Let's pick it up Max

Drafted in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft, Toronto Blue Jays catching prospect had a memorable fairly memorable debut season in professional baseball. Unfortunately, he’s now got a pair of shoulder surgeries to show for it.

 

This is a tremendous blow to a minor league catching depth chart that has seen its share of hits in recent seasons. After trading Travis d'Arnaud (which I’m still not pleased about) to the New York Mets prior to 2013, the Blue Jays have watched J.P. Arencibia devolve and then get non-tendered. Let’s be honest we all saw that one coming; the man was a strike out machine. Which is not a good thing if you are not a pitcher. Meanwhile, the heir-apparent A.J. Jimenez has struggled to stay healthy, recovering slowly from Tommy John surgery in 2012.

 

Needless to say, the Blue Jays were counting heavily on a quick ascension for Max, who the team drafted with the 11th pick of the 2014 draft (two picks after Jeff Hoffman). Pentecost rewarded that high-draft slot with a .324/.330/.419 slash-line across 25-games between the Gulf League Blue Jays and Short-A Vancouver.

 

Let’s give him a couple seasons to recover because we do have Russell Martin who is slotted to be freaking awesome. Max could be a Cinderella story but only time will tell.

-Ace

Bye Bye Dustin

Around these parts, there was some internal hope that the Toronto Blue Jays would find a way to bring back free agent reliever Dustin McGowan. Unfortunately, it appears the book has closed on that hope with news that McGowan appears to be close to signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 32-year-old McGowan has spent his entire career in a Blue Jays uniform before the team declined their option for the 2015 season. The right-hander is coming off of a career-high 53 appearances, including 8 starts, but put together a lackluster 4.16 ERA and 5.02 FIP while watching his strike-outs fall by nearly 3 per nine innings pitched (6.7 in 2014).

Needless to say, Dustin McGowan isn’t likely to slide into the closer role in Los Angeles, even if only for one month, and he certainly isn’t going to make the Dodgers forget about Kenley Jansen for that month (44 saves, 2.76 ERA, 1.61 FIP, 13.9 K/9 last season). However, McGowan did pitch much better when he shifted back to the bullpen last season, posting a 3.35 ERA and watching his strike-outs climb from a pedestrian 5.8 K/9 as a starter to 7.5 as a reliever. Additionally, McGowan held hitters to a mediocre .205/.276/.321 slash-line during high-leverage situations in 2014.

I’m hoping there will be more people upset to see McGee out of the blue and white of Toronto.

-Ace

Introducing The Most Awesome Prospect We Have Ever Had.

The Blue Jays pitching prospect is not homeless,  as he assuredly has a home. It’s a mustard, 1978 Westfalia Volkswagen van, and for the 21-year-old, it affords all the adventure an off-season can offer.

Norris chronicles much of his travels on Twitter, where followers are given equal doses of his passion for baseball and wanderlust.

On the field, Norris, who debuted in the big leagues in September, is competing to crack Toronto’s starting five. But off of it, he’s that high-schooler who reads Kerouac and decides to uproot his life but actually goes through with it

The luxuries that the van nicknamed Shaggy  confer are non-traditional. But for someone who’s toiled in the minors since 2012, the spartan lifestyle seems to match the job description. Minor leaguers constantly shuffle from system to system. So why wouldn't he live through this awesome van. As a love of the outdoors runs his family, the left-handed pitcher from Johnson City, Tennessee spends his time camping in mountains and driving on the open road when he is not playing baseball

This season its been confirmed that Daniel will crack the 40 man roster after his stunning performance last September. Whether he starts in the bullpen or in the Starting 5 , Daniel Norris will be a nice down to earth pitcher who can stabilize the team.

-Ace

The force will be strong with the Buffalo Bisons on July 18

A long time ago, in a upper New York city, far, far away….

Star Wars night has become a popular trend across sports, as many teams have a dedicated night to the Jedi and Sith. The latest team to have a Star Wars night is the Buffalo Bisons, the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate.

The minor leagues in baseball have been a place for teams to experiment with wacky uniforms and logos, such as having a chihuahua on hats or a bacon strips on hats and uniforms.

Now, the Bisons will be next in line with their “Jedi Robe Jerseys,” which will be worn on July 18.The jerseys look exactly like a Jedi robe with brown up the sides and the sleeve, making it appear as if there is a robe over the jersey.

The jerseys also have a lightsaber embroidered on to make it appear that jerseys come with one. On the top right portion of the jersey is a death star with the Bison swinging a lightsaber over it.

Star Wars night has already been done several times, but the Bisons are taking it to the next step with their jerseys for Star Wars night.

One of the greatest things about minor league baseball is their promotions, and this is one of the better ones.

James Shields??????

Besides Max Scherzer and Jon Lester this offseason there has been no other pitcher more talked about then that of James Shields.

The reason behind the hype for this guy is simple. He's a proven workhorse type of pitcher. Sure he's not the same quality ace pitcher like he was in Tampa Bay, but man this guy was solid in the regular season last year going 14-8 on a surprising team like the Royals.

The Blue Jays front office staff have been very quite on their stance on James. The reason he is not signed by any big team yet is quite simply his age. He is unfortunately on the wrong side of 30.

It was reported that James is seeking a 5 year deal north of the $100 million mark. This guy has to come back down to earth. Yes he is a good pitcher, However he isn't in his 20's anymore. No team is going to take that kind of financial risk on a player who may just have seen his best years behind him. Perfect example R.A Dickey......anyone see where I'm going with that.

Now it's unclear if the Blue Jays have any money left to spend this offseason, but if they do they should definitely offer this guy a deal. Putting Shields in the lineup not only gives the Blue Jays a solid rotation but it also provides us with bullpen relief. The Blue Jays have the issue where all starters not named Buehlre seem to only last 6 innings. Shields has had over 33 completed games in his career and could possibly do another 7.

One thing is for sure though if the Jays have any hope to compete this year they need more arms like this guy in there club.

-Ace