TORONTO — Up until the acquisition of Steven Matz from the New York Mets earlier this week, the Toronto Blue Jays had made all their off-season adds via free agency, using their spending power to reel in George Springer, Marcus Semien, Robbie Ray, Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood.
Given how their talent base is positioned, taking such an approach right now makes sense. Even though they made the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened season, the Blue Jays remained a work in progress in need of multiple pieces to legitimately contend. And while they pursued Francisco Lindor before Cleveland dealt him to the Mets and discussed Kris Bryant, Kyle Hendricks and surely others with the Chicago Cubs, addressing needs while keeping their prospect capital intact is clearly the preferable route.
At the same time, general manager Ross Atkins acknowledges that “there may be some predispositions, biases” toward keeping prospects because he and president and CEO Mark Shapiro both “grew up in player development and believe in it wholeheartedly.”
“It comes from just believing in player development, believing in players getting better and wanting our players to grow up as Blue Jays and then play for this city and country,” Atkins added. “So we do place an intense value on that. That could be factoring in, but we are certainly open to making trades and at some point we will have to.”
Hours after making those comments, proving his point, Atkins pulled the trigger on the Matz deal, which was a trade very much in line with the club’s recent approach to now-player adds.
Prior to the trade deadline last summer, the Blue Jays added Ray, Taijuan Walker, Jonathan Villar and Ross Stripling for lower-tier prospects well away from the big-leagues. Matz cost them Sean Reid-Foley and Yennsy Diaz, at the moment a pair of depth relief arms who were on the 40-man roster bubble, and Josh Winckowski, another right-hander who they left exposed for the Rule 5 draft.
Each trade carried a relatively low amount of risk, which is sensible when a team is on the rise. There’s reason to believe Matz can be a steady contributor this summer, and we’ll get to that, but even if he doesn’t, in all likelihood they won’t end up regretting the cost.
Such prudence has brought them to this point, but the Blue Jays will soon need to make higher-end adds through the trade market, too. And that’s when things are going to get tricky, because trading from the fringes of the roster and lower tiers of the farm system won’t return the type of top-end starter the team really wants and needs.
To get the next Blake Snell or Mike Clevinger that becomes available, the cost is going to hurt, requiring the likes of Jordan Groshans, Alek Manoah and more.
Making that transition isn’t easy because trading the wrong prospect at any time, but especially now, is fraught with risk. The Blue Jays need only to recall the July 19, 2000 deal that sent Michael Young to the Texas Rangers for Esteban Loaiza for a cautionary tale of how devastating a mistake can be.
While Loaiza delivered 6.3 WAR as calculated by FanGraphs in 75 games over two-and-a-half seasons with the Blue Jays, Young developed into a franchise cornerstone with the Rangers, delivering a career WAR of 25.3. The Blue Jays’ post-season drought doesn’t stretch 21 years if they keep him, I’d argue.
Even if such outcomes are rare, that’s why Atkins and his front-office posse have good reason to be judicious. They’ve spent a long time building a farm system that remains strong even after graduating the bulk of the current core.
With Groshans, Manoah, Austin Martin, Simeon Woods Richardson, Riley Adams and Gabriel Moreno, among others, pushing towards the majors, it’s understandable why a front office so rooted in player development would want to see what they become.
Similarly, those development roots play into an acquisition like that of Matz, who has more ability than his recent performance would indicate. Back in 2016, he was a 2.5-win pitcher, but hasn’t been able to match that over the past four seasons combined, including a dreadful 2020 during which he was a negative WAR performer.
Matz attributed some of his struggles to getting “a little carried away last year with starting to throw a little harder,” after noticing an uptick once play resumed from quarantine. While his sinker’s average velocity nudged up from 93.3 m.p.h. in 2018 and ’19 to 94.5, it stopped sinking, losing nearly three inches of vertical movement, per data on Baseball Savant.
A 9.68 ERA and a grizzly home-run-per-nine rate of 4.11, roughly two-and-a-half times his career average, were the results, leading him to make regaining fastball command an off-season priority.
“I purposely was trying to get a little more carry on my fastball with some of the history of me throwing up in the zone, and stuff like that,” said Matz. “When I focus on commanding the ball, it has kind of the right movement that is just natural for me… Oddly enough, my four-seamer plays like a two-seamer and when I would throw this two-seamer, it would actually carry more like a four-seam. That was just some stuff I was tinkering with.”
Tweaking that repertoire, perhaps increasing the usage of his third-pitch curveball along with his changeup, may be something the Blue Jays raise with him. Matz said he’s had positive reports on pitching coach Pete Walker — a master at building trust and presenting ideas to players as they want them — and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, and together they’ll work to tap into his game.
“I’m really looking forward to working with those guys,” said Matz, “and getting after it.”
The same goes for the Blue Jays, whose next step may be an asset-reallocation type of trade – moving money to make room for a signing, or trading one contract for another contract. If all goes to plan after that, they’ll then be on the hunt for impact talent at the trade deadline, when the club’s player-development roots will be challenged by win-now realities.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
