TORONTO — Months of speculation and uncertainty for those involved came to an end Wednesday, alongside baseball’s minor leagues as we knew them.
Since news broke of a significant restructuring of Minor League Baseball last year, both those inside the game as well as invested fans scattered across small North American outposts have paid close attention with their fingers crossed.
This week, as MLB teams try to fix their on-field rosters at the big-league level, there was finally some clarity for the large number of people twisting in the wind when all 30 clubs announced their four minor-league affiliate invitations.
For the Blue Jays, it’s a positive outcome, as the one ugly downside to all of this could’ve been losing its only Canadian affiliate in Vancouver.
A handful of reports had already broken up the Jays and the Canadians, but, instead, Wednesday’s final announcement will see Nat Bailey Stadium hosting full-season High-A baseball in the coming years.
It’s a nice development for baseball fans in British Columbia, as they’ll now get a parade of elite Jays prospects making their way through High-A, a level that is very rarely skipped and features a 132-game schedule.
“The Blue Jays value the opportunity to continue strong associations with these four franchises,” the club wrote in a release. “Foremost among them, the Blue Jays share a close affinity with the Vancouver Canadians and baseball fans in Western Canada. As this country’s only Major League Baseball team, the club takes great pride in maintaining a west coast presence, introducing future Blue Jays players to Canadian fans, and helping grow the game nationally.”
With the whole plan scrapping short-season baseball, the rookie-level Bluefield Blue Jays club that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. started his minor-league journey with in the summer of 2016, is no more.
Same with the Lansing Lugnuts, previously the first full-season stop for prospects in the Low-A Midwest League.
With Vancouver shifting to High-A, the Jays are now logistically set up better than ever with their lowest rung on the affiliate ladder — a player’s entry into pro baseball — now the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays.
From now on, Jays prospects will essentially move from honing their skills on the newly-redeveloped complex backfields to TD Ballpark for A-ball games.
After that, it’s up to Vancouver, and then off to Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo, two affiliations that have been around since 2004 and 2013, respectively.
While MLB clubs believe streamlining the minor leagues and dropping from 162 franchises to 120 overall will allow them to become more efficient with player development — a movement from organized games to more controlled backfield situations as a development tool is the reason — there’s the obvious sting of more jobs lost across the sport.
For the Jays and Canadian baseball fans, however, Wednesday’s news was as positive as it could have been on a day 42 minor-league teams were officially informed they no longer exist in MLB’s world.
JAYS STILL BEING PATIENT
Not counting loose connections to teams, it’s been a quiet start to hot-stove season around baseball.
More than five weeks into free agency, only a handful of pitchers have signed, and just five of the top 50 free agents on this list are off the market.
At some point soon, the necessary domino will fall like it does every year, but there’s so much financial uncertainty for all involved that it’s hard to know what to expect.
For the Jays, being in on the entire top tier of the market to some extent — Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, George Springer, D.J. LeMahieu — could leave them playing a waiting game that might get uncomfortable if other alternatives start to sign.
“(We’re) trying to balance the best deal we can possibly get versus not losing a good deal versus some other permutation in there,” Blue Jays assistant GM Joe Sheehan said. “(We have) some interest in getting stuff done to just make our team better, while the chances are there to do that, but at the same time not being reckless and not being too aggressive. Trying to strike that balance.”
VLADDY MAKES DWL DEBUT
Intent on proving he can still be an option at third base heading into his age-22 season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s winter of work got started Tuesday night with the Escogido, a club he suited up for as an 18-year-old in 2017-18.
While Vladdy Jr. debuted as the designated hitter, going 0-for-4, the Dominican Winter League club reitered that he’ll be their third baseman.
“I came to Escogido to play third base and to prepare to play third,” Guerrero told MLB.com, speaking with media in Spanish on Tuesday. “That’s one of the main things I’m here for. I’m going to focus on third. Next year, I’m going back to my third base.”
As for the Jays, they’ll just sit back and monitor their corner infielder’s play and hope he gives them a surprising third base option when he arrives at spring training in February.
How they address the third base position this off-season after Travis Shaw was non-tendered will be a good indicator of how realistic even a part-time move back to the hot corner will be for Guerrero.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
TORSBY, Sweden (AP) — David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager’s small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson’s wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Älvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson’s 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England’s first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Aug. 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson’s wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where hundreds more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby — a town of about 4,000 people located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) west of Stockholm. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
The ceremony began with somber piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song “Candle In The Wind” and then “My Way” in a duet with Johan Birgersson, who later intoned the popular Italian song “Volare” after the family had gathered around the casket to lay flowers.
Beckham also visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach’s longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson’s agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After the funeral, the casket was carried out of the church by eight men to the hearse. The guests then walked in a procession accompanying the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” were planned on an outdoor stage. A brass band played during the procession through Torsby, including the tune “You never walk alone” from the musical “Carousel” which has become the anthem of Liverpool, the club Eriksson supported since childhood.
The local soccer club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
