For the price of one top-of-the-rotation starter, Ross Atkins also bought a change in perception.
Seen from the outside as a front office regime brought in to keep costs controlled and, potentially, stumble into contention every once in a while, wins were few and far between for Atkins and the Toronto Blue Jays through his first four years on the job – both on the field and in the public eye.
After a couple of quiet, cost-cutting off-seasons, stories of the Blue Jays being aggressive in free agency from the outset this winter were met with eye rolls and a more than fair wait-and-see attitude.
That all changed late Sunday night when the Jays and left-handed starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, one of the premier arms on the free-agent market, agreed to terms on a four-year, $80-million deal, a source confirmed.
One important detail in the contract is it does not contain any opt-outs, per sources, and there is a limited no-trade clause as well.
It’s by far the largest investment Atkins has made in a player, surpassing the three-year, $33-million deal he handed Kendrys Morales in the winter of 2016, and it’s also the second-largest total value free-agent contract in franchise history, just behind the $82.5 million deal Russell Martin signed in 2014.
When it comes to pitchers, it’s reminiscent of the contract J.P. Ricciardi used to lure A.J. Burnett to Toronto way back in December 2005, a five-year, $55-million pact.
That Burnett deal could be used as a comparison in a different way, too, as Ryu comes with similar health risks, making it a move that has the Atkins regime ready to shed its label as a risk-adverse front office.
As I wrote here on the final day of the winter meetings in San Diego earlier this month when it became very apparent Ryu was not only the apple of Atkins’ eye but also their best chance to land one of the upper-tier options on the pitching market, the Blue Jays had to go all-in.
The expected $20 million per year floor came to fruition, and it’s likely that the fourth year tacked on, one that will take Ryu through his age-36 season in 2023, was instrumental in getting the South Korean lefty to choose an American League East destination not named New York or Boston over a pair of rotation-needy Los Angeles clubs.
Ryu represented Atkins’ best chance to get a top-of-the-rotation starter for nothing but money, something that seemed like a pipe dream for many just a few short weeks ago.
Coming off a second-place finish in the National League Cy Young race and a 2.32 ERA, Ryu is inarguably exactly what the Blue Jays needed – an impact starter.
But his resume, however, is littered with health issues — Ryu has landed on the IL nine different times in six years with shoulder (twice), hip (twice), groin (twice), elbow, foot and neck injuries – leaving a whole lot of risk involved with a four-year commitment to a pitcher in his mid-30s.
Since arriving in the majors with the Dodgers in 2013, Ryu has thrown more than 150 innings just three times.
He threw 192 in his rookie year, followed by 152 in 2014.
From 2015 through 2018, however, Ryu was only able to make 40 starts total, before throwing 182.2 innings and winning 14 games this season.
With that being said, the timing was right for this type of risk in a number of ways.
Not only does it show a beaten-down fan base that everything they believed about this regime’s philosophy going forward was false, it also kicks the plan to be a legit contender by 2021 into overdrive.
There’s no doubt adding Ryu, along with veteran right-handers Tanner Roark and Chase Anderson, makes the Blue Jays a better team in 2020, but it’s more about surrounding the young position player core with a couple more building blocks now, before adding a handful more next winter.
Had Atkins not been able to add an arm like Ryu now, it would have simply left more work to do in the future and the clock ticking on Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio’s cheap, pre-arbitration years.
You can’t build a rotation or a ball club in one off-season.
When 2021 arrives, the Jays envision a rotation headed by Ryu and Nate Pearson, followed by 2020 off-season addition X, Roark, and they’ll cross their fingers and hope one or two of the other internal options they’ve collected over the past couple of years can prove they’re capable of being part of the plan.
Where things go from here will be interesting.
Ryu could be the cherry on top of what now looks a successful off-season, or it could be just the start.
Rumours the Jays have checked in on David Price are legit, but the Boston Red Sox will have to pay around half of the $96 million he’s owed over the next three seasons or it’s not happening.
An upgrade is also desperately needed in centre field, while the bullpen now becomes a focus. Suddenly, a Ken Giles trade doesn’t seem as likely as it once did.
By no means is this team anything more than an everything-went-right wild-card contender in 2020 as the roster currently stands, but there’s now no mistaking what this front office is up to and their desire to win.
A player development machine with more than enough financial resources to keep players around and make free-agent splashes when the time is right is what the Blue Jays want to become, and we’re finally starting to see the two converge.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
