OverDrive - OverDrive - July 14, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes and Jonas Siegel for hour 3 of OverDrive! TSN football analyst Luke Willson joined the show to discuss the weekend that was in the CFL. Blue Jays writer Keegan Matheson joined to chat the Jays’ first-half. The guys also discussed their dislike for the ocean.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada.

The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app Final hour overdrive continues powered by FanDuel bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score Brian Hayes Jonas Siegel Keegan Matheson later in the hour And the Jays at the break the home run derby tonight Luke Wilson coming up here in a few moments, something to chew on, best bets.

So I was telling you earlier, Jonas, that I was kind of touring Eastern Canada, which was great, right, through Quebec City, lots of Nordique stuff still there. Like, it's pretty amazing how that, like the history of that team is still alive, and they've been gone for 30 years. Like, it's depressing in a way

because clearly there's such a passionate market and I'm sure they'd love to have their team back t-shirts, hats, everywhere which is really cool um... went to Montreal, Habs Gear everywhere, Ottawa, not as much anecdotal, not trying to bother people here, not trying to get at sense fans didn't notice as much sense gear though in Ottawa but you know it was big this is something I don't think you can necessarily relate to but a lot of people I'm sure can my kids have reached an age where I don't have to go

in the pool anymore so we did pool hotels everywhere, which is mandatory. Basically that's what I look up first when I'm booking the hotel. Is there a pool? What's up with the pool? Is there other stuff for kids? Like, I don't care if this hotel is on the moon, we'll stay there and find our way to Quebec City or whatever. So pool in Quebec City, pool in Ottawa, I think four total nights. I didn't step foot in that pool once and

I was so happy because I don't want to swim. You don't like to swim? I don't mind swimming but I don't need to swim. Like when your kids are young you have to go in and your kids are constantly like can you come in, can you come in. Now my kids are old enough they're like I don't care if you come in. Like, fine, I'll sit over here and have a beer. This is great. So that was a big, big moment for me and my wife. We got to just kind of hang out and they swam

and big moment for us as parents. Can you appreciate that, Jonas? So when you go to the beach, do you go in the water? No, hate natural bodies of water. Wow. I've made that statement many times. I will not even come close to an ocean. Not going in the ocean.

Wait, I have so many questions. No interest. So you go to a cottage. Yeah. You just sit on the dock with a beer. Just up in Mistoka this weekend. Did not, actually I did go in, but up to like my knees kind of to get into like a paddle boat and stuff like that but I'm not launching off a deck I will and I have and I do

with my kids certain times are like can you come out there's a raft or whatever yeah okay I'll do that but I'm not act like if my kids aren't there I'm not going in so what is that about I guess guess he's the phobia of some sort. Is it like you look down, you can't see what's in there. Yeah, that's a part of it. That's probably a part of it. What about the ocean? Ocean's a complete, who wants to go in the ocean?

I love the ocean. What about the, for starters, salt water's brutal, sucks. Great for your skin. It's great for your skin, but you, you, inevitably you're going to digest some and you're like, Oh, it's so gross. Okay. What else? Do you know what's going on in oceans?

No. Do you have any idea what's happening? Well, there's, I mean. Sharks. Are you worried about sharks? I would say that's a part of my concern. You're not concerned about sharks? Not at all. You would swim anywhere in the ocean? Sure. Like I put you off the shores of

Australia, you're cannonball. Yeah, until like that scene in Jaws. But what if you're the only one in there? Oh, hopefully I see it. Let me ask you a hypothetical question I've asked before and everyone's got a different answer on this Let's say you're you're at a lake Reasonable size lake like not not you not a great lake not Lake Ontario or something like that But just like a reasonable size lake There's one shark in there one great white

Just one, but you know, what's in there. Are you swimming? just one but you know what's in there are you swimming no thank you no chance you're going in the ocean you know how big the ocean is? it's big I know but there's more than one in there that's the point you gotta extrapolate yeah you're fine okay what about what about a Great Lake let's say Lake Ontario I put for sure five five sharks What else kills you in the ocean? What kind of sharks like great whites like something that's nasty? I think I'd take you do five sharks. Sure

Great lakes, what number what number would get to you? Like at what which volume of shark 100 so So there's 100 scattered throughout Lake Ontario. You're like, I'm not going in there. Probably not. Yeah. That's the number for you. I want to know why you're so scared of the water. I'm not scared.

I'm not scared of the water. I just don't. I'm not a fan. I don't have an appreciation. So you would not take like so one thing. Not something I have to do. I like to take a pool. I love a pool.

But so will you take like a pool? Will we take a floaty out in a pool and just like happily all day love a pool okay just I don't know lakes and oceans and stuff like oceans are not for me I'm not a saltwater guy way too many unknowns we do many stories of the guy that you know something happening like what are you doing in there just sit sit at the beach why do you have to go in there sit at the pool back at the hotel part of go to the beach is getting in the water it's hot i don't think it's mandatory though i don't think like in order to go to the beach you have to get in the water do you think that's like would you feel strange if you went to the beach yes i think that's

insane i'll bet you i'll bet you luke i'll bet you Luke's not an ocean guy. I got him pegged. No, I think he is. He's not scared of the ocean. I'll bet you he's scared of the ocean. I'll bet you he's not going right. This is an amazing thing. I remember when I learned that Jeff O'Neil doesn't like scary movies and that was amazing for me. This is equal to that. That's soft. This is lived experience. Is it? Did you get attacked by a shark as a kid? I don't know. I worried about it. I'll tell you what, that's something that's that's changed a lot. Like in my lifetime, like people swimming in Lake Ontario, never as a kid.

Like my parents, my mom would be like, you are not stepping foot in that lake. It was so polluted. That's a debate for us because like I like go to the beaches and like... You're a Lake Ontario guy? You gotta check the flag. The flag tells you if it's safe. Lake Ontario is a different beast man. There was an E. coli in there last week. I think I might pass on that one. I like five, you know, ten toes and ten fingers. I don't need more. All right here's our main man Luke Wilson. I'm putting money he's not an ocean guy. Like I got him pegged. He's a biker He's a land guy Luke go ahead man. Do you jump? Do you like the ocean? Are you an ocean swimmer?

I'm now you've got it. Correct. Okay. It's not that I'm anti ocean here, but I'm not I'm not surfing. I'm not ocean swimming, you know, it's a one-in-room thing for me I'm a land guy, you know, it's a one-in-a-rome thing for me. I'm a land guy. Same man all day. I mean and I get out there and it's like what am I doing here? There's so many great things on land and I'm just lounging around out here, you know, once in a while sure But like what am I doing? Yeah, I appreciate that I'll tell you what man. I we was in the Mediterranean, like in Greece, my wife and I, we took some boat and we're supposed to swim into, what are they called,

the hot rocks or hot springs? And when we signed up, I thought this boat was pulling up right beside and I'm going to cannonball into the hot springs. They're like, no, you got to swim like 15 minutes. Dude, I was freaking out because this was in the middle of the ocean. And I had to go. My wife's like, you're getting in. I'm like, I guess. But man, I was bent out of shape. I will never do that again and totally ruin the hot springs. Yeah. And here's my thing is we don't

have to think of this ocean as like this like real like friendly plague, yada yada yada. Death. This is like, you know, these peoples or these fish and is it amphibians? I have that right, it's their home. Yeah. Okay, I can't control what they're doing. Next thing you know, I do something that annoys one of them and I got a jellyfish thing in

me or bite me or whatever the proper term is or I mean, I just don't want to deal with all that. I agree man. It's like going in the jungle. Like, yeah it is. Why go in the jungle man? The fish are so scared of you. Not all of them are.

And you can't play on their playing field Jonas. You're at the sea level dude. You can't get down to where they are and where they're comfortable. You're fighting at such a disservice you're such great cake it's off you can't thank you thank you yeah I love that look I knew Luke was going to get this way. Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish? no and I don't intend to because I won't put myself in that position you've been stung? yeah it hurts yeah it's like it's not that bad it's bad enough like it can

get you gets you in the wrong place and kill you Yeah, I didn't Steve Irwin dive. He got hit. Yeah, but that guy's gambling every day He's like Swimming with crocodiles. I know that another thing you won't see me do anyway How was Saskatchewan Luke? Okay, I'll be honest, Hayes. So, and I put a small video up there. I had gone to Saskatoon for the first time.

I've never been to Saskatchewan, probably two months ago. I was blown away. Again, it's not like, it's not Toronto as far as the size, but like the people there were great. The parts I were in Saskatoon were like very nice, kind of a cool weekend for me. And I'm like, wow, like, I never, I don't hear this place is amazing. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't want to be very, very clear that the people of Regina, okay, were great. Everyone was

wildly friendly. They loved the riders out there. I'll be honest and say that walking downtown, I was told, I was told that Regina has cool spots outside of downtown, but the places that I was at, which was not that many places, was by far the worst city I have ever been to. I've never seen anything like this. I'm talking, this was beyond construction, Hayes. It looked like it was like war torn at places and I mean It was uncomfortable to walk around There was a lot. I mean they've seen better days. So Regina in itself was a little tough

But I will say the people especially those who waited for hours upon hours for a game Friday night That didn't actually happen were unbelievable But I don't know what's going on with the local government in Regina, but they gotta get it figured out because they're letting everybody down. Yeah, that's shameful, man. That's too bad.

Like I've never been there, so it's kind of got an ocean vibe to me. I don't know if I'm dying to get out there personally, but you're not really selling it, man. Wait, I have one more question. So will you guys go on like a hike? Because like there are certain places where you can go hiking. Are there grizzlies within? No, I'm not going on. You hear like Bobcat attacks? No, not happening. Okay. I walk down Yonge Street. I will view a hike,

but that's another one where I'm just like it's got to be it's got to be kind of like specific if that makes sense and it's got to be at certain times when there's not like 10 million people on the trail, you know? It's very like, it's a curated ordeal for me. Yeah, and I, like, I gotta have, you gotta have some sort of protection if you're in a situation like that. You're just supposed to like get big and scream. Yeah, with grizzlies? I don't think so, dude. Those things, if you're're in if you are in

their like Territory territory and they have it if they have a mood on your toast. So do you go camping? No Absolutely not go ahead Luke, I don't know. I'm with you on that. Hey, I'm an anti camp guy I'm an electricity guy and plumbing. That's not bad. That doesn't make you less than bad for being like, hey, I want a nice shower and the ability to turn on a light. Could you imagine getting into a time machine and going back three, 400 years from now and say, hey, just for the record, I'm going to experience what you're experiencing even though I have these options. You know how mad those people would be?

It's just to get away. Our ancestors would be like, are you insane? You could take a shower every day and have plumbing and electricity and you choose not to? Are you stupid? No. You've never raised like the barrel up in which... No, not interested. Not even remotely interested. I'd love to see like, an overdrive from the Algonquin. Yeah, that actually would be kind of interesting.

Luke, you'd be in for that. Sure you'd be in for that, but yeah, we'll see. Well, in terms of the game, I mean, that was crazy where you guys had to wait a day, you end up playing a game, but you know, the Argos, you know, on a local front, they were on a bye week this week. It sounds like Chad Kelly's right around the corner.

Like what's your read on the East? Because seemingly like every other year, it's wide open, like the Argos are one in four, yet I think they're probably thinking they could still win the division. Yeah, I mean having Chad Kelly come back will be a huge ordeal. The other one that I think people have stopped talking about that is very,

very good is Montreal, but the problem is, uh, you know, they lost their starting quarterback now he's back this week, obviously. So that'll help. I think with Davis Alexander in there, they're, you know, right up there with Hamilton, the tough part with the Argos is, you know, they lose so many guys from last season and for whatever reason, especially on that defense, and like even with Chad Kelly back,

like is that really gonna, you know, push them over the edge? And Hamilton is right there, you know, I think Hamilton's up there right now. If I had to pick like my top teams in the league at this exact moment, I would go, you know, the West is pretty dominant. I would go Calgary, probably one, Winnipeg too. Even though they laid an absolute egg, I would go number three was Saskatchewan and then

forward probably the Hamilton. Five would be uh... montreal and then it gets a little like like ronald down there for me on was really down there for me there price in its seventy to chad galley's got that way to talk to ask you like if the ship turned around

with luke wilson so we're talking about uh... this list that came out of your speed and i com he has been revealed their top 10 quarterbacks, the NFL season going into 2025. So they pulled execs, coaches, and scouts. I don't think anyone's surprised. Mahomes has won, Allen's too, Burrow three, Lamar four.

Like those are always gonna be the top four guys. You know, you could argue who should be, I don't think there's an argument for who should be one personally. I think it's clearly Mahomes. But then is it Allen? Is it Lamar? Is it Burrow? You know, you can differentiate whichever way you see it.

But those are clearly the top four. What I found interesting, and I'm curious to get your take on this, they had Jaden Daniels at five. Daniels at five. Daniel's at five. Do you think as a second year player he's prepared to take on that level of expectation? No, not yet. I mean, I think he's tremendous. I think the future is extremely bright. But like, and this is where it gets weird, and like we ask executives and you know, yada, yada, yada. And I know they had, I believe Stafford was six.

Yes, he was. And I'm like, I don't know many coaches right now that would take, if it was a playoff game, you know, we're gonna take Matthew Stafford or we're gonna take Jane Daniels over Matthew Stafford. I know it's a one spot different, but it's like, I look at last year's playoffs, for example, and Philly pretty much rolled

everybody except for Stafford and the Rams. And there's an argument when Stafford had that two-minute drive in the snow, I might add, a game that with the weather should have heavily favored the dominant run team of Philadelphia. Stafford goes down, drives the field, and if you watch those last two plays back, where Jaylen Carter makes two huge plays there, it's an identification issue on the offensive lines with the Rams. I think if they just blocked that up correctly,

it wasn't like he beat somebody. Stafford probably has a shot at knocking off the Eagles. So when I see these lists, I'm kind of like, man, it's not taking anything away from Jay and Daniels at all, but I'm like, I don't know, like when you use the term NFL executive, who does that entail? Is that a GM or is that a front office guy

that is in charge of sales? Okay, and that's where I get with this list where I'm like, you know, another one on there that was kind of a bit surprising for me was Herbert, I believe, came in. Was he seven or eight? Yeah, Herbert was seven, Goff eight, Hertz nine, Baker Mayfield ten. Yeah, and I'm just like, you know, I look at take Baker at 10. And it's like Baker took the Cleveland Browns to a playoff game and they beat Pittsburgh a few years back. He gets bounced around a little bit and he was absolutely on fire, you know, the last two seasons and has really taken Tampa into a very legitimate team

and I'm like, uh, you know I'm not trying to take a shot at Herbert. We're like, what is Herbert really like down is I know oh You know, he's got some stats here and the stats say this and at one point he's 500 and yada yada yada But I'm like, I don't really like watch Herbert and say like hey 500 and yada, yada, yada. But I'm like, I don't really like watch Herbert and say like, hey, you know, I'd rather this, to go win a game, like I'd rather him than Baker Mayfield. I'm not sure, maybe that makes me insane.

But that's kind of why I saw this list. I'm like, I thought it was pretty easy to poke some holes in. And then I'll say is like, the top four are the top four. And you can point wherever you want. I think everybody would probably go Mahomes-Allen outside of Buffalo fans. And the only reason, now I shot at Josh, the only reason is simply the wins,

which is not Josh's fault or not his fault. It's just like, it's hard to put Josh in front of Mahomes When Mahomes has this pedigree of beating the bills in the playoffs consistently But I think the top four is the top four then after that I thought it was pretty suspect Yeah, but I do I do think there is a big gap. I mean I I Guess you know I know you love Stafford and everything you say about Stafford is is in terms of he's tough he wins when he's got weapons he's got a line like I you can make the argument for him at five but I wouldn't be surprised like if Daniels continues to play the way he if he if he just basically repeats what

he did his first year and I think he'd probably get to a point where he would define himself as the fifth best quarterback. Like I don't see. Yeah, like he was phenomenal, man. And he was great in the playoffs. Like what he did to Detroit was wild. Crazy. Wild. Yeah.

Hey, I totally agree. I'd like to see another year. Like for example, I think he was voted but didn't make the top 10. Like CJ Stroud, I think everybody would have had like, oh, he's gonna be a top 10 guy after his rookie year. And like that didn't come to fruition. Now he's obviously a top half of the league guy. And I saw Dan Orlovsky was really agitated, you know, that he wasn't in the top 10.

And there's an argument for him, sure. But it's like, to me, Jayden Daniels is not five yet. He has another year like he just did. He's a hundred percent five and maybe he's depending on how those other four do, maybe he's inching into the conversation of being in the power for, but it's just not a big enough, you know, sample size for me to be like, he's the fifth best guy. All right.

Well, we're getting close man. Like camps are opening. We got rookies I think reporting later this week. The big boys will be in town before you know it. We're gonna have the Hall of Fame game in like what two weeks? Like just over two weeks man. We're here. August is one, end of July is when guys would report.

You know I was out golfing this morning thinking to myself, a couple years ago, stress would be 10 out of 10 because we were 9, 8, 10 days away from showing up to camp where it's blood on the moon. Instead, I'm out here in Uxbridge swinging the stick. I love it. Times have changed. Welcome to the dark side, my friend. It is a beautiful thing. Just feet up, little golf, staying on land. It's a beautiful thing, man. It's a beautiful thing. Staying on land. Staying on land.

We're land guys. There you go, we connected. I love it. All right, buddy, we'll do it again soon. Sounds good. There's Luke Wilson, our CFL, NFL analyst. I just looked this up. How many shark attacks do you think there were

in 2024 in the world? 200. 47. That hurts. That's pretty good. Your chances are pretty low. Yeah, I know. Listen, I get it.

I mean, go do your thing. Like, I'm not stopping people from going in the ocean. Go ahead, go camping. I don't, like thing. Like I'm not stopping people from going in the ocean. Go ahead. Go camping I don't like camping to me. I have no interest like it. Nothing is Intriguing. I'm I'll admit it. I can't have done it. No, and I have no interest in doing it none Wow wasn't raised to camp. I'm a city guy born and raised in the city You know my camping is you know we I don't know have you ever watched a down alone I don't think so so they drop these are like

experience like survivalist people they drop them off in like the middle of nowhere and whoever survives longest okay I think I think I have seen that do you think you would last one night I don't't know, man. I don't know. Because there are people like they don't even last the night. They're like they call it in. Yeah. I think that I think you'd be like an hour and then I'd be I think I'd be okay out there. But like the issue is, you know, like would I be able to start a fire?

That's you know, a life skill. You have to create a shelter. Got to create a shelter. Find food. Probably don't get internet access out there. Find food. Yeah, I don't get internet access out there, find food. Yeah, I don't know, man. It's just, it's not my thing. Fair enough. Like the ocean, I've been, I've been in the ocean dozens and dozens of times. I will go back in the ocean.

Don't like it. In my life. It's just, I don't have an urge to do it. It's not my thing. Camping, I can tell you definitively, I will never do that. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. I don't know why I find that so funny. I could not care less about camping. I have no urge to do it whatsoever. You're missing out on it. Am I, what am I missing out on? Have you ever roasted a marshmallow on a fire?

Yes, many times, at a cottage, and then I go inside. Guess what, you can start fires and then go inside and sleep on a bed and close the door and have lights and fridges. With nature. Have you? How many times have you been camping? Yeah, exactly. You're speaking as if you're like David Suzuki type.

Maybe you've been to that's still a fair amount. Yeah, like where you have personally been like and like oh so you've done the portage. That's not fun. I don't know why. There's another example of that like why do you want to grind it out with a canoe or kayak or whatever. It's not fun. And like upstream. Yeah. And people are just gritty and grinding and you're trying to survive. Like I don't find that appealing. It's just like to get away from your regular life. And it's like you're with nature,

it's silent, you're not on your phone. Yeah, so that I find appealing. I will admit that. I think that's common in society. Like there's gonna be escapes from phones. Like there's an industry out there for that. Like a pod where you go and sit in it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's it's kind of like, again, like

going to the masters, like you can't bring your phone. So you're in there and you're like, it's it's 2003 again, like I'm back to where I was when I was 20. Like no phone, no anything, no one can reach me. Now people know where you are, but that's coming. There was a time, to your point, I went camping once, and it was the morning and I woke up and I heard bears outside of the tent. Mm-hmm.

A little scary. That'll get your attention. Like black bears wouldn't necessarily scare you, but you never know. You get a mother bear with cubs around and she takes a look at you, Jonas, thinks that you're up to something nefarious. Yeah, but then you're just supposed to like get really loud.

I know, I love that. Oh yeah, just get loud. Just start yelling at a black bear, a wild animal, when you're nowhere close to civilization. You're just not supposed to turn around. Because then you're showing weakness? Yeah, because then they could chase you. There are warnings like in Toronto, like for coyotes.

There are like, signs about coyotes. Coyotes don't scare me. Like, coyotes aren't concerning for me. But if you're in a position where there's wolves around, bears around, like grizzlies in particular, no chance. Give me raccoons in the subway system. That's where I'll camp out. All right, Keegan Matheson coming up. Best bets still to come as well.

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Lots of support online for my lifestyle, Jonas. We don't do natural bodies of water, we don't do camping. Land, plumbing, electricity. That's how I roll. That's my trifecta. Anti-water. Generally speaking. But electricity and plumbing. Like why would I ever give that up? Right?

Like it's just incredibly... You just sort of jump in the lake and you have a good refresh. Okay. Well, that's... I guess you could have the best of both worlds, but you don't do the camping thing. What if your kids come to you and say, we wanna go camping?

Never gonna happen. I will have failed as a parent. If either of my kids say, we gotta go camping, I will say, absolutely not. And then I'll find a way, I don't know how I'm gonna get around you could just get like one of those big trailers and then you could sleep inside yeah I guess that's possible all right we'll see something to chew on brought

to you by Boston Pizza and some reason not in here we'll find it later safe brought to you by Boston Pizza we've been asking people online what would be the most important development for the Blue Jays in the second half. Vladdy steps it up offensively. Jays acquire an ace or a significant arm. Jays acquire a bat. 50% of the votes saying Vladdy stepping up. So that's pretty significant. Let's see what our main man Keegan Mathison has to say about that. Here he is from MLB. com and soon to be co-host this very show

overdrive later in the week we ready for this keegan or what i'm ready guys i'm starting out the you know soft launching a suit jacket here i had to get suited up earlier to do a little s c with sarah i took the tie off and i thought this was a tie down affair but uh... yeah you guys have been a suit jacket i'm even wearing pants in my own home right now at 6.33 p.m. So I'm cleaning up my act in advance of Wednesday. Can't wait, fellas. All growns up. I love it. It's great to see. Where do you stand on that? Like, Vlad, if you could pick one thing to happen for the Blue Jays in the second half, a positive development,

what would that be for you? It's always Vlad E for me. The rotation I do see the argument for an ace level starter and they need that they need somebody who can pitch in games one two or three of a postseason series not another guy that's a number five they can figure that out. But a legitimate game one, game two type of starter. But Vlad is it. Man, come to the postseason. You need to have a hitter of Vlad is caliber who other teams are scared of. And they're not scared of Vlad right now. They respect them. They're mindful of them. But nobody's afraid right now. And I think he's just trying to do too much. I think this is what we've seen in past years where he's trying to hit five home run home runs and change a game immediately. When you try you're typically gonna fail in baseball when

you're going over that hundred percent and Vlad is capable of things nobody else in this lineup is capable of and if he can take over a game he can take over a series guys and he can be that guy in the postseason. They need him. Nothing goes anywhere without Vlad, even with how good this has been. Yeah, I would totally agree with that. You know, the amount of sugarcoating I see, you know, in terms of analysis, in terms of online, like, well, you know, what, he's not seeing a lot of pitches but you think Aaron Judge is seeing like primetime pitches right down Broadway thank you like he's not he's getting worse action and Vlad he's getting and he is launching so there's no excuse for this right Keegan like 12 home runs in an OPS where it is currently to say nothing of a batting

average below 300 if you're not gonna hit for power you better be hitting more than he currently is. There's just simply no explanation. He's gotta be substantially better. When you're Vladdy, you don't get the treatment of the expected stats, say this, the wind and the moon was in this house at this certain, I don't care.

I cover the games and I cover the scores. And with Vladdy, that's been a big talking point over the years whether it's his babbip balls in play whether it is the expected launch angles on what he's hitting it needs to happen in games because 99 percent of fans who watch a game every night don't know what the hell any of that stuff means number one and this is a results business it's an entertainment business but it's a results business. And at this stage in Vladdy's career, you need to see the ball going over the wall.

And that's the important part. If Vladdy was a singles hitter, if he was a guy trying to hit 320 and steal 50 bases, sure, there's a little more room for that luck and chance with balls finding grass, but he needs to be finding the third deck at this point. He needs to be breaking games open. at this point. He needs to be breaking games open and for his home run total to be where it is right now, strange to me. And

it hasn't guys, it has not looked terrible. It's just looked kind of okay. He's not striking out five times a game. He's not getting overwhelmed. It's just looked okay. And he's not an okay baseball player. He's a great baseball player, but just looked okay. And he's not an okay baseball player. He's a great baseball player. But I like the judge comparison and I'm glad you say that. This is a major market. It's a serious market. This is a playoff team and it's a serious team.

And I think we need to talk about every player on the roster, stars included, any paycheck in a serious way. And Vladdy right now needs to be better. He's been okay, but he's the guy who can take this team to greatness this year. They're a postseason contender. With Vlad E, they can be a World Series contender legitimately.

So Keegan, do you think this is just, when you say pressing, do you think this is contract related? He just is trying too hard with that? I don't think the contract is too much of it, but we've seen it the last few years, guys. And John Schneider always kind of explains it the same way that Vlad is pressing. It's the word that he'll use a lot, trying to do a bit too much. We've seen it in past years, and any Blue Jays fan listening can picture this, when Vlad flails at the big outside

slider because he's geared up for a fastball and he's swinging a little big. Vlad E in those moments he wants to be the guy and that's good you want the guy to want it but at this point Vlad E is extending a little bit and based on natural raw gifted talent alone he's still doing pretty well his numbers right now are a dream season for 80% of the league, but it's Vladdy. And at this point you need to see him get back into who he is. And I said this earlier on SC guys, but it's with Vladdy. I've always said there are some days where he should just show up for game time, pair of sandals, chuck on the jersey, go play, no meetings, no nothing. He's that good and turn the brain off for game time. Paris Sandals, Chuck on the jersey, go play. No meetings, no nothing. He's that good and turn the brain off for a day.

Maybe this All-Star break, the Derby, being around those guys, I think that could help shake him up a little bit because when he gets hot, this whole thing changes. Big time with Keegan Matheson, MLB.com. You mentioned that even with him playing the way he's playing, they're a playoff contending team. I mean, they're leading the American League at the All-Star break, but if he gets back to where he was in the second half last year, where he was a few years ago, that launches them, you know, into possibly World Series caliber, and I think that's accurate and I think that's important to point out, like the

goalposts have moved here when you consider where we were three or four months ago, where I don't think anyone was anticipating they'd be leading the division at the All-Star break that at any point during the year they'd run off 10 straight wins that they'd sweep the Yankees in a four game series like none of this seemed possible how far have those goalposts moved for you now to the point in terms of accountability for the team the front office like is it now playoffs or bust where if somehow it spirals out of control and they miss that's a massive failure? Like how do you how do you project the rest of the way in terms of expectations

today compared to where they were three or four months ago? Totally different. If they miss it's a disaster at this point and how they've gotten here impresses me so much. If you told me three months ago that everybody's hurt, Santander gives them no value, Vladi is just okay. I'd expect they would be three or four games below 500. Because I thought this was a 500 baseball team coming into the year. I really did. And good or bad luck, maybe it puts you five games in either direction. I didn't expect this. And if you are a small market team with a $50 million payroll, sure, maybe you look at it as luck, golly gee, let's try to catch this, but no, this is a huge market with a huge payroll and I think this team needs to take that seriously.

And I think the coverage of it needs to be serious as well. There's no longer room to be satisfied just to sneak in with the third wild card and be invited to the party. They need to be the biggest and loudest person at that party at this point. The trade deadline needs to be part of that but it's right in front of them guys. With the trade deadline, with how aggressive they are down the stretch, I'm gonna keep coming back to the idea of if not now then when. When else is going to be a better time to go all in than right now? When the Yankees are beatable, when the AL is open,

and this is a surprise year, but when you get a pleasant surprise like this, you've got to write it, especially with Bo Bichette, a potential free agent next year, Chris Bassett, Max Scherzer, Chad Green. That's money off the books. You can reload, you can reset, but the goal posts have moved, and I think every conversation now needs to go along with that. It's off the books. You can reload, you can reset. But the goalposts have moved.

And I think every conversation now needs to go along with that. It's about the division. It's not about the playoffs even. It's about winning the AL East, period. I think that people in Toronto should start talking how people in New York and Boston talk every year. It's the division. So what would a perfect deadline look like? Is that a... take it from there. Is it a starter? Is it a closer? Is it a bat? All the above? Yeah, good question. When you break down realistically what they could come out of this with, guys, it's all about ceiling. Now we've seen this year, they have enough big leaguers. In past

years, they kind of needed a number five just to get there. They needed that veteran utility infielder just to get there. They don't need that right now. They have 20 infielders. They have 40 outfielders. They're fine there. Any addition needs to raise the ceiling. So if you're looking at a hitter, you need to be talking about Eugenio Suarez. You need to be talking about the big guys. If you're talking about starting pitchers, yeah, it's fun to talk about guys like Keller who could help out the rotation, but you should also be talking about Lugo and Jacob de Graal, guys who can, again, start game one, two, or three of a postseason series. The bullpen's definitely going to be part of this, but I do think that's a big addition to the

rotation here, guys, would really take this team to the next level. And I keep coming back to Jose Barrios, how they got Barrios back in 2021 this was, he still had a year left on his deal. They took on that year, they extended them. Looking forward, Scherzer's gone, Bassett's gone, Gosman has two years left and he's gone. They need to find the next guy to be there alongside Barrios, alongside Trey Savage. They've got money, man, they've got tons of money and if there's a small market team looking to unload a guy and his money, I think the

Blue Jays should be all over that. Yeah, yeah I like that idea and you know in terms of forecasting Max Scherzer and his role in the rest of the regular season, if he's healthy he's gonna pitch. Jonas and I were, you know, talking about the playoffs. Like, is there any possibility you see him, if he's healthy and his arm is live, that he's an option for them? Let's say they're in a wild card, best two out of three, he gets the ball in one of those three games. I think he is at this point. it would be part of a strategy where you think you're only going to get four or five innings.

It could also be Max Scherzer coming in after Jose Barrios. Ideally, you do that with a bit more of a plan and we're not talking Barrios Gucci here. Nobody's shaking and having nightmares. They could never do that again. Is that going to happen again, Keegan? Like, is it possible that that happens again? Not that early. It can't happen that early again. It would have to be a, Barrios is going to pitch until he's done and then

somebody else comes in. But if Max Scherzer is one of your few best pitchers, and he very well can be, he just looked real good in his last couple, he's got to stay healthy. And if you get to the postseason, I think you can talk about using him in shorter bursts as well. At this point right now, I think you can talk about using him in shorter bursts as well. At this point right now, I would not want to have that conversation with Max Scherzer. I think he would put me through a wall if I suggested shorter bursts for the Hall of Famer. But as a starter, he's holding up and his stuff still looks good.

Yeah, the thumb's a problem. But when he's good, his stuff is still legit major league strikeout stuff. And when I look at this rotation, guys, like, let's line it up for a ALDS. Gosman and Barrios are probably up there in games one and two. What's Bassett going to be at that point? Will Eric Lauer still be this good story or will teams figure him out? I'd probably bet on Scherzer, honestly, right now being third in line at that point.

Yeah. I mean, that would just be an incredible story. And ultimately, that's what you would be paying him $15 million for. That start, right Keegan? Like everything else is gravy. Like he missed a lot of time. He's looked pretty good recently. He seems healthy enough to probably give you another, I don't know, six, seven starts. He's going to miss one or two, I think, down the stretch. I'm fully anticipating that. But if you're in a big game and Scherz is on a mountain and he gives you good stuff, they got all the money in the world.

That's worth 15 million. That would be worth it for them. Yeah. When we talk about wins above replacement, what's one war worth these days? Nine or 10 million people kind of chart that out as one playoff win is worth all the money in the world. Yeah. It doesn't matter.

That immediately, if Max Scherzer wins a playoff game, gives them five innings of one run ball, that's the best deal they've made. Max Scherzer, because it's big moments. And in the postseason, it's a little different. Those moments get big for a starting pitcher, especially if you are in Yankee Stadium or something like that, and every single person in that stadium hates you

and is chanting your name. Max Jerzer can handle that. He would probably be cursing into his glove and going a little wild and he'd like it. And if he can win a postseason game, nothing else matters. You know, I saw him throw a no-hitter in Washington. Did you? Yeah, it was very cool.

Nice. And I think if I'm remembering it right, it should have been a perfect game, but Jose Tabata, I think, stepped in front of the pitch. But anyway, that's not what I wanted. Greasy. Yeah, right at the end. It was like a big controversy. And anyway. Gutless. Keegan Santander, do you have any like expectations for him

the rest of the year? Are they high, are they low, are they non-existent? I think it's best just not to, honestly, at this point. That's not a knock on Santander where he's at, but I just think realistically, if you're the Blue Jays and you're trying to build a roster, you need to treat Santander, kind of like how I look at Alec Manoa right now as well, guys coming back from Tommy John, as a bonus. If he surprises you and comes back and helps out, bonus. Okay, that's building on top of

what you've already got. But Anthony Santander, guys, it feels, I'm starting to feel like last year when I would annoy John Schneider every single day by saying, hey, is there a Joey Vato update? And he'd say, keegs. Okay, same thing, same thing. With Santander, is he swinging a bat yet? No. And ideally that happens soon, but even when he starts swinging a bat, there's a full buildup. Once again, you've got to have no setbacks.

And guys, we talked a lot three, four months ago about how Anthony Santander is a slow starter every single year. Is it about the weather or how far into the season he is? I don't know, like is this still early if he comes back? So no guarantee he's gonna come back and slug a bunch of home runs either. So I think you need to count anything from him as a bonus this year and then completely reset 2026.

Ooh, man, that would be tough. Pricy bonus. That's a pricey one, man. You gotta hope he comes alive at some point, offers you any sense of production. And at this point, he's DH-ing, right? Like if he returns, he's just gonna DH. He's not playing in the outfield.

All right, Keegan, we'll catch you here Wednesday afternoon, buddy, we can't wait. Can't wait, fellas, we'll see you then. You got it, Keegan Matheson moby dot com will be in here for overdrive on wednesday with frankie carotto we're looking forward to that and uh... something to almost brought to my boston pizza canada's favorite sports bar enjoy fifteen dollar lunch at bp we get an entree aside and a drink

and you get it all in twenty minutes or less of fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food see you for a fifteen dollar fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. All right, we'll come back with our best bets and we're gonna start looking ahead to the Open Championship at Royal Port Rush. McElroy almost got it yesterday in Scotland. He's right there.

Schaeffler's gonna be in the hunt. Final major of the year. It's crazy. We're already reaching the final major of the year. One more slam in tennis. Just rolling through New York, that's it. Then it's September. And before you know it, hockey's in the air, the NFL's back. is Brian Adams. Hey my name is Brett Emmons, I'm from the glorious Suns. Hi I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada, the

station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. 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.

All right, Best Bats powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. Got the home run Derby tonight. I wouldn't say it's star studded. Who are you picking to win? I think you got to go look for value down the board. Like Cal Rowley's in it.

He's paying plus three 20s, the favorite, but I don't see him winning tonight. Like everything's working for him in live action, but that's not the way the Derby works. I think one of the young guys like Caminero would. Yeah, see that's who I was leaning that like O'Neal Cruz or something like that. I'm actually gonna go with Matt Olson paying plus 9.50. Like he can mash.

Yeah. He's still in his prime. Yeah. Rooker, what's Rooker? Plus 10 to 1. That's pretty good. And Jazz Chisholm who just got added 16 to 1. But it's just not a great list of like, you know, obviously, Judge is in it, Ohtani's not in it, Vlad is not in it, your boy Juan Soto is not in it. Like Pete Alonso has been in it for 15 years straight. Where's Pete? Yeah. Like we gotta get Pete in there, man.

He's tired of it. So yeah, I'm gonna go with Matt Olson plus 950. Like I think you need value. You gotta go someone in the kind of middle of the board cause I really think it's a crap shoot tonight. Today's best bet's powered by FanDuel. The first inning means as much as the ninth when you bet baseball in the FanDuel Sportsbook app.

Please play responsibly, 19 plus, physically located in ontario uh... so the scottish open took place yesterday the uh... major over in france in the women's side unbelievable playoff in that and now we set up for the open championship jones and coverage of the one hundred fifty third open from royal port rush

brought to you by subaru uh... head your local subaru dealer for lease rates from one point99% for 29 months on select models. See dealer for details. McElroy's trying to claim like he's back. I don't know if I'm buying it though he did look very good this year in Scotland or this week in Scotland. He just he's you talk about a crazy season like he wins the man he wins the players. He wins Pebble Beach players masters and then falls off a cliff and hates the world it's his home course basically his hometown like is that the best story for you McElroy yeah I don't know why I think of Kevin Durant like when he won the championship and I was like this

isn't as great as I thought it was like I kind of went down get me out of here although he did win again yes he did he did One more time. So wait, I have one question. So when you went to these pools, did you not jump in the pool ever? This whole trip that you just went on. No, I never went in the pool. Wow. Yeah, it was like a million degrees outside I know sitting out there. Yeah, I was very happy with myself No, no pools. Don't start with me JP. No pools, man I would believe me when you have young kids you have to go in the pool when you don't want to go in the pool. But you would just think it's hot, you just want to cool off.

I know, our neighbors invited us over yesterday, I didn't go in the pool, and that one was stupid. Like we were sitting outside and everyone's like, aren't you ridiculously hot? And I was like, yeah, yeah I am, I'm so hot. I don't know, it was stupid, I should have gone in. Anyway, all right Jonas when are we gonna see next are you back in here tomorrow? Oh beautiful. We got Jonas in here tomorrow we got Struddy I think on the show tomorrow that's gonna

be a fun one. Hope to find out if he's anti water as well. I got a feeling he is I got a feeling he is. Anybody like the water? No one likes the water just you man. All right thanks everyone behind the scenes for helping out everyone for tuning in today TV radio podcast web and of course up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out here enjoy your evenings enjoy the games tonight we're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. we'll chat then. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you.

The artists raising the bar. Hi this is Bryan Adams. Hey my name is Brett Emmons. I'm from the glorious suns. Hi I'm N the Gloria Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours.

No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeart Radio app.