Looks like Toronto is going all in
OH MY GOSH SHUM LOK AT YOUR JAYS GO!
Rays heating up as well ....
come on RAYS STAY HOT!
THIS IS IT!
MAKE NO MISTAKE WHO YOU ARE!
It's very exciting to see what's been going on the last couple of weeks. The funny part was, prior to the trades, I'd read message boards where people (idiots who don't know baseball in my opinion) were calling for the GM (Alex Anthopoulos) to be fired. All he's done is rebuild the franchise from scratch. He was able to trade a very bad contract (Vernon Wells - 4 years, $86 million left) to the Los Angeles Angels, which allowed him payroll flexibility to begin the rebuild sooner.
All he's done is exactly that. A lot of passive observers look at these recent trades (Price and Tulowitzki especially) and say "it's about time", but that's simply not the case. The reason he was even able to make these trades is because he spent all the time prior to that positioning himself to even be able to make those trades. How? Simply by stockpiling prospects. The great teams are able to do that and use those as bargaining chips to acquire "ready now" talent to help them contend for championships.
PLUS (a BIG plus), he was able to do that without having to trade his three best current home grown players (Marcus Stroman, Roberto Osuna, and Aaron Sanchez). Ryan Goins has been great for them in the field, and he's contributed some offensively. With the offense the Jays have now, I'll take a second baseman with his range and glove and steady
hands that will hit .230 because he makes up for his light bat with his defense. He's probably the best defensive second baseman the Jays have had since Roberto Alomar, though Alomar also was great offensively.
The trade for Donaldson with Oakland was a HUGE steal in my opinion, and signing Russell Martin has paid off really handsomely. The pitching has righted itself quite nicely and with today's win over the Athletics, that's 11 wins in a row, and 13 out of 14. The Yankees are currently beating Cleveland, so it looks like their lead will remain a half game.
Perfect timing for a big series in Toronto against the Yankees. It's unrealistic to expect the Jays to sweep the Yankees again, but a series win will suit them just fine.
It's been 22 years since Jays fans have had this much to cheer about, and I'm going to enjoy it.
PS - Whoever said Joe Buck sucks, I disagree. He's a great play by play guy, and in TWO sports (NFL and MLB). My favourite recent call was when Travis Ishikawa hit a walk-off home run to advance the Giants to the World Series. His "The GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT" was perfect, and paid homage to a great Hall of Fame announcer from long ago, Russ Hodges, with the New York Giants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uogT8X26-ko
