NFL
By: Greg Rector
Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins had his post-season press conference on the Saturday of a long weekend as Monday is Thanksgiving Day up here in Canada. This was an obvious attempt by Atkins to not take as much heat as he so richly deserved.
Three Players Who Won’t Be Toronto Blue Jays
Matt Chapman will take his strikeouts to another roster in the 2024 MLB season. As great as he is defensively at the hot corner his money demands will see him playing third base in another city. Two left-handed hitters will also no longer be Toronto Blue Jays which means so long to Brandon Belt and Kevin Kermaier.
Chapman as a hitter struggled his two full seasons as the third baseman and his strikeouts were abysmal to watch.
Those were the three players that Ross Atkins said would not return for the 2024 MLB season.
John Schneider
Schneider will return as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays much to the chagrin of many fans of the ball club. To those fans, I say this. He can’t take the swings at the plate and he can only put out the roster out on the field that he’s been given by Ross Atkins.
Schneider isn’t the guy who decided that Jose Berrios needed to be pulled against the Minnesota Twins. It’s an analytics decision that came from the scouting department and from GM Ross Atkins. When analytics are used to decide who stays in the pitching position rather than go with your gut you see the results.
John Schneider is a really good major league manager so get off his back so-called fans. Once again he doesn’t take any swings at the plate and when you don’t have Danny Jansen available at catcher you’re stuck with Alejandro Kirk and his limited ability to run.
We also saw him use Cavin Biggio as a jack of all trades and he certainly used Davis Schneider very nicely as well.
I have no idea where Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s head is in most games and that’s something that John Schneider must also figure out.
The Pitching Staff
The strength of the Toronto Blue Jays was indeed their pitching staff and they will all return as well except for Hyun Jin Ryu who could still re-sign back with the Blue Jays. Alec Manoah had an injection in his throwing shoulder and who knows what he ends up doing in 2024. If they get Manoah back to form at age 25 next season he could still be a hugely effective pitcher.
Rogers Center
The rest of the renovations to Rogers Center will take place starting right now. It’s the area behind the plate that is getting remodeled this season. It means there will end up being a smaller foul ball area as far as the style of play goes. As for the remodel from the last season, the new dimensions weren’t effective for the Toronto Blue Jays hitters. When you led the MLB in home runs two seasons ago and were seventh in the 2022 season the Toronto Blue Jays fell to 18th in MLB.
That’s the biggest job for Ross Atkins and John Schneider in this off-season. Figure out how to get the ball over the fence more often and find a way to get the hitters to continue innings where they send runners in scoring positions home far more often in the 2024 MLB season.
As always you can find me on X @GregCowboys
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