Daily Duce: Friday, September 29th

Great stuff, as always, from BP Toronto, as Gideon Turk does some quick and dirty math to see that the Jays really — genuinely! seriously! — aren’t too far off contention in the American League. The Twins will show us the way!

Another great one at BP comes our way from Dave Church, who looks at an actual feelgood story on the 2017 Jays: Ezequiel Carrera.

Over at Sportsnet, Jonah Keri gives out grades to each and every Blue Jays player (who wasn’t just a bench or a bullpen guy, since those two crews are mostly grouped together). I give the piece an A!

Elsewhere at Sportsnet, David Singh looks at some potential free agent destinations for José Bautista in 2018, which… exist, apparently!

Elsewhere still at Sportsnet, Shi Davidi talks to Kevin Pillar about the lessons the Jays’ centre fielder has learned as a hitter this season. You know, this season in which he’s been exactly. the same. hitter. he always was.

It’s an outstanding debut for Rachel McDaniel at the Hardball Times, who gives us a piece on women who write about baseball and, in particular, groundbreaking Toronto Star reporter Alison Gordon.

Chris Cwik looks back at the highs and lows of the Blue Jays’ season for Big League Stew, as the boys in blue join the army of the dead.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline tells us which level he thinks Nate Pearson — who he says the Jays may have been a “steal” for the Jays — will begin the 2018 season at. Hint: It’s Dunedin!

Speaking of Pearson, our friend from New Zealand, Jeff Orchard, gives us a great scouting report on the Jays’ first rounder over at Kiwi Slugger.

More prospect stuff, as Blue Jays From Away hands out some hypothetical year-end awards for the Jays prospects at Lansing.

And speaking of system reviews, here we have an extensive pair I missed last time from Tammy Rainey of BP Toronto, who brings us a look at the Jays’ hitting prospects, and separate one for the pitching prospects.

Jonah Birenbaum, whose writing you will often see at some place called theScore, writes at Medium about Goose fucking Gossage and how cool it would be if he’d just, y’know, fuck right off already.

This season “has been a disappointment for a variety of reasons, injury being the biggest culprit,” writes Chris Henderson of Jays Journal, “but relying on the long ball from an aging and hurting roster finally ran it’s course in 2017.” Huh? The piece focuses, in places, on the Jays’ offensive “philosophy,” which… is weird to me. Like, did the Jays narrowly search to acquire and/or develop players to fit a specific “let’s rely on the long ball” philosophy??? Should they now be narrowly searching to acquire and/or develop players to fit some specific other philosophy? Or, y’know, are rosters put together in a much more piecemeal way with all sorts of other considerations going into a decision? And has the “philosophy” run its course, or was it more just that three of the Jays’ most crucial mashers either kinda sucked or got hurt? Sure, a more well-rounded and balanced lineup would be nice, but if the best potential fits for 2018, in terms of defensive value and cost, are slow guys who hit a lot of home runs, the Jays should go and get those guys. I dunno, I don’t get it.

Danny Gallagher of the Canadian Baseball Network makes the case for the Jays bringing back José Bautista, which seems mostly to be based on runs scored and RBIs. So… yeah, pass.

Great stuff from Gregor Chisholm of BlueJays.com, as he looks back on ten of Bautista’s most memorable moments for some reason. *COUGH*

“Why Not? Blue Jays’ Hernández looks primed to take MLB by storm in 2018,” proclaims a headline from the Toronto Sun that immediately vaults into the lead for worst Blue Jays headline of the year.

Over at the Blue Jay Hunter, Ian takes a look back at some notable Blue Jays September performances.

A pair of gems from our friend Ryan over at Jays Droppings, as he appreciates the wit of Brett Anderson, and wonders where the Josh Donaldson roulette ball will drop.

Someone at Jays From The Couch wants to talk about the Jays tanking in their last series of the season this weekend. Weird! Because someone at Blue Jays Nation wants to talk about pissing off with that horseshit.

In a Canadian Press piece via the Globe and Mail, we’re told that “leading candidate” to replace Montréal mayor Denis Coderre, Valerie Plante, is taking a hardline stance against giving away public money to build a new baseball stadium in the city. That could hurt the Expos movement, but good for her! (Coderre, the piece explains, “is ready to give a ‘blank cheque’ to the future owners of a Montreal-based MLB team,” according to Plante.)

Filed under Home Hardware Ask The Experts:

Lastly, related to my Josh Donaldson piece earlier in the week, reader @Middaughsome awesomely digs up this Steve Buffery piece from back in June at the Toronto Sun. In it we’re reminded of the fact that Donaldson was scratched right near the start of his month-long slump with knee soreness. Perhaps that’s what he played through — perhaps it lingered.