3 Canadians the Toronto Raptors could sign in free agency

3 Canadians the Toronto Raptors could sign in free agency

As the only NBA team north of the border, the Toronto Raptors take great pride in their Canadian roots. With the Toronto area also being the country’s top producer of NBA talent, the Raptors have made it a point to give Canadian hoopers a spotlight in Toronto. With free agency approaching quickly, the Raptors have […]
3 Canadians the Toronto Raptors could sign in free agency – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Nolan Fluke / Raptors HQ

5 ideal candidates for the Leafs general manager job

It’s been 12 days since Kyle Dubas was fired. As the dust continues to settle, the Leafs are edging closer to finding their next General Manager. As the search continues, I examined all of the names that have been rumoured to be in the running, and come up with my personal top five.
Some names on this list might not be currently attainable, but these are the five that I believe are best suited to be successful (and are somewhat realistic). One name in particular looks poised to take the reins, and is the current betting favourite.
#5. Eric Tulsky
Tulsky’s days as an Assistant General Manager appear to be limited. It’s been widely reported that he has interviewed for other vacant General Manager roles, and I believe he will be appointed somewhere sooner rather than later. Tulsky’s background is certainly unique. He has been with the Carolina Hurricanes for nine years, but prior to that, he was an inorganic chemistry wiz. He holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard, and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Tulsky was an elite individual contributor but also managed teams that enabled unique nanotechnologies to solve complex problems in multiple fields. Yeah…
Since …

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Author: Bennett Jull / The Leafs Nation

Blue Jays score seven in the first three frames to bury Brewers 7-2

Maybe all it took was a day off.

After playing 17 games in 17 days, the Blue Jays had a chance to recoup and look towards building off of a series win in Minnesota. Their opponent? The NL Central-best Milwaukee Brewers, who have been known in recent years to have some of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball.
The Blue Jays answered the call in a huge way, especially since their offence has been struggling to put together a lot of momentum in recent games. Toronto touched up Brewers starter Adrian Houser for eleven hits and six earned runs, all starters but Bo Bichette had at least one hit, and the Blue Jays put away the Brewers 7-2 on Tuesday evening.
Blue Jays Nation’s Player of the Game: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
There were several pieces of the offence that contributed to the win, but Guerrero was in the midst of a mini-slump by his standards. Among some of the recent series’, Guerrero was 1-for-13 against both the Twins and the Orioles.
Vladdy was 3-for-5 with an RBI tonight, one of two Blue Jays hitters with three hits. Guerrero’s average now sits at .291 after it had dipped below .300 just last week.
Things worth mentioning…
Yusei Kikuchi wasn’t elite, but he was exactly what Toronto …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Raptors news: Sergio Scariolo favorite for Raps job, Nick Nurse, Steve Nash

Raptors news: Sergio Scariolo favorite for Raps job, Nick Nurse, Steve Nash

The Toronto Raptors have seen the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers hire two of their former coaches in Adrian Griffin and Nick Nurse, respectively. Their own coaching search features names like Sergio Scariolo, Jordi Fernandez, and Steve Nash, yet minimal progress has been made. If the Raptors want to make an internal hire, their best […]
Raptors news: Sergio Scariolo favorite for Raps job, Nick Nurse, Steve Nash – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to wait on hiring a GM

Let’s take a moment for a thought exercise. Imagine you’re starting a brand new high profile job in your field, the kind of job that you’ve perhaps only ever fantasized about, a position that would put you at the top of the pecking order, in the spotlight, and likely making exponentially more money than you had previously.
Now imagine upon starting that job, that your first task was to clean up the mess left behind by the person who was just publicly and unceremoniously removed from the position. Having that kind of immediate tension would surely put a terrible stink on the whole process wouldn’t it? Especially if the decisions you make while cleaning up that mess are sure to follow you around for the length of your time at this job, and if handled poorly could lead to your own removal. Suddenly, you may be less inclined to accept this dream job? Especially if rumour around the office is that a branch in another city is also considering offering you the exact same position, with the added benefit of less overseeing scrutiny and initial pressure.
This is the situation currently awaiting any  prospective General Manager candidates for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Whoever succeeds Kyle Dubas in the position will be expected to handle the draft, free agenc …

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Author: Filipe Dimas / The Leafs Nation

Blue Jays’ Chris Bassitt on sign-stealing accusations: ‘They knew we were tipping and they were relaying tips’

The sign-stealing/pitch-tipping storyline sparked by this month’s heated Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees series won’t dissipate.
In an interview released Monday with former MLB Network host Chris Rose, right-hander Chris Bassitt was asked about the shenanigans from the series opener, where Yankees hitters Jake Bauers and Aaron Judge were caught on camera glancing over toward first base coach Travis Chapman, likely signalling that both hitters were receiving signs about an upcoming pitch.
And the 34-year-old provided his perspective on the controversial incident, revealing many in the Blue Jays’ dugout knew what was transpiring across the diamond.
“They knew we were tipping and they were relaying tips,” Bassitt said. “Is that illegal? No. Is it kind of that grey area, of ‘if the first and third base coaches are having to relay tips?’…you can argue that back and forth.
“Judge’s response to it? I had no problem with it. Was it a lie? Yeah, it was a lie,” he continued. “What do you want him to do, come out and say, ‘Hey, all their pitchers are tipping and I’m going to tell them how they’re tipping. I just think he kind of made up a story just to basically kind of say, like, ‘I’m not going to tell them they’re tipping. Why would I say that?’”
https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1663179502900457 …

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Author: Thomas Hall / Blue Jays Nation

Ranking the Toronto Raptors’ 4 most valuable trade assets

Ranking the Toronto Raptors’ 4 most valuable trade assets

The Toronto Raptors are heading toward the NBA doldrums, finishing with a 41-41 record. If you count the play-in loss to the 10-seed Chicago Bulls, they lost more games than they won just one season after Nick Nurse led the team to 48 victories. Given the franchise’s recent success, this was unsatisfactory to Masai Ujiri, […]
Ranking the Toronto Raptors’ 4 most valuable trade assets – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Seth Quinn / Raptors HQ

Despite trading their first pick, the Blue Jays 2020 draft class is trending well

Fun fact, we’re a month and change away from the 2023 MLB Draft.

Over the past three drafts, the Blue Jays have done a great job finding good players, and the COVID shortened 2020 draft is no better example of that.
In a series of three articles, we’ll look at every player drafted in the past three draft classes.. Let’s start with the 2020 draft class.
5th overall pick: Austin Martin
It was quite a surprise to many when Austin Martin fell to the Blue Jays in the 2020 draft. In fact, looking at mock drafts at the time, most had him going second or third in the draft.
Unfortunately for Martin, he hasn’t quite lived up to his draft position. The Blue Jays aggressively promoted the then 22-year-old to Double-A, where he slashed .281/.424/.383 with two homers in 250 plate appearances with the Fisher Cats.
However, he and Simeon Woods Richardson were packaged to the Minnesota Twins for starter José Berríos. With the Twins Double-A team in 2021, he slashed .252/.399/.381 with three homers in 168 plate appearances for a 120 wRC+.
In 2022, he repeated the level but significantly regressed. In 406 plate appearances, the then 23-year-old slashed .241/.367/.315 with two homers for an 89 wRC+. It’s also worth noting that Martin stole 34 bases in 39 attempts, but his professional career hasn’t fared too well so far.
Martin has missed all of the 2023 season due to a UCL sprain (something that has plagued the 2020 Blue Jays draft class) …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

First round recap and looking ahead to the second round: Who scored the goal of the season for Toronto?

First round recap and looking ahead to the second round: Who scored the goal of the season for Toronto?

I created a bracket of 16 of the best goals from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2022-23 season and tweeted out a poll – along with videos of the goals – on our Twitter account (@TLNdc) and gave you, the followers, a chance to vote on which goal you’d like to see advance through to the next round.
With the first round officially over, let’s go through the results to see who advanced to the second round, who got eliminated from the bracket, the percentage of votes from each matchup and what the second round will now look like.
 
Matchup one:
Winner: John Tavares vs PHI, November 2, 2022 (91% of the votes)
Loser: Denis Malgin vs ANA, October 30, 2022 (9% of the votes)
 
Matchup two:
Winner: Willaim Nylander vs STL, December 27, 2022 (70% of the votes)
Loser: Auston Matthews vs NYI, January 23, 2023 (30% of the votes)
 
Matchup three:
Winner: John Tavares vs FLA, April 10, 2023 (76% of the votes)
Loser: Zach Aston-Reese vs WSH, January 29, 2023 (24% of the votes)
 
Matchup four:
Winner: Mitch Marner vs EDM, March 11, 2023 (85% of the votes)
Loser: William Nylander vs LA, December 8, 2022 (15% of the votes)
 
Matchup five:
Winner: Mitch Marner vs NYR, January 25, 2023 (76% of the votes)
Loser: William Nylander vs BUF, November 19, 2022 (24% of the votes)
 
Matchup six:
Winner: Mitch Marner vs PIT, November 26, 20 …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

Raptors free agency: 3 frontcourt targets to chase for depth

Raptors free agency: 3 frontcourt targets to chase for depth

Part of the reason the Toronto Raptors struggled to get any sort of consistency from their forwards. Rather than their Vision 6-9 philosophy confusing their league, they merely amassed a collection of uneven forwards that didn’t have the offensive creativity to thrive. While Toronto will likely bring most of those players back next season, the […]
Raptors free agency: 3 frontcourt targets to chase for depth – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ