TORONTO – Working from home during these virtual winter meetings, Ross Atkins’ frenetic days offered his family a first-hand look at the madness inherent to baseball’s annual swap meet.
“My wife has said to me, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever experienced the winter meetings,’” the Toronto Blue Jays general manager said Thursday, after the Rule 5 concluded the makeshift Zoom-and-phone-only gathering. “She said to me, ‘I’ve never seen you on the phone so much in my life.’ I’m on the phone a lot.”
To this point, all that talking didn’t produce anything tangible beyond a pair of waiver claims that, temporarily, have filled up the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster.
In summing up the week’s progress, Atkins delivered the usual platitudes on his pursuit of the market’s top-end players, saying he feels “there is momentum,” that transactions don’t feel “like we’re weeks away,” and that there are “more concrete offers occurring” all around.
Asked if he believes the Blue Jays remain in the hunt for all their top targets, Atkins replied, “I do.” Asked if what they’ve learned to this point has changed their approach to addressing the roster, he replied: “We have prioritized targets and we’ll start with those before we make multiple offers. We have not eliminated anyone.”
Perhaps sensing the growing eye-rolls of fans whose expectations have been raised by the club’s bold, at least by its standards, talk of adding impact this winter, Atkins added: “Just like the fans we would certainly prefer to have clarity as soon as possible, as that impacts the next move that you can make, that impacts the shaping of all of your preparations.
“But we do feel like we’re prepared and have done the work for when that time where we have to make a decision,” he continued. “We’re ready.”
Why hasn’t more happened then? It’s a fair question, especially given that several agents describe the Blue Jays as being very active on the market.
In part, the industry as a whole isn’t moving, a short run on one-year pitcher deals started by the signing of Robbie Ray is still the biggest burst of activity.
The Texas Rangers swung a pair of deals this week, acquiring Nate Lowe from Tampa Bay in a six-player deal while sending ace Lance Lynn to the White Sox, who also signed Adam Eaton. But a logjam remains atop the market and it is trickling all the way down to players who will be signing minor-league deals, as they don’t want to commit until they better understand how the bigger pieces at play this winter will fall.
One of them, George Springer, appeared to be moving toward a resolution this week with reports out of New York about a push by the Mets for the outfielder, but those quickly died down, and little else shifted publicly. The lingering effects of the pandemic, uncertainty over what 2021 looks across all realms of the sports and a reluctance from both teams and players to jump first and establish markets are other dynamics in play.
“It’s fair to say that you would typically have seen one of those high-end players probably at least be making some news today, that a deal is nearing or getting done, and we didn’t see any names attached to any teams,” Atkins said. “I think you probably would have seen that a year ago.”
Intuitively, you’d think fortune would favour the bold, and that a team determined to get something done could simply force the issue by bringing its best offer to the table early to trigger the end game.
Atkins insisted it’s more complicated than that.
“We’re not forcing things on players. We’re not putting our timelines on players to make sure they get back to us,” he explained. “We want to be very respectful of having earned the right of free agency, and we’re not in a position where we have to do that. We feel like there’s enough opportunity at different junctures for us to be disciplined and patient.”
To that end, Atkins said the Blue Jays haven’t made a final offer to a prime free agent since a deal that didn’t come to fruition earlier in the off-season, believed to be an attempt to sign right-hander Kevin Gausman.
The Blue Jays have told agents that their current focus is on free-agent targets that include Springer, DJ LeMahieu and J.T. Realmuto, whose market outlook may suddenly shift dramatically with the Philadelphia Phillies’ pending addition of Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations.
Star shortstop Francisco Lindor is a potential trade option, although lining up a deal with Cleveland and sorting at least the parameters of an extension is a difficult task.
Whatever the Blue Jays do on that front won’t preclude them from other significant adds and they’ve been active on other fronts, including on the top end of the relief market, as industry sources told colleague Ben Nicholson-Smith and I on Wednesday.
The Blue Jays are simultaneously exploring ways to backfill the roster, too, should need arise based on other moves. And they have several plans beyond Plan A should that, whatever it is, fall through.
When they, or any other team, start turning the groundwork into actual transactions is unclear, although it feels like a slew of moves are percolating under the surface and will soon push through the ground.
Maybe if the winter meetings had taken place in person, that burst would have already happened.
“There’s an unspoken pressure that occurs when we all are under one roof,” Atkins said. “When [media] ask us these questions in years prior, did we feel pressure to get something done, I think most executives say no. But there is something unspoken about the time as one day goes by and you’re feeling like this opportunity is one for you to optimize and maximize and you try to discipline yourself, to make sure not to do something [just] to do something.
“Different opportunities just are created from the human nature of that unspoken, very soft deadline of Thursday after the winter meetings. But it’s also just the opportunities that occur to meet after 9 p.m. at night or meet at 6 a.m. in the morning for coffee with a team. Every front office, every agent, all of you are all thinking about how do we maximize these 16 hours in a day before we just lay our heads on the pillow and we don’t do that as well virtually, probably.”
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.
