Blue Bird Banter

Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images Bowden and Trevor Richards came to us in a trade from the Brewers for Rowdy Tellez in July 2021, so he’s been in the Jays organization for a little while now. Francis only got into one game with the Jays in 2022. In 2023, he made 20 relief appearances with a 1.73 ERA in 36.1 innings (more than an inning per appearance? That’s … [Read more...] about The Season That Was: Bowden Francis

Former Blue Jays reliever Paul Quantrill turns 56 today. He spent six seasons with the Jays and pitched in 386 games, sixth in team history for games (and no one will be passing him soon unless we somehow bring back Aaron Loup). His best season with the Jays was 1997 when he had a 1.94 ERA in 77 relief appearances. He had a rubber arm, pitching in 80 or more games in five … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Paul Quantrill and Ryan Tepera

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Also on this day, Jays trade for Damaso Garcia. Ten Years Ago Alex Anthopoulos traded Adam Lind to the Brewers for Marco Estrada. I wasn’t overly thrilled about the trade. He appeared to be a mediocre 5th starter/long reliever/swingman type. I expected a little more for Lind. I worried about Estrada’s tendency to give up home runs. … [Read more...] about Today in Blue Jays history: Jays trade for Marco Estrada

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Fred McGriff turns 61 today. McGriff was born in Tampa, Florida. The Yankees drafted him in the 9th round of the 1981 amateur draft. Don Mattingly blocked his way to the majors for the Yankees. The Jays picked up McGriff, Dave Collins, Mike Morgan and cash for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. That trade worked out. Pat Gullick had the golden … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Fred McGriff

Brad Penner-Imagn Images With the end of the World Series (congratulations to the Dodgers for defeating Evil and keeping the planet safe), we have the official start to the off-season. These are the dates things happen this off-season. Today: Players can become free agents The Jays traded away most of the eligible players to be free agents. The only Jay who could be … [Read more...] about Off-Season Dates