Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Keegan Matheson and Julia Kreuz from Baseball Toronto: Toronto Mike'd #445

Episode Date: March 27, 2019

Mike chats with Baseball Toronto's Keegan Matheson and Julia Kreuz about the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays baseball club.

In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing bass a certain game of ball let us go forth a while and get better air in our lungs let us leave our close rooms the game of ball is glorious. Walk with me. Welcome to episode 445 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, Palma Pasta, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair, Buckle, and Camp Turnasol.

I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Baseball Toronto, Keegan Matheson, and Baseball Toronto, Keegan Matheson, and Baseball Toronto correspondent, Julia Cruz. Welcome, guys. Thanks, Mike.

Thank you. Keegan, I've seen you a few times already, but Julia. Hello. Where did Julia, how long have you been writing for Baseball Toronto? I think it's been about a year, I want to say. Maybe a little less than that. I wrote a couple of stories for Keegan last year and I don't know, I think he thought maybe I did a good job because he brought me back.

And yeah, I'm glad to contribute. This was the first time we got to do the double reporter trip in Montreal as well so we got to double barrel it. It was exciting and Julia saved me with all of her many languages that she speaks. Julia what's it like being in a car with Keegan

for that long? You guys drove to Montreal and when did you drive to Montreal? When did we drive to Montreal? The day before the series started. That would have been Sunday, I guess we drove up. So Sunday you drive to Montreal. And then today, which is the day before opening day, this is Wednesday, you drove back from Montreal. And you literally just like got out of the car.

We literally just got here. Okay, give us the scoop. Like is he easy to travel with? He's very easy to travel with. he's very easy to travel with he's surprisingly a good driver and i have to say why is that surprising like you didn't think maritimers could drive is that what you're saying maybe maybe the other erratic tendencies in my personality um skewed here but yeah we had the full uh the full beat experience you know the the shared living um eating mc eating McDonald's while driving.

That's a big part of my job. So, yeah, the full experience. Now, Julia, I can tell you're naturally a polite person. So you're trying to like make eye contact with me and then Keegan and it's throwing you off the microphone. So don't worry about, I know I have these beautiful blue eyes. Yes, you do. Don't worry about them. I'll try.

I mean, I'll try. I'll do my best. I'll send you a photograph of them later. You can see them on your phone. I've already got like six. It's weird. The mail keeps coming. But, uh, thank you guys for being here. Uh, how was, how was Montreal? It was great. Yeah. The, the Olympic stadium, I'd never been before, um, to that series. So that was a big reason I wanted to go is just because, you know, to see it, you know, whether it be the last time I get a chance to, but good crowds, a fun building, you know,

the actual field and the stadium itself, I don't mind the, you know, the concrete surroundings isn't doesn't inspire hope and beauty, but it's a great city, a fun city. city and uh you know if there was a team in montreal that would be everyone's favorite road trip what uh was the attendance like was it like in the 20s 23 24 i think each game okay you know what let me jump right into brian gerstein's question because it ties into the montreal thing so let's do that right off the top definitely because then i have some more montreal questions but this is Brian Gerstein from propertyinthesix.com. Now is the time to contact me for a free home evaluation if you are considering selling your home and are looking to buy during the busy spring market. You can also call or text me at 416-873-0292 if you are interested in the Galleria Mall condo redevelopment my brokerage is exclusively selling.

I'm a bit giddy with the latest Montreal Expos news while you were there. Montreal Expos news while you were there. First, Stephen Bronfman saying Montreal is quote-unquote ready for baseball, while noting the land for the site itself in the Pill Basin is a couple of months away from being acquired. And then Buster Olney spoke to a mid-level person at MLB who said that after the Rays and A's are settled and they do the next round of expansion, Montreal will be involved for sure. Keegan and Julie, will I see UP back in an Expos uniform riding his ATV around the new park? And if so, when? Someday, someday. It's one of those tough decisions where, you know, how much we romanticize it and how much we want it can kind of disagree with the reality and all of those tangled business things

and other reasons they're up against. And then you get even deeper into Major League Baseball television deals and moving those and even teams like the Rays or smaller market teams, even though there's not many people in the stands, some of those teams have pretty cushy TV deals. And everybody gets a piece of the pie and it goes so much deeper. And I think it's something we'll see in, I was going to say in my lifetime, let's say Julia's lifetime, she lives a much healthier lifestyle than me.

So me saying that could just be five years. So it's coming, but these things take so long. And I think, you know, expansion is tough because you're thinning it out a bit more. But even in terms of relocation, it's a difficult decision. And I always go back to why did they leave? A lot of factors, but it wasn't a packed stadium either. So a lot of hurdles, but that all being said, everything that Brian mentioned,

there at least seems to be different kinds of momentum now. The last few years, it's been a lot of just that romanticizing. We'd love the Expos back. Well, that's great. How do you do it? Now there seems to be a little more meat on the bone. I don't know. What do you think, Julia? I think that Montreal is in a better position to maybe get a Major League Baseball team than they were 50 years ago when they first got the franchise. That was a time where the city of Montreal was really not prepared at all, and they still made it happen.

Largely because of Mayor Jean Drapeau and all of his groundwork there. I think that Montreal now has proven to be a baseball city, and I think that it could happen. It's a matter of when. Again, I really don't know.

Brian's in his 50s. He's only got another 25 to go, maybe. It's a divisive topic. I think that we had a few conversations about that in Montreal while we were covering the games. And really, there's no way of... I couldn't even give an opinion about this. Okay. But, um, let me be devil's advocate here because that 23,000, like for some reason,

if you're auditioning to get a major league club, shouldn't you have more bodies in that place? Like, I don't know why I saw 23,000. You'd love to. It was, um, it felt a bit louder because they closed off the upper bowl. So it was really condensed down below. That's cheating, Keegan. It is cheating. It's smart cheating. But, you know, it's tougher with a preseason game and the fact that this is the sixth year they've done it.

If it was maybe a regular season or like the time they brought the Red Sox into town, then you get that excitement. But that's the question. How sustainable is it? Where do season tickets go? Where do suites go where all of that money piles in uh tv rights is that uh turn into you know bells counterpunch it's fascinating when you get into the nerdy sports media side of it too like i would love if i'm like from a toronto baseball fans perspective i'd love to see uh

the expos back in uh National League, but, or I don't care where you stick them, but put them in the majors. But I don't know, man, I feel like they needed to come out more, like send a message, like we're here for, you know, the long haul here. I don't know. I feel like 20, whatever it was, 23,000 or whatever. It's underwhelming to me. That's, I don't know. What do I know? It might be a top Blue Jays attendance this year. Who knows? It might be top five. Yeah. They haven't sold out tomorrow yet, right? It's notwhelming to me. I don't know. What do I know? It might be a top Blue Jays attendance this year. Who knows? It might be top five. Yeah, they haven't sold out tomorrow yet, right?

It's not sold out? Not yet, no. It was ugly for a while there. It seems like some folks have gobbled them up later in spring, but I think there's still some speckled seating. I'm sure the walk-up crowd will get that, but way slower, way slower than usual. Okay, so actually I have a jam because we're going to talk about baseball.

Toronto. Oh, the year was 1778. How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now. A letter of mark came from the people. Sing it, Julia. The scummiest vessel I've ever seen. God damn them all. I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold.

We'd fire no guns, shed no tears. Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier. The last of Barrett's privateers. Oh, well, said Barrett, cried the town. During your drive to and from Montreal, did Keegan play this at all? Any Stan Rogers? 12 times on the way there. About 20 on the way back.

See, this is where I get to come in and complain about my drive company. Do it. I don't think Stan Rogers is as big in Brazil, but the entire drive there and the latter half of the drive back after Julia was really feeling alive and in the day.

Lots of, I don't want to call it Brazilian dance music, Portuguese dance music. We went through a lot of. It was deep into the second drive before she got a reaction out of me with the dancing. Right. I was proud. It was a different soundtrack than what I took back from Florida with me. Lots of Portuguese dance music. So, Julia, you're from Portugal?

No, I'm from Brazil. Brazil. I should have picked up on that. Okay. How long have you lived in Toronto? I do live in Toronto. I got here on January 1st, 2018. It was quite an experience.

Okay, so you came straight from Brazil? Yes, southern Brazil, where I was born and raised. You sound better than Keegan. Your English is better than Keegan. I only speak Nova Scotian. He's teaching me, though. Amazing. And how does somebody in Brazil fall in love with baseball?

Yeah, I guess the fair answer is I fell in love with sports. And then when I decided to move to Canada was when I really got into baseball. And it took me completely by surprise how much I liked the sport. That was in 2018? Yes. I'm just doing the math in my head. So just a little over a year ago. No, because I've been planning to move here for a while.

Okay, but the love affair with baseball started when? The love affair with baseball, I'm going to be completely honest here. You have to be honest. This is real talk. It started in 2017. But here's the thing yeah is that whenever i fall in love with something and whenever i set my mind to something i really go all out go big or

go home exactly and so that is when the research started and that is when you know reading books and reading websites some better than others, like maybe Baseball Toronto. Maybe. And yeah. So you fall in love with baseball and you are, as you self-describe, passionate. Can I use that word?

Sure. So things you like, you like them a lot. Like that other beer, we're not supposed to mention, competitor beers. Yes. That's right. I told Great Lakes there are other beers and they understand that so um but that's the alexander keefe's thing right is that those who like it like it a lot right is this is right this is you yeah how do you hook up with keegan matheson it's an interesting story

that is a very interesting story and i want the true story yeah i don't know whose version of that story is uh more interesting actually um i like that these are two different i want to hear both versions and i'll figure it yeah um so i went to centennial college the sports journalism program so did keegan a couple years before me back Back in the day. Right. And Keegan made the Florida trip with us. So we go down to Florida to cover spring training, and Keegan was there as a teacher. And that is how we met. I was just kidding.

I was leaving it at that. Keegan, did she get those details correct? She did. She did. I was briefly Professor Matheson. I jump in and do some work with the Centennial Sports Journalism Program. And Julia went through that. And after that program ended, we kept in touch and became very, very good friends and which led into the baseball Toronto writing, but it's been exciting. And it's part of being independent is that I can work with people who I love and believe in. And Julia is both of those to the greatest regard. Yeah, I guess it was a weird, for me at least,

it was so weird to meet Keegan first as a teacher and then to befriend him and start having more of that. See the truth, the ugly truth. No, I'm still here. Hey. I need it. Well, after that road trip, who knows? That's a long time to spend in a car with somebody that you love,

let alone Keegan. I'm not suggesting you don't love him, but who am I to ask these personal questions? Okay, so you hook up with Keegan because of the Centennial College thing. Keegan, when did you know you, when did you start adding people to the Baseball Toronto roster? Well, very recently, you know,

Julia started doing some writing for me. I believe her first story was on Eric Pardinho, a Brazilian Blue Jays prospect. And we set up a phone call for her and Eric, and she did that interview in Portuguese, translated, did other interviews in English and wrote that story. And it was fantastic. And I knew that, you know, now that I have my site,

I have the ability to give a platform to people who I believe in and who I think should have a platform. And Julia is exactly who that is. But, you know, even coming into Montreal like this, it's the skill of not just being a great reporter and writer like Julia is, but having languages is such an incredible advantage in baseball. So, while I was standing around Olympic Stadium like a fool, twiddling my thumbs, she is

grabbing Richard Ureña, Lourdes Gurriel, Elvis Luciano, and conducting interviews in Spanish. I was going to point out, because Keegan doesn't know, Portuguese and Spanish are two different languages. Right. Yeah, I actually had to. I have a few words in each.

You speak Spanish, Julia. I speak both. Yes. How many languages do you have? Just the three? Or are you going to keep going? Yeah. Yeah.

I do also speak French and some conversational Italian. I mean, I wouldn't have gotten around the stadium without her French. At one point, she just found me saying the word three over and over and gesturing my hands to a security guard trying to get to the third floor. I'm completely hopeless. So, you know, not only does she make my website better,

she makes me a better man who knows how to get around. French. The biggest French camps in the province are Camp Tournesol. You have I know you're too young to have children of your own. Here I am

leaping to conclusions again. But you might have a niece or nephew or somebody you care about has children ages 4 to 14. You need to go to campt.ca and check out the French camps. Francophone, French immersion, no French experience. It doesn't matter.

They have a day camp or an overnight experience for them. So go to campt.ca. And they have a new offering. This is brand new for 2019. It's an eco, like an environmentally friendly camp. It's called Love My Planet. And it talks about reducing your ecological footprint with fun and engaging hands-on activities. There's experiments, upcycling projects. You can learn how to like replace plastic in your life and create sustainable solutions out of everyday single-use items.

It's fantastic for your child. So go to camptea.ca, and when you sign your child up for one of the Camp Tournesol French camps, use the promo code Mike2019. Mike 2019. Save some money and let them know you heard about it on Toronto Mic'd. So thank you, Julia, for speaking a little French and giving me such a great little segue there. A segue.

That's got to be the best segue ever into the French camp. She's already... And I didn't know you were coming, so I've scored you... I did... Just coincidentally, I picked up some beer earlier today, so I had some extra beer. So I got you a six-pack of beer from Great Lakes Brewery.

I also got you one, Keegan. I don't want you to feel left out. And of course, I saw you on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery for TMLX 2. Are you coming to TMLX 3 on June 27? I wouldn't miss it. Number three. That's an off day, isn't it? I think.

It's an off day. Yeah. June 27th. I wouldn't miss it. Number three. That's an off day, isn't it? It's an off day, yeah. Wilner's going to hopefully be there again and Stokely is going to hopefully be there and yeah, it's an off day. I saw Stokely in Montreal yesterday. How's he doing? He's a good boy.

I told him that his travel schedule he's on, he was going through curling events and hockey events and baseball so I told him he's on. He was going through curling events and hockey events and baseball. So I told him he was on like a mid-level Canadian rock band tour. Lots of mid-range to sea level

population cities. Not a lot of big hubs, but he's seeing the entire country and he's doing well. I'm thinking like Northern Pikes or something like that or Grapes of Wrath or something like that. Or for him, maybe for Keegan, I could drop. Brazil doesn't know how to thrush Hermit if Joel gets the band back together.

But it would be great if it was Lowest of the Low because, of course, Keegan, Lowest of the Low is going to play at TMLX3. I like it. At Great Lakes Brewery. Oh, I promised. That's right. I promised Bailey. so i was there today at great lakes they have this new citrus i can't remember what they call it citradiction or something like that coming out friday and i had like a i was lucky to get like a tasting and it's unbelievable this is unbelievable yeah so i got got to get some of

those uh they're available friday at great lakeswery at the retail store. But I was talking to Bailey, and she says they have some Thursday night program at Great Lakes where you can have a beer and learn how to paint. She teaches painting, and they have all the supplies and stuff. So I can't remember the price, something like $45, and you get the supplies, and you learn to paint for a couple of hours, and you get a beer, and that goes on Thursdaysursdays i think from 7 to 9 p.m so i promised bailey i would mention that but yes i'll see you keegan at tmlx3 on june 27th now let me look to my right and ask julia what are the chances i see

you at the great lakes brewery on june 27th keegan's there, I'm there. No, I'm kidding. Have a higher bar. Is it a package deal? No, yes. Yes, count me in. I'll be there. Great Lakes will buy you your first beer. That's amazing.

Yeah, I'm told. And then you'll buy me my second. And then you can buy a $5 pint for Keegan. And they have a great food truck. There's live music. If I see you out there and Keegan, I will give love to Baseball Toronto, which Keegan will tell you,

which you probably heard in the car. But we sing the praises of Baseball Toronto, not just on Toronto Mike, but on Hebsey on Sports all the time. Like, you know why? Because you haven't sold out to these big boys yet. Is that coming, Keegan? What's going on?

I need an update. How is Baseball Toronto doing? It's going well. I was telling Julia on the way in that the day I was here last year, Mike, I think February 12, 2018, was the day I launched. Right. And I launched. I remember I hit launch at 9.02 a.m. because I'm superstitious,

and that's the area code of Nova Scotia. And we must have recorded at 11 or 12 that day. And I remember having my phone in front of me, just sick to my stomach, with nerves of, you know, what's going to catch on fire? Will it crash? Will people hate it? And it's been incredible, you know, coming off of five weeks down in Dunedin in spring training. Okay, stop right there. Rumor has it you slept in your car is that an urban legend it's am I spreading that

maybe no no it's um on the way down I had the bright idea I woke up two days before I was supposed to go to spring training and saw that that storm was coming it was going you know from from west to east and in in my mind, in my kind of frantic, panicked mind, because I need to keep my summer tires on my car for when I'm in Dunedin. So I said, I will beat this storm to the east coast of the United States and then drive down the coast. Shockingly, not a good idea. So I got caught in a snowstorm. I was 32 and a half hours, that drive was, but I was so afraid and there was so much adrenaline I didn't sleep so you know at one point I pulled off and you know tilted my head to the side for

a half an hour and I did the same on the ride home when I drove 25 or so hours straight back but uh yeah you know anything I had a funny moment I was in the lunchroom at the Phillies game right before I drove back to Canada. And a couple of writers asked, are you driving straight through? And I said, yeah, of course. I'm not going to spend money on a hotel just to sleep in it. And one of the writers said, well, that's the point.

You buy these rooms to sleep in them. But it's all about maximizing the value of subscription dollars. They shouldn't be going to making my life any more luxurious. Like, if you hadn't already told the story the last time you were here. So everybody should dig up the original Keegan Matheson episode to learn the origin story. But that whole, like, story that you tell about, like, working at a bank or something. And you had a beer at, like, the Halifax waterfront or my yeah something and you had like an epiphany is this right this is like going to be in the movie there's going to be a pivotal scene way

back in the day it's uh yeah out of um i went to dalhousie university uh in uh halifax nova scotia and thank goodness i had you know the had both the privilege and the people supporting me around me to allow me to take an English and creative writing, a double major degree, which was equally one of the best things I've ever done, but also not the most career-focused degree that any of my friends took. But I got into working in banking. I worked with the bank of Nova Scotia, Scotia bank. And, uh, and it was, you know, tremendous place, tremendous people, but me for my personal fit, I was miserable. So one day I, uh, I got up, uh, Jerry Maguire style. I didn't ask anyone to come with me because I, I, you know, I figured

everyone else wanted security and happiness. But I walked to the waterfront and I drank two Alexander Keiths and I decided we're going to write about baseball. And here you are, man. What a story. I'm so big on this story because you gave birth to this. This doesn't exist if you don't create it. Yeah. Did you ever step back?

Does Julia ever tell you, like, you know, Keegan, this is, this is only here now serving us, you know, baseball fans in Toronto because you decided to do it, man. It's amazing. You should pat yourself on the back. I'm, I'm bad at that. That's what I'm here for. I, and I appreciate it. I appreciate it. And I'll admit that, you know, during the first year, I really let the anxiety get to me. You know, it's because I'm someone where if you give me a dollar, I feel deeply indebted to you. I feel... Well, here's a dollar. I love this deal. Yeah, it's, it's, but I, it's, it's a great responsibility, I think. And I did let that anxiety get the better of me, you know, in the first year and certainly into the off season,

you know, where you, you work, work, work, and it helps to take a breath sometimes. But it is exciting now that I'm in year two and I know how things work, you know, especially with things like spring training, going on the road. It's so exciting. And I, you know, I recognize that I'm only able to do that because of, you know, the, you know, some privileges that I stand upon, you know, that I've been able to stick it out this long and able to take risks that not everyone can. And it's just something that I try to stay extremely conscious of. But it's so exciting.

I mean, when I'm coming off five weeks of spring training, coming out of Montreal, this is the happiest I've ever been working. And I don't want to say that. I don't want to ruin my brand. I'm aware of ruining my branding here, but it's just this buzz that I cannot get anywhere else.

Okay, so tomorrow is the home opener. What time is the Blue Jay game tomorrow? 337. Who are the Blue Jays playing? The Detroit Tigers. What a marquee matchup. And that's why Julia's wearing a Tigers cap today. We're going to take a photo together. They're going to figure it out. I will not be wearing a cap. It's why julia's wearing a tiger's cap today we're gonna take a photo together they're gonna figure it out i will not be wearing it's just stylish it's a

spring training hat so i guess it's halfway you just like the logo what was it tiger town you ever see this disney movie tiger town this is way before your time but uh not because roy hobbs was from the natural but this guy had a similar name. It was sort of a natural ripoff. Anyway, this kid had a season's ticket, and if he went to the game and he closed his eyes and he hoped his favorite player would do well, and it was Roy Schneider playing the player. I remember this.

He would come through, and he was like an old sagey veteran, and he started to have this resurgence, and the Tigers started making a run at the pennant. And of course, there's that pivotal game. the tigers have to win to win the pennant and he can't get to the game there's a wonderful little movie you gotta hunt this down tiger town with roy schneider but okay so if it's because of that i'll let you wear the tiger's hat that's what i'm saying here uh so mike what are you saying here i'm saying saying you're on radio quite a bit, right?

Oh yeah, no, before I get to the radio hits, this is where I was going. So how do you get the media pass? And do you get two? Does Julia get a media pass? Well, I'm a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America now, the BBWAA, which is the acronym we hear for,

we do the voting on, Hall of Fame, things like that. So I'm credentialed universally across any stadium now. So what is this? You just, how do you get in there? Like, do you pay some dues? Like, how can I get in there? Like, how do you get in there? It's, you know, there are, you know, dues.

There's a chapter in every city. You know, there'd be a Boston chapter, New York chapter of the BBWA. And it's your, you know, regular writers who are covering the majority of games and going on the road and you know, some other benchmarks along the way, of course. And then for a series like Montreal, you know, I phone

this one. Montreal's interesting. It's presented by Eventco. So it's not really a Blue Jays run of it. It's presented by Eventco with, you know, almost these two bands playing at it. But I call ahead on that. Julia Cruz is with me, and I say, I promise she's much better than me. Don't worry.

And they give it the thumbs up. But it's, yeah. What about tomorrow? Just myself there tomorrow. But I'm hoping to drag Julia in through the year. It's Richard Griffin who makes this call, or is it below his pay grade? No, it's Richard Griffin, and he has three fantastic guys working with him in PR now. Adam Rodney and Ryan in the PR department there.

So it's been funny seeing Griff make the transition, but I love it. Great fella. And the first time I saw that Blue Jays logo on the chest, that was a good laugh in spring training. That's right. I'm thrilled for him. Gets to be a homer now. That's cool. And I saw a tweet from Laura Armstrong.

She's talking about they've moved you, right? So you're no longer... We have been moved. You've been moved, but apparently the snacks have been upgraded. Have you heard this? I haven't quite heard that. There, of course, is always talk about the press box grub.

I don't concern myself too much with it. As long as I'm in a seat and have a desk and have Wi-Fi, I'm happy if there's a ball field in front of me. But if anything, I need to avoid the pitfalls of the press box food this year. Not stress eating, but maybe just occupying time, you know, do something with your hands eating. You know, it's... No, I can see that, yeah. But apparently this is a move. So the Waz, Ryan Walsh, that says,

when they moved the media from courtside, they upgraded the snacks at Raptor Games too. Like, this is a move? Like, you're going to be further away from the action. Left field. Yes, you're much further away, but like the food is better. So don't complain. I don't know. We'll see.

And it's, you know, different folks will have different opinions. For me, just in all honesty, I'm not zeroed in on every pitch tracking. Is that a fastball, a curveball? What's this? What's that? So, you know, most of us have Twitter, StatCast, MLB in front of us. You know, a lot of folks do. So it's different.

I would not say it's better, but I'll be okay. And Baseball Toronto, on behalf of Baseball Toronto, and the website, is it baseballtoronto.com? And people should go there and subscribe, of course. And we're going to dive deep into the 2019 Blue Jays very soon and you'll learn why you should subscribe because Keegan and Julia

have all this wonderful info they can disperse to you. So tell me though about radio hits and stuff. Are you appearing on stations throughout the country to talk baseball? Yeah, I do. Uh, one thing I enjoy about being, um, you know, quote unquote independent, which means, you know, out from any large umbrella, I, I do all, uh, you know, Bell TSN stations across Canada. I do all Rogers, uh, sports net stations across Canada. Of course, there's always CBC as well. I'll do Radio 1.

I'll do some syndication or more national things as well. I love radio. I'm kind of still a radio nerd. My apartment has some old vintage radios in it. I love that medium. I'm a little less

comfortable on television, which I still do a bit of. Not a lot. I try not to do too much, but I love radio and do it during the season. Most days I'm on in a couple cities. I'm just going to reassure you that you're fine

for TV. I'm just looking at you like you're a handsome man, but you have this wonderful beard. I think if I had a beard like that, I would try to get on TV as much as possible. It's at least a unique look. The beard has gotten a bit long. If you'll notice, it's all going down. It's not much coming out side to side. So I tell

people that I'm trying to draw eyes vertically. It's like a vertical stripe. I've got enough width myself, but it's a good way for my beloved mother and grandmother to track whether or not I've used those razors they so passively give me for gifts. You know, I also love radio. You love radio. I love radio.

Does Julia love radio? I love radio. I actually worked at a radio station for an entire year. So, yeah, I'm big on the radio. Yes. station for an entire year. So yeah, I'm big on the radio. Yes.

So throughout this episode, which is going to be chock full of stuff you need to know about the 2019 Blue Jays, I will periodically drop some radio calls of baseball plays. So let's go way back low, and the Babe swings. It's a long run, a long one going out toward right center. Zengler's backing up against the wall. He can't get it. It's in there. Another home run for the Bambino.

So the Babe hits his second home run of the day. Some guy named George Herman Ruth hit one out there. So, excellent. Here's a fun fact from Cam Gordon from Twitter Canada. He says the most Twitter account mentions during the 2018 season of players who are still with the Blue Jays. He says the first is Marcus Stroman. Second is Pilar. Third is Gretchen.

Who do we got here? You're the, you say it, Gar gary yeah gary gary oh good good good and barack baracki so those are your uh top five from twitter and he says also uh that on august 31st okay august 31st 2018 that was the day that there were the most blue jays account mentions on Twitter. Do either of you want to guess why that happened on August 31st? JD? Correct. That's the day Josh Donaldson

was traded. I'm sure there were a lot of positive tweets that day. The Julian Merriweather hive was out that day and they're really bumping. That's right. That's right. Let me give you guys one more gift. Actually, so I'm trying to get one of these. I think I can get one for you, Julia.

I didn't know you were coming when all this ordering was done. Right. But I do have a large frozen lasagna, definitely for you, Keegan. But I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to pull some strings with palma pasta. I love it.

And get you one too, Julia. So this is recorded, so you can call me out on this. Palma Pasta is Mississauga's best fresh pasta in Italian food. So they have four locations in Mississauga. And Oakville, Palma's Kitchen is the new location that opened near Mavis and Burnhamthorpe. So go to palmapasta.com to find out exactly where they're at and go there. They have like a part retail store.

And if you go to Palma's Kitchen, it's a hot and fresh hot table, I guess, where you can grab a meal. And they got coffee and pizza and there's seating and it's fantastic. So thank you, Palma Pasta, for feeding my friends from baseball in Toronto. Now, how to structure this here? While I think about how to structure this, let's just listen to one more call. Robinson waits. Here comes the pitch. And there goes a line drive to left.

He helps Watt as after it. He leaps and throws his head against the wall. Here comes Gilliam scoring. Oakland wins. head against the wall. Here comes Gilliam scoring. Brooklyn wins. Jackie Robinson is being troubled by his teammates. Baseball is beautiful on the radio. Yeah, I get chills listening to old baseball calls. There'll be some more recent ones as we go on, but a lot of oldie goldies like that. calls. There'll be some more recent ones as we go on, but a lot of

oldie goldies like that. Let's start by who is gone. Can we start by who's gone from last year? Who is not on this team that us casual fans maybe miss from last season?

I hesitate to say the old guys. The relative to baseball old guys. Marco Estrada is gone. Troy Chulowitzki is gone. Russell Martin is gone. Lots of these faces and names that most fans will associate with the Blue Jays. I try to stay very conscious of the fact that 95% of fans are Uncle Joe who watches and still doesn't really know why Bautista doesn't have a team type of thing.

And those are the familiar names. Martin, Tulewitzki, these guys who have been the very best at their position at times. But there comes the end of the era. The Blue Jays, for four or five years there, were kind of different variations of a very similar team. And when you do that, when you drive the same car for a while, it gets old, and you need some replacement parts. So it's a much different look, much different clubhouse, much different vibe around that, which is hard to measure.

But you can really, really see it with younger guys. Now, there's that famous Sports Illustrated cover, right? With the New Jack City, I think it was. Yeah. Yeah. Like and I guess I think it was. Yeah. Yeah. Like, and I guess we can name them all, right? Well, Joey Batts is on there. Edwin Encarnacion. Josh Donaldson.

Tulo's on there. Russell Martin's on there. Was David Price on there? Probably, yes. I can see his smiling face right now. Yeah. Lots of exes. Yeah.

Well, they're all gone. I think the last man standing was Russell Martin. Yeah. Well, they're all gone. I think the last man standing was Russell Martin and they're all gone now. So for, you know, you mentioned, it's a good point. Like if you're on like Twitter, baseball,

do they call it baseball, Twitter or whatever? There are the hardcore guys who are just, they're watching every, they're following every pitch in spring training and they know every roster move. But then you do have this 95% guys who are like, they're like, Oh, Russell, Russell.

Yeah. So for those people, all those big names we mentioned are kind of gone. And Tulo's in, he's in New York, right? Where's Russell? Los Angeles with the Dodgers. Russell's with the Dodgers. So we have a lot of these people we fell in love with during a couple of playoff runs in 2015, 2016.

They're all gone. Do you think this rebuild, is it fair to say that this is a year late? Like we waited one year too long before doing this? Yeah, you can make that argument. It's always best to do it before it's obvious. Last year it became obvious. Even with some players brought in

like a Ynerva Solarte, things like that didn't work out. But if you see it happen, if you see the downturn, then it's too late. It's kind of like new trends in baseball with technology and stuff. If you know about it, if you're hearing about it, it's too late. You know, it's kind of like new trends in baseball with technology and stuff. If you know about it, if you're hearing about it, it's too late.

You're already way, way, way behind. So that's where the business side comes in, kind of that sticky and muddy business side where you still need to put people in the seats. You know, you still have an owner to please. You still have to consider, hey, does it look better for us to win 73 games right now? And try to keep some fan interest because we know how that can crater. You know, I think 2015 and 2016 are still so prevalent in our minds.

But there were, you know, I guess every, I was going to say so many other years, every other year where that wasn't the case. Right. So the business side matters. You know, contending, i think i you have air quotes around that contending a lot of teams matters and that's where not just the jays but i think baseball is in a sticky spot right now so management it sounds like management maybe tried to do the rebuild without sacrificing attendance am i reading between the lines yeah

there's always that balance for teams because doing a full open public facing rebuild, hey, we're going to tear this down. Well, good luck selling the tickets. You know, this isn't the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, where you can get the number one pick, boom, they're starting for you at your most valuable position the next year. So to all of these casual fans who are also Leafs fans, also Raptors fans, they're looking at this and saying, well, great, you drafted a high school kid, or you went out and signed a 16-year-old from Venezuela who might be ready in, what, 2024? I don't have that much time. I don't want to be that patient. It's about how you brand it.

I think the Leafs, I'm further tarnishing my brand by talking about hockey, but I think the Leafs, Leafs, I'm further tarnishing my brand by talking about hockey, but I think the Leafs, they branded their rebuild well. They had Austin Matthews to brand that around and it at least, of course not everybody loved it, but it worked and it was

framed correctly. There was a Shanna plan that the fans were sold on and all bought into. Yeah, so you're selling so much more than baseball. You're selling the marketing, you're selling the much more than baseball. You're selling the marketing, you're selling the wording and the language, you're selling the tickets. And it's so much more, I think, than just baseball,

just batting averages and errors and what you see on the field. It goes so much deeper. And I'm going to save for later. So at the end, I'm going to ask you the tough questions about whether management's heading in the right direction and what things will look like. But for now, let's talk a bit more about, okay, I want to talk about everybody who's on the big club, uh, cause the home opener is tomorrow. Uh, but first can we start maybe

talking about who is not with the big club right now? And you can, if you wish, you can begin with, uh, you know, who? Vladimir. Right. The big, the big name and the big man, not with the big club. It's been the story all spring. All spring, it was very clear that he was not going to make it with the Blue Jays. And then the oblique injury, of course, makes it, when I say easier,

I don't mean that they're trying to slip a blanket over this or anything, but it makes it easier to see how he's not going to be on this opening day roster. This will stretch into mid-April. It might stretch into May. It might get even more uncomfortable, but the Blue Jays, in their wording, and what they want is for him to be more complete. So he has a bat right now that would make him the best hitter on the Blue Jays.

That's great. They want him to be a better base runner, a better defender. All of this fun. I know you can't burn your bridge with Richard Griffin already, but I don't have a bridge to burn there. Let's pretend Vladdy's not hurt.

Let's pretend. We all knew he wasn't going to start with the Blue Jays day one, but we also all knew that that was like total bullshit so that we could, you could have that extra year of control. Yeah. The service time is terrible. You can blame the CBA.

You can blame teams. You can blame owners. I definitely start with the CBA because you understand that if you have the option, you do this, even though it sucks, it's, it's not fun. and it's one of those

things when you explain it to a fan of another sport, they think, what the hell do you mean? Imagine if a team drafts Kyler Murray in the NFL, and they say, we're going to hold him out until week three, because six years from now, we get another year of control. People would riot. It doesn't make sense.

I do remember there's something similar in hockey where if you play a certain number of games you there is definitely i definitely remember like with some before the shanna plan uh great like i mean i'm thinking like a luke shen type guy or whatever who is supposed to you know maybe something like something like oh he's he played his nine games if he plays another one there there's something there. I just cannot. I'm not as smart like you guys. I'm in that 95%

category, which makes me, I know just enough to be dangerous. Regardless, I guess, kind of, thankfully, maybe he got hurt. Is this a real injury? Do we have a status update on the hip? Yeah, he's swinging in the cages now.

And an oblique injury with so much rotational force around the body, especially with him, how he swings so hard. It's kind of a controlled violence when Vladdy swings. That rotation, it's what Brett Laurie dealt with a lot of the time. And he was, of course, wound tightly and filled to the gills with red bull. He was like a red bull, yeah. Exactly. So you could see why he strained obliques.

But it's a tricky injury because you're working with something at the core. It's not a wrist where you just stabilize the wrist and go on with your life. But it sounds like he's going good right now. He will start in AAA Buffalo. Whether he has a rehab before that, we'll see. But it's the story of the year, and he's not in Toronto. So fans aren't going to like it. had before that we'll see but uh it's the story of the year and he's not in toronto so so fans aren't going to like it but uh you know we'll see where he goes defensively base running wise but

but really the the body is the the big variable you know with vladdy his body his fitness where that goes it's i don't like doomsdaying prospects even though baseball prospects are the ones who demand doomsday outcomes. But, you know, Vladdy's body right now as a 20-year-old is worrying when you project it down the line. So that's something the Jays are looking at too. Yeah.

We talked last time you were on, you quoted some scout talking about like, you know, you need custom made pants or whatever because thick with two Cs, right? This is what the kids are doing, thick with two Cs. That's right. So we know he's a big boy, Vladdy, but I guess you can be careful. He's only 20.

Yeah, it's tough. And this is something, too, that I deeply understand, weight problems. It's something that I don you know, I deeply understand, you know, weight problems. You know, it's something that I don't like throwing around and saying about other people. And I think it should be talked about sensitively and like it's a real factor, you know, not like it's something that a player or a person is doing out of just plain laziness. You know, I think we can get quick with that. But, you know, with Vladdy being a baseball player of that size, you start to think of hips, you think of knees, you think of ankles.

And then you look back at other players, you think of, you know, someone like a Prince Fielder, although that was a much different entry, you think of a Miguel Sano, you know, you think of, Prince Fielder's father, Cecil, you know, all of these big, big, big baseball players, they aren't built to play deep into their 40s, or sort of their 30s towards 40. And that's, you know, way, way down the line. But you do think of longevity, you think of nagging injuries. And this is something that since Vlad is so good, you start to nitpick and this is where you go. So, you know, coming in at 250, that's a bad off season away from 260, which is, you know, something you can handle at 19 or 20. Again, speaking from experience, you can be a little

more naturally athletic then, but, and Vlad is, you know, he's quick on the bases when he gets that moving. He's like a man on fire running out there. It's fun to see him that the hair is, his helmet falls off every time, I think, But he's actually a really agile, quick guy around those bases. But as you get into your 20s and if the fitness doesn't improve, that does wear on the lower body, especially in baseball, which is just a burst sport. You're standing still and then boom, you're moving and that stresses on your lower body.

How long before they decide he's a DH? Is that an inevitability at some point? First base would happen first, I think. That could even be just a couple of years. And if he can even stay around first base, even if he has that Miguel Cabrera defensive profile, you're happy because he hits so much. If he plays a couple of average-ish years at third base, I think that's an extremely good

outcome for the Blue Jays. He's not going to win gold gloves. He's not going to be close. But as long as he can make the plays he's supposed to, I think that's okay. And you don't need to be skinny to be a good infielder. Look at guys, you know, Adrian Beltre is a thick guy, and he's, you know, one of the best we've seen in the last couple of decades. Vladdy's not a Beltre. Vladdy is not half of a Beltre. But if he can scoop the grounders, make those plays, charge the odd bunt, people are going to bunt at him a lot, especially the Mookie Betts types are going to be dropping a bunt at Vladdy every opportunity. But I think we all see that very obvious transition over to first base, maybe even within a couple of years.

And if I heard you there, you said probably by May we get to see Vladdy? It should be, yeah, depending on when he comes back, but it should be just quickly after he's back, a quick trip through Buffalo, but by then that service time issue should have passed to relieve any of that clunkiness, It should be just quickly after he's back, a quick trip through Buffalo. But by then, that service time issue should have passed to relieve any of that clunkiness. And he's certainly ready. But again, the public opinion and the opinion of teams don't always agree. Okay, let's talk about a couple of other prospects

with dads who played in Major League Baseball. So we know Vladdy will be a Blue Jays at some point in the 2019 season. What about Biggio and Bichette? Can you just talk about what to expect from these guys and if there's any chance they get called up in even September or anything? Yeah, Beau Bichette was incredible this spring. And he is like Vladi. So much of the appeal with Vladi is his bat and everything,

but he is fun Vladdy. So much of the appeal with Vladdy is his bat and everything, but he is fun. He has charisma coming out of his ears, and I think that's what's really going to attach people to him. He's not going to be the stoic stone-faced slugger. There's some life to him. There was that great highlight of him in the Winter League hitting a triple and doing some sort of dance, very hip involved on third base which which fans love and boba shed is going to be one

of those incredibly fun players to watch because he plays with a maxed out intensity uh people love the hair of course you can't uh you can't discount that i probably get more tweets about that than uh his baseball but but a spring, such a talented offensive player. And he might actually stick at shortstop now. That wasn't going to be the case maybe a year ago, but he's gotten much better. Ross Atkins is thrilled with what he's done at shortstop. So we'll see. I think the Freddie Galveys is going to be in his way most of this year. We could even be having the same conversation about Bo next year that we're having about Vlad right now. So that'll be a tough one.

But if he lights AAA on fire, we'll see where that goes. And Cabin Biggio. But when you expand the roster in September or whatever, is there any chance we get a... You know, even then, I think it's going to be a tough one with Bichette. You know, if they're keeping the smaller roster and wanting to prioritize that full year of development with him. And he could be, you know, on a lot of lists,

you'll find him in that 8 to 15, let's say, range right now. So on half the teams in baseball, he's the number one prospect. If he has a good year in AAA, he is pushing to be a top five prospect in baseball. And he's under vlad shadow right now which is you know probably good for him maybe you'll say unfair but whatever he is a tremendous elite level prospect you know prospect comes with 100 asterisks after it but uh you know he's right in that conversation okay now on to uh biggio i think that could. He's an example of balancing production versus actual development. So Kevin Biggio played NCAA ball with Notre Dame. He has that experience in the minors. He's a bit older than those guys. And he's also probably a bit closer to his potential ceiling, which isn't

an insult because he's had some tremendous at-bats even through spring and had a great year last year coming up through AA. So Biggio might be a guy where if something opens up at second base or third base or first base or left field, he's playing all over the place. That's extremely important. He's a guy that maybe they could call up in June or July if he's hitting. And he's said this himself, which I thought was very smart, that playing around and being more of a utility guy makes it easier, not just to come up and stick on the roster, but to make roster decisions easier on the club, as opposed to somebody like maybe the injured Devin Travis.

He's a second baseman, almost period second baseman. And that's tough because you've got to really hit. If you're only going to play one position in today's Major League Baseball, in Charlie Montoya's Major League Baseball, you've got to do a really good job at that one position if that's all you're going to do. Well, you mentioned Devin Travis. Let's talk about some of the guys that are on injured reserve

to start the season. So he's on the 60-day, right, Devin Travis? That's right. Yeah, that knee procedure, another one. And I don't know what they listed his injury as, Devin Travis? That's right. Yeah, that knee procedure, another one. And I don't know what they listed his injury as, but it should be snakebitten. Like that should be on the listing.

I just feel terrible that this is happening again to the guy. Yeah, it's tough. And I've said this on the radio before, that I always try to stop well short of getting into the, what a great guy, or you see it whenever a player or coach is traded or leaves. There's a wave of what a great guy or you know you see it whenever a player or coach is traded or leaves there's a there's a wave of what a great guy this and that but well gibby is a good always yeah yeah certainly and he's one that i'd go to bat for you know certainly a great great guy and was very good to me but it's uh you know it's one of those things where you

know hey i just don't do it journalistically but also you're always worried that five months later you're going to think oh i shouldn't have said that. But Devin Travis is a guy who, who is so sincerely someone who deserves better. And he cares so much, you know, which having a heart as big as his can be a great advantage. But when you're dealing with adversity like this, it can also make it much harder to deal with. And we, you know, we've seen the frustration on him and it's, that's tough. And it's especially because frustration on him, and that's tough, especially because it's not coming from anything stupid. He's not being dumb.

He's not being lazy. He is working and working and working, and then it just pops up again. You feel so bad for the guy and starting to run out of chances, so you hope that this is miraculously, somehow, the last one he deals with. And my personal favorite is Dalton Pompey. And I won't play Summertime Summertime,

but Dalton is a local guy. His dad was an electric circus dancer. We've got all these reasons I've been hoping he could stick with the big club. And I don't know if he was going to make it. I actually don't know, but he's hurt, right? That's right. He got another concussion, which is always worrying.

This one was a strange one. This was just after I left Dunedin for the spring, standing up from his locker. And in the top of the locker, there are some slots and a place to put things. He had some bats up there and hit his head off of a bat. That's nuts, man. That's sneak bit him. That's crazy. He's another guy who is.

You know, his injuries have been, you know, when you say injury prone, that's a fancy that's that sneak bit and that's crazy he's another guy who is you know his injuries have been um you know when you say injury prone that's a fancy word for bad luck most of the time you know injury prone what that really means is that you're you know you're not working hard and you keep straining the same muscle or something silly like that dalton pompey's had bad luck you know sliding into bases or hurting a thumb or a concussion or diving for balls. It's from his playing style, and it's from a lot of bad luck, just plain bad luck. So he is, or he was, and continues to be really on his last shot with the Blue Jays just because of how options and his contract works, but still an immensely talented young man like he showed in spring.

He's one of their few actual base-dealing threats. This is not a fast team, and he would have represented that. But whether it's in Toronto, which looks tough, or hopefully somewhere else, if these concussion issues don't follow him, he'll certainly have interest. Barucki, he's starting the season injured? That's right, yeah.

He and Ryan Tapera are similar. They played catch yesterday, both dealing with elbow issues that probably make them go towards mid-April. Ryan Barucki, they'll be careful with, of course, because he's young. He's one of their best young starters and also had Tommy John back. This would have been about five, maybe five plus years ago now. So thankfully, it's nothing to do with that. But the second you hear the word elbow, that's when you kind of get a little bit tense.

And so, yeah, Barucki and Tapera, you mentioned, and Clay Buchholz, is he hurt? Well, he's still building himself back up. So his is just a case of getting fully into his full pitch count. He's going to throw, I think today actually, as we're recording, might be right now, 45 pitches down and down Eden. So ideally he's up around 75 or 80 pitches by the middle of April, and then you can throw him into the rotation and say,

hey, throw 80 today, that's fine. Next time we'll do 90, next time 100. And what about David Phelps? That one's coming along and he'll be interesting because the jays are desperate for a reliever right now especially anybody who can pitch high leverage innings so coming back from a major injury kind of similar to julian merriweather the the donaldson trade guy but coming back from that surgery it's uh it's tough a little bit easier you know relatively speaking for a reliever since he doesn't need to stretch all the way

out like a starter does. So getting closer, still a ways away, but he's one of those guys that you might forget about and then suddenly, boom, in May he shows up or in June he shows up and becomes a pretty important part of that bullpen. All right, let's dive into the starting rotation. But first, let's go back in time once again. Joe's a big picker-upper. Gets a handful. Throws it away. But first, let's go back in time once is coming in the second. DiMaggio is racing forward. DiMaggio makes it with a slide and is saved for a double.

Jolton Joe DiMaggio. All right. Actually, that's a good segue here, too. Before we talk about the starting rotation, there's a question from Milan. Milan is from Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair. All right. And I'll let him ask. Hey, Toronto Mike.

It's Milan from Fast Time, watch and jewelry repair. Hello, Keegan. Really enjoy your work on BaseballToronto.com. My question, I've been a big fan of Marcus Stroman

over the years. However, it appears that Blue Day's management, along with many members of the local media, have really turned on him as of late, citing his poor attitude,

hoping you could shed some light on Stroman's relationship with management and his teammates, specifically what happened between him and Aaron Sanchez. Thanks, Keegan and Toronto Mike. Well, let me get that last one first because I was getting off the road today and I got a DM saying dm saying did you see Strowman's tweet which uh uh definitely not the first time I've gotten that message or text or email did you see the tweet and every time I think it right is this the one um anyways uh it says opening day mood with a Canadian flag tags Aaron Sanchez and it's a picture of he and Aaron Sanchez.

And there was, I certainly don't delve into the world of, you know, Twitter likes and Instagram follows, but since I saw it, he apparently followed Sanchez on Instagram the other day. And that's, who knows?

You know, we'll see. Well, I'm glad you brought that up because Tyler Campbell, he's actually the guy who maintains the Kick Out the Jams spreadsheet. Oh, I love that. He's an important man. He wanted me to ask you about the Sanchez-Strowman reconciliation.

I guess this is the big news today. This is apparently the big news. And it's good news? I don't know. The first good news in a while, but it'll be interesting to see. They certainly, coming up from the minor leagues, younger in their career, were self-described brothers. Getting into the players' personal or teammate relationships,

unless it's something larger, teammate or clubhouse-wise, not something I pay too, too much attention to or really get into because it's their business, but it's obviously something I'm aware of, and that tweet surprised me. And as a person, do you agree with Milan that the media is sort of turned on Stroman because he's not shy about how he feels about things? I'll speak for myself.

I don't think so. And I'll use last year, you know, let's say as an example in Boston, the rant, the we're bleeping terrible rant. That's something that I wrote. I wrote the quotes. I wrote it how it happened. Not as an opinion piece, just this is what happened. He blew up in the hallway. This is the quote. I lost so many subscribers over that story. I remember driving home from Boston the next day and I had my phone up on the dash and it was ding,

ding, ding. Most of it was just tweets absolutely burning me to the ground. But a lot of it was people unsubscribing from the website. dare you blah blah blah so wow yeah it's amazing and that's fine it's uh it was uh accurately reported it was also written by the sun and the athletic so that's a story i'll write a hundred times over because it's what happened and it was tight and at the same time if he goes out and wins the cy young this year i will write damn marcus strowman was good you know it's it's, it's one of these situations where I don't like to get too much into opinion when somebody else provides most of the quotes and context themselves. So if he were speaking in code and, you know, dropping vagaries on us, maybe I would try to

jump in and say, here's my two cents. But for example, his first availability with us in Dunedin this spring where he spoke, I believe it was close to 20 minutes, really expansive and certainly, I don't want to say planned, but he knew what he was, he knew the points he was going to make, like any smart player does against management or in favor of your own contract situation. When you get into that, I think it is, you know, there's more than enough context there for me to get out of the way and say, listen, this is what he said.

You're all smart. Here's a little context if you need it. But go ahead and make your own opinion. And, you know, that opinion has certainly been, you know, know, the, the fan opinion, I mean, has been, uh, loud. He has a lot of supporters. It's also shifted at times.

I would like it must be tough. Like if you're, you're so aware of like, uh, topics or sentiments that cause you to lose subscribers and you're so reliant on subscribers to keep doing what you're doing. Like you must be aware of like cause and effect. Absolutely.

You know what I mean? Happy stories, sell subscribers, period. But that I, I had Kevin McGrann from the star. Uh, he once said like right now they're,

they're only going to write about the following five Maple Leafs. Like we're going to write about Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares. Uh, I can't even remember if Morgan Riley was on there, but you get the, uh, or Nylander. But can't even remember if Morgan Riley was on there. Or Nylander.

But that was it. Because that's where the... And Laura Anderson mentioned this too. Clicks are driving what they cover. Argos and TFC don't get a lot of clicks and they don't get a lot of coverage. Is this just the nature of the beast in 2019? It is. And it's really strange to watch when you're...

Because clicks, for example, don't matter maybe as much for me. the beast in 2019 it is and it's really strange to watch when you're going because um you know clicks for example don't matter maybe as much for me subscriptions do you're like netflix yeah once people subscribe they will hopefully be clicking type of thing that's more what i'm concerned of but um certainly i have noticed and i i don't want to speak too authoritatively on this just given that i'm only you know several years into being on the Blue Jays beat but I've noticed in the last few years that the reaction to types of stories has changed positive stories get an extremely positive and welcoming reaction they if I am to write a glowing piece about you know here this player's dog is very cute I will get subscribers if I am

to write a critical piece I will lose subscribers. If I am to write a critical piece, I will lose subscribers. And the reaction is even more negative than it was, I think, a couple of years ago. And that's fine. It's really just, to me, that's just an observation. It's not a complaint. You know, I realized that, you know, even if someone is burning me down on Twitter, which really doesn't happen much, I have a very lovely Twitter following, I do have to say, I'm lucky, I don't know why. Just a lovely group of people follow me on Twitter. But I've noticed that shift.

I really have, just from an observation standpoint. And it's always on your mind. But at the same time, I would rather just be known for writing what happens. And there will be opinion and there will be columns. But if there's a bad story to write you have to write the bad story and since i'm you know in independence you know i'll write that i won't take cheap shots it has to be warranted but at the same time like i said if marcus stroman or if aaron sanchez or if danny jansen goes out and wins the mvp i will write man what a great player. What a great year.

Do you have Julia hunting for those positive stories? Like give me a story about somebody's dog. Come on. Yeah. I feel like I'm a more positive person in general. So also I just want to hear Julia's voice a little, uh, just to offset. I'm kidding by the way. I think we're. I think we're the same amount of negative, which is the perfect amount. I love it. Well, that whole side is, I find it fascinating. Like at some point, you're going to have a story that's negative

and you're going to be like, I want to eat like tomorrow. Maybe I don't share this. You're only human and you need to pay the bills. Like at some point, if you realize, oh, this story will cost me subscribers

and I can't afford to lose those subscribers, I'm going to bury this particular, let someone else cover this particular angle. That's inevitable. It's certainly something that's... Because you're independent. You live and die by these... You're not the Toronto Star.

It's a whole different kind of you know it's certainly something that crosses your mind but I I know this is easy for me to say and you know it's something that you have to prove but you know I really believe in just writing what happened writing the true story and it's you know this year that means

that there's going to be times where it will have to be critical you know that this player is struggling you know this use of this use of roster space is not efficient. What they're doing with this prospect does not make sense, maybe. But I think the way that you earn trust, not just of readers, but of players, of management who, you know, they read. You know, they really do, much like I would if some schlub was writing about me. You know, if I was a star athlete and some guy who looked like me was critiquing me,

you better believe I'd be reading that stuff. But it's how you earn trust, I think, is telling the truth. And players and management, fans, readers are smart. They'll remember over the long term if you were fair on both sides i believe and and those are the writers that i love to read you know those who do take the time to say hey this was a bad one this was a good one i'm going to tell it like it is what should we expect from marcus stroman in 2019 and will he finish this season as a toronto blue jay he was fantastic this spring uh in spring training which is particularly impressive

for somebody who throws a thousand pitches like he does from a thousand arm angles you know you the guys who are good in spring training are typically someone like a like a Sam Gaviglio who just throws that 88 mile an hour sinker over and over and guys beat it into the ground because that's more of a simpler movement. Marcus Stroman has so many moving parts, but he was brilliant in spring training and, you know, definitely earned that opening day starter's job. So he's set himself up, I think, as well as he has in his career. At the same time, when the phone rings, the Blue Jays will pick it up. And there are a lot of teams around baseball right now, not only looking for pitching, but looking for pitching in a way that does not require them to

spend a lot of money. Nobody wants to spend money right now, you know, relatively speaking. So if you can get two years or a year and a half of Marcus Stroman for a couple of prospects, there will be interest in that, whether it's a month from now or a little closer to July 31. What about, actually, before I move on, because I milan asked about marcus stroman let me just let people know that fast time watch and jewelry repair i've been doing quality watch and jewelry repairs for over 30 years and if you go to a fast time location to get your watch battery replaced you can save 15 if you mentioned that you heard about them on Toronto Mic'd. They'll literally replace it while you wait. So go to

FastTimeWatchRepair.com to find a location near you. Their newest location is now open in Richmond Hill. And I believe if you go to that Richmond Hill location you can, I think you can meet Milan. Like Milan's becoming a little bit of a celebrity here with

his, with those pipes but uh yeah so thanks Milan for this Stroman I like Stroman too because I like guys with passion in the belly like I like it when there's a bit of sandpaper going on and I like stories I mean from a you know just just you know full disclosure when I show up to the ballpark on a Marcus Stroman start day I know it's going to be interesting you know it's uh you know, if you're covering a great pitcher, but you know they're going to go out and do the same thing stone-faced every day. Yeah. It's something you appreciate from a baseball standpoint,

but sometimes you're thinking, man, wouldn't it be great if this starting pitcher got tossed in the second inning or blew up or threw a, you know, a complete game with two hits? It's, all of that's possible. You don't miss the start of the game, I think, when Stroman's pitching. Right, right. So Marcus Stroman, he's your opening day starter.

He pitches tomorrow. Matt Shoemaker. Talk to me about Matt. The bearded Matt Shoemaker. The impressively bearded Matt Shoemaker. It takes one to know one, buddy. That's right. That's right.

We'll have to share some tips. I think he's got a leg up on me, so I'll have to ask some advice. But one of these interesting sort of shorter-term guys the Blue Jays have added, much like a Richard, like a Galvees, these guys who can help bridge the gap. And he is someone, when he's at his best,

is really getting that sinker, a lot of forcing weak contact, missing the odd bat. But when he's been healthy, he's had some success. But he's had those multiple procedures, some frustration with kind of the wrong procedure on that nerve the first time and getting back like Shoemaker has been.

But an interesting pitcher, an interesting guy to talk to, very know aware of his game and his body and what's happening after his starts his ability to break down his own starts is pretty fascinating but um you know nobody expected him to be up as the number two uh it's it's not really a power rankings i guess of the blue jays pitchers but uh you. But Charlie Montoya wants to have him in there just for matchup's sake. And he's another guy, like any of these short-term guys, that if he puts together 20 really good starts and has an ERA of 3.97, then somebody's going to call.

And here's a name that 95 percentile will know, Aaron Sanchez. He's another one. Like Stroman, Sanchez has looked absolutely fantastic in spring training. And he is kind of that ideal pitcher. When you build a starting pitcher, you make him 6'4", thick, strong, good lower body. And that's exactly what Sanchez is. That sinking fastball is working. The curveball is working. And he's finally healthy. He has

five working fingers, and it's the first time in a long time. Good. I've always liked, of course, Aaron Sanchez. I've always liked Aaron Sanchez. They put me in an exclusive club, but I hope he can come back and be the pitcher we thought he'd be.

2016. Yeah, that's right. Trent Thornton. Yeah, just made the roster yesterday. He has the leg kick that goes all the way to his nose. So it'll be an interesting wind-up. People see a big curveball, has a little fastball velocity. He came

over for Ledmus Diaz from Houston, but a young arm the Blue Jays believe in. He's also one of that group of six or seven young arms the Jays have where, yes, you develop them, you know who they are, but there's always an element of hope involved. Whether it's some of these guys like a Reed Foley in there as well, these Wags Pack and other, maybe one of them clicks,

and Trent Thornton's gotten the first chance to at least stick in that rotation or at least maybe jump to the bullpen and Clayton Richard that will be interesting to see because some of the metrics you know don't love him from last year whether it's looking at velocity the exit velocities against him but you know the Blue Jays like having a veteran in there they like having another lefty you know once Ryan Barucki comes back. So Richard is one who could eventually move to that bullpen and see what they can get out of him there as some starters come back, Buckles included,

which is good not to forget about. But he is someone who has to walk a pretty fine line. Now, a lot of the casual fans are going to look at this starting rotation and say, oh, there's Stroman and Sanchez and three guys. I think they're going to have these three guys rotation and say, oh, there's Stroman and Sanchez and three guys. I think these three guys, like, what is this?

So, like, as a collective, do you, I mean, this is all, I guess, part of the, we're not going to win now anyway, so it's like, okay, we need people to eat innings and, you know, get out. Yeah, put the ball on the ground and try to make that work. It's not a scary, I guess what I'm saying is,

it's not a particularly scary looking starting rotation. Yeah, beyond Stroman and Sanchez, it's a little tougher. All right, let's go into the bullpen where it gets even less scary. I don't know, we'll see. You'll tell me, you'll tell me. But Ken Giles? When he is at his best, maybe he's one of the best closers in baseball.

When he is not at his best, he's missing the strike zone and running into some control issues, like a lot of closers. He's kind of the classic closer. Really edgy, lots of passion, which has been misdirected in the past and seems like he has a much better handle on now. But, you know, he can touch 100. He can rip off an amazing slider. And when he's on, he's absolutely fantastic. So we'll see what version the Blue Jays get. And he is one that's beyond Stroman and Sanchez, could be their biggest trade ship eventually because teams are going to be looking for that top-level closer. And he's not in that top two or three, but it's reasonable to say that he could be one of those top five or ten guys

in baseball if he's on like he's been in the past. Yeah, I'm old enough to remember when touching 100 was amazing. That was such a big deal. It feels like it happens. Everybody now. Yeah. Every young prospect. And it's to the point where, I mean,

I don't care about 100 anymore. Every young, you know, 19-year-old right-hander can throw 99, 100. But nobody knows where it's going. Right, right. Like let's take it down to 96. 96 used to be a great fastball and all those surgeons are just sitting there thinking yes come on over business is booming

all right let's talk about uh daniel hudson yeah another recent signing that the blue jays are going to see for the very first time on their opening day roster which uh isn't how you love to build a team but reality is So he, a lot of people know him from the book, The Arm. He was a prominent character in that with the multiple surgeries he went through and really came back to prominence in, I believe it was 2015 with the Diamondbacks as a reliever. He's at least got what you want to roll the dice on. You know, I said the same thing about John Axford, who's back on a minor league deal. If you're going to take a risk and roll the dice on a guy,

at least find someone who throws 95 and has struck a few guys out. Maybe they're good for a few months. There's such a gamble involved in this, and the track record the last couple of years isn't terribly impressive, but maybe you're just looking for a few months. Tim Meza.

This is a guy I think can be very good this year. Tim Meza is, and I think he's underrated. Coming from the left side with his velocity, you know, it's, you know, Aroldis Chapman is an alien. You know, those don't exist really in baseball. Josh Hader, another one. That much velocity from the left side isn't very common. And his ability to control it and also throw a slider off of that.

Tim Meza is a very impressive guy and someone who could really pop this year. There's no reason why he can't get to the middle of the season and you look up and, wow, this guy's a 2.70 RA and he's striking out 12 guys per nine. He doesn't need to just be against left-handers either. The right-handers

are just as scared. Joe Biagini. The Bij. Joe Biagini. The Bij. Joe Biagini tonight. He is still classic Bij. He's slimmed down even more, I believe. Another man I need to ask some tips of. But the pitch clock will be one to watch with Joe Biagini.

I remember there was one spring game where one of my colleagues, Gregor Chisholm, and I were standing there watching the pitch clock will be one to watch with Joe Biagini. I remember there was a one spring game where one of my colleagues, Gregor Chisholm, and I were standing there watching the pitch clock. And I think for a couple of at-bats, it ran out on every single pitch, which in spring training, they just let slide. In the regular season, that's a couple of walks without a pitch being thrown. So we'll see. That will be a challenge for Joe more than it will be for any pitcher, I think, on the Blue Jays and more than most in Major League Baseball. But when you go back to 2016, when he was in that multi-inning relief role and he wasn't being yanked back and forth the rotation, he was good.

And he's been a good soldier about that too. You know, he's happy to be here, blessed for the opportunity, etc., etc. But when you're going between starting and relieving, that doesn't help you. And now he's just a reliever. So we'll see. Just a reliever with a new body as well. A lot of variables, but you never know. Sam Gaviglio. Sammy G. He is a starter working in the bullpen. He's going to throw that sinker. His slider is better than people think, but it's hard coming out of the bullpen when you're throwing 88. So he'll probably chew through some innings.

And even if he can give you that four, four and a half ERA, let's say, and chew through some valuable innings so you don't kill your bullpen, I think you take that. Here's a guy I'm very curious to hear you talk about, Elvis Luciano. And Julia is the best one to talk about. Julia did a tremendous story with Elvis just yesterday actually on Baseball Toronto.

I think he's one of the more interesting rostered players in baseball. I mean, you're the baseball expert. I can speak. About who? Yeah. Tell me about the story and his experience there because I think that's what... For sure. As a baseball player, he's a right-hander but his story is fascinating. He's a 19 old he's gonna be I believe he's gonna

be the first player to be born in the 21st century to be in the big leagues which is amazing that's gonna be at least exciting and interesting to see it's something we can you could write about that it's a positive story and it'll get you there you go yeah we're certainly hoping so uh um yeah he's um he's very excited and blessed for the opportunity that's uh that's very visible he's also sort of like a fish out of water he's so young it's gonna be very interesting to see and he's also someone who's adjusting to a new role because he's uh originally a starter and he going to be working off the bullpen. Okay, explain to us though, why is he here? What I mean by that is, why is he on the roster?

Is there a technical reason that he's on the big club? Right, I think Keegan will probably word that better than me. But yes, there is a very particular reason. So as a Rule 5 pick, which is one of the nerdy baseball drafts, when he is picked in that Rule 5 draft, typically players aren't available in that until they're older. He had a little contract snafu back in the day,

which we don't need to confuse people with, but he was available really young. So the Blue Jays take him as a Rule 5 draft pick. They need to carry him on their 25-man roster all year. And if they want to send him down, they have to offer him back to his original team. So the intent of that is to maybe save some guys from getting buried in really good organizations. Say you're a good prospect in the Astros organization. After a while, you're looking up at all these superstars and thinking, come on, give me a chance.

That's typically what you see in the Rule 5. But Elvis is a fascinating situation. And I think the Blue Jays' dream scenario, their absolute dream scenario, is if they can hide him all year, put him into those games that are 10 nothing maybe for the blue jays probably for the other team but hide him in those low leverage innings and then once you've had the player on your roster for one year you have complete control of him so if they can hold on to him through this entire year at the end of the year when he's still 19 they can say hey thank you for putting up with that ridiculous season we're going to send you down to single

a and treat you like a real prospect now, which you hope to see because it's not the, you know, while it's an incredible opportunity for Luciano, you can also make the argument that it's not the most fair situation for him to be in if it doesn't work out. Well, I mean, if Vladdy wasn't injured, and somebody tweeted this,

and I'd just like to point out, but if Vladdy was not injured, you'd have a situation here, and you know where I am somebody tweeted this and I just like to point out but if Vladdy was not injured you'd have a situation here and you know where I'm going to this where Elvis Luciano would be on the opening day roster and Vladdy would not yeah and and to fans who aren't really tuned in with the rule five rap which is nearly everybody and you know as you should be don't clutter your mind with that it's not a very sensible look, but it's, you know, that sticky reality of the rule five. And it's, you know,

if you are into this type of stuff, it's fascinating. You know, this is a total science experiment with Elvis Luciano, but, you know, we'll see what happens. He is incredibly talented for his age, but he's coming from rookie ball, which is like, God,

someone jumping into the, you know, the NHL from like a really good midget program or something. Right, no, right. It's fascinating. It's fascinating that he's going to be on the big league club, and he is the first guy born in the 1990s. The 2000s. No, 2000s, right?

Oh, my God. I'm old. Okay. The 2000s. And he'll be, yeah, he'll be way, it'll be, yeah, 10-0 game, throw him out there for you and you can see what he has. It's kind of an interesting storyline

in a season where there might not be a lot of happy things to watch. So he's here. He is. He is here and we'll see even how that impacts his development as well. And his name is Elvis, which is kind of cool too. All right, Thomas Pinnon.

Pinnon. Much like a, you know, Much like a Clayton Richard, much like a Sam Gaviglio, a guy who's not going to throw very hard. You'll see him 89-ish miles an hour. And a lot like Richard, he has to be perfect. Thomas Pinnone really overachieved his expectations in the minor leagues because he is what you'd call crafty. He knows how to mix pitches.

He knows how to spot that fastball exactly. But then there was the 80-game suspension, struggled coming off of that, of course, because you're rusty to start with. So seeing where that goes, it was not a good spring necessarily for Pannone. Looked a little bit of yesterday in Montreal. Was it yesterday?

God, yeah, yesterday. Remind us why he was suspended. It was for a positive test for a performance enhancer. Thomas Pannone did. And it was wiped out the majority of his year. Last year, he got back

with a little bit of action towards the end. But again, kind of a really non-traditional bullpen. You know, you're used to bullpens around baseball being fireballers. And the Blue Jays have some starting pitchers who throw 88. So it's not necessarily a zig when they zag, either. It's more of, you know, this is what we have. My buddy Hebsey likes to joke that if

there's anyone listening who can pitch, they should contact the Toronto Blue Jays, like, just to help out with that relief course right I mean you're you are the expert uh I don't know I don't want to make you give grades to anything and we have to see how the season plays out but this is not an intimidating uh bullpen no no in no sense um if the starter works seven innings and you can go mesa giles sure but But the Blue Jays, I think, will be exposed on that early on if a starter only lasts, let's say, four or five innings, which happens a lot early in the season.

So until you get to Paraback, eventually Phelps, whether we see Bud Norris or Javi Guerra involved in that. Did Bud Norris make the team? Not officially yet. Then again, we're talking at 3.43 here, so if people are seeing a timestamp tweet that he has. Yeah, have him in limbo here. He and Javi

Guerra for that last spot. But they'll be given a big chance as well, too, because there's not even a lot of defined roles right now. We know who the closer is, who the long guys are, but this isn't your standard seven-man bullpen where you're going long guy, middle, middle, middle, set

up, lefty closer. Right, right. All right, so now we've covered the starting rotation and the bullpen, so let's listen to another old call. Bobby Thompson up there swinging. He's got two out of three, a single and a double, and Billy Cox is playing him right on the third baseline. One out, last of the nine.

Blacker pitches. Bobby Thompson takes a strike call on the inside corner. Bobby hitting at 292. He's had a single and a double and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center. Brooklyn leads at quarter two. Hartung down the line at third, not taking any chances. Lockton without too big of a lead at second. Believe me, running like the wind, if Thompson hits one.

Back to throws. There's a long time. I tell you, I believe the Giants won the Pellet! The Giants won the Pellet! The Giants won the Pellet! The Giants won the Pellet! Bobby Thompson hits into the linebacker of the last few stands. The Giants

won the Pellet, and they're going crazy! They're going crazy! They're going crazy! Oh! I don't believe it! I do not believe it! Bobby Thompson, in a line drive, into the lower deck of the left field stand, and the Green Plains is going crazy! The Giants, oh, it's done on the center winner! He works to Hasse.

There's a swing and a fly ball left field. Bell is there. He's got it. The Blue Jays have done it. They have won the East. They have won the East. They have won the East. George Bell catching the ball and dropping to his knees. A mob scene out around second base as Doyle Alexander is mobbed by his teammates.

Here come the outfielders in. They will be met by their mates and this mammoth crowd that has come screaming down out of the seats now. Somebody takes George Bell's cap. He wants it back. He takes it back. And the Blue Jays and Doyle Alexander are going to be ushered off the field by their adoring public. Alexander with his cap off, being carried by the throng down there on the field. Oh, I watched that game. I'm old enough that I watched that game. 1985 AL East clincher.

I was still a few years away. I like how Tom Cheek lets us know that George Bell wants his cat back. Oh, that was an amazing call. They're adoring public. Oh, man, that was the first, of course, that was the first playoff, well, first pennant for the Toronto Blue. Oh, man. That was the first, of course, that was the first playoff, well, first pennant for the Toronto Blue Jays, 1985.

Man, that was fantastic. All right, where to go next? How about we start with the catchers here? So talk to me about Danny Jansen. Danny, the catching position, first and foremost, on a big-picture scale, there aren't enough catchers in baseball. What I compare it to often when we talk about it on the radio is like NFL quarterbacks

where you're in week three and you see the Bills sign a new backup and you think, who the hell is that? I've never heard of them. That's where catching is right now. It's a position that hasn't quite gone fully to the offensive side like so many other positions in baseball have.

You see more offensive shortstops maybe or second baseman for example but catching is still I wish I had another word catching up but um you know so having Danny Jansen back there and developing him as a high school pick from 2013 that's a big win for I mean everybody from the lower minors right up to you know Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro to have a young catcher to build around like that. And somebody who can hit, who can, you know, in their eyes, hopefully, you know, play an average defensive game and control that run game. But if he does what he can do offensively, he can be one of those top five hitting catchers in the American League.

Defensively, he can be one of those top five hitting catchers in the American League. Wow. And he's certainly the type of person and type of player the Jays are happy to have as a cornerstone and a leader as well. He's well-liked, to put it very lightly, in the clubhouse and by his teammates. So another one of those to put along with the Vladdies and the Bichettes. That's exciting. Look, really, you're right. The positive stories make me want to subscribe. There you go.

Click, click, click. Give me some more Danny Jansen. Luke Malley. Luke Malley is another one. And the same thing goes for him. Having a good backup. Look back a couple of years, two years, back to that year where Jared Saltalamacchia was on the roster,

Miguel Montoyo, Mike Ullman. I think there were six catch to that year where Jared Saltalamakia was on the roster, Miguel Montoyo, Mike Ullman. I think there were six catchers that year. To have Luke Maley, who was a tremendous pitch framer, very good defensive catcher, and had a lot of clutch hits last year, made some harder contact, which you can more easily extrapolate across. But he's a guy as well who is valuable in the clubhouse. He took over the music playlist last year, which is a high honour. I was more of a fan of his jams as well.

They were more up my alley. But definitely a guy who will really back up catcher, means something a bit different than it used to. You're playing a few more games now. It's not one guy going 150 and the other going 12. Luke Maley could still easily get his way into 60 or 70 games. Yeah, it's more of like a Sparks. Yeah, 1B.

Had to bring that to the hockey guys listening. But all right, we're in good. It sounds like I'm excited to watch Danny Jansen play ball for this team here. So that's it, right? We got Jansen and Maley. And an excuse to play this. Otis Nixon. Grounded out to short in the first.

Grounded out to short in the third. Popped up to short in the fifth. Base hits in the seventh and the ninth. Waggles a bat and he waits. Timlin to the bell. Pitch on the way. And there's a bunted ball. First base side, Timlin to Carter.

And the Blue Jays win it. The Blue Jays win it. The Blue Jays are World Series champions. They come pouring out of the dugout. And they are mob Series champions. They come pouring out of the dugout, and they are mobbing Carter, and they go down in one big collective heap over by the first base bag here. A big pileup. Somebody on the bottom might be hurt in all of that.

The Blue Jays have won the World Series. You never forget your first. 1992. Let's talk about the DH, Kendris Morales. He is going to be, again, the one that a lot of fans point at and say, hey, come on, this guy isn't hitting. He has a big salary number.

He's older. He clogs up the DH spot. There is legitimately a lot to be said about how he works with the younger Latin guys. That narrative can often be pure fluff. I don't think it is here. So Kendry's working and having him around Vladdy, having him around guys like Gurriel, who he's extremely close to, that matters. And Charlie Montoya loves him, loves him almost as him almost as a kind of a clubhouse coach.

So he is someone where even if you get to midseason, I don't think there will be a trade market or anything other than just, hey, we'll take the salary or you could eat some. But somebody has to hit, you know, somebody has to drive some runs in. And Kandridge is a guy who's had a tremendous career. And he's one of those guys when you hear a broadcaster say professional hit in and you know and can reach this guy who's had a tremendous career and uh he's one of those guys when you hear a broadcaster say professional hitter and you don't really know what they mean that's usually usually what they're talking about is a can reach veteran type see julia's so passionate she threw her phone down she's so sorry no please no one could hear

that but me if i didn't mention it nobody would would know. I just hope your phone's okay. Infielder. Let's start with the infield here. Okay, let's start with Justin Smoak. Oh, reliable. You know, Justin Smoak. He's a guy who is, number one, underrated, I think, as a hitter. And I don't think we appreciate how interesting his career arc is.

He was not quite on Laddie Jr.'s level, but back in the day, he was the next classic power hitter in baseball. He was that next, you know, Mark Teixeira, cleanup type hitter. And for a long time, that wasn't the case. And, you know, I've spoken to him about that, and it's interesting to hear him reflect back and say that, you know, when he came up,

he thought that he had to be that slugger. He needed to hit 50 home runs. Whereas when Smoke is at his best, he's taking some walks and maybe hitting 30 home runs. And I think he's, he's obviously realized that and come into that. And it's, I spoke to him for a story last year, and this is coming back to me now, actually. And I'm hoping it lines up again this year because I, you know, I care only about stories. and I'm hoping it lines up again this year because I care only about stories. But Justin Smoke's first RBI was, I believe, off of Mark Burley on a fly ball, a sack fly hit to Alex Rios that scored Vladimir Guerrero in Texas. So if that could happen again with Junior, I think that would be very cool. Wow.

Yeah, good memory there too. And Smoke, of course, I think he was the big surprise all of a sudden. Because he was just platooning with Colabello, right? That's right. Oh my God, that seems like a decade ago. He had a breakout season after they, I believe, took him off of waivers.

And he is, you know, what every team's hoping to find. No one's really spending money at first base or DH, but they're all kind of rolling the dice and they're hoping to find a Justin Smoak. And to have him at first base as well, this is not something we measure

or that we can measure very well or accurately, but him scooping balls and giving a target to Vlad, eventually Bichette, maybe, uh, Lourdes Gurriel throwing from shortstop,

uh, those arms are not exactly laser accurate right now. So you'd rather them be throwing to a Justin Smoke than to a new guy. Okay. Talk to me about Lourdes Gurriel. Gurriel is bigger this year. He's going to be asked to do more, uh,

this year. And, uh, be asked to do more this year. And he's a player, I think, who's finally found his footing in Major League Baseball. Coming over from Cuba, jumping in, being rusty, getting hurt last year after that incredible hit streak.

But with Charlie Montoyo's Blue Jays, the Rays last year had two guys, Joey Wendell, Daniel Robertson, and they were asked to do everything. They played all over the field and they were so damn valuable because they allowed Kevin Cash and the Rays to do a lot of things, you know?

And Lourdes Gurriel, he's someone else that Julia talked to actually yesterday. He and Dave Hudgens for a story. That's right. Just about what he's being asked to do and like how it's, you know's kind of different right now with Charlie. Yeah, cool. Now, Freddie Galvis.

He is one of the more beloved by his peers baseball players in the league. He was voted in the Athletic to the player poll released yesterday. I believe he was voted as the number three defender in the league, which is just a touch higher than the fancy stats might show, but it shows you how well he's considered by the people he plays with. He will hold down that shortstop position. He'll probably hit 210 and not provide much power. But when you look at last year and the people who played shortstop,

I mean the people and animals and whatever else played shortstop, they were rolling out a lot of things there. So to have a defensively sound shortstop, not just defensively sound, very skilled, very good smooth shortstop in Galvis, that is important on a young team that's, they're already going to lose some games. You don't want to screw up and boot balls and lose anymore,

especially if you have a young pitcher on the mound. If you have Trent Thornton on the mound, and he's trying like hell to get out of an inning, and you hit a ground ball to a bad shortstop, and they boot it, come on. That's as hard as it gets on a young pitcher when they're not getting the outs they actually deserve. So for Galvis to be there, kind of like smoke,

it's one of those things that you won't see as obviously it's not going to be the big fireworks, but it'll matter. Brandon Drury. The, I don't want to say forgotten man in an insulting sense because he's got some real value. Had a very good spring spring some real opposite field power a couple of opposite field home runs but he is a third baseman and there is a bigger and better and vladdier third baseman and then brandon drury so he is one who will you know go and slide

in next to lord as guriel eventually when vladdy arrives and he'll move around maybe he jumps out the left field plays some second base you know jumps in and plays some third when vladdy arrives and he'll move around maybe he jumps out to left field plays some second base you know jumps in and plays some third when vlad's needs an off day or if there's an injury but you know he's a guy the jays like he has looked uh better this spring i believe than he did last year and uh you know a solid depth guy richard urina richard U is the beat out Eric Sogard, the veteran Eric Sogard for a spot on the roster. And this is actually, Richard Urena is another story that Julia had on day one. Been busy, been busy.

Very busy. Julia, with all these stories. So you can tell us about Richard Urena. I've been listening to Keegan in the headphones and he sounds great, but I need a little. Tell us about the, am I saying it right? The muchach in the headphones, and he sounds great. But I need a little... Tell us about the... Am I saying it right?

The Muchachada? Yeah, that's close enough. Do I need a little more spice? I mean... Muchachada. By the way, if I may say, there's a lot of... Of course, there's a lot of Latin players on Toronto Blue Jays. And I'm terrible at pronouncing the names.

Like, I'm brutal. Keegan's doing a really good job, though, over there, I think. I hope so. Yeah, I would say so. All right, talk to me yeah you're right yeah just um beat out togard for that uh utility man spot and keegan and i were talking about the fact that he was actually a top prospect uh once upon a time he actually was the jays number one prospect at one point i believe it was 2016 that that happened. And Vladdy was number seven that year.

But he was only 12 years old, Vladdy. Just kidding. It's funny to see how things change in a few years. But he's back with the major league team. And I talked to him a little bit about how things have changed for him these past few years. And he gave me a very interesting answer. He told me that he's doing it. He's doing everything with a little less childishness or as he put it, muchachada.

Muchachada. That sounded way better than me. Oh, damn. Muchachada. Yeah. That was a very, very interesting interview. Very interesting story. And yeah, baseballtoronto.com.

Okay. Let me ask you this. Since you're so new to the sport. Right. And I won't even guess your age, but you're new to the planet Earth. I am new to life. New to life, I was going to say. What's it like when you chat one-on-one with these big leaguers?

It was such a good experience. Such an interesting experience. Again, new an interesting experience. Again, new to the sport, I don't know about that. I've been a fan for a short period of time, but it's with me every day, right? It's like you said, you go big or go home.

Exactly, precisely. And talking to major leaguers, the latin players it's it's a it's a different experience just because they don't get a lot of media attention because there's very few reporters who actually speak their language and keegan and i were talking about how it's not ideal to go through a translator it's not really a fun process so they don't get a lot of attention so there are so many untold stories right and you kind of see their eye pop their eyes pop a little bit when uh when you approach them and you actually speak their language so like i always found it interesting that

for example you'd have somebody like edwin in carnazio and i i hardly ever heard him speak english like he did periodically a little but he preferred to speak of a translator or whatever. And meanwhile, you had like Jose Batista, for example, who spoke better English than Keegan Matheson. I mean, it's just,

it's, this is all about probably like schooling, right? And like, like, like how you're schooled in your, your home country. I would guess that's a guess on my part.

Yeah. A lot of it can vary. And a guy like Edwin, for example, or even Lourdes. I've had conversation with Lourdes in English. And his English is very good and very, very much improving. And it's really interesting when I talk to young prospects about this, too. They're trying to learn English just to order food, to get through their day, to talk to their billet families at a lower level, but

it's what was so fascinating about this weekend, and one of the many reasons that I love having Julia do her work for Baseball Toronto is because if we're covering a 25-man roster and, let's say, seven are Latin players,

they aren't getting the equal depth of coverage. And, you know, they're getting interviewed as much and we're going through translators. But even with the very best translator who, I mean, their job fascinates me because I am terrible with language. So I have so much respect for anyone good with language. But it's kind of like you're passing notes back and forth. So's a a bit of a divide and you can't go as in-depth as you want and at the same time these players deserve to be interviewed in their own language you know every off season i'm trying and trying and trying i wish i had the

muscle to get some spanish better i i at least want to be at the point you know where i am now where i can at least say hello this is who i am i'm sorry that my spanish is bad can we do a translator because especially when you're working with a younger player and they've kind of got the thousand yard stare and if they're surrounded by 10 guys who look like me you know i i don't like to create that feeling you know so when they can uh you'll be interviewed by julia and these know, these incredible stories come out out of that. There's almost like, um, like almost like an eagerness,

Julia, like they're, maybe they let their, their guard down. I don't want to say anyone's excited to see the media, but you know, that's exactly it. Actually.

Um, I feel like, I don't know. I felt like they opened up to me a lot more than say, when we were down in Florida interviewing English speaking prospects from the blue Jays. So I felt a lot more close to those guys speaking Spanish to them just because they're not used to it at all.

Well, on that note, since we didn't talk about that change with the blue Jays, just before we close up with the outfielders, but Montoya, like how Montoya, sorry, how important is it to have a Hispanic manager right now?

That does matter. Did that come up with any of the Latin guys you talked to, Julia? Not really. Yeah, I should have asked about that. No, no, no. I'm putting you on the spot. But it's something that matters to those guys because that's one more interaction

where they don't have to kind of talk to someone through a pane of glass you know it's um even if they are getting translated it's still a separation and i spoke to ross atkins about this for a story about language last year ross atkins is very good spanish like great bilingual and you know told some great so he was a ross atkins was a teammate of marco scudero in single A like 20 years ago. And he told me this great story about taking Marco Scudero to a TGI Fridays and seeing that they had pictures on the menu. So since Marco Scudero could point at pictures

on the menu and say, I want this, how freeing that was, you know, and just these incredible stories he had of coming up with young Latin players and clearing these barriers that are not even within the same universe of things that I'm, you know, challenged with, right? These simple challenges in everyday life. So even basic communication with a manager, yes, you're going to get the message, hey, we want you to play more shallow. i want you to take a couple pitches but there's

still a touch of separation you know so it's it's not something the blue jays went out and said hey we have to have a latin manager no matter what but it's a great extra thing to have especially for a team that is going young with a lot of young latin players And, you know, Charlie is someone who is endlessly positive. He is, most of his sentences include the phrase, I'm excited. And that energy really works around a young team. Well, we're going to need some excitement around this 2019 Blue Jays team.

So Charlie's going to have to bring it. He's also a classic minor league manager style, throwing out batting practice all the time, hitting ground balls. He's used to having a two-person staff in the minor leagues, and he's up here. I'm waiting for a manager to finish batting practice, which you don't see anymore. It's really fun.

Joe has had his moments. Trying to lay off that ball low to the outside part of the plate. And he just went after one. Two balls and two strikes on him. Here's the pitch on the way. A swing and a belt. Left field. Way back.

Blue Jays win it. The Blue Jays are World Series champions. As Joe Carter hits a three-rub home run in the ninth inning. And the Blue Jays have repeated as World Series champions. Touch them all, Joe. You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life. What? Damn, that's a good call.

It never loses the edge either. I still get the goose pimples. Does not get old. And, I mean, none of us heard that call because we all watched it on TV, right? It'sples. Does not get old. And I mean, none of us heard that call because we all watched it on TV, right? Like it's one of those calls, you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah. I've rarely if ever heard that TV call. Yeah, who probably, Tim McCarver's, I can't remember. But yeah, unbelievable moment in Blue Jays history

and hopefully we have more of those. Okay, outfielders. Here's a guy from the hype train of 2015, Kevin Pillar. The annual mid-April hype train where he's hitting 300. We'll see. Kevin Pillar is at a stage in his career where by next year, he's going to be a bit more expensive. And that might be pushing into uncomfortable territory for the Blue Jays with his arbitration years. So he is the, I think I would argue, the most recognizable position player face, at least on the Blue Jays.

You know, for a lot of people, maybe the most recognizable face because they know him from the highlights. They know Superman. They know the diving catches the climbing catches uh you know the blue jays are getting to a point where they'll need more from center field his defense is still good the metrics don't show it's as great as it once was so we'll see what direction that goes in when the blue jays are positioning a bit differently this year uh but of course his bat is what it is. It's consistent. At least, you know, you'll get by the end of the year. But the Jays would love if he could get on base a bit more, take the extra walk. But there is really something to be said for a known commodity, for some consistency running through the roster. And, you know, frankly, if you're a Jays fan

coming into, you know, a couple of games, Pillar is still one of those guys you're looking at as the familiar face. Well, at least there's Pillar jerseys out there. Yeah, he's a big jersey pusher. Absolutely. There's not a lot of players on this, and there's three more outfielders we're going to go through and have a little wrap up, but there's not a lot of players on this team.

Guerrero's not here yet. Vladi's not here yet. There's not a lot of players on this team that would kind of have anybody go out and buy the jersey. Like, there's probably some Stroman jerseys and some Sanchez jerseys. Buying them right now is risky, you know?

I'm trying to think of who this, maybe a Gurriel would be your safest bet on this roster, yeah. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe there's some smoke jerseys out there, possibly, because he had a big year. But, yeah, I mean, I think Pillar is your right now. I think he's your team leader in terms of jerseys. But Kevin Pillar, I mean, does he finish the season as a Blue Jay?

Is there even a market for him? You know what? I don't think there would be. This is one of those situations where his reputation in toronto would exceed his widespread market value and which is just you know that's the reality in literally every market there's four or five of those players where since they're a known homegrown beloved commodity the rest of baseball doesn't have that uh you know the heart being involved they're going to look at their numbers and they're going to look at their scouting reports and make some phone calls

and only care about the player. So I don't think that's going to happen, a move in season. But if a Randall Gritchick is playing really exceptionally, and both McKinney and Teoscar are, we'll see. What if Anthony Alford goes down to AAA Buffalo and finally continues to put it all together because his athletic ceiling is just absolutely nuts. So it's not, you know, the ice he is standing on is not as thick

as it once was maybe. Let's talk about Randall Gritchick. Now he's a player. Teoscar is the same, but we can talk a bit differently about him. Well, you can talk to him together. Yeah, let's put them together. Teoscar is the same, but we can talk a bit differently about him. You can talk to him together. Teoscar and Gritchick. Every team, the Blue Jays

especially, when you're trying to win while taking payroll down a bit, you're always hoping to find Jose Bautista, which is finding a guy who is kind of post-hype, maybe 26, 28, that might, boom, that one thing clicks with them.

And each of these guys are kind of one thing away. Randall Gritchick, maybe it's the plate approach, you know, taking fewer strikeouts. Teoscar, it's the defense number one, but it's also the strikeouts, those empty at-bats. Gritchick and Teoscar both have incredible raw power. When they get into a ball, they absolutely rock it. That is not the problem. You know, right now, their physical tools are more than what they need, but they are that one

thing away. And if you are a middle of the road or bottom third team, that's what you look for. Guys who are one thing away. You know, you develop your own guys and then you find these mid to late 20s guys and hope it works out. So I think they're very similar in terms of their potential outcomes. Gritchick is a guy I think who could be lining up for, relative to him, a breakout year coming out a little bit. But I'll tell you, Oscar, the front office is excited with what he's done defensively.

They think there can be some improvement there. Baseball is not littered with guys who figure out defense at that stage, but we'll see. Well, baseball is not littered with Batista-type development. I mean, that never happens. It's kind of amazing it happened. And right after we talk about Billy here, I'll play a clip of Joey Batts.

But Billy McKinney. Now, Billy McKinney could be the leadoff hitter or he could be the backup outfielder. That's what makes this roster interesting is because there's so many outcomes. You know, it's not these guys, boom, boom, boom, are the stars. Billy McKinney is a bit of a different player than he was as a prospect.

You know, a little more power focus now, but is a lefty bat in the outfield, which makes him the only lefty bat in that outfield. And Charlie Montoyo likes to mix and match, likes to pinch hit and do all of that fun stuff. So there will be a lot of that. But, you know, Billy McKinney could really emerge. Charlie Montoyo likes him. He always says the same thing about McKinney, which is that, you know, I know we're not talking about him as much, but he's a guy that can really play. And he really busts it out there. And, you know, he was one of the centerpieces of that Jay Happ trade

and not a huge upside prospect guy, but, again, something there. And you hope that you look at, sorry, Gritchuk, Teoscar, and Billy McKinney by the end of the year and say one of these guys surprised. One and one on Jose. All eyes on the mound and the bearded Sam Dyson. Now he comes set. Kicks. The 1-1 pitch. Fly ball deep left field. Yes sir. There she goes.

And then several minutes of this, which I could listen to, to be quite honest, but I think we've elevated that play, maybe because we've been starving to death out here in Jays land, but I put that, it's right up there with the World Series wins, like as a moment, and then you realize, oh yeah, like we didn't get out of the al uh cs that season small details it's for a new generation of jays fans that's you know it's it's how you think of your first boyfriend or girlfriend right it was the first big amazing one you remember

that you know for that generation of jays fans who got turned on to baseball by 92 and 93, who were maybe too young to remember. For example, me. I was born in 90. So don't really remember those, but the reason I started playing baseball was the same reason everyone started playing baseball. When youth baseball spiked after those, so by the time that home run came around,

I was 25, 26, and that is kind of the big wow moment. Sure. Do you ever see that ad? I know you're not a hockey guy per se, but you see that John Tavares ad where he's on his dad's lap and they're watching Gilmore's wraparound goal

against Cujo in 93 or whatever. We watched that ad. He talks about his favorite, you know, his first memory is that. And then you whip out your calculator and you realize that he's two years old. That game is in its second overtime, which means that goal scored around like 11.30

or midnight or something like that. There's just no reasonable chance. There's no chance Johnny T remembers that goal. No chance. Not even the hockey daddest of hockey dads would have. And how many two-year-olds remember anything? No, no idea. Do you remember anything, Julia, when you were two years old?

No, I can't say that. I don't remember yesterday. Keegan can't remember whether he was in Montreal today or yesterday. It's all blurry. When did Penone start? That's right. Okay, we just, by the way, well done. I want to applaud you because you went through,

we went through the whole roster. Now I know who's on the team. Thank goodness for when I show up tomorrow. This episode is, it's not really, even though obviously the diehards will probably enjoy hearing you talk like this, but the diehards know most of that. But I think this is for guys like myself, okay?

I'm busy, business to run. I got, you know. Exactly, yeah. I got kids. I got a couple of teams. Way better things to do, yeah. A couple of teams heading to the playoffs soon and I'm trying to follow them. And then, you know, there weren't a couple of teams. Way better things to do. Yeah. A couple of teams heading to the playoffs soon, and I'm trying to follow them.

And then, you know, there weren't a lot of spring training games on my television, to be quite honest, which is interesting in itself. I kind of needed this. Like, I needed this kind of a baseline. Now I'm kind of more jazzed for the season because I can remember, like, oh, Keegan said this, and Julia said that.

And I just feel more secure talking about this team after this last couple hours. So well done. I've rarely made someone feel more secure in their baseball, so that's good. It's good. Now, before I play us out, Yer your Rouge Islam is a big fan of yours, Keegan. And, uh,

I'm sure yours too, Julia. I just haven't asked him specifically, but, uh, he caught, he left this comment about, he says,

and I'll quote him. I'll tell you one thing. I am excited to attend some games this year. Now that the 2015, 2016 bandwagoners have gone away. Maybe when the team calls up Vlad Jr. and Bo Bichette. They're not calling up Bo Bichette, so he's going to wait a long time this season.

His point there, I thought, is interesting in that they are gone now, those bandwagoners. Which, by the way, I never minded. I personally don't mind bandwagoners because it incents the team to spend more money on things like free agents

and acquiring talent and stuff. And bandwagoners read and subscribe, so bring them on. Bring it on, yes. A rising tide floats all boats or something. But for people like Yerouge, he's kind of excited that they're gone now, and now it's just him and the diehards. Is that the sentiment there? I guess so.

What you'll call the bandwagoners, whatever name you want to put on it, the new to the J's, that was a really young wave and it was kind of a touch of what the Raptors have going now so damn well is being a cool place to go. And that sounds

like an oversimplification and I am not the arbiter of cool in this city. Whatever our population is, that's the number I am on the cool rankings, but became a cool social outing. Really a Blue Jays game became a place to go, a place to be seen. Like the Raptors are now just at the absolute peak of that. They do such a great job, but, um, you know, that stuff helps, you know, there, there's a reason they were able to spend money those couple of years. And it's, it's because some people went there to buy a beer and take some Instagram pictures.

But so Atkins and Shapiro, sorry, do you think they've got this team heading in the right direction? They've got it headed in a direction right now. And I don't mean that as a shot. I mean it as legitimately there's a direction now. Last year was an in-between year where, you know, showing up every day and watching Yonair Vesalarte ground out a few more times. There wasn't, and that's just because of where

the team was. It wasn't ready to take the more of a youth movement. Now it's clearer. Now where it goes from here, you know, so many many people think a lot of fans think okay rebuild boom four years there's a world series coming or a stanley cup it's not that easy you now that you're at the point of a rebuild you have to do it right that's an amazing challenge because baseball prospects are the toughest things to predict maybe in all professional sports but it's moving in a direction now and i think it's a direction that fans once the season starts once kind of the frustration of spring is over i think it's one that people will more clearly see so that's step one and it's a relieving step one because it's a different a different looking team you know this is not the same old uh you know

retread of those 15 16 teams it, it's younger. It's faster. They might steal a base this year at one, maybe two. Who's going to steal it? Oh, who will it be? Gritchick will steal a few. Pillar will steal a couple if he reaches base. It will be by committee. There's no speedsters quite yet.

But it's like the Rays last year. Even though they weren't a playoff team, they did win a lot of games. They were just fun to watch. They were doing something strange every day or something that would actually make you perk up a bit and say, oh, okay, this isn't the same thing I've watched for the last 50 days.

So let's close with that. Let's close with the 2019 Blue Jays prediction. How many wins in the course? Crystal ball is foggy, but how many wins would you guess that this team gets in 2019? Oh, I'll go first, and then I'll let Julia do the prices right over under me to really box me out.

Just go under. You can't lose going under. 71. Okay, I was just thinking to myself, is he going to start with a 6 or a 7? Yeah, I think it's going to be right in that 69, 70, 71-ish range. Similar to last year, just kind of a more enjoyable... Wait, remind us, how many wins did we get last year?

I believe it was right in there. Was it 72? I'd have to double check. But right in close to that. So I think it'll be similar, but an easier-to-watch path. What about you? I'll take the under on that the under because american league east yes if only they could play the orioles more that's right so uh but it's fair to say because i i think that our win total will start with a six so we all kind of on the same page very possible especially if those trades

start to to happen. That could go very quickly. Well, that two hours went very quickly. Thanks so much. I know you drove a long way. This may be the longest distance driven to get an episode of Channel Mike. Hey, anything for it. And I owe you lasagna, but you've got, you each got your six

pack of beer here. Absolutely. And, uh, it was an absolute pleasure to have two members of baseball Toronto in the Toronto Mike stadium. We'll do 10 next year, build a round table down here. Well, I'm kind of now I'm excited. I have my own thing going with TMDS and I'm thinking it's just me still like, look, Keegan here's got somebody. I feel like I have to catch up. I need to add somebody to my roster. We can count Hebsey. Yeah, okay.

As a side colleague. I'll take Hebsey. It's like how I consider the folks from other outlets my colleague because we're stuck together a lot. That's right. And that brings us to the end of our 445th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike.

Keegan, are you at Keegan Matheson? I am. Tell us your Twitter handle, Julia. It's Julia C. Cruz. K-R-E-U-Z. That's Julia C. Cruz on Twitter. And our friends at Great Lakes Brewery or at Great Lakes Beer,

propertyinthesix.com, is at Raptors Devotee. That's the other thing real quick before I wind down, is that a lot of us sports fans in Toronto who aren't like baseball nerds or whatever, we're really, really, really distracted right now because we've got a very good Raptor team.

And we have a Leaf team where Leafs always dominate, right? We're in the playoffs. That's going to be a big deal no matter what with the Boston Bruins. So none of us are really thinking Blue Jays right now. No, that's okay. Yeah, they probably like that. It's quite understandable. Yeah, we'll see all of you in what, May, June?

That's right, when Vladdy's there. That sounds good to me. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair is at Fast Time WJR. And Camp Turnasol is at Camp Turnasol. See you all next week. I know that's true because Everything is coming up

Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Won't stay today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is

Rosie and Gray Well I've been told That there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who