OverDrive - OverDrive - July 8, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Join Jim Tatti, Dave Feschuk and Michael DiStefano for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays extending their winning streak to nine games, the triumph against the White Sox and the NHL expanding to 84 games in the CBA. MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins to discuss the Blue Jays' victory surge, the trade deadline keys for the team and the prominent batting on the team in the stretch and they also play Yes Guy, No Guy.

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. This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Welcome aboard Overdrive for a Tuesday.

Jim Taddy, Dave Festchuk and Mike DeStefanoanoel's brother, guiding, I guess, this thing forward. All kinds of stuff to talk about, fellas. First of all, just in terms of guests, Keegan Matheson at 430, Five-O-Five, Carter Hutton, we've got your power rankings at 445 on, what's the topic? We're doing top five shocking announcements in sports. And obviously today being the

fifteen-year anniversary of the decision that's kind of the inspiration behind it today okay five thirty Chris Peters will be buying the reason we brought him in is to sort of go over that NCAA the rule change and how it affects the CHL with Gavin McKenna announcing Penn State officially making his decision that's right today yeah so and that's up with about seven hundred k to him that opens up a big door in terms of dollars and cents and and where this goes in

how it affects the c h l on after that sprinkled in some way s k no guide six oh five been verlander will be by to talk about the j's again and then josh lueberg at the six thirty talking about the raptors who are getting set for there's some league action so the jays did it again last night is everybody's aware i'm going for ten straight tonight in chicago bassett goes for the jays and last night

you know you look for those story lines in low-profile found a bad in buffalo this that the scouting board this guy was great defense no stick in stick arrived uh... three rb i two four four and a solo homer It just it's par for the course Isn't it where it just seems like guys are coming through and there's a new hero every night and now it's Joey Loper fetos turn Right late. Yeah, it's been barger. It's been Clement, right? We've seen big games from a lot of different people and last night was the Joey Loper feto show

Yeah, it's one of those nights where you know know, George Springer, the guy who's been your MVP goes 0 for 5. Vlad, he doesn't get a hit, although he does get on base three times via walk, but you get three ribbies and a homer out of your nine hitter, Joey Lo Perfito. And it's, it is, it's an amazing collective energy that this team continues to carry and now here they are was two wins away from the franchise record of 11 straight, which they most recently set in the magical year of 2015. I mean they're going to need two jackets.

So Loprofito had that thing on and just barely got it off. I know. Then Lucas spelled it one. Well, that's the thing. These aren't the guys you're expecting to be trotting around the bases and going into the Dugout wearing that home run jacket, right? Like you expected to be Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Right? Bo Bichette George Springer, but it was Nathan Lucas and it was Joey Lo Profito Like these are the guys now who are stepping up and having big games

It's truly like hitting hatches. It's so infectious in this locker room right now. Everybody is hitting and it's a testament to you know kind of headspace that this group must have themselves in right now. I'll be curious. Higa Matheson is going to join us in about 20 minutes or so and he's been in that locker room for the last few years. Like what is he noticing differently in the locker room that is leading to the success on the field? Cuz I can't imagine that it's it's it's the same whole hum in there Like they've got to be in a really good spot The vibes got to be just as high in the locker room than they are out on the field

So the 2015 story correct me if I'm wrong was after the all-star break. This is heading into the all-star break So yeah, I guess you'd have to go back into the 90s for that, right? Yeah in terms of a team this hot. Yeah looking that good. Yeah. They're like a 500 ball club when they made that to Lewicki deal right? Yeah 50 and 51 fans. Yeah and then went on that amazing run then they added David Price a little bit later on and then just went on a magical run and it's this year's giving those types of vibes. It is given those types of vibes. It is given those types of vibes. It's 10 years in the making but it is really feeling like everything's just coming up so

rosy for the Blue Jays right now. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun to watch and and you know the beautiful thing is everybody's engaged and everybody's looking to the deadline to say how do you make this team a World Series team? How do you ensure that there's gonna be fall off, right? We all know that you probably can't keep this up, but how do you ensure that you minimize the fall off here? How do you ensure that you sort of bring insurance on board so that you think you can have the run that you've been waiting for for a decade plus here

in Toronto? And I don't know I I think it's one of the most surprising stories in Toronto sports in a long time because nobody side coming Nobody is calling this team a World Series contender Out of spring training that I can remember are you calling them a World Series contender right now? I mean the American League's wide open. Who scares you in the American League? I mean Detroit's had a great first half. Tigers have been terrific. But they're unproven. It's a bit of a, you know. The playoffs, like I suppose, yeah, you're right. I mean, it's possible. The Yankees look wounded. I mean, the Yankees have had so many injuries. You know, you lose Garrett Cole. That's a bad start to the season to begin with they've had other injuries in the with the pitching staff judges had to carry a incredible amount

of the load he's capable of doing it but you know we've seen his struggles in the playoffs certainly in the World Series red sox have fallen off they trade their best player it seems like a bit of a debacle Tampa's Richard Griffin pointed out on our our show last, Tampa's had a really favorable schedule out of the gate because of their weird situation playing in the Yankees minor league ballpark up there at Steinbrenner Field. So you think there might be a bit of a fall off for the Rays. Houston, I guess, is always a problem. They're another team that's kind of in the mix. But to me it's like, it

kind of reminds you of the NBA a little bit. little bit like the Eastern Conference in the NBA this year where the Pacers made the run to the finals like there was once the Celtics had that catastrophic injury to their best player Jason Tatum it felt like anybody could win it. To me it feels like anybody could win this American League so why not Toronto? Well let's figure out what the odds are saying Dugie you've got some some numbers there what do you have? yes to make the point here boys the detroit tigers are plus 260 to win the american league the toronto blue jays are plus 750 fourth on the list astros and yankees in front of them so that tells you a lot about the al yankees in front of them hmm okay well but it's the look of the

team i mean everybody's contributing so that's's like a late season look in a world series run look that we have going into the all-star break, which is kind of rare. Yeah, but the thing is like- Are you streaking too early though is also- Well, maybe. You're definitely streaking a little too early. But, AB look, I mean, you can look at,

you can obviously look at this team and find the negatives. You can say, look, they had such a slow start. We've seen how bad the bats can get here. We've seen how, like last night, they're four for six with runners in scoring position. The storyline for most of last year was they can't hit with runners in scoring position, right? So they're hitting, they're getting timely hits that may not last. They're getting great performances from guys who may not be be able to sustain them There's no doubt about that. But you know if you want to spin the more optimistic sort of glass half full Storyline and and look at it that way you can choose whichever way you want to look at it

I mean they've done this without Vladimir going on a real power tear right? He's only got 12 home runs They've done this with the guy they picked up to be their power bat. Anthony sent on there essentially not a non factor because he hasn't been in the lineup. He's been hurt since the end of May. They've done this, you know, with really with a pitching staff, a rotation that's really only had three real tent pole guys. Yeah. In Gosman, Barrios and even look at it to that point there, you look at the wins above replacement, right? Like look at that, the date that everyone's looking at, right?

May 28th since then, the Blue Jays had the best wins above replacement in baseball, 10.2, which is two more than any other team in the sport. But when you look at it from a pitching perspective, they're like 19th in war since then. So they've gotten it done with subpar, like, below average pitching, but the offense has really come through. And eventually you think Vlad is going to go on that heater. Usually the old saying is the weather heats up, so does Vlad. It's been pretty hot now for the last couple of weeks.

I'm still waiting on that, you know, on that heater to come from Vlad, but you think that it's going to, Santander returns potentially. It's fascinating. I would love to ask Ross Atkins this question and maybe, you know, maybe Keegan can help us when he joins, but it's got to be a little difficult when you see so many guys stepping up and playing so well and rightfully maybe have earned the opportunity to see this thing through but weighed with the deadline and the fact that They want to improve the ball club

But do they owe it to this group to see if those internal guys can get it done, too No, well, you know, they? No, you owe nothing to nobody. You gotta improve the team. Well, this is the year. In all the conversations we had yesterday, when you project forward, this is the year. Everybody we had on the last two days would say you go for it. I'm not saying you don't go for it, but more so with the offense. Like yesterday, you guys had Eric Kratzau.

You were talking about the addition of potentially Josh Naylor. Like that would be a nice bat to bring in right he's having a good season but like that where does he fit right like you're not gonna you just plays Vlad from first base probably not okay so you move on all right DH well George Springer as a DH has been one of the best hitters in baseball you got thrown in that DL so he's also getting up there in years and you were going to kind of share that DH spot with Santander You know like they had right so at the beginning of the year

But I think you look at it now and you see okay when George doesn't have to focus on the outfield and when he is only solely Playing as a designated hitter you can see that what he can be and what he has become right? I think you just you The blue jay for me in my mind, I have kind of altered my viewpoint of George Springer with him being as their everyday DH essentially. And if you bring in another big bat, you need to figure out where you're gonna play that guy. And with the Jays, there's just not a lot

of holes, especially when Santander comes back. Well that's another one that's difficult where it's like, okay he's gonna come back, where does he fit in? You're gonna take barger at the lineup for Santander the way that he's hitting right now. I'm not sure Ernie Clement, the way that he's hitting the ball right now. I don't know. He's top top 10 in war in the last six weeks. That's where you have the feel of when you project everybody who's going to sort of fall off the wagon, right? Because it's not all going to go this way until the end of September there's gonna be drops you have to know where that is I was brother you're right though like they have to figure out first and foremost before they make a deal for a power back like what are they gonna get from Santander

right are they gonna get any resistors the last season for him where he's just not gonna be able to provide if he was healthy tonight where does he fit into this into this lineup who's coming out for him well Well, I mean, look, you're right. Given how hot everybody is, it might be a it might be a situation where you don't want to take anybody out. You know, you don't want to replace anybody who's been raking, you know. But on the other hand, you spent a lot of money on this guy and he's going to get into the line.

I agree, Will. And you will find places for him to get into the lineup. It's not really a question. But, you know, know I think the concern is maybe if you don't have if you don't think you're gonna get the production from Santander that you hoped you would like before this season began you thought you needed another power back which is why I think a guy like Eric Kratz is saying go get another power back right crash the other but that was before Addison Barger arrived on scene. Does that alter your thought process of needing to add that power back?

Well, Addison Barger... It depends if you want to go for it or not. If you want to go for it, you do add a nailer or somebody like that. You bulk up. Or do you rely on your young player who's proven that he can swing the bat his underlined numbers are fantastic like I don't his ball skills are unbelievable I don't they remain this way remains to be seen. I gotta give him the shot. That's the question You gotta give me the opportunity the grand answer is like what is the front office thing? There's the front office geared to going for it this year or letting things sort of develop and see where it ends up

Yeah to me going forward is loading up on the pitching side. Not not the offense I I would almost be willing like if I only have a limited number of prospects like their prospect pools in the middle of the Pack it's they've improved it over the last couple of years. It's in the middle of the pack So if I'm limited I would I would probably gear towards Unloading that capital for another big-time starting pitcher You know a big-time reliever like that's where I would be focusing on is the arms cuz I love what's going on with this offense Right now now if I don't want to gel to mess with it. It's just gelling so well Yeah, and once Vladimir hits his stride then that's like a booster rocket

Well that plus like Santander right you're adding that that could be your deadline edition, but the old Varsho, right? Another deadline edition. So you are adding bats just internally. Yeah, look, I, look, I don't think you can worry about the, the downside of adding talent, you know, like talent is helpful, right? You don't know when the next injury is coming.

You don't know when the next slump is coming. You don't know if you can trust the guy, the guy, that's a barger who's, what, experienced in the major leagues is what now? 136 games, you know, 473 plate appearances. Not exactly, you know, a veteran, okay? That's not to say what he's done has not been impressive. I mean, the guy's OPSing at in it what eight forty three i mean to your point

a lot of the nine numbers are in elite nearly twelve home runs all very good stuff but i mean unproven especially unproven meaningful games in late summer the fall right now well then that's but that's the best part about this story is in six weeks everything's over corrected so we'll see where it

goes but but you know the fact that it's over corrected is a nice problem to have. Yeah absolutely absolutely it is but that was the only reason why like that's why I have that question I'd love to ask Ross Atkins that. Yeah it's a good question. Is he going to gamble on like the bargers and the Clements that this is real, or does he go and make those additions and improvements as insurance, but at that rate, it may risk ruffling feathers within this Blue Jays clubhouse and with that offense.

You really think that's the concern though, ruffling feathers? I don't know. I mean, look, I think chemistry, like I think that's a legitimate question. Yeah. Because we, like chemistry is an issue. I like clearly this team has you saw them last night, you know, putting their hats on backwards.

They got a certain swagger to them. You know, the the the hijinks in the dugout are fun to watch the jacket. Histrionics. Everybody enjoys that stuff. The flat is dancing in the corner again. You see, you have fun together. Right. And look, we've we've seen a lot of teams that are having no fun in Blue J Atlanta for a lot of years, right? Where it's just misery at the end of the dugout. Last couple years. I was gonna say the first couple of months. Don't gotta go too far to

find the guy. Last couple months, you're right. But I don't know, like everybody in pro sports, players in pro sports understand that, you know, if you want to win, you gotta add talent. Yeah. Or you gotta try to act out anyways and the one thing you say for this the manager group is you know they've they've not been shy to do that this ownership group is not been set aside and i i just feel like

to the tamas point like like there's no time like the president this well it the colosal last year twenty twenty five was the year right were here here we are and that's what they said last year when they liquidated all those guys at the deadline we all rolled our eyes out well when they brought in guys like little profito that was why right yeah yeah and I think the point Krats was making yesterday was that it's a given you're gonna add a couple arms right like it just you're gonna have to you

get you got to add a starting arm you've got to add bullpen help? Like it just you're gonna have to you gotta add a starting arm. You gotta add bullpen help. It just it just feels like that's what you do at a moment like this, right? When you when you really believe you have a chance to go deep into the playoffs, you better load up, right? And especially given the injury situation, you don't know what you're getting from Scherzer. You don't you know, you know, there's a lot you don't know if Alec Manoa is going to be a factor. You'd love him to be. It would be a great story if Alec Manoa emerges as a guy you can count i was going to be a fact you'd love him to be a big race for a file of our emerges as a guy you can count on but isn't isn't that when that be the true test of of whether or not this year is really

is cinderella for for the blue jays if if even alec munoz can make his way back on to this roster and find success that should be the seal of approval that i think is going on right now that's it jay-z that's that's the barometer down there that is the right. That's the barometer now, the litmus exactly. That's the test. Wow, okay, he's going to contribute. This is it. It's done. DeGrom, would you go after DeGrom? I mean, yeah, absolutely I would go after DeGrom. It'd be a hefty price, obviously. One of the best pitchers in baseball. There's been injury concerns over the last couple of years, but like, that's the type of like all-in that i'd be considered like if i'm a

trade away my top prospects it would be to go after an arm like the grom as opposed to a bad right like i i have much more faith in the offense and if you right now the in in the pitching staff and the person the putting right the numbers would suggest that that's that's that's the way that it's been so but that's almost like a daily double if you get a starter starter in the playoffs is what six innings pitch count if I don't know that don't ask the department if you're gonna bring in a starter you almost have to bring in a

complimentary reliever just add some depth there too don't you a hundred percent I think I think so yeah I mean I had a multiple arms there too, don't you? A hundred percent. I think so. Yeah. I mean, I absolutely would. You're adding multiple arms. Yeah. Okay. I don't see why you wouldn't. Yeah. We'll get into that in greater detail

with Keegan Matheson in the next segment. Before we break, let's get it back into some hockey. CBA was approved today. Not that that was going to be a big question, but there are some quirks, some different things. Obviously this takes effect in September of 2026. Go to 84 games, less preseason games, no dress code on the road, which is, you know,

I guess if you're a player, that's kind of interesting. Elimination of deferred payments and contracts. What else was there? Oh, um... E-bugs. Yeah, E-bugs. So a regular like backup goaltender or a third goaltender for yes team which gets away from the uh the zamboni driver's story yeah exactly but i i just

permanent emergency backup goaltenders for each team so you have your own what about the last decade of nhl hockey has made anybody believe that they should make the regular season longer? I'm I'm rather no, but it depends how you look at it. The preseason should have been shorter Well, the preseason was irrelevant to some teams that play up to eight games. I know I understand now how many play just Yeah, like like the preseason is essentially irrelevant, right? And nobody cares about it. Nobody pays attention to it The season ticket holders have to pay for the games. They don't wanna go to them.

Can't give tickets away. Okay, that's fine. So forget about the preseason. I'm talking about the regular season of the NHL. The regular season of every sport, you know? But if it depends on the party. You've always been talking about for the past decade plus is it's too long.

How many Leaf seasons have we gone through the last two, three months of the season are irrelevant they're just locked into a playoff spot but I'm just waiting for the playoffs to start and we're all going like why do they do this why why do we spend so much time six months 82 games and now they're saying no no six months 84 games. But if you had six and 82 you'd have 88 if you have 84 and four you still have 88 and I don't know how that they do the slice and dice on the home games for the season ticket package or how any of that works, but I believe it would boil down to home dates.

And that's just, it's just a trade off. It's just moving something from one shelf to the other. The number is still the same. No, no, because you're sort of saying that preseason games and regular season games are the same. They're not. No, they're not. You don't play your full line of blood play all your guy but if you had the cba worrying it might say

you know six plus eighty two and and all it was just moving around i know you say it affects the record book because everything's based in eighty two games in has been for a long time will be married if they are you for games the seasons one of the night rated down i think but my point is like why do they stop that day? Like I before my time but like why did they stop that and all of a sudden I like to go back

And now I'm just gonna go back to a back then they have like reason they had 10 preseason games in 84 games I like we try to once and like I mean or maybe maybe it's a setup for when two more teams come in I don't know potentially you're talking about two billion bucks a team it comes down to revenue right you to two regular season games are worth a heck of a lot more than three preseason I'm not saying I'm not saying I'm not saying that money is not the root of this I understand it is but I'm saying from a watchability perspective ability and waters it down player player

Load management right like we've all these guys been talking about in in so many sports is The grind of the season the need for recovery Next thing, you know, what did we hear at the end of this past season when when you had the international? What did we hear at the end of this past season when when you had the international? Foreignations break. Oh, we heard complaints about the compressed schedule. We're playing every other day. It's a grind down the stretch You know, I mean and that's not gonna go away that Worse, they've got Olympic commitments. So so that international stuff said it's it's there. It's gonna stay there Yeah, we're gonna press compress closing quarters for the next to and until ice can't be frozen anymore It's always gonna be there. Yeah, I don't even think they're freezing it down in Florida press closing quarters for the next and until ice can't be frozen anymore it's

always going to be there yeah I don't even think they're freezing it down in Florida look at the mush they're playing in the Stanley Cup final but but I yeah I just I just find it it seems tone deaf to me I understand it's all about money but you know yeah they get a certain point you do have to to me I mean a good of the game you know watchmen would be thinking, you know We got to be careful not to dilute this product too much we got to be careful not to overextend these players too much there's only so many star players in this league and Not even everything has one. That's the most relevant point

You talk about watering things down the elite player category is not what it used to be Yeah, and now you're grinding these guys into the into the into the ice with oh yeah play 84 games plus play international every every two years you know so you don't really get a break there and if you're on a really good team play into late June to try and win the Stanley Cup and have two months off and do it all over again. Yeah. I mean I just feel like it's like they're just going in the wrong direction is my point like you know to me they should be contracting the schedule you, prioritizing quality. So what's a good number for you?

Well, look, I've started with a seven probably. Yeah. Oh, like 76. We did that. We did 78. Yeah. We did 70 way back when. I mean, 56 was too little, right?

Yeah. That was the COVID shortened season. Maybe that was too little. Or they're 48 one year with the lockout. Right. 84 seems like too little. Or they're 48 one year with the lockout. Right. 84 seems like too much. Like fine. Find that, that, that middle, but it just, we all know it's not going to happen.

Right. At the end of the day, everyone wants to make more money. And this is the way that they figure out how to do that. Well, whether they play the games or not, right? Load, they could still load man, these players. I mean, everyone has to play 84 games a season. Yeah. It's still load man, these guys, but they'll still bring in the paycheck that they want.

I think the one thing we'll all agree on is the evaluation of franchises is at an all-time high and it's never going to dip. It's unbelievable what these franchises are worth, regardless of the league. Yeah, across all sports. Pick your league. You're talking about an expansion fee of $2 billion without the rink. So there's another billion. What was the Vegas expansion? It was like six hundred, six hundred million. And now it's up to two billion.

And we're, was it eight years? Seven years? Yeah. Well look, the Ottawa Senators were sold for 90% for what, nine fifty? So that's 90% so that's over a billion. But two billion to get in, you've got to believe they're drafting your fifth best player. I want to see the protected list Yeah, you get to save three players. Everybody else is exposed

Yeah, it's you know, it's for two million where it's going. It's it makes sense I mean and look I guess I guess the point would be The guys in the commissioner's office would be snickering saying no, we don't have to prioritize quality We just quantities better than quality, you know, quality you know 84 is more lucrative than 82 yeah okay that's the way it's going that's the way it's going but I mean there's got to be a point where it bites you one little tidbit here ex-kraken head coach Dave Hextall has joined the ABS as an assistant as the coaching carousel continues to spin yeah yeah well that seems like five years ago.

Well, it was close to that, wasn't it? It probably was about five years ago, Tatt, man. As soon as I said it, I went, yeah, he went to Seattle. Yeah. The Shannon plant had a lot of scapegoats, assistant coaches that got ferried in and out of town for not doing a good enough job on this or that. He was on Babcock's staff, wasn't he?

Oh, I believe so. Was he there during Babcock's staff? Oh, boy Oh was he there like during Babcock's staff? Oh boy that's when he was a holdover for a bit. Yeah all right we'll break uh coming up next talking uh baseball with Keegan Matheson as the Jays go for 10 straight tonight in Chicago Bassett is the pitcher uh let's see overdrive continues on TSN2 and TSN1050. Unmistakably Canadian. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar.

Hi, this is Brian 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 Overdrive on a Tuesday Jim Taddy Dave Fest check from the Toronto Star and Al's brother Mike DiStefano with you So we're dealing with the Jays or in Chicago tonight Bassett at 8 and 4 432 ERA Starting for the Jays. I like where we were like yesterday I was you need a bat, you're going to bring in a starting pitcher, you got to bring in another reliever too. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Without a doubt. Yeah. I mean the teams, that's where you got to push the chips in, I believe, is that. And there's, you know, there's always a lot of good relievers that become available at the deadline. You can get some guys with gas, you'll be a little bit more expensive, but I think if you're the Blue Jays, that's got to be number one and two on your shopping list. You get yourself a starter, someone who can be kind of back end of the starting rotations, some Scherzer insurance, but also get yourself someone who

can pitch in some high leverage situations. That's what you need in the playoffs, is as many high leverage relievers as you can get that's pretty keen on this is now and they'll be done com blue jays report he didn't welcome help us out here but we're sort of doing things out of order were now packaging things up so for the for the stretch run we've already assumed that everything goes well into the all-star break in our loading up at the trade deadline where you on that

i think that makes sense it that time of year guys and the blue jays and blue jays fans are allowed to look ahead right now three and a half games up in the east it it's all about the great deadline right now and that's why it's okay to be excited about the team i don't care if it's july this team is not been in the spot in years

and yes there are still 70 some games left but there are only 20 some games left until the deadline which is what matters. That's when teams make a statement to the rest of baseball about A. how serious they are and B. how much they care. How much are they going to push in with prospects and with money. That's how you tell everyone else who you are and the Jays have an opportunity to tell the rest of baseball that not only are they good they're going for it And that's got to be every conversation from now on guys if somebody rolls an ankle tonight

It's how it affects the trade deadline if somebody goes in a 20-game hit and three How does that affect the trade deadline? It's all about the deadline in an exciting way last year was a terrible way It was a big sell-off. This year is what you want it to be. Well, you got nine wins in a row and it's the most since 2015. And that was a massive deadline that the Blue Jays had. That was the year they went all in, traded for Tullo, traded for David Price. So like who would the Jays have to trade for this year to compare to that type of monumental

deadline from a decade ago. That's pretty big. You're getting to that point. You'd be looking at a Eugenio Suarez and a Joe Ryan type of thing at that point and it's out there. It's out there if the Blue Jays want them. Like we saw back in 15 and 16 guys, money can be a factor in all of this as well. And the Blue Jays farm system is good enough to do whatever they want. They're not trading for Shohei Otani, they're not trading for Fernando Tatis Jr. They have the prospects to do whatever they want. It'll be costly, but this has been a really good year for the farm system at

a very good time. More importantly though guys, they have the money and if you look around Major League Baseball, there are some smaller market teams who would be attracted to the idea of getting out from some bigger contracts. And that can increase the prospect return for them as well. But the Blue Jays have that muscle that they can flex. We see where the payroll is right now, but look to next year, guys. Bo Bichette, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassett, Chad Green, that's a ton of money off the books right away. And why wait a few months to spend it when you can start

to spend it right now and go for it this year? Yeah, Keegan, we were just having this conversation about which direction you might want to go. Al's brother is making the point of assuming you're going're gonna add pitching which we all assume they will do you want to add a power bat at a moment like this when you know you've gotten so much great production from the guys maybe you didn't expect the bargers of the world the the Lucas's of the world and would you know adding a power bat maybe maybe risk messing with the chemistry that clearly is in evidence in that dugout right now. It's a real conversation guys and you're going to have Dalton DeVar show coming back who is

by this team's definition a powerbats a guy who can hit 25 plus over a season. Anthony Santander I don't know who he's going to be the rest of the season. I expect he'll be back. I just don't know who he's going to be for this lineup. I don't think that you can bank solely on him being the big power bat at that point. But if you're going to add a power hitter, I think it makes sense for them to go after one who can do something really well. Is that crushing left-handed pitchers? Is that a right-handed platoon guy? Something that you can help max out. Because I don't think the Blue Jays are primarily going to chase a guy who immediately starts in right field every single day the rest of the way. If it lines up, sure, but we've seen how they've mixed and matched and chased

platoon matchups pretty heavily. Now maybe there's somebody like a David Schneider who's developing back into being that and Ernie Clement, Addison Barger, they have big platoons clips. If you play it the right way you get an advantage every single night. But that's where my mind would go and messing with the lineup is a real conversation. I didn't expect it to be but especially when Varsho gets back because that's going to bump at least one outfielder, maybe two outfielders onto the fringes of this roster and the Jays right now they have what they have 30 32 big leaguers that can be on this roster. It's just about the right mix so any bat needs to fix that mix. I mean so many things are going right for this team you almost take the mess with it at this point but you understand that you

know the the good vibes can't go on forever and at some point there's an evening out you know we go back to and we've talked about this last year we were told it was 2025 and here we are do you do you feel that this team will go for it at the deadline i think they need to uh and there's a couple of realities involved in that and one is just their placement in this league right now we saw last week who the Yankees are the rate beatable baseball team and the Blue Jays have a path the AL East the last few years guys and we see those postseason rounds of 20 and 22 and 23 you're talking about the wild card sneaking in with a wild card spot that used to not exist and that has not gone anywhere for them but if they can get the division

and get themselves into a best three out of five series that's when this gets exciting that's when you can settle in and really plan out a series and I think that would suit the Blue Jays that's one big factor just the context of the American League East but at the same time guys there are human beings involved in all of this who have big jobs and want to keep those big jobs and when you have an opportunity like this that can really change both how you're viewed in the future and the present in a city and if you're a member of the Blue Jays front office this has to be incredibly tempting right now they've done a very good job to get to this point but look around baseball it's no longer a guy that i think this is the important thing i keep coming back to

it's no longer about just making the playoffs that's not good enough qualifying for the playoffs it's not a rare group anymore you need to make a run and i think now is their time to separate and try to make an actual run not just participate in the playoffs.

There was a lot of talk about George Springer being an all-star snub this year, but what about a guy like John Schneider? This guy's managing his ass off right now. It just feels like he can't make a wrong decision. It's amazing, man. I feel like he could call me in on the seventh and I would somehow get through with some weak contact and pitch a scoreless in it. One of these great stretches we've seen.

And there's always going to be some credit given to players, which he does a very good job of. There's always going to be some luck involved in any of this. But it seems like everything he's touching right now is turning to gold. And a lot of the stuff he said in spring training is coming true. Every single spring training, I hear the same stuff and it's mostly fluff about how this year is better, the clubhouse is better, yadda yadda yadda.

And I'm around the clubhouse enough, probably too much if you ask a lot of the guys in it, but to get a sense for that. And I've been around clubhouses that were fake good, that everyone said was good, but I don't see the advantage. This one I do, and I have a very high bar for saying that, but this clubhouse, I see the value in it. I think it's a very good one, a very beneficial one for everyone. And what we're seeing right now is a coaching staff and a roster that are working together perfectly and they're bringing up the best

in one another and for John Schneider guys I think a lot of this come with taking a pretty honest look at how the last few years have gone we spoke about it yesterday and he has no problem saying out loud listen I screwed this up last year screwed that up could have done that better that's encouraging i like to hear that the manager and not being too proud to admit that things have gone wrong because

things have gone the same way in the city with the blue jays for too many years they've been good but not great they've made the playoffs but not done anything something needed to change and I do think that's starting at the top and I think it's working right now. We talk about the coaching staff Keegan, I'm curious about how you feel the change in terms of the hitting coach from Guillermo Martinez to David Hopkins, sorry David Hopkins has been a factor. You know we heard a lot of reviews about Popkin's approach in spring training.

He was using golf metaphors to describe the way he wants to teach hitting. What have you observed on that front to explain the way the Jays have had such a great offensive season? Yeah, a lot of metaphors and buzzwords, fellas, I tell you. There's new ones every year. I think I'm about at the limit of how many times I can hear the term A-swing at this point. I think I take a shot every time we do. But what I like about what players are saying about David Popkins, Luay Inati, Hunter Mets, and the hitting staff is that they're encouraging players to be a version of themselves, not trying to force them into a different mold. And I think Addison Barger and George Springer are very good examples of that. Barger

especially, he's a guy who you need to let him be himself. You need to let him take big wild aggressive swings. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But last year it seemed like they were trying to get him to hit singles the other way. That's not who he is. It's never going to be who he is as a hitter or as a person. My god. George Springer is another one. I think that last year he was trying to be someone else. Now they're letting him be naturally athletic and he's an incredible athlete at 35. And it's working. I think you see that connection and a bit of empowerment really.

That's what you want from a hitting staff. You want them to empower hitters and you want hitters to trust them because the moment a hitter does not 100% trust a hitting coach, well they have their own hitting coach. They have their buddy from college. They have their dad. They have a hundred voices in their ear but this is the most guys in the last nine ten years that I have heard hitters go out of their way To praise the hitting staff not just fluff not just saying that they're helping But specific reasons that make a ton of sense and there's a lot of confidence with those guys right now Okay, good as you know the most engaging part of the story is you know who's gonna be the hero tonight? So let me just rhyme off here the starting lineup for the Jays in tonight's game Lucas

Lidoff Springer Guerrero jr. Bichette barger Kirk Loprofito Ernie and the stash in left field I kind of like that you're sort of moving as you see the name you go he's going to do it tonight you don't know but but you're you can't wait to figure out who it's going to be it's amazing and if you if you had shown me a lot of these lineups back in February and March and spring training, I would have said, yikes, this is not going well. And that's completely changed. I like what they've done, especially at the bottom of the lineup, guys, where they are finally allowing themselves to chase a little bit of offense,

because this team is going to be good defensively no matter what. All the time, they're going to have good defenders in the field. The short version and the way I look at it is that last year guys they were looking to put together the best defensive lineup. This year they're allowing themselves to chase a bit more offense and it's working immediately and you see that with guys coming up like Schneider, Loper Fito the last couple of days. He's been in AAA all year. Addison Barger started the year in AAA and even when he got to the big leagues his first two or three weeks weren't good but they're betting on the right

guys and that is absolutely something that rolls into one another. It does energize I think this lineup and if you're Vladdy or if you're Bo if you strike out it's okay you're not the entire offense and I think this lineup and if you're Vlad E or if you're bow if you strike out, it's okay You're not the entire offense and I think everyone can exhale a little bit Nobody has their shoulders up their ears trying to be the hero because when that happens everything screws up, but it's a Amazing and more than anything guys surprising. I didn't see it going this way this season whatsoever Well speaking to the lineup card something that that has become more evident over the last few weeks here is they like George Springer in the DH hole.

Is he kind of carving out that role there? Do you expect, even when Santander comes back, will we continue to see Springer there or is that when they'll have to kind of change things up? I think he would play a little more outfield but you don't mess with happy you don't mess with that at this point then george actually invented a new buzzword which i think i'll tolerate for another year or so but it's the o p the offensive player because he believes that uh...

based running as part of that so he's rejecting the d h moniker and he is going by o p which i'm we'll catch on here across baseball but he's nailing that and it's keeping him fresh and most important of all guys he's embracing it. Some guys just don't like the D.H. Vladdy does not like the D.H. I think he's someone who likes to stay involved and mentally engaged in the game. George, my presumption is that he just has so much energy that even wanted to the target he's pretty locked in regardless uh... he is a a wired guy on any given day here

so he's leaning into it and he's accepting that it's helping him i think he sees those results and at thirty five keeping him fresh he's not uh... banging the walls and diving in the turf every other night it's uh... working so far and there will be a little change, a little bit of a change, but I think you need to keep them there as much as you can. Hey Kagan, news about Alec Minoa who's expected to throw two simulated innings today in Florida aiming for a return in August. I mean what's your sort of Jerry's percentage on the chances Minoa could be a factor in the stretch run? Yeah so if he throws to today his next

outing will either be his first rehab game or he'll do this one more time. So let's say very roughly by the middle of this month he'll start rehab games. From there it's what the Blues have are calling kind of a spring training style ramp up where you make five or six appearances. Given that it's Tommy John, I'd probably call that six or seven. So this to me, guys, feels like something that's aimed more towards early September instead of the August 1st that had been targeted. That was always an optimistic target. Nothing has gone wrong by every account. He has nailed this entire process. So if he is back for September, I don't think the Blue Jays can plan on him to play hero

in any regard, but it's a very valuable insurance policy for now. If the Blue Jays, even if they add at the deadline, injuries can always happen, performance, maybe you need an extra day. It's good regardless to have Manoa coming back, but I still view that as more of a next year thing. If he can come back, prove he's healthy, huge success. That's good because you have Scherzer, you have Bassett leaving, Gosman's one year left next year.

Having Manoa back will be good, but I don't think you can be betting on him to be a guy in the postseason run. That's a little risky. You just treat anything you do get as a bonus. I'm kind of disappointed with that answer. I mean, everything's worked out and we couldn't have predicted any of this. Come on, go get a little positive action here. Yeah, there had to be something bad, Daddy. Come on now.

I'm feeling a little unnatural myself saying all these good things here. This is not how we normally do it. I was saying that's the true test test if this is a magical year if the noah can come back and shove this is truly a magical season in toronto that is the witness test he would want to embrace that so bad to know you know he would love that role that narrative coming back

and his boy hong shin re you did that a couple of years ago remember he best pg a he came back in aug, so a little earlier, but he made 10 or 11 starts down the stretch, helped him into the postseason. Ryu and Manoa have always been very close and my God, Manoa would love to do that. So maybe it works out.

A couple of things might need to bounce in a certain direction for that to happen, but goodness, he would love that. Keegan, thanks very much. Enjoy the game tonight. You got it guys take care. Keegan Matheson mlb.com Blue Jays reporter Jays in Chicago looking for 10 straight and of course the team record is 11 and they're closing in on that they may solve that

on the weekend when they visit the A's. Coming up next gonna squeeze in a yes-guy-no-guy top of the hour Carter Hutton will be by gonna talk some hockey this is overdrive on TSN, TSN 1050. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian 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. Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Dave Fest, Chuck and Al's brother Mike DiStefano with you.

And it's time now, ladies and gentlemen, for... Yes Guy, No Guy. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, drivers and passengers, time now for and gentlemen for yes guy no guys drivers and passengers time now for yes guy no guy and overdrive we're over exposing it this week here we go yes guy no guy number one Dave we'll start with you Alec Manoa will make at least three starts this season well we just got off the line with Keegan Matheson our great MLB reporter with the Blue Jays in Chicago and I was gonna say yes guy I wanted to be yes guy Keegan Matheson, our great MLB reporter with the Blue Jays in Chicago,

and I was gonna say yes guy, I want it to be yes guy. So listening to Keegan's assessment of the situation, that this is really this rehab kind of process that he's going through after Tommy John surgery with a simulated game today, more simulated games to come, it feels like maybe this is a project geared toward next season more than this season So as much as I agree with that was brother

It would be the bellwether of an amazing kind of magical moment in blue jays history if this guy could make it all the way back From not only Tommy John but a lot of struggles in his career after being an all-star early on in his career It would be great. I'm gonna go no guy. Hmm, so this early on in his career, it would be great. I'm gonna go Noga. So this Marcus Stroman comes to mind with this question. And back in 2015, six, like that's, that's what happened that year. And that was 2015 or 16, one of those two years when they made that long run, that was Stroman injured, came in halfway through the season, and he was a monster. Just don't see that happening here when it comes to Alec Benoist but I'm not saying he's not gonna play he's not gonna play is not gonna be a factor

but the yes guy no guy was whether he makes three starts right no guy because I don't see him actually starting baseball games I think he comes in as more of a bulk reliever to get him innings so I'm gonna no guy that starts but I do think he factors in at something point. What if they had a double-digit lead in the standings in the last three weeks? What if they just had to mail in the final three weeks? But if they bring in another starter, that pushes him even down the ladder even more. Let's not get crazy here. They're not running away with this thing by double digits. Let's try squeezing one more. The Blue Jays will break their franchise winning streak on this run. They're at nine, going for ten.

AB? Yes, guy, they're playing the White Sox. You better. If there was an opportunity to have the longest streak in franchise history, it's two more against the White Sox, three more against the Athletics, and then you are absolutely flooring it for the All-Star break.

Yes, guy, tap man. Okay, how about you? I'm a yes, guy. I think they're gonna do it. I think it's like they got this sort of chemistry, this sort of everything going right, everybody picking each other up, everybody having fun, and they're playing two of the worst teams in baseball. I love the combination. Coming up at the top of the hour, Carter Hutton, former NHL goaltender and A.B.'s power rankings. That's next in Overdrive, TSN 2, TSN 1050.

You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious, This Week in Gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond. The hottest gaming news, insight and industry leaders and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates.

Even if you're a total newbie. Stream This Week in Gaming on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.