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Parataxis wrote:Cool cool cool. Rodriguez to the 15 day.

So that's Rodriguez and Francis on the IL, Tiedmann not really, Manoah still struggling, and White claimed off waivers, leaves us with... bullpen days every 5th?

Lovely.

JTT wrote:"Shatkins" references need to stop.

They are different people with different jobs. One has renovated a ball park, put in place the best minor league facilities in the game and cajoled ownership to increase spending to the point where they are among the big spenders in the league.

The other has done a generally poor job with those resources. "A" grade prospects haven't developed, extensions haven't been done, and in tough times has left his manager as a scapegoat.

I agree that one should be gone, the other seems to have done a really good job. But the whole Shatkins things is just so very old.

C Court wrote:Agreed. Ross Atkins needs to be shown the door before he makes things worse.

Brinbe wrote:

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C Court wrote:Was he throwing with his left hand?

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Everyone’s waiting for someone to pay for this poor start and the only lists Vladdy and Bo make these days fall under the category of ‘might be traded’. The minor-league system routinely ranks among the bottom third and look: I understand that things like anonymous executive polls are subjective but when The Athletic runs a poll asking your peers to rate their top five front offices and you get shut out?

Even if the Blue Jays' decision-makers had lots of company, I think we can all agree that to some degree it’s a reflection on what the industry thinks about the general manager – when it thinks of him at all.

Some thoughts on the Blue Jays one-quarter of the way into this season? Glad you asked. Offensive co-ordinator Don Mattingly warned us all against expecting much power … and that’s held true. It’s all about run prevention and starting pitching and scratching out some runs and fans warding off what Blue Jays play-by-play man Dan Shulman adroitly described on Friday as “the fatigue out there with exit velocity.”

Blue Jays management told us all that the team would go as far as its core lineup would take it and, well, that’s also proven to be accurate. Offensively? Most of our suspicions have, by and large, proven true. Meanwhile, Bo and Vladdy’s clock ticks toward free agency, and the Summer of Orelvis seems a real possibility. The pitching? It’s been OK, but hardly great. That’s to be expected given the high-wire act created by poor offensive production. The home runs are an issue, though. A big issue: the Blue Jays have given up the second-most homers in the majors. No bullpen has served up more of them than the Blue Jays.

But that’s all big-picture stuff. Right now, there are two immediate issues. First, the Blue Jays have a George Springer problem – as I forecasted in spring training. He was uncommonly healthy by his standards last season … and slogged his way to career lows in several categories. The contract was never going to age well, but the hope was there would be some post-season bang for the buck before it reached this stage.

Springer was absent Saturday with illness when the Blue Jays put up their best offensive display since late last season with Davis Schneider in the leadoff spot for the second game. Springer returned to the leadoff spot Sunday and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Now, based on Schneider’s at-bats against Minnesota Twins starter Bailey Ober, I’m not certain he would have done much better at the top. But I would have liked to see it, even if meant sticking Springer down at the bottom of the order and taking solace in the fact he catches the ball.

And that’s the issue right now. It’s not the $65 million or so left on the two-plus years of his contract, not unless ownership tires of putting up a $235-million payroll for a last place team. Not yet. Either Springer won’t move without kicking up a fuss or manager John Schneider thinks he deserves to have the second-most plate appearances on the team (which I don’t believe) or it’s one of those khakified, smartest-guy-in-the-room, bat-path, underlying numbers things. But if more George equals worse results, is that really a thing the Blue Jays will need to live with? Good luck with that.

Beyond that, general manager Ross Atkins needs to help his bullpen. Pronto. Look: we’d all rather have someone else at helm if the time comes when a big call needs to be made on Bo and Vladdy, but that’s not the point right now. It is remarkable that Atkins let his bullpen go from April 28-May 7 without having Yimi Garcia available, knowing Erik Swanson is no longer a leverage option and that Jordan Romano is still being handled a little gently. I get the Blue Jays aren’t in a position of strength to make any trade and that their top pitching prospects can’t stay healthy and that replacing Garcia’s performance would have been difficult. I get that Yariel Rodriguez’s return coupled with Alek Manoah's re-emergence will help. I get Atkins is probably busy with draft preparations. But Atkins could really use another Adam Cimber or Trevor Richards bit of magic. Unless, you know, the front office doesn’t think it’s worth it to stop the bleeding … which is, er, another story.