[MUSIC] Yeah, that last homer attempt from Bobby Witch, Jr., you know? That was like, I was like, be trying to dunk in high school. Kind of close, but not really. Fan morning show, brand cutting, Daniele, Franceski, alongside me here. This thing is on the mic, just checking these things still work. The vocal cords, I put them to test on my trip in Alberta. Won't bore you people with the details there, but whoo, the right kind of, and let me stress that, the right kind of vacation can do a lot to recharge your man. I am feeling recharged on a, well, my Monday, but your Tuesday morning, Daniele, how have you been, buddy? I miss you. Gunner, you're chippered in anybody. Oh, the energy's high. I'm doing all right. Yeah, the energy's high. I play to a trillion rounds of golf and then other things. We'll leave that there, get part of that. Golf show coming with me a Mackey later today, maybe check that out there. But yeah, I am super recharged, super recharged. I'm happy to see you, buddy. Oh, thank you. I've likewise, I've been okay. You're refreshed. You look good. You sound great. You can tell the energy. There's a little, little extra pep in your step this morning. I'm also bitter because of what happened yesterday. Yes, yes. I am a little bit bitter. Okay. I'm not going to lie, man. The Derby. So I, you know, I text you, pull back the curtain of how the show works here. You know, every, every show, especially if it's a tandem and JD, he just like, this is, this is the edict of what we will talk about. But you know, you're working with people. You got to figure it out together. I text you guys in the morning yesterday. I actually don't know what time it was for you when I text you. It was morning for me. Okay. And I still don't know. But still out there. And I said, guys, I'm paying attention, but why don't why don't you take a little easy on gunner today and you guys set the agenda. You tell me what you want to talk about. I will be prepped. I'll be well versed, but, you know, let's leave my transition in here. And then I think you guys thought that was going to be the death of me because I was not responding to any of the messages you guys were sending. And then at, I don't know, 11 o'clock, whatever time that was last night, I said, no lead, the Derby gets back and the J's of course have to eat it as the, as a result of it. But before we get into the J's and you being sour, and I think a lot of people out there being, I just, this is where we are out with events like this. We do this all the time with the, oh man, how do we fix the dunk contest? How are we going to fix the home run derby? Maybe they should have a magic ball. Maybe they should have to bat left handed if they're right or flipping around the other way. And the thing with these events is they don't matter. So if you have a year or two years or three years or four years and you can mess around with the formats that are duds, okay, it's par for the course, but sometimes you get something like that and, you know, the night can drag on there are moments where it feels a little like, okay, let's keep this moving. Here, but you get a moment like that at the end and that's why these things are the best, like sports are about stakes, da, da, da, da, little teensy bit of it at the end. Cause when a guy's run away with the home run derby, it's like, all right, it's fun. I can watch this for 10 minutes for sure. But you love the competition and when these things deliver, it's just awesome. So that was the biggest kind of thing I was just thinking about aside from all the Teo stuff. Well, of all the all star related spectacles, these events that are staged every year, the two that routinely deliver. One is the home run derby. And number two is the three point contest in the NBA. I thought you were going to say the skills challenge. You really like watching center dribble around. I mean, the rest is just, it's gimmicky. Even the dunk contest, I mean, that was such a celebrated event for so many years. But now it's reached a point where it is heavily, heavily gimmicked. Like it's just not, it's not, it doesn't have the same allure. God. Okay. The creativity isn't there. Quickly on that. When did we go wrong? We jumped over the car or my actual thing for what started this is a great dunk at the time. Okay. Mine was Gerald Green blowing out the birthday candle when he sat it on top of there. It's like, and I thought that was great in and of itself in the moment. But that was the one we got guys like, Oh, we're doing props now. Ooh, that's an interesting one. Cause I want to be clear. I love that dunk and for those of you two young remember, it's like he, he put a literal cupcake on top of the rim on the back part and lit it with a match and then blew it out because he, his shoulders were at the rim and was absurd. But yeah, that's the one I actually that always kind of sticks out to me of like the first like, obviously, you know, like D Brown pumping up the shoes. We've been doing this forever. But yeah, I don't know. Like when did, when did it start? The one that really jumps out to me is Dwight Howard Superman, of course, because we commercialized that at that point, because Nate was after, right? Or was it vice versa? Man, that's a good question. I think it would have had to have been, right? Because I mean, he was Superman. You want to take him down and then the next jersey in the fall and all that. Yes. Absolutely right. It would have been half at least the thing with Nate Robinson was you could you could just appreciate his pure athleticism for a guy that's I so small, right? Like that was that was the joy. He could do the most routine of dunks. But the thing with him was at least you could appreciate it looks just how cool it was. Yeah. Dwight Howard when he pulled out, and I can't remember if that was what 2006 seven, whatever it was, yeah, mid 2000s and he pulls out the Superman cape and then he, it becomes his nickname and this is all now incorporated into his branding as a player. And it was the, it wasn't even a dunk. Yeah. He slapped it in the rim. He threw it in the rim. It's a volleyball spike. Yeah. Like, like so. And yet that was this, this iconic moment. And I think from that point forward, I don't want to say is the reason went downhill, but it started to go downhill from there because now it was all about, well, what props are you incorporating into your dunk? How are you going to make it more than just a, you know, creative finish at the rim? What are you going to do? What is the pomp and circumstance surrounding it? That's where I think it killed it. But to your point about even just in general, the derby delivers because there's, there's room for those moments of interaction between the players where there's that you can breathe for a second. Totally. So it adds to the entertainment value. If you're watching on television, if you're in the building, it must be even cooler because one of the things that you struggled to actually appreciate on TV at times is how far these things are actually going nukes, right? Because it cuts away so quickly to and they're, they're coming at you fast. That's hence why they've implemented the pitch limit so that there's less of that because in the last handful of years, all you were, you were seeing on the broadcast was, oh, oh, there's another, and you're like, where are all the baseballs going? And you were going to have 76 year old men getting Tommy John surgery because all these guys like bring out their dab to pitch to them. Might fly. I mean, like for Teoska, it was Dino Ibo who throws BP every day and he had a great line in the, in he, I love it how these BP pitchers do post game pressers after the Derby. So good. So he did a presser after the Derby and one of his lines, a quote that he had to the media was, I joke that my job is to get paid to get lit up in batting practice every day and I'm like, that is precisely what you're doing. And that is perfect. And so there's been there's a lot of guys in baseball. It's not explicitly state of this way, but they're getting paid a lot of money to get lit up in real games. Okay. But, okay, one other thing that stuck out to me and this is where maybe we can transition to the J stuff of it all is so you're right and to point out, and we had a little down into the conversation there that the dunk contest, like it's lost. It's luster. But one of the things that was so great about it, like again, we think of the, you know, like we'll stick to our vintage here, but you can go back to like the D Browns of it all. The one of them, one of the images that is just stuck in my brain, I can't remember what dunk contest it is, but it is Shaq with the camcorder there, and the players are so involved of it in it. And even the guys who are not in the dunk contest, you have the stars of the game. And that has been one of the kind of cool things of the Derby. And I don't, again, not to say that there hasn't been guys kind of stay on their hand and don't get ready, but it feels like the players are more understanding of like, hey, we can be a part of this too. And just having a guy like Vlad there again, like, you know, I'm getting very knife twisty for everyone here, but for everyone outside in baseball going, oh, this is awesome. This is great. I get to see a chance of Vlad's personality. And you know, these moments we've talked about with him, of him being the cover boy of the video game that comes out this year, all of these things, that was what jumped out to me is that when I think of the best versions of the best of these things when it's at its best is the dunk contest, like it would go back to like VC in its prime, or like Jason Preston's in, or whoa, okay, pick your nominee. If you're screaming out there, go, ah, do older. Okay. Like all those guys, what those do that moment is incredible, but the interplay between the stars was always such a big part of it as well. Totally. I think back to last year's event, which was obviously won by Vladimir Guru Jr. And one of the most viral moments to emerge from that Derby was Boba Shett standing with Juan Soto. Right. It was him and Vlad in the one of the rounds during a timeout and Vlad came over, they give him the Gatorade. Yeah. And right. And Soto says something to him in Spanish and Vlad goes and he's holding the mic and Bo goes, whatever he said, do whatever he said. And that's the most personality we've ever seen from Boba Shett in a Blue Jays uniform. So it was a nice way to just break up the regular, you know, day to day grind, the monotony of it all. You see a bit of that extra personality. I think they do it really well. I do think like yesterday, it did feel like it dragged out a little bit like it dragged on. Mind you, maybe that's part of the process of working out some tweaks here and there with how they change the format. But overall, like it is a really fun event and it captures your interest very nicely. It produces dramatic moments like think about how it ended, but even if you go through the entire process now of like, okay, who's going to make the cut? And then the semifinals are are compelling and competitive. And then there's drama to finish it. So I think they do a really good job of staging this event and the evolution of it, majorly baseball, they deserve a tip of the cap for that. You're allowed. You can tip it to whoever you want, but they deserve credit for that because they've done a good job with it. But yeah, of all the spectacle events, this is one that at least it doesn't get, it doesn't feel redundant ever. Yeah. Right? Like you can watch that same. It's the same thing, right? It's a ball being hit out of the ballpark. We can watch it. So hundreds of times in the span of three hours and yet you don't get tired of it, right? It feels, it still feels exciting up until the last swing, which is cool. And from baseball standpoint, I'm sure you guys did a bit of this last week kind of leading into it, but it's like, obviously you'd love to have had or tawny there. That is like the dream of dreams. But in terms of a final, again, if it's not going to be that, I think you have a guy in Hernandez who is a known commodity, but doesn't have a tent pole moment. And again, we'll talk to Jay's fans. They certainly can go pick their favorites. Sure. But for the casual baseball fan, again, like baseball is such a regional game. There's no huge moments that they go back and think of. This is the, this is going to be something that every single time we're hate watching Dodgers games in the playoffs this year, it's going to be like 2024, home run, championship championship. Oscar Hernandez here. And then from Bobby Whit Jr's perspective, you would have loved to have just, I mean, if it's him, if it's Henderson, if it's any of those young guys in the final, you're loving it, but for it to go to that moment, you get to have the little personality of him. Like waving it. No, please go. It just from a field standpoint, again, like we can all sit here and have our three or four guys who would have loved to have had in there instead potentially, but I thought they did a great. Well, they didn't do anything. It just happened to work out this way, but with Hernandez kind of having this kind of thing for fans to latch on to now again, outside of this market and which junior to kind of have the moment that they hope that we hope this ain't a micro situation where this guy is one of the best players in baseball, he plays one postseason series in his life and goes one for 15. So let's pray that that well, actually, I don't really care what happens with Bobby Whit Jr. But if you're majorly baseball, you certainly don't want that to be the case. I care. I'm a baseball fan. Okay. You care. Good for you. I mean, much less so that I have to be honest. I mean, and everyone's going to know why this is and it's tough. This market liking this guy as much as I do. Yeah. My boy. Gunner. Oh, I know. Yeah. I know. So it's tough. It's just. It's like. That was terrific. Awesome personality. Yeah. Yeah. Nailed the impression. Yeah. Sweet singing lefty. It's it's. That's an underrated component to all of this though, Gunner. I do like the fact that you you allude to the importance of having like in a way young players that you can just prop up on this on this pedestal, put them on this platform where they have the opportunity to now like we all know if you're following baseball, you know, they're good players, right? You know Gunner Henderson is a future star. They're arguably coming into it already. Same thing with with Bobby, which Jr., who is a star on the rise and and it's fun. But to put them in a position where they can now branch out to a bigger audience. It's weird. Like in in other sports, we don't think about the how how tribal and regional sport may be baseball is truly, truly that like you need to have those players be put in positions where they are now being exposed to a wider, larger audience. And that is vastly different to how every other sport really operates. Yeah. And so a moment like that is vital. It is important. And from some fans, they're like, oh, that's Bobby with, right? Like, you know, like you you hear about the player, but you don't really you and you think you know about the player to an extent. But now you see the athlete and you see what they're capable of, it is it is a big deal from a marketing standpoint, from a exposure standpoint, it helps to put those athletes in that position. And you know, it elevates like it like you said, it elevates a guy like Teoska Hernandez too. Like he obviously here in Toronto, there's history, right? And everybody was familiar. And even that's why yesterday he was, I think betting wise, let's say he was plus putting on where you're looking. Anyone from plus 1000 to plus 1200. Okay. Here in Toronto, we're like, that is a slam dunk that great value. Take it. Yeah. Yes, we just know about the history and the narrative surrounding the player, but for other people, especially those in the United States, doesn't mean as much to them. It's different. Yet here he is. And he gets a moment like that. And now as you as you precisely alluded to, when they introduce him and he steps into the box in a playoff game, it's going to be 2024 home run champion Teoska Hernandez. Yeah. There's something to that. It helps elevate your profile in your brand. And I think that's why you actually see players more players having an appetite to even do this. But there is an appetite for guys to do this. What's weird about this class is we didn't even know the entire field. It wasn't even confirmed until late last week essentially, which is a departure from years past. And what is, I think, what factored in there, it was the lack of not having a show, hey, not having a Vlad who were able to put their stamp of approval on the Derby and say, I'm participating. So it's a bunch of different guys that are fresh faces for the most part. You know, Peter lawns was probably the most notable of the guys that participated. But it is a big deal. It is a big deal. And it actually, the product last night was really fun considering out of all the guys there, you wouldn't point to any of them as like a mega star. It wasn't a show, hey, even flatty as much as we, we, we harp on some of the flaws that he has. He is a star. Oh, much for you. And people, there is a game recognition there. He's the son of a Hall of Famer. I'd say. So, you know, kudos to them. And it worked out beautifully for Major League Baseball with how that entire Derby unfoldment. Yeah, I really did. I'm just, I'm looking at future sites and I need a cooler backdrop, like, you know, no offense to a globe life field there. But, you know, I'm looking at it like truest park in Atlanta is coming up. Philly. Maybe that'll be fun. I know we just had those. I know we just had the Rockies a couple of years ago, but like, you know, also here, like if Toronto knows I am all or the 400 million wasn't enough. But it's like, give me, give me like, get, get at the PNC, get it out to San Fran again. But I don't know, before Gunnar Henderson's not entering these things, if you're going to go to San Fran, maybe go to it there. All right. Talked enough about the beautiful implications of the home run Derby. No, it's talking about the knife twisting ones. Absolutely. The season from hell continues. That should be what the show was just titled today, the season from hell continues. And I know they won the last game, but incredible, like talking about big moans from Vlad certainly saw it on Sunday there. But it really truly does feel like to a certain extent outside of Vlad, maybe everything that has gone or could go wrong, has gone wrong this year. And even a moment that in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter. Like we can sit here and talk about the Eric Swanson trade. We could sit here and talk about not going out and getting Tay Oscar this off season. Shouldn't matter anymore that he wins the home run Derby. Like the decisions you've made are locked in stone. And this does not affect anything one way or another. I don't think if anything, we've done this a million times where a guy wins the Derby or he has a performance there and then tanks the back half of the season. We've seen that a million times. But of course, of course, of course, it had to be a Blue Jays, I mean cast away for lack of a better term, not that they were given them away, but somebody who they felt needed to go or a player that needed to be traded away, having this big moment. It is just another kind of knife stab in a year that's been full of them 100%. I mean, if you can't tell me that, you know, Ross Atkins, Marc Shapiro and company were in there just being pleased, anybody but Tay Oscar, anybody, and they probably like the Oscar as a person. They're they for the oil will there, he's a great human being, but they're like, look at that smile. I'm mad at that guy. We can't escape this. We cannot escape the endless criticism of what happened and the fallout since the 2022 off season in which they traded to Oscar Hernandez. They traded Lordis, Goryell Jr. and Gabby Moreno and decided screw the offense. Yep. We're going the other way. Everybody's trying to find ways to improve their offense. We're zagging the opposite direction. We don't care. We're punting it and we're going to be a better defensive team. Now, mind you, the defense was better and is better. That being said, you know, hasn't exactly produced a more fruitful results overall. Um, this is sour. It's better because for at least for me, one reason, one reason only. I look at that and I couldn't help myself but think that should have been Tay Oscar Hernandez in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform. And there was no purpose really, no purpose and rhyme or reason for that guy not staying with this ball club, not being a member of the Toronto Blue Jays beyond 2022. That's what makes me really sour and it stings. Also, it's magnified by the fact that his old teammate, flatty Jr, is standing there on the field wearing a Blue Jays uniform, but not with his own name on the back with Tay Oscar Hernandez's name on the back really can't care where a 37 Blue Jays uniform with Hernandez across the back of the jersey. That was the ultimate knife twisting moment in that entire experience. So I was watching it. You know, as Tay Oscar is going through his first round and then they, they cut away and they have that little two box when they go to come when there's the timeout. And that's where we first saw it. So I'm looking like, wait, is that flat? I'm looking at, there's a seven, oh, oh, he's wearing a Tay Oscar jersey. Oh my goodness. And you could tell how much he misses them. Like he genuinely misses them, of course. And, and he still views him as one of his most trusted confidants as somebody that he can lean on, somebody that he values, who's opinion, he values, he's talked openly about it. Gunner, I had, there were quotes even shy, I had a great piece on sports and that dot see. Yeah, you have the quote there. Whoa. I have, I have a handful of quotes from Vlad. Here's one. Um, actually here is one from, let me read this Tay Oscar one as it relates to more pressing right now. Yeah. This was actually a really, really interesting quote that Tay Oscar provided about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And his, his season as a whole, he goes quote, sometimes as a player, not only Vlad, he tries to qualify it. When your head is not in the place that it's supposed to be, and you're not doing well on the field, it gets harder. You know, I think he get, he was getting a lot of pressure because of the situation that the team was going in that moment. He wasn't hitting good. And everybody was saying negative things about him. I got the chance to talk and just tell him that about the player that he is, the person that he is, and the things he can do for that organization. And what happened? He, that quote was from yesterday, but that visit with Vlady and Tay Oscar was from the end of April when the Dodgers came, we saw Vlad used Tay Oscars bats after that, that series concluded. And from that point forward, Vlad was a different hitter. Yeah. Why was it that the front off has got it so wrong in trying to evaluate or understand how important it is, frankly, to surround Vlad with people that he likes, people that are his friends, that he has that unique kinship with. Because to me, that is a massive oversight. So I think, I think the biggest issue with, like I agree mostly with what you're saying. And I'm not doing this just for the devil's advocate argument, but I think this is important to highlight out is that, you know, those guys obviously look at each other as peers. You know, I'm sure there are times, and I'm sure still, Vlad, he looks at him as a bit of a big brother type figure. But it's hard when the little brother is the chosen one and is supposed to be the leader. You say you want to get him surrounded by people he likes and people he's comfortable with 100% cannot have him surrounded by nothing but yes, men. And by no means would I say that that's T. Oscar Hernandez, but that's the fine line there is. And it didn't mean you had to get rid of T. Oscar Hernandez to find the right voice that was going to be around him. Okay. That is the part that needs to be hammered home in this. But I think that's the other part that the team and not to make everything about the least, but how many times have we done this where do you want the kids leading it? You'll want an older voice in there, do you want people the kids are comfortable with? And look where we are with that now, different sport, you play every day, you need the ups and downs. You know, hockey is those guys will talk about it. You need the brotherhood in the room and with baseball, talk to 20 different people. You got 20 different answers like how many times have you heard 27 guys, 27 caps, 27 championship rings for the games. Okay. Like it's a different sport in that way. And I think that that is where not that they didn't go wrong. This front office with a million different things in terms of putting this team together and building it. But that was the problem as well was that the thing they were focused on, it was so clear. They're never going to come out here and be like, we thought Lordis was too mature and we thought Tiosker smiled too much. Yeah. They're never going to come out and say that. Yeah. But that's what it was. Totally. 100% what it was. And, and, and most importantly, those are Vlad's best butts. Yes. And it doesn't mean that Vlad can't have guys on the team that he could yuck it up with and have Lordis making fruit cocktails at family when they're whooped the Red Sox by 20 runs. That stuff can still have a time and place. But when there was nothing else kind of in the orbit to pull it in a different direction. And, you know, again, I don't think any of this is Montoya's fault, but it's I really don't like, but you have a manager there who's like, Hey boys, bang in the bongo, clearly not the right. And then you bring in Schneider. He tries to take the other tact and, you know, John, John Schneider, maybe the best, he could have been the best manager in the world. But a guy who comes in with no track record and yeah, guess who he knows? All the kids. It's just the same thing that they're growing up with all along. And I don't say this to say that the Blue Jays have coddled these guys. I think it's the exact opposite. They traded away all his friends. You could have walked and she'd come at the same time, you know, think of all the players that were brought in to surround. Now it's easier when it's an older core with the 15 and 16 teams, but go out and get those type of guys and, you know, love with Maryfield. And maybe people will say, Oh yeah, okay, really easy to pick him. But look at that guy, lick his into his comments since we even the org. Now, the problem is, is that also that's supposed to be George Springer at the top of all this. Sure. That's supposed to be him. Now, is it his fault that he? I'm not going to put it all on him either. But that's the problem is you identified something that you thought was the issue and it appeared to be one hand up. I certainly said this team could stand to get a little more serious as well. But you over corrected in such a way and then you do it trading away talent and I mean, you throw in the Moreno stuff from last year and everything that happened there. It's just it is so incredibly frustrating to see the aftermath of what we kind of expected could have came. It felt like in the moment to a lesser degree, but certainly in hindsight, it feels like, you know, we look back at the 2022 off season, we reflect on what they did and how they pivoted the direction of their team, both philosophically and from a personnel standpoint. It felt like a massive over correction and over reaction to a playoff series loss against Seattle. That was a good team quality team, but they scored runs, right? The Blue Jays actually scored runs in that series. It just felt like they that that was really the only point that I can recall during this era in which there was a sense based on the moves made that perhaps the front office interpreted that there was pressure to do something different, right? Even last year, look at the team. We all we all said it. They need more offense. Yeah. Here are the holes. We could it's clear as they playing as they we can. It's simple. It's very obvious for everybody to see and yet they didn't address any of those issues. Right, so where there was more pressure for whatever reason, the year prior to make moves. If we remember this, and I'll leave you with this one on the Oscar, he is still responsible for the most recent home runs and Blue Jays playoff history is that I mean, I don't know. You mentioned the idea of the front office feeling pressure and look like obviously we don't need to constantly refer back to the pursuit of Shohei, but I think that the ability to pursue Shohei and quite frankly, the job that they did to get into the mix and you know, some people will say, Oh, it was always just leverage. I am a part of that camp that it was, but I also think that somebody had to be used for leverage and there was actual real true interest in in the J's there. But I think the idea of Otani, the shiny, Bob will being out there and going to chase after him for a long part of the off season that removed the pressure. It's not like he signed six weeks into the off season and you say, okay, because every two weeks you'd get a dripper drab, maybe I'm done eating well, maybe I don't know the evolution of that story was crazy. And I'm not even talking about the day of and the sushi restaurant, but just the little drips and drabs and everything to happen there, it quite frankly removed the pressure because at first, I think it started off like, okay, J's are super long shot here. You better go do something. You can't just sit around waiting on Otani to say no to your money all off season. As it went along, it seemed like there was more of a, because we got to the every team in baseball is going to make their picture, at least all the ones with money. And then, okay, here are the four or five kind of real suitors and they were always among that group and that removed the pressure. And I don't think the front office should have done or not done something just because they were feeling the pressure. But if there was that little poke to prod them into doing something, it didn't exist because Otani was out there. And then by the time it happened, I mean, I did this event the other day because it was when the Giants came to town, but it's all the guys that the Giants have that if the Blue Jays would have said, all right, you know, we are going to do something. We're going to bring back Matt Chapman. Would that have felt like a move that would have appeased anybody? Would it have changed? No, it would not. So I think that's the other part of it is that the pressure that they absolutely I think you're right. They acted as though they have more pressure two off seasons ago. They definitely had as much pressure this off season, but they had the pressure release valve of being able to say, hey, look, we were right there. You want Otani? Yeah, we were trying. Yeah. Yeah. You can't get mad at me for trying. And now we got ourselves into the dance. We were not even. We never mind being on the dance floor. We were we were right there right there in the mosh pit. We were we were within shouting distance of potentially landing the biggest free agent in the history of the sport, play a monopoly, get in second place at a beauty patch and that's what they were doing. Well, and you know, again, that's why I think there were two camps when it came to that whole discussion. One of people being ultra optimistic that they could convert on this and then people saying, okay, I can be I can be cautiously optimistic, but at the same time, we hear this every off season. And now we're going to even have a more cynical eye moving forward because we already had a cynical eye. And yet for whatever reason, we got duped, roped into it again and thinking, okay, this time is going to be different. And yet in the end, it wasn't. Now, as you put it, the release valve was there because to their credit up until the day he signed, there were really three teams that were thought to be in the running for. One was, of course, the Dodgers. Then it was the Jays and the angels who are still right there at the end in terms of potentially retaining him. Let's just show his nice though. That was a I looking back on it now. Show. Hey, clearly just couldn't look forever in the eye and say, yeah, not happen. Yeah. Yeah. They essentially treated him like a king over there. Oh, yeah. That was it. It's so different in the other side of LA. I'm sure in Dodger Blue, they're just there telling them, hey, get to work. Show. Hey, yeah. No, I think it's pretty much treated like a king wherever he's going. I think it's safe to say he made the right call, to be honest, because look at the team, right? Look at the difference in quality. I made this point. Jay is just bad away. No. Well, that's I made this point with Marques yesterday. We were chatting about the Derby a little bit and just the, you know, the Jays in the first half and all this and not, you know, talking about the expectations, what they were coming in versus where they sit now and how it's kind of evolved. And the point of Otani was, or even Soto, for that matter, they're not one of, one of those players away, like even if one of those guys had, let's say they traded for Soto or they signed Otani and you plop them into the lineup with the team look better. Yeah. Are they 10 wins better? Probably not. Like there's still so much work that needs to be done. There are so many holes on this team and on this roster. So as a result of that, I don't think naturally show him made the right call, honestly, because look at the team he's with. Look at the players that he's surrounded by and sure it would help Vlad and Bo and other pieces of this team and it would have made the offense look drastically different. But you know, the Jays are not there. That's the main point in all this when it comes to the, they're not there. And in the off season, even potentially last year, I think there were people who tried very hard to talk themselves into this team to, to fool themselves into believing that there is a pathway and that longer this has now started to drag out and prolong and linger, it's easy to see there are too many holes and there's a lot of work that needs to be done to get to the level that is required to be a team that doesn't just sneak in the back door of the playoffs. No, but can actually win, never mind a series, win a playoff game. Yeah. Let us to this Vladie quote from Shai's latest asked about the trade deadline quote. That's our team now. Okay. Before it's probably should have said this before I start, start, scratch that from the record. Anytime you're reading quote, you don't get to see the demeanor on a person's face how they talk. Things get lost in translation. So like let me preface it all with that. Having said that, this is incredibly damning. What I'm about to read to you quote from Vladimir Giro Jr quote. That's our team. That's the team we have. That's our team that we made. And that's all I can say about that. That's who we are. I control what I can control. Now I do think part of that is, Hey, I'm not like, this isn't the NBA, pal. Not marching up to Spyro's office. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I'm marching up to Atkins office saying, Hey, go get me some help around here. But that that's very damning. And I don't say that to be like, Oh, I think Vlad's on his way out. I don't think he wants to be here. But how can you not read that quote in conjunction with what you saw last night of a guy who to your point has had the last big Bob and Jay's post season history. This is Kevin Kermaya ratio for driving in the one run last year against the twins. But yeah, the last big Bob and Jay's post season history coming from Hernandez. How can I hear that quote from Vlad and see him yucking it up and missing his bud who by the way is on one of the best teams in baseball as well. How can you not see what he must be feeling in all this going from again? Sky wasn't here in 2015 and 16. Okay, like we're not sitting here talking about, Oh, he's part of this. Yeah. But he was here. Mark Assembly was on the team. He was here when they missed the playoffs by one game and it's he and that would have had everybody terrified if they got in. So that is the thing that I think you look at from that and I mean that again, go check out Chai's piece. You've for more kind of context around it, but that quote is pretty jarring. It is a drawing quote. Did it not look like he was having fun yesterday? I'd say like it looked like and I know it's a different environment altogether, but he looked happy. Yeah. I hate to say that, but he did. He looked happy in the company of people that, you know, he enjoys like like Teoska or like Soto, which we saw last year. He's got a natural, you know, kinship with Soto. For sure. And Tatise is another guy like he's he just looked like he was having fun now. You know, there were that quote there it is it feels like also a bit of a dig at the, you know, at the way the team was constructed, obviously, and that and for good reason, right? Like it's a flawed roster. Sure. He's probably well aware. He's looking. He's like, we're eight games under 500. The guy who's supposed to be my running mate. He's had a horrific season and then I'm sitting here and I'm still, I'm still catching arrows and trays, but I'm the only one doing anything and they're talking about, I'm not hitting for enough power. Yeah. I'm trying. I'm trying, but I'm the only guy in the lineup that is actually honestly, if you were an opposing team and you had to scout the J's lineup, now at this point of the season in 2024, literally the only guy you're circling is Vladimir Guruji three years ago, there would have been four or five guys that you had to circle. It's a drastically different looking team in 2021 when they missed the playoff by a game and they learned the valuable lesson of why you can never let any game slip away. Even if it's in April or May, because guess what? In the end, it might come back to bite you. Those are only worth a half. That's what I heard. That's apparently that's the case. That's why in the end it was, they missed it by still a few. Yeah, they still met either way. You look at it and it's like George Springer, obviously was at a different point in his career. There's a guy you're circling every day saying, okay, how do we approach the leadoff here? George, who's ultra aggressive Marcus Simeon, who had a career year was a monster, Vladi, Bo, Tae Oscar. That's five guys. We didn't even hit on Lourdes yet either, who's in the mix and you could say, yeah, Lourdes is a pretty darn good hitter himself. And now 2024, you're sitting there and in those scout meetings, they're probably like, all right, Ernie Clement, all due respect to him. He's having a nice fine season, but he doesn't strike fear into opposing pitchers the same way Vlad does and he's the only one on the roster that is doing that at this current point in time. And it just, it just gives me, it gives me reason for pause. Like I know in Shai's piece, he also referenced that there hadn't been any further material contract talks between the J's and Vlad for quite some time now. They had last engaged in the spring, I believe it was. So it's been a long time. I just, I don't know, man, it just, it feels like if the deals there, he would sign it. Like if it's the right deal and it aligns with both for both parties, it'll get done. But he's not going to bend over backwards to help make this happen. And a few years ago, it felt like he was destined to wear that uniform for a very, very long time. And now given the way the teams played, given how the evolution, how the roster, the roster construction has evolved, it feels like we're in a position where there's a lot more uncertainty surrounding that. And as time passes, it's less and less of a sure thing that he is going to factor into this, this future, the future of this team moving forward. Yeah. And I think the, this is a bigger topic. Maybe we'll get into it after seven, maybe we'll save it for later this week. But the idea of that is what a pivot that would be to go from two off seasons ago to who to hey, we got to get more serious. We have to make a culture that maybe isn't completely set by this guy to working them all the money in the world. And that right there means he's your culture, et cetera. I'm not saying that's a good thing. I'm not saying it's a bad, I'm not, well, I shouldn't say it's not a good thing, but I don't think it's necessarily damning either. But that is a massive, massive 180 in the way you're going about your business. All right. I had a couple of observations, sports related, don't worry. I'm not just going to be like, oh, I saw a nice mountain while I was in Alberta. One Jay's, one leaf's related, I'll tell you what they were when we come back on the other side. Fan morning show here on Sportsnet five and nine of the fan covering the blue jays from an analytical perspective, Jay's talk plus with Blake Murphy, be sure to subscribe and download Jay's talk on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, thank you. Thank you Josh Santos. Thank you for that. It's a nice welcome. Let's see all your faces. Normally I don't go in to there, I don't know, a little cave of darkness and technology back there as party and say it was rang and I made just sure to pop in and miss their faces. Miss you guys miss everyone out there listening. Thanks for tuning in fan morning show. Danielle, I trying to distract me with hot soccer, cold june news, maybe we'll have to touch on that. All right. But got to pay off my teas here, yes, sir, having bad work habits on my first show back got a good work habits on the first show back. And then like everyone else, as they get farther and farther away from the last vacation, it's like slowly devolved back into needing a vacation mode. But today I'll be a pro couple of things I noticed on my trip to Alberta. Now again, like beautiful time out there, McKeon out talking about it. We'll do a golf show later and, you know, we'll talk about like actual golf, like Bob McIntyre, when it's got to open open championship this week, well, journals on our travel travels as well there. But there are two things that stuck out to me. We'll start with Jay's because you're just talking them there and then one other leaves one. They always say there's the worst thing you can have in terms of a fan base or people who care about you is not anger. It's not hatred. It's not anything like that. It's apathy. When people just flat out, do not care. And I have certainly gotten a sense in this market, you know, just being in the GTA talking to people. There has been a sense of apathy this year. There has been anger from the people who care the most and they will always be angry and they will never stop caring. But for the casual people, like again, like talking to my buds who are, they're watching chase and locked and loaded for nine innings every single night. There just seems to be a, yeah, whole hummus about it. And you know, maybe a little bit of this is self-selected because you get talk and people find out, you know, it's not like I'm just like, Oh, yeah, what's the morning show? But, you know, get talking, people ask what you do. And this was a comment I must have heard 20 times. When are you in Toronto going to fix my blue days? So I think that was heartening to hear was that I, and you know, we talk about what runs mean to franchises, right? And different runs mean different things, even runs that accomplish more, maybe mean slightly differently. That 2019 Raptors run a crystallized fandom for a lot of people and kind of lit a spark for others. But I dare say that 15 and 16 runs by the Blue Jays in terms of waking the sleeping giant that kind of was Jay's nation and again, not the people stopped caring completely. But when the whole thing you cared about was meaningful September baseball was hard to get chacked up for and now they've had a taste and the people need it back. And that was just so, I shouldn't say heartwarming to me because it's awful. These people are so upset. I'm out there with you. I got to talk about it every day. I wish the team was better as well. But that was the thing that jumped out to me. I really did feel here in Toronto in the GTA in Ontario, whatever there has been that little bit of apathy kind of creeping in and it's not complete apathy. It's not I'll never care again. It's not. Oh, I'm done. I think that's the other part of it. Right? They didn't, you know, they didn't make, they have made bad trades that people don't like. But Gabriel Moreno, it seems like, and you know, he has a long way to prove me wrong. It doesn't maybe look like he's going to win 13 nationally MVPs. So they haven't had a trade yet. The has people say, I'm done. I'm done. There are trades that have made people mad. They're not been re-signing guys. But there hasn't been the like, you know, Mookie Betts trade and Boston or something to that. Sure. So the apathy is not there. And I think that is again, from a Jay's perspective, got to be the kind of most interesting thing to me because it was so jarring how apathetic people can at times feel here about this version of this team right now versus how I felt when I kind of stepped outside the bubble a little bit. Interesting observation because apathy, I would agree wholeheartedly. It's the worst, worst sort of attribute that a fan can ever possess or feel as it pertains to a team. Once that happens and it sets in, it's difficult to undo that and then, and now you're spiraling down a negative rabbit hole and who knows where it ends. I wonder, as you were mentioning, sort of, you know, from my standpoint, I find that reassuring a little bit. For sure. Because it at least drives home the fact that there are people who are so devoted to this franchise and to this team that they desperately want to see it get back to the level that it deserves to be at. For sure. Quite frankly. The second thing is I do wonder actually, does the fact that they're so distanced from all of this? Yeah. I don't not appreciate but admire or have an affinity for the team, enhance their affinity for the team in some meaningful way because they feel like, man, these guys take it for granted out there, maybe. Now, I would do anything to be able to go to the ballpark on a Tuesday night and we can't do that. Well, you know what, that is actually a really interesting point because at, you know, this point didn't come up, but just, you know, talking people prior times and just knowing how my own travels work, some people will wait until the season goes and, you know, let's say you live out in Calgary, live out Edmonton, you live out in, oh, if you're BC, you're going to the Mariners. Yeah, you're talking about here. But, you know, you live in Winnipeg, whatever, pick your spots. Okay. Say, I'm a Jase fan. I want to make the pilgrimage to Toronto for, for some people, hey, finances are different for everybody. That's a decision. They could say, yeah, teams red hot, yanks are in town. I'm flying in. Let's go. But for most people, the way that works is like, you know, hey, let's sketch out vacations for the year. And it's planted out. And guess what? They can't wait and to find out and to June if the team's any good. Correct. So I think there is an element to that of like, I'm not taking it for granted. I'm going to come in for my once every three year trip to see the Jase or once in my lifetime or whatever it is. So I thought that was interesting as well. The other point that I just had to that stuck out to me was getting to watch the afterglow of a finals run. So I spent a lot of time, first couple of days of the trip in Edmonton, rest of the weekend, a kind of smaller town, kind of between Edmonton and Calgary, closer to Edmonton, though, very much oil country. And it was just amazing talking to people. And again, like you're talking to people who are in different stations of life. I was talking to a guy who said, I went to every home game and it's like, he just looked physically tired. He looked like McDavid after the end of it, right? And then you're talking to people who, man, it was the thing that got my kid really into it. Like he's eight, nine. And you know, always like, okay, oilers game and so on. But then when it becomes this thing and to just see what that was like, to talk to people in the afterglow of it, it was so God, it made me wishful for something that we'll never get to see here in Toronto, let's be honest, I mean, I know who I am here. But the optimistic. I'm on vacation. I'm not coming back and changing my own completely, though, being optimistic. Come on. Okay. Settle down. Okay. But it was just so heartening to hear all of these different stories again from people who were talking about, oh, we have people over here every night. We had to switch it up. We, oh, we, we one time watched in this spot. Now we're there forever for the rest of the run until they lost again. And the other thing that jumped out to me was just how proud they were of that team. And I'm sure in the absolute immediate moment and today of their conversations, rip and dry saddle for doing what he did, of course they did. But in the aftermath, there was no, oh, but, but Bushard didn't gap up his manner. No, there's still flags flying all over the city. I saw a car flag still. And it was just so interesting to see the afterglow of that because now this is mostly tongue and cheek, but kind of not. It's like, in Toronto, we would still be complaining about the way they lost. Like there would be people who would be proud, be proud. But you know, I look at it. I'm walking, I'm walking into the airport and there's a hotel there. And like you've all seen the big hotels in cities. They got Canadian flag or the, they'll be the upper of the flag, whatever. Maybe they had some other flags up regarding our prime minister. We'll just leave those alone. Okay. Hey, you know, hey, different breed out there. Okay. I loved all the people I met. But I think people as Donald Trump would say, okay, that one, I'm leaving alone. But what I look at is all those flags are gone. Just oil. Oil is still. And do I think there would be establishments in Toronto that would be super proud of the lease, of course. But I also think there'd be a lot to go. Yeah, they lost. All right. Put all the regular flags back up. It's another day of business. And part of that's being the biggest city in the country. And sorry, guys. I'm a center of it all. Part of it is that, but also part of it is how jaded we've become with this team because they've never given us something even close to that. The Oilers made their baby steps. The Oilers had their conference final. The Oilers have the best player in the world in Conor and David, and that certainly helps the part of this as well. But that was the thing that that jumped out to me that I couldn't help but notice was just the pride that they had. And I'm sure people are sitting there listening going, Oh, yeah, what a shock. They made it to the cup final and they're proud of their team. But there wasn't any of the jadedness that I know would exist here. We wouldn't be talking about, Oh my God, what a run from Bobby McMahon, who probably would have had to have been great if they would have done this, right? We wouldn't be talking about that. We'd be talking about if it was me, I'm just being honest about who I am, the terrible call West McCauley made against the Leafs that would cost them. Or we'd be talking about Morgan, Miami not being able to gap somebody up or blank, not covering his man or, you know, Max Domi, having his defensive, whatever, whatever the thing, the goal tending, what a pick your poison. We've complained about it all over the years. There would have been so much more of that I feel like, and hey, feel free to prove me wrong. People of Toronto and we can only do that if the leaf proved the wrong, but it was just another thing that really kind of jumped out to me. I really like that. I do like that. I think, I think, you know, I did a little, little, little, little, I was going to flex a little of the creative muscle. There we go. You're like observing things and trying to come up with takes and opinions and observations. I have a couple of friends that moved, not fairly recently, actually amidst the playoff run for the inventory from Toronto out to Edmonton, and that is now where they make their permanent residence. And what's funny is they were stunned by the way in which the city and the all surrounding community rallied around that hockey team. Because, you know, again, these are people that had lived in Toronto their entire lives. They saw the Raptors win a championship and how that was sort of perceived and the excitement that was generated by that team as well. Obviously, a lesser scale compared to what the Leafs would be. No question about it, but that is the only thing we really have as a comparison. Yes, it is. And sorry. It was obviously that was tenfold compared to whatever we would have experienced here. And to the speaking to the afterglow of it all, you can, like the remnants of that are still being felt there. I still get that feedback every so often. And I have asked, because I had some wild stories being told to me about what it was like, all those games were happening. But it is interesting. I do feel it would be different here. There's no doubt about it. And I don't know if that speaks to us, the overall cynicism that we have here as sports fans in this city. How dare you people. I would never. I just, I don't know, it's tricky to pinpoint what the reasoning is there, but it is a very interesting observation. And I am in agreement with you that it would feel different and it would be a different experience. Like, unless they actually win it. Yes. Oh, falling short, even in a game, I bet you game seven would feel even worse than losing a five. That would be the worst. There would be, you would, you would have a hundred percent of the population, I would rather just got our team kicked in three games. You know what? First round would have been fine with me. I would have rather heard about respect in the handshake line after game four instead of having to go through the pain and agony of a game seven. When you're so close and you feel like people are having the champagne on ice ready to pop the bottle. Yeah, that would, but that would, that would be our, our narrative discourse. It would be catered in that direction, skewed in that direction, as opposed to what you experienced in Edmonton, where it's more of like universal happiness and pride about what their team accomplished and the fact that I'm sure deep down, they're also thinking, yeah, we can be optimistic because there's still some, like we still don't know. We don't feel really good about our hockey team and what they're capable of. And in Toronto, even if the Leafs ever got to the Cup final, even if their team was great, I think it would take a heck of a lot for us to go and turn the page and say, well, no, you know what? It's okay because next year or two, they might, they're going to get it. We have no confidence that that's actually going to happen. And Edmonton, it probably is different. Heck, they've won. They had the most illustrious celebrated iconic run of a franchise when they laid claim to Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier and all these guys, they can always look back and reflect and say, we've had that now, at least, and we know what it feels like to some extent. Here in Toronto, not the case. Yeah, no, it's not. And I think you see the other part of it there. There are people there who remember what it was like to watch a winner and hey, like people love Gilmour and people love Clark, they love those teams, but it's, you know, it's not the same. It's not the same. I know I gotta go. Can I read this text quickly? Peter, Peter in a parking lot. Okay, this is location in a parking lot. It's called winning. This isn't, this isn't a new phenomenon. Hasn't been witnessed in Toronto for over 60 years, Toronto would quote, unquote, come together and rally around our team. Yeah. Well, well, the thing is going on. And then the second the horn went, if it was not Victoria's fashion, immediate complaining. Like, we're just like, I'm being honest. I'm being honest. All right. A lot more to get into today, including what does it mean to be a coach? You know, I hope all of you are lucky enough to have somebody like, you know, I have Jeff as a party in my life to shepherd me through these mornings. My wonderful producer and Canada's men's soccer team has Jesse Marsh. And now the Leafs have Craig Barouba. What can you get out of a coach? Now different is a niche sport. We'll dive into that on the fan morning show, Sportsnet 5.9 of the fan. [MUSIC]
