness and conviction. They aren’t ticks — they’re cues.

Do you often watch the Toronto Blue Jays? In that case, perhaps you’ve noticed the Jordan Romano wiggle as he looks in for a sign.

Or you’ve watched him perform a pre-pitch squat before he comes set and delivers.

Or you’ve seen the 27-year-old straight-up talking to himself on the mound.

Romano never did any of this stuff when he was a starter. Maybe he’d mutter something under his breath here and there. But now that he’s facing high-pressure situations as a reliever, he’s finding a lot more things to say.

All that talking is partly about blocking out any negative thoughts, partly about firing himself up to attack with his next pitch. The wiggle and the squat are purposeful, too. Romano picked up the latter one from watching teammate Ken Giles, who has a pair of squats in his methodical delivery — one before he gets the catcher’s sign and one after.

“I really feel like when I go down into that squat position and come back up, that’s me being ready to throw. It separates each pitch from one another. It really helps me lock in that pitch,” Romano says. “That’s something I wanted to be better at this year — making each individual pitch and not thinking about the last one as much.”

It’s all part of the more focused and dialled-in Romano Blue Jays fans — and even teammates like Bo Bichette — have seen this season. One who’s overhauled both his physical and mental approach to the game, pitched his way into the club’s eighth-inning set-up role and looked like a closer waiting for an opportunity.

“He’s a beast, man,” Bichette says. “The way he came to summer camp was unreal. His mentality — you could see it in his eyes. You could see it in the way he went about his business. I think that he’s going to be good for a long time.”
 
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stickty111

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Jan 23, 2017
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Amazing... no Austin Martin yet, no Jordan Groshans yet, no big trade yet, no big free agent yet (except Ryu), lots of pitching very very close (still have a top 5 farm in baseball) super young... players starting to break out, so much more talent coming. This teams potential is legit
Exciting times for sure. Vlad is starting to get going as well. Imagine when he lives to his potential, this team takes on a completely different level. His slash in August is now
.274/.366/.484
WRC of 133
 

Cor

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Jun 24, 2012
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When Giles is back, do we think Romano is making a case for us to be able to trade Giles, or is Romano proving to potentially be a great set up guy in front of Giles.
 

weems

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Jul 3, 2008
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From Dan Shulmans recent tweet.

"Biggio - has swung at pitches out of zone 15.4% of the time this season, lowest rate in MLB."
 
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Petes

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Jun 23, 2014
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When Giles is back, do we think Romano is making a case for us to be able to trade Giles, or is Romano proving to potentially be a great set up guy in front of Giles.

I don’t think Giles will be back in time to pitch before the deadline... only 9 days away.
 

xxOCZMSxx

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Jan 20, 2015
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I’ve never sided one way or the other with umps or robots, but this season each umpire has their own “strike zone” to an extreme degree. I think it’s time for robot umps to call balls and strikes. It would be interesting to see what consistent calls for a consistent strike zone does for Biggio’s obp :)
 
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