Tower Talk: August 28, 2013
By Travis
Not Outta Here? Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Blue Jays
This season I have attended in the neighbourhood of 20-25 Jays games as a paying customer, and until last night I had stayed and watched through the entire 9+ innings of every game. With the Jays once again getting trounced by the Yankees, I couldn’t handle it anymore, and decided to head out in the 7th inning to catch the rest of the game at home where I could drink my sorrows away for a much more reasonable price. If you didn’t watch the game, and don’t want to suffer similar angst, you probably shouldn’t read the game recap. [Toronto Star]
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Blue Jays are keeping John Gibbons on as Manager for the 2014 season. I considered writing about it, but realized that I won’t be able to convince his haters he’s a good manager, just as those same people will never be able to convince me he deserves to be fired (mainly because it’s ridiculous). [Jays Journal]
Paul Quantrill is a roving pitching instructor for the Blue Jays this season, he makes appearances at each Blue Jays minor league affiliate and works with the team’s top prospects refining their skills towards the organizational philosophy. Getting a chance to talk to Quantrill opens up a treasure trove of Jays pitching prospect related tidbits. [Jays Journal]
The Blue Jays are sending 7 of their top prospects down to play in the Arizona Fall League including Marcus Stroman. Since the AFL doesn’t kick off until October 8th it’s entirely possible that we still see Stroman with the Jays in September, but I think this is a sign that the Jays are going to get him work without having to add him to the 40-man roster. [Bluebird Banter]
The Blue Jays are going to have to do some serious salesmanship this offseason to get back in the fans good graces. [DJF]
Bills
To say the Buffalo Bills have faced adversity before this season has even started could be construed as an understatement. A holdout by their franchise safety, injuries to their top 2 QBs, and an injury to their top cornerback is not the way they envisioned training camp going. [Hamilton Spectator]
CJ Spiller’s absence from training camp has been due to the death of his step-grandfather. The Bills have granted him this leave in order to grieve, but it may be beneficial from a football perspective to give him time to heal up from the bumps and bruises sustained so far in training camp. [Bleacher Report]
After just 3 practices, both Matt Leinart and Thad Lewis are expected to see action against the Detroit Lions in the Bills final game of the Preseason. [BuffaloBills.com]
Maple Leafs
Jay McClement is excited about the Leafs’ new identity, which is apparently one with a hardworking, blue collar attitude? [National Post]
The New Jersey Devils signed Adam Henrique to a 6-year $24-million contract. Is it possible that this is bad news for the Leafs in their negotiations with Nazem Kadri? Henrique struggled mightily in his sophomore year scoring just 11 goals and five assists in 42 games last season. [Hockey Buzz]
Phil Kessel is unsure about his future with the Maple Leafs, or at least he isn’t publically stating his intentions as doing so would greatly hinder his leverage in negotiating with the Leafs heading into free agency. Bottom line: Kessel is going to get paid, and if the Leafs are willing to cough up the money (which they should be) he’ll be back in blue & white. [Toronto Sun]
Raptors
The last few seasons has seen Rudy Gay‘s shooting numbers steadily decline. One possible reason? The Raptors’ small forward was in need of vision correction, but did not feel comfortable wearing contact lenses or prescription goggles, because being comfortable is so much more important than the ability to see clearly in a game where depth perception is a ridiculously important physical attribute. [Toronto Star]
Raptors Republic does the good stuff, delving into the synergy sports statistics to take a look at where the Raptors’ offense will come from next season. [Raptors Republic]
My favourite Raptor of all time Tracy McGrady has officially retired from the NBA. T-Mac was literally the only reason that I was cheering for the Spurs to take down the Heat in this year’s NBA Finals. [CBC]
The Raptors have had some extremely poor starting 5’s in their kind of sad history, but what is the worst of all time? [Raptors HQ]