OverDrive - OverDrive - August 17, 2026 - Hour 2 - Ryan Dempster

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Join Aaron Korolnek and Keegan Matheson for Hour 2 on OverDrive! MLB Network and Marquee Sports Analyst Ryan Dempster joins to discuss the Blue Jays' postseason sights, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s decline and the Yankees' ceiling. Korolnek and Matheson dive into the Blue Jays' roster finding strength, the track to success in the AL East and Aaron hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details and to check availability.

Bell, connection is everything. hour of overdrive here on this beautiful Monday afternoon. I'm Aaron Rulnuk with my man Keegan Matheson from MLB.com. Ryan Dempster will join us in about five minutes time. We're brought to you by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game, Your Way. Kegan, are you in tune with this dude who was playing MVP baseball 2005 with Roy Oswald trying to throw a perfect game?

And he finally accomplished it after almost 2,000 attempts. That is something that exemplifies 2026 content more so than anything else on the planet. Truly. That, it was almost emotional to watch, you know. And what a catch by Oswald, too. Exceptional. I'm the comebacker. Number one, MVP baseball 05.

Best game of all time. Those who played it all time. And it hit at the right time for me when I was in high school. My buddies and I wore that out. And just seeing the game play back again, man, like I was in my buddy's basement, you know, drinking a bottle of his dad something. and it was perfect man but like that's that is the type of the word content itself uh i'd like to bury it myself but that is the type of content that i'm here for man one of

one not a copy of anything and i i had the stream up for a little bit the other night before he got it going is there anything better than sitting around with the boys just talking about athletes from like 2007 naming some guys like oh you know who was great like mark reynolds Oh, absolutely. So many dingers. Whatever happened, Adam done, you know? It comes from video games, too. You know, like there are hockey players who I will remember for the rest of my life

because me and my buddies would have two-on-two NHL tournaments. For sure. In the basement, and you'd have those grinders on the fourth line that you'd try to score a goal with. It's no stick with you, man. They matter. Yannick Perot never lost a face-off in NHL-O-8. I remember it very well, very well. So, yeah, shout out to that guy who accomplished his goal.

It's a lifelong goal of all. Where do you go now? I mean, that is quite the accomplishment. No perfect games for Ryan Dempster, but he's going to join us momentarily. Why don't we get to something to chew on, brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar,

enjoy $15 lunch of BP where you get an entree aside and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or left. That's a fast lunch. It doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. So the question for today, revolves around the Toronto Blue Jays and the likelihood that they can make the postseason

and something to chew on, give me a percentage, Keegan. I know fan graphs is 17.4%. Are you higher or lower than fans? See, I would bang that over. I think you've got to be at least 50 at this point. But there are six teams that are virtually in the same spot.

You're talking about a 36 game run here. But I easy, easy over on the 17%. Because when I look through this, Baltimore does not scare me. Texas really doesn't scare me. The tigers and from a distance the Mariners, I do find a little more daunting. Because the tigers, you see all of these teams with negative run differentials. The tigers are plus 83. I know that's not the world.

But that is over 100 runs better differential than anyone else. And the Mariners can just pitch people to death. maybe that's something. But I'm not scared of the twins or the guardians. Are you scared of the Blue Jays? Always. I wake up in the middle of the, oh, in the playoffs. In the playoffs.

Oh, okay. Well, goodness. But I, you know, put me at 50, man. Like I would go over double. I'm almost tripling the fan graphs. It's funny. I would actually say, I would take the under on the 17.4 again. There's been a lot of smoking mirrors.

And I don't want to be Scrooge McDuck here and, you know, ruin all the buzz about this incredible month of August that the Blue Jays. have had. They've been 10 and 6. They just took 5 of 7 in Boston and New York. The vibes are back. I mean, you leave the ballpark Friday night. I was wandering around the streets of downtown Toronto. Like, let's go Blue Jays chance. I hear outside of my window. And I'm like, wow, what is this? October of last year. It's wild when you walk out, because down the dome, I don't want to say where it is, lest I make it crazier. But I walk out the same entrance that the players do after a game. And if I'm not doing

post-game sports center or something, I'm out of there pretty quick, same time as the players. So there's always the moments, and I know it's coming where I open the door and they think that it's going to be George Springer walking out and it's me. And there's just watching. There's a roar of excitement from all the women out there. People are faking.

It's like when you watch the old videos of the Beatles when they first came into the United States. The high-pitched screams. It's screeching truly. But you walk out and it's like a red carpet tunnel and I am, let's be honest, faking being on my phone the entire

a time checking the weather out. Oh, Eric Murphy leaving Ari's office. Absolutely. The boy speaking to Emily. That's a deep entourage cut. Anything. I did a full entourage rewatch during the pandemic. Darkest hours of my life.

No, no. That's quality stuff. The energy around the city, man. It's completely back on. Like, there's nothing else in the way of this. People are begging this team to be relevant. And I would say that this stretch drive here is going to be compelling because it would almost be unfathomable.

at this point to think that the Blue Jays weren't going to be in the mix, considering some of the opposition that they're dealing with. And you went through the teams, Baltimore, Texas, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, Seattle. None of these teams are very good. Again, I don't think the Toronto Blue Jays are very good either. They have shown virtually nothing offensively for the entire season. And again, they've got Bateman and McAdoo. And God love them.

They both had some really strong performances, but both of them were in the minors like three weeks ago. So do I think they're going to become superstars and become, you know, Ich, Rose Suzuki, and Brett Boone at the top of the Seattle Manors lineup. I don't know where those two guys came to mind. But no, I don't think that's going to happen. So, yeah, I think that is a fair approximation, the 17.4% chance. That is on fan graphs that the Jays will make the postseason.

And that being said, again, there's still a lot of work to be done. I think that work begins this week with three games against Tampa and three games against the Yankees. Would you sign off on three and three? for sure, right? I actually would. Yeah, because isn't that just like capturing the 20-26 season? Like, yeah, going just 500, it'd be good enough? Yes, and then you got that 30-game stretch where you don't face a team.

Try to make it up. That's it. Because the Blue Jays, even if they miss the playoffs, it's not going to be by eight games. It's probably going to look like this right up to the very end because all of these teams are playing one and other down the stretch. It's going to be great scoreboard watching. If you're a fan of tiebreakers, I don't know. It's going to be a great month for you.

but it'll be messy. And, man, I really think, like, just when I look at these teams, I do think that the other six teams involved in this are looking around, like, if you're an Orioles fan, and you're looking around, oh, the Rangers, the Tigers, the Twitters, well, the Blue Jays just took the Dodgers to game seven, and they've won 5-0 to 7. That's how other fan bases are thinking right now.

I feel really strongly. Do you think that is fair to look at it that way? Me neither. No. Again, that was last season. It's completely different. Last year. Blue Jays had Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

looking like Babe Ruth. Now, they have him on the IL. Springer was a 900 plus. Exactly. It's not the same team. Now, do I think the Blue Jays can pose some issues and be right there at the end? I do, but I do also believe it's more of a byproduct of who they're competing with for that playoff spot as opposed to what they're doing themselves. And listen, God love them. They've been playing very well. Again, 10 and 6th in August, and the performance against the Red Sox and the Yankees was a ton of fun. And they're going to be playing a lot of close games here,

because frankly they can't hit, but they can pitch. And if you can pitch, you're going to be in these ball games. And the Blue Jays have, at this point, four competent starters, two great ones, and Cesar Sorniano, and two question marks, and Scherzer and Bieber, but they've been good of late. Their bullpen's really solid. It's just a matter of if they can find a way to scrape together three, four, five runs a night and hope and pray that their pitching continues to come through the way that it has,

which, again, kind of brings me some skepticism because there are, some teams amongst those we mentioned that can't actually hit. I think we should let some NL teams come over to the AL. You wanted to, like, in the CFL where there's a crossover? I think that we should have a ruling come down, that we're just going to turn this into 1.30 team league for the rest of this season. Because when I look at the NL Wildcard, the third wildcard spot, currently occupied in the AAL by the two games below 500 Orioles.

Like, woo-hoo, you have the San Diego Padres who are 67 and 58, and they're a damn good baseball team. You've got the debacks chasing them. That's what a race should look like. And I struggle so terribly to see teams with losing records in the playoffs in any sport. So I'm hoping that an AL team goes on a real run here, man, because you've got to have a winning record to be in the playoffs. I don't care what we're talking about.

I tend to agree. Jay's four games under 500 at the moment. Let's head to the Maple Toyota Hotline, where longtime big league or MLB Network, Marky Sports Analyst, Ryan, Dempster joins us. What's up, Brian? Hey, guys. How are we doing? We're doing all right, man. We're doing all right. The Jays are hot. The city of Toronto is starting

to vibe again with regards to its baseball team. I'm curious. Are you buying this Blue Jays resurgence here in the month of August? I buy any team that all of a sudden it decides to get hot because we've seen the blueprints in the right in front of our face. How many times have we seen teams just like come out of nowhere down the stretch? Like a horse in a derby or you know what I mean? It's like we always talk about all the big bad teams that are in first, but eventually somebody comes out of nowhere, and you've got to be playing well at the right time,

and the Blue Jays are starting to do that. Can they keep that going up to them? But definitely has some excitement down the stretch here. Ryan, we're trying to figure out who the Blue Jays should be scared of in this wild card race. So when I read you the list of the Orioles, the Rangers, the Tigers, the Twins, the Guardians, the Mariners, they're all within three games of one another.

The Blue Jays, I think, have a reason to be a team people are scared of, but who else? What other team sticks out in that that you're waiting on to make a bit of a run here? Well, I think Baltimore is scary in that sense, because they're a team that everybody, I think that was kind of the hope going into the season was you sign Pete Alonzo, you make some trade, like you make a trade for Taylor Ward. You think you're putting yourself in this position to go out there and compete. It's just been terrible for them. And now they're playing well, too.

And, you know, Pete was just named player of the week. And Gunner Henderson's swinging it well the last week. And go down the list. And all of a sudden, they found themselves right in this thing as well. So, yeah, I think just given the fact that they're going to play them, you know, six times down the stretch here, there's a little bit to be. And scares not the word, I don't think. You're scared of no one at this point.

You're just playing the best baseball you can every day. But they're definitely a team that I think is. kind of mirroring what the Blue Jays are doing right now. Our guess is Ryan Dempster. Ryan, your career high in strikeouts in the season, 209. You also had a 208 strikeout season later in your career. Dylan ceased after his start yesterday, six straight seasons with 200 plus strikeouts.

Just how impressive is that from your perspective? Yeah, I just say his whole career, I mean, what he's been able to do, you know, he's gone through whether that's, you know, being traded to the White So. and then you trade it again, and then a free agent, and you go to another team, and a lot of moving around, and he's just continued to go out there and evolve. He's unconventional with his arm action,

is a little bit different. He's got some funk to him with that shore arm. This dude is nasty, man. He strikes out so many guys. He strikes out really good big league hitters all the time, and I thought it was a great time when they got him. You know, it's a lot of years and a lot of money, but if you're going to compete in the playoffs

and have a chance to win a World Series you need guys with number one type stuff and who can pitch like one, and he has both the stuff and the makeup and Moxy to be that front line rotation guy they're going to need for years. So, yeah, what an impressive feat and to do what he's done that many years.

I know how hard is to strike out 200 guys in one year and to do it six years in a row is incredible. Ryan, we obsess about playoff standings. I mean, already it's August 17th. And we're talking about the standings every day, tracking them every night. But I'm always amazed when I'm talking to players after games when they tell me that we're not trying to fixate on that.

Where's the truth in that? Because I know you've been in clubhouses and playoff races. Are some guys obsessing over it? Do some guys try to ignore standings completely? Like, how does that conversation happen behind closed doors? Yeah, to be really honest, it's funny you asked that question because I was thinking about this back, like when I looked at teams and when you get on these runs

where you're just winning and you're so focused. on your team and what you're doing that day. And it's something that always gets asked. Well, you know, you've got this many games. Cool, dude. All you focus on is that day. And I was trying to think, like, in 2013, I didn't even know who was playing well in the NL

because we were in the American League East and you're competing against those guys and you're just focused on you and your team. That you really don't score board watch until the last week of the season. I mean, you can. There's peaking that goes on, but at the end of the day, it's still the 40 games left or 38 games left, whatever it is you got.

You've got so much baseball left, and you just got to control today. And when you can stay present like that, you're going to be better personally, so individually you're going to have better performances, and then as a team, the wins just start to roll together. When you start going, hey, if we just do this and someone so does, you're focusing on all the wrong things, just control what you can control. and I think a lot of guys, they do just kind of let that go. Ryan Dempster, our guest here in the second hour of overdrive.

Today is the anniversary, the one-year anniversary, Ryan, of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s last regular season home run at home, which is absurd. Again, it doesn't make any sense how that's possible, but it is. And now Vlad's on the seven-day concussion aisle after getting a knee to the head over the weekend was dealing with concussion-like symptoms. We'll see when he returned. but when he does return, what, if anything, can he do to salvage his season?

Like, if he could somehow help carry this team into the playoffs, would that be enough to have the fan base forget about some of the other lack of production that he encountered over the course of the season? Yeah, it's hard when you're a superstar. I've been on teams with superstars, and they live to a different standard than we do, as the common player. And I say that being a guy who, yes, there were times I was an altar and there were times I was an ace of a pitching staff and all that.

I'm talking about elite players that are, you know, the marquee player of your team. And he just signs that huge deal. He goes out and has a massive postseason. And all of these things happen. And you're like, oh, you know, it's only a matter of time until he gets, and it just hasn't offensively, especially from a power standpoint, gotten going. And, you know, OPS is well.

way below his career average, 150 points below that. It's just been a struggle. I don't know. Never been in his locker room this year. Haven't talked to anybody on his team. I know how guys don't like to let people know when there's something maybe physically going on. To me, this seems like maybe a physical issue.

A lack of power seems like a physical issue and not a mental. This guy knows how to hit. He knows how to play the game of baseball. And when you lose a little bit of power as a hitter, could be a risk, could be a ribs, could be a lower back. You don't know, we don't know. And so, you know, it's kind of hard to explain what's gone on as far as a production standpoint. And you hope that this is an anomaly and not the norm, because if it is become the norm,

then you're like, wow, we gave $500 million to this guy. That's part of taking that contract is you've got to produce every year. It's part of your responsibility. Whether you like it or not, when you put on the dotted line, you're not just getting paid for what you did. You're going to get paid for what you're supposed to do. Ryan, the Blue Jays themselves, without Vladdy hitting for power, haven't done much of that at all. Number 29 in baseball, only the Brewers have fewer home runs, but that also shows that the Brewers are still doing something right. Now, do you think that the Blue Jays can ride this approach into the postseason, which is all about contact?

Or do you think they need that thump, which is really what made them special last year? I think you need some thump in the postseason. I know what you're saying about the Brewers, and they are vicious. like that and they do score on the regular runs, you know, 10 runs in a game, but we didn't, you know, we didn't hit any homers. When you get to the postseason, you're starting to face better teams, better pitching, better defense.

And so you're going to have to clip somebody every once in a while. You can't just string together three hits in a row against, you know, Sunny Gray. You can't string three hits in a row together, you know, against elite pitching. It's just hard to do. And so that's why it's the base hit before the big home run that pays off. And it is strange.

Two guys in the team with double-digit home runs, and we're almost in September, it's bizarre. And if you would have gone on the season, said, hey, guys, Akamoto is going to have twice as many homers as anybody on the team. Everybody's been like, dude, what kind of drugs are you smoking? That just doesn't make any sense. And that's what's crazy about this game. Sometimes we want to try and figure it out. So we go to every angle we can.

we look at every piece of video and we find every piece of data and analytical thing to try and justify what's happening. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. To me, the Blue Jays and their home runs, especially in that ballpark. We've seen it so many times. It's such a great place to hit. The lack of power in home runs doesn't make any sense. And it's weird, you know, and you're missing guys. The lack from Vladie Addison Barger being out where you don't have that power.

So, yeah, it's just strange that it's happened this way. Ryan, it's hard to rival an offense, as bad as the Blue Jays have been for the vast majority of the season. I will say the Yankees over the course this weekend definitely rivaled what the Blue Jays were putting out there offensively. It was not a very imposing lineup, and I know Judge is out. I know Bellinger is about to go on a rehab stand, but what is your assessment of the Yankees? Do you view them as a legitimate threat in the American League and perhaps to win the World Series? You get Aaron Judge back, you're a legitimate threat. I think with Aaron O'Iron Judges are a completely different team.

So they're the opposite of the Milwaukee Brewer. It feels like all they ever do is either hit home runs or strike out. They don't generate a lot of offense through grinding out at bats. They have a few more guys that do that a little bit more, but it's just a team that offensively, they're pitchable. If you make your pitches, you can get them out. They have guys that make you pay for mistakes, especially in that ballpark. You know, they are scary when you can put up.

Max Fried and Derek Cole and Plitler in a series, well, yeah, I mean, you're really good, and Bednar's done an unbelievable job in the night for them throughout the course of this season, but they're beatable. I don't think they're this big, bad, mighty team without Aaron Judge in that lineup. Ryan, fantastic to catch up with you as always.

We really appreciate the time, and next time we chat, I'm sure we'll have some more clarity on the Blue Jays push for the playoffs. Thank you for this. Yeah, it's exciting, man. I hope they continue on their winning ways, you playoff baseball back up in Toronto because we saw how incredible that was last season. Amen. Thank you, Ryan Dempster.

Who joined us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. It's time to Toyota. Check out the Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra pickup trucks, both available as hybrids. Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall. Something was posed to me over the weekend asking me, you think the Blue Jays regret how they handled the trade deadline? And I was quick to say, absolutely not.

Again, they bring it Soriano, who was an upgrade on Kevin Gosman for sure. And, of course, Bateman comes over in the Gosman trade. He's their leadoff hitter now. He's been performing very well. And then I looked at some of the numbers for guys they trade away. Gosman got lit up by, I can't remember who, but in the second star with Chicago, bar show has been horrendous in Houston. Like, literally not.

I watched him last night with a big strikeout. Yeah, he voted there. I don't really see any way. I think the only deal you might look. look back on and say, ah, they had Hoffman back there as their third guy behind Varland and Rogers. You'd feel pretty good about that. But again, they extracted good value out of the twins. I think it'd be hard to be critical about how the Blue Jays handled the trade deadline,

even with the way they've been playing since. I think it's a good deadline, man. If there was any deal I kind of picked apart at the time, it was actually the Gosman trade. And we'll see how Bateman pans out. Because I think that was an opportunity to go a bit higher. And that came 24 hours before the deadline. In the 24 hours after that, we saw some teams, I think, cash in with on the surface, public rankings, better packages. We'll see how it works.

But I do think the Blue Jays pulled off one of the hardest things to do in sports, which is because when you hear a team saying they're trying to thread the needle, it's usually BS. You can't thread the needle. And normally that means I'm a GM who has no clue. I hope someone blows the doors off or gives me a great deal and helps me out here because I'm not sure where to go. But I think Ross Atkins actually pulled this off a bit. Like the Soriano do, I love. And over and over again, they've traded top prospects, number one picks for pitching.

And more often than not, they nail this. Like, the Js are good at getting pitching and paying for it. And if one or two of these prospects turn into something fantastic. But Soriano, man, like the upside there, if you can do the Dillon C's thing and just turn it up a little bit, that's a legitimate knockout number two starter. With two years of control beyond this. Beautiful.

Yeah, exactly. Maybe an extension candidate, too. I would imagine that would be something the Blue Jays would look to explore. It really is hard to be critical of what they did because you mentioned threading the needle. That's exactly what they did. They found their leadoff hitter. Hard to do. Or the rest of the season, presumably, because I can't really see anybody else taking that role.

I mean, could Bateman go over his next 16? Yeah, of course he could. But he's been good and good defensively. He's kind of, I wouldn't call it like a Ben-Rivir vibe, but that's kind of what I got. Like the defense and the speed. Good arm, too. Which I did not expect really good arm.

Defensively, that's just another example of how the Blue Jays have been playing really well. And that's been a big part of their success. That's big part of the reason their pitching has been as good as has been because their defense has really been short up as well. So again, it's really interesting to kind of consider what could have been at the trade deadline. And that kind of brings us to Kyle Tucker. I don't know if you saw him getting booed yesterday by Dodgers fans.

Have you seen his numbers at home at Dodger Stadium this year? They're horrendous. Way worse than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the Rogers Center. He's hitting 192 at home. Got two home runs. But he's making $60 million a year.

It is unfathomable. We spent all off the season talking about Kyle Tucker or Bobichette. They're both terrible this year. Holy. And listen, bringing back Bo would not make Vladdy happier and better. Let's just skip it. But Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker, it's been a disaster. And that's $100 million worth of replacement level ballplayer.

Like the output they are giving to the Dodgers and Mets, you should be able to get off the waiver wire right now. It's stunning what I've seen from both of them. But Tucker especially, man, like you don't need to be even the seventh most important guy in the lineup to do something. and he has really, really fallen flat. So he's got that player option. Thank goodness for him. Oh, yeah, that's something he'll be exercising.

He will say, yes, please. I don't even think they'll ask him. It's just like, you know, we'll just do it. It's like Jose Berrios with his two years' player options. He will say, yes, thank you. Well, I think the same applies to Boba Chet as well. I don't think he's turning down $40-plus million. Good agent work right there.

Yes. Player options, better than team options. Yes. When you have a year like Kyle Tucker or Boba-Bichette, or in the case of. Jose Burrios. So we're doing something here at TSN 1050 this week called the Toronto Sports Fan Survey and a very intriguing question to kick off the week. And it is between the Blue Jays, the Raptors, and the Maple Leafs, which front office gives you the most confidence

and why? We'll debate it on the other side as we continue in our two of overdrive here on this Monday afternoon. Something to chew on is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a site, and a drink, and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. Overdrive 15 years, Rollnick Matheson in for Brian, Jamie, and Jeff, whose summers are nearing an end. I mean, I've got a couple weeks left.

Get ready, boys. Get the suits, iron. night, they'll be back soon. They're doing the garbage bag runs now trying to get back into September shape. That's it. They're in the sauna doing sit-ups. They'll be ready to rock after Labor Day.

But I wanted to get into this very, very intriguing question posed by the TSN-1050 higher-ups. I don't know. Maybe the producers were involved. Maybe this is Doogie's handiwork. But the question, which Toronto front office between the Blue Jays, the Raptors, and the Maple Leafs, gives you the most confidence and why? This is the Toronto sports fan survey. What front office, which of the three front offices of the Big Four sports,

Keegan gives you the most confidence in why? I don't want to be the Jays guy that goes Jays, but I think I have to be at this point because the Raptors don't inspire me. It's a big push in on Kauai, and I know you've got to push in in the NBA right now with where the great teams are. But beyond Kauai, I mean, the roster core itself, even before the Ingram trade, it was one of those good, not great rosters, which doesn't excite me. And losing those picks in 31 and 33, I mean, who cares about, are we going to be here?

Who knows? But still, those could be some really damn good picks in your future. So I'm not sure how excited I am about the Raptor's future with the front office. Bringing in Chica to the Leafs, like the upside there, and oh my God, if you win in this city, you will never pay for a beer again in your life. And I'm excited by some of the moves and the energy there, but I'm excited. haven't seen it. The Blue Jays have proven an ability to get back to that. Now, they've also proven an ability to take a big, ugly step back. But this front office has, I think, the advantage over

the others, which is that they can spend quite freely, at least under this CBA, we'll see. And they have done so. So I think that track record recently, even though it ain't shown up this year, is pretty attractive. It's so amazing. If you rewind 18 months, the Blue Jays, front office is in dead last behind TFC, the Arcos, the tempo. It was Atkins and Chaparro. Everybody was begging to drive them to the airport and shipment out of town. Of course, you have an incredible season. Back to Cleveland.

Yeah, exactly. You have a season like they did last year. You get to Game 7 of the World Series. And then you have a season like this year and you think, okay, well, the tide must have turned. Clearly, these guys are at fault to some extent. I don't view it that way at all. I mean, I think they did a great job in the offseason with Cease, with Rogers, with Okamoto, that's three for three.

Two of those are absolute Grand Slam home runs in the case of Cs and Rogers. It's about the guys on the team who are dramatically underperforming more so than anyone else. And again, we just talked about the trade deadline. I really like what the Jays did at the trade deadline still to this point. So I would still have the Raptors front office at number one ahead of the Blue Jays front office. Again, the Kauai deal, assuming it's consummated. I really like the rafters this year, man. This year,

yeah. This year, and you have a manual quickly in R.J. Barrett. I don't know a very unpleasant team to play again. Again, Bobby Webster was there. I know Mesailles was there in 2019. Big part of the initial Kauai deal. Now seven years ago, they've won. They've won. And again, they put together a hell of a team the year after that was derailed by COVID. And we know how everything played out from there. but I would have Bobby Webster won, and I know that might sound like a hot take, but I believe in his vision, have there been some questionable contracts? Yes. Yacobrtle, call what it is.

It's horrendous. It drives me nuts. But again, Ross Akinstein, Anthony Santander, so how bad can he get? Short term, I do love the quiet. And I wish that you could replace Yacquipurtle with a modern center. Or just someone who's making $25 million who can contribute. Maybe he could shoot outside of eight feet. But maybe this offseason hurdle's done the back rehab.

Again, there's been times when he's looked really, really good. And there's been a very valuable piece for the Toronto Raptors. But again, that's a lot of money and a lot of term for a 30-something-year-old who's already got back issues to the way that he has. So that's a concern. But again, I would still have the Raptors front office at one, followed closely by the Blue Jays front office. And again, we've got a factor in the reality.

The Blue Jays are spending a lot more. And that is a huge, that's a huge advantage. When are they in payroll? Top five and majorly amazing. Yeah, they're inside the five. Yeah, again, Raptors are hamstrung by the second apron. John Chica, Matt Sundin, again, they haven't even seen their team on the ice yet. So it's hard to really have determination on them.

It's almost unfair to include them in this. It sounds like we're denigrating them, but it's just, it's a, it's just an incomplete. Tell me what Sergey Bobrovsky looks like. Show me what Darren Radish looks like. And then you can make a call on their offseason. They need some time. You know, like, if we were playing a stock market right now, sure. I want to take the Maple Leafs because the payoff is unbelievable.

I want to look at the tempo and what they're going to put with Marina Mabry and Kiki Rice and probably a high pick in this draft coming up, which is a good class. I want to look at that. But right now, short term, that does make me come around a bit on wraps because, like, right now, sure. And we'll worry about 2031 when and if it comes. But being without Brandon Ingram, I think that's a lot of empty scoring. they won't miss anyways. You can replace that. But, man, in the short term,

I do just think the Blue Jays and their ability to have proven it, to spend, and I think to learn from this year, I think they'll come back differently. I go back to 92 and 93, when the Blue Jays flipped their teams significantly, almost half their roster between the World Series wins. Part of that was money and players getting old and all that stuff, but part of it was just doing it for the sake of being

fresh. And I think some lessons have been learned this year from a front office that realizes there's not enough of a core right now. Last year was the best version of everybody. George Springer being the great example. It was everyone's best version.

This year you're seeing what happens when the core itself is not stable enough. And I think this is the offseason where we see something a little bolder that shakes up the core or adds to the core of the team and fundamentally changes who they are. And maybe Anthony Sontondeer could be that guy undergoing his 17th shoulder surgery.

I mean, maybe this is the one that finally sticks. But call it a comeback. And Barger will be back next year as well. So he had those two to the equation. Who knows? But it seems like the most logical and important part is getting a guy who I'm not going to say makes Vlad play second fiddle. Like Vlad's not your best player. But is there a world in which they can find someone where that is the case, where it's like, okay, Vlad's your one B stud, which I think at times over the last 10 years, Bobichette definitely represented that, for sure. I mean, led the American League and hits it a bunch of times, and I was one of the best infielders in baseball offensively, no doubt about that from time to time.

But I just wonder, I mean, you have Thice and Soriano and you Savage to start your rotation next year. You've got Barlin and Rogers in the back, and you find relievers. throughout the, and they've shown a propensity to spend, again, you trade assets for Barland, you spend a lot of money on Rogers and you spend a lot of money on Jeff Hoffman, who you trade. You got to find some bats and you got to find some slug. If you're the Jay's next season, not to write off this season, I don't think they're winning the World Series this year. It just seems very unlike again.

Flip it. I don't think they're making the playoffs either. I'm hopeful that's the case. I'm just skeptical. That's the case, considering the four game under five record they have and all the teams that they're vying. with for the final wildcard spot. But they've got to find some bats against Springers off the books, Gosman's off the books.

Again, we'll see if there is a season to play next year. And what the salary cap, if that happens, how that could affect the Jays. I don't think that's a positive for the Jays, definitely. And I do think it will kind of level the playing field for some of the other lesser-thens in the American League that don't spend like Toronto does, which is not ideal either. But at the same time, you've got to get some boppers in there

because this year, the lack of slug that this team has exhibited now through 120-some-odd games, been a tough watch. And you've watched more than almost any. A lot of it. But the Yankees, I mean, Aaron Judge has Bellinger and jazz when he's playing okay, and John Carlos Stanton when his body works. You know, looking back through Jose Bautista had Edwin and Josh Donaldson for a while. How are you going to find Vladdy's Edwin if Vladie is Bautista in this conversation?

It's not in free agency. office. No, God, no, it's not. There's nobody. Like, Randy a Rosarena is the best best free agent. You're going to have to trade. You're going to have to make a big deal. You need another star, though. You really do. The Blue Jays don't need to outsmart anyone anymore. They don't need

to find another Lucas or Clements that no one thinks will be something and turns into a two-win player. Congrats, but you don't need more of that. They've done enough. They've proven that. They need the big, bold, classic star acquisition. And maybe someday that's Jojo Parker.

one of these prospects that comes up and turns into a stud, that would be a franchise changer. And a lot of people do believe that's going to happen. But there were also points three years ago, four years ago, where I legitimately thought that it was going to be Bobichette, who was the face of this franchise. Now, Vladdy had the right seasons at the right time, and damn, he looked good last year. But it can't be a one-man show. This is not the NBA where you've got one star you build around. This is not the NFL where the quarterback's the guy. You need depth of superstars.

The Blue Jays have depth, but not depth of superstars. Well, I also wonder if it's fair, and I know in the playoffs last year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was as good as anybody. The eight home runs in 18 games, you couldn't get him out. But again, he had 23 home runs in the regular season, and this is not the guy who had 48 bombs in 2021. Is it even fair to look at Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

In the same light as Aaron Judge or Shohei Otani? No. It's not. Again, we thought maybe because of what he did in the postseason, oh, that's going to carry over. He has this newfound confidence, and he can be that guy that you can plug into the three-hole and be just a complete monster, a thousand OPS, Juan Soto.

But I just don't think that's fair. You're going to have to find another guy alongside him who might need to be as good, if not better, if you want to compete with some of those top-tier teams around Major League Baseball. Yeah, that's not who Vladdy is. And I don't mean that as a dig. $500 million, heck you hope that's why it would be. It's guys like Aaron Judge what they do year after year is spectacular.

Juan Soto's stats, when we look back in his career 15 years from now, are going to blow your mind. He's one of the best pure hitters we've seen in generations. Vladdy has some of the track record, and he has the moments. We know what he's capable of, and we've seen his ceiling. But consistency is what excites me now, and we're not seeing that from Vladie. And I know the contract matters. A lot of people seem to think. there, $500 million,

that Vladdy's being paid, and they're very concerned. Check out the market cap of Rogers. That'll be just fine. I do every morning. It's on my wall. But a lot of people are very upset about his salary. It doesn't matter all that much. The Blue Jays can handle that.

Can I counter that? Hit me. If there is a salary cap, then it gets more interesting. Well, it does. Inevitably, it becomes like in hockey, where, oh, Vladimir Greil Jr.'s occupying X number percent of the salary cap, and he's not hitting a home run all season.

It will also matter if we get into a situation where certain things are grandfathered in, things are softened in, how that looks. If there is a salary cap again, there's a range, some teams that you got it at the floor is this and the maximum is this. It's very convoluted. And again, what happens with all the deferred money,

the Dodgers? I don't know how they deal with that. There's a lot of big deals. And you look at, for example, the NBA right now when they've gone to the aprons, these big guys aren't signing 10-year deals. it's all two, three, when you're hitting your different supermaxes. And, you know, a lot of sports are going that way.

And it reminds me of the last time we were approaching a CBA issue when I think Kevin Gosman signed like at the buzzer. So you'll probably see some guys trying to get their deals in beforehand. I remember we did a video call with Kevin Gosman because it was the night before that they weren't into that stoppage, I think, in 2021. So it'll be a flurry of business. Maybe that will, you know, I always complain every offseason. I wish we had the NHL free agency where you just do it in a day and we all say goodbye for a while.

There hasn't been anything. I guess Macklin-Cellibrini's finally two weeks ago, maybe now. But that was pretty much the last relevant transaction. About it, man. They go on vacation. They do. Yes, they do. I'm not jealous.

I'm not jealous. You want that constant content coming your way throughout the Major League Baseball offseason, which seems to stretch out forever. But yeah, I do wonder about what next season looks like. Again, not to look past this season. It's far from over for the Jays. that yes they are four games under 500 right now with 36 games to play they've got seven teams i guess you can look at that is buying for that final wild card spot which is a great

race i mean if you're baseball you have to be pretty thrilled you add the third wildcard spot and sure all the teams are kind of crappy under 500 but at the same time you get in and people will point to the arizona diamond backs from a couple of years ago who i believe got in with 84 wins and they marched all the way to the world series and you look at the way the american league is. Tampa's an awesome baseball team. Nobody would dispute that. But beyond them. Who else? No. You can get to the ALCS

real quick. Oh, for sure. And the Jays, if they are in the third wildcard spot, there's a pretty good chance. They'd play Chicago? Or maybe Houston? Not terrifying. No, definitely not. Listen, Munitaka Murakami. That's my guy. He's hitting a lot of dingers, but there's not a lot there that you'd be terrified by.

A year ago, Chicago was one of the worst teams of baseball. and now they've had an amazing season they deserve a lot of credit. I would take an extra Chicago trip. I need to start my anxious hotel bookings. By the end of the week, I will have so many bookings and so many different cities

that I'm going to get flagged by some intelligence agencies. A lot of points there. I always get emails from Marriott being like, hey, you're booked to be in separate cities at the same time. Did you mean to do this? Are you doing something really illegal? Yeah, I was curious how you reporters

on the road, you stack up the points, Maybe that's a podcast one day. How I accumulate my Marriott points and what I spend them on. I could go 10 hours on that. All right. I mean, we'll say that for tomorrow's overdrive. I've got my best bets powered by Fandall to conclude a very busy edition of overdrive on this Monday afternoon.

I'm Aaron Kornick. That's Keegan Matheson. You're watching on TSN 5. TSN's YouTube channel listening on TSN 1050. All right, an update for the Toronto Blue Jays. We wrap things up here on Overdrive, Forlick, Matheson. It's time now for today's best bets powered by. Fandul make your picks assembly. Same game parlay in seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook app.

I like Tampa tonight against Baltimore. Good news for the Jays. Shane McClane-McKan. Pitching for the raise. The Dodgers against the Rockies, Lock in Blake Snell, and Christopher Sanchez and the Phillies as well. That three-leg parlay plays plus 220 on Fandul. Today's best bets are powered by Fandul's same game parles.

Available for every MLB game on the Fandle Sportsbook app. Please Play Response to be 19 plus physically located in Ontario. It was a very profitable weekend of gambling for yours truly. Was at the King's Plate on Saturday? And listen, I'm far from a horse racing aficionado. I just look at the program and read up on some of the jockeys and the horses. I have one of my former students, Jamie Atard, gave me some advice as he's spending a lot of time in the stables there at Woodbine.

And somehow I want a bunch of money. It was unbelievable. There's nothing better than your horse is coming down. And it's going up against three, four others. and it emerges and wins by a nose and you're hugging people around you. Yeah, it's a truly glorious experience. It really is.

Going to the track, it's awesome. More people need to experience that. A live win, because you can't beat a live win at an actual event. It connects you a little bit. A couple bucks can make you really care about a lot of things. But I love it, man. What a W.

It was a delight. And then I won a big NASCAR bet on Saturday night as well. I was on fire. NASCAR and the Kingsplayed. Who knew? Who knew? I've got it. What you mentioned about how it can bring you together.

I take an annual golf trip every year. We go to a different location, usually around March or April. A couple years ago, we went down to Tampa Bay for a golf trip, and we went to see a lightning game. And we had this big parlay, and it had a bunch of different legs. And the last leg was in Nikita Kuturov, assist. He gets it on the final goal, the 7-0 goal. And there's three minutes left in the game.

Basically, no one understood why me and my... three degenerate friends, we're jumping all over each other and celebrating. So we leave, we are on top of the world. No one has been happier than the four of us leaving Amalie Arena in Tampa, arm in arm skipping down. Listen, it was a big bet. And then we check PSN.com.C.A just to ensure everything's good. And we noticed that the Nikita Kuturov assist had been removed on the final goal.

So it was all in jest. That brings me back to that very dark afternoon. That's tough, man. Listen, that's how the cookie crumbles. I remember growing up in Halifax. I lived in Halifax. I lived in Halifax, Moosehead's years when they won the M-Cup. Pascal Leclair?

Oh, man. Some of those earlier on, but I mean like Nathan McKinn and Jonathan Drew Wend, Zach Foucalli, Marty Furk. And we would love to, my favorite bets in my entire life. We're betting beers on the mid-games, Tim Bits, hockey games. Oh, man, you'd be cheering for those five-year-olds. But the summers are kind of tough for me, man, because I stay away from baseball. Baseball. As you should.

As you should. You don't want to go full Chonte Porter. No, no, don't touch it whatsoever. The summer's getting a little, I'm just waiting for football. You want to know my darkest hour this summer? Which I'll only admit towards the end of the show, because I hope folks have tuned up. Midway through this most recent season of Love Island USA, I bet on the winners. Oh, buddy.

And I won. Why, you had some foresight into... Absolutely. I can read chemistry. When you start betting on things that aren't sports, that's the time to pull the parachute. but NFL football is coming. I can sense it. The preseason man is hitting me in the right spot.

I feel it coming. I feel the air turning. Yeah, and the fantasy discussions are picking up. The group chats, everyone's getting fired. I think my first draft is one week tomorrow. This is the time of year that men get back in touch with their friends that haven't spoken to in eight months. That's exactly. Yeah.

That's about it. One last year. How are you doing? Oh, you got married? Yeah. Wow. You have three kids? How did that happen?

A lot changed. Anyways, what do you want for Sequin Barclan? That's enough about your personal life for the next year. There's no small talk. No. When trade negotiations are going down. You find any way to avoid that, you get right down to business. I love it.

And that's the best season. That's the best season that there is. I think the month of September is the best in the sporting calendar. Simply because the NFL is back. I love the Masters. I love the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NBA playoffs. but I mean you can't beat September, man. The NFL returns, and the Blue Jays are in a playoff run as well.

And they'll have the off day today, but they'll be back in action tomorrow night. So it should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to that game for the Jays against the Tampa Bay raise. Thanks to Alex and thanks to Doogie. Gigan, what a treat it was to meet you in person for the first time. Dreams come true. Friends for life. Friends for life.

And we'll be back together tomorrow. Tomorrow evening. Frankie Corado will be with us tomorrow. Again, my name is Aaron Krolynick. in Matheson. We'll be back at it again at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar.

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