When Writers Who Work For The Blue Jays Blast Management, It’s The Beginning Of The End
Shi Davidi is a long time well-respected baseball writer who is supposed to be the ‘Peter Gammons’ of Blue Jays Reporters. He also happens to work for the parent company that owns the team, Rogers Media. A couple of years ago I commented that Shi wrote a “Spin Piece’ suggesting the Blue Jays were ‘well positioned’ after losing out on Edwin and multiple free agents to ‘Be Flexible.’ It was my personal opinion based on their shitty offseason that Shi was an employee looking for a morsel of upside.
As it was explained to me on more than one occasion, “we don’t eat our own” in regards to the team and Shi. Understandable, sometimes extreme, but I get it.
Fast forward to the end of 2018. Shi wrote the article below basically explaining and criticizing Blue Jays management after MLBPA released a statement contradicting Jays pres Mark Shapiro’s assertion Keeping UBER prospect Vlad Guererro Jr In the minors wasn’t a business decision (which it was and is).
MLBPA says refusal to call up Vladimir Guerrero Jr., “is a business decision, not a baseball decision. It’s bad for the #BlueJays, it’s bad for fans, it’s bad for players and it’s bad for the industry.” https://t.co/ie4Kl7eohY
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) September 7, 2018
Source – There is a downside, a substantial one, for the Toronto Blue Jays in keeping Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in the minors all season as a way to contain his service time, and it will only get worse if they delay his 2019 debut long enough to steal an extra year of club control.
Yes, the business case for keeping him down is pretty convincing in that if the club waits roughly two weeks before bringing him up next year, the gilt-edged prospect’s eligibility for free agency would be pushed back an entire year, from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025.
If Guerrero becomes the player he’s widely projected to be, that extra season is worth tens of millions. It’s quite significant.
Still, of all the positive lessons the Blue Jays have been driving into the 19-year-old, the last message they want to leave him with is that the front office will use the rules of the game to screw him financially when it has the upper hand.
To be clear, the Blue Jays’ actions this year reinforce precisely that, as they refused to call up Guerrero throughout a summer in which he posted near-historical minor-league numbers at double-A New Hampshire and triple-A Buffalo; kept him down despite objective measures projecting him to right now be among the game’s most elite hitters and sent him to the Arizona Fall League while the active big-league roster is up to a bloated 35 players.
Those actions have put the Major League Baseball Players Association on watch, too.
“The union’s position on service-time manipulation is clear, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and other great young talents around baseball have earned the right to play on the field for a major-league team,” a players association spokesman told Sportsnet on Thursday. “The decision to not to bring him up is a business decision, not a baseball decision. It’s bad for the Blue Jays, it’s bad for fans, it’s bad for players and it’s bad for the industry.”
The comment from the union comes a day after Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro told MLB Network radio that keeping Guerrero down, “has nothing to do with business.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWjpcJJV_g
Interesting read for a couple of reasons:
- Shi is a great writer and everyone works for someone. He’s credible and sharp.
- A piece like this means the Shapiro/Mets rumors are more than rumors. Rogers is (rightfully) very protective of all the brands in its universe, so I have personal doubts an article like this criticizing management coming from someone like Shi happens if Shapiro and Atkins were well regarded or doing a bang up job. Again. Just my opinion.
- The criticism is long overdue, warranted, and the Vlad Jr situation is purely about control. Pissing him off seems counterproductive to building team trust and rewarding players (especially one that hit .400 this year).
- Combine the worlds shittiest return for Josh Donaldson, telling Edwin to take a hike two years ago, striking out on every targeted FA, keeping baseballs best prospect off an MLB field looks like the work of brutally incompetent/sneaky people who think they are smarter than the game and its fans.
If I’m a betting man, Shapiro goes to NY, and the Jays know he’s gone so someone has to wear this shitty necklace. Looking at his body of work, Mark should have it tattoed before he leaves.
Maybe that’s what they’re doing. Maybe not. This Offseason will dictate how smart I think I am.
Dean Blundell
Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.