Maple Leafs putting a lot of faith in Shanahan

I hate to interrupt the celebration surrounding yet another front office bloodletting by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I don’t wish Brendan Shanahan ill will, but …

Wouldn’t this all seem better if we had evidence that Shanahan can build a team? I hate to be that guy but, really, other than Shanahan’s legacy as a player and a vote of confidence from the exiting Tim Leiweke — who is supposed to be on his way out as president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Ltd. — there’s a lot here that’s being taken on faith.

And while I’m a firm believer in analytics and don’t profess to know what if any negative impact that Kyle Dubas and Mark Hunter had on things this season … I wonder whether or not the list of people ready to take on the job of general manager and/or head coach wouldn’t be longer without all this holdover? It’s a safe bet that there have already been back-channel talks with some candidates but seriously, if you were, say, Mike Babcock why the hell would you want this?

The ugly truth is that the Leafs might not end up with Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel or even Dylan Strome, and I’m sorry, if that happens, a lot of people are going to view this season as a waste. The fact is there has been an unspoken trinity of hope throughout this season: Dave Nonis gone, Babcock and McDavid in.

Right now it seems that barring a fluke or some grand, NBA-style conspiracy (seriously, if the NHL was smart the Leafs would get McDavid, because he’s worth less to the league in any other city) one is all Leafs fans will get.

THE ORIGINAL RAY
By Tom Foley’s own reckoning, it was 10 days after the Montreal Expos released him in the summer of 1995 that Chuck LaMar asked Foley if he wanted a job with the expansion Tampa Bay Rays. Lamar had been named general manager of the Rays a month earlier. Foley — a steady, savvy, defensive infielder — had been released on July 26 after the Expos acquired Dave Silvestri from the New York Yankees for minor leaguer Tyrone Horne.

Foley is now the bench coach of the Rays, who will provide the Toronto Blue Jays opposition in Monday’s home opener at the Rogers Centre. It is Foley’s 15th season in a Rays uniform, after breaking in as field coordinator, during which he oversaw the teams very first mini-camp. He was third base coach until Dave Martinez left after last season to join Joe Maddon’s Chicago Cubs staff. Foley has served on the staffs of Hal McRae and Lou Piniella in addition to Maddon. Now, he’s with rookie manager Kevin Cash. Only five coaches have been with their current teams as long.

I asked Foley in a telephone interview whether he could describe a constant thread through Rays history. Helpfully, I suggested young, home-grown pitching — to which he reminded me of the Rays early days of free agency, when they brought in Wade Boggs and Greg Vaughn and Jose Canseco.

"As it evolved — as we got new ownership — we changed things and started to focus on building up," said Foley, who played in 1,108 games with four teams, including eight seasons with the Expos.

Foley is a baseball lifer, but as he told Rocco Baldelli, the Rays first base coach, over breakfast the other day, he’s had off-field jobs including, in no particular order, men’s clothing salesman, construction security, UPS handler "and nuclear medicine."

How is the new Rays manager?

"He’s been really laid-back — Kevin’s more of a ‘let it happen’ kind of guy," Foley said of the former Blue Jays catcher. "Joe could be a little … well, he’d go off the beaten path."

Foley has memories of some lean attendance days as a member of the Expos. Now, the Rays and their attendance issues have been exacerbated by civic politics and an unwillingness to address a stadium issue. Sounds familiar?

"We have a job to do, that’s how we approach it," said Foley. "I mean, I don’t look at it any other way. As third base coach, I got to know some of the really loyal fans we had behind third base and behind the dugout. They are there. We hope it changes."

In the meantime?

"I get to go to the best office. Every day."

QUIBBLES AND BITS

So when did retro-steroids become a thing, anyhow? New York Mets injured closer Jennry Mejia became the fourth pitcher suspended for Stanzolol use this weekend — he was hit with an 80-game suspension — and this has rightly caused the office of commissioner Rob Manfred to begin an investigation. This is the stuff that Ben Johnson tested positive for, and is the steroid equivalent of buying a 1971 Ford Pinto.

We like to poke fun at the Ottawa Senators for their quaintness and sometimes star-crossed history, but in their last 18 seasons they have made the playoffs 15 times, and according to the Elias Sports Bureau the only team with more post-season berths during that time is the Detroit Red Wings. So, who’s laughing now?

I’m suggesting those of us in the few … um, OK, two … NHL Canadian cities and indeed all neutrals hitch their wagon to the Winnipeg Jets during the Stanley Cup playoffs, just because it would be good fun and, well, either you or your family or your friend’s family knows somebody from Winnipeg. Trust me on that.

But unless the St. Louis Blues and Jets hook up in the conference final, the hockey gods messed up a fun narrative: Blues forward Alex Steen is the son of former Jets forward (and Winnipeg city councilor) Thomas Steen while teammate Ryan Reaves is the son of Willard Reaves, one of the city’s most popular and out-going athletes during his five years as a running back with the Blue Bombers. Jordan Reaves, Ryan’s sibling, was signed just last week by the Bombers.

THE END GAME
There is a sense that the San Diego Padres overhaul has done little more than gussied up the team to the point where it will be a .500 club — Canrock dudes Trooper would like these guys: ‘A 3 Dressed Up as a 9’ — but say this, the addition of Matt Kemp will make the Padres-Los Angeles Dodgers series even more spicier than usual. When Kemp collected three RBIs off of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw last Monday, he moved into select company as only three players have had as many RBIs off Kershaw in a season: Adam Dunn (six in 2010), and Ryan Spilboroghs (2009) and Pat Burrell (2008) with five, each.