Thursday Bantering: Rumors, and Bits

This is the fun time of year when there are rumours on top of rumours.

But the GM meetings are ending early. There is a stomach bug going through the team executives. Off-topic, but back in the lockdown days, someone told me about how horse medicine was a cure for Covid, and I suggested that I didn’t believe a parasite medicine would work on a virus. He said, ‘You can’t prove it is a parasite’. I said yeah, I can’t, but there are smart people in the world, and they have an easy time proving things like this. Doctors aren’t evil. Thankfully, the conversation ended there.

The Jays have inquired about many free agents. But then they always talk to everyone, all teams do. It doesn’t take long to make a quick call, see if there is any mutual interest, and see if they want to get into deeper talks. I saw a tweet saying teams talk to every free agent and talk about 100 players for trade talks.

Ones mentioned:

• Jeimer Candelario would be a nice fit at third base and might help our offense.
• Joey Votto. He would be this year’s Brandon Belt. He could be a lefty DH and spell Vlad when he needs off-days. He likely starts slow, has people call him a loser lefty, and then slowly becomes one of the most important bats on the team. Or not. I know the draw is that he is Canadian. And he’s a good guy. But I don’t know how much baseball he has in him.
• Eugenio Suárez. Another possible third base option. He hit 22 home runs last year after hitting 31 in each of the previous two years. He’s a low average, high strikeout, power hitter. His glove won’t make us forget Chapman.
• And, of course, they have inquired about every outfielder who might be on the marker.

I’d be happier if the team planned to go with some of their prospects in the infield spots. I know that isn’t happening. I want the team to get younger. The easy way would be to try one or two of Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger or Davis Schneider.

I love this. I hear, every year, that playoff teams bunt, hit and run and all that stuff. But no, winning playoff teams hit home runs.

A bunch of Jays’ minor leaguers have declared free agency (I imagine it like Michael Scott yelling, “I declare bankruptcy”):

The Angels hired 71-year-old Ron Washington to be their manager. The Angels are unlikely to make the playoffs in the next couple of years. I think Washington is a good choice as a manager. He’s likeable. He’ll keep the media happy. and he’ll take some pressure off the players.

FOCO has bobbleheads of our three Gold Glove winners. There are no pictures of them yet. They are ‘blackout bobbleheads’, meaning they haven’t been made yet. They announce them quickly after major awards or events. They are limited to 123 of each.