When R.A. Dickey was being courted by the Toronto Blue Jays two winters ago, the knuckleballer had a conversation with manager John Gibbons that Dickey later described as establishing “an instant connection” between the men.
“We’re from similar cultures – San Antonio and Nashville,” Dickey said.
Gibbons suggested this past week that rumours of run-ins between himself and Dickey were nothing beyond the normal stress-points of pitcher and manager.
Being an insular personality with your teammates doesn’t necessarily make Dickey a disruptive influence. Roy Halladay was hardly warm and cuddly during his time in Toronto. Yet after the signing of Russell Martin this week, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said publicly that he was turning his attention to the trade market to address the Blue Jays needs, which in no order include a closer, infielder and at least one outfielder — with the latter two commodities preferably being addressed by a left-handed bat. Dioner Navarro might get you one of those, but in truth the area of greatest Blue Jays depth is starting pitching.
Now, you’d think that an organization that balked at trading prospects at the trade deadline for a shot at a playoff spot would be disinclined to move a prized young arm in the winter. That would seem to open the possibility of J.A. Happ or Dickey — less likely, we’re told, Mark Buehrle — being dealt.
But this is a crowded market. The agents for Max Scherzer and James Shields are slow-playing their hands, with Jon Lester getting most of the action. And there are attractive starters who are entering the final years of current contracts and will be eligible for free agency after 2015 — some of who might be traded. The group includes David Price, Rick Porcello, Yovani Gallardo, Matt Latos, Jeff Samardzija, Hisashi Iwakuma, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann (who has already turned down repeated contract extension offers from the Washington Nationals), Doug Fister, Mike Leake, Alfredo Simon and Bud Norris. Buehrle is also in the group, while the Los Angeles Dodgers fully expect Zack Greinke to opt out and try free agency.
Having Dickey under control for 2015 (with a club option for the same figure in 2016 or a $1 million buy-out) would give the acquiring team considerable flexibility, but seldom have major league teams had as many options on the market. Expect Dickey’s name to be all over the Winter Meetings in San Diego in two weeks, but he may have more value to the Blue Jays than anybody else.
GREASING THE SKIDS
How hard is it to be an Edmonton Oilers fan right now? Unstated through one of the slowest rebuilds in NHL history was the idea that their team was doing it the right way; that they were getting better players and had a better plan than the yahoos down south in Calgary; that some day it would all crystallize.
Yet now the Flames are being saluted around the league as “the little red engine that could.” Saturday, the Flames beat the New Jersey Devils in a shootout after a late rally that marked the first time since March 13, 1999 that they’d won a game in which they were trailing by at least two goals in the final three minutes, and were one point back of the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division.
The Oilers lost 7-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks and endured a gut-wrenching walk of shame past fans gathered outside their dressing room.
Edmonton forward David Perron said after Friday’s loss that nothing has changed from last season, seen as a shot at the teams coaching staff and in particular Dallas Eakins.
The issues go beyond Eakins, though. This is an organization that, top to bottom, is terrified of moving out one of its core young players to get better. Seldom has the NHL seen a team with less confidence in its own evaluative powers.
Prioritize each young player, and then move out the lowest. Not hard.
WHAT I LEARNED
The things you learn in a week hosting a sports talk show:
“Jose was a skinny, 160-pounder when he got here from the Dominican Republic who had great bat speed and great arm strength. Jose closed for us as well; he was 95 miles per hour from the mound. Russ’s skill set was being to play everywhere. He was a sponge, wanting to learn the game, always in the weight room wanting to get stronger.”
— Jeff Johnson, who counts Russell Martin and Jose Bautista among 14 big leaguers who have played for him at Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, remembers what the new Toronto Blue Jays teammates were like in their one year together in college.
Jeff Johnson on The Jeff Blair Show
“It was a different group. I mean, we had some big personalities … we almost needed to inject some new blood, the right kind of blood, and Russell’s that kind of guy.”
— John Gibbons, manager of the Blue Jays, seems as interested in Russell Martin’s “attitude framing” as much as his “pitch framing.”
John Gibbons on The Jeff Blair Show
“Right off the bat he identified his younger group. In training camp, he matched them up with veterans. He moved them around … he moved veterans in and what that did is establish fact the that ‘Hey, everything is wide open here.’ If you’re going to be lucky enough to play with (James) Neal and (Mike) Ribeiro, you have got to earn the right.”
— Nashville Predators TV analyst and former NHL coach Terry Crisp discusses how Peter Laviolette has carved one of the best stories in the NHL out of a team that had known only one way to play under predecessor Barry Trotz.
Terry Crisp on The Jeff Blair Show
QUIBBLES AND BITS
(*)Among the free-agent outfielders that have been connected with the Blue Jays is Torii Hunter, who told the St. Paul Pioneer Press this weekend that he will likely make up his mind this week and seemed to suggest he was leaning toward the Minnesota Twins. I’m still hearing from my people that the Blue Jays will ratchet up their pitch to free-agent reliever Andrew Miller, their No. 2 target after Russ Martin. Miller’s agent, Mark Rodgers, wants to get a fourth year for his client and I’m told the Blue Jays experience with B.J. Ryan’s five-year, $47-million deal hasn’t dimmed the team’s interest. Industry sources expect Miller to wait until the Winter Meetings to sign.
(*)Interesting take on defending NBA veterans from Toronto Raptors bench player Chuck Hayes, who helped shut down the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol last week and whose wide load created all sorts of issues for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“There are certain guys, you just know where they are going to take their shots from,” said Hayes, who has logged valuable minutes as the Raptors wait for Jonas Valunciunas’ development to pick up pace. “You know that veterans, some of them, they want to take what are for them high-percentage shots. This time in their careers, guys want to get to money shots. You notice it, you picture it, and try to take it away.”
(*)Got to love the people in our business who say they can’t believe the fuss made when the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t salute fans after their 9-2 shellacking to the Nashville Predators at the Air Canada Centre — who contribute to the misguided notion that it was all a media creation. I don’t believe anybody in the media told the Leafs: “Hey, you know that stick salute thing you do? Drop it, just for yucks.” I don’t know what the Leafs players were trying to do, and it doesn’t seem as if they do either, based on the spin that they were trying to “change things up” as if changing routine after the fact was going to make you better on that particular night. It’s a poor reflection on the Leafs leadership group; a blight in particular on captain Dion Phaneuf. So many tin ears in one place is remarkable.