My apologies for missing Wednesdays blog. Similar to yesterdays Blue Jays game we were rain delayed. And Similar to yesterdays game, its unlikely the blog will be made up in a future double post 😉
Truth be told, I had a mild heart attack at the news Tuesday that the Blue Jays we’re in talks with Brett Gardner. I’m still woozy. There honestly isn’t an active player in all of MLB that I sports-hate more!!! He is the epitome of evil to me, and it would be impossible for me to take any joy in a team he is on.
The big news around the Blue Jays today was the announcement of a huge overhaul to Rogers Stadium, this coming winter and the winter of 2023/24. I’m very excited to see what’s planned. I’ve always maintained that the current ballpark just isn’t very good. I don’t enjoy visiting it as a building. So I’ll be really excited to see what they can do. The report still maintains that this is just to buy time until we can build a new stadium.
Unfortunately I just don’t see how that happens while still remaining anywhere close to Toronto. I worry we’ll end up like the Ranges in that sense. The only option would be a year or two away while they rebuild on the existing site. Hopefully with these upgrades though that chilling thought can be pushed back 10+ years.
The other big news of the week was the Randal Grichuk trade. I can’t say I’m surprised. I like Randal, he’s a good player, he’s just never been north of $10m good. And as an obvious (and rightly) fourth choice outfielder, you can’t really be paying that much money. As it stands we’ve had to eat $5m of it still.
Raimel Tapia at $3.9m is a much more reasonable cost for a 4th outfielder. And I think that’s what we’ll see. He won’t be as good I don’t expect as Randal will be this year, but 3 years younger and a lot less money the fit is just better. Who ultimately “wins” this trade will take a year or two, to be seen when we see how and if Adrian Pinto pans out. Overall though I am happy with the move, I think it was a good one to make, and I wish Randal the best of luck in Colorado.
Ryu makes his pre-season debut today, on his birthday no less. With Berrios having a second consecutive bad outing and Gausman yet to go, I’m hoping to see something impressive for Ryu today just to ease my nerves a little.
Lastly before I leave you I’ll just post this….
Yes its pre season, and yes it means nothing.. but god damn its fun to spank the Yanks. Thanks for reading!