Blue Bird Banter

And he had a great mustache. | Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images I’m skipping to Luis Tiant because the 2025 Classic Baseball Era Non-Players Committee announce their decision tomorrow at 7:30 Eastern time. Luis Tiant played 19 seasons in the MLB. He had a 229-172 record, a 3.30 ERA in 573 games, 484 starts (187 complete games) and a 65.6 bWAR. His 2416 … [Read more...] about Hall of Fame Poll: Luis Tiant

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images With us still waiting on the Soto decision, there isn’t much for Jays’ news. He could make his decision soon. Ken Rosenthal, in the Athletic, wrote that the Jays ‘are baffling,’ which I will admit to, but his reasoning is weird. For six months now, I’ve found the Toronto Blue Jays baffling. They sold at the trade deadline, but held the … [Read more...] about Sunday Bantering: Jays Bits

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Today in Blue Jays history: 2005 19 years ago. J.P. Ricciardi signed A.J. Burnett to a five-year, $55 million contract, including an opt-out clause. Burnett would team with Roy Halladay to make an excellent one-two punch at the top of our rotation for three seasons. Burnett went 38-26 with the Jays, with a 3.94 ERA in 81 games, 80 … [Read more...] about Today in Blue Jays history: A.J. Burnett signing, Brett Lawrie trade

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images 34 Years Ago Stand Pat Gillick made the most significant trade in Blue Jays’ history. Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff went to the Padres for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. I remember when 32 years was a long time ago. Now, not so much. I wasn’t a big fan of the trade then. We had a team in the race for the playoffs each season for … [Read more...] about Today in Blue Jays History: The Big Trade

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images Justin Smoak turns 38 today. Justin was the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2008 draft, number 11 overall. He made it to the majors in 2010 and played 70 games for the Rangers before being traded to the Mariners in July, along with Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. His rookie season was a bust, hitting … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Justin Smoak