The unthinkable has happened: The Cubs have released Munenori Kawasaki. The former Blue Jay, with an on-field personality of a drunk monkey (that eats bananas daily), has hit .237 over the past two years. The Cubs, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, are not completely adverse to bringing back the goofy utilityman if he fails to find opportunities elsewhere.
Please. Please let him stay in major league baseball.
Cue the Kawasaki clips.
The Blue Jays, fielding their major league roster, won 10-4 over the Philadelphia Phillies last night. Marco Estrada (in his final appearance before opening day) allowed four runs in four innings, but also struck out five and walked just two. On the other side of the diamond, Aaron Nola, the Phillies starter, allowed five runs in the second, a bat-around inning, before being removed from the game. Troy Tulowitzki, Melvin Upton Jr., Josh Donaldson and Mike Ohlman all homered in the blowout.
The Blue Jays play their final game of spring training in Florida today against the Yankees. J.A. Happ will get his final work before the regular season for the Blue Jays, while Jordan Montgomery, who has yet to make a major league appearance, will start for the Yankees. The game starts at 1:07 and can be heard on MLB.com (no TV - the last such game of the year).
With just days until the Blue Jays head to Montreal, things are already looking good. The mayor of Montreal reports that the two games, set to be played at Olympic Stadium, already have a combined attendance of over 90,000. Compared to the single-game baseball capacity of 45,757, it looks the games are (or are close to) being sold out.
The Blue Jays reassigned Jeff Beliveau, Leonel Camos, Chad Girodo, Casey Lawrence and Tim Mayza to minor league camp yesterday, per Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. Mayza, a left-handed pitcher who became a fan favourite dark horse in camp, fared worse in the second half of spring, allowing four runs in his last four appearances despite keeping enemies scoreless in his first five.
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