2026 Toronto Blue Jays - What if Vlad & Bo leave?

WarningTrakPower · 12-26-2024, 05:47 PM

Hey everyone,

I was having a discussion with friend of mine over the holidays about the potential departures of Vlad Guerrero Jr & Bo Bichette after the 2025 (or during the 2024 season).
My friend says "Do you think you could turn the Jays into a contender in OOTP without Vlad & Bo?", so I figured that could be a fun sim / dynasty report.

A questions for the audience before I fire up a new sim:
What are your thoughts on a live start?
I have always "re-simmed" the 2024 season with minimal roster management to get to the "first offseason" in the past, but open to giving a live start a try.

One other thing to mention - the initial thought was to keep Vlad & Bo for the entire 2025 season and let them walk in free agency.
I believe this would increase the difficulty of the sim, as I won't be able to acquire high ends prospects in return.

CBLCardinals · 12-26-2024, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

Hey everyone,

I was having a discussion with friend of mine over the holidays about the potential departures of Vlad Guerrero Jr & Bo Bichette after the 2025 (or during the 2024 season).
My friend says "Do you think you could turn the Jays into a contender in OOTP without Vlad & Bo?", so I figured that could be a fun sim / dynasty report.

A questions for the audience before I fire up a new sim:
What are your thoughts on a live start?
I have always "re-simmed" the 2024 season with minimal roster management to get to the "first offseason" in the past, but open to giving a live start a try.

One other thing to mention - the initial thought was to keep Vlad & Bo for the entire 2025 season and let them walk in free agency.
I believe this would increase the difficulty of the sim, as I won't be able to acquire high ends prospects in return.

I have offseason 2024-2025 already set up if you would like to use it!

Moves as of 12/23/24

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...=358969&page=2

CBLCardinals · 12-26-2024, 06:03 PM

Check out that thread the most recent post

WarningTrakPower · 12-26-2024, 06:05 PM

I have gone through the existing roster commitments to map out on paper what assets the Blue Jays may have at their disposal for the 2026 season.

C - Alejandro Kirk (final year of arbitration)
1B - Orelvis Martinez (has not played 1B in the minors, but I have used him at 1B in OOTP in the past)
2B - Will Wagner
SS - Andrés Giménez (we will need to work out a trade with Cleveland)
3B - Leo Jiménez (has not played 3B in the minors, but we can train him here)
LF - Joey Loperfido (likely we will acquire someone else to play here)
CF - Daulton Varsho (final year of arbitration / extension candidate)
RF - Nathan Lukes (place holder for now, likely we acquire someone else to play here)
DH - George Springer (would love to move this contract, but feels like he will be around in 2026)
Bench 1 - Jonathan Clase (SHB)
Bench 2 - Alan Roden (LHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025
Bench 3 - Josh Kasevich (RHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025
Backup C - Phil Clarke (LHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025

SP1 - Kevin Gausman (final year of his contract)
SP2 - Jose Berrios (can opt out after 2026)
SP3 - Bowden Francis (live start may help his ratings)
SP4 - Yariel Rodriguez (free agent after 2028)
SP5 - Ricky Tiedemann

RP - Yimi Garcia (final year of his contract)
RP - Nick Sandlin
RP - Brendan Little
RP - Nick Robertson
RP - Adam Macko
RP - Angel Bastardo (2024 Rule 5 Guy out with TJ Surgery)
RP - Jake Bloss
RP TJ Brock or Kendry Rojas (both rule 5 eligible after 2025)

Obviously by simulating (potentially) two seasons prior to "taking over", there will be some roster changes (plus I love to claim RP off the waiver wire if I see value there).

Notable Omissions
Addison Barger
Davis Schneider
Ernie Clement
Steward Berroa
Alek Manoah

On paper, this roster looks quite lean, but I like to think of it as a clean canvas to build a dynasty through savvy trades and draft & development!

I look forward to hearing some feedback from the audience and I will be starting this sim early January!

WarningTrakPower · 12-26-2024, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBLCardinals

I have offseason 2024-2025 already set up if you would like to use it!

Moves as of 12/23/24

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...=358969&page=2

Thank you, I will definitely take a look!!

WarningTrakPower · 12-27-2024, 12:18 PM

One other thought I did have was - Should I just wait until OOTP26 releases and sim through the 2025 season?

So I decided to create a poll and let you decide!
https://strawpoll.com/wAg3Q8Dody8

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

CBLCardinals · 12-27-2024, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

One other thought I did have was - Should I just wait until OOTP26 releases and sim through the 2025 season?

So I decided to create a poll and let you decide!
https://strawpoll.com/wAg3Q8Dody8

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

Maybe I’m biased but I would use OOTP25 and use my offseason roster set! That way you are not waiting another 3 months for OOTP26

WarningTrakPower · 12-27-2024, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBLCardinals

Maybe I’m biased but I would use OOTP25 and use my offseason roster set! That way you are not waiting another 3 months for OOTP26

That was the original intent, but the thought did cross my mind that perhaps this simulation would be more interesting once OOTP26 releases.

I will give the poll some time as I don't intend to start this sim until early January.

MarkB03130313 · 01-02-2025, 11:54 AM

I am going to do this...

First I am trying to get end of season 2023 file from somewhere. Like last day of world series as I don't want any free agents or trades to have happened yet.

I am going to trade both and see what I can get. Just like in real life, I feel we can do better without them. Also I predicted them to be 4th and probably 5th in 2024 and I was spot on. My view is, they have not lead us to one playoff win and we need the prospects and hopefully we end up with 3 or 4 that make a difference and if we can ditch George as well and sign some free agents we come back, maybe not 2025 but perhaps 26 or 27. We will not do this, if we keep both we will have 20 to 25% of payroll tied up in them. Shatkins messed this up badly and need to move on! I will be firiing Ross as my assistant GM in the game as first move since he sucks lol

I will probably play with that for a bit. Reason I want to do from then, is Valddy had middle of the road season and bo a pretty good one.

Then later I may do the end of 2024 season with Vladdy on a high and Bo less so.

I would rather see your results in 25 game, rather than waiting 3 months.

WarningTrakPower · 01-02-2025, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkB03130313

I am going to do this...

First I am trying to get end of season 2023 file from somewhere. Like last day of world series as I don't want any free agents or trades to have happened yet.

I am going to trade both and see what I can get. Just like in real life, I feel we can do better without them. Also I predicted them to be 4th and probably 5th in 2024 and I was spot on. My view is, they have not lead us to one playoff win and we need the prospects and hopefully we end up with 3 or 4 that make a difference and if we can ditch George as well and sign some free agents we come back, maybe not 2025 but perhaps 26 or 27. We will not do this, if we keep both we will have 20 to 25% of payroll tied up in them. Shatkins messed this up badly and need to move on! I will be firiing Ross as my assistant GM in the game as first move since he sucks lol

I will probably play with that for a bit. Reason I want to do from then, is Valddy had middle of the road season and bo a pretty good one.

Then later I may do the end of 2024 season with Vladdy on a high and Bo less so.

I would rather see your results in 25 game, rather than waiting 3 months.

Awesome! Glad to hear you also have some interest in this premise.
I will be starting mid January or so!

MarkB03130313 · 01-02-2025, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

Awesome! Glad to hear you also have some interest in this premise.
I will be starting mid January or so!

Just FYI, I tried with the current start. I wanted to trade and get rid of so many.

I had trade hardness set to 7 clicks from centre.

My goodness, it is terrible lol. All I could get was 2 or 3 prospects, none rated higher than 200. I lowered to 5 clicks past center and best I got was 130th ranked prospects. Picking a package of any type of player I got offered crap. Did the same with Bo and same thing.

I do not want trading hard, I want it realistic, but that is beyond silly. So I started day 1 of season, will see how it goes.

I got rid of George for a 3 star prospect and I think retained 25% of pay. I got rid of Vog and Votto for no bodies. I got rid of Varsho for a middle of the road 2nd baseman and prospect. Couple others here and there. Got WEAshington Catcher with I think 6 more years on contract, in one of those or another trade.

Also Got Guerriel JR back in one of 7 or 8 trades. Signed a couple 2 or 3 star free agents, no big name. I figure that will be for end of 24.

Also annoying thing, sometimes you get email later to sweeten deal, and then other times nothing, so no idea what the hell is going on and not even in pending trades. It is like they are insulted, but whatever, say no then and no way to sweeten the pot. This is a terrible glitch I find!!!!

Going to keep trying to trade Jr and Bo, will maybe go down to 3 clicks past center and see what happens.

Just wish you could start seasons on last day of World series. Maybe better offers if every team does not have others signed yet.

I will for sure watch your progress!!!

WarningTrakPower · 01-03-2025, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkB03130313

Going to keep trying to trade Jr and Bo, will maybe go down to 3 clicks past center and see what happens.

My original thought was to keep them for the 2025 season and let them walk in free agency to (in theory) make the rebuild more challenging.

I will check out the update rosters from CBLCardinals and see how they are looking.

As far as George Springer goes I am undecided at the moment. I have seen him perform quite poorly in OOTP recently, but if he is not going to fetch anything in return (plus I don't want an unrealistic trade either) he may be a platoon DH in 2026 for us.

MarkB03130313 · 01-04-2025, 10:58 AM

I did 3 or 4 games, they are both on the block. I would keep Bo for 20 million and 8 years (I have contract max to 8 years), and move to 2nd though.

I am going to try and trade Vlad before end of first month.

I found one of CBL Rosters for end of 23 reg season, but playoffs not started yet. But the link was no good, as I was going to use that one. As I am sure be easier to trade them before other transactions happened. I messaged him. and posted on his posted about it. No reply yet. I will come back and post a pick of my players after a carload of trades lol. Kirk, Springer, Varsho, Votto, Vlog, couple others they started 24 with. Half the guys I don't know lol. But that is okay, if I suck I suck. But I got 3 half decent prospects from teams, that are 2 or 3 years out. So we will see.

MarkB03130313 · 01-04-2025, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

My original thought was to keep them for the 2025 season and let them walk in free agency to (in theory) make the rebuild more challenging.

I will check out the update rosters from CBLCardinals and see how they are looking.

As far as George Springer goes I am undecided at the moment. I have seen him perform quite poorly in OOTP recently, but if he is not going to fetch anything in return (plus I don't want an unrealistic trade either) he may be a platoon DH in 2026 for us.

I was going to add a picture of lineup and pitchers, but it wants web address for images, I just have pics on computer. Thought I could just load onto a post. I don't want to sign up for more things online to post the pic either. Sorry!

WarningTrakPower · 01-13-2025, 09:58 PM

First off, shoutout to @CBLCardinals for the updated rosters.
In game, we are still on November 6th, 2024, but rosters are current to January 4th, 2025.

With the Roki Sasaki rumors indicating Toronto is among the finalists, I was half tempted to wait for the next roster release.
Personally - I do not believe he will be signing with the Jays, but time will tell!

One IRL signing I will include prior to this sim starting is the free agent signing of Jeff Hoffman.
The updated rosters have Hoffman as a SP with a stamina of 45 according to our scout (20/80 scale).
I have dropped his stamina back down to 30 (he only recorded more than 3 outs four times in 2024, two of which occured in April).

Also - I have updated the 2025 contracts for the arbitration eligible players!

Before we sim from November 6th to January 1st (I'll give the AI two weeks prior to the international amateur signing opens), let's take a quick look at the team we will fielding at start of Spring Training 2025:

Starters

Gausman, Berrios & Bassitt (final year of contract) with Bowden Francis coming off a strong 2024 make up the top four.
5th starter spot will most likely go to Yariel Rodriguez or Ricky Tiedemann.

Relievers

Lots of room for improvement here, but a couple decent pieces to start.

Batters

We are going to train Bo Bichette to play 3B and Andres Gimenez to play SS. This will open up 2B for a potential platoon of Addison Barger (or Will Wagner) & Orelvis Martinez.
On paper - we could use a corner OF bat, so we may look to swing a trade (thinking of someone like Taylor Ward perhaps).

WarningTrakPower · 01-14-2025, 11:41 AM

Below are a couple notes on the game settings we will be using:

- Use Coaching System - Off
- Enable Owner Goals - Off
- Suspensions - Off
- Rainouts - Off
- Peronality ratings, morale & team chemistry - On
- Player aging speed - 0.9
- Player development speed - 1.1

Trading AI Settings

Player Evaluation AI Settings
I'd like to change this, but not sure what works best.
Previously I used 40/30/20/10 or something.

Does anyone have a suggestion to improve this?

WarningTrakPower · 01-14-2025, 01:30 PM

We decided that it would be more challenging to let Roki Sasaki sign elsewhere and coincidentally he signed with San Diego.

WarningTrakPower · 01-15-2025, 01:29 PM

It is now April 3, 2025 and below is the Opening Day roster for the Toronto Blue Jays!

We have decided to start the season with six in the starting rotation and 7 in the bullpen.
Jake Bloss had a strong offseason (improved his pitch movement in the development complex) and a very good spring training.

Our first reliever to be called up will likely be between Zach Pop & Ryan Burr.
Brendon Little is another option for us in AAA.

These are the lineups we will be using to start.
Daulton Varsho will be healthy in a couple days and will need a rehab assignment before being added back to the active roster.

We decided to option Joey Loperfido to AAA and keep Davis Schneider (for the time being).

It is going to be interesting to see how players like Addison Barger, Will Wagner, Orelvis Martinez & Nathan Lukes perform being given an opportunity.

We will sim ahead until (most likely) the draft (July 11th) and check in with how the team is performing!

I'd be interested to hear some predictions of the Blue Jays record after say 80 games, so leave a comment below!

WarningTrakPower · 01-16-2025, 11:00 AM

After 80 games, we are 41-39 and sitting in the 3rd wildcard spot!

Here is our starting pitchers have performed through the first half:

Bowden Francis had a mediocre first half, but the 4.19 FIP and .353 BABIP indicate he might improve in the second half.
Too many walks for Yariel Rodriguez, we are considering moving him to bullpen and going back to a starting rotation of 5.

Here is our bullpen after 80 games:

The trio of Jeff Hoffman, Erik Swanson & Yimi Garcia had a very tough April & May, but slowly turned it around.
We are going to move Chad Green into the closer role for the time being.
Quite happy with the Nick's (Sandlin & Robertson) in the middle relief role (going to set their secondary roles to setup for a bit).

Here is how our hitters have done so far:

A great start from Vlad in his walk year and a very strong bounce back season from Bo also.
Very happy with the offensive (and defensive) contributions from Gimenez & Springer so far.

Jonatan Clase got off to a blazing hot start, but has cooled down a little bit.

Very poor start for Will Wagner, he is going to move into a bench role.
Addison Barger will move into a DH role and Ernie Clement will draw into a more every day role (for the time being).

Here are some of our top prospects and their MiLB performance so far:

We are handling our own MiLB promotions (the goal is no demotions), so we are slow playing their progression through the minors.
I prefer to jump from A to AA and avoid A+ when possible to do so (I find the AI rosters in A+ can get jammed up with too much talent).

Very happy with Trey Yesavage & Juaron Watts-Brown in AA, they will likely be in AAA soon.
Arjun Nimmala has been excellent in A & A+, so he will be promoted to AA soon (looking like he might be an early callup in 2026 at this point).
Manuel Beltre is the type of prospect who stalls out once he climbs the ladder, but he has been excellent in A ball (just promoted to A+).

We are very happy with having all our MiLB teams being competitive in their respective leagues.
Note - We do have ghost players turned on (currently only have 9 players in rookie league).

We are going to sim ahead, run through the 2025 MLB draft and trade deadline. Our next update will be around August 1st!

WarningTrakPower · 01-16-2025, 12:34 PM

The Mariners offered us a trade for Ryan Bliss.

The timing of this offer was fitting, as we could use a backup infielder / RH hitting 2B option. Here is Ryan Bliss via our scout:

We didn't want to give up Orelvis Martinez, but would have been open to moving Jaden Rudd (or potentially Dasan Brown).
Instead, they are willing to accept a counter offer of Alan Roden.

He is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA, so it makes sense for them to have interest in him.
Had Jonatan Clase not been off to a great start, Roden would've likely been called up to play every day in LF.

Is he a better option long term compared to Nathan Lukes or Joey Loperfido (or Davis Schneider)? Probably, but we feel as though we can find a different LF via trade / free agency.

Do you think we gave up too much in this swap or do you think we have a fair trade for both teams?

12-26-2024, 05:47 PM	#1
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	2026 Toronto Blue Jays - What if Vlad & Bo leave? Hey everyone, I was having a discussion with friend of mine over the holidays about the potential departures of Vlad Guerrero Jr & Bo Bichette after the 2025 (or during the 2024 season). My friend says "Do you think you could turn the Jays into a contender in OOTP without Vlad & Bo?", so I figured that could be a fun sim / dynasty report. A questions for the audience before I fire up a new sim: What are your thoughts on a live start? I have always "re-simmed" the 2024 season with minimal roster management to get to the "first offseason" in the past, but open to giving a live start a try. One other thing to mention - the initial thought was to keep Vlad & Bo for the entire 2025 season and let them walk in free agency. I believe this would increase the difficulty of the sim, as I won't be able to acquire high ends prospects in return.

12-26-2024, 06:05 PM	#4
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	2026 Roster Options (As of Dec. 26, 2024) I have gone through the existing roster commitments to map out on paper what assets the Blue Jays may have at their disposal for the 2026 season. C - Alejandro Kirk (final year of arbitration) 1B - Orelvis Martinez (has not played 1B in the minors, but I have used him at 1B in OOTP in the past) 2B - Will Wagner SS - Andrés Giménez (we will need to work out a trade with Cleveland) 3B - Leo Jiménez (has not played 3B in the minors, but we can train him here) LF - Joey Loperfido (likely we will acquire someone else to play here) CF - Daulton Varsho (final year of arbitration / extension candidate) RF - Nathan Lukes (place holder for now, likely we acquire someone else to play here) DH - George Springer (would love to move this contract, but feels like he will be around in 2026) Bench 1 - Jonathan Clase (SHB) Bench 2 - Alan Roden (LHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025 Bench 3 - Josh Kasevich (RHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025 Backup C - Phil Clarke (LHB) - Rule 5 eligible after 2025 SP1 - Kevin Gausman (final year of his contract) SP2 - Jose Berrios (can opt out after 2026) SP3 - Bowden Francis (live start may help his ratings) SP4 - Yariel Rodriguez (free agent after 2028) SP5 - Ricky Tiedemann RP - Yimi Garcia (final year of his contract) RP - Nick Sandlin RP - Brendan Little RP - Nick Robertson RP - Adam Macko RP - Angel Bastardo (2024 Rule 5 Guy out with TJ Surgery) RP - Jake Bloss RP TJ Brock or Kendry Rojas (both rule 5 eligible after 2025) Obviously by simulating (potentially) two seasons prior to "taking over", there will be some roster changes (plus I love to claim RP off the waiver wire if I see value there). Notable Omissions Addison Barger Davis Schneider Ernie Clement Steward Berroa Alek Manoah On paper, this roster looks quite lean, but I like to think of it as a clean canvas to build a dynasty through savvy trades and draft & development! I look forward to hearing some feedback from the audience and I will be starting this sim early January!

12-27-2024, 12:18 PM	#6
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	Should I start this sim prior to OOTP26 releases? One other thought I did have was - Should I just wait until OOTP26 releases and sim through the 2025 season? So I decided to create a poll and let you decide! https://strawpoll.com/wAg3Q8Dody8 Thanks in advance for the feedback!

01-02-2025, 11:54 AM	#9
MarkB03130313 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Oct 2024 Posts: 35	I am going to do this... First I am trying to get end of season 2023 file from somewhere. Like last day of world series as I don't want any free agents or trades to have happened yet. I am going to trade both and see what I can get. Just like in real life, I feel we can do better without them. Also I predicted them to be 4th and probably 5th in 2024 and I was spot on. My view is, they have not lead us to one playoff win and we need the prospects and hopefully we end up with 3 or 4 that make a difference and if we can ditch George as well and sign some free agents we come back, maybe not 2025 but perhaps 26 or 27. We will not do this, if we keep both we will have 20 to 25% of payroll tied up in them. Shatkins messed this up badly and need to move on! I will be firiing Ross as my assistant GM in the game as first move since he sucks lol I will probably play with that for a bit. Reason I want to do from then, is Valddy had middle of the road season and bo a pretty good one. Then later I may do the end of 2024 season with Vladdy on a high and Bo less so. I would rather see your results in 25 game, rather than waiting 3 months. Last edited by MarkB03130313; 01-02-2025 at 11:58 AM.

01-13-2025, 09:58 PM	#15
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	Start of Sim - January 4th Updated Roster First off, shoutout to @CBLCardinals for the updated rosters. In game, we are still on November 6th, 2024, but rosters are current to January 4th, 2025. With the Roki Sasaki rumors indicating Toronto is among the finalists, I was half tempted to wait for the next roster release. Personally - I do not believe he will be signing with the Jays, but time will tell! One IRL signing I will include prior to this sim starting is the free agent signing of Jeff Hoffman. The updated rosters have Hoffman as a SP with a stamina of 45 according to our scout (20/80 scale). I have dropped his stamina back down to 30 (he only recorded more than 3 outs four times in 2024, two of which occured in April). Also - I have updated the 2025 contracts for the arbitration eligible players! Before we sim from November 6th to January 1st (I'll give the AI two weeks prior to the international amateur signing opens), let's take a quick look at the team we will fielding at start of Spring Training 2025: Starters Gausman, Berrios & Bassitt (final year of contract) with Bowden Francis coming off a strong 2024 make up the top four. 5th starter spot will most likely go to Yariel Rodriguez or Ricky Tiedemann. Relievers Lots of room for improvement here, but a couple decent pieces to start. Batters We are going to train Bo Bichette to play 3B and Andres Gimenez to play SS. This will open up 2B for a potential platoon of Addison Barger (or Will Wagner) & Orelvis Martinez. On paper - we could use a corner OF bat, so we may look to swing a trade (thinking of someone like Taylor Ward perhaps).

12-26-2024, 06:03 PM	#3
CBLCardinals OOTP Roster Team Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,898	Check out that thread the most recent post

01-04-2025, 10:58 AM	#13
MarkB03130313 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Oct 2024 Posts: 35	I did 3 or 4 games, they are both on the block. I would keep Bo for 20 million and 8 years (I have contract max to 8 years), and move to 2nd though. I am going to try and trade Vlad before end of first month. I found one of CBL Rosters for end of 23 reg season, but playoffs not started yet. But the link was no good, as I was going to use that one. As I am sure be easier to trade them before other transactions happened. I messaged him. and posted on his posted about it. No reply yet. I will come back and post a pick of my players after a carload of trades lol. Kirk, Springer, Varsho, Votto, Vlog, couple others they started 24 with. Half the guys I don't know lol. But that is okay, if I suck I suck. But I got 3 half decent prospects from teams, that are 2 or 3 years out. So we will see.

01-14-2025, 11:41 AM	#16
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	Game Settings Below are a couple notes on the game settings we will be using: - Use Coaching System - Off - Enable Owner Goals - Off - Suspensions - Off - Rainouts - Off - Peronality ratings, morale & team chemistry - On - Player aging speed - 0.9 - Player development speed - 1.1 Trading AI Settings Player Evaluation AI Settings I'd like to change this, but not sure what works best. Previously I used 40/30/20/10 or something. Does anyone have a suggestion to improve this?

01-14-2025, 01:30 PM	#17
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	Roki Sasaki We decided that it would be more challenging to let Roki Sasaki sign elsewhere and coincidentally he signed with San Diego. Last edited by WarningTrakPower; 01-15-2025 at 01:31 PM.

01-15-2025, 01:29 PM	#18
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	Start of 2025 Season - Opening Day Roster! It is now April 3, 2025 and below is the Opening Day roster for the Toronto Blue Jays! We have decided to start the season with six in the starting rotation and 7 in the bullpen. Jake Bloss had a strong offseason (improved his pitch movement in the development complex) and a very good spring training. Our first reliever to be called up will likely be between Zach Pop & Ryan Burr. Brendon Little is another option for us in AAA. These are the lineups we will be using to start. Daulton Varsho will be healthy in a couple days and will need a rehab assignment before being added back to the active roster. We decided to option Joey Loperfido to AAA and keep Davis Schneider (for the time being). It is going to be interesting to see how players like Addison Barger, Will Wagner, Orelvis Martinez & Nathan Lukes perform being given an opportunity. We will sim ahead until (most likely) the draft (July 11th) and check in with how the team is performing! I'd be interested to hear some predictions of the Blue Jays record after say 80 games, so leave a comment below!

01-16-2025, 11:00 AM	#19
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	July 2, 2025 Team Update! After 80 games, we are 41-39 and sitting in the 3rd wildcard spot! Here is our starting pitchers have performed through the first half: Bowden Francis had a mediocre first half, but the 4.19 FIP and .353 BABIP indicate he might improve in the second half. Too many walks for Yariel Rodriguez, we are considering moving him to bullpen and going back to a starting rotation of 5. Here is our bullpen after 80 games: The trio of Jeff Hoffman, Erik Swanson & Yimi Garcia had a very tough April & May, but slowly turned it around. We are going to move Chad Green into the closer role for the time being. Quite happy with the Nick's (Sandlin & Robertson) in the middle relief role (going to set their secondary roles to setup for a bit). Here is how our hitters have done so far: A great start from Vlad in his walk year and a very strong bounce back season from Bo also. Very happy with the offensive (and defensive) contributions from Gimenez & Springer so far. Jonatan Clase got off to a blazing hot start, but has cooled down a little bit. Very poor start for Will Wagner, he is going to move into a bench role. Addison Barger will move into a DH role and Ernie Clement will draw into a more every day role (for the time being). Here are some of our top prospects and their MiLB performance so far: We are handling our own MiLB promotions (the goal is no demotions), so we are slow playing their progression through the minors. I prefer to jump from A to AA and avoid A+ when possible to do so (I find the AI rosters in A+ can get jammed up with too much talent). Very happy with Trey Yesavage & Juaron Watts-Brown in AA, they will likely be in AAA soon. Arjun Nimmala has been excellent in A & A+, so he will be promoted to AA soon (looking like he might be an early callup in 2026 at this point). Manuel Beltre is the type of prospect who stalls out once he climbs the ladder, but he has been excellent in A ball (just promoted to A+). We are very happy with having all our MiLB teams being competitive in their respective leagues. Note - We do have ghost players turned on (currently only have 9 players in rookie league). We are going to sim ahead, run through the 2025 MLB draft and trade deadline. Our next update will be around August 1st!

01-16-2025, 12:34 PM	#20
WarningTrakPower All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 595	July 23, 2025 - Offer from Seattle The Mariners offered us a trade for Ryan Bliss. The timing of this offer was fitting, as we could use a backup infielder / RH hitting 2B option. Here is Ryan Bliss via our scout: We didn't want to give up Orelvis Martinez, but would have been open to moving Jaden Rudd (or potentially Dasan Brown). Instead, they are willing to accept a counter offer of Alan Roden. He is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA, so it makes sense for them to have interest in him. Had Jonatan Clase not been off to a great start, Roden would've likely been called up to play every day in LF. Is he a better option long term compared to Nathan Lukes or Joey Loperfido (or Davis Schneider)? Probably, but we feel as though we can find a different LF via trade / free agency. Do you think we gave up too much in this swap or do you think we have a fair trade for both teams?