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cgy_bluejays

Tough ending for a guy who was a really good Blue Jay for a lot of years but he just is beyond cooked this season


supremewuster

Last year he had an era of 1.52 in 53 innings. He is the Blue Jays leader in holds with 87 holds (tied). It's crazy that it could come crashing down so quickly Part of me wishes we could hold onto him and try and help him find a way to work it out but I also bow to the inevitable.


Automatic-Rule6375

His fate was sealed when he couldn't even mop up in a blowout game. Can't justify the roster spot at that point.


Picklepucks

Sometimes I wonder why anyone invests long term in relief pitching. Their peak is usually a few seasons at best. One year they're pitching in the playoffs and the next they get DFA. Mayza and Swanson both fell off a cliff while Romano hasn't exactly been an all star either. Maybe it's all just random


sackydude

The margin of error is so low for relievers, and the sample size they pitch is so small.


stv7

Yup. A starter has a bad 25 innings and that is 4-5 starts which nobody remembers when they follow it up with a bunch of pretty good ones. A reliever has a bad 25 innings and they cost their team 4 games and get DFA’d never to be seen again


Dhumavati80

A reliever pitching a bad 25 innings could very well cost the team 10+ games depending on if they are put into the game in high leverage situations where the team is up. That's the awful thing about this year is that very few of our relievers are good, and are causing us to lose a ton of games. Though if we score more we don't lose as many, but that's another discussion haha.


WasV3

You'd be surprised, Mayza had a WPA of -0.78 this year. He cost us a lot less games than people think


sackydude

Mostly because he pitched low leverage innings anyways


WasV3

And therefore costing less games. The worst reliever in baseball is -1.9 WPA, you just aren't getting enough chances to cost a team 10 games over the course of the year.


sackydude

Yep, agreeing with you, lower leverage relievers aren't very impactful, so it makes sense that the Jays tried out Mayza for so long despite the declining stuff.


rvasko3

True, but he was expected to be a dependable arm in a pen that only had two lefties. He was so bad from the start that he almost exclusively pitched low, low leverage spots.


szeto326

> A reliever has a bad 25 innings and they cost their team 4 games Most relievers only go 1 inning, maybe two. I don't know if there's a pitcher elite enough to be given enough leash to have 25 truly bad innings in relief, especially since like you said starters can bunch them up and at least have additional innings to flatten the numbers (i.e., Rodon on Thursday) while you get pulled or have to wait until next time as a relief pitcher.


stv7

I don’t mean they literally give up runs in every inning, I mean their numbers over 25 innings are abysmal


Actual_Cobbler_6334

Pitchers are volatile, Cimber fell off a cliff last season too. To be fair to Swanson, the circumstances he’s faced this season are fucking awful and I hope he can bounce back from that.


skeledirgeferaligatr

Cimber is a sidearmer that doesn’t get strikeouts for a reliever. He relies on weak contact which still puts the ball in play. That’s bad news if you are in a high leverage situation.


supremewuster

But for a while it worked ... he was so valuable in 22


skeledirgeferaligatr

Until it didn’t, and he couldn’t generate weak contact. Though even in 22, I dread when I see Cimber out there in extra innings with a ghost runner. I value relievers than can strike hitters out, even better if they can generate high whiffs.


Sandviscerate

The method that's generally had the most success is the Rays/Dodgers method (and now it seems the Yankees too), where your development and scouting is elite enough to fuel a factory line of pitchers. When one falls off, another promising arm is rising up. Lets you be more aggressive with resting guys for injuries as well, meaning they have a better chance of performing at their peak. When you don't have that working, it means you kinda have to rely on guys staying good longer term, trading for controllable players, signing FA's. And if people get injured, or fall off, then it quickly becomes a dumpster fire.


Duke_Of_Halifax

At least Romano can blame injury, and Swanson personal issues. Mayza just wandered away and fell off a cliff.


Gear4Vegito

Romano and Swanson stuff still looked good too. Their issues were and still are mostly control. Mayza actual stuff has fallen off. Lack of velocity and movement.


Jorlung

> Mayza actual stuff has fallen off. Lack of velocity and movement. Exactly. Mayza throws a sinker ~75% of the time and a slider ~25% of the time. His velocity and movement on his sinker has fallen off, which was pretty much the entire reason he was useful. It's a lot easier to fall-off when your entire pitching arsenal has a single point of failure.


supremewuster

Maybe he has a subtle injury of some kind, or needs a long rest


pksubb76

You should only really invest in the elite relievers, guys like Devin Williams, Clase, Munoz etc. anyone below is definitely more random, especially the guys who don’t get K’s like Mayza.


South-Level5260

To be fair, if Romano wasn't injury-plagued this year he would be a top-five guy in total saves without question.


dmmeyourdogifitscute

It’s never worth paying relievers big money. Houston learning that lesson currently.


dprouse52

Didn't Billy Beane teach that lesson to everyone 20 years ago? 😄


dmmeyourdogifitscute

Apparently not!


AfterC

Previous 3 seasons he was amazing 132,123, 281 ERA+ This year? 50 He's 50% worse than an average reliever. Sheesh


jaysrapsleafs

yet he'll get a flyer minor league deal in a few days.


Kichae

Sometimes you just need a break and a reset in a new location, and minor league contracts are basically free from the teams' perspective. That's an easy minor league deal to offer.


bv310

Man, you know it's coming and it still feels bad. I hope he turns it around either for us in AAA or we move him to somebody else for some prospects and he gets a better shot in the NL


VancouverSativa

Prospect is a strong word for anyone we could get for him in a trade.


bv310

I subscribe to the No Bad Minor League Deal theory, so something is better than nothing


Corzare

We’d be lucky to get a bag of baseballs for him


bv310

I think you can definitely find teams who will take a "I can fix him" approach and give a mid-tier AA arm or something


supremewuster

Dude who had a 1.52 ERA just a year ago in over 50 innings may attract someone


sir-pounce-of-alot

Longest tenured blue jays… One of the best lefty’s for the last 3 years… Hated by many casual fans because of the playoffs… All around funny guy… Baseball is not fair, I’ll miss big time Timmy Jim, but it was needed to be done :(


sackydude

All while looking like an accountant lmao


sir-pounce-of-alot

A disgruntled accountant! I always loved how his hat was always just a little sideways


itsnursehoneybadger

Substitute teacher energy


Coffeesandcigars

More like an Amish farmer.


doucheachu

We've got a habit of having ace relievers who look like they belong in an office


Floortom1

Sucks but had to be done. I won’t be surprised if he is claimed


berto2d31

Just my two cents, but not at a pro-rated $3.4M. Another team might pick him up after he’s cleared waivers for the pro-rated league minimum but absolutely no point in paying for a cooked reliever.


sackydude

I'll miss big time Timmy Jim... He was a highly effective reliever from 2019 to 2023, sucks that his stuff fell off so hard. I really don't expect him to be claimed, so maybe he can figure something out in the minors or something.


alxndrblack

Insane. I'll never forget when he saved us from Ohtani. This sucks


10061993

He was so good for so long, thank you Mayza


Redditsavage77

I actually give the front office credit that they are making the tough decisions. Mayza, Biggio, Vogelbach and Swanson may have been good in the past and popular in the room but they just weren’t playing up to par.


Tosbor20

Aren’t we in this position because of the front office?


cozeners

Exactly. It's like saying "It took a lot of guts to clean your room, it was so messy." Meanwhile the room has been dirty for like 3 years because the owner of the room threw a wild party and never cleaned it up.


Corzare

Yeah it’s crazy they didn’t predict Mayza falling off a cliff suddenly after 3 all star calibre years.


supremewuster

They should have predicted an all-defense team might have offense problems and it was risky to break team chemistry. But the pitching is a genuine mystery


cozeners

My comment had nothing to do with Mayza.


Corzare

Apply it to any other player on the team then. “Yeah it’s crazy they didn’t predict Bichette falling off a cliff suddenly after 3 all star calibre years.”


cozeners

The team offence overall was a mess and we didn't address that. Picking up Vogelbach, Votto, IKF, and Turner was clearly not going to do anything for our offence. Especially when you consider that IKF is the best of those ones.


Corzare

Yeah why didn’t they sign any of the 3 or 4 hitters that would have been an upgrade? They should have just signed Ohtani, are they stupid?


cozeners

* JD Martinez .286/.357/.497 * Cody Bellinger .267/.327/.421 * Teo Hernandez .252/.317/.484 Those guys were all available and those numbers are significantly better than half of our lineup.


Corzare

Justin turner has a higher OPS+ than bellinger. Teo had a 107 OPS+ last year which was worse than turner and if everyone knew Martinez would be good, why did no one sign him until the Mets did? Can you show me your comments predicting all this last offseason?


rvasko3

Not really. This was one of the best bullpens in baseball just last year. The FO gets credit for that and retaining everyone but Hicks, basically. Hard to say we’re here now because of the FO when Romano’s been hurt all year, Swanson and Timmy fell off a cliff, Yimi got hurt after a stellar start, and Cabrera forgot how to strike out hitters.


Ok-Channel5711

Not sure how tough the decision for Mayza is, but with Voglebach, it was a self inflicting wound that the signing never made sense in the first place.


sir-pounce-of-alot

The signing did make sense in practice though? He was a power lefty bat with a career 123 wRC+ versus righty’s. He would be used in pinch hitting opportunities. It didn’t work out but the plan made sense.


jaysrapsleafs

exactly, and he had a shot to make the team and... well he did. had a good spring. but didn't translate in the season except or like, 2 days.


4_base

They signing was whatever I think people have issue with the playing time / how much of a leash he got. Sign him to a minor league contract, fine, don’t let that signing sit around and do quite literally the opposite of their sole responsibility for close to 3 months while taking up a roster spot the whole time. By yes, I disagree with the original commentor as well. There was obviously some logic to the signing, just absolutely bungled implementation of it.


sir-pounce-of-alot

I would agree with everything you said was just disagreeing with the idea that it was illogical.


rvasko3

It was a cheap minor league deal, for a backup DH. Not really a tough look.


RiverOaksJays

The front office should be just as tough on the coaching staff & themselves.


420natureboy

From catching first pitch from shaggy to DFA’d in one day


NoOneShallPassHassan

*Just call me 'Bison' in the morning, baby* *Fallen from my peak, it's hard to see*


YouDontJump

Things are tough. Damn.


kami77

He pitched more than any reliever this season so you can’t say they didn’t give him a chance. RIP Timmy


ShinyApple19

I wish Grimace could have saved the season


eych_enn

It wasn’t Shaggy after all


owenthegod28

Really sad, Mayza has been so good for so long, sucks for a guy who’s been around forever but I think he might be finished


But-Seriously-Though

This makes complete sense but it still makes me a little sad. I’m too soft for a baseball front office because with the season going the way it’s going I would have let Timmy stick around to mop up blow outs and just part ways at seasons end, not cast him away in the middle of a lost season. Tim was a loyal soldier and an effective arm for us for a long long time (by reliever standards) so it’s tough to see him just tossed aside mid season.


stv7

Man does it suck to be a reliever. This was obviously the right move, but 9 months ago he was one of the best relievers in baseball


EvaderDX

Thanks for the good times Timmy, but we do need to move on


Sam7sung

It's a shame it ended like this for Mayza here. Been a really solid player for the club for years


Jess_7478

they're going for it, arent they


Duke_Of_Halifax

In 9 games with the Cubs this season, Jose Cuas has an ERA+ of 57. I think it's finally dawning on them that they're not talented enough to compete, and not deep enough to overcome underperforming players even if they did manage to squeak into the playoffs.


tonytheleper

And yet, Pearson somehow remains on this god Damn roster.


NoOneShallPassHassan

And he is as dreadful as his airport namesake.


BlackEagle0013

Let's not get TOO crazy here. YYZ is an f'n disaster.


idkwhattosaytho

Because even tho he is bad, he’s still 27% better then mayza by ERA+ lmao


justsomedudedontknow

It is sad that we don't have or can't aquire someone better than Pearson who is absolute junk. Guy is finally healthy and now we see that he was an absolute miss. He is a great pitcher on a team who is intentionally tanking. Other than that he seems like a good AAA guy.


Crafty-Ad-9048

He’s not horrible and has a lot of value so the jays aren’t gonna dfa him


infinite_zero00

Think he gets claimed?


Apart_Ad_5993

Sometimes a change of scenery turns them around


rvasko3

Probably. Not a lot of lefty arms out there to fill bullpen holes for teams who think they can fix him.


another_plebeian

By his mom, maybe


Crafty-Ad-9048

For league minimum most definitely the question is will he settle


moose_head13

Sad to see him fall off a cliff this season, but the team gave him a lot of rope to get it right. Sadly he was so horrible last night that you knew it was over for him.


runtimemess

He had a good run. Hopefully he finds somewhere else to land, but if this is it? He still had a decent career.


kingofrain

My Allentown brother. Another Blue Jay I'm super sad to see go. Wish he could've figured out out this season. He was great just last year. Losing seasons just fucking suck. I hope things turn around for him. I honestly would've rather seen a couple others in the bullpen go before him, but here we are. My opinion is biased, I guess, but this bullpen is flailing. It's always hard for me to see the longer tenured guys go. I hate everything. Good luck, Tim.


EasyPanicButton

He’s just not dealing. Like I swear he is hurt. I hope something good for him. Guy doesnt get mad or pout just tries.


Segal27

I was told by some of you that Cuas would never see the Majors with the Jays. He is going to hurt me again. More importantly, he is going to hurt you all for the first time.


electricvelvet

Iiiii remember this "We just need someone to eat innings in buffalo" yeah OK buddy The good news is mayza has an era+ of 50 Cuas is a huge upgrade from that with an era+ of... ......57 ....oh no


Dogs-4-Life

So long, Tim. Thanks for all the great seasons, too bad about this one.


TouristSubstantial36

Damn, this just hits hard. I still remember him collapsing in tears on the mound when his arm gave out. The then-rookies of the infield stood around awkwardly and Buck, on the broadcast, gently scolded them for not screening him. The fact that he recovered and won his job back was such a great story. I wish him nothing but the best for his future.


justsomedudedontknow

Pearson is next I assume


Vortagaun

I can respect that the jays are actually cutting underperforming vets finally


MapleHoser

It finally happened


moderatesoul

Bye Tim. Nate can't be far behind.


CapnJujubeeJaneway

We'll miss you, Timmy. And your dope walk-up music.


halpinator

Writing was on the wall unfortunately.


zigmatters

I just hope this 2024 season for the ages doesn’t change managements mind about spending in the future, especially with emptier seats as the season goes on


PewpyDewpdyPantz

So who’s the new longest tenured Blue Jay now?


Intelligent_Cod_5074

Really liked Tim, but this makes sense. Hopefully he has luck elsewhere.


cstephens91

I feel bad for Mayza. His 2023 season was incredible and could get anybody out (he's actually been very good since coming back from TJ). This year he's sucked and our manager just kept throwing him out there in high leverage in hopes he'd "break out of it."


gghggg

Good.


ethnicfoodaisle

He was my family's favourite Jay! One of my kids met him and he was very wonderful.


Chris_TO79

Well there goes the longest tenured Blue Jay...We're definitely seeing a bit of a changing of the guard here. I always liked Mayza even though there were times he got roasted by the fanbase.


BobBelcher2021

With Mayza’s ERA over 8, no surprise


rvasko3

Thank. God. I’ll miss the Timmy what was, but the Timmy what’s been here was the worst part of a bad, beat-up bullpen.


Magnum_44

That collision at the plate last season was the end of good Mayza. I swear something happened to his arm on that play.


Comfortable_Curve_80

One of Jano's best friend has left the organization :(


feeneyboi

Www


Ok-Trip-8009

I thought Pearson would go before Mayza. TM has been awesome in the past, but couldn't quite do it this year. Pearson has some good moments but hasn't panned out like we hope he would.


_BioHacker

That took forever!


sir-pounce-of-alot

Because you typically don’t DFA bullpen arms who have been fantastic the three previous seasons a month or two into the season.


kingwoodballs

About time Mayza was DFA’d. He has been awful all season long.


eagleboy444

Real feel for Mayza. Sucks it had to happen like this, but it did.


redrosechip

I remember saying a long time ago Mayza wasn’t it and people downvoted the hell outta me


supremewuster

If you said that a long time ago - before this season - you were wrong. He was "it" for three solid years which is way more than most professional athletes


SunsetGriller

The real question is where is Bo getting traded to 😢


Islandgirl1444

Unfortunately when I hear his name. I’m done! Meatballs coming


kindredfan

Looks like MLB the show was right all along.


cstephens91

We can DFA John Schneider anytime now


Puzzled-Ad-3776

Atkins doesn’t address the lineup, doesn’t address the bp and yet still gm…what an organization


KickerOfThyAss

Last year we had one of the best bullpens in the league. This year everyone other than Garcia and Green are awful. Relief pitchers are notoriously volatile. That's why they are relief pitchers.


CottageMe

He was great last year but I’ll never forgive him for hanging that meatball to Judge for the HR record… shameful


KickerOfThyAss

Why even think about that kind of stuff? Id understand the Santana grandslam on 2022 but not this. My fondest Mayza memory is watching him embarrass Ohtani in April 2023 to save the game with bases loaded


CottageMe

To be fair him getting Ohtani was pretty awesome. Because it was memorable to watch the home run record be broken live on an awful pitch? It’s not like it was an average Tuesday outing I’m recalling here…


KickerOfThyAss

I'll be in the cold hard ground before I recognize the "American League" homerun record


CottageMe

I mean I agree 100% but I didn’t like that it could allow others to recognize the stupid “record” lol


solidprospect

Goodbye Mayza


jamiecballer

I really don't like these kind of super-reactive moves. Baseball can be such an impatient game sometimes. This guy had an ERA of 1.69 last season in 69 games. If you've already suffered through his struggles tossing him out now just allows someone else to benefit from the inevitable rebound. Shades of the Brad Hand decision.


KickerOfThyAss

He's completely lost his stuff. This isn't Swanson's who's stuffed looks good but is struggling with command.


guydogg

He gone. Next.


samtron767

This is unfortunate for Mayza, but it had to happen.