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The Blue Jays make key additions to their roster

The team adds George Springer to its roster

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins has been mostly quiet for the first two months of the Major League Baseball (MLB) offseason. However, he stepped up big time in the past few weeks, signing outfielder George Springer from the free agency market.

Springer signed for six years and US$150 million, which represents a franchise record contract for the Blue Jays. The team’s newest acquisition is a three-time all-star player and the 2017 World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP). The 31-year-old played all his previous seasons with the Houston Astros.

Springer hit 39 home runs in 122 games in 2019, followed by 14 in a shortened 51-game season last year. He hit four home runs in each of his last three postseasons.

In addition to Springer, Atkins added closer Kirby Yates and pitcher Tyler Chatwood to the team. Both should add good depth to a young lineup in need of more experience.

Yates played for four teams before signing a one-year contract with the Blue Jays. He had a career-high 12 home runs in 2017. Chatwood has even more experience, having started in 2011. Despite being a pitcher, he has three seasons with 14 home runs or more, and a career-high of 20, also in 2017.

Such additions to a group that already has rising players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette should please fans. The team might not be a World Series contender for 2021, but the future’s getting brighter for the franchise.

The Blue Jays are playing a tough division that includes World Series finalists Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays finished with a 32-28 record last year, and were eliminated by the Rays in the first round of the postseason. It will be interesting to see how they do with the new acquisitions this season.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Preseason baseball reminds Montreal of past love

The Blue Jays take part in training prior to their game at the Olympic Stadium. Photo by Ben Fraser.

Mayor Plante supports a project to bring a team back, but with no public money

As the Toronto Blue Jays concluded their preseason at the Olympic Stadium on March 26, Montreal once again showed why the MLB has a future in Quebec.

The crowd of 22,502 fans witnessed the Blue Jays defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0. The game was a great defensive and pitching battle, and in the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, second baseman Eric Sogard’s single scored Toronto’s only two runs.

Mayor Valérie Plante poses with a signed Expos cap following a press conference. Photo by Ben Fraser.

In the grand scheme of the game, the score served only as the backdrop to the ever-increasing interest in professional baseball’s return to the city. While the attendance was relatively low compared to past games, the game was on a Tuesday night, with the Canadiens playing at the Bell Centre at the same time.

Both games in the Olympic Stadium demonstrated Montreal’s love for baseball. During a spectacular opening ceremony that showcased the past, appearances were made by former Expos Javier Vasquez, Quebec-born pitcher Dennis Boucher, all-time Expos wins leader Steve Rogers, and former manager Felipe Alou.

“It’s always great to be back here with former players and teammates and people that I haven’t seen for years,” said Steve Rogers, who pitched for the Expos from 1973 to 1985. “This is the real deal. You can start to translate the interest in Montreal [to] the ability to support a team. It’s really remarkable.”

The ceremony also featured appearances from local amateur baseball organizations. Since the Blue Jays began their annual series at the Olympic stadium in 2014, the MLB has noticed this passion. A group of investors led by businessman Stephen Bronfman has expressed interest in building a new stadium for the team at the Peel Basin.

Mayor Valérie Plante was thrilled to see the games were a success. “People know I’m not the most knowledgeable person about baseball with its scoring and historic players, but I’m passionate about sports, and I understand sports’ role in people’s lives,” said Plante in a press conference during Tuesday’s game.

Plante and the city will support the ongoing project to get a team back to Montreal, so long as it is privately funded. “Now the groups aren’t asking for a cent, so we’re going to support them, as long as Montrealers don’t give money directly,” she added.    

With another successful trip, the Blue Jays now move on to the regular season, and baseball fans in Montreal are left wondering; are serious strides going to be made to bringing baseball back to Montreal? Until then, many Montrealers will be cheering for the Blue Jays, and waiting to cheer for their Expos once again.

Main photo by Ben Fraser

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Roy Halladay was a role model for Canadian pitchers

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Former Blue Jay goes into Hall of Fame as one of the greatest in franchise history

The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced on Jan. 22. Among the legendary names that will be inducted in Cooperstown, New York in July, one name stands out to Canadian baseball fans.

The late Roy “Doc” Halladay (1977-2017) spent 11 of his 15 full seasons as a Toronto Blue Jay, winning 148 games. He also won a Cy Young Award as the American League’s best pitcher in 2003. He made an impact whether he was playing or not.

Jackson Morgan, a pitcher for the Concordia Stingers baseball team, looked up to Halladay. “He was a huge role model for me growing up,” Morgan said. “What made him a role model wasn’t necessarily his performance, but his [behaviour] on and off the field.”

On the field, Halladay was known for an assortment of pitches, and his command of the strike zone was one of his most notable skills. Growing up playing baseball, Morgan learned how to create more movement on his pitches by watching Halladay play. “I can remember watching him dominate and thinking to myself: ‘If I was a batter, I’d be helpless as well,’” Morgan said.

Halladay’s impact on Canadian baseball fans is in the same scope as former Blue Jays Joe Carter, Jimmy Key and fellow Hall of Fame member Roberto Alomar, who were the Blue Jays’s first stars. Danny Gallagher, a former reporter who covered the Montreal Expos, believes Halladay is one of the most successful Blue Jays of all-time. Like Morgan, Gallagher also believes Halladay had an impact on youth players in the country.
The Blue Jays weren’t a good team from 1998 to 2009, when Halladay was pitching for them. The Jays never made the playoffs, despite masterful performances from Halladay. Morgan wished that Halladay would have seen some better chances to win.

“I only wish they had a better supporting cast for Doc during his tenure with the Jays,” Morgan said. Halladay only played playoff baseball twice, in 2010 and in 2011, as a player for the Philadelphia Phillies. There, he continued to dominate, and in 2010 against the Cincinnati Reds, he became only the second pitcher after Don Larsen in 1956 to throw a no-hitter in the playoffs.   
Players inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame choose which of their former team’s logos is inscribed on the cap of their plaque. Halladay’s family requested to not have a logo on his plaque. Despite this, Gallagher said he will be forever linked with Toronto baseball.

“The Blue Jays will always consider Doc one of the greats in franchise history,” Gallagher said. Even without the Blue Jays logo on Halladay’s plaque, his legacy as a Blue Jay will remain on the minds of all Canadian baseball fans.

The same was echoed by Morgan, as what he saw from Halladay’s play as a young baseball player will be forever remembered. “His legacy will live on forever. I’m thankful he played for a Canadian team and young Canadian pitchers like myself had exposure to such an influential and important baseball figure,” Morgan said.

Main graphic by @spooky_soda.

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Blue Jays set sights for playoffs

By Zeze Le Lin.

90-win season is realistic for Toronto after a losing 2017 season

As the Toronto Blue Jays prepare for the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, The Concordian takes a look at how “Canada’s team” will line up in the field, on the mound and behind the plate.

After a disappointing 2017 season where the Blue Jays finished with a record of 76-86 and missed the playoffs, the 2018 team is looking to improve. It was a very busy off-season for general manager Ross Atkins. Long-time Blue Jay and fan-favourite outfielder Jose Bautista will not return after nine seasons in Toronto, prompting Atkins to revamp his outfield.

The Jays acquired outfielder Randal Grichuk from the St-Louis Cardinals in a trade, and signed Curtis Granderson for $5 million in free agency. The Blue Jays outfield, centred by defensive dynamo Kevin Pillar, combined for 64 home runs (HR) and 165 runs batted in (RBI) last season. The problem with the Jays outfield is their lack of on-base percentage (OBP). Grichuk, despite his power numbers, had a OBP of .285 last year, and Pillar’s OBP was .300. Granderson’s OBP was decent at .323, but not good enough for a player of his calibre. If Granderson is leading Toronto’s hitting line-up at the beginning of the season, he will need to up his OBP in order for the Blue Jays to compete.

In the infield, other new faces will add depth to a very injury-prone group. The Jays acquired the versatile infielder Yangervis Solarte from the San Diego Padres and 2016 All-Star shortstop Aledmys Diaz from the Cardinals. Both of these acquisitions are meant to be back-up options for injury-prone infielders such as Troy Tulowitzki (who will miss the start of the season) and Devon Travis. Don’t be surprised if Solarte or Diaz take their place in the line-up at some point in the season.

Despite being insurance policies, both Solarte and Diaz have the potential to become very serviceable infielders for Toronto. Both are capable of hitting 15-plus HRs in a very hitter-friendly ballpark at the Rogers Centre. Diaz in particular has the chance to return to his 2016 form, when he finished fifth in votes for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

The pitching line-up remains largely unchanged, with the exception of a new starter and setup man. The Jays signed Jaime Garcia in free agency to a one-year contract worth $8 million. Garcia has never been able to replicate the success he had with the Cardinals in 2010 and 2011, and will be the team’s fifth starter. While looking good in spring training, don’t expect Garcia to be a dominant force in the Jays rotation.

The American League (AL) East division produces some of the most potent offences in baseball. In Garcia’s first taste of AL East play last season with the Yankees, he had a 0-3 record, with an earned runs average (ERA) of 4.82 in eight starts.

The Blue Jays didn’t make significant moves with their relief pitchers in the bullpen. They signed Seung-hwan Oh, who will act as a setup pitcher ahead of All-Star closer Roberto Osuna. Like many of this season’s acquisitions, Oh will try to return to his previous form, when he dominated with the Cardinals in the 2016 season.

The Jays do have several players returning, including 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson and All-Star first baseman Justin Smoak, who hit career-highs last season with 38 HRs, 90 RBIs and a .355 OBP. Many of the Jays pitchers will be returning, such as starters Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada. Injuries have hurt the Jays in the past, and if the team intends to compete for a playoff spot, they will need to stay healthy.

There are several ways this season could go. If Donaldson plays like he did during the 2015 season, and the starting rotation is effective enough to win games, the Blue Jays will be able to compete for the second wild-card position. However, if injuries become a problem again, and Smoak regresses to his pre-2017 level of play, the Jays will become a basement-dweller in the American League under the thumb of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

All in all, should the cards fall in their favour, the Blue Jays could expect to win 90 games and fight for a playoff spot this season.

Main graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

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BULL PENNED: Bird Watching – The Big Year

-For a game that is so damn old, with statistics and records dating back to the late 19th century, baseball is never lacking in surprises and, as the kids put it, WTF moments. Of course, there is the same old, same old nonsense that occurs year in and year out but it seems that each season, there is at least one pleasant surprise giving baseball fans a reason to keep an eye on the standings. This time around, that certainty has gone to the birds. Literally.

When preseason wrapped up this past spring, the buzz about town was that there was a new sheriff patrolling the ever-so-dangerous American League East. Toronto had run away with being crowned the kings of spring. With a record of 24-7 in Grapefruit League action, the Blue Jays were making a statement that things were about to change. No more was the A.L. East going to be a three-pony race. An impressive pitching staff, a reigning two-time home run king and a hometown rookie sensation all pointed to a seismic shift in tradition.

Well it seems the Jays left their swagger in Florida because not only did they drop the ball this year, they did it while wetting themselves. For all those who preluded the heralding of Toronto supremacy with “It is not a Yankee or Red Sox division anymore,” you can save yourself a shred of dignity. Baltimore to the rescue!

It is a double-take scenario; seeing the Orioles challenge the mighty Yankee machine is worth a second look, if not for morbid curiosity. How could a team that started the year with 150 to one odds of winning the World Series be at the top of a pile of supposed titans? The answer is quite simple, yet not so obvious.

The Orioles are not blessed with any made-for-T.V. superstars. When you think A.L. East, you think of names like Jeter, Ortiz, Longoria, Bautista, not Wieters or Markakis. There are no bonafide all-stars or sexy names on this Baltimore squad. No MVP candidates or phenoms. Barring any miracles, they won’t have anyone that will reach 100 RBIs, or knock 40 home runs. If Nick Markakis can get hot in the final week, he will be the only Oriole with a chance at hitting more than .300. So, how can a team of rag-tags, with no identifiable offensive standout or pitching messiah, rise to the top of such perennial crème de la crème? It is all about taking that crème and whipping it.

Though Baltimore is competing with New York for the division title, an honour they have not seen since 1997,  they can be considered the true winners of the division. They were a Cinderella story since April, but they maintained success because they consistently won games against divisional opponents. They have managed to compete when it mattered.

The Orioles have amassed the best record in their division when it comes to games against their division rivals. By winning these important games, they solidified a playoff berth, and shocked the millions who pegged them as a team to finish 30 or more games behind.

This anomaly in the standings has been a gift to fans in Baltimore, starved for meaningful baseball in the fall, but I think the biggest gift will be that shmuck who said “Screw it, why not?” and threw down $20 on Baltimore back in March.

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