With a playoff spot within reach, the Blue Jays should look to add ahead of the trade deadline

If everything was normal, we wouldn’t be talking about the playoffs right now.

If everything was normal, the Blue Jays would have rolled into the 2020 season with the objective of simply taking a step in the right direction. We’d be hoping for some nice performances from the young core and, ultimately, a record that pushed .500.
But everything isn’t normal. In the world of a 60-game season with a 16-team playoff field, anything is possible. Yes, even the playoffs.
Despite some incredibly frustrating late-game losses and some lulls in which the team looks like they belong in the minor-leagues, some very, very good pitching and a power surge at the plate has the Blue Jays sitting with a 12-11 record and sole possession of the final playoff spot in the American League. It hasn’t been pretty, but, here we are.
Elsewhere, a very clear picture of the playoff race in the American League is forming around them. While the National League is a total crapshoot in which anybody (save for the 4-17 Pirates) can realistically make it to the dance, the AL features a top group and a bottom group.

It’s …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Daily Duce: Thinking about the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, pre-arbitration extensions, and more!

Daily?!?

I’ve been talking about the game and player-related stuff separately in the Grapefruit Notes posts during spring training, so I’ll keep these posts for more big-picture topics for now.
Earlier this week, we saw two young relief pitchers get locked up to long-term deals, furthering the trend of getting players signed to contracts before their arbitration years begin. Freddy Peralta, a swingman in Milwaukee who wasn’t arb-eligible until after the 2021 season, got a five-year deal worth $15.5 million, while Aaron Bummer, who had a breakout season for the White Sox in 2019, got a five-year deal worth $16 million with two club option years beyond that.
Peralta and Bummer join a growing trend of young players getting locked up to cost-controlled deals in which teams guarantee money upfront in order to save money on free agency years. The two big-name pre-arb signings from earlier this off-season were Luis Robert of the White Sox and Evan White of the Mariners, who received multi-year deals despite still not having played their first game in the Major Leagues yet.

The long-term deals Freddy Peralta and Aaron Bummer signed this week are no anomalies. Teams across baseball are trying to …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Point Man #20: Conley hears out Taurasi’s pitch

With Taurasi talking to Conley, and Kidd talk to Taurasi, the web continues to get tangled for the crooked characters of the story. Who can they really trust? Taurasi isn’t done making her case, it’s just not the one anyone expects. After fending off Kidd on the phone, the pitch is made: she wants to go in on the Silverstern plan with Conley, the real brains behind the operation.
Catch up on Page 19 of POINT MAN here.
Words: Daniel Reynolds
Art: Michael Kennedy (on Instagram and Twitter)

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Author: Daniel Reynolds / Raptors HQ