OverDrive - OverDrive - October 6, 2025 - Hour 1 - Keegan Matheson

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays' series lead in the ALDS against the Yankees, the Blue Jays' domination wins, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. making a statement, Trey Yesavage's dominant performance and Connor McDavid signing a contract extension with the Oilers. MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins to discuss the Blue Jays' wins against the Yankees, the impressive hits in games and the team's mentality for the series.

The National Institute on Aging presents great moments in preventing dementia. Like eating well to help reduce cholesterol. And maintaining a healthy weight. For more simple things that can help make a big difference in preventing dementia, visit Small Steps Big Difference. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fan duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, overdrive off and running.

TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker up on TSN4, streaming live on YouTube live, up on TSN's YouTube channel. Brian Haseo, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennon. What's going on? What's going on? There he is, baseball guy. I did exactly what I told you not to do. The good luck charm all of a sudden.

Oh, wow. I mean, the fanny pack, did the fanny pack get down there to the ballpark? Did not? No, no fanny pack. Again, the fanny pack was because I was in the seats during the game and then working afterwards. Here I was the press box guy. I was right in there.

But I told you the chemistry with Hedge and Kegan, and I was like, just leave those guys alone. Yeah. And I thought I contributed to that personally. Now, Hedge and Kagan are superstars. They are phenomenal at what they do, and they were outstanding, like all they are. There I am, just right in there with pictures. He's a big dude.

Like, you're a tall guy, Brian. He's taller in you? Oh, yeah, he's a nose tackle, dude. Like, Keegan would destroy people. Like, you try to get a running back through the line, and Kegan Matheson is waiting for him. That guy's not going anywhere. Wow. That guy is losing yardage.

People left him alone at bar fights. He was just solo. No, nothing to see here? Nothing to see here. Love it. Yeah, that was night one. I was game one, game two yesterday. I made a big mistake.

I think it was last week I was talking about running shoes with suits. I made that big deal. I'm like, no, I shouldn't be doing it anymore. I wore running shoes with the suit, posted a picture, and people are just destroying me for that. Because it's hypocritical. It's pure hypocrisy. Let me get this straight.

You chirped running shoes with a suit and then did it? That's what I'm telling you. Why would you do that? I don't know. Was it a classic, like, white No. Or it was one of those, like, sporty, kind of brown leather.

You know the ones I'm talking about. I've seen you wear them. Exactly that. Or the Gary Bettman black, right? Gary Bettman wears black. He will wear black on black, though. Like, Gary wore a black on a black soul. I had, yes, I had one of those kind of stylish black leather

with a white soul, which is not nearly as crazy as wearing like Jordans or an Air Force One or something like that. You know, I wasn't rocking those. I was rocking somewhat stylish running shoes, though, sneakers, so to speak. And pure hypocrisy, and I got called out for it and somewhat, I guess, deservedly so. I did it to myself. I posted it on my own Instagram account. But I almost did make it past game one because I almost have. a moment. So I was going

full journalist down there, right? Yes. How so? In the press box and I'm following Hedge and Kegan around, right? It's their show and I'm a third wheel. I'm third wheeling it and Hedge and Kegan being the professionals that they are. Like, well, we're going down

to the interview room after the game. Like, all right, perfect. I'll go down with you and I'm sitting in the interview room and the way it works is the losing team, their manager, comes out. No players come out. Only the manager, and that manager comes out first. So it's Aaron Boone. So Boone

comes out, and the Jay's just destroyed them. Like, embarrassed them in game one and game two, clearly. But in game one, it was just an awful first impression. And the New York media is absolutely picking him apart. Okay? Why you

do this? What happened here? What was that? Why? And I feel a sneeze coming on. Oh, no. And I am an obnoxious sneezer and a serial sneezer. It could be 10 in a row. It could be 10 in a row.

And I'm fighting this sneeze. I'm having an aneurysm and hedges beside me and I think she's picking up on the energy because I looked over and I think she was looking at me like, dude, what is your problem? Because Boone is talking this out with the New York media and the national

media. Fox is there. Yes, everybody's there. It's the Yankees losing game one in the ALD.S. And I am blowing my neck out trying to fight a sneeze thinking if i start sneezing here boone's going to look at me and say are you new like are you in drugs get out of here and i would have had my you know credentials revoked dude i'm a sneezer too and the worst thing is if you try to like if you try to let it happen but stop it at the same time like plug your nose or something or just flat out stop you'll have a

mess on your hands yes like you you know what i'm talking about like if you just try to stop it it just You've got a serious, serious problem. It'll come out the other end. I'm telling you, just sneeze and move on. Like, that's a, I've been some of those scrums in the morning and that, but you're right, I'm a little bit more comfortable in a hockey scrum than I am, you know, in a baseball scrum or something like that. And it's kind of out of your wheelhouse, Brian, you'd be fine if you were, you know,

if you're in a relief scrum and you're standing beside Jonas, you could cough on his head. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. But this is the podium room. This is the interview room with the Yankees and Boone. and the Yankees just got pumped. And you're not there ever.

And that's another thing. Like, it's pretty clear. Like, here I am. I'm rolling it. I'm a sneeze guy, right? Ruining the whole rhythm of the whole process. So, yeah, if you're seeing me struggle today, it's because I can't look left because I basically blew my neck out trying to fight a sneeze.

But what a scene. I mean, what a scene? And you're right. I mean, all of a sudden, I'm the good luck guy, right? I'm the good luck guy. I'm down there. And, you know, I can. can't even express what the whole experience was like over over two days like the buildup the vibe

downtown the weather was so perfect like and that factors in like and i think the rest of the country would hear this or look at this and probably with some jealousy or not quite understand it but it's october and it was 25 degrees in blue skies and perfect like it was it was the most perfect weather downtown was so electric and the crowd over two nights, it just, it was waves of excitement and partying

and intensity, but intensity that was channeled properly. They were on the Yankees. They were rooting for the Jays. The team showed up and supplied them with the two greatest games you could ever experience in your life if you're there to watch a playoff game. It's almost like somebody in ops or something was saying, we got to do this

and we got to have everything set up. And if the players and the team could actually go out there and blow them out in game one and in game two, everything would be perfect. You can't, like, Vladdy started it off with the Homer, and then it was just the smoke show both games, and then the Savage performance, the Gosman performance, like the Grand Slam Varshow, like it was just, I don't know, you can't get it any better than that as far as what you wanted, especially, I think you brought it up yesterday, Hayes, like Toronto

sports fan in playoffs, the anxiety that they have. Oh, my word. Like, this is not just, like, they usually win game one, and then all of a sudden something really stupid or bad happens in game two where everybody's like, man, this is going to end ugly. But it just kept going and snowballing, and they absolutely kicked their asses, man. There was a little bit of it, like, anxiety yesterday where you're like, it got to, they put seven up, and you're like, man, this could get, but that's it.

They killed them both games. It was unreal to watch. It was perfect, I thought. And Brian, maybe you could speak to it. You were there. You felt the atmosphere in that. Like, I'm fine with their relievers kind of struggling a little bit. The game was out of hand, and, like, kind of, it got somewhat closer, but it was never close.

But was there any negative storylines? Because I couldn't find any. Every player played to their capability, and it was almost like everybody who stepped up to bat, whether the ball was in the dirt or was over the plate, they hit it over the wall. Like, it was a home run fest. Well, they have more home runs than they do strikeouts through two games. That is just a remarkable statistic. Nobody saw that one.

Well, no one saw any of this coming. That's the thing. You're right. Oh, like if you pump this into a simulation and said, just simulate what the greatest two days ever would look like, I don't even know if it would match these two days. You know, like the simulation, like AI would be like, well, we've got to be a little bit realistic here. try to, you know, do something. Like, no one got injured, everyone's healthy,

the Yankees have no confidence, unless they're going to try to claim that they pick some up off the back end of the bullpen to your point noodles, you know, like Justin Brol comes in and starts getting hit. Yeah, there was a little bit. There was a little bit of, what are we doing? And I, listen, I hate the way modern baseball forces every team to baby everyone. And they did that with you, Savage.

78 pitches, no hitter, 11 strikeouts, and they pull them. And it was premeditated before even went out in the 6th. Like Schneider said it after the game, they told them you're facing one more guy and you're out. That guy happened to be the ninth hitter. Then he was going to run into the order for a third time. And that's always the danger zone. And I wish they let him keep going. And face Grisham again, you had struck him out twice.

You'd just struck out, struck out judge the last time you faced him. Like let him keep going. Go on to the 7th. going to the 8th, but, you know, it was about protecting them and allowing to have success. And I can tell you, him walking off the field, it was a crazy, like, minute and a half to two-minute experience where Schneider walks out and the booze rained down, you know, because they wanted, everyone wanted to see the Savage party continue. But then it shifted to this, like, just raucous roar of him walking off the field.

and the camera catching it, and then he comes out for the curtain call, which was just amazing. And he said after the game, that's what he's going to remember. He'll never forget those two experiences on top of the strikeouts and the performance. So are they saving them for possibly later in the series,

later in the playoffs, his total career? Like listening to guys like Jeter and Ortiz and A-Rod talking about this, even Boone, talking about the way this guy pitched, they had no shot. Like, Boone was like,

That was so nasty. We didn't have a shot at that. That splitter, whatever that thing was, it was moving all over the place and down. And they couldn't come close to it, man. Dude, they were putting swings on that it was. Amateur hour whiffs. Yes, sandlot stuff. Like, legit sandlot swings where you're like, this looks like a comedy.

This looks like a Disney movie that isn't even remotely believable them chasing pitches yesterday. I do think, again, no one wants to put the car before. for the horse, especially in Toronto. No one wants to bring up this conversation, and it probably is premature. But if it goes to game five, does you savage start or does Gosman start? Like, that's a legit chat after what we saw yesterday. Well, that's what I kept thinking to myself, and that's the only silver lining of him coming out, is does he have enough juice if this ends up going five later in the series?

You know, right now it looks like it could be a sweep or it could be, you know, a three-to-one type of scenario go down and get one game out. out of there. But if they need him, is he fresh enough to go on a little bit short arrest because they did pull him at five in a bit? Yes. Like that's the only thing I thought.

78 pitches, I think so, noodles. And he's young. He's 22. He's running on adrenaline, man. He's like the whole story. His whole story is incredible. Keegan will join us from Yankee Stadium. Keegan's already down there. Like, he's already back at work and he's doing his thing. Kegan from Yankee Stadium in about

20 minutes. So we come in today. We're thinking, J's, Jays, Jays. We've got some Leaves News, we'll get to. And then the big boy out in Edmonton decides, today is the day I'm going to sign a two-year $12.5 million extension. I, which, let me ask you this quickly. Let me ask you this quickly. Let me ask you this quickly. If I had it told you, let's play that game. If I had it told you on Friday, that Jays would score 23 runs and spank the Yankees twice, Would you find that more or less believable than the Connor McDavid signing a two-year extension at 12.5 million per?

What is more unbelievable if I had it told you that on Friday? McDavid, for me. That's McDavid. I would have said the Jay scoring all those runs and McDavid, no way in hell would he sign. Maybe for two years, yeah, that's believable. For 12 and a half, that is, that blew me away when I saw that. that's the thing that stood out for me. I've said all along.

I thought he was going to sign a short-term deal, but I thought it was going to be 16, 17, like a team-friendly, that type of deal. 12-5 just basically says, I'm Sidney Crosby, and I don't care about money. I care about winning in my environment. And what he's done is he's put the, he shined a light on the organization and said,

I'm doing my part. I'm doing my part. You do your part. Now, listen, they've been to the finals in a couple years, a couple years in a row but he's done his part now now it's up you know Stan Bowman the organization all of that and go

you know get let's get this finished but that's the less believable one I can believe two years like you said oh 12 and a half that's the cap is the last seven years he's just continued just signed a 10 year deal at 12 and a half per but that's I thought of like Brian

I thought of you right away I'm like right I'm like okay did you actually go down that dark path Hayes where you're like, that's what a guy that wants to win a Stanley cut does? Absolutely, I did. Absolutely. Because I don't look at this. I look at it from a completely different lens. I don't look

at it as this guy shine a light on the Oilers. I looked at it as he shined a light on every superstar in the league that claims they want to win. That's what he did today. I know, but not every superstar has a hundred million dollars in the bank like Connor McDavid does already. Very valid. Well, it's not a hundred,

but he's already signed a hundred million dollar deal. He signed for a fortune and he makes a fortune on endorsements. A hundred percent. A guy in Minnesota doesn't get that necessarily. A guy in Columbus wouldn't get that. A guy in certain, guy in Toronto would get that. Guys in Toronto get almost as much, if not more, in terms of endorsements. And in terms of being heroes in this town the rest of their lives, nothing can match it. And that's the message that he sent. And honestly, I feel vindicated because I was yelling and screaming about this forever. Why does this guy have to sign that deal?

You explain it to me. Not you too necessarily. Right. And it was always, well, he can't do that. No, well, what? You couldn't expect a player to do that. Player could never do that. Why would he?

Yes, you can. It's your career. You can do whatever you want. And McDavid, the best player of this generation stepped up and said, I'm not demanding anything because of the system. You got to play. Unfortunately, these are the rules in the NHL. It's a hard cap system.

And the argument always was, well, how can you trust the team will do it right? Right. You can't. There's no guarantees, but you got to give them a shot, right? If you take all the money, then you're definitely not going to win. So, again, players can do that. Again, a player wants to step in and say, I want all the money, then you're going to get all the money.

So be it. But this is an example of a player saying, I'm not going to play hostage to the NHLPA. I'm not going to play hostage to this narrative out there that I have to do something. I want to win. So I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to take every penny out of this team's coffers, and I have such an appreciation for it.

I have been in awe of this guy's whole career. I have never had more respect for Connor McDavid. I've never had more respect. I think it's a remarkable play and remarkable move he made today. You don't think the PA, everybody's always like, you're the next guy up. You're going to set the standard. Like Caprice up got his number, and it was like,

that was always the case. It's like, you're going to be the guy to set the standard. You don't think the G, what about GMs now, Hayes, with this guy? Like, all the GMs after Caprice off saying, oh, I guess my number's 14 or 15 now. Now everyone's going to go to McDavid's number and say, oh, what about McDavid, though? You never thought about that. McDavid's only getting 12 and a half. Do you know how many guys that are up for trying to get an extension or do something now that are probably like,

are you kidding me? The greatest player in the world just signed an extension for 12 and a half, and I want to go in there and ask for 13 or 14? He set the standard, but you know what? Around the world, I think we have to, you know, take a step back to, Gino Malkin was making more than Crosby. Crosby was just like, I'll take my money. Dry Settles making more than McDavid.

But McDavid did it on a purpose. He literally said, I'm fine, but, you know, we don't know behind the scenes. I've talked to somebody in Edmonton today. He said this guy is so dedicated. He's watching, like, he's not involved in, like, games where the team flies out to Vancouver and that. He's watching them streaming, watching his team. teammates play like he's that involved in every game he's not hiding from anything like he my understanding is this guy is all in and it didn't matter and they kept saying it everything was

lip service you know Stan Bowman there was a time last week when we were talking boy he had a little bit of a scrabble face on going you know you talk to that talk to that 97 right talk to 97 he controls it 97 I don't know when he made that decision but that rocked the hockey world and I think from your standpoint, Brian, in a positive way. Like, it's a good, it's a good feeling at some point where somebody just didn't, you know, attack the organization and to grab every sand and go, okay, do what you can after what I've left over.

He's like, I want to win and I want to stay here. It's a two-year deal, too. Well, and that's big. Like, that, this is it now. Right. And what I think I would assume you'd appreciate if you're in Edmonton or if you're an oil fan is that if they don't win in the next three years, and if he leaves, you're like, I totally get it.

He's giving you everything. Yes, it's no more, like, vindictive, how could you? You're jamming us. Like, this has got to be an understanding from all parties involved. And maybe he doesn't. Maybe in two years he stays or whatever. Who knows? I mean, we'll find that out as we get to it.

But, yes, there's so many different layers. How the other players respond, how the GMs respond, how the agents respond. How about the GM Hayes? Like, how much does this mean? I understand it's a very long. number for the best player in the game. But what does it equate to as far as maneuverability? Like him making 12 and a half, what is that going to allow Stan Bowman to do to say,

okay, we're going to repay you now and really take a run at this and make sure that we're better than we ever could have been if you were making a lot more money? Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like, what does it equate to? Well, I would think a couple of things. One, you're ruthless now. And maybe you were anyway, but now you're ruthless.

if a player's not cutting it gone you know like there's no picks that you're gonna I gotta hold on to that pick in 2028 no gone you know like it it would appear as if like there's never been more of a three year window maybe in the history of the sport than this three year

window like this is the definition of a three year window right is this one like it's all hands on deck what are we doing here what how do you how do you put him in the right position and again there are a really really

good team has been the back-to-back cup finals. They're not starting from scratch. They're not trying to build from a 70-point platform. They're a really good team that's going to be really good this year. But it opens the door up with the cap going up every single year. Dry Sal is making money. Nurses making money. But they're going to have money to play with.

And what a message to everybody that, hey, we're going to do everything we can to win. And you're right. The cap's going up. I kept thinking it's a win-win. all different levels because what he does is he kicks it down the road two years, keeps the flies off, says this is the window, and at 30 years old, he can sign an eight-year deal or a seven-year deal if he moves on, and that number is going to have a two in it. It'll be 20-something or whatever, and there's no apologies for that. Unless he hasn't won. Unless he hasn't won. I'm

not convinced to that anymore, noodles. I thought that too. What if he hasn't won? Yeah, that's fair. You'll do the same thing. You say, screw it. I'm not going for the two in front of it. I'm not doing it. Exactly. He's a rabid dog today. What's he going to be in three years if he hasn't won? You're right. That's a great point. But what I'm saying is right now, while the cap is still in, I'll call it transition, 95.5 into 104.5 into 113 and then 120 and up.

The flexibility is still lean right now. Two years from now, you're going to see. You're going to be able to manage your cap. You'll be able to flush things out. So I think that's where he's given them the flexibility to go, hey, we can add players in this window, and by the time this window is over, we're not going to be penny pinching because the cap is going to be so large, and if you want to spend to it, you can find the players that fit underneath it.

So that's why I said it's a win-win for him. And you're right. Whether they've won or not, that's a different story, but I'm just talking from his salary structure. He can go from 12-5 to 22 and not have a problem with it and not jam up the team if they manage the cap a couple years from now. Imagine if you were hibernating and you just woke up and somebody said, I want you to match these two number 97 players in the NHL.

They both were number 97 in these two contracts. One is a two-year extension at 12 and a half, and the other one is 8 times 17. No way in hell that you would say, Caprisoff is the guy wearing 97 that got the eight-year extension at 17. Yeah, that's true. But, you know, keep in mind, three years from now, if Caprisoff is still a top 10 player or has a great season this year and all that, 17 is going to be the going rate. Like, I think that's where we've got to get our mind around is go, like 17, 20, like that's going to be.

It's going to move in that direction. It's going to move quickly. Like, I don't know if you saw this Lane Hudson kind of stuff out of there. Looks like Montreal, slow played it, and then all of a sudden he said, wait a minute, if that guy's making that, I maybe shouldn't. be making that you know like that's that's the type of stuff where it's like okay you know luke hugh's at nine i'm you know i'm in the ballpark like these deals are going to escalate very quickly and i think teams are going to go let's try and get you under what our thought process is right now like that jake walman deal that flew under the radar that's a nice deal seven times seven

for a 29 year old defenseman who's the top three like that's a right basically say yeah they like waived them effectively and they yeah moved I don't know what, I think it was because he was going to get paid. That's why. Okay. He's a good defenseman. Like that's a really good deal for them. Like that's, man, like he had, he had 50 points last year.

Is he getting the, like, oh, you always tell that story about Shanahan getting traded and the other guy getting thrown in. I guess Walman sitting there saying, like, am I at the press conference or, you know, like, there would be a PR guy come in the locker room and say, guys we've had some transactions today and he would get up and probably do a little stretch and he would say Connor let's go yeah Jake great stuff we'll see you uh you know we're going to do an online chat with you later tonight if we have time I'll never forget that player's name was Brian Glenn he got traded to Detroit with Shanney and they sent the bird because I think a part of the deal was Shanney was going to play that night in Detroit and he left the building and brian glenn came in this little tv room tv lounge and he goes

what does this mean for me like i'm not i'm not even on the same bird as shaming i was like i was 19 years old what the hell do i know yeah but it was just a weird transaction that's a weird one i don't know what this one means for me yeah you'd think you know they could find a spot just throw the whole bird i think it was the team bird was only shanning on it there was plenty of room for glner to get on that bird and he's on southwest airlines i don't even know if he got there i honestly don't even know if he got there we have a bus ticket on thursday with your name on it shanahan is mid-flight on his own plane i mean wallman's a pretty darn good no i i understand that but obviously it's completely overshadowed like i don't think people in

Edmonton are starting their, you know, water cooler chat with the Walman conversation. What's bigger news? McDavid or the Leafs grabbing Sammy Blay and Cade and Grimo? Pretty big. Not going to lie. I was juggling where we'd start. But, yeah, the Leafies, they start on Wednesday night. Edmonton on Wednesday night.

We'll get to that into the 5 p.m. hour. Luke's coming up with a pick. All of a sudden, Hayes and Bro on fire. We knew we would be. We tried to spot you guys a lead. I'd prefer if you were up by 10 or 12 to make it interesting for us. us, but we're all square going into the Monday night or tonight. So we'll catch up with Luke.

Keegan's coming up from Yankee Stadium. Full recap of the first two games. What does he make of the attitude around the team as they got to New York? Game three tomorrow, Shane Bieber and the pressure on him to come out of the gate flying. We'll catch up with our boy Keegan and sure you guys will ask him about me kind of being around. Being a floater. Being a floater. Yeah, basically being a floater.

So Keegan's coming up from Yankee Stadium. Luke coming up. Best bet still to come. Something to chew on brought to you by. Boston Pizza. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSNN app. Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduil, bringing you everything from the

opening line of the final score. Man, was it a scene in the last two days? And I'm curious what that crowd's going to look like tomorrow night. You know, it's Yankee Stadium. They're going to be loud. They're going to be bold. They're going to be obnoxious. Owley. Alie. Owley, probably with their own team, though.

Yes. That's the question. I mean, like this was This was as embarrassing as it gets. 23 runs they give up. They couldn't pitch. They couldn't hit. They couldn't feel like it was just a disaster for the Yankees. And everything came up, Blue Jays. And our main man, Keegan Matheson, has been there since the spring down in Dunedin,

every game throughout the season. And obviously he was there this weekend. And now he's already down there in New York. Let's bring him in here on the Maple Toyota hotline. Here's a main man, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. This cat, man, does he look good? What a backdrop? What a backdrop.

What's happening, Keegan? This is a little nicer than my living room, fellas. Normally I've just thrown on a dress shirt that I've, like, tucked into some gym shorts. But this is big time, fellas. We're going formal here. Keegan, what was the moment that got you this weekend? There was a lot of runs. We talked about it off the top of the show.

Like, it was a perfect weekend for the Jays. hitting, pitching, Yassavich, Gossman, Flattie? Like, what was that one moment that got your attention the most where you just kind of took it in and were like, wow? There was a moment, guys, where I looked over my right shoulder and Brian Hayes, host of Overdrive, had walked into the press box and something in the air shifted in there. There's these moments you remember, guys, but I got to go to the Vlady Grand Slam.

What Trey Yosavage did, we're going to be talking about that for years. I really believe that, guys. Ten years from now, we're going to be talking about. talking about, wow, what a performance, but was it as good as you savages back in 2025? Vladdy's still the face of this franchise, though. It's got to be all about Vladdy, and his moment, after he did what he did in game one, was incredibly special, because it's got to be him. If the Blue Jays are going to go on and win the World Series, it has to be Vladdy.

And for him to come up in that moment after a rough finish to the season, that's special, guys. I've covered Vladdy's whole career. That's the game I've been waiting to cover. And I didn't know when it would come. It's been ticking and ticking away. But, man, when that ball went out, that's about as loud as that stadium can get with the roof open. That was pretty special. So you talked about all the special moments, and we'll get to Brian Hayes and his entrance here in a second.

But, you know, how do they follow it up? Like, you're looking at two perfect games almost. Now you go down to New York, and Hayes was talking about it. It's an unruly crowd. They're going to probably be pissed. But they might be more pissed with their own team than the Blue Jays. but, you know, what can the Jays do either maybe early in a game or just to set the tone to say, we're not let you back in this series?

Yeah, this makes Beaver so, so important tomorrow. If Shane Bieber can quiet this down, just pitch a clean first inning and let this place relax, turn it into a ball game. Because when you were at Yankee Stadium, guys, this is a big reason they kept Trey Savage at home. When you are here, you're going to hear some words you haven't heard in a while. You're going to hear some stuff. And that's either going to rain down on the Blue Jays or maybe.

the Yankees, depending on how this goes. You've got to calm it down. I'm not going to say they need to come out and land a punch and go up 5-0. You can't just decide to do that. But they need to play clean baseball early on. If the Blue Jays boot a couple of ballers around here, you're going to get on top of them. You're going to hear that chant, Bieber, Bieber, Bieber, it happens here. And it's overwhelming when it does happen. I've been here in playoff games where they're chanting the name of the shortstop of the starting pitcher. And it's going to crush a guy. You've got to avoid that off the top. Just let it be a baseball. ball game. And Shane Beaver's the right guy for this. Guys, this is the whole reason that they acquired

him. And if Bieber can go out and clinch against the Yankees, the 3-0 sweep and the ALDS, that's immediately one of the best trades this team's ever made. Just with one win, one game, it's worth everything you gave up. I don't care if Cal Stephen goes on to win the Sight Young next year. You sweep the Yankees and clinch, all-time trade. With Keegan Matheson, MLB.com, and of course, contributor here on Overdrive, Sports Center, He does it all. He's down in New York at Yankee Stadium. In terms of the mood around the Jays, how would you compare it today compared to, let's say, Friday?

More of a relaxed confidence, I think I'd put it at. It's pretty calm and cool here. Guys, Vladdy said that this was an optional day, but everyone came in. And he highlighted that as a difference between now and back in 22, 23. So you can kind of read between the lines there. Maybe back in the day, optional day meant to. a few players stayed at the hotel. Now they're all here. Everyone was out in the field doing a bit of something. Maybe they were just throwing catch. Maybe they took Bay P or some ground balls, got some

treatment, but everyone was in doing something. The Yankees did not have a workout today, guys, and that surprised me, quite frankly. I thought they would at least have some rounds of BP, have some guys in doing more than just treatment, but they did not hold a workout today. Just the Blue Jays. It was about an hour. It was quick. And listen, it was not the most urgent thing in the world, but they were here. They were together. And I like to. that frankly that they did that today i know new york's a fun place to spend an afternoon but i think this is the biggest game of your season get to the ballpark and get together and it looked uh looked like it should you mentioned flattie like it can't be just the yankees where he plays them and just

switches you know flips the switch on keegan did he make some kind of adjustment it looks like he was getting under the ball hitting it the other way a little bit and it just looked different than that one that went straight down on the ground all the time like how did he make that adjustment and how did he look so good because it was incredible what he did, obviously. Yeah, guys, I think it's a lot like what we saw from George Springer early in the year, where it's not a mechanical adjustment. There's no magic fix in there.

A lot of it's just mindset. George Springer last year was defensive. He was trying not to get out instead of trying to get a hit. I think we're seeing that from Vladie a bit more now, and he's not trying to do too much. He realizes the team around him is pretty good. I know he doesn't have Boba's yet, but this team has other players.

and what we've seen from Vladdy is him just playing free and loose and like a kid guys I hate to make the comparison or the explanation of when he's having fun he plays well because that just sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about so I'm spewing that out

but if there's any player in Major League Baseball guys it's Vladdy I think he should show up, dance and joke around do whatever he wants when he is loose and he's taking those big rips like you saw in that Grand Slam that's when this stuff happens that's the player that I covered through the minor leagues

when he was the number one prospect in baseball. He was having a party on the field every single night. Late September, you see Vladdy with kind of that scrunched face and furrowed brow. He's overthinking things. He's frustrated, slamming his bat, throwing his helmet. That's not Vladdy. Vladdy is a one-man party. And we're seeing that again lately, man.

He's having the time of his life. And I think he, even though he's not saying it out loud, no matter how much the New York media is begging him to say it, he loves beating the Yankees. Yes. And they were dying for that, man. the whole story, both nights. Oh, begging for him to give them something.

And he wouldn't give them it, which was beautiful. He knew what was happening. He knew exactly what was happening. Are you sure, Vladdy? Are you sure it's not us, Big Mighty New York? He knew that he was not going to give them the satisfaction. It was kind of beautiful to witness. Yeah, it really was.

And Keegan Matheson, and you and I were there, hard-hitting journalists. We were, you know, grinding it out over the course of the weekend. And, Trey is Savage after the game. You know, he mentioned the statement he had last week. week where he said, you know, I'm built for this. And then he thought about it before the game. He's like, if you make a statement like this, you better back it up. You know, and he more than just backed it up. It was just a phenomenal performance. And, you know, you look at the way the Yankees, they were so puzzled. Like, they had no idea how to catch this guy. You had a great

comment in the post game. He said the ball could have been three sizes larger. They still wouldn't hit it last night, you know, put that into perspective. In terms of the whole season, everything's broken their way, you know, the savage story and the way he responded and the way he was even emotional after the game. He's been the best story I've covered in years, guys. It's amazing to watch him come up from single A. And Brian, we talked about this in the post game. I can't make the hockey or football or NBA comparison here. Like, it's not a guy starting out in high school and ending up in the NBA. There's no comparison to this in pro sports, what he did this year. Starting out in single A against 18 and 19 year olds, high A, double A, AAA, AAA, and now the big leagues.

Normally, guys, if you're going to see this happen, it's with a crappy team. And he's up for the last two weeks of the years, say, hey, come learn how the big leagues work, come learn what hotels we stay in and how this all works. He's part of an AL leading team that's going for a World Series. And he's going to be a big reason. He might be the best pitcher on this staff right now, which is ridiculous. He's 22 years old. He threw his first pro pitch six months ago.

I've never covered anything like this. And what I love about you savage is his maturity in how he approaches this. Everybody can throw 98-99. I really do not care about that anymore. Everyone can rip a 90-mile-an-hour slider and miss bats. Everyone can do that. But you need to be a grown-up. And how you-savage approaches all of this.

There's this quiet kind of cockiness that he's really pulling off. And he looks at baseball, and he's like, listen, man, this is a five-year-old. game. I'm really damn good at it. And when he made that comment, Brian, about backing it up, that's fantastic. He's not hiding behind these pre-planned quotes with this fake moxie. This is just who he is. He's a natural. I think he's a superstar on the making guys. I really do. I think we've got to get used to this guy in Toronto. Does it get people asking questions? Like, have it got to a game five? Like, does this guy's name come up? You just said he's the most dangerous pitcher on the staff. Like, would they think about this guy or what?

I think you've got to And I think that's part of the beauty Of taking him out a little early He was in the high 70s pitch count guys And from my dollar, man Nothing in baseball in the postseason Beats the starter coming back on short rest It's this like heroic ride-in

And you've seen it over the years Like Madison Baumgartner was that great example With the Giants for years Coming back on short rest Pitching that eighth or ninth inning I don't know anyone else I'd rather do that Than Trey you Savage Let's say this goes to a game five

Hypothetically A couple things go wrong this week you're tied 2-2 in the 8th, 9th inning. Trey I Savage, man, who else is going to come in and strike out the side? Who were you going to bet on over Trey I Savage right now? That is a really short list. I don't know if it's a list at all right now, guys. No, I don't think it would be, I don't think it is.

I mean, I think he's pitched his way into that conversation with what he did yesterday and the whole approach down the stretch. And again, if you're a Blue Jay fan and the Blue Jays, you're hoping it doesn't get to that point, just reset for the championship series and figure it out from there. But I do, you know, everyone was happy in that park yesterday. I got to think Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro, we're looking at that because that was going to be the Scherzer start, right? That had the potential to be the Max Scher start.

Not only did they go to Scherzer and say you're not even on the roster, but a 22-year-old who showed up a month ago is going to pitch effectively in your spot. I'm almost still in awe with the fact that the Jays made that decision. clearly it was the right decision not only to pitch you savage there but to keep shurser off the roster but now that the dust is settled like what do you make of that decision and where do we see this going with shirzer in the future if at all guys i wonder if three years ago they would have made that decision at all i don't think they would have i think two or three years ago they would have carried max scherer and done this differently i think this right here represents what's changed

with this organization and from the top down a lot of this has been with with John Schneider. He's spoken about this very well, I think. But really top down, in this organization, they've done some important things, which is always looking at yourself, talking about what you screwed up, and fixing it. And this is a decision that I think shows the new Blue Jays, is chasing upside and chasing what you want to happen right now. Max yours is a Hall of Famer, and you just took a 22-year-old rookie who has pitched for six months in pro baseball over him. I know the numbers. I know a lot of stuff pointed to that, but that's not as easy a decision as we make it seem once it's already made. I don't think they would have done that

a few years ago. So I really commend them for doing that. And setting up the rotation like they did, they set Trey up for success here. And this is just a massive success story, this whole organization this year. To start him out in single A, this was a plan. He didn't just surprise people. They had this plan. And back in April, I bet you they would have said there's a 1% chance this works out. But man, the front office, Joe Sclafani and the player development group, man, a ton of credit. unbelievable. All right, buddy. Well, you look and sound like a modern-day Lloyd Robertson down there. You're crushing it, man. It's just incredible. Wow. Keeping them fooled, fellas. You're crushing it, man. We can't thank you enough and enjoy New York.

And hopefully it's a quick trip. But if it's not, then maybe we'll see you on Friday night. Great stuff. And we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. All righty, fellas. Take care. We'll talk soon. There he is. Keegan Matheson, MLB.com, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. I love how everybody kind of takes credit for it. They're like, this is what we planned the whole time. Like, we knew that this guy was going to go from single A ball to the big leagues pitching in the playoffs and punting two veteran guys off the staff. No one had that plan.

Nobody. Nobody. Like, they're in the ALDIS without Scher, Bassett, or Burrios on the Rock. Dude, do you remember when Scherzer was on fire, like, kind of getting his game together? People were like, there's your game one started. We talked about it. Absolutely. It was like game one right there.

That's your guy. That's your guy. Yeah, it took courage. I really did because, you know, I think Keegan's right. Like I think in the past, they would have said, wow, we can't do that. We've got to go with the aura of Scher and the experience. And, you know, in sports a lot of times, that's experience wins, right? It's the same in every sport.

Well, he's a veteran. He won't get caught up in the moment. what can we expect out of the young guy? Maybe they learned from the Burrios experiment in Minnesota where they took them out and it was like that just wasn't the right thing to do so we got to just do things differently and kind of go with a feel or something. Who knows, man? But you know what?

Everyone was talking about pulling Burrios and yesterday was a prime example. People were saying, leave this guy in, let him ride, let him ride. Like it didn't backfire because they ended up getting the job done. But can you imagine if it got a little closer, it was 1311? and you know some I mean the game was too far gone but the relievers didn't do a great job yesterday they did not help them that's the you know they didn't help their cause but they got the the rust off they got the nerves out of the way now maybe they'll have a good relieving game

tomorrow or the next day well I just wanted them to get a few more Ks that's all I want I just wanted a few more Ks just to go up the list and because he was at 11 just get a couple more but I don't know, they're just, they made up that mind. Well, and like the two, the two coolest strikeouts of the last two games have been against Judge. Like, the moment of the series is Aaron Judge, top of the six, game one, bases loaded nobody out and he strikes out, right? And, like, that is still the pivotal moment of the series because he could have broken everything wide open. He didn't do it. And then yesterday, Savage walks them in the first inning on four straight pitches.

And then he comes back up and he strikes him out. And, like, striking out, Judge, there's just, there's something about it. I mean, we all know what he represents and who he is and how great of a player he is. Like, to send Judge packing is just a wild, wild scene. And he had 11 strikeouts yesterday and they were all great, but you tack on, I struck out Aaron Judge in my first playoff game. Big nugget, man. That's big for the Wikipedia page. Like that's very significant for the baseball reference page.

All right. Luke coming up in 15-in-studio. More on the McDavid signing today in the ripple effect. Leaves with a practice today. They're mixing up the lines. What's going to happen with Easton Cowan? Did Nick Robertson do enough over the weekend to end up playing on Wednesday night? Them picking up Caden Primo. What does that mean for James Reimer in his future?

We might have an answer on that. But we'll get into that more into the next hour. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, Luke's coming up, Monday night or tonight. Chiefs Jaguars, big game. And, yeah, it's going to be a tough game for you guys to pick. You guys are on the clock for that game.

And, I mean, you get a game yesterday, dude, man, like a Buffalo Bills team. Like, are you serious with that nonsense? Well, it's a divisional game. Drake may played well. He did. But wasn't it a lot on Buffalo what they gave him? I've never seen so many goofy, stupid fumbles. Like, it was, I couldn't, it was, it was unrecognizable.

Yes, it was. Josh Allen didn't play well. None of them, they weren't ready for the game. It was as if. They were in a fog. Yes, it was as if they've dominated the FCEs for years, which they have, and they looked at it Sunday night, and they're like, we're going to spank these guys. And all of a sudden, New England's three and two.

May looks good. They got Brabel. Brable did it. He's done a good job. Yeah, like they, they've had a good defense throughout the. even with Belichick leaving. I get it, but I've never seen a team go to three and two and gets like so much tire pumping.

It's incredible. Like, May did have a good game. Did you see old Billy B refuses to acknowledge anything about this guy's performance? That's a looser. Belichick's legacy is taking a massive hit. A massive, massive, massive hit. He's such an unlikable, like,

because, yeah, the report is that Belichick, has ordered everyone at UNC. They cannot post anything on social media or anywhere that features the New England Patriots. And Drake May played at UNC. Like it's a massive story

that your quarterback is flourishing in the NFL. And Bill Belichick, because of his own pettiness, won't allow them to post anything. That's embarrassing. It's something's weird there. But he can't cop out with a girlfriend all the time. He's 70-something.

I don't think he cares about social media. He doesn't let their scouts in the building to whatever. Scouting purposes of practice. He doesn't let the New England scouts. And he would know about this. You're right. Maybe it was someone else, but then he could overrule and say,

what are we doing? That's stupid. Yeah, that is stupid. You're right. It's such an amateur play. Like you're 70-something. It's a childish move. Belichek just looks worse and worse every week.

It's a bad look. It's a bad look. All right, hour two coming up. Luke Wilson on that. the Monday night of what else he saw last night, and we'll get into some Leaf's news, back into McDavid and the Jays as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4.

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