Tower Talk: August 22, 2013

Blue Jays

Moises Sierra, Kevin Pillar, and Anthony Gose are 3/4 of the Blue Jays current outfield rotation. To say the Jays have had injury problems is probably a vast understatement. Mark Buehrle thinks the Blue Jays lacked the depth to overcome the injuries they faced. I say that’s garbage as 90% of the Jays problems this season stem from poor pitching from guys that were suppose to be in the line up all year. [National Post]

The Blue Jays dropped to 0-9 on the season in New York, and are now a season high 13 games under .500. On a fun note, (unless you’re fun police Mike Wilner) Yankees OF Ichiro Suzuki notched his 4000th professional hit. [TSN]

Stoeten takes another crack at a Griff bag, and as per usual there are some doozies. I feel as if Griff’s henchman at The Star are getting in on the joke and finding questions just to get Stoeten going. [DJF]

Bills

The Bills were given a roster spot exemption following the signing of Jairus Byrd. The exemption allows them to carry one extra roster player, meaning they don’t have to make an extra cut to accommodate Byrd, until after their final preseason game. Good news for all of the fringe guys fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster. [The Globe & Mail]

Rian Lindell was not on the job market long following his release from the Bills. The veteran kicker has found a new home in Tampa Bay with the Bucaneers. [TSN]

Jairus Byrd may now be under contract, but that doesn’t mean that he’s happy. The two-time Pro Bowl free safety hasn’t yet demanded a trade but is said to be “open to one”, according to a source informed of Byrd’s thinking. If Byrd truly wants to be the highest paid safety in the league in might be best for the Bills to be open to trading him if their season begins to go south. [NFL.com]

Who do you think is going to be the Bills MVP? Compare your Bills predictions with those at Bleacher Report! [Bleacher Report]

Maple Leafs

Rosie Dimanno is apparently enraged that the Toronto Maple Leafs, a for-profit business, is increasing its revenue streams by raising select ticket prices! It’s an outrage, how dare they hold up their fiduciary duty to their shareholders and maximize profits! If you don’t want to pay, don’t go. It’s a simple as that. [Toronto Star]

NHL.com does a nice little round-up on the Maple Leafs Top-10 prospects heading into this season. It’s always nice to look at these lists and see future NHL contributors…something that didn’t happen in the JFJ era in Toronto. [NHL.com]

NHL.com actually has an entire line-up of Leafs related stories today as part of their 30 in 30 series. So just head over there and read them all.

Raptors

Is Demar Derozan a building block or trade bait for the Toronto Raptors? It’s something that remains to be seen and can hinge on his performance early in the upcoming season. In defence of Demar, the same can be said for literally every other Raptor not named Jonas Valanciunas. [Bleacher Report]

The Raptors had a big offseason that was full of little moves. Zach Harper at CBS Sports appreciates what Masai Ujiri is trying to do, (i.e. not look for a band-aid solution), and rates the Raps offseason accordingly. [CBS Sports]

Dwayne Casey believes that Terrence Ross has the most potential of any player on the Raptors roster, and that Ross is the most talented player he’s coached. Whether he actually believes this or is using it to get Ross fully committed remains to be seen, but the comments are interesting nonetheless. [Raptor Blog]

Argos

John Cornish is questionable for the Stampeders in Friday’s game vs the Argos. Good news for the Argos, as Cornish’s ability to grind out first downs on the ground would help in keeping the ball out of Ricky Ray‘s hands as much as possible. [CBC]

Speaking of Ricky Ray, he thinks that this year’s Argos are better than last year’s Grey Cup championship team, and with the way that they’ve been playing that’s hard to argue with. [TSN]