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Breaking down the Blue Jays’ off-season pitching targets

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2 years ago

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TORONTO — After a couple years of shopping near the top of the rotation market in both free agency and the trade market, the Toronto Blue Jays could be in line for a change in approach this winter.

With Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and the expensive Jose Berrios, who needs a bounce-back campaign in 2023, all in-house, the bullpen could be where GM Ross Atkins spends his dollars this winter.

During Atkins’ seven-year tenure since he was hired in the winter of 2015, the ‘pen hasn’t traditionally been an area where significant resources have been spent.

But it’s also an area of the roster that’s usually the last a true World Series contender has to address, and continually address as the season wears on because you just never really know with bullpen construction.

It was clear during Toronto’s epic wild-card series meltdown that the bullpen needs more impact arms, an idea that Atkins has talked about on numerous occasions over the past year but hasn’t really followed through on.

Whether that relief help arrives via trade or free agency remains to be seen but adding impact to the bullpen and multiple depth options to the back end of the rotation would seem to be the correct strategy given the pitching needs and what’s currently in place.

With that in mind, here are my 22 favourite pitching targets for Atkins and the Jays:

SP Justin Verlander, Astros, age 40

Verlander is one of the high-end starting pitchers on the market that the Jays could target for a couple of reasons. The first is that they already did last year and Verlander was open to the idea. The second is the term will be palatable, and the 40-year-old may even be open to something creative at this stage of his career. Will he leave the defending-champion Astros is the question? The scenario seems ideal for the future Hall of Famer at this point. In addition to giving the Jays arguably the best trio of starters in baseball, he would provide a great mentor to not only Manoah but some of the young pitching — cough, Ricky Tiedemann — the club is hoping will start to emerge over the next couple of seasons.

SP Kodai Senga, Japan, age 30

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Where these markets will go is always just as much of a mystery as how Japanese pitchers armed with splitter out-pitches will transition to MLB. There’s a chance Senga’s market is reasonable, and the Jays have made calls on just about every Japanese starter available during the Atkins tenure. Turning 30 in January, Senga is a right-hander in his prime and he’s coming off 1.94 ERA across 144 frames with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks this past season. The best part of a Senga chase is he’s not subject to the posting process, leaving him free to negotiate as a normal free agent. His splitter, which he calls his Ghost Fork, is a quality offering and Senga can run his fastball into the upper-90s. The issue, however, might be high walk totals. Blue Jays fans won’t want to hear this, but there are some right-handed Yusei Kikuchi vibes here, and there’s a chance the contract ends up in the same range as the $56 million guaranteed the Seattle Mariners gave that Japanese lefty four years ago.

RP Rafael Montero, Astros, age 33

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Montero and the next game on this list, Robert Suarez, landed at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively, on the annual top 50 free agent list put together by me and TSN insider Steve Phillips. In those writeups, I gushed over the pair of high-octane righties and they’re by far my two favourite impact and upside bullpen targets for the Jays. I’d be trying to get them both signed and quickly. Like before the Winter Meetings in San Diego in December.

RP Robert Suarez, Padres, age 32

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Suarez’s agent smartly wrote a $5-million player option into the deal he signed with the San Diego Padres last winter after reviving his career in Japan. After posting a 2.27 ERA in his return, Suarez quickly declined that and will head to the market as one of the more intriguing late-inning options. Armed with five pitches, hitters couldn’t touch either of Suarez’s fastballs or his changeup (.089 batting average against) and if you remove his first two appearances in early April as he battled command issues on his way to four earned runs allowed, his ERA drops to 1.58 with 59 punchouts in 45.2 innings.

RP Matt Moore, Rangers, age 34

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In his first full season as a reliever, Moore was dominant, and he probably should’ve tried this transition years ago. Across 74 frames, the lefty and former top prospect as a starter with the Tampa Bay Rays way back in the day posted a sparkling 1.95 ERA, striking out 27.3 per cent of the hitters he faced. The walks are a bit of an issue, but Moore’s ability to keep right-handers in check with a .165 batting average against makes him an attractive late inning option that could get even better if he can harness his control as he adjusts further to a bullpen role.

RP Taylor Rogers, Brewers, age 32

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Rogers suffered through the worst season of his career with a 4.76 ERA, but the overall body of work over the course of the lefty’s career is going to leave him with many suitors. The Jays care more about relievers that can get both sides out rather than focusing on the arm they throw with but adding another lefty to go along with Tim Mayza would be a smart move.

RP Andrew Chafin, Tigers, age 33

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With a combined 2.29 ERA over his last two seasons, Chafin quickly declined his player option this month and will have a ton of teams interested in his services. Seen as a bit of a lefty specialist previously, Chafin held both right-handed and left-handed hitters to a sub-.200 batting average this past season.

SP Andrew Heaney, Dodgers, age 32
SP Nathan Eovaldi, Red Sox, age 33
SP Mike Clevinger, Padres, age 32
SP Noah Syndergaard, Phillies, age 30

I’ll combine these next three groups into types that would add important depth to Pete Walker’s pitching staff and help the Jays navigate the surprises that always come within a 162-game season.

The Jays had interest in Heaney last year before he signed with the Dodgers, where he posted a solid 3.10 ERA and showed glimpses of being a quality starter with three 10-plus K outings in just 14 starts. None of these guys can be counted on for 30 starts and all four might be better as short-stint back-end starters who rarely go past the fifth or sixth inning. That may not sound overly sexy, but there’s upside for more in all of them if things click and the term and cash for each of these guys isn’t going to be an issue. Given this front office regime’s familiarity with Clevinger from their days together in Cleveland, the 32-year-old righty is an intriguing candidate for a one-year show-me deal and a fifth starter role coming off a 4.33 ERA.

SP/RP Shintaro Fujinami, Japan, age 29
SP/RP Zach Eflin, Phillies, age 29
SP/RP Nick Martinez, Padres, age 32 ($6.5M player option)
SP/RP Michael Lorenzen, Angels, age 31
SP/RP Matt Strahm, Red Sox, age 31
SP/RP Matthew Boyd, Mariners, age 32

Here are five arms that could conceivably start the season in the role Ross Stripling filled in 2022 as a swingman with the ability to fill a rotation hole when an injury inevitably strikes. Fujinami will be posted by the Hanshin Tigers and has shown glimpses of brilliance in the past, but he’s been nothing more than a depth arm in Japan and is a similar to the Shun Yamaguchi signing a few years ago. The difference with Fujinami is he’s shown a triple-digit fastball in the past. Eflin, Lorenzen and Martinez have all bounced between the rotation and ‘pen at various points during their careers and would add fifth starter competition. Strahm, a starter in the past, has indicated a desire to return to the rotation and is looking for a team to let him do that. With a solid track record as a lefty reliever, he has a solid fallback floor. Boyd returned from a flexor tendon injury late last year and looked good as a reliever for the first time in his career, but there’s lots of upside as a fifth starter candidate, too.

RP Adam Ottavino, Mets, age 37
RP Seth Lugo, Mets, age 33
RP Trevor May, Mets, age 33
RP Tommy Kahnle, Dodgers, age 33
RP Pierce Johnson, Padres, age 32

These guys aren’t going to generate any headlines, but they’d all be solid additions to the bullpen, especially if some of the more prime targets ahead of them on the list come off the board. All five have filled high-leverage roles in the past and could provide sneaky value. Ottavino’s 2.06 ERA across 66 appearances is going to make him the most attractive of this bunch, but Johnson and his elite out-pitch curveball is the guy I’d be targeting to add a different element of much-needed swing-and-miss.

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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