Tower Talk: August 19, 2013

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Blue Jays

Former Blue Jays prospect Travis d’Arnaud made his Major League début for the New York Mets. d’Arnaud was traded along with others to the Mets in exchange for R.A. Dickey this past offseason. His call up is sure to incite hysteria among the very same fans that lauded the trade at it’s inception. I don’t wish ill upon anyone, but an injury prone catcher on a team like the Mets? I’d be overly impressed if he even makes it through the rest of the season healthy. Also in very Mets: the team didn’t have a lower case “d” for d’Arnaud’s jersey so they had to use an upside down “p”. Which is all kinds of fantastic. [CBC]

Just months after being declared a bust by a vocal and unbelievably ignorant section of the Toronto Blue Jays fan base, Brett Lawrie has once again reminded the Jays that he has the potential and abilities to become a star in this league. Finally getting healthy, and getting in enough reps to make the necessary adjustments, Lawrie’s offense is once again catching up to his stellar defense. [Toronto Star]

Throwing pitches right down the middle of the plate translates into bad things for a pitcher. It’s something you learn from the moment you start playing little league, but that doesn’t mean pitchers stop throwing meatballs right down the dick. What Blue Jays pitchers have been guilty of tossing meatballs that have turned into taters? Are you as hungry as I am now? [Bluebird Banter]

Pillar vs Gose, Gose vs Pillar…unless something dramatically changes this offseason, the 2014 Blue Jays will have room for one of these outfield prospects on the roster, and their play through the last two months of the season could go a long way into deciding who gets that spot. [Jays Journal]

This has nothing to do with the Toronto Blue Jays aside from that it was between two fellow AL East rivals, but the whole Ryan Dempster/ARod drama from last night was amazing. First, there’s the irony of Boston fans ripping on ARod for his PED use when they idolize David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, second there’s the absolute stupidity of cheering a man getting hit up and in with a pitch, when a baseball to the head could cause very serious injury, then there’s the absolute epic-ness of ARod shutting everyone up with an absolute bomb to center, followed by a home run trot with just enough pimping to rub it in everyone’s face without being excessive. Pure awesome. I can’t believe this whole PED thing has me on team ARod, but here we are.

Bills

The Bills moved to 2-0 on the preseason with a 20-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Friday night. EJ Manuel once again looked like he belonged with an extremely solid performance, seemingly taking control of his destiny in the starting QB competition as Kevin Kolb struggled in his return to action. [ESPN]

Just when it looked as if the starting job was becoming EJ Manuel’s to lose, we find out he required a minor procedure on his knee and would miss the remainder of the preseason. Unless Kevin Kolb looks absolutely awful over the next few weeks, I expect to  see Manuel start the season with a clipboard in hand, at least until Kolb plays his way out of a job. [USA Today]

Kicker Rian Lindell was the Bills longest tenured player, but a combination of a deteriorating skill set and an unattractively high base salary spelled his demise with the team. [SB Nation]

Maple Leafs

Dave Nonis expects to have Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson both signed before the start of training camp. I’m going to assume he’s currently arranging for a large briefcase full of money to be “accidentally” left on their doorsteps in order to facilitate the pair signing for far under market value? [TSN]

Where will the Leafs finish this season? I personally am withholding any predictions until Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson are both signed before deciding, but given they get both under contract, they should be in a dog fight to get into the playoffs. [Editor In Leaf]

Raptors

A recent study has shown the NBA 2 guards often reach the peak of their development in their third year, and some often make a leap in their second season. I’m not sure why this led RaptorsHQ to think that Raptors sophomore guard Terrence Ross may be running out of time since we’ve yet to see him play a minute in his second season, but here it is anyways. [Raptors HQ]

Steve Novak is an exceptional three-point shooter in the NBA. Steve Novak is not very good at finding a way to get his own shot. In order to properly use their newest asset, the Raptors need to find a way to get him open shots, and here’s how they can do that. [Raptors Republic]

TFC

Their two game winning streak is now a thing of the distant past as a hapless TFC lost on the road to Columbus Crew. [Toronto Sun]

Or if you’d rather not read about the Reds awful effort, you can listen in Podcast form thanks to Walking The Red. [Walking The Red]

Argonauts

One of the keys to success for a sporting franchise is to properly assess assets, and depart with declining assets before they become a hindrance. Since in sports, human beings tend to be these assets, decline is not a linear thing that can be perfectly predicted, so  sometimes when you think you’re making the right move by selling a declining asset, you’re actually just trading away the league’s best player like the Edmonton Eskimos did with Ricky Ray. Over his past 3 games, Ray has been as close to perfect as you can get, and clearly makes the Argos the favourites from the East for the Grey Cup at this point in the CFL season. [CTV News]