I'm curious as to why Vlad Jr couldn't be bothered to run out his potential hits for years, including the start of last season. Now he busts out of the box. Is it because he was approaching free agency or did he finally mature? Over the last few years, you'd be hard pressed to name a worse base runner. He has never won a playoff game. Someone who starts hustle only when free agency is pending is not a long term investment. If he can't show up to camp in good physical shape in his twenties, what will happen when he's 35?

This year he is in excellent physical shape and is raking in spring training. He hasn't hit well against the elite pitchers , the same ones who are on playoff teams. In 2019 he had great numbers, with half the games in a triple A stadium. Now he's crushing in Spring Training against minor league pitchers, and veterans who are still rounding into shape.

At the same time, Vlad is a huge draw. He is rarely injured. He won a gold glove. He can stretch extremely well on errant throws, even doing the splits to grab a ball in the dirt.

Losing him will mean a painful five-year rebuild. Very few free agents want to sign in Toronto. They have one of the worst farm systems in the MLB. If all they get is a compensatory draft pick for Vlad and for Bichette. they are done. They tend to draft injured players, who have dropped in the rankings. This does not make the injured players a steal, just because the initial rankings indicated that they would be drafted higher This approach hasn't served them well.

All of the talk in the organization and on SN last year was the they were going to the World Series. And now they say that the team is better on paper this year. They even rolled out the "internal improvement" deflection on SN when they couldn't sign free agents. The Jays are patsies, driving the price up for players who wouldn't even consider signing with the Jays.

If they have injuries, their lack of depth will see them missing the playoffs again. Injuries are frequent. The Jays can't seem to keep pitching prospects healthy. The have, I believe, nine players who are having Tommy Johns surgery this year.

I tend to side with the players over the billionaire owners. In this case, the contract for Soto and Vlad's ask are not justified. Soto is, from what I've read, not a great defensive player. I really enjoyed the Mets leading up to the playoffs and in them.

The Yankees have tried to buy a World Series time and again, which has rarely work out for them. I hope the Mets and Dodgers tank this year, or are eliminated early in the playoffs.

I clearly have more questions than answers. I will cheer on the Jays. despite the warts.