• Donaldson decision intrinsic to Jays’ future
• Raines, Selig make odd-fitting HOF classmates
• Cavs’ Irving doing damage with trade demand
TORONTO — The problem, of course, is that the whole rebuild/retool/rejig/reallocate/re-whatever debate won’t die with the passing of Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline on Monday.
Francisco Liriano will likely be dealt. He’s been decent enough. Joe Smith would seem to be the type of useful bullpen piece that could be put in a package that might make an otherwise ‘meh’ deal become a little sexier and increase the return coming to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Dan Shulman wonders if maybe Marco Estrada isn’t more apt to be dealt in one of those August deals after he’s cleared waivers and, maybe, cobbles together some decent outings. I wonder if maybe Dan isn’t right, and – I don’t know – would somebody give away something for Jose Bautista’s right-handed bat if the Blue Jays pick up the remainder of his contract?
And what if nothing happens at all?
Truth is, no question is more intrinsic to what the Blue Jays will be than what happens to Josh Donaldson. He’s a year away from free agency, having a tepid offensive and defensive season — he says he’s healthy, which only serves to make the drop-off more of a concern — and you’d have to think the Blue Jays will punt on making a call until the winter. It’s what two other teams with cornerstone players ready to be part of the greatest free-agent class in baseball history after next season – the Baltimore Orioles with Manny Machado and the Pittsburgh Pirates with Andrew McCutchen – appear set to do.
Machado, of course, is on a different plane than either of the other two, but the Orioles are making noise about wanting to start the season with him and then address a deal at the next trade deadline. Essentially, the Orioles’ thinking is this: Keeping Machado for the first half of next season gives them a better chance of contending for the 2018 playoffs than whatever they’d get in return for him now. If he is moved at the next deadline, the return should still be significant. In other words, having their cake and eating it, too.
I’ve been clear on this for the past two years: The Blue Jays should have signed Donaldson to a long-term deal after his first season here. Sure, it would have been pricey; it probably would have precluded bringing back Bautista or signing Kendrys Morales. But with a $160-million payroll, it would have been no anchor. And now the Blue Jays have to sign Donaldson for next season — his two-year deal is done this year — by coming to a deal or going to salary arbitration after what could end up being a fruitless, frustrating 2017 season.
True, Donaldson will be motivated as hell in 2018 because he’s in a walk year, but… well, I just don’t have a good feeling about this. Not at all. It reeks of complications. We’ve become smug with some of the recent success of the Leafs, Raptors and Jays, but let’s not forget Toronto’s habit of sloppy and sometimes antagonistic divorces with star athletes.
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HALL OF FAME CLASSMATES… NOT BFFS
Bud Selig, who is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend, turns 84 years of age on Sunday — and you wonder if fellow inductee Tim Raines will take part in any singing of “Happy Birthday.”
Never mind that it was Selig as baseball commissioner who oversaw the exit of the Expos from Montreal. It was in Selig’s role as Milwaukee Brewers owner that he was implicated in baseball’s collusion scandal, which saw owners forced to pay out a total of $280 million (U.S.) in 1990 after an arbitrator ruled that they had colluded to artificially suppress free-agent salaries in the late 1980s.
According to the Associated Press, Raines received $1,131,109 for lost wages as part of the settlement and another $34,000 for lost licensing money. Raines, after all, had reason to expect a big payday in the winter following the 1986 season, He was coming off a batting title, a season in which he was a 5.5 WAR player with 54 extra-base hits — including 35 doubles — and stole 70 bases while posting an OPS of .889. He was an all-star, just 27 years old, and finished sixth in MVP voting.
And he received three contract offers.
Three.
The best offer came from the Expos: three years, $4.8 million. Raines, who was paid $1,515,000 in 1986, turned it down. The Houston Astros and San Diego Padres, meanwhile offered even less money, so Raines held out. And held out. Four months after electing free agency, Raines re-signed with the Expos at $5 million for three years. Twenty-four hours later, Raines went 4-for-5 with a walk, a triple and a 10th-inning grand slam in an 11–7 win over the New York Mets.
I hope that story is told this weekend. Oh… and Happy Birthday, Bud.
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QUIBBLES AND BITS
• Youth continues to be served in Major League Baseball: When the San Diego Padres’ Hunter Renfroe homered off Mets pitcher Seth Lugo on Tuesday he became the third rookie with 20 home runs (Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are the others) before Aug. 1. That’s only happened once before: 1987, when Mark McGwire, Bo Jackson and – wait for it – Matt Nokes all reached the 20-HR mark before the calendar turned.
• Interesting hearing Martin Brodeur, the St. Louis Blues assistant general manager who is part of Hockey Canada’s management team for the 2018 PyeongChang games, tell The Jeff Blair Show on Wednesday that one of the quirks of the tournament now that NHL players won’t be going is that some of countries that are often medal outliers – such as Germany and the Czech Republic – will be competing on a more level playing field. Teams such as Sweden, in particular, will be hurt to a greater degree by the exclusion of NHLers.
Look: I understand fans are angry that the best players in the world won’t be there, but let’s be honest: This is a one-off. There will be too much money and marketing juice in Beijing in 2022 for the NHL to not be part of it. In the meantime, hockey fans would be advised to refresh their memories of Olympic competitions before the North American pros got involved. Embrace the romance of it and know that no matter who is competing in this event, the U.S. will find a way to screw up as usual.
• R.J. Barrett was a pretty big deal before leading Canada’s Under-19 men’s team to its title at the FIBA World Championships in Egypt, where he averaged 21.6 points, 8.3 boards and 4.6 assists per game. The Mississauga-born son of national-team stalwart Rowan Barrett — who plays for Montverde Academy in Florida — was already considered the No. 1–ranked high school player for the class of 2019, but his stock has risen further, with suggestions in the recruiting newsletter 24/7 Sports that Barrett will formally visit Michigan, Duke, Kentucky and Oregon.
Kansas, UCLA and Arizona have also extended offers, with Barrett saying his father – who played at St. John’s and is currently executive vice-president and assistant general manager of Basketball Canada – is handling all the discussions and correspondence with the schools. Barrett also has the option of “re-classifying,” which would allow him to become a part of the 2018 class and allow him to enter both college and, potentially, the NBA a year ahead of schedule.
A LOOK AHEAD
FRIDAY
• FINA women’s world water polo championships, bronze-medal game, Canada vs. Russia: Canada goes for its first medal since a silver in 2009 as competition wraps up in Budapest, Hungary. Canada upset the host Hungarians 6–4 in quarter-final play before losing 12-10 to Spain in the semi-finals.
• Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers: The National League’s Central Division–pennant race hogs the spotlight this weekend as the Milwaukee Brewers, who slipped half a game behind the Cubs into second place Wednesday when they lost to the Washington Nationals and the Cubs beat the White Sox. The Brewers will face Jose Quintana, one of the first and likely most significant trade chips to fall during this non-waiver deadline period, in the first game of a three-game series. The Brewers have surprisingly spent 65 days in first place – including from May 27 until Wednesday – but the division is tightening.
SATURDAY
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC at FC Dallas: The Caps hold down the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, seven points back of first-place Dallas.
SUNDAY
• New York City FC at Toronto FC: How much playing time Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Justin Morrow get after the conclusion of the CONCACAF Gold Cup remains to be seen, as the Reds’ depth is being tested by injuries – the latest to Benoit Cheyrou, who is out for eight weeks with a calf tear. NYCFC is in third place in the Eastern Conference, three back of first-place TFC and one back of second-place Chicago Fire.
• Formula 1: The Hungarian GP goes at the twisting Hungaroring, where Lewis Hamilton has shown a mastery that used to be reserved for Michael Schumacher. Only Schuie has more poles than Hamilton (seven, compared to five), and the latter is one of just three drivers to have won more than twice in the circuit’s 30 years. His five wins lead Schumacher’s four and Ayrton Senna’s three. Vroom-vroom.
THE ENDGAME
Kyrie Irving is too good a player for somebody to not want him, but – man — I’m not certain that a guy who isn’t happy sharing the spotlight with the greatest player of his generation is somebody I’d want on my team. Does that mean that any team acquiring Irving must now check with him before it brings in another star?
I mean, I guess if nothing else we could view Irving as being something of a stony individualist at a time when everybody worries about “super teams” being created by mercenary stars. But I’m not willing to give Irving that much benefit of the doubt.
Jeff Blair hosts The Jeff Blair Show from 9 a.m.-Noon and Baseball Central from Noon-1 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 590/The Fan
