Matt Antaya
Have you ever been on a road trip that didn’t live up to the hype?
You lose a couple things, you break a couple things, and your patience is too often tested to its limit. In fact, the whole thing just seems like a bad dream.
Well, right now, the Blue Jays are on that road trip.
Having travelled through Oakland and Los Angeles this past week, the Jays have won only one of their last seven ball games. Given these horrible results, they’ve mercifully only fallen to 2nd place in the AL East – it’s been a rough week for our rivals, too. The New York Yankees learned yesterday that Masahiro Tanaka, their $175 million offseason purchase, has a torn UCL ligament in his elbow and will likely miss eight weeks to rehab.
Struck by a wave of injuries that have some of their biggest names sidelined, the Jays must find creative ways to weather this storm – aka: buy time.
Jose Bautista, not yet healthy enough to return to the outfield, has taken to playing first base for the injured Edwin Encarnacion. Manager John Gibbons was asked if he could see a light at the end of this tunnel, and in a moment of uncensored honesty, he replied, “No. Not really.”
Amidst the gloom, an innocent enough comment by Adam Lind became a media firestorm on Wednesday. An MRI has revealed that Lind, who has been nursing a bruised foot for weeks, in fact has a facture and will miss additional time. Asked about the ordeal, Lind said that when things didn’t seem to be getting better, his mom suggested he have an MRI to get it checked out. An innocent enough comment, except that a frustrated fan base and bloodthirsty media machine quickly elevated Lind’s comments to dramatic overture. Was Lind suggesting the team’s medical staff was incompetent? In fact, were they? How is it that his mother detected something that so-called specialists missed?
Frankly, these are stories that wouldn’t get reported if the Jays were still in first place. Further proof that winning makes everyone feel better.
The Jays finish up their road trip with a three-game series in Tampa Bay. Though the Rays have been sluggish this year, Tropicana Field is known for bringing out the worst in the Blue Jays. They hope to snap the curse, sending Mark Buerhle to the mound against the Rays’ Chris Archer on Friday.
Insider Stuff
The annual MLB All-Star Game has grown into a week of festivities. The game itself pits the best players from the American League against the best from the National League. This year’s game will be held on Tuesday, July 15th at 8pm at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And the results from fan votes have Toronto players Mark Buerhle, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion making the trip to represent the Jays.
In addition to the actual game, other festivities include the Home Run Derby, the Legends Game, and the Futures’ Game – which showcases some of baseball’s most prominent young prospects. There’s also an All-Star Concert featuring Imagine Dragons and Atmosphere, as well as a 5km Charity Run called ‘The Color Run’ – you get the picture.
And if that isn’t enough to tempt you into a last-minute trip to Minnesota, there’s always the Mall of America. They have a Lego Outlet the size of a grocery store. Trust us, we have the blocks to prove it.
Buzzword of the Week: Non-Waiver Trade Deadline
As July 31st approaches, we hear lots of talk about the ‘trade deadline’ – but this is a slight misnomer. In fact, July 31st is the ‘non-waiver trade deadline’. In practice this means that prior to July 31st, teams are free to work out a trade however they see fit. But after July 31st, a player must pass through waivers before he can be traded.
As discussed in previous weeks, when a player passes through waivers, teams have the option of claiming him.
Here’s an example:
If the 5th place team wanted to trade their best player to the 2nd place team, that player must first pass through waivers – which means every other team, beginning with the last place team and moving up through to the 3rd place team, would have the choice to either pass or “claim” the player. If every team were to pass, the 2nd place team can then negotiate the terms of the trade. But if one of the other teams were to claim the player, they assume the remainder of the player’s contract and pay his original team a $20,000 fee. Faced with this scenario, the original team would likely choose to revoke the trade and keep the player – a $20,000 fee is not likely what they had in mind for trading him.
This is why most significant trades happen before July 31st – before other teams have the opportunity to complicate or block the trade.
The next significant deadline is August 31st. Though players may still be traded after this date (assuming they pass through waivers, of course), it’s important to know that any player traded after August 31st is not eligible to participate in the post-season. This means no playoffs or World Series. And that, friends, is what we like to call bogus.
So, what have you learned?
The Jays need to get off this roller coaster.
With the All-Star break in sight, the Jays should steal a couple wins in Tampa Bay, then come home and rest off their injuries. That’s what mom would want. Don’t forget to catch the All-Star Game on Tuesday, which includes three Jays’ players, and several other baseball festivities. It’ll be a week to relax before talk of the looming trade deadline again rears its ugly pessimism – and yes, of course we need more pitching. Chill out.
Let’s just look forward to a week off and seeing what the best in the game have to offer. We’ll travel back here next Friday with all the highlights on the best damn (and only) ball club north of the border.
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