Episode 22 feat. Matt Betts - The Jays Trade deadline, Jays rest of the season, and the Growth of Canadian Baseball

Matt Betts from the Canadian Baseball Network joins us as a guest to talk about the Blue Jays, the Trade Deadline, and some Canadian Baseball. We dissected on the the trades that went down, the rest of the AL East regarding the trade deadline, how important has the hitting coaches been on an improved offense, the 2025 Draft, how much of an impact the Canadian prospects/players have improved, and more!

Where you can find Matt Betts:

1. X: @Bettsy41
2. X: @CDNBaseballNet
3. https://canadiancollegebaseball.substack.com/

Episode Transcript

(00:30):
Welcome to another edition of the Blue Jays Ave.
Podcast. We have a guest in here who
works for the Canadian Baseball Network.
Matt Betts, welcome to the show.We're honored to have you on.
Just let the world know what you're doing.
Everything else besides the Canadian baseball.
Network. Yeah, sounds good, guys.
Thanks for having me on. It's anytime you get a chance to
talk baseball, I'm totally down for it.
Yeah. Lead writer for the Canadian

(00:51):
Baseball Network, host of the Canadian Baseball Network
podcast. I'm going to be doing a little
bit of freelancing for MLB.com away from baseball.
They also do some freelance for the Canadian Football League.
So all things Canadian, really. Yeah, just excited to be here
and thanks for having me. Thanks a lot for joining us,
man. It's it's an honor to have you

(01:12):
and we're excited to that we getto talk some Blue Jays baseball
through today. Yeah.
You know, it's a great time to be a Jays fan.
I just had the trade deadline, which I thought they had a great
trade, trade deadline. So it's, it's awesome to have
you today and, and we're excited.
Alright, so the first question Iwanna ask you here is we saw the

(01:35):
Jays did a few moves, nothing too flashy, nothing too sexy,
pretty much a Blue Jays trade deadline with the Markakis, Rock
Rasa, Mark Shapiro, Ross Atkins ERA.
How would you assess this trade deadline?
Do you think they did enough anddo you think this team is good
enough to win the division with the trades they've made?

(01:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think there are.They were good enough to win the
division before the trade deadline and you see, you know,
other teams improve. The Yankees specifically the Red
Sox didn't do much. But I kind of addressed this
deadline. I thought it was a good
deadline. I didn't think it was a great
deadline necessarily. It could be a great deadline if
Shane Bieber turns out and comesback to the Shane Bieber that he
was prior to April 2024. But they addressed their needs

(02:22):
all leading up to the trade deadline.
All you heard about was bullpen arms.
Bullpen bullpen arms. They go get some anti Dominguez
from the Orioles. Louis Varland.
I didn't really see that one coming from the Twins, but that
sell off kind of shocked me. Yeah, I thought the Thai France.
Isn't that you? Who knows why necessarily that
was included. Maybe it was to offset some
money. Maybe they really valued Ty

(02:43):
France's leadership and and skill level.
But yeah, I thought it was a I thought was a good trade
deadline. But I think a lot of it hinders
on what Shane Bieber does when he gets back here, hopefully in
a couple of weeks. That's a that runs into my next
question, actually. Um Shane Bieber was acquired for
one of the Blue Jays better pitching prospects and Cal

(03:05):
Steven and it was a pretty high-priced acquire Bieber.
But looking at the rotation now,how important is he down the
stretch if he can get right? Well, I think he's your number
of new game one starter in the playoffs if he gets right all
indications. I try not to read too much into,
you know, rehab, rehab starts and rehab assignments.
Base looked really good in the minor leagues.
He says this stuff feels good. He's feeling comfortable.

(03:28):
So he's that guy that he was with Cleveland.
I mean, this is your game one start and really gives you that
stability down the stretch, especially if it was a price to
pay. But I kind of put it put it this
way. I like the jumped into the deep
end without really having to jump into the deep end, maybe
with water wings on because you look at guys exchange Alcantara
or Joe Ryan, some of the talks going around those two guys.

(03:49):
And I understand they have, theyhad a little bit more term
obviously than Shane Bieber had,but there were some hefty
prospect capital going back and forth in those talks, by the
sounds of it. And cause Steven obviously a
kind of skyrocketed up the minorleague system this year and and
kind of projects is maybe a middle of the rotation starter
if he pans out. But these are the types of deals
you have to make guys. If you're you know you want to

(04:11):
compete in the AL East and when you have an opportunity like the
Jays have right now, this is a deal you don't pass up.
So I have a question for you regarding Shane Bieber.
And I was listening to Ross Atkins and he stated that not
only Shane Bieber is for the nowand he believes that he could be
part of this team for the long haul.
And you know, when when he said something like that, it kind of

(04:31):
reminded me of what the Jays didwhen they acquired barrios a few
years ago. If you recall it.
Could you make that comparison and and could you see
similarities to that? Well, what I think is really
interesting is 1, He has a player option which is totally
within his control. There's no real benefit to the
team with player option. But the way I see it potentially
playing out is he comes back, He's the old Shane Bieber and he

(04:52):
declines the option and he walksto free agency.
Hopefully the Jays get a good postseason out of him and that's
that. The other option is potential
would be that he comes back and he's not quite himself and maybe
he does pick up that player option.
He kind of reset his market. Pete Walker, Blue Jays pitching
coach has been known to kind of work with some of these veterans
starters, keeping them healthy. So maybe he goes that route,

(05:13):
tries to reset his market and make 16,000,000 bucks next year
and then goes to free agency theyear after.
And then there's also the optionthat you just mentioned Jose
Berrios when he signed the extension after signing which
Roszak and said the other day that he would be they would be
interested in in, you know, listening or having those
discussions if they were to comeup.
But I mean, I think the barrios ones are really good comparison

(05:34):
because look at what they gave up for burritos to the twins,
Austin, who they drafted 5th overall and seeming Wood
Richardson. And I mean, they they both
played at the big leagues. They both contributed the twins.
But was that really that high ofa price for what the Barrios has
given that is, I don't think so.So that's that's kind of the
line you walk with guys and prospects, you know, a lot of
the time their assets to move. And when you're a competing team

(05:57):
and when you're going to spend the way the Blue Jays show
they're going to spend, Rogers is committed to it.
You know a guy like Col. Steve and that's an expendable
piece when you can get a guy, especially when you get to Shane
Bieber back. You know, you know, the other
thing is that if you look at theway they did their trade
deadline, it's they didn't give up their top, top top guys, but
they gave their guys. And that leads me to the next

(06:18):
questionnaire. And if you look at the way they
acquire the believers and like you said, like Varland just came
out of nowhere. And you know how the twins, they
they headlined a massive fire sale and you know, with Derek
Falvey and and and Ross Atkins and Marshall, they all worked in
Cleveland Once Upon a time and, and getting Sorrenti Dominguez

(06:39):
and they had to give up Jerome Watts Browns.
Like we knew that the bullpen was important.
They had to DFA Chad Green and upgrade some needs.
Like how much of it improvement is this bullpen now you know the
rest of the way, especially whenyou don't have uncertainty of
what's Jimmy Garcia situation and and I think Nick Sandlin is
coming back. So what are your thoughts on

(07:01):
that? I think it's a good bullpen.
I think it's, it's, it's more than good enough.
I, I heard someone say the otherday, and this is kind of
unfortunate because Chad Greens had a had a really good big
league career can dating back tohis time with the Yankees, but
the team almost got better by getting rid of Jag Green to a
certain extent, hasn't pitched well this year.
And again, that's unfortunate because he's had a really
successful big league career. But then you go now the guy like

(07:22):
Louie Varland, you know, you sawhim the other night pumping 100.
I think he hit 100 the other night, 99 electric stuff.
Those are the types of guys thatyou need the bullpen, you know,
in big situations and the bullpen becomes even more
important. It seems like in the playoffs,
you know, you want to shorten the game, maybe take the ball to
your starters hands a little early.
We saw that with Berrios againstMinnesota, maybe to the

(07:44):
detriment of that idea the last time the Blue Jays win in the
playoffs. But these are the types of guys
that you target. I thought Atkins got ahead of
the market by getting Domingos afew days before the deadline
drawn. Watts, Brown.
That's kind of the the prospect capital.
That's kind of the cost of doingbusiness when you get a guy like
that. And Farland, I didn't really
understand that from the Twins perspective, given just the

(08:04):
control that he has. I think he's under contract of
2030 and a real interesting arm.There's a little bit of
discussion about whether he transitions back to a starter
after this year. Obviously he's gonna stick in
the bullpen through the end of this year.
But yeah, a lot to like about Louis Varland and and strengthen
Dominguez even if he's gone after this year.
That's the kind of pieces that you want for a playoff run.

(08:25):
No, The thing is like, so let meask you this then, because they
gave up Juan, what's Brown and Kendra Rojas I believe in which
player do you think kind of heard of them?
But I and look and you're gonna have to give up something to get
something like which prospect doyou think could be the better
pitcher overall if you look at the way or player itself?

(08:48):
Call Steven is probably gonna bethe one that could pan out.
But again, you have to look at when you're trying to win this
cow. Steven ever going to turn in to
Shane Bieber? No, probably not.
I'm I'm willing to guess so likeyou said, you got to give us
something up to give something not going to give that guy away
for free. And if Bieber comes in and

(09:09):
performs down the stretch and, and and gives you solid starts
in the playoffs and you make a bit of a run and you know, it's,
it's a possible worth paying forsure.
Sort of the trades that the Jaysmade at the trade deadline, I
think they made four of them total.
What was the trade that surprised you the most?
I think it was definitely the the viral and deal just because

(09:29):
I didn't understand it more. So I understand why, you know,
the front office valued you got like that.
I mean, who wouldn't? But and understanding the twins
were going through a major sell off.
I think they traded 10 players off their off their roster.
But just the amount of control that he has, that's just it's a
sneaky good pickup by Atkins. There's a lot of versatility
potentially there going forward,depending on what they want to

(09:50):
do with them. Worst case, they got a guy that
pumps, you know, upper 90s hits,hits 100 out of the bullpen.
So for the next, you know, four or five years, nothing wrong
with that. I have a question for you.
So Will Wagner was traded and that kind of caught me off guard
because I started from the Padres and that they they
acquired Brandon Valenzuela. I think he's a catcher switch

(10:12):
hitting catcher who was in AA, right?
So how did that surprise you as well?
Or just a violent? Because I didn't expect Wagner
to be traded, that's why. Yeah, no, I didn't expect Wagon
to be trained, to be honest. I'm a big fan of World Wagner.
I think he's got great basketball skills.
I think he's going to be a guy that, you know, will hit for a
decent average in the big leagues.
You know, I don't know if you provides a ton more than that,

(10:35):
but yeah, that kind of surprised.
But it is also a matter of need.I mean, they get Brandon
Valenzuela back in in the deal. Not a ton of catching depth in
this organization. You know, you you kind of ran
into it a little bit this week when Heineman took that ball off
the mask against Kansas City andKirk was on the concussion IRL.
So, you know, it it was more of a trade.

(10:55):
You have to give something up tokind of back still a need that
you might have down the line. So I, it was tough to see what
Wagner go cause I do like him asa player and I really like when
they acquired him last year. But again, it there was also a
backlog in the infield and the outfield.
They had to move some of these guys out.
So let me ask you this. After the trade deadline, Ross
Atkins made a comment about Varland being with five years

(11:18):
control and him being a starter in the past.
He mentioned that he could possibly be a starter in the
future going forward. He views them as such, so do you
think there's a chance that he could possibly move to starting
pitching next year? Yeah, I think that's probably
gonna be on the table at some point.
How much of AA real look they give.

(11:40):
That is gonna be the big question.
You know Sherzer's gonna be gonenext year Bass, it's coming
coming due for free agency. So there's no is coming back to
you though. So they have some moving parts
around. What Bieber does will certainly
impact things, but I think they could definitely give him a
look. I think he's at just approaching
2 years of service time so you know given another chance in
rotation. He's actually started for the

(12:00):
twins in the past. She started at Rogers Centre
actually I think two years ago. So I think it's something
they'll definitely consider, butyou got to be careful because
when the guy finds success in the bullpen or starter, you
know, maybe you don't want to mess with that too.
Much. Yeah, Yeah.
Yeah, I agree with that. So we saw that, you know, the
Jays wanting to bat, they ended up getting tie friends and

(12:24):
nothing more. And I know that he has
experience. He has a playoff experience.
Do you think the Jays should have added another bad at the
trade deadline? Because some people were saying
that they should be clamoring for another power bat.
But you know, the way the marketwas going, it was it was so
inflated and the asking prices were really high.
But do you think that they should have added a bigger bat

(12:45):
or do you think this offence is good enough giving giving the
fact that there's some of these reinforcements coming back?
I think Kirk just came back a couple days ago and then
Springer should be back at him and should be back.
And then Santander, I mean, we don't know what they think that
he should be back later this month if not September.
So should they have added about or do you think they should be

(13:07):
fine with what they have moving forward?
I said all along they should have added about to be honest
with you, I know it wasn't the focus, the bullpen and obviously
a starter was was the focus heading into the deadline, but I
don't necessarily think necessarily need to be power.
But yeah, you look at a lot of these guys on their current
roster and it really they raisedthe floor.
You know, you look at the Ernie Commands and Nathan Lucas, those

(13:28):
kind of guys, They raised the floor.
What, for instance, Shane Bieberin on the rotation side that
raises the ceiling. And if you want to win a World
Series, that's the kind of move so you're trying to make.
I would really like to see them in on Steven Kwan.
I again kind of that back to ball high average doesn't swing
and miss a lot, doesn't strike out a lot.
I was really hoping, you know, that that that they kind of dive

(13:51):
into those watching. It sounded like they did.
But again, like you said, that the price might have just been
so high that it wasn't worth it and that's probably what they
ran up against. So with regards to the alias and
some of the the deals that were made across the board, the
Yankees acquired 7 players. Red Sox acquire a couple couple
starting pitchers. One they're using the bullpen,

(14:12):
Steven Matz kind of a swing man.The Rays, they both bought and
sold and then you got the Oreos were straight sellers.
With regards to the Jays and looking at the rest of the
Allies, how do you feel about what we did versus what the rest
of the division did? I think, I think you got to feel
good about, I mean, you went in with the the lead in the
division and you, you added and made your team better.

(14:32):
They're better now than they were before the deadline, which
is obviously the goal. I do like what the Yankees did
with their bullpen, although it hasn't necessarily worked out so
far with the, you know, first game with Duval and Bednar and
Bird kind of given it up there. I think it was 9 earned runs
over 2 2/3. Jake Bird was recently sent
down. But I do like what they did with

(14:53):
the bullpen because as we've seen time and time again,
especially in recent years, boththe bulk kind is increasingly
important come playoff time. And they really bolstered that.
I thought the Red Sox were kind of disappointing, to be honest.
I thought they were going a little bit bigger.
Sounded like they had something in the works for Joe Ryan that
never panned out. But it's tough to go back in a
market like that and say, well, we tried, but it didn't work

(15:14):
out. I mean, those that's a tough
market. That that that be your your
press conference after the tradedeadline.
But yeah. And then the orders and the
Rays. The Rays were kind of weird.
They got Griffin Jacks, which I thought was kind of strange.
I thought the Jays might be in on him as well, But and the
Orioles selling off like people kind of expected.
But I think the Jays did fine. I think they kind of kept up

(15:35):
with everybody else in the vision.
When you have a division lead, Imean, there's nothing wrong with
that. Let's just say, for instance, if
the Red Sox ended up acquiring Joe Ryan, how much how much of A
competition would the Jays have with the rest?
I know they have the season series with the Yankees and the
Red Sox, which is very importantbecause that's considered, you

(15:57):
know, you're one up when it comes to the tiebreaker with any
type of possible. But let's just say, for
instance, if they ended up getting like a high, high
frontline starting pitcher like a Joel Ryan, how much of a
difference would have been in the lease if if that were to
happen? Potentially a big difference.
I mean, you go out there and gotJoe Line and Garrett Crochet

(16:17):
going games one and two. That's yeah, that's tough, man.
And you know, I think they're going to be tough.
The Red Sox right down to the wire and the Yankees.
I mean, the Yankees are going through right now and they
played about as bad as you can play and as bad as you've seen
the Yankees playing a long time.But I think, you know, this
thing still going down to the wire, I think.
And you know, I think there's 3 1/2 up on the Red Sox currently
in 4 1/2 on the Yankees at the time that we're recording this.

(16:39):
So even without Joe Ryan that there's still 2 very good
baseball teams. And and I again, I don't think
that Jays, you know, blew the doors off at the trade deadline
here. I think they they did some good
things and made their team better.
But I don't think they're going to be running away with this,
this division even as it stands.So the thing with the Yankees,

(16:59):
and this is the thing, like, youknow, they made seven moves or 7
acquired 7 players at this tradedeadline thinking that, OK,
we're not giving up their top prospects.
Because I know, I know they werein on Sandy and they were asking
for either Lombard or Spencer Jones right in the deal and
stuff. But like, what seems to be the
issue with the Yankees itself because they got Jake Burr, who
just got option, which is I don't know what's going on.

(17:22):
Duval had a blip, but he pitchedwell.
And then Bednarz's probably their best reliever acquired at
the trade deadline. And then some of these defensive
Tuesday try to, you know, referee retool Like what's
what's going on with the Yankee?Do you think it's the roster
construction or do you think it's they're missing bats like a
one Soto or Gleyber Torres that's not helping out right now

(17:42):
this with this current roster? Well, I think anytime you don't
Wan Soto, that's certainly hurts.
Yeah, absolutely. Just coming back.
Judge got hurt. It's gonna be interesting to see
if he can get back in. If not, I guess Sean Carroll,
Stan is going to be out there, which is a whole another layer
of their sloppiness. I think we could, you know, we
could see that they've just beenreally, they just played really

(18:03):
core baseball plate and really shot themselves.
What do I mean, you look at the Marlins series, just a ton of
blunders that just can't happen.Anthony Volpe been a bit of a
mess at shortstop. They got Ryan McMahon at third.
I thought that was a good pick up for them.
But it's just been like just been sloppy baseball.
And, you know, at what point is this just who they are?
And, you know, this is what you're going to see.

(18:23):
Maybe not this bad, but this is kind of the type of baseball
you're going to see the rest of the way.
And if that's the case and the Blue Jays are a great spot them
behind them. And yeah, just they just
haven't. They're just being really bad.
That's really the only thing I can say about it.
I mean, I wouldn't say the roster I think is fine.
I mean, not having Garrett Cole and, you know, Louise Heels
working his way back now that's going to help and he gets back.

(18:44):
But yeah, they just played really.
Sometimes teams just played really bad and they just, yeah,
they just don't play well. That's what.
That's what the Yankees are experiencing right now.
So I gotta play the games, right?
Exactly. So the next question I wanna ask
you, since you talked about the depth here, it's crazy to think

(19:04):
like they ended up trading Alan Roden and Will Wagner, but given
the fact they still have a plethora of depth and AAA, if
you think about this like they still have a Class A, they still
have your Hendrick Penango who was acquired from Nate Pearson,
which I still think was a great trade for the Jays.
They have Josh Kasevich, Alvis Martinez and and so on so far.
Like, how do you see these guys fit into this organization

(19:27):
because they have so many options, so much depth.
And you know, guys like Loperfido has blossomed into a,
a, a big time player for the Jays or David Schneider or
Addison Barger, they all steppedup.
So where do you think the rest of these positional players fit
in this organization? They're in the Jays are in a bit
of a weird spot. I think their systems and I

(19:47):
think it's getting more respect.I think it's better than people
thought, but I think it lacks a lot of high-end town.
Aside from the Mall and Savage, there's not a ton of, you know,
blue chip prospects in the system or Elvis Martinez has
essentially fallen off the map. But they're also in a tough spot
in a sense. This isn't really a tough spot,
but they're they're competing. They're they're trying to win
now. So I, I take a guy asking

(20:10):
Barger, for example, this is a game of repetition.
You know, 150 at bats isn't enough to see what a guy can do.
And this is what you kind of have to worry about with the
Gallon Rd. when he goes to Minnesota and he gets 500 a
thousand at bats. What kind of a hitter is he?
Then at the big league level, you see it with Barger now.
They kind of got the opportunityto give him an opportunity last
year. He struggled much of last year.
And now look, he's getting comfortable.

(20:31):
He's finding his feet. Pictures are kind of making
adjustments against him. You're seeing him now make
adjustments back. That's when you start to see
what you have in some of these guys.
And the Jays don't have a lot ofrunway for these guys to do that
at the current moment. So it's kind of hard to see how
they fit in. But again, it's still a very
good system that if something were to go wrong, you know, they
have they have options that downthe minor leagues.

(20:54):
I think you might be seeing similar to what I'm talking
about. Joey Loperfido.
Yeah, yeah, some time in Houston, played a little bit
last year with the Jays, kind ofstruggled a little bit.
Now he's coming back. He's pledging, he's hitting
really well. I still caution towards that
because it still is very young in his career.
But you're kind of seeing him make the adjustments on the fly
in real time and succeeding at it.
So I was, I think that was intentional not to to get rid of

(21:18):
Loperfido. I think they do see, they do see
him, you know, they they do holdhim in high regard.
So yeah, it's it's kind of a weird situation when it comes to
prospects in the Blue Jays. Do you think that with Addison
Barger now being the guy of thisteam, potentially being the
core, do you think it opens doorfor like other guys who get
traded potentially in the office?

(21:38):
He's like a Revis Martinez because he was the number one
prospect Once Upon a time and and a lot to do with this power
like he was and he still hittingfor power.
But the problem with him is theydon't know where to play
defensively with them. But like, could you see like a
guy like him being traded in theoffseason?
Yeah, he's an interesting one. He's kind of fallen off the map

(21:59):
and and you know, no ones you really talking about him
anymore. And again, that's something has
to do with the Jays being where they are understandings and not
really needing a guy like that where his last year they were
kind of trying to push him through.
But yeah, not having a position,you know, everyone knows this
front office values defensive, you know, defensive metrics and
defensive ability and versatility.
You're seeing it kind of the wayJohn or John Schneider uses this

(22:22):
roster. So have a guy that doesn't fit
defensively and you don't reallyknow what you're going to get
offensively at the big league level.
I don't really necessarily see afit this year.
And, and it's definitely you kind of hope maybe that in the
off season another team sees hisupside and wants to take A
chance on and maybe you can get a return for him.
The last couple seasons the Jaysoffence has really struggled but

(22:43):
they bounced back in a big way this season.
How important has Lou Iannetti and and newly minted hitting
coach David Popkins have? How important have they been to
improving the offence this year?It seems like really important.
I mean, I've heard a lot of things that everyone speaks
really highly of those guys. And you look at some of some of

(23:05):
these, you know, kind of bounce back seasons.
Bulbous yet, mind you, that had a lot to do with injuries.
I think Bouchette's always been able to hit and we'll continue
to hit for the rest of his career.
But George Springer, I mean, I was down in spring training.
He looked he looked terrible in spring training.
I did, I could see, yeah, I saw him not even making it to the
end of the year with the Blue Jays.
And he's been, he's been great. He he was kind of confident

(23:28):
throughout spring training that he was working on things and he
was feeling pretty good. And I guess he was right.
He bet on himself and he was right.
But the guy got Alejandro Kirk. We've seen him in the past year
when he's past years when he's has a lot of heavy workload that
the bat falls off. That hasn't happened this year.
How much does Hopkinson that have to do with that?
Probably quite a bit. I mean, it's a different voice
and different guys in the in thedugout and, you know, preaching

(23:51):
different messages. So it seems to work.
How much you put that on the coaching staff versus the
players themselves, you know, that's for everybody to decide.
But it's definitely seems to be working.
You know, you know, it's so funny you say that because if
you look at the way these players internally have
drastically improved and if you look at it this way, that they

(24:13):
acquired Anthony Santander basedupon, you know, protecting Vlad.
And, and I know that Vlad's been, I know, still trying to
figure it out with this, like with his bat And look, he got
the contract and stuff like, like, do you think he would
benefit like with those guys down the stretch?

(24:33):
Because I know that he's been playing better baseball since
the All Star break. Yeah, I think yeah, I think
anytime you get protection for your for your top hitters, it
helps. I mean, you've seen bullshit hip
behind them a little bit. Yeah, recently.
And you know, a lot of you saving a really good year.
He's got an 8 almost 850 OPS. He's taking his walks.
But again, you don't pay a guy $500 million to hit singles, hit

(24:54):
110 million our fingers and walkright.
So right. You want to see a little bit
more of that, you know, damage, you know, hitting the ball in
the yard and and driving in runs.
But he still had a very productive season.
And if he clicks, I mean, we sawit last week, kind of clipped in
May and ran it through the rest of the year.
If you can get hot here down thestretch, that's going to be
absolutely huge for these guys. And then thing get some of these
guys back. I mean the the line up all of a

(25:16):
sudden looks even better than italready does.
You know, that leads up to my next question is that, you know,
we're talking about reinforcements and we we like I
said, we talked about Santander,like I don't know where he where
his progress, as they said, 70%.I don't know what that means,
but Jimenez and Springer are I think they're going to be
rehabbing pretty soon and they should be back sometime by the

(25:38):
weekend. It's the Dodgers and you saw
Kirk came back and and and there's other guys we have we
haven't really talked about enough.
It's like, where does Bone and Francis all of a sudden fit now
that the depth of this pitching has been great and and talk
about the remaining schedule, Like how important are these
guys? Like could we say Yimi Garcia
comeback? Could we see a Manoa be part of

(25:58):
this team later in the year or at Nick Sandman should be back?
Like how important for those guys down the stretch with the
remaining schedule provided? Yeah, I think I think Nick
Sandland will fit nicely back inthe bullpen is the middle
reliever. The pitching has gotten real
interesting. I don't know if there is a spot
about in France or another way pitched early in the year.
He got hurt obviously and that was working his way back.
But I mean, they're talking about going to potentially a six

(26:19):
man rotation. Like what, who, who, who do you
take out is the question. And friend, you don't there's no
one. I mean the six man rotation
probably looks like the best option.
You can get everybody on board with it.
And you know with the veteran rotation, I don't really like 6
man rotations for the most part.But I think in this sense, if
you can get guys on board with it, it does make a lot of sense

(26:41):
just giving the mileage on some of these guys arms and and the
veteran rotation that they have,which shares are Basset and
Berrios and Gausman. I mean, those guys have thrown a
lot of innings in their career and you can keep them fresh, you
know, down the stretch. That's going to be super
important. But yeah, where's Manoa fit in?
He sounds like he's getting closer and closer where, you
know, Francis, I don't think he really does fit in anymore,

(27:02):
which is shocking given the way he ended the ended last season.
But it's a good problem to have.You know, you can never have too
much pitching. And they always say these things
have a way of figuring themselves out.
You know, a guy gets hurt, a guygoes on the IL, something
happens, a guy struggles. So I don't think John
Schneider's losing sleep over having too many good starting
pitchers. As for the schedule, I mean, I'm

(27:24):
looking at it right now. It's going to get tough here
after the Rockies for a couple series and you have the Dodgers,
the Cubs and then the Texas Rangers.
All teams, you know, in the playoffs are fighting for a
playoff spot. Then it eases up a little bit
again with Pittsburgh, Miami andMinnesota.
September is going to be really interesting.
I mean, they play the Yankees. They got Boston and Tampa down
the year. I mean, that's going to be a
huge, huge run for them potentially, especially with the

(27:46):
way Boston's playing. So it's a it's a difficult
schedule. It doesn't let up a little bit
in certain spots, but September is definitely not looking like a
lot of fun for them. So how important is the
acquisition of Eric Lauer been? He's been really fantastic seven
and two record with the 259 year, a 79 case .98 weapon.

(28:07):
Just how important has he been kinda to holding this this
rotation together when you know the the 4-5 spots have
struggled, especially in the first couple months of the
season? Yeah, it's been huge.
It's been 1 of Ross Atkins better moves and he's been known
to do this kind of thing and, and it works out, you know,
there's talk about it. Does he get to make a playoff

(28:28):
start in, in an ALDS situation? Is he is he one of your top
three guys? And right now with the way he's
pitching, I mean, if, if you're planning to win, there's
definitely an argument to be made there.
And that's, that's shocking. That's one of the best stories
in the league this year, I think.
What I ask you about the 2025 draft in the Jays draft and JoJo
Parker and you had mentioned that they were in on him and how
high were you in on him? Also, the Jays drafted 2

(28:50):
Canadians and Tim Piasentin and Micah Bucknam talk about those
two players as well as the draftthat the Blue Jays had.
Yeah, Parker, I think, you know,like we were talking a little
bit before we started recording here that, you know, I think 6
of the 10 first 10 picks were perhaps short stops.
I was I was leaning more collegepitchers again, just to kind of

(29:11):
bolster that taught not that youyou take the best player
available in this situation, especially in baseball.
But if they would have added a, you know, a Liam Doyle that
might have inserted some kind oflike trade.
You save you see him moving through the system rather
quickly. But they got a good one.
And JoJo Parker, you know, they could be set up the middle down
the road with him in the Malla. There's no guarantee that either
of them stick it short stop. It sounds like Parker probably

(29:33):
will you lots to like about his bat smooth swing.
So I think it was a great it wasa great pick.
There's a lot of guys that were interchangeable kind of in that
top ten. You know, a guy like Tyler
Bremner I didn't see going second overall with Canadian
ties. So yeah, yeah, it's really it
was a you can't really argue with the pick.
There's a lot of guys. They probably could have taken
that that would have made sense.But yeah, they were pretty high

(29:55):
on JoJo Parker. Just get in touch on the 2
Canadians and temp setting. And Mike, yeah, PSN obviously
signed away from the University of Miami, so you know he's going
to start his professional career.
Micah Bucknam played on the the same LSU Tigers College World
Series team with Paul Schemes, so he played two years of US.

(30:17):
She then transferred to Dallas Baptist and really got a chance
to thrive there. He was there Friday night
starter for much of the year andgets drafted by the Jays for a
second time. So there's obviously some guys
in that organization that maybe saw both times they drafted out
of high school. So it's interesting to see.
I'll definitely keep an eye on where they kind of rank those
two guys. I would think they would both go

(30:37):
into their top 30 given where the systems.
That's so yeah. It's always exciting to see
Canadians get drafted by the Jays.
Absolutely. But let me ask you this then,
like in this year's draft, was there any name that you thought
maybe, maybe it was a surprise pick?
Because one name that surprised me and he was drafted last year
too, was Jared Spencer from the Longhorns.

(30:59):
And, and they ended up signing him, I think he was drafted by
the Phillies last year and, and he ended up going back to
college. Like it was there a name like
that you thought that kind of surprised you Like, oh, this is
actually a good pick. Besides the Canadians, of
course. Right.
Yeah, No, I think the obviously the big one and like it just
happens to have the Canadian ties as Bremner.
I did not see him going second. A lot of mock drafts had him in

(31:21):
the late teens. Yeah, that kind of the the the
Angels love to draft pitchers though, college pitchers too.
I think last year I think all oftheir picks were pitchers.
So I guess it shouldn't be that surprising.
But it just goes to show how, you know, we can sit here and
talk about the draft all we want.
I analyze it. We do at the Canadian Baseball

(31:42):
Network and all these different platforms.
Do you really never know what's going to happen?
I think that's what makes kind of the baseball draft so
special. Yeah, that was, that was, that
was definitely the shock of, of day one for me.
You could argue Eli, well, it's at #1 too, although he was, you
know, again, that just kind of shows how many guys were kind of
interchangeable at the top end of the draft.

(32:02):
And so much of it has to do with, you know, signability,
signing bonuses, slot pool money, teams kind of
manipulating that they guys later, I think PSN, for
instance, signed over slot to get him away from the University
of Miami. So, you know, there's so much
that goes into, especially in the baseball draft, it's hard to
compare it to to other professional sports leagues.
So is there anybody else that was Canadian that you thought

(32:23):
was drafted or do you think those were the guys you just
messaged are pretty much the ones that are pretty familiar?
I know there were a few Canadians but I could be wrong.
Yeah, there was a ton of Canadians, I mean, Kim Lighter
at Florida State. He has Canadian ties.
OK. Will Hines, Ontario Blue Jays
right-hander is he was headed toWake Forest.
He just signed with the Guardians.

(32:44):
He was 70th overall. Yeah, a ton of guys, I I think.
It was Javelin from the Dodgers.Because World Series with the
Yeah, you're inside. Yeah, he's a, he's with the
Dodgers. You know, Riley Nelson has ties
to Toronto. He was with he, he went to
Vanderbilt. Antoine Jean was a really

(33:05):
interesting guy. Big 12 pitcher of the year for
the University of Houston, pitched out of the bullpen.
It's gonna be interesting to seehow they use him because he
pitched out of the bullpen, but most of his appearances were 4
innings or longer. So they kind of used them as
like a bald guy or the bullet pen.
So I'm really interested to see how he went to the Rockies.
I'm really interested to see howthey use him.

(33:25):
Obviously pitching in Colorado, if you ever makes it, is less
than ideal for any pitcher. But you know, I'm going to be
curious about how he moves along.
And he's an older guy. I think he was a, he's 24.
So he's not going to be a guy that they're going to be.
He's going to be a guy they probably try to move along
pretty quickly. Let's talk about some of the
Canadian players in the Blue Jays system.

(33:46):
Sam Shaw drafted last season, Jason Browns playing well, Adam
Macco and and of course Domiano Palma, Gianni.
Tell us about some of those players and where they might fit
into the Blue Jays plans going forward.
Yeah. So Sam Shaw, it's pretty still
pretty far away, obviously. I think you just got promoted to
Vancouver not too long ago. Good player from Victoria.

(34:10):
Jason Brown won Marley Gold Glove award last year.
It's gonna his he it's going to depend whether he can hit enough
at at a big league level to stick his defence.
And again, we're sitting here talking about the Blue Jays and
and a great defensive player. But you know, that's a guy that
can, you know, you look at a guylike Denzel Clark with the A's,

(34:31):
you know, maybe maybe not quite that good, but but still very
similar. Having won the minor league Gold
Glove. There's definitely value there
to having that in the system. But again, it's going to come
down to his bat. Um, Damiana Parmigiani is funny.
I ran in the Mets spring training.
He had he was, he was called up to play in the big league game.
And he feels like it's just about being consistent and he

(34:52):
and he feels like if he can be consistent through, you know, at
AAA that he can make an impact in the big leagues.
There's probably not a lot of room for him at this point.
Again, it's it's kind of tough with the Blue Jays being in a
for guys like that with the BlueJays being in a win now mode.
So yeah, he he's an engine. He's got some power, which
obviously Blue Jays fans would like.
But yeah, I don't know if it really just depends, you know,

(35:16):
how the roster shakes out and the off season and, you know,
with the team that wants to spend money and wants to win
now, it's tough for some of these guys to breakthrough.
Is there any other Canadians in the JADE system that we're
forgetting or is that pretty much the fore we could remember?
Connor Ohalloran, I saw. Oh yeah, that's right.
Yeah, Yeah, that's another one. About spring training as well.

(35:38):
He just found the full season lol.
Actually I saw he hasn't pitchedsince April.
I don't believe so. But yeah, he's another one.
I might be missing a couple off the top of my head, but yeah,
those are kind of the big ones Ithink.
I think I missed one that you mentioned too.
Yeah, I know there's more, but we're just, there's so many guys
in the system, it's hard to keepup sometimes.
But I think those are the ones, the main ones were.
Yeah, Yeah, well, there's another one.

(36:01):
So looking now and the way Canadian baseball has grown so
much, especially in the MLB, like we could talk about the
Ferguson Jenkins and the Larry Walkers and so on and so forth
and how much it has blossomed, you know, throughout the years.
Now, if you look at the list now, it's incredible.

(36:21):
If you look like one picture from the Mets at Jonah Tong,
probably one of the best pitching prospects in the sport
itself. And and only Casey, like those
guys have risen to the occasion to be top prospects in the
sport. Like how important is that?
And there's other names you could mention like Eric, Karen
Tola from the Royals are slated to broaden from the Orioles or

(36:45):
Denzel Clark who just got calledup.
Like how big is now with Canadian baseball with all these
prospects now and some of these players getting called up and
how important is it to to us Canadians as a whole?
Yeah, I think it's huge. I mean, it's well first watches
national pride. I think anytime, but especially
in a sport other than hockey, whenever you see a Canadian kind
of excelling at something, it itcatches your eye, But it's kind

(37:08):
of a bit of a change in the garden.
Canadian baseball right now. You know, the the older, you
know, you kind of think sometimes with the Joey Votto
and the Justin Mornos and you know, going back, you know, the
1st and Dragons, that's even further back, but you kind of
think of those guys as like the anchors of of Canadian baseball,
and that's changing now. I mean, you look at the big
leagues, you got guys like the nailers, you know, Kate Smith,
there's a brewski, you know, Cowan troll I'm missing, you

(37:32):
know, the list goes on. The nailers.
Yet, you know, and coming up thecases, the tongue know these are
you guys are going to make impacts in the big leagues.
And it's kind of it's, it's an exciting time for Canadian
baseball because you know, there's another world baseball
classic coming up next year and,and going on down the line.
It's it's a bright future for Canadian baseball.

(37:53):
You know, look at some of the more veteran guys like Nick
Pivetta at Jordan Romano. You know, recently is, is is
kind of been a big name on the big league scene.
And so it's definitely an exciting time to be a Canadian
baseball fan and kind of follow these guys.
And it's it's nice to see the game growing and there's been a
lot of investment right down to the grassroots in high school
levels. You look at some of these
academies and elite programs andyou know, they're really keeping

(38:16):
up with the times with these American teams and and these
American high schools and summerball teams.
So getting Greg Hamilton has done a fantastic job with the
junior national team, getting, getting guys exposed to
professional baseball and, and in front of college and
professional scouts. And you look at the Canadian
Futures Showcase just so much tobe excited about with Canadian
baseball. It's and it's not only is it

(38:36):
showing that, it's being, it's exciting, it's producing, it's
producing talent and you're really seeing that year over
year now. So The thing is like when you
look at, when you look at it right now, right, like like you
said, you mentioned Owen Casey said and Jonah Tongs, that's the
big, big names, right? Is there any other names that's
been under the radar that we haven't talked about?

(38:58):
You think that should be mentioned?
Would be like an Edward, Julian or anyone else.
Yeah, Edward, Julian just got called back up by the by the
twins. It's kind of a matter of
opportunity there. Yeah.
You see, the twins kind of fell off and he gets an opportunity.
That's kind of how it works, right?
But there's also I just had somebody who just completely
slipped my mind, but you look ata guy like, you know, I had Kate

(39:21):
Smith very high on my, you know,next thing I get to the big
leagues and and he did. And you look at him and he's,
you know, talk about him being the best guardians reliever and
with what's going on with the manual class at that guy that's
going to be the closer. I mean, so there's guys that pop
up all the time that maybe not even necessarily you're thinking
about. And then all of a sudden you

(39:41):
see, oh, so and so is getting called up and you know, they,
they, they contribute at the bigleague level because they're
prepared to do so. You talk about some of the the
talent that's coming out in Canada and some of the guys
getting noticed. There's a player in next year's
class from Port Coquitlam, BC, plays in Langley and he's

(40:02):
committed to Vanderbilt named Sean Duncan.
What do you know about him? Tell us about him a little bit.
Yeah, he really impressed kind of song for the first time in
the game future showcase last year left-hander you've got the
makings of an ace. I, you know, probably gonna he's
a good chance, I'll say he's gonna probably be the the first

(40:22):
Canadian take in next year's draft committed, committed to
Vanderbilt, which is a very tough commitment.
Obviously a very good program and and takes a lot to get guys
away from that commitment sometimes.
But yeah, definitely, like you mentioned, going to be a top
tech next year, kind of anchors that draft class.
Lots of moving parts though, youknow, but beyond that for for

(40:42):
the draft. But yeah, Duncan's definitely
got to watch in that, in that class when he was at the
Canadian Future Showcase, I think LSU was there to see him
and obviously he ended up deciding on Vanderbilt.
So I think he kind of had his pick of of where he wanted to go
to school, and rightfully so. Is there any other names that
you would think that could be eligible for next year's draft

(41:02):
that should be talked about besides Sean Duncan?
Julian Sabrin for the Ontario Blue Jays.
OK. Jack Pino, who's at Creighton
right now, again, creating a good, good college program.
Those are probably the big guys that I would say right now.
But guys emerge. I mean, you got the Canadian
Future Showcase coming up in September.

(41:23):
Guys tend to put themselves on the map over the course of the
year. But again, it's, it's a, it's a
draft class anchor by Sean Duncan.
So I want to talk a little bit about the Canadian Baseball Hall
of Fame inductees. And it was a great class as a
whole. And, and, and if you look at it,
obviously, you know, the big name was Joey Bats, right?

(41:45):
I mean, talk, talk about him. I mean, how much he has changed
for for not for the Blue Jays, but Canadian baseball.
And you know, if you look at the1516 times in the playoffs, like
how much of a difference maker he was for that team.
And then talk about, you know, Greg Hamilton, of course, for
team Ken and Eric Burdon. And you could talk about the

(42:06):
other names like Amanda AC and Gary Snyder, Arlene Noy, like
how important was this year's draft class and talk about those
guys. And, you know, take your time
and talk about them. Yeah, I think it was just so
diverse, I think, and it always is.
I mean, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame does a great job
and their selection committee and putting on the day.
And I actually had the opportunity to cover it for the

(42:27):
first time this year, which was a lot of fun.
Jose Batista. Yeah.
He, you know, he kind of usheredin the the next generation of
Blue Jays fans. I don't know how you guys are,
but I remember watching the BlueJays and, you know, the 2000s
and it was a lot of lean years from 93 until that 2015.
Team live, just for the record. We were we.

(42:48):
Were the thought of the Blue Jays even making the playoffs
and playing postseason baseball like wasn't even I remember one
year they went, I think they won86 games under John Gibbons in
this first term. And I was as a as I was younger,
I think I was in elementary school or high school, and I was
just thrilled that they won 86 games outside.
Is that really when you look? Back Oh my God, I mean.

(43:08):
It was a bad error. I mean, The thing is like during
the JP Richardi era, like I can't be reminded because like
it was so devastating. Even even Delgado was part of
the 93 team. Like it was unfortunate, right?
Well, I mean, Gorda ashes, another story.
I know he's with Milwaukee now, but but, but The thing is, go

(43:28):
ahead. No, yeah, but yeah, again, you
kind of you go look back at those Jays teams and you think,
you know, obviously they won theWorld Series.
So you think the Jokers, Robbie Allen, Mars, the, you know, all
those guys. But you know, this generation is
going to think of the Jose Batista, the other Encarnacion
owns the you know, the people murder people are going to

(43:49):
remember where they were when, you know, David Price was traded
for, Troy Tulowitzki was traded for.
So that was kind of the new era of Blue Jays baseball.
And then obviously there's a bitof a downturn, but they get by
and bow and they struggle for a few years and now look, you
know, volume low lead them back to the playoffs.
So it's kind of he rejuvenated this franchise for a guy that

(44:11):
came over as a kind of an afterthought from the pirates
and no one really knew what he was going to be.
No one really expected him to bemuch of anything really.
I mean, he really turned turned the game, you know, up in this
country. So that it's it's obviously a
huge honor and well deserved forhim.
But again, it's the diversity I think of this of of this
induction class that really caught my eye.

(44:32):
Eric Bedard obviously played in the big leagues.
Greg Hamilton has had, you know,decades of impact on this game.
But you look at Amanda Asay and Arlene Noga's, you know, really
ushering in two different eras of women's baseball in this
country. Look at Arlene Noga league of
her own. She was a part of.
I mean that, you know, everyone knows that yeah.

(44:52):
And you know, being such a such a great female baseball player,
you know, and then the man that they say more recently,
unfortunately, obviously, you tragically passed away and
wasn't able to, you know, to experience the induction.
But such a such an important role.
I I watched some videos at the Blue Jays did on her impact and,
you know, they were running clinics and whatnot.

(45:12):
And all the young female baseball players that attend and
are now into the game. And the women's national team.
Look, the year before Ashley Stevenson was inducted, the
women's national team is thriving.
So it all you know, it all it all connects is is you know,
from the early nogas, you know, in the when she back when she
played the Amanda, he's saying who knows who's gonna come next?

(45:34):
And it just you truly shows thatthere's opportunities for
everyone in this game in this country, and that's awesome to
see. I guess the glass guy didn't
really touch on with Jerry Schneider, who was instrumental
in the exposed cut from Montreal.
So again, how big is that for baseball, you know, in this in
this country? And you know, we still talk
about the Expos coming back. So do you think?

(45:56):
Do you? Think they ever do because you
know the thing it's like it's unfortunate there's only one
Canadian franchise in the MLB and and you know, there's a
rumor about Vancouver potentially.
I know you got they got the Canadians as the Jays affiliate
and I think Ottawa has been a name because I think they were
affiliate. Explain.
Where the Ottawa links back. Correct.

(46:16):
Yeah, with the Orioles, I believe at 1:00.
Point it was the Orioles too yeah so I I wonder if they ever
get a I mean it'll be great for the sport it keeps more diverse
and you know I do think Montrealdoes does deserve a franchise.
I just don't know if they're going to come back anytime.
So it might be 10 years down theroad or so.
I that's my speculation, right? So.

(46:37):
I hope so. I, you know, whether it happens
or not, I'm not gonna put money on it, but I certainly hope so.
I think 2 teams in Canada is more than justified.
I mean, you see, this is access to the Blue Jays.
You see how well the fans travel, you know, you, you watch
games in Seattle or Minnesota and they seem like home games.
So, and I think it would create a natural rivalry for the Jays.
I remember going to watch, you know, Vladimir Guerrero play for
the Expos against the Jays at atSky Dome.

(47:00):
So I'd love for that to come back.
But I remember I remember when Roger Clemens face Jeff Juden, I
think was 97 and that was that was a matchup for the ages.
And a lot of people, you know, Roger was the saw young favorite
that you're judging was supposedto be the next big thing.
I don't know what happened to Jeff Judah is just that so much

(47:20):
has changed, right with him. And then he went to Cleveland
and just wasn't the same player,right?
So. And and I mean that was back
when they just played the interleague schedule right
there. And I think it was middle of
June or middle of July. They only played a few weeks of
interleague. It wasn't like it is now with
the the slightly more balanced schedule.
So that was and they always played the Expo, so that was
kind of a highlight on the schedule for the Jazz.

(47:41):
I know this last question is a little bit of a tough question
to to gauge, but are there any potential candidates that could
be inducted in 2026 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame?
I'll be honest, I have not seen they haven't announced.
They obviously haven't announcedit yet, but I haven't seen even
who's eligible. I I'm trying to think of

(48:04):
Baseball Canada people that are in.
Joe. Joe is Joe.
Go ahead. No, no, I was just gonna say, is
John Axford been inducted? I.
That's a good question. Hold on.
He should be. He should be on the list.
You should down the list if he should, I would think.
I was thinking Joey Votto, he just retired, but I don't know
how many years would it take to be to be.

(48:27):
Eligible. So you should be the next thing
guide, right? Yeah, you would have to think
right, So. I think your bottle, yeah.
Yeah, for sure. I don't I'd have to double check
the eligibility criteria to be honest with you.
Cause I know obviously like the big leagues are certain amount
of years you have the game before you can be eligible.
I don't know exactly what the criteria is.
That's a question for Kevin Glueof the Canadian Baseball

(48:48):
Network, because he does a lot of work with the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame. Yeah.
And he's. You want to talk about baseball
history, talk to that guy because.
Yeah, he's good. He knows his.
Stuff good. Yeah, Yeah.
Yeah, this is you could hold thewhole podcast on this, trust me.
But I think a couple of yeah. So that that's that's my advice
to you. I'll defer to him on on who

(49:10):
should be the next. Let me let me give you a name
and look, we we just saw Jose Batista got inducted to the Hall
of Fame. What about Edward and
Cardassian? And look without him?
I mean, he was part of history like with the with those Jays
teams as well. Like he revived his career.

(49:30):
He turned out to be a star for the Jays.
Nobody saw this coming. Like he was a throw in for the
Scott Roland a deal I think was Zach Stewart that Richard he
wanted because I think Roland went to Cincinnati.
He wanted to go there and and Edwin turned out to be the best
player in that deal if you thinkabout it.
It's funny. You know who did get traded for

(49:52):
Robinson Diaz. I think they catch.
For Batista and then and then Josh Donaldson is another one
too, I mean. Donaldson too.
He just. Retired not too long ago as
well. Like I would think those guys
would be like, could you see those guys being the level of
excellence down the road? We could, that's obviously the
big question is that's kind of come up especially after Batista

(50:15):
went on the level elections. Is Edwin in Carnassial one up
there? That's a good debate.
They argue both ways and I don'tknow how I, I don't think you
could, I don't know if you couldargue if he was.
I don't know. I think it's I'd, I'd have to
think about it honestly. Um, yeah, it's a good question.
It's a really good question. It's one I've heard before, and

(50:35):
it's one that I can't really come to an answer on to be
honest. With you, yeah.
Because The thing is like, you know, now it's getting
complicated now all of a sudden,right?
Some people say, should John Gibbons be under consideration,
knowing the fact that he's the last manager to win the division
since Cito Gaston, right? Which was a time ago, right.
And, and Josh Schneider has a chance to do it, But it seems

(50:58):
like here in Toronto and it's sotough to win division,
especially the ALE said. I think they'd be careful when
you do stuff like that because what happens if some manager
comes along and wins the division?
You know what I mean? Like, yeah, it's tough.
Gibbons also had a very tough ten years first time through.
He. Did it wasn't and not

(51:19):
necessarily any fault of his ownnecessarily.
I don't think the organization was in a great spot then.
But yeah, I would say I think it's a good conversation.
I don't think Donaldson, I don'tthink Gibbons, I think who
should be on the level of excellence and and likely will
be potentially is Buck Martinez.How's that?
How's that? How's that?

(51:39):
Still not a thing? I I just don't.
Know if you're still current, I mean, the guy played for the
franchise, you know, you managedthe franchise and now he's
obviously doing great work in the in the booth.
I think he goes up for sure. I think he's probably the next
guy that I would put up there, even ahead of Edwin.
Yeah, because like with Buck Martinez, he's like the face of

(52:02):
like Blue Jays media, like as a whole, like we talk about him
and it's Gray hair and and his and his persona and the way he
just, you know, his sayings, right?
Like saying swinging to drive, like, I mean, they're they're
they're classic, right. And Buck Fortunez was, but he's
been working what, almost 40 years?
He was working with TSN before he before he started going to

(52:24):
sports. I mean, he's been on the the
Jays guy because if you look at Dan Shulman like he he should,
he should be in the level of excellence.
Right, that's what I was gonna say.
A guy down the future for not only the level of excellent, but
the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has got to be Dan Shulman.
They're done right? Dan should, I think Blue Jays

(52:47):
fans are they don't really sometimes have spoiled there
with some of these these people they have calling the games
Buckner Tunez and Dan Schulman and Joe said all filling in as.
Well, so that's great, yeah. I mean, Showman's work for ESPN
for years. So it's like, you know.
The best in the business, I mean.
Absolutely. I put him up there when all is
said and done in his career comes to an end.

(53:09):
I mean, you think of the legendary guys like Vin Scully.
Yeah, he's the Vince Scully of Desera and.
Absolutely, man, absolutely. When I think of, you know, I
always like Joe Buck on Fox and a lot of people didn't of his
dad as well. I always liked him and I wish
you were still doing baseball. He did the I think the home is

(53:30):
doing. What?
He saw football now, Yeah. Doing football now Dan Schulman,
I mean, these are the guys that kind of when I think of baseball
and I and I close my eyes and picture again, these are the
guys that are calling and Vin Scully was the same way with the
Dodgers. Obviously you probably the best
to ever do it. But yeah, Dan Schulman is
another another interesting. He has to be right.
I mean, he should be like, whenever that that that

(53:52):
availability happens, because ifyou look at it this way, like I
said, ever since that 15 playoffs, I think he was a radio
guy on ESPN in that ALDS againstthe Texas Rangers.
And I, I heard the reaction to that.
I was like, wow. I was like, is he gonna come
back to Toronto to cover the Jays?

(54:12):
And sure enough, he did it the following year.
Like, yeah, like we said, we should be privileged, you know,
for us to be Torontonians for listening.
A guy like Dan Schulman, he's the best of the business and
he's like. During Sunday Night Baseball for
the. Sunday night baseball for years,
yeah. And you did.
You did. You did college basketball too
for a. Long time so he still does it

(54:35):
and his son now obviously on theon the radio.
Song The Footsteps. Yeah, Ben.
Yeah, also the small restaurant it sounds.
Really good too. Yeah, he's, he's doing a great
job. He's a great guy as well.
And yeah, it's, it's an interesting, it's, it's cool to
see both of them doing it and, and excelling at it and being
some of the better ones in the business.
Yeah, because I think it's important for for, for like

(54:57):
Canadian, even if they're not Jays fans.
I mean, just it's baseball fans as a whole.
How important are these guys forthe sport and for the country
itself? Because like, like you said,
like with Dan Schulman, he's been an icon.
I think he started working with the fan in the in the 90s before
you start going to TSN. And then he just started blowing
up and just got bigger gigs and now he's here once again.

(55:21):
And you know, we should be humbled about it.
And it's great to have guys likethat and and Buck too.
And I believe Buck is going to be back this weekend for the
series against the. Dodgers series opener against
the Dog. Yeah, yeah.
Great news. Those are my like teen years,
like by preteen to teen years ofthose guys.
I even even tabby tabby too. But I think tabby.

(55:42):
Got YEAH and Rod Black back in the day.
Blacks. Another one.
Spine is black. Yeah, Tyler, Yeah.
Yeah. Milwaukee some good night.
Yeah, some good names here for sure, Shulman.
But yeah, these are some Yeah, we're pretty lucky here in
Toronto to and as watching Blue Jays games have these guys

(56:04):
calling these games. Well, Matt bets that we had a
great time here, man. Great insight, great
information, man. Thanks for taking your time to
be here in this episode. Where can we find you in social
media and everywhere else? Yes, so mostly on on X at Betsy
41. My work can be found on the
Canadian Baseball Network and the Canadian Baseball Podcast.

(56:28):
You know, I sit here and I talked about baseball just like
we did just now. So it's a lot of fun guys.
I really appreciate it. And yeah, anytime you want to
talk some Blue Jays, let me know.
Sweet man, never ask them to have you today.
And, and, you know, it's kind ofworried about that last question
because I didn't think there'd be enough, you know, stuff to
really get into with the, but we, we, we made it work, man,

(56:48):
so. We covered a lot.
I think we do this and people some things to think about.
Absolutely, man. It was great having you.
Hopefully, hopefully we can get you back down the road.
That'd be awesome. Yeah, sounds good guys.
I appreciate it. You know, it's important for
Canadian baseball as a whole that it's been growing and it
continues to grow the way it's going.
And I think, you know, having a guy like Matt Betts is a great

(57:11):
guest head. We will place the description
below where you can find Matt, Matt Betts.
But till next time, take care, be kind to each other.
Signing off from the Blue Jays Ave.
Podcast at Tuesday, August 5th, 2025.

(57:51):
Yeah.