Sports

LONGLEY: Post-season collapse sets up off-season of change for Blue Jays

Published

2 years ago

October 10, 2022

Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looks on from the dugout as they face the Seattle Mariners during ninth inning on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Photo by NATHAN DENETTE /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Much as he did a year earlier when his team agonizingly missed the playoffs by one game, Vlad Guerrero Jr. was front and centre at the baseball funeral that unfolded Saturday evening at the Rogers Centre.

Slumped over the railing of the Blue Jays dugout, Guerrero watched the Seattle Mariners’ celebration right there on his team’s home field, no doubt in equal parts shock and frustration.

And as the Jays first baseman ponders the stunningly swift exit more deeply, surely the 24-year-old will be wondering what the team must do to avoid an inglorious ending for a third consecutive year.

“I always focus on what I can do, trying to help my teammates on everything,” Guerrero said through translator Hector Lebron in the quiet of the Jays clubhouse on Saturday. “The other things, I just let the front office take care of that.”

Subtle dig from a frustrated superstar? Perhaps. Frustration in the moment of disappointment and a screeching end to a season with such high expectations? More likely.

But Guerrero’s passing reference to the work of the front office certainly reflected the dissatisfaction of a fan base that may have had its hopes fuelled by a late-season surge but wasn’t duped into believing the team was going to be a serious contender deep into this October.

And with that dissatisfaction comes dissection.

Of general manager Ross Atkins’ work at the trade deadline, that ended up not being enough to greatly enhance the team’s chances.

Of manager John Schneider for some of the in-game decisions, though we’re of the mind that with an 8-1 lead there was no move from the dugout that truly cost the Jays a game that was that well in hand. Put it more explicitly on that point: A team that had a seven-run lead with just 10 outs to get there should have been able to take care of business.

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The Jays’ 10-9 loss to the Mariners on Saturday at the Rogers Centre certainly was the trigger point for an off-season of scrutiny, not merely for what happened over the four hours and 13 minutes it took to complete one of the greatest post-season disasters for a Toronto pro sports team.

And Schneider acknowledged that it will be difficult not to look at multiple moments of Saturday’s drama from the fifth inning and beyond.

“I thought it sequenced out pretty well,” Schneider said when asked to explain his bullpen use after removing Kevin Gausman from a game after 5.2 innings of brilliant starter’s work. “Tiimmy Mayza is a tough guy to get underneath and hit the ball out of the ball

‘Yeah, there’s always going to be times where I could sit here for about six months and second-guess myself, but right now I don’t.”

That Schneider even mentioned the thought of second-guessing means you know that it’s already begun. He’ll shake off the lingering effects of the devastating loss eventually, but not over the first few days of an off-season that arrived too early.

Running through some of them, here are our thoughts on the in-game moves of consequence:

Lifting Gausman after 5.2 innings was a matchup-based decision and one made easier by the fact that the starter had loaded the bases. Did Gausman pitch well enough to get a shot at finishing the inning? Perhaps. Was Mayza the right call in the situation. Probably. The southpaw’s worst mistake was the wild pitch that scored a run. The one in which he allowed a three-run homer to Carlos Santana was a good hitter winning the battle against a good pitcher.
Anthony Bass was the biggest liability in the bullpen on the day and things truly began to unravel under his watch. But Bass had been mostly money since he came over at the trade deadline and, as Schneider suggested, fit in the sequence. His struggles forced the early call for Romano and things truly unravelled as a result.
Perhaps the biggest decision of consequence was one that wasn’t made at all. Moving Jackie Bradley Jr., into centre field in the late innings and shuffling George Springer over to left would have had, in the precision of hindsight, immense benefits.

In any event, in the 125 days or so until the group returns to Dunedin for spring training, there will be business to take care of — from the front office to the players themselves. A team that has lost five playoff games in a row and eight of its past nine has work to do.

“We talked about getting incrementally better,” Schneider said. “And it starts in spring training.”

As is always the case with a young team, the off-season will be important, especially as another year with a high-end core in place disappeared so meekly.

“We need to make the best of these opportunities,” Guerrero said. ‘We’ll work very hard, come back stronger next year and then we’ll see what happens.”

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Sports

Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

46 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Sports

Arch Manning to get first start for No. 1 Texas as Ewers continues recovery from abdomen strain

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.

It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.

Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.

Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.

The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

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