Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Last Week of Summer Camp

The Jays are going into their final week of camp homeless.

Right now the options appear to be...

Play in Buffalo (needs light upgrades and has a small locker room)
Play in Dunedin (COVID central)
Play in Pittsburgh (just 3 series conflicts - July 29th, Sep 8-9, and Sep 21-24)
Flip flop between Baltimore and Washington (Washington needed to go through tons of hoops too, but at least the roadmap is established there)
Flip flop between Yankee Stadium and the Mets park (one total conflict still sits on Aug 11-12)
Play all 'home' games at the road park, thus making life easier for all opponents (the Expos had to do this in 1991 from September 17 to the end, 12 games in all (5-7 in a year they went 71-90).

An article on this from Sportsnet and another from The Washington Post just to give how this is seen from down south. Players all over are worried about this season and the mess it is already. I'm glad we are getting some baseball to watch but who knows how it will all end up in the end?

As to other Jays news...

Chase Anderson on the IL with an oblique strain.
Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. dealing with 'left side discomfort' but is day-to-day, not IL.
Ken Giles wants an extension as he probably sees the writing on the wall for relievers and all other free agents this winter. The smart move for him and others is to get an extension done if they can.

An interesting tidbit also is that MLB is looking to fully take over the minors which probably would lead to teams being locked in long term for minor league assignments (ie: Buffalo locked in as Jays affiliate long term). I'd expect a lot of the minors to get shuffled into indy leagues after this. 4 teams in the minors per ML club is the goal of the majors and COVID is the perfect excuse to force it as most minor league teams will be in deep financial trouble now so easy to cut them out and tell the others 'this is the new way of the world, take it or go away'.

As always, lets hear more news as it comes. Who has looked good on TV so far? What are you all hearing about which players might have a strong 2020?

Posted by John Northey on Monday, July 20 2020 @ 02:52 AM EDT.

Last Week of Summer Camp | 23 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

bpoz - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 09:36 AM EDT (#388221) #

Lots happening with the Jays. Too many unknowns to figure out anything.

Shapiro seems to be the spokes person regarding where the Jays will play. That is good. If his 4th best location is the one I am sure he will spin it like that was the best choice. That is the best way to deliver news.

I expect about 45 players to play for the Jays this season. Just a feeling that factors in covid, injuries and fringe players getting hot and playing and then getting cold and not playing.

scottt - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 09:56 AM EDT (#388222) #

I don't see a Giles extension but a competitive offer isn't out of the question.

scottt - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 10:07 AM EDT (#388223) #

MLB.com still has 41 players on the reserve list. I suppose they can get around that by keeping players on the IL for covid reasons, but that doesn't seem right.

Also, Pearson will have to be added in a few weeks.

If someone test positive, they can put him on the IL and promote someone to the active and 40 roster to take his spot, but once the person comes back, it seems like the person that was promoted might need to be outrighted, so basically you can promote only guys already on the 40, or disposable vets or need to push somebody else out to make a spot.

rtcaino - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 12:02 PM EDT (#388224) #

Shapiro seems to be the spokes person regarding where the Jays will play. That is good. If his 4th best location is the one I am sure he will spin it like that was the best choice. That is the best way to deliver news.

Then Atkins will come on talking about how many days of control they just acquired with the new ballpark and how excited he is.

"Between Pittsburg, Dunedin, Buffalo, and Toronto, we have almost four full seasons of control, which I'm very excited about... None of the arrangements currently meet minimum acceptable standards. But we did acquire a lot of control, and I think that's just great."

bpoz - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 12:56 PM EDT (#388225) #

Thanks rtcaino.

The players have spoken. Which is ok by me. They may not be doing the discussions. Bass and maybe a few others have said "want a ML stadium". This is good.

If Atkins signs for location A and Shapiro signs for location B I will be ticked off. IMO. That is a failure to communicate. I honestly cannot see that happening.

bpoz - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 01:06 PM EDT (#388226) #

The 40 man has 41 players currently I think. 4 are on the 10 day IL. Drury, J Davis, Luciano and Font. So that means 3 open spots if I understand this system correctly.

5 catchers is too low a number. An in game injury to Jansen or McGuire will bring in the taxi squad catcher. He will need to be added to the 40 man. 5 may not be enough.

With the game in Boston tomorrow I don't think the players going will be coming back to Canada. But I don't know.

John Northey - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 01:33 PM EDT (#388227) #

The latest is a week to get Buffalo set up. That includes lights and expanding clubhouses into the private suites (guess some players would have a bit of a hike to the field). To see what the suites look like go here.

John Northey - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 01:40 PM EDT (#388228) #

For catchers - the Jays used 4 last year, 4 in 2018, 6 in 2017, 3 in 2016 and in 2015. 5 should do the trick unless a big injury bug hits. Odds are for the extended summer camp coaches will do some catching as well thus reducing the need in summer camp. Wouldn't be shocked if teams sneak in a catcher or two over the 60 man limit for camp too.

hypobole - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 02:32 PM EDT (#388229) #

So the original plan was the major league team in Toronto and the balance of the 60 man in Buffalo? If the Jays play in Buffalo, what happens to the rest of the 60 man?

bpoz - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 02:53 PM EDT (#388230) #

Shapiro and Co are very meticulous when it comes to details. I believe this. So they were prepared for and had made arrangements in case of the Fed govt refusal. An announcement will come soon I suppose. I hope everything works out.

StephenT - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 08:09 PM EDT (#388231) #

The Jays could live in NYC with their families Sept 7-24 (18 days) by just using the visitors' clubhouses during that time; their only 3 days out of town would be for a bus trip to PHI.

P.S. That Washington Post article says "players can't leave the hotel during road trips".

Mike Green - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 09:43 PM EDT (#388232) #

Jesse Barfield tweeted video and audio of Austin Martin taking BP. It's loud. The angle wasn't great but the swing reminded me of Robin Yount more than Anthony Rendon.

scottt - Monday, July 20 2020 @ 11:26 PM EDT (#388233) #

The players don't want to play in Buffalo.
The front runner seems to be Pittsburgh which is not ideal because all the NLC and ALC will player there also. Baltimore is possibly option number 2. Washington could be 3. Florida does not look interesting at all.

The rest of the player pool will play in Buffalo.
I hope that if any reporter follows the team to the US, none of them will be able to reenter Canada.
Otherwise, it's a complete joke.

Option 5 would be to play in Buffalo and move the player pool to Rochester.

John Northey - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 01:04 AM EDT (#388234) #

Just read that the Jays are negotiating with Pittsburgh to play there. Makes sense - natural grass, opened in 2001, multiple hotels very close (across the street) from the park. A highway blocking the park/hotels from the rest of the city thus cutting down temptation for the players. That could work.

Shoeless Joe - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 06:44 AM EDT (#388235) #

Montoyo revealed that Ryu and Shoemaker will start Friday and Saturday with Sunday a question mark. Thornton pitches Wednesday in Boston so he likely starts on Monday. Tonight Pearson starts and Borucki follows him so it will be interesting to see if Borucki shows enough to hold off Pearson for at least one turn in the rotation.

Chuck - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 07:34 AM EDT (#388236) #

Just read that the Jays are negotiating with Pittsburgh to play there.

What's to stop the city of Pittsburgh from returning the wrong team to the city of Toronto when this is all over and done with? Can they be trusted?

bpoz - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 08:51 AM EDT (#388240) #

Thanks Chuck. Hahaha.

bpoz - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 11:00 AM EDT (#388245) #

38 players going to Boston. I counted 22 pitchers. K Matheson writes about it.

bpoz - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 11:58 AM EDT (#388246) #

I will listen to the game tonight. I hope the announcers say something about the adjustment the Boston hitters have to make from hard throwing righty Pearson to not as hard throwing lefty Borucki. The more details the better.

rtcaino - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 05:08 PM EDT (#388253) #

What's to stop the city of Pittsburgh from returning the wrong team to the city of Toronto when this is all over and done with? Can they be trusted?

I don't think they can be. That ballpark has been known for piracy.

bpoz - Tuesday, July 21 2020 @ 05:53 PM EDT (#388258) #

Piracy!! Hahaha.

ISLAND BOY - Wednesday, July 22 2020 @ 11:00 AM EDT (#388283) #

A pirate walks into a bar wearing full pirate regalia but also has a ship's steering wheel strapped around his groin area. The bartender took his order, then curiosity made him ask," Hey, Long John, do you know you're wearing a steering wheel ?"
" Arrr, I know," replied the pirate. " It's driving me nuts !"

bpoz - Wednesday, July 22 2020 @ 11:07 AM EDT (#388284) #

Hahaha. Thanks ISLAND BOY.

Last Week of Summer Camp | 23 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.