Tuesday Bantering: Matz, Semien, and Rogers Selling?

There are some little bits of Jays news:

Steven Matz has offers from several teams:

It sounds like he wants to make a decision quickly.

Actually, it sounds like all free agents want to get signed quickly before the CBA troubles starts.

Over in the Athletic, Ken Rosenthal tells us that Marcus Semien is looking for $200+ in a new contract. I don’t know that I’d sign someone who is 31 to a contract that large. As Ken says:

The problem for Semien, at least when considering the current way clubs evaluate players, is that he turned 31 on Sept. 17. The last free-agent hitter to clear $200 million at that age or older was Robinson Canó, who signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Mariners entering his age 31 season in December 2013. George Springer, who a year ago was almost exactly the same age as Semien is today, landed a six-year, $150 million deal on the open market with the Blue Jays.

I guess we’ll see.

The Globe and Mail had a story on Rogers apparently being willing to sell part of the Blue Jays. Rogers, after buying Shaw, has some debt and could use the money from selling some part of the Jays to pay that down.

They tell us that Edward Rogers might be the buyer, which is a weird little thing. It seems like that would be selling to themselves.

The Globe also suggests that Rogers could sell ‘tracking shares’ of the team.

California-based Liberty Media Corp., controlled by billionaire John Malone, acquired the Atlanta Braves in 2007 for US$400-million. Five years ago, Liberty began selling tracking shares, NASDAQ-listed equities that track the value of the team and the real estate surrounding its home field.

After dropping sharply in the spring of 2019, when the pandemic restricted game attendance, Atlanta Braves tracking shares doubled in value over the last 18 months as the team blazed a winning streak that ended in a World Series victory. The franchise is now worth US$2.4-billion.

I assume if there were shares to be bought, I’d want to get some, just so I could say I had them.

In the long run, I don’t think any of this will affect the team.

Shi Davidi, at Sportsnet, doesn’t figure any sale will happen soon.

It is Ross Stripling’s 32nd birthday today. Happy Birthday to him.

This is sad news:

58 is far too young. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

And, speaking of dying too soon, Doug Jones, former MLB closer, passed away yesterday, apparently from complications from Covid. He was just 64.

Jones wasn’t your normal gas throwing closer. He made do with a changeup and a “fastball”, which wasn’t all that fast, and great control. He retired with 303 saves but didn’t get his first save until he was 29 and only had 9 before his age 31 season, but he pitched to age 43.

The Red Sox have signed Joey Cora to a two-year contract extension. He’ll be holding John Farrell’s dream job until the end of the 2024 season.