OverDrive - Rose on the Jays’ hot streak, expectations regarding Guerrero Jr’s performance, and if Springer was an all-star snub

Episode Date: July 10, 2025

Baseball Today host Chris Rose joins OverDrive to discuss the Jays’ hot streak. Rose shares his thoughts on Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s performance and what the expectations should be for him. Rose gives his take on whether George Springer was an all-star snub.

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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 So let's get more on what the Jays are up to Chris roses here host of baseball today Chris. Welcome. How are you? Doing great. How are you? We're sort of apprehensive. I guess you know the Jays have been on this nice role It ended it ended yesterday

Have you sort of recast the Jays based on that winning streak? Yeah, I don't know how you can. I mean, I'm shocked. I said, like, at the end of May, I thought that the Yankees are going to run away with it. I did not see anybody else getting close. For the previous two years, I think the Jays were my World Series representative from the American League so I wasn't gonna go down that route any longer and It wasn't that they didn't have good players I just thought for whatever reason this mix of guys not that they're bad guys. They're good guys

they just it didn't seem to be working and Now you're getting like the bottom third of the lineup has been ridiculous when they've got guys that are a little bit banged up. Eric Lauer like I didn't even know he was back in the league until he started winning. I was like what is going on here? And so they've they've put it together and good for them we'll see if they're gonna be a buyer in a couple of weeks and this is going to be hopefully for Toronto fans a really memorable last three months of the season. Hey Chris, a lot of eyeballs you know popped out of sockets yesterday afternoon when the Blue Jays released their lineup and they

were resting Alejandro Kirk, they were resting Ernie Clement, they were resting George Springer, Davis Schneider did not start, and yet they had a day off today, and then three more games and then an all-star break. What did that say to you about maybe their concerns about fatigue and the long grind of the season? Yeah, I mean, you'll see a lot of teams do this where they're going to give guys multiple days off using, I think they had a day game yesterday if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, that's right. So where you kind of give them that day off after a night game and then you're going to travel to the West Coast to play the A's. Yes, it's an off day, but still, it's been a long half. You're talking about 90 plus games for every team, and I know people will say, well, hold on, they're about to have three or four days off.

Yeah, but these guys are dog tired. If you spend any time around a Major League team at the beginning of July, everybody's tongue is hanging out. They're like, when can we get through the middle of July already? So that extra time, I would, you can't read anything into it other than let's just play the long game here. Yes, a double-digit winning streak is awesome, but let's look at where we are, you know, six to eight weeks from now, and let's just make sure everybody is as rested and as healthy as they can be particularly with Al Andrew Kirk, I mean he's he's gonna have short time off because he's going to Atlanta

I'm curious about the chemistry thing. I mean, you know a Collection of players that that somehow come together We expect that in other sports. For a baseball team to have that and literally guys that have been called up from Buffalo the first game that they make a major contribution and keep going, what's that worth for you? Well it's hard to explain. All I can tell you is, you know, I don't know if you remember but I'm a Cleveland guy and I actually saw the Guardians in Chicago a week ago today And I talked with a couple of the guys

For the most part it's not entirely true but there are a lot of the same guys that made it to game five of the ALCS there that are on this roster and I caught him in the midst of a ten game losing streak. And so I said, what, what is going on here? It's not like good guys turned to bad guys in one year. That's not what happened. And he said, no, but you just, they couldn't put their finger on it, but it's more of a field than anything else that with that particular team, they've got so many young guys that are still trying to prove their worth at

the major league level, that when things start going south, they don't have that security blanket to fall back on. The Jays are in an entirely different situation, right? Vlad's now got his money, George Springer has got a ring and his money, Kevin Gossman's a nine figure guy, Chris Bassett has made a lot of money,

Alejandro Kirk got his, you know, Beau Bichette is pretty much the one guy that's kind of next in line to go get his one payday. So it was hard to figure out why this team couldn't come together and by all indications, and I spent a day with them when they were out in Anaheim, good dudes, the clubhouse seemed fine. I talked to people behind the scenes.

Like everybody was getting along okay. It's just sometimes for whatever reason, the mix isn't right. And I can't tell you the difference as to why it's working this year as opposed to the previous two years when a lot of the pieces, not all of them, but a lot of the pieces were the same.

What's your, when you look at Vladdy, Chris, what's your level of concern that, yeah, some of the numbers are really good, he's walking a lot, he's getting on base, the exit velocity on his line drives is really high, but the ball's not going out of the ballpark, he's only got 12 home runs, not exactly befitting of a 500 million dollar man. How do you see the expectation for

Vladys power game and what we might expect into the second half here? Well, he's an interesting one because I kind of wanted to see him get to the open market, nothing against Toronto, because I couldn of wanted to see him get to the open market, nothing against Toronto, because I couldn't figure out exactly where he fit. Like, was he a $300 million ball player? Was he 250, according to other teams? We know what he means to Toronto, right? It's the only place he's been.

He was born there. His dad was a star North of the border. So I understood why he meant means so much, not meant, not past tense means so much to that community. But in between six war seasons, like 2021 to last year, talking about a four war player, a two war player in 2023, this is a guy that posts every day and a two war player, like that's not $500 million. So I think you just have to understand that

there's gonna be years where he might hit 28 homers and that's gonna be it. You know, he had one year where he's hit more than 32. He's had two years where he's driven in more than 100 runs. And so if we're expecting Aaron Judge numbers, that's not what you signed up for with this guy. What you signed up for was longevity because of his age, right? He's 26 years old. So you're hoping that he can do this at a consistent basis for the next eight or nine years, and then there's gonna be some regression.

So I think he signed up for more consistency than excellence. And I know that's weird when you're talking about a $500 million player. For you, how big of a snub is George Springer in the All-Star game? I don't know. I have a hard time with this one particularly in kind of where we've gone in how we evaluate players the last probably six to eight years. You know, we've become

so heavy on a war and his war is not ideal, right? It's not top of the line. Yeah, it's 1.6, which is just a smidge better than Beau Bichette, who has not had a great year. Now, what he has meant to that team has been significant. And he has been eons better than what we've seen out of him the last three or four years, right? He's finally kind of living up to that contract with almost a 900 OPS So I have to put war on the back burner for him when I'm evaluating him Do I think that he should be there in front of Stephen Kwan? Yes

Do I think he should be there in front of Julio Rodriguez? Yes Yes. Do I think he should be there in front of Julio Rodriguez? Yes. But I think the players voted both those guys in, if I'm not mistaken. So for everybody, it always says, oh, well, players should be voting for this and that and the Hall of Fame and that. Well, I I don't know. But you tell me I think George Springer's had a better first half than those guys, even if war doesn't stipulate it, because those two guys in particular that I mentioned, Quan and Rodriguez, are so good defensively

that their war shoots through the roof. And maybe that means that we need to be paying more attention to guys who can cover ground in center and left than drive in runs and make things happen offensively, I don't know. Hey Chris, there's some rumblings that Commissioner Rob Manford on behalf of the owners is pushing for a major league baseball salary cap. It's the last holdout of the four major sports,

not to have one. The labor agreement that's currently in place goes till December, 2026. We up here in Toronto spend a lot of time talking about the salary cap in hockey. Now we're talking about a lot in the NBA given the new regulations, the second apron that everybody's kind of hung up on.

What are the odds that we're gonna be talking about a major league baseball salary cap in the coming years in your mind? Well, if we are, it means that there's probably gonna be a work stoppage, which would suck. And there's no other way, I'm not gonna decorate this with nice, sweet, cool, fancy words, it would suck. And that's speaking as a guy who's covered the sport

for 30 years, but more importantly, as a baseball fan. I just, I don't see it happening without a major, major fight on their hands. I just, you know, for 50 years it hasn't happened. And since the reserve clause came in, it's just not, I mean, you talk to any baseball player, there's not one of them that's gonna be like, yeah, you know what, I'd be willing to listen to that.

You're just not gonna find it. So at the end of the day, this sport could come to a grinding halt, I sure as heck hope it doesn't. That's not where we're at. I cannot take that right now. There's too much good young talent, and we've made such great strides.

If we do it again oh god I can't even think guys you're ruining a perfectly good afternoon yeah well okay I'm sorry with that Chris but I mean it is it is an issue and I'm wondering like is there an argument to be made from a fan perspective forget the players and forget the owners who are rich and probably get richer, but is there an argument to be made from a fan perspective that, you know, this would ensure parity? Well, it would ensure parity if you put a floor on it too, right? I mean, this isn't

going to turn into the Cleveland interview, but my team is bottom five in payroll. They were in the ALCS last year and they cut payroll. Yeah. How's that sit with us? Terribly. So what are we gonna do? Are we gonna make it max out at 220, but there's a floor of 125 per team?

Like that's not gonna happen either. You're gonna get fighters, you're gonna get owners fighting owners. I just, it feels like we're too far down this road to have that incorporated. And do I think it would be good for the game? Yes, I mean, Colorado was eliminated the first three days of the season.

Pittsburgh's talking about trading Paul schemes because they know they won't be able to compete with them over the next four years before he becomes a free agent. That's horrible for the sport. That's not the way it works in the NFL. You know, it's just whether or not you have enough smart people in your organization to put it all together. That's not the case in this sport. Sometimes the smartest people work

for the smallest market teams. And that's the way that Cleveland every couple of years, Tampa Bay virtually every year, stick around and make it interesting come October, Milwaukee as well. Chris, as the trade deadline is three weeks today, so if you had a Blue Jay wish list, how long would it be and what's a minimum acquisition for them?

I wouldn't mind a back end starter, you know, a guy that I can rely on every five days to be out there. You know, they guy that I can rely on every five days to be out there. You know, they've dealt with both Francis and Scherzer having injuries this year. And you know, I mean every team can use a bullpen arm. Hoffman's been great with the exception of May. I really think that he's been exactly what you're looking for. Um. I mean. Santana will be back at some point, right? He's on the 60 day. Where are we in the midst of that?

I was. I was out for a little while. Yeah, it's getting there. He's either talking about, they're talking about mid August. Okay. You know, and VAR shows hurt again, right? They're talking about they're talking about mid-august Okay You know and VAR shows hurt again right and now Jimenez is on the injured list I think so you know maybe a

Little depth in the outfield an extra outfielder in case it takes one of those guys a little longer to get back But I don't think their wish list is It doesn't feel real long does it to you? Well, would you? Add a backup catcher because I mean there's a lot of pressure on Kirk to stay healthy and deliver Yeah, but Honeyman played well, hasn't he? Yeah, he's been good so Yeah, but Honeyman played well, hasn't he? Yeah, he's been good so You know, I mean you're talking about all Andrew Kirk's gonna play back there 75% of the time

And he's great so Every every team in this league like the Padres would love a catcher the Giants would love a catcher I mean I'm talking about a starting guy and here you are mentioning about a backup catcher I mean itants would love a catcher. I mean, I'm talking about a starting guy. And here you are mentioning about a backup catcher. I mean, it makes me laugh a little bit like, you know what, we call that good living guys. That's good living. If we're talking about the backup catcher situation. Yeah, no doubt about it. No doubt. I would like, I'd like about six new hitters in my everyday lineup. Can you loan a few? That'd be helpful. All right, Chris, so you see those Detroit Tigers a lot. We're trying to make sense of a big part

of how big the DJs should go in the trade deadline shopping list is about how realistic is it to win this American League, which seems somewhat open right now, with the Yankees not, you know, not being good but not great, with the Red Sox having their struggles, with the Astros good, not great,

and then the Tigers are the best team in the AL right now by record, but how good are they? Good, really good. And I'm not 100% sure, but I think I have them representing the AL in the World Series With my preseason prediction. I definitely had him winning the central. I thought that somebody was gonna press them I didn't think Cleveland Minnesota and Kansas City would all tank the way that they have not tank intentionally But I'm just saying poor performance But Detroit's really good and when you have the best pitcher in the league and he's pitching great

when he's pitching great then That's a huge pace setter because if you're in the midst of let's say a three-game losing streak and it's scoobles turn Man, it can just change your fortunes in a second. I do expect them to make some sort of move. I still think that they need a ninth inning guy. Will Vest has been very good. Tommy Canely has been very good, but I do think that there's guys to be had out

there possibly. Now I think they're gonna be fighting with the Cubs, maybe the Dodgers, definitely Philly for some real backend help. And there's guys that are available, right? David Bednar has kind of crept his way back into being what he was when he was an All-Star. I think Emmanuel Klosset can be had. I'll be curious to see what Boston does,

which way they go even though they currently hold a wild-card spot. If they want to sell high on Chapman they could do that. There's guys that can be had that can change you know playoff fortunes at the back end. It's gonna be a fun race for sure. Chris, thank you, appreciate it. You got it guys. Take care, enjoy the break, rest up, okay? I love it. You gave me the line of the day when you were talking about a backup catcher. That is incredible. For fans who have lineups that stink, my God. Good for you. I'm happy for the people in Toronto. I hope we never have to venture down that road because if we do, look out.

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