[MUSIC] >> Fan Morning, Salesforce, F5.9, the fan band, and a Sam McKee. In case you missed it, breaking news, unimaginable tragedy out of the National Hockey League. It's Columbus Bluejacket star, Johnny Goudrona's brother Matthew dying today. Johnny Goudrona at the age of 31 years, it's a horrible, horrible story. We don't have any details. Finalized and firmed up as to what exactly happened. But the hockey community obviously coming together on a horrible day like this. And yeah, we're going to see if we can get somebody on later on this hour. But this is clearly something that's going to occupy people's minds throughout the day, throughout the weekend. >> Throughout this, I mean, you think about what the season is going to look like, right? And every stop for the Columbus Bluejacket, it's just going to be a new, another sort of remembrance like this season for the Bluejacket, it's just going to be a really tough one and all the tributes in the first game. And you think about the family. >> My God. >> I said it when it first talked about around 7.40, I'll say it again. I just can't imagine the fan, there's never ever the same. You can time moves on, you can try to heal, you can try to mourn and do whatever you want to do. But there's just no way that anyone's ever the same person after today. And that's really heartbreaking for the good girl family. I just, my heart and thoughts and I, you know, whatever it is, I just can't imagine. >> Yeah, young father. >> It's sickening, sickening. >> Yeah, just picked up roots and made a home in Ohio. And at 31 years old to have life tragically. >> It's terrible, snuffed out is horrifying, horrifying, horrifying. Anyways, yeah, again, there's no eloquent way to segue out of this. But yeah, we are, I really hope they can find some peace at some point in their life with this and it may, they may never, but it's just, it's, yeah. >> No, it's, it's beyond horrifying. All right, well, again, no elegant way to transfer our conversation from Johnny Goode wrote to the Toronto Blue Jays who continue their road trip. They're in Minnesota tonight to play the twins in a three game series. And Minnesota is one of those places just like Seattle where there's so many Canadians that cross the border. And unlike Seattle where it's like, you know, there's a lot of Vancouver rights and a lot of people from like one of the biggest cities. >> But I mean people, you mean? >> That's rude. >> The people in Vancouver are mean? >> Yeah, maybe to you. >> What do you think I know? I've pandered all year on the National Hour and Kipper and Born. >> I love the Canucks, but I would say like, yeah, okay, I have, listen, I love the people of BC and all the Canadians that travel to the Mariners games and go see the Blue Jays. But these are the real, the prairie folk coming across the border from Manitoba. >> Yeah. >> Okay? >> It's a scatuan. >> Real heart and soul Canadians. >> Yeah. >> Unlike those meanies from Vancouver. >> Yeah, so shout out to them who get to watch the Blue Jays in Minnesota twins in three games as, you know, they renew hostilities after last year's two game wild card series. I say that, honestly, did you think once about that, what in talking about this series? >> No, I've completely put that out of my mind that that ever happened. >> So, yeah, because it almost, like they, from an offensive perspective, it basically didn't happen. They scored one run over the two games. >> How did they score the run again? >> It was, Brent keeps quizzing me on that and we eventually remember what it was, it was a Kevin Kiermeyer, RBI. But yeah, no, they obviously famously did not score when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was standing on second base. >> Right. >> And Boba Shett was at the plate because- >> You got picked off. >> You got picked off. >> My head exploded. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Along with many others. All right, let's talk to Jeff Blair of Blair and Barker who joins the line right now. Hey Jeff, how's it going? >> Morning guys there. >> Are you? Good enough. >> All right. >> So, this Bowdoin Francis thing, this is obviously somebody who's going to be in the rotation barring something unforeseen next season. I mean, are we at the point now where we can't discount the possibility that he's like a front of the rotation guy? I know it's a small sample, but it's extended to a month and, you know, there's some, there's some angels in there, but there's also some Orioles and some Red Sox. Yeah, I'd hold off on the front of the rotation thing until I see him, the rest of the year. There is, there are a couple of angels and a couple of cubs in there, so. But you know, look, if nothing else, I think what he has done is he's, he's set the Blue J's up for an off season where, you know, even with Bassett, Gossman, and, and burrios, having Francis along with Jake Bloss, who I presume we'll see at some point, you know, gives them a little bit of wiggle room with the Ariel Rodriguez, first of all. It means that he doesn't necessarily have to go into the rotation, although I would certainly think that J's, you know, would consider it a disappointment if he doesn't. But the other thing it does is I think at least it puts on the table the possibility of using Gossman or perhaps Bassett in a trade as they get to the end of their contract. So, you know, considering where this organization was, what, two months ago with their top pitching prospects all hurt, and Alec Manoa, you know, who knows what's going to happen with him, it's kind of remarkable to wake up and find, find out that the Blue J's thanks to Bowdo and Francis actually, you know, do have some depth and in some ways may be better positioned in terms of their starting rotation than they've been, you know, for a couple of years, if Jake Bloss is what everybody thinks he is. Yeah, it's interesting you mentioned the Gossman and Bassett thing there as potential trade pieces. I guess what they've done over the second half of the season, they look a lot more tantalizing to other teams than they had, you know, at the start of the year, right? Yeah, and I mean, you're not, it's not like you're inheriting guys with six years left in the contracts or anything like that. And, I mean, let's be clear, I understand it might seem a little counterintuitive to say, all right, the one thing you really do seem certain about this team is the starting rotation, why would you take away from that? I mean, you've got a lot of heavy lifting to do and, you know, I don't think the Blue J's will be able to do that simply by going out and signing free agents. You know, I think it's more likely that they will have to make a pretty significant trade to address their concerns. And again, let's be clear, they've got a lot of concerns. Yeah. Yeah, offensively, they have a lot of concerns. They really need to add at least two significant bats into that lineup. I mean, in talking about using avenues other than free agency, of course, like the Boboshette potential trade this offseason looms large over everything as he's, I guess, days away from starting a rehab assignment and then getting in major league games in September here. Where is Bo's value in trade just being a year away from free agency, having the year that he had before he got injured and does his performance when he returns have any impact on how he's viewed around major league baseball. I mean, I, you know, I think the only thing it will do is it will show people that the calf injury isn't a concern. And that's the first thing people are going to be concerned about because those, those injuries aren't, those aren't good for hitters. They're especially not good for for hitters with the type of leg kick Bo has. I mean, it was a calf, it was a calf injury that basically unwound Josh Donaldson's career. That's why I know. Thank you. Donaldson. Yeah. They're not similar hitters. You know, they obviously, they're different sizes, Josh is taller and a little heavy or all that stuff. But I think that's what a, just a couple of weeks of seeing Bo run around, make a couple of diving plays, maybe try to, you know, stretch, stretch and single into a double things like that might answer some questions. But you know, the thing with Bo is he's, he's a fragrant at a relatively young age. And yes, he's had this down year. You know, you could probably say that actually going back till last August, he really hasn't been the guy that we normally saw, but he's still got a ton of hits. Like he's still a guy who's led the league and hits a couple of years. Again, he's not old, he's an okay shortstop, he's not going to kill you defensively. And I think the assumption all along with Bo is that if somebody does sign him to a long term contract, you know, he would be more amenable to shifting positions if that's what somebody wants. If somebody wants him to go to second base or whatever, he would be, I think, amenable to doing that provided it was on a, on a long term contract. So, you know, if you get Bo next year, you've got sole negotiating rights to him for a year, basically, if you're another team. So, you know, it's funny because I honestly don't have any idea what this front office thinks it's going to do in the off season. You know, like, as Barker said, I mean, they could trade Bo, they could not trade Bo or Vlady, they could sign Vlady, I mean, the only thing that I think is off the table is seeing them sign Bo to a long term contract. I think kind of everybody just assumes that Bo is about to move on. But I just, I don't know the scenario and I don't know what the intentions of this front office are because they are making noises, you know, that they want to run it back next year and running it back would, to me, suggest that Boba Shet's very much part of your team. So, I think everybody is now of the opinion that Boba Shet is not going to be a Toronto Bluejay beyond next season, if he makes it to opening day, next season. I mean, what is the precipitating factor there? If it's on Boba Shet's part, right? Because we've seen a couple of different reports that Bo is like, yeah, I'm not going to be there anymore. Seems to me that the organization has acquiesced to a lot of his desires. Like, is there anything, is there like a personality conflict there? What is the number one precipitating factor to the potential divorce there? I mean, I think, you know, what you hear from various sources is that, you know, Boa in the front office doesn't get along. You know, I don't know if that's 100% certain because, you know, Bo did sign that three-year extension covering off arbitration with the front office. So, I mean, that would suggest that at least the sides, you know, have had some sort of constructive talks. But it's just, it's really odd because one of the things that happens when a player signs that type of a deal is essentially it's a sign that the player, his agent, and the team agree on what his value is, right? So in other words, both sides said, okay, this is what we think is fair for Boa for the next three years. That should theoretically serve as a launching point for a contract into free agency because you've already agreed on what the player's value is for three years. So theoretically, you should be able to base, okay, we've agreed on this value, what would it take to buy year one, year two, year three out of free agency, for example, or four years out of free agency? And there just doesn't seem to have been any movement in that regard. And you know, I'm always of the impression, or I'm, I'm, I always operate under the assumption that once you get to a player's fourth or fifth year, the onus isn't on the player to approach the team and say, let's get serious about this. The onus is in the team. You know, I mean, with all due respect, you hear Ross Atkins talk about, you know, there has to be some sort of shared risk when you're talking about a long-term contract with the player. Well, no, in the case of Vlad, you know, the team assumes the risk now, I mean, let's be realistic. There's, you know, it's, it's a seven year contract. Yeah, there's a chance that Vlad, he gets hurt at the end of that contract or he gets hurt in the middle of it. I mean, but that's a risk the team has to assume. So I've, I've found that whole, that whole approach with, with Vladi to be kind of, you know, an almost into case to me quite frankly that they don't really care whether or not he signs here. I don't know why that is, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, maybe we need to see what happens with Mark Shapiro. He does only have a year left in his contract. And I think that's, that's an issue that hasn't been given enough, enough play. Are we a hundred percent sure he's going to be there as, as a lame duck president? I mean, I don't know, I, I, I don't know with Mark. We know Mark has, you know, had, you know, had, I wouldn't say he's had opportunities to leave, but he certainly had other jobs. He's had other organizations express an interest in him, you know, the big 10 commissioners job was open. He didn't lobby for it by the stretch of the imagination, but there were preliminary talks with him about the job, you know, Mark, Mark Strange, because I've never been able to figure out, I've never been able to figure out just how much control he has over the baseball decisions in this team. And more importantly, I haven't been able to figure out how much control he needs. You know, like what, what makes him happy is, is having control over player movement important? Is it doing all the revenue stuff? You know, I, we all know that Mark's aspirations eventually include the commissioner's office or, you know, the major league, a job with Major League Baseball. And I've never really been able to figure out sort of what his role is when it comes to personnel moves at this team. I just assumed that all the big stuff goes through him and all the other stuff, you know, is handled by Ross. But Ross has got two years left in his contract. Mark has one year. Yeah, I just, I don't know how that, I don't know how that works out. Yeah. I mean, all the stuff you guys are talking about here, like, this is setting up to be a electric off season with just news from the front office, from the on the field product with the president, like, there's a lot of flux here, Jeff. Yeah. I mean, this organization was designed to have won something by now. Yeah. I mean, you know, it really, I mean, that sounds silly, but you're right. You know, look, look at Messiah Jerry wins a world championship, you know, in part because one of the best players in the, in, well, the best player in the league leaves his division or leaves his conference and the team that he, you know, that his team beats doesn't have one of its best players, actually two of its best players for a lot of the games. And I mean, he, you know, he could be Mayor of Toronto. Correct. He can't do anything wrong now. And there's a freedom that comes with winning in this city, right? You win in this city and you can, you can basically do any hell you could tear the whole team down. If the J's had won a World Series by now, they could have traded Vladi and Bo and no one would, no one be saying boo, they'd be going, well, gee, it'd be great to have those guys. But you know what? We won a World Series. So that's, that's all that matters. And yeah, this, this, this, this whole organization was set up to have won something by now. And the fact that it hasn't won anything by now really does add even more urgency to this offseason. Mm hmm. I mean, I, I don't know if I can think of a scenario in which somebody at the tippy top of the decision making structure has one year left on their deal and then they hand like a decade long extension to one of the players at like the highest value in the history of the franchise. Like, how does that impact the way we can expect the Vlad extension conversations to go that there's so much uncertainty beyond Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins, like with those guys being maybe out the door, if Mark comes back next season beyond that, like, is ownership going to let them hand Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a 10 year, 300 million plus dollar extension? Yeah. I mean, I think the one thing that, that works in the J's favor here is the fact that, um, you know, and I, I understand, as I said, we should pyro and Atkins, there's a certain degree of uncertainty, but I mean, let's also be clear. If Vladi signs the type of contract that, you know, people think he's going to get that is going to be done with a lot of involvement of the Rogers board and ownership. Yeah. Right. That way, when you get to that point, you are talking about ownership getting directly involved in negotiations and, you know, from talking to agents in the past, that, that supersedes anything else. Like, if you're Vladi and you, you, let's say you agree to a six year contract, I'm sure you just assume that your manager, your general manager and the club president are going to be gone before the end of your contract with, you know, reality would suggest that. So I don't think it's necessarily an impediment to getting a deal done because once you get to those numbers, you are involving ownership, but, you know, it's, um, it certainly creates an issue of competing agendas. Right. And you know, what is, what would Mark Shapiro's agenda be with just a year left? Would he approach things differently if he had three years left? Um, you know, it's, it, it really is an unknown. And that's why I've been saying for years that, uh, I mean, this organization had to have one of these guys locked up by now, you know, it, it really did. I mean, you look around baseball, almost every team's done it, you know, Kansas City's done it with Bobby, which junior Seattle's done it for some reason. This organization never has seemed close to signing Vlady to a long term contract. I mean, you just, you, you don't hear anything. You never heard anything from his agents to suggest that they were ever close. You know, they up until through up until last year, and this is the other oddity up until last year, they'd agreed in arbitration, right? They hadn't gone to a hearing. Vlady was not renewed, Vlady agreed to the Blue Jays offer every year up to arbitration. Then he agreed before a hearing for a couple of years. This year was the first year it went to a hearing Vlady one. And again, what does that tell you? Well, that tells you that up until this year, both sides agreed in the players value and how you can't go from having that type of relatively smooth relationship to getting along term deal done, suggest to me that one of the two sides just was really never interested in it for whatever reason. And I don't think that was Vlady's side. So I don't know, at some point it would be, and I don't know if we'd ever get the answer, at some point it would be interesting to hear from Ross, I'm sorry to hear from Mark in this case, why haven't you signed him to a long term contract? Because it appears to be more on your part than on the player in his agents part. And that's, by letting it get to this point, you've created this situation. Oh yeah, you're over a barrel. For sure. You are. And he's having the best year of his career. Yep. Good times. Yeah. Exactly. And this is, I didn't want to think about what next year will be like if you go into a year with Vlady as one year away from free agency and bow one year away from free agency. The first four game losing streak is going to be catastrophic. And the thing is with these two guys, they've been here for so long, right? People are going to be talking about it. The media will be talking about it. The fan base will be talking about it. There's absolutely no way to prevent this from becoming almost a consumer crisis unless you sign one of them. Well, I mean, if they, you know, do not sign Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. or Boboshette, those guys walk out the door and we're talking about a rebuilding team in 2026 and they've both been fired or their contracts have expired. Aren't they in like the raw Babcock, John Ferguson, Jr. like box, like what they did with what they were handed? Like, aren't they? At the on the Mount Rushmore of worst executives in Toronto sports history. Fun condo. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I couldn't argue against it. I mean, and, you know, look at the post season picture this year. Probably not going to have a hundred win team. No. Kind of a team win a division with 95 games. They were out of it in July. Yeah. Exactly. Think about how things may have been different this year if the Blue Jays, when they didn't have Jordan Romano and they knew he was going to be done for most of the year and Jimmy Garcia, how things might have been a little different had they gone out and added some relievers, which, you know, Ross Atkins did a couple of years ago when he got Trevor Richards and Adam Simber and we were going at the time, oh, okay, whatever, well, they don't make the postseason that year without those two dudes. Yep. And we didn't get that this year. No. And the result is that the Jays went almost a month without their two highest leverage relievers, trying to backfill with, you know, a bunch of guys from here and there and look where they are. Yeah. I don't know what happens if the Jays had won four or five more games during that stretch. It would have been a, you know, frankly, this would have been a good year not to punt. Yeah. And just last one on that though, Jeff, the bullpen has been undeniably awful, right? I think they've improved now to what like 28th in baseball in the area. I think they've now passed the White Sox. Yeah. Then yeah, right. It's been awful. But I will say that as bad as they were at the beginning of the season, they weren't picking up losses or blown saves because there were no leads to blow, right? Like I, if you were going to, if you're going to point to one thing this season, to me, it would be the offense and like the bullpen obviously didn't allow them to come back in any games. It was a vocal back, a lot of Cure Meyer, a lot of Turner at bats. I sure wish I could have back. Yeah. But you know, if you think back to Mark Shapiro's the last media availability he did and he was asked what went wrong this year, the first thing he answered and the, and he spent more time on it than anything else was the bullpen. Yeah. So that suggests to me that, okay, if you guys know that, if you guys knew that, why the hell wasn't something done? Yeah. Yeah. And you know, again, look, look, look where we are now. This would have been, this would have been a good year to really kind of, you know, to, to not punt. Yeah. Look at the swings. The twins are not great at all. And they're three and a half games up on the Red Sox. I mean, not great at all. They get the advantage of playing the White Sox 13, you just had to be half decent this year and you're in a playoff spot. Yeah. It's brutal. Yeah. It is brutal. Yeah, it's not great. Anyways, uh, Jeff, thank you for this. We'll be watching and listening this afternoon. Hey, chef. Nice. Have a good weekend. You too. Jeff Blair of Blair and Barker. Uh, as mentioned, my favorite show on the radio says, uh, it's very good. Yeah. Especially when you're on. I loved you. Oh, thanks buddy. Oh, especially? Well, no. [laughter] As mentioned. I just had to say, because I know you're sitting here. I prefer Blair. I prefer Blair. I think most people do. As mentioned, rival sons and clutch are coming to the OLG stage at Fallsview Casino on September 12th for their two headed beast tour. We're giving away tickets in today's show to enter for a chance to win text in today's code word band to $5.95.90 again. That's banned to $5.95.90. So to the Vlad thing again. Mm hmm. Okay. Undeniably great. I, I, this front office has done so many things wrong. And obviously now it feels like the way they've handled Vlad has been totally wrong. And boy, the pressure's on to sign him. I know that comparable has been made to Raphael Devers because of the age and also the pressure that the Red Sox were under because they traded away Mookie Betts and watched Xander Bogart's leave the Blue Jays are in a similar, similar pressurized situation to because they got the potential bow departure and the no playoff wins and the potential to franchise icons walking out the door for nothing. But in this way, I do understand how they handled bow. All right, how they, how they handled Vlad and McGraw Junior. Okay. So out of the gates, greatest player like in the history of baseball is Miguel Cabera. Miguel Cabera. Say it please. Miguel Cabera. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Words on the radio. Yes. No, he was the greatest prospect that ever existed and the minor league numbers insane. Remember we went to his debut? Oh boy. My boy, Brendan Drury, walk off bomb that game. He stole the show. Sure. And there's God. You think Jackson holiday was is a pro. Oh, yeah. Come on. Yeah. That was an event where he arrived in Toronto and it's okay, especially for a 20 year old, right? Yeah, 772 OPS. But I remember the time thinking, Oh, I thought this guy was going to have a little more refined play. He was good. No. I was just like, that's fine. Yeah. But I did look at all the walks he took in the minor leagues. I was like, I kind of expected him to be one Soto light, right? Like, like that type of player where he takes 100 walks a year. And when you make a mistake, he punishes it. Didn't happen. And then 2020, you know, 60 game season, who the hell knows. And then 2021. Oh my God. And in the moment, I remember thinking, Oh, well, what necessarily does is this is a very bizarre season. But boy, the numbers at home, even when they got to Rogers and again, and the numbers on the road were good. But they looked a lot like the player we saw in 2022, which again was a good player, not a transcendently great player, especially considering he plays the position that he plays. First base played it pretty well. He won a gold glove in 2022. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Last season happens like, okay, what do we got here? I guess it's a good player. Again, somebody you would want on your baseball team. But guess what? You can get a first baseman that OPS is 70, 88 on the open market like every year. They're available. You don't have to pay $30 million a year for him. And then we get this proof of concept season. I can just tell you, for me, I needed to see this. Agreed. Totally agree. To do what I think the Blue Jays should do this offseason, which is pay through the nose for this guy, even if he's playing first base for you. He can capably at least a couple of times a month play third base. We know he's not just an absolute sieve over there. He's not Edwin N. Karnasi on throwing it all over the place. The ball ends up in his glove. It's probably going to end up back in first base. He's got a cannon for an arm. It's not he's not Matt Chapman or Scott Rowland either. You can capably play it. And OK, maybe he's not going to have a 50 home run season. But give me 38 doubles, 40 doubles, and 35 home runs. And just the ability to do what he's now done in a normal season with no protection, being the one and only focal point of this Blue Jays offense, not just for like a weak sample, not just for a month sample, basically, since May, he's been this since June with a home run. And that's apparently where all the power has decided. So OK, with the Blue Jays have been smart to do what everybody else in baseball has done, lock up these superstar athletes to the super long term contracts before they reach free agency and the shared risk and understanding that you have them for at least a decade. Yeah, but I do in that way understand it, because I like them needed to see what we're seeing this season to hand him, like honestly, I don't know what's going to take, 350 million over 10 years. I give it to him. I agree. I agree completely with everything you said there. And I think a lot of where that extra value is is a first baseman is kind of what he represents to this franchise. Yes. Right. Like I think he's worth more to the Jays than he is to anybody else because if you trade them, or like let them walk, you're like, yeah, this here is over over. And we're going to think like 2017 to 2019 again, like it's just weird. It's one of those moves that your franchise can't recover from. Exactly. Like it's just karma. And just think about all the money you've spent and all the time you've spent developing this guy and going through with this guy and just like the fan base has grown to love him. And like he's starts in the all-star game. He's Canadian. He's Canadian. All the stuff with him. He just represents so much more to the Jays than he would to anybody else. So just guess what? All these contracts stink the second they're signed. Of course. Just do it. Yeah. Just do it. I mean, and you're protected in a couple of different ways. One because, you know, he can shift over to third base in a pinch. I don't think you want him playing 150 games at third base. But also the age makes it a situation where, okay, even if things go poorly in 2025 after you signed him to attend your extension, pay them $35 million a year for the next decade, that even if you have to pivot and you got to trade Gossman and you got to trade burrios or whatever, you got to do a full-scale rebuild that's going to take you, I don't know, two, three, four years down the line. Guy's still going to be in the meaty part of his prime still on the other side of that and at the very least you have a reason to show up at the ballpark in 2026 if you're no good. Yeah. And it's all on the strength of young players. Of course, now this front office shouldn't care about that because they'll be gone in that instance. They're gone. What do you think about my, like, Mount Rushmore of horrible executives in the city? I like that take. I like that take a lot. But just on that Vlad thing before we get into that, I went to a game, I don't know, maybe a month ago, maybe last against the Orioles when the last time they played the Orioles at home. Yeah. And it was literally like what you just laid out there. Vladi had three RBIs even at home run. He was, I think, a double short side of the cycle and they won 7-6 or maybe a single shot of the cycle. It was, they didn't get back up. The bullpen did all they could to get them back up, but, like, I literally saw it. The team stunk and he was awesome and I was like, wow, I had a great night at the ballpark. Yeah. So that's why Ron Washington should have been fine when he walked him and intentionally in the second inning of a baseball game denying the home fans their one opportunity to see Vladimir Giro Jr. If this era of Blue Jays baseball goes by with these guys in charge without one playoff victory, yeah, they're in that rush more. It's crazy the vacillation we've had on them because, yeah, they arrived to very little fanfare considering the excitement around the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays and Alex and Thopolis and all the rumored conversations that occurred between the two. I think are well-founded that, yeah, Marcia Parro did wonder where all the prospects went and maybe Alex and I was such a snooty comment and Alex and Thopolis wondering, hey, where are all your World Series rings? Yeah. So like braids. That's in the check. Still good. Yeah. Yeah. And then, like, the rebuild happened so quickly, it was like, oh my God, who does that? Because look at the Orioles, it took them a lot of losing to get to the point where now they have all the prospects, boy, would have been nice to draft the way they did. It feels like the Jays aren't going to beat them for 15 years. Yeah, maybe. You know, baseball's weird though, but yeah, or look at the Phillies who tried to build organically by losing all their baseball games and then eventually being like, you know what? It's easier to just buy Bryce Harper. Let's just do that. That makes more sense. Yeah. But organically, in 2019, 2020, you had Vlad and Bo show up and all of a sudden you're in the playoffs in the weirdo season in 2020 and you're a game shot. Which I don't give any credit to. Ignore, should you? Really. And it breaks my heart that one of the historic chokers franchises that we have, that the Dodgers like, they're like, oh, we won. Yeah. It's like you didn't play one game at Chavez ravine. You didn't have any real stakes. There was no fans. It was like 25 people there. We'll see. We'll see that take reemerge if they floundering the postseason show, he's not going to let that happen. I mean, maybe. Yeah. It'd be fun to see him in a postseason series, but yeah, they have the rebuilds that happened so quickly and they're back to relevance and you're excited to watch blue jazz games and they miss the playoffs by single game in 2021, but who didn't love that season? Make the playoffs in 22 and 23. Really good team in 22, not so great in 23, but they don't want to play off game. And then to have the lasting memory, like the have maybe the best memory of this era be what, like the two Teoska Hernandez home runs in that play in game two, like what have been dealing in that game and then pulling him up. Yeah. Tim May's again. Yeah, Carlos Santana, like, no, man, it would be hard, especially with the state of the, the farm system, not to view Marc Shapiro and Ross Atkins. If things are horrible again next year and you lose Vlad and bow as one of the worst tandem's in Toronto sports executive history, I will say though, ballpark rocks, ballpark rocks, ballpark rocks, say, the ball park, maybe that saves rocks, the legroom, like the bars ballpark rocks love going to the ballpark. There's just no debate about the ball park. It's really good. They did a really good job and I love going. So I give them that. Yeah. Give them that. Yeah. Just the team has stunk this year. Yeah. Too bad. Maybe they can return to relevance next year. All right. When we come back, more of the fan morning show, bad anasamic key, sports net 590 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. Fan morning show, sports net 590 the fan, bad anasamic key. Again, if you're just tuning in, it's been breaking over the last hour plus in the sports world that Johnny Goudreau at the age of 31 has tragically passed away along with his brother and we don't have the exact details of what what happened. But it feels like it was a tragedy that occurred while they were riding their bikes and maybe hit by a motor vehicle as awful, awful, horrible, horrible tragedy. I'm sure the shows throughout the day will endeavor to define some guests. It was tough to find somebody to talk about Johnny Goudreau on short notice, especially in these trying circumstances. Yeah. You know, I've just been reading all the tributes and, you know, that that's the roots of in American hockey really stick out to me here and you talk about the you read the statement in the seven o'clock hour with the Boston College and the high school, the USA hockey. It's like, this guy was a beloved guy by a lot of different franchises, by a lot of different, you know, people, his family. This is one that, yeah, this is going to be a really, really, really long morning period here. It's going to be a see all throughout this NHL season. It's just, it's one that you don't recover from. It's one you don't come back from and I just, I can't stop thinking about the family. So today, now this, I've seen multiple reports that today was actually the wedding is his sister and him and his brother were groomsmen, it's part of that wedding. That's legitimately just, it's you can't, I don't even know where you go. I don't know what you do. You don't, you stay in, you stay in bed for a year, you don't, you don't come back from that. Yeah. Yeah, horrible, horrible stuff. Again, stay tuned to Sportsnet five, nine of the fan today. I'm sure Chos are trying to get people to talk about the life of Johnny Goudreau, one of the best American born hockey players ever. Yeah. One of the best sub six foot tall hockey players in recent memory. Yeah, an incredible Calgary flame and decided to be the focal point of a Columbus Bluejacket scene is obviously, we went through a little more rebuilding than they anticipated. But yeah, it's for taking a step back to that story, obviously. Absolutely. So yeah, and you know, it thoughts for his brother as well, who's a great player with them at Boston College Matthew and you know, it's just, they, they think you read that he was the coach of a high school team. Yeah. So it's like, imagine like that high school and all those kids that it coach, it's just, it just touches so many different people and the fact of the sisters wedding thing, it's just like, oh my God. Yeah. And it makes you sick, quite honestly. No, it is sick. It is sick. Yeah. To think about. Yeah. And again, no elegant way to transition to sports. But we got a couple of other things we want to hit on before we, we sign off for the long weekend of the tour championship underway at East Lake and might have gone under people's radar a little bit. And especially now, because the way it is formatted, they finally done the thing that made the most sense where they treat it like the eliminator at the end of American gladiators were like, yeah, if you've accumulated more points than your competitor, you get a, you get a head start on the eliminator and Scotty Schaffler was leading FedEx cup standing. So he started the tour championship at 10 under Zander Shoffley behind him at eight under Hadekki Matsuyama seven under he can Bradley six under and yada yada yada and down and down it goes. So the last year of it, the old one, I think was when Justin Rose, was it when Justin Rose, one with Tiger one, the tournament? Yeah, that's a rough one. And Justin was like celebrating because he like made a par putt to win the FedEx cup. Tiger's first PG a torn victory in a hundred years. And I think that's like, maybe that was the first impetus where they had to change it. But I had a really hard time looking up the four rounds from like the previous years, but I've watched a lot of golf into my best memory. They haven't had it happen like this where the guy that started at this in this format where the person who started at 10 under has like run away and hit on the first day. So we should tell people that Scotty Schaffler as he's want to do is the world's best golfer shot at 65 yesterday. Yeah. So he's 16 under. He's got a seven stroke lead on Colin mori kawa who only shot at 66, but now he's seven shots back of Scotty Schaffler. So they have gotten really lucky the first few years of this format that this hasn't happened. So I think he was the number one in the ranking is going into last year because he had won a couple of things. He won during the playoffs. So I think he was number one heading into last year, but he didn't run away and hide early. And this just like saps you for the weekend, right? Like this is something that you know, what you would have on your viewing docket. This is something that you would make sure to check in on. And I really don't feel like I need to check in on it at all. Maybe there was that one where Rory and Schaffler were in it and Schaffler was kind of head and then it came back. But whatever, like, this is the nightmare scenario for this format where the best player in the world has a starts with a 10 starts down and then shoots a 65 and your weekends ruined. Yeah. You ruined it. Xander Schaffley, who was only 70. And obviously easy scoring conditions at Eastlake. You're also seven strokes back. He only had a two stroke lead on you. You didn't hold up your end of the bargain. And if ever for me, I didn't think like I kind of joked about the FedEx Cup being like the deciding factor between the two as far as player of the year is concerned. Yeah. It's like that. Who cares about? But now I'm like mad at the end of Schaffler. Yeah. Scotty Sheffler should be player of the year. Could you ruin the last meaningful golf tournament of the year outside of the presence cup? And the first ever relevant gold medal at the Olympics. Yes. Matters. All right. In the player of the year. This is the first of a relevant one. He's a nice Scotty Sheffler, but I can't. It's just hard to do. Oh, he's dominating like your favorite zag. He's dominating at one of these little, these little guys. No, he is. Yeah. The gold medal though. It's it's it's that was it. It was undeniably great too. But yeah. Thanks to John Romme. But no, but the back nine was other worldly and John Romme. I think he shot 29. Yeah. The back nine. He shot. He hit everything to foot length. Here's what I'll also want to give Penderth a shout out. Yeah. He's 66 yesterday. He's tied for 10th to her championship. Get your money, buddy. Yeah. Go out there and shoot another 66 and get up there and get in the top five and make a lot of money. So good for him. He's had a really awesome year. Is there a solution to this? Like this seems like this is the most fair way to go about it. It's the best way to do it. And Scotty Sheffler was whining about it before one of the other tournaments in the playoffs. He's like, well, it's not actually the year-long chase for the FedEx Cup because you have to still win the golf tournament. It's like, you start 10 under, buddy, like go have one good round and you win. Like relax. Yeah. It's the first time I really heard him gripe about something, but he was griping. Maybe he was griping when he was in jail, too. Maybe he was griping about that. Did you see the cop that arrested him? Yes, he did. It was also now arrested for stealing money from somebody he was arresting. That was an electric story. Yeah. It's an electric story. So yeah. Good for, I'm rooting for Penderth now. If there's one thing I'm going to be watching for this weekend where I get to see one shot of him all weekend where they just don't show Canadians on the PGA tour. It's just the thing that's true. You can't, it convinced me otherwise. Just move up those standings. He's kind of the forgotten guy when you talk about Canadian golfers, right? Yeah. Like Connor's always the number one guy, Nick Taylor clearly had the incredible year last year, one earlier this year. Hadwin. Penderth kind of feels like the forgotten man. For sure. And he's had the best season of anybody. And he's in a tour championship. No, he's top 10. So let her rip. Hope he, hope he moves up the standings. Yeah, you would think in a 30 person field that you could throw some Taylor Penderth in there. Yeah. On broadcast, we'll see. Yeah, maybe. Speaking of broadcast. Tom Brady is part of the lead Fox broadcast team this upcoming season. He's also potentially, and it's in the process of being finalized, a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. That seems like not allowed. Yeah. Well, it is allowed, but there are restrictions that accompany it. So he's, he's on the verge of becoming 10% owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. So to broadcast these games, he has to acquiesce to these demands by the rest of the owners. Brady would not be permitted to be in another team's facility, would not be permitted to witness practice and would not be permitted to attend broadcast production meetings either in person or virtually. This is the big one. He would be prohibited from publicly criticizing game officials and other clubs. Well, Brady could in theory state that he disagrees with the call on air. He would be subject to fines or even a suspension if he went too far. He would be the subject to the league's gambling policy. No, boy. He would be subject to the league's anti tampering policies. He would be permitted only quote, strictly social communication with members of other clubs. End quote, according to the slide the league presented. This is during one of the most recent owners meetings. So Sammy sucks. Are you, is it taking some of the shine off of Tom Brady as a broadcaster? For sure, because I will say I had extremely high hopes for him. Like, I thought like I have had to take multiple times this offseason that he is immediately going to be one of the best because every time I hear him talk about football, he's like the goat, he's the best player at his position of all time, maybe the best football player of all time. And not afraid to take a stance on things very opinionated and he's just he's surprisingly so for me because he felt like a guy that shied away from controversy so much. Like, I feel like he had the chance to be what people think Tony Romo is. Yeah. You know, I can't stand Tony Romo and he game with Tony Romo and I'm like, this is an idea. How is that evolved for you though? I hated him from day one. Really? I couldn't stand him from day one. I hate the sound of his voice. Oh, you're legit. You're legit. I've been a hater since day one. Never liked him. Never liked him. So I can't say the same. No, no, everybody was all home. That was great. But I loved him out of the game. I was like, here's a guy that seems like he actually cared. No, he cared. He was passionate. And he was calling plays early and everybody was all excited about it, but I just thought he was just a bit of a parlor. It was just more bluster than anything. So I actually thought that Tom Brady had a chance to be really good, but it's kind of ruins it. Right? Like it's just not being able to be opinionated. I mean, that's, I mean, that's the thing. And I Troy Aikman, who I used to think was brutal ever since Romo came in, became like the most opinionated guy and Buck and Troy are the number one by far booth that I want to hear. They're the best. Yeah. It's like, you need the opinions. The opinions are incredibly important. So it sucks. Yeah. Okay. But he's going to get fine. How much should we talk in here? I mean, he has cajillions of dollars. Can you pay the tax? That's the point. Sammy. But like suspension? He's not going to be suspended. You don't think they said they would. They're not going to suspend Tom Brady. They're not going to remove Tom Brady from a broadcast. What are these opinions? Yeah. Well, okay. So the boy will love us. Thanks. Exactly. So like, what are we talking about here? Oh, you know, Troy Aikman and his and his harsh stances on who anybody with the Dallas Cowboys, but yeah, the other teams, the other 31 teams in the National Football League, we're talking about relative terms here. He's not roasting anybody saying that they're no good and just be out of the league. And even the official stuff, it's like, okay, you can't criticize officials. So to me, that means when we've seen head coaches do it after games, like that's awful. That should never happen. I mean, is Tom Brady going to say that? No, he's probably going to be like, I, that's a bad call. I don't agree with that. Like, does that sound like a final offense that the NFL is really going to come down on Tom Brady for saying that that's the wrong call? I can say that. Really say that. No. Well, I mean, I'm trying to think of guys that are just like, that's, that's wrong. I guess Ray Ferraro does it. Ray Ferraro is really good at it in the hockey. Like he's really opinionated and is not afraid to say that kind of stuff, but I'm trying to think of anybody else that really does it. Well, Jeff and Gundy used to do it. Oh, he was awesome. He was awesome. Guess where Jeff and Gundy is? He's coaching. He's not doing broadcasting anymore. He's like a visor somewhere, isn't he? Sure. But yeah, you don't think the NBA had a hand in perhaps removing him from that position of power. Conspiracy theory. I don't, I don't think it's even that hard to take to say that Jeff and Gundy, you know, as the NBA, despite the billions of dollars that you have to pay for the rights, they hold all the cards because that's a valuable property and he has been like, Oh, you want Jeff and Gundy gone? Let's press this Jeff and Gundy ejection C button and they did that. They did. So yeah, like Tom Brady, he's been more opinionated than I ever thought more willing to absorb criticism than I ever thought. But again, this is relative terms. I don't think. And the NFL about him thinking though, I don't want him being like thinking about what he's not saying. You don't? He's not. You don't think so? Do you think he cares about what? Like a $50,000 fine? Maybe not. Maybe you're right. No, thank you for convincing me because I saw this story. And I was kind of sad. So you're right. The Fox contract is for over $300 million. Yeah. How much? How much? I mean, he took all those pay cuts play for the Patriots. Maybe he's in the courthouse. Yeah. No, probably not. And I assume he and Giselle had a preen up. Not exactly. Sure. I mean, for her, she was the guy there, wasn't she? Yeah. Maybe he's hoping there was no freedom. He got half. It's a hard headline the other day that she was riding her bike with her new boat, passed Tom Brady's home for some reason. Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. That's crazy. Probably not necessary. All right. Have a great long weekend. Everybody will be back on Tuesday for another edition of the fan morning show, Ben Annis. Sammicky Sports F5 night at the fan. [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)
