Sunday Bantering: Jays Stuff

There are little bits of Jays' news and likely will be more, since I’m going to be away from the computer for much of the day.

The team announced their coaching staff and basically everyone but you and I will dress as a major league coach. I’m feeling my age this morning, I’m sure when I was young there was a first and third base coach and a pitching and hitting coach (and sometimes one of the base coaches would also be hitting coach).

Anyway, this year’s coaches:

• Charlie Montoyo, Manager
• John Schneider, Bench Coach
• Pete Walker, Pitching Coach
• Guillermo Martinez, Hitting Coach
• Mark Budzinski, First Base Coach
• Luis Rivera, Third Base Coach
• Matt Buschmann, Bullpen Coach
• Hunter Mense, Assistant Hitting Coach
• Gil Kim, Field Coordinator
• David Howell, Major League Pitching Strategist
• Dave Hudgens, Major League Hitting Strategist
• Adam Yudelman, Major League Coach
• Alex Andreopoulos, Bullpen Catcher
• Luis Hurtado, Bullpen Catcher

Just to get people talking, Rob Longley gives us a video of Vlad ‘taking reps’ at third base. But just to ‘stretch out his arm’.

A rule change I hadn’t heard about: IL time and options will go back to being 15 days long, from 10 days. Between that, and the limit of five options a season is to stop teams from bringing guys up and down all the time.

I’m not a huge fan of that, I thought the shorter times helped to save arms.

I am glad we will no longer have the ghost runner on second in extras, but the ban on the shift seems dumb to me. The NL taking up the DH is ok, but I didn’t mind the two leagues having a difference. I liked that, with the pitchers, the NL had to have better players on the bench.

I see they are talking about an automatic strike zone next year. I doubt it will happen. Pitch clocks? I don’t care.

The Jays may have a competitive advantage: