The Blue Jays Road to Relevancy
Arriving at a game above .500 for first time in 31 days it does not get easier
The Blue Jays leave home having swept the powerful Padres in three games to complete a 5-4 homestand and now play six, in Tampa (3) and Texas (3). In this week’s Exit Philosophy Griff and Mal weigh in on the big sports story of the moment in Toronto, the Maple Leafs and their parting of ways with president Brendan Shanahan. Are there comparisons with the Jays organization and their nine years under Marek Shapiro with no real post-season success to show and, as an aside, should Shanahan have been given a media platform on the way out the door. Griff describes a similar situation in the ‘90s with fired manager Buck Rodgers. Is this the moment for the Jays with six primary outfielders, to give a banged-up Anthony Santander 10 IL days to get healthy and regroup? But then he pinch-hit on Friday with two outs and nobody on and two runs down. The Jays bullpen has stepped up and is as deep as anyone can remember…except for some blips on the Jeff Hoffman radar. Do they keep him in the closer role? A look at how highly ranked in the pre-season MLB teams with slow starts have bounced back and how does that reflect on the Jays. The Top 5 List this week is of position players born in the ‘80s. The list is amazingly thin and how is that a caveat for Vlad in the final five seasons of his mega contract. Plus, the Niagara Ironbacks inaugural season (St. Catharines) is looming in the PGCBL. We discuss. Don’t forget to comment and share.