OverDrive - OverDrive - July 18, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jonas Siegel, and Jason Strudwick for hour 2 of Mail it in Friday! We are joined by TSN MLB insider Steve Phillips to discuss how the Jays should handle their pitching staff heading into the MLB trade deadline. TSN Leafs reporter Mark Masters also joins to give his thoughts on the Leafs' offseason so far.

Claudia was leaving for her pickleball tournament. I've been visualizing my match all week. She was so focused on visualizing that she didn't see the column behind her car on her backhand side. Good thing Claudia's with Intact, the insurer with the largest network of auto service centers in the country. Everything was taken care of under one roof and she was on her way in a rental car in no time. I made it to my tournament. And lost in the first round. But you got there on time. I made it to my tournament and lost in the first round. But you got there on time.

Intact Insurance, your auto service ace. Certain conditions apply. Hey, my name is Brett Emmons. I'm from the glorious sons Hi, I'm Nellie for Tatto made in Canada the station that champions Canadian music loud crowd No passports required just press play tap into made in Canada now on iHerradio.ca or the free iHeart radio app Our to overdrive continues powered by fan duo bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score Brian Hayes Jonas Siegel Jason Strudwick, we've got mark Masters later this afternoon Get into some hockey talk with mark, but also a little tennis talk with mark, right? We're only one slam left and I guess Jeannie Bouchard is gonna retire. I read that earlier this week

one of the more fascinating careers and flashing the pan careers ever. When she came out of nowhere and was I believe in a Wimbledon final and she went deep into the Aussie Open at one point, I thought, okay, Jeannie is going to be the greatest Canadian tennis player of all time. Then it just completely fell off a cliff and Bianca Andrescu's kind of followed in her footsteps, albeit obviously winning the US Open and winning the National Bank Open here in Toronto. But Bianca's not really in the mix anymore either, which is really disappointing. Would you guys rather be, this is not a sports question, but it's related to what you're talking

about Hayes, would you rather be a musician who has like one amazing song but nobody else remembers anything else you did? Or you're just like, you're good, you're solid, but you're not really breaking through like. That's a great question. What do you think would make more money? Probably a one hit wonder. Do you think a one hit wonder makes more money?

I think a steady touring, you put out decent albums, know what, like you have your little band, your fans, people don't really know you. It's kind of like, would you rather get to like one Wimbledon final and like maybe you don't win or you're just like a grinder. Consistently on tour for like 12 years and you know, not bad couple of Endorsement deals. Yeah, I'd probably take the longevity I guess when you put it that way, but if you give me the option to actually win a slam I'm taking the win like if I'm Bianca Bianca on dress you obviously she's still young enough

I'm sure she's got confidence that she can get back into the swing of things But they could never take that US Open away from her. She's got it. You have a slam. That's a lot of money. The amount of endorsement money she made from that, she blew up. She was the biggest thing in Canada following that. That's a better career than someone who, a pospice or something like that.

It was just on tour for a long time. Good player, made some money, competed here or there. I'll take the big splash and then kind of fade. That's the equivalent of the one hit wonder, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Unfortunately, I mean, that's the truth. I think that's how you'd have to define Bianca Andreescu's career.

Like Jeannie didn't win. Jeannie was competitive for a year and a half, two years, but never ended up winning a slam. But yeah, it's kind of weird. Like the Canadian tennis has had these ebbs and flows over the last decade where I thought Shapovalov would be more competitive and a number of other guys and just hasn't really played out that way. Does everybody want their moment though? Don't you want to have that one moment where you are on top?

And so like I look, I played in NHL a long time and I think it'll be unlikely I go down history as one of the top 100 defensemen of all time. At this point, there's been, McCarr has probably taken my spot. So, I was you know I was there I was there a long time but I was never at the very top right now I guess I was at the top but I wasn't at the top at the top so you know I guess you know what I traded off for one year of just insane hockey played by me I might I might yeah like it norse Norse season and then you know three years later you're out of the league. Yeah. Yeah

Thank you take that carry the goalie member. Yeah, that's the guy the net detective the net detective Yeah, nicknamed one of Vesna right didn't even rookie of the year and a Vesna. I think yeah And then again two three years later, you couldn't find them, you know for the most part Alright Jay's Giants tonight the unofficial second half beginning down at the Ryder Center, Chris Bassett on the mound against Justin Verlander. And here's our TSN baseball insider joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline here, Steve Phillips. How you doing, Steve? I'm doing great. Good to be with you.

Great to be with you. And we've been more pumping up the fact that Verlander's in town and this very well could be the last time he pitches in Toronto. I believe he has two no hitters against the Jays at the Rogers Center so he loves this building. He's obviously going to the Hall of Fame he's an all-time great. Curious you know where he ranks for you you don't have to give me a specific slotting but in terms of the great pitchers of all time like is he top 20 top 30 40 50 where would Verlander fall on the Steve Phillips line list yeah I think that that he's you know I've got him behind Pedro Martinez in that range

I think Pedro was more dominant than Verlander was but Verlander clearly a Hall of Famer first at allin-all Hall of Famery. I have a head of Messina on the list to give you some sense as to where they go. But yeah, I think he's probably, if you start to look at it, probably top 25. And you know, he was a guy that when he first came up, he would go out and he would throw 95-96 in the first few innings of the game and then he would want to throw 99 on his 99th pitch in the game and he did. He held back early so he had more fastball to go to later and he just really was just such a dominant pitcher and so competitive on the mound.

And it's a shame because he's 0-7 this year. He's yet to get a win. And he's searching for it a little bit right now. The guy who threw a couple of no-hitters isn't around anymore. He's really searching for it. And so he's just not the same pitcher. I mean, he's competitive. He keeps them in the game, but they've not scored enough.

So I certainly would hope the Jays come out swinging aggressively on them. Yeah, that's that's certainly got to be the plan going into tonight. And you know, it's a big series for them to start at home coming out of the break. They stumbled a little bit, you know, coming down the stretch, losing three or four to Chicago and the athletics. But now that you're reset, you know, all eyes appear to be on Vladdy. Putting him aside, is there another guy in the order, specifically, you know, one of the hitters that you have your eyes on that you believe should be relishing this opportunity, considering where the team is, how good they've

been playing? If so, who is that guy? Well, for me, I mean, look, look, I mean, they've gotten a lot of Clement and Addison Barger and Springer and Kirk, I mean, and Lucas. To me, it comes down to Bushett and Guerrero that there's, I think there's likely to be some regression in the complementary players. They've all played very well. But the league's going to make an adjustment to them and it may take them a little bit of time to adjust back. And in the meantime, it's not that Vlade and Bichette have been bad. They've not. They've been good, but they're better than good and they need to drive the

baseball. They need to slug and that part of their game has to blossom right now. And I do think that coming out of the All-Star break, I think that what I would want and I always thought this with a manager, you've got to come out and force action, force movement. I would start runners. I would get guys moving. I would steal bases. I would hit and run. I think you've got to create movement and not make it passive. Don't make it you know base to base and do everything. Try to force things to happen so you get your players jump started into energy in the game. And so obviously we see how John Schneider goes out there and tries to manage it because to me it's all about

movement and action when you come out of a four-day layoff. Steve, is there one of those guys you mentioned the first half surprises that you think is best set up to keep this up in the second half? Well, you know, Springer, the veteran, at least has some idea about the grind of an entire season. You know, one of the things that young position players need to learn is just, you know, how to grind out 162 games. Even the minor league season is shorter than the major league season and it's different. Those dog days where it starts getting hot and you're in August, they've got a book on you now where they've seen you a

couple times, you're facing those teams the second time around and they're all going to start to attack the weakness. But, but you know, I think, I think barger to me was so critical because without Santander, they needed a left-handed bat to give them some thunder. And, you know, I think that Springer has been the most valuable player, but I think that that barger has been the most important player, uh, for them, because you take him out of the mix and what he did and the timing with which he did some of those things and the left-handed nature of it which allowed the the the right-handers on either side of him to not have a

right-handed pitcher get into a rhythm where you can start to throw a slider slider thought you know split two-seam fastball and you get into a rhythm if you have a bunch of right-handers in a row so bargers been big and I think it's important for them that he keeps going but But in the meantime, when Santander and Varsho come back, they don't have to be better than they've ever been. They just need to be what they've been. And that's for Varsho, a guy that can steal a base and he's got some thunder. He's going to swing and miss. He's not a big on base percentage guy, but he plays with heart and plays with grit. And Santander, He's got to come in and slug.

It's what he got brought in for. You don't need him to be more than that. You don't need 44 homers the rest of the season, but can you give me 18 homers for the rest of the season? Can you give me 15 homers for the rest of the season and give this team some of the power they need? Steve, we're working our way towards the trade deadline in the baseball. So when you look at it, how aggressive would you be if you were in charge of the Blue Jays

as far as bringing players in, but maybe mortgaging some of your future assets for that as far as young players? Yeah. So ideally, I'd love to trade for players that I can control beyond just this season. So not necessarily the rental player. Uh, if I'm going to give up talent, I'd rather do it to where I've got some control ability to offset the fact that I'm giving up a prospect that somebody can have for six years before they become a free agent, but I do think this

is an important year for this franchise. And, um, you know, I, you have more prospects than you think. And you know, then what other people think and what the grading systems say. And so, you know, for me, I think they have to be aggressive. I think they have to go for it now. I think they need to give up as much talent as they can, not mortgaging all of it. Like Mark Schuepfler won't do it because remember, he criticized Alex Anthopoulos for giving everybody up when he

did. Now they went to the playoffs two years in a row and you know I personally would have been okay with what Alex did. I did it. I gave up prospects. You know I think prospects can get general managers fired. You know I wait for this prospect. I don't trade to get a major league player.

You know I don't get the guy that I need to compete. I don't make the playoffs. Then this young guy is going to turn into the star for me. Then he sort of fizzles out a bit. Then he gets hurt. And the next thing you know, I'm out the door because I waited for this, you know, 22, 21 year old to turn into something. So I want to win now. I don't know what next year is going to bring.

So I generally am, it was always more aggressive at the deadline. And my thought was it's up to us to replenish our farm system. We need to draft well, we need to develop well. Let's go ahead and give what we need to do to win, and let's go find the next round of prospects in the organization. With Steve Phillips, our TSM baseball insider, Chris Bassett on the mound for the Jays tonight.

It's been pretty interesting, yet somewhat predictable, I guess, how Gossman, Bassett and Barrios have been almost indistinguishable in terms of their stat line and the way the innings pitched. All three of them are within six innings pitched. Two of them have given up, I want to say, 11 home runs. The other one's given up 12.

Barrios got the best ERARA but not by a substantial margin. So, like is that, when you look at their starting rotation, if they're not going to acquire anyone better than those three guys, how would you feel about those three? Let's say they win the division, end up with a top seed and they get right into the DS. Games one, two and three, is it that simple it's Burrios Gosman and Bassett and you're happy with that where would you stand on that yeah I mean I'm it's not exactly where I want it to be I mean I would like to get somebody in front of them the question is who is going to be available that

slots in in front of them what's the price for that pitcher in the meantime my the goal is if I can't find somebody in front of them, what's the price for that pitcher? In the meantime, my goal is if I can't find somebody in front of them, I want to shorten the game. I want to be able to take the pressure off, go out there and give me five innings and then give me, because in the playoffs, you know, it's you play a day you're off, you play another day you're off, then you play two days, you know, or you play two and then you're off, you play three, so you can really use your key relievers almost throughout the course of a playoff series, but then you're going to have to really build the depth of that bullpen. And that's probably the direction they're going to

have to go because the competition for impact starting pitching, like Zach Gallin's a great name, but he's got an ERA over five this year. I like Meryl Kelly, but I think he's got an e ra over five this year I like Meryl Kelly But I think he's probably a little bit better than than the guys that they have right now the way he's pitched this year But not dramatic so he's not gonna be a shut down pitcher necessarily You got a match up against scubal or or somebody like that So, you know they they're gonna have to really Pitch the most quality innings even if it's not the best at the beginning of the game Or maybe the best at the end of the game, but give me the most in between. That's kind of how I built my staffs back in the day that I had now later was my, my

ACE Mike Hampton was my ACE, but they were, they weren't necessarily, you know, Randy Johnson and those guys back then, Greg Maddux back then, but they were a tick below that, but they still want a lot of games and gave us a chance to win every day. But I wanted to make sure that I had all kinds of bullpen behind them that no matter what the opposition threw out there We could match up with them and I think that may be Where you see Ross and Mark Sappiro really go to fortify that bullpen if they can't find that pitcher to go to the front of the rotation J's Giants tonight. I said part of you coming on Steve. This feels like the biggest two weeks of

Ross Atkins tenure in Toronto and he's been here for nine years He's been here for almost a decade prior even more so just based on the volatility in the marketplace You know six months ago let alone a year ago The position they've they found themselves in which they've earned their players have earned their players have put them in this spot but now you got the market coming alive here and Fans are fickle the media is fickle. There's gonna be ebbs and flows like Atkins if he can hit the grand slam or so, you know even a double or a triple anything like that hit for the cycle

I don't care which analogy you got to use. He can do it the next two weeks he can I think almost pull a 180 and basically redeem himself completely within the marketplace. I'm sure he's aware of that. I know publicly he's going to claim that he doesn't care, but he is human. It's a big, big opportunity for him in a market that's been talking a lot about Ross for the last couple of years and a large majority of that chatter has been negative in tone. Yeah so I wrote about it today in.ca that look general managers presidents there are people too so they do have feelings like they know they know they feel the pressure they know what's going on they know that you get hired to get fired in these jobs and

and yet you know you can't do something that's exclusively for you personally. And I use the example, the Mets are retiring David Wright's number tonight and inducting him into the Mets Hall of Fame. Well, when I was Mets General Manager, I knew I was in trouble going into the 2003 season. I could have traded David Wright for any number of players. I could have traded Jose Reyes for any number. I had people calling me all the time, would you do this, that?

And maybe trying to sniff out if I was desperate to do something, but it wasn't the right thing for the organization. So within the constraints of what is reasonable, proper, prudent, and appropriate, you make deals. And I think that for Ross, with where they've gotten themselves to right now, it's time to make that, strike that deal, find the guy. Don't get a guy you need to fix.

My experience generally is that when you get a pitcher, they tend to pitch as well for you as they did for the previous team. You might get lucky and have a guy really get hot and everything else. And rarely do you get them and all of a sudden they go kaput. You know, generally they keep doing it for you. So if you get a guy who's been pretty good with another team, he's going to be pretty good for you. I want the guy who's pitching great for somebody to come in and be great for us when I made deals.

And so I think that's going to be something to be important. You know, Zach Allen is pitching to a 5 four era. He's got a great name and his last three or four starts have been good. And maybe he can get two more starts in and sell me that, that he's back on track again. But if there's a clunker in there and then a mediocre start in there, then he really is the guy with a five point four era right now. And I can't, you know, hang my hat on his name about what he's been.

I want to trade for the guy for what he is. With Steve Phillips, and all eyes are going to be on the Yankees and the Red Sox, clearly, and we were discussing this earlier in the week, the arms race, so to speak. How does that work in terms of Atkins? Let's use Ross as the barometer here because we're talking about the Jays and we're up here in Toronto. Like, how closely are you monitoring or trying to get a read on what the Yankees and the Red Sox might be doing over the next two weeks?

Oh yeah, I would, I mean what I did is I read every news clipping from every baseball city, you know, especially the ones where I thought I might be in competition for the same players. And I think it's safe to say that the Yankees are looking for starting pitching, the Red Sox looking for starting pitching. They're both looking for bullpen help. You know what, the Yankees are looking for a third baseman. And you know what, you might be happy with Ernie Clement at third base. Maybe you think I don't have the resources.

But I'll tell you right now that I would be in on the conversations on a third base, but if the Yankees are in on a you hang your swore is I'm going to check in to just to continue to run the price up to make it like maybe I'll give you these players in my firm system. Even if I don't want to, I might pretend just to run the price up on it. But I think it's going to be and I think the other thing to remember is that if you're competing for the same guys and you'll know by the chatter, the rumors that are out there,

then you might pay a little bit more to get a guy, but you understand that you're playing a game of keep away. Then if I get them and they don't, that's a double victory. And I think that that has value, talent value in a trade that you have to consider when you're trying to figure out what the right deal is to make. Which of those teams would scare you the most, Steve? Well, I think probably the Yankees more than the Red Sox.

Although I think the, and look, the Rays are not out of this either. The Tampa Bay Rays, there's a real good chance that you could have four AL East teams in the playoffs. And then Detroit in the central and Houston out west I think the Mariners are gonna fade I just I don't I don't believe in the Mariners and you know I said listen that what Cal Raleigh's done is amazing but if he hasn't done it they certainly wouldn't be five games over 500 I don't know how he can keep doing

what he's doing as a catcher so So I do think that the American, the East is the one that you got to focus on. And, you know, I think that the Yankees, Red Sox and Raid in that order are teams that I worry about, but I think all of them are worth worrying over. And, you know, those head to head matchups, when you play those teams, so they play the Blue Jays play the Yankees, I think, coming up in a series right after the first one. I think that you've got to take care of business in those series.

Head-to-head matchups are going to matter. Tiebreakers are going to matter. So that ability to get the advantage over the other teams is going to be critical for the Blue Jays to figure out if they win the division and where they seed in the wild card if they fall into that role. When you look around the league, which player is available, playing well, and a team is going to move them out? Which player is going to be that player that everyone is going to want at this trade down

line? Yeah. Yeah. So I think right now, Arizona is five and a half out of the wild card and I just don't believe that they're going to get themselves back into it. And if they do, I think it's the worst thing for them. You know, the goal is to win the most games over the most number of years. And I don't know that this is their year and this is a great year for them to reset.

So Eugenio Suarez is destroying the baseball this year. Since last July 1st, last year, July 1st, he got 55 home runs. I mean, he is a legitimate middle of the lineup bat. He can play a solid third base. And there are, listen, the Yankees are in on him. Seattle Mariners are in on him. There are the Cubs. The Cubs, how about this for the Cubs?

They're as good as their offense has been this year. They're third baseman. They played six players at third base this year. They've totaled a 199 batting average and one home run. One home run. You know, it's Ben P. Kroharmstong, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki that have gotten it done for them. They could use a third baseman.

And if you can't get pitching, then you might try to slug people to death. So I think Suarez and then Josh Naylor at first base is, you know, know, for any team looking at a first base when he's the preeminent guy, that's why Arizona needs to make trade. You can get three prospects for Naylor, three for Suarez, you know, three for, for Merrill Kelly and three for Zach Allen. You could trade Lord of Gorial Jr. And you could trade Randall Gritchick and you've got yourself, you know, 14, 15 prospects. And if you want to go, go sign all those guys in the off season

and bring them back. But I just think that that Arizona is gonna be the big difference maker at the trade divide. They're gonna impact this deadline, I think more than any other team. Steve, it's gonna be an interesting couple of weeks. It's good to have the games back up and running post, you know, all-star break,

and you're gonna be all over it like always. Sportscenter.ca, TSM radio. We can't wait to do it again next week thank you for this. You got it guys my pleasure we'll talk to you then. Steve Phillips our baseball insider Jays Giants tonight Steve of course joining us courtesy of the Maple Toyota hotline yeah it'll be interesting to see you know that's good question Strud like generally there's always the one or two guys You know in every league like who's available? Is he gonna get there? What's the price gonna be what are the arms race gonna look like?

But it is fitting and I think somewhat predictable you know For for blue jay fans who have been existing in the American League East for so long That it's the Yankees and the Red Sox right behind them. You're never going to be comfortable. The likelihood of the Blue Jays or Blue Jays fans being comfortable between now and the end of September, mini Jerry on that seems like 10%, 15%. It's going to be a race. It's going to be ups and downs.

They may lose the top seed at some point. They may drop down to third in the division at some point. So what do you prioritize? Just getting in, winning the division, home field and a wild card. I don't know. We'll see. A lot of baseball left to be played. All right. We'll leave it there. Good stuff. They don't call you guys the best in the business for nothing. I was waiting for you to finish so When you were talking about verlander I started to think about 300 games and 300 game winners How many wins do you think he has just off the top of your head?

three twelve 262 no way hasn't hit 300 is that nuts like and so I'm thinking like is there ever gonna be a 300 game winner again? And the answer is probably no. No, probably not. Like if he's not even close Yeah, that's wild. Nobody's close. He's 41 now or 42. Yeah, and a horse like is always getting into a position where he can register a win, right or some sort of a record You're right with the way things go now and, you know, pitchers just not giving the innings, so it opens the door for lead changes and things to happen. I don't think we're ever going to see anybody hit 300 again. Like,

it does seem like kind of a lost art. Like, even 3,000 strikeouts, Kershaw just hit it. And he's the 20th. Yeah. Which is, like, not a lot of players. Yeah, which is pretty incredible because Verlander's hit that, I believe, and Scherzer hit that, right? Like I believe three of them all have 3,000 strikeouts, do they not? Yes. Yeah, I believe all three do. That's why I figured Verlander had hit 300 wins, but you're right. Like he's not even close.

Like he's not going to pitch another five or six years to pass that. So it's just not going to happen. I saw, was it Jaroslaw Halak I believe announced his retirement? And what did he say? He's just short of 300 wins in his career or something and that was a number he wanted to get to. But I guess everyone when you retire, like there's always a number that's right there that you could reach if you just had one more game or because there's someone famous in the NHL that

finished with like 499 goals. Wasn't it Modeno? Maybe it was something like that. Was there something with Modeno in Detroit? There was 1500 points or something like that. Yeah and Babcock sat him and didn't play him and didn't give them the opportunity to get to it. But yeah, that's tough when you're sitting on 299 and they're arbitrary numbers, but they're bold and they mean something in sports. And you're right. Berliner is not going to hit. Are you guys big round number people? Yeah, sure. Like it's just a good... Depends what though? Barometer. Yeah. Like 47 goals isn't 50, right? Like for me, 50 goals is that you've scored 50 goals in a Yeah, sure. It's just a good... It depends what though. Barometer. Yeah?

47 goals isn't 50. For me, 50 goals is that... If you scored 50 goals in a season, that is legit. That's a legit number, but 47 isn't 50. One of my best buddies is Rob Brown. 49 goals in the NHL one season. Amazing, amazing. But even he says, it's not 50.

It's not 50. That's tough. That's tough for a guy. Yeah, well it gets back to like our one hit wonder stuff. Like would you take two seasons of 49 or one season of 50 and the other one, your next high is like 12? I think the one season, like Tichu,

remember you had like 56 that one year? Yeah, that's right. And I remember it. Absolutely you remember it. 50's so big in hockey. But hurt his knee, I think. Right? Did he hurt his knee?

That slowed him down. Yeah, he did, Chichu, yeah. That was coming out of the lockout, and that's when Thornton was really cooking and he was playing with Jumbo. He just put it on a T for him, because I think Thornton won the MVP that year, I believe. Chichu had 56 goals and Thornton had like 119 points or something. 100 assists or 95

assists or whatever. Alright, Mark Masters coming up. Bob Weeks on day two of the Open Championship. Dear Hazy being about an hour, overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN2. Claudia was leaving for her pickleball tournament. I've been visualizing my match all week. She was so focused on visualizing that she didn't see the column behind her car on her backhand side. Good thing Claudia's with Intact, the insurer with the largest network of auto service centers in the country. Everything was taken care of under one roof and she was on her way in a rental car in no time. I made it to my tournament. and lost in the first round. But you got there on time.

Intact Insurance, your auto service ace, certain condition supply. All right, Mail It In Friday brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy a $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side 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 of your local Boston pizza. Mark Masters coming up here in just a moment. Get his take on where the Leafs stand moving forward. Jonas, you've kind of commented on the acquisition of Dakota Joshua. He's a bottom six guy. It's not going to move the needle that much. It just feels like they have too a bottom six guy it's not gonna move the needle that much it just feels like they have too many bottom six guys we got a lot of guys we got a lot of guys yeah like someone

a couple guys are gonna have to go clearly and it seems like it's David Camp and Cali Yarncrook does it not like more than likely yeah you would think so like those can't like it's hard to see a market for Domi with his contract and I just don't know where he fits like the puzzle pieces to me like I've been trying to play around with the roster and they're I don't know it I don't know how it's gonna all fit yeah I'm not sure either and I was thinking about last night too like you know obviously the so much focus on on Marner leaving and what it's gonna do because he's been so consistent for so long and nine years where he's always healthy and he always puts up numbers and he can play with

everyone you know it's gonna be a big adjustment but matthews is still here and you know i think we're kinda looking past his ability and the pressure that should be on him and the expectation that should be on him. I think in large part because of the season he had last year, the worst season of his

career, injury riddled, never looked like himself. But if that guy is back to where he's supposed to be, then whoever he plays with, he should drive the line. Like it should be a great line. You put him and Matthew New nice together yes it can't just be a plug on the on the right wing clearly but put anybody there who's capable of keeping up

he should be able to drive a line that's capable of being a true number one line in the league that produces dominates just because it really is and what he's capable of doing. I agree with that. My question is like what effect does it have on him not to play with Marner and who does he play with? Like who is that other guy? Well, Knives is the guy he played with every game last year. But Marner is in his own class obviously. Like you see it all the time in Edmonton, like

Dreisaitl and McDavid, they kind of just play with everyone exactly make it work and we've seen it before with Matthews It was a long time ago. Remember like Hayes like the days he's playing with like Marlowe and Kaepernick and Yoncin and like it won't be easier. I'm just saying I'm not letting him off the hook Just if he has a down year while Marner left. No, no, no, no, no. You're 28, you're in your prime, you've won a heart, you're the best player. For sure. You better be ready to cook here. Like, let's get going this season.

I have high expectations and I think you'll meet them. Here's our good buddy Mark Masters. How you doing, Mark? Very good, guys. Good to be on with you. Yeah, good to be on with you. What do you make of kind of the Leafs transactions over the last couple of weeks

yeah i mean it did it's kind of in a weird off season you know you see mitch marley's obviously huge hold it just the way they've been doing it uh... actually i think i'm pretty good bet you know a guy like mitchie if the chile we just need to go to joshua coming in here nicholas law and it feels like you know they're building a better bottom six here

uh... and but obviously without the ability to to replace margarita course you can't and it feels like they're building a better bottom six here, but obviously without the ability to replace Marner, which of course you can't really, unless there's just not many options out there. So it's been interesting, but I like a lot of what they've done at the bottom of the lineup, and still I'm sure there's still moves to be made

before we get to game one of the season, but kind of a bit of a weird off season, I guess, so far for the Leafs. What would you make that third line look like if you could run the team? I don't know. I like, I'm certainly intrigued by the possibility of Nicholas Wah and Dakota Joshua together, the size they would have, the ability to play physically and to kind of soak up. You know what, you guys are talking off, coming about how you know Austin Matthews what kind of season he's going to have who's going to

play with and with the way the lineups coming together maybe you know he won't be needed to be relied upon to play quite as many defensive zone starts and kind of matchup roles. Certainly they're going to lean on him a lot for those top line matchups but maybe you can free him up a little bit more if you have a responsible line led by Nicholas Wah and even a Scott Lawton maybe led fourth line that can soak up some defensive zone starts and you can create more opportunities for a Nice Matthews and whoever maybe it's Domi over there line to really do some damage offensively so I think that there's going to be a bit more maybe you'll lose the high end skill of Marner but maybe a bit more flexibility to make the whole lineup a little bit more effective.

Yeah, that's going to be the question. Again, we're focusing so much on depth players and they're important but what we just stumbled across is ultimately what's going to determine what happens here, Mark. You've been around Matthews' whole career. How do you expect him to handle the absence of Marner? I think he'll handle it fine. I mean, the big question is health. He says he's going to be healthy, right? That's what he said the locker clean out day, assuming he's back to being the guy who is a, you know, heart trophy candidate, 60 plus goal scorer. I expect him to

be fine playing with Matthew Knight, whoever's over there, as you said. If anything, I imagine you'll be emboldened, you know, to take even more ownership. You know, he got the C last summer. Now Mitch Marner is gone. I mean, you know, just kind of take control. Do your thing. I expect him to come back with a vengeance next season and just be even more motivated to do his thing. He's the best goal scorer that we've seen in this generation. So, huge expectations for him next season. I imagine he's going to meet him. Mark, if Craig Barube called you up this summer, and maybe he has already, that could happen, or he texted you, he said, who do you think I should play on that right side with Matthews? Because you and I both know he didn't like and maybe

hate is too strong but he was pretty much against playing Nylander with Matthews really like the entire year even in the playoffs when Marner Matthews wasn't really working so if he called you and he said who should I play there who is it? I put Domi there you know that he and Matthews work well and I know I'm sure there's some reluctance, right? The reason maybe Nylander didn't get a long look with Matthews or a longer look with Matthews is just the preference to play Matthews against top lines

and in defensive situations. And maybe you don't want Nylander there. Maybe you don't want Domi there, of course. But there's no perfect answer to the question right now. There's no perfect player to slot in there. So I would go, Domi got off to, as we know, did not have a great year last year. I go to him and say, I'm putting you in a prominent spot. You played well with Matthews. You get this chance to start, go to work. Um, that's what I would do. You know, you know, Matthews and

I have good chemistry, you know, Domi and Matthews have played well in the past. Um, and then, you know, Tavares and Nylander, you should have another effective line there. And then you build out from there and you hope you have a good kind of shut down third line that you can entrust to the defensive matchups and that's what I would do. That's at least how I would start. And obviously things are going to bounce around, but you've got to get more out of Domi during the regular season next year and I think that's a great way to do it as well. Masters, I've been screaming all the way from Edmonton that the Leafs need to get a puck

moving D. They don't have enough of it or they have maybe one. These guys aren't exactly biting. Jonas is not in his head now. Like, yeah, I'm with you, Stretty, but what do you say, Masters? Are you happy with what they have there or do they need... The guy I gave an example to is Shane Gotham, not saying they can get him or he's the perfect guy, but quick puck moving, get it up to this group of forwards. Yeah, I mean, Brad Treloving acknowledged that in his post-mortem of the season is that they'd like a little bit more of that element on the back end. It's just everyone's kind of locked in on the defensive side and they focus so much on trying to fill some holes up front that it's kind of been

a forgotten thing. Like everyone's locked in there. A lot of questions about Morgan Reilly. He's obviously got the no move clause. Maybe he gets a bounce back. I suspect he'll be back on the top power play unit with Marner moving on as the quarterback. We'll see. Obviously he's been there in the past. Maybe you can, you know, with one year under his belt with Craig Brubay system, he'll be a bit more comfortable and can just, you know, be more of himself. It's a question mark for sure, but they have lacked that. And it's, it doesn't look like there's an easy answer to that question either,

but I would agree that they could use that. It certainly was evident that it was lacking. That said, I still think they have the pieces to make a really good defense core. And maybe that's something that they have to address during the season at some point here, see how things play out same as with the top six forward that they needed it might take some time for all the pieces to go into place I'd like that trail livings been patient here and seems to be

willing to be patient not rushing anything not make a mistake and just wait for the right piece to kind of become clear or the right option to become clear. With Mark Masters so we're talking about the announcement earlier this week that Jeannie Bouchard is going to retire after the National Bank Open, which the women are in Montreal this year. So it'll be back in her hometown and that's going to be it. And you were kind of the Jeannie whisperer, Masters. You had access to Jeannie.

You were the one that was right in their break in stories and talking or interviewing her a lot over a career uh... i don't even know how to describe the career of jeannie bouchard because of you know it was a flash in the pan clearly but it was so big she was so popular that i remember a a poll that was released or like a data research campaign out of London, England or something, considered her the most marketable athlete on earth at one point.

What? Yes, this is true. I remember all the commercials when she was at her peak. Everywhere. All the time. Everywhere. And it lasted what, a year, a year and a half half and then it just completely fell off a cliff. Like how would, if someone came to you and said

describe the career of Jeannie Bouchard, how would you do that? Electric but too short. Yeah, 2014, so that's when I first started going and the reason TSN, one of the reasons TSN sent me to the Grand Flams in 2014 is because of what Jeanne was doing. She made the semis in Australia.

She followed that up with a semi-final in Paris and then the finals at Wimbledon, fourth round of the US Open. Nobody won more matches in the Grand Slams that year on the women's tour than Jeanne Bouchard. She didn't win a major, but she won more matches. She was in the mix every Grand Slam. Probably the greatest, I know she didn't win one, so maybe you'd say Bianca Andrescu

just because she won the US Open that year in 2019, but probably the best Grand Slam season ever by a Canadian singles player, just with how she was in the mix at every Grand Slam, so consistent, she won a title. Everything felt so amazing. Like it was like Canadian tennis was having a moment, everyone was into it.

Jeannie had the personality for it too. Rownitch had more staying power of course, and he had more long runs, but Jeannie's personality was so engaging that I felt like everyone had an opinion on her. Everyone was interested in it. And she really captured the imagination, but it was too short and 2015 was a bit of a disaster. She felt the pressure.

She spoke very openly about that. And then she finally seemed to get her game back at the US Open before the real sliding doors moment of her career, which was the slip and fall in the locker room late at night, which led to concussion, forced her to withdraw when she was in the fourth round of the singles. And who knows, maybe where things go if she doesn't get to that injury she'd be able to build on that momentum so it was an electric career but it was way too short and it's too bad because what a personality

and her game when she was on the aggressive style uh... she was fun to cover that's for sure yeah the the magazine was sports pro line of magazine that bills itself the leader in global sports industry news, views, insights and features. Now, I don't know enough about it. Maybe it's some guy's basement in like Liverpool or something and the guy has absolutely no reason to call himself or state himself in those regards, but released its annual list

of the top 50 most marketable athletes in the world in 15. At the top of it was Jeanne Bouchard. 21 year old Canadian Jeanne Bouchard, followed by Neymar, Jordan Spieth, Missy Franklin, Lewis Hamilton, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, like she was ahead of all of them on this list. And that was because the three semi-finals,

the Wimbledon final, and then, like you said, slip and a fall and she never was competitive again. Kind of crazy. Go ahead, Jonas. She had one big moment after that, really big moment where, you remember Sharapova had the doping ban, and she came out and she said she felt that Sharapova should be banned for life and nobody was really saying that, no one on tour at least, and they ended up playing each other in Madrid, I believe it was 2017, and it was like this grudge match.

And she beat her in three sets, and it was a big moment. Like she really stared her down at the net, on the handshake. But you're right, after that, it was not at the Grand Flams. There was never really any more big moments. You kept waiting for her to have that resurgence, and it never really happened. What's going on with Canadian tennis, Mark?

Like, was that the peak? Are we done? Is it just gonna be kinda okay? It's the end of an era for sure. Jeannie Bouchard, Nelos Ranec, Vasic Pospisil, and Pospisil's coming to the end too. I imagine we're gonna hear some news on that soon. And Ranec, I asked Ranec, I said,

are you ever gonna play like a tournament that's known as your final tournament? He's like, no, I'll just be gone. And that seems to have been what's happened with him. That's kind of more his style. He was more subtle, laid kind of laid back in that way. So that they're done. And they were the ones that ushered in this golden age

and then passed the torch to Dennis Sheff of all of Felix OJ Elias Seam, Bianca Andresky of course has come on Leilani Fernandez, this next generation. But this generation you're wondering right now is what's going on with it because you know OJ Elias, Shefavallah, Fernandez they're all in that kind of 20s to 30s range they've struggled to have we've now got more than three years without a Canadian in a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam and they've had their runs at

lower level events in fact Shefavallah is going to play in a semi-final tonight in Mexico but they haven't been able to do it on the biggest their runs at lower level events in fact chef of all is going to play in a semi-final tonight in mexico but they haven't been able to do it on the biggest stage and certainly immense tennis it feels like you know there's this this this you know center alcaraz era that's becoming uh unfolding right now that no one else can touch so maybe have they even missed their window to to do damage um we'll see they're all they're all young enough still to to do it but it does feel like it's been a tough patch. I am very excited about an 18-year-old, Vicky Mboko from Burlington,

Ontario, who just made her Grand Slam debut in Paris, got into Wimbledon as a lucky loser and knocked out a seeded player. People are very, very excited about her potential at 18 and where she's going to go. She'll get a wild card. She'll play in Montreal. And then on the men's side, Gabriel Diallo, who qualified for the US Open last year, made the third round. He took Taylor Fritz to five sets at Wimbledon. Fritz goes on to the semifinals. He's a bit of a late bloomer, went to Kentucky, went to college route, and he's up to now

in the 30s range, could end up being seeded for the US Open. So I'm very excited about the prospects of Mboko and Diallo as maybe that next generation that hopefully can push Schapo and Felix and Leila and we can get a whole group of guys kind of that pack hunter mentality so that Canada can get back to some deep runs and grand slams which we haven't seen in a while. Okay, love it. Love the updates. Really appreciate it, Mark. Little hockey, little tennis perfect perfect max i think in july it's a weird time for me because i get ready to go to the world junior summer event uh... next week but it's also coinciding with the

the national bank open some kind of juggling something from the interviews on both ends of the mike i'm the only person in the world that this problem yes try to fit in can't get it and that's what world's figures summer stuff so person in the world that this problem yes try to fit in tennis with world junior summer stuff so the weird time of year but it's fun yeah crush it like you always do thank you mark mm-hmm thanks guys mark masters yeah the world junior camp it's Gavin McKenna will be there right running the show future Penn State Nittany lion just a little bit disappointing I'm sure out there that's big news, right, Strud?

Not playing in the WHL. Yeah, yeah. It's interesting. I mean, everything's changed so much with that now that players can go from CHL to NCAA. That's massive. And I think that, I mean, I definitely don't know anyone who knows everything how it's going to play out because now do, you know, here we call it the Alberta Junior Hawk League or BCAHL.

Do they become feeder leagues to the Western League and the Western League is feeding their top players onto the NCAA? No disrespect to Madison Hat, but would you rather play there in Alberta or go to a college down the states and get paid way more? Get paid a lot. Million dollars Canadian almost. It's huge, man.

It's really going to change the landscape and even American players coming up to WHL or to CHL Does that change the number of spots are available for Canadian players? So I don't think that you know, the general public has really understanding what what this can all mean Yeah, there it could be a drastic change in the next decade It really is and I'm not sure any of the parties involved know exactly where it's gonna go All right, Bob Weeks on day two of the Open Championship. Scottie Scheffler solo lead at 10 under. Corey Connors made the cut. He's playing into the weekend the only Canadian to do so. We're on that with Bob in about 15. Overdrive

continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. Claudia was leaving for her pickleball tournament. I've been visualizing my match all week. She was so focused on visualizing that she didn't see the column behind her car on her backhand side. Good thing Claudia's with Intact, the insurer with the largest network of auto service centers in the country. Everything was taken care of under one roof, and she was on her way in a rental car in no time.

I made it to my tournament and lost in the first round. But you got there on time. Intact Insurance, your auto service ace certain conditions apply All right, Bob weeks and dear hazy be coming up our best bet still to come as well. I think if you were You know playing the favorites going into the open championship. You're probably pretty happy with your Scottie Scheffler pick Solo lead shot the lights out today Kind of some crazy stuff going on on over there. Shane Lowry like snapping all over the place. I want to get into that with Bob because Lowry's got this reputation of being this happy-go-lucky

guy and all I ever see him do is lose his mind on the course. It just doesn't seem like an accurate assessment of what he's actually all about. And he obviously won there at Royal Port Rush back in 19. but he's into the weekend. McElroy's into the weekend. Corey Connors did make the cut I believe right on the number but he is into the weekend so a little bit of Canadian content for the Open Championship going into the weekend so Bob will join us on that. What to expect this weekend can anyone catch Scotty Schaeffler? We'll get to Dear Hazy B, Jace Giants tonight Overdrive continues

TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. Mail It In Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side 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. The biggest songs in the world. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you

love on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.