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Afternoon Bantering: Jays’ thoughts and tonight’s lineup

By Tom Dakers
Baltimore Orioles v Toronto Blue Jays Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Just some random Blue Jays thoughts:

  • There are good moments even in games the Jays don’t win, It was so great that Chris Smith made his first appearance in a major league game, after a long, winding trip to get there.
  • Did anyone expect the offense to be this bad?
  • We always seem to have someone slumping. Josh Donaldson hasn’t hit a home run since June 11. He’s hitting .175/.250/.225. I’m ready to think that he has an injury that we haven’t been told about.
  • I know that Ezequiel is a veteran and it isn’t good form to strip a guy of his job when he’s on the DL, but I would have loved the team to give Dwight Smith a good look in left.
  • I don’t expect either to have much trade value, but I’d think the team would be shopping Carrera and Pearce, whether the team is in sell mode or not.
  • With Maile hitting .122, Miguel Montero might be worth looking into. He has roughly $35 million left on his contract. The Jays wouldn’t be wanting to add that salary, when they are paying Russell Martin a fortune. I’m sure the Cubs would throw in some money. What Montero said wasn’t exactly the nicest thing you could say about a teammate, but it seems like something that could have been handled in the clubhouse. There must have been more going on. Dumping a catcher hitting .286/.366/.439 seems a bit of overkill. I’m guessing, with how quick Anthony Rizzo jumped in, Montero wasn’t well loved in the clubhouse.

Maybe the Jays are trying to get him. Jon Heyman tweets that the Jays ‘have interest in him.

  • At some point, the Jays have to address their troubles at second base. Goins is hitting .216/.279/.347 and FanGraphs has him at a -3.7 UZR. His defense hasn’t looked as spectacular as in the past. Maybe he’s just learned not to make every play look spectacular. There ought to be some rental second baseman the Jays could pick up fairly cheaply. I wouldn’t want to give up much for prospects, but it doesn’t sound like Travis will be back this year. Jed Lowrie would be very nice. Or Ian Kinsler.

Tonight’s lineup:

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