Daily Duce: Thursday, December 7th

More on this in its own post, but just as I was about to publish this it was announced that the Marlins have traded Dee Gordon… to the Mariners. Where he’ll play in centre field. Welp! Market is moving now, at least!

A pair of great ones, as always, from BP Toronto, as Joshua Howsam investigates what happened with Marco Estrada’s changeup in 2017 (“inconsistent movement, inconsistent release, and inconsistent location”) and Gideon Turk speaks to Mark Shapiro about digital media and the Blue Jays’ messaging.

Luis Santos made 21 starts for Buffalo in 2017, and pitched 16.2 big league innings for the Jays, putting up a nice K/BB (16:4), but being much too prone to the long ball, having given up four home runs. He was taken off the 40-man earlier this fall, but the club announced today that he’s been signed on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. That’ll do.

Newly named Yankees manager Aaron Boone reached out to Buck Martinez about making the transition from the broadcast booth to the dugout, according to the New York Post. No, really! For Jays fans of a certain vintage, this is profoundly amusing.

Keith Law’s latest for ESPN Insider touches on the Aledmys Diaz trade, calling the Jays’ newly acquired shortstop a much better fit for this roster than the Cardinals’ while hardly blinking about J.B. Woodman, the player going the other way. On the downside, he notes that Diaz’s 2017 regression was rather predictable — so clearly isn’t a believer in a return to that form.

Future Blue Jays goes deep on Anthony Alford, the sites number two — yes, two! — Blue Jays prospect. (Number one is pretty obvious.)

A really nice piece from Bob Elliott at the Canadian Baseball Network, offering his memories of this year’s Jack Graney Award winner, Alison Gordon.

Jon Heyman writes at Fan Rag on the #bAArves situation, in which he notes that “Anthopoulos will get one or two more hires of his own for a front office that was thin.” Could another member his old front office in Toronto be going? I have no idea!

Elsewhere at Fan Rag, some real rumour mongering from Heyman, who points out that the Jays could have interest in Dexter Fowler, should he be made available by the Cardinals, noting that the four years and $60 million remaining on his deal is what the club had offered him in free agency last winter. He also lays this on us: “As for the rumor that the Jays are considering selling, one person close to that scene called that ‘fake news.’ But stay tuned, just in case.” *wank-off motion*

I’m a little late to this one, but that’s only because I really couldn’t possibly care less. It’s Jeff Blair on Marcus Stroman’s “Twitter antics”! This seems to be about the right approach to this one:

Hey, here’s another stale thing I don’t really care to read, Gregg Zaun’s statement on his recent firing from Sportsnet:

Shocking that Mr. “I gave him a blank cheque for a gambling debt and he must have given it to the steroid dealer” gave an unsatisfactory apology, ain’t it?

Over at BlueJays.com, Gregor Chisholm has a nifty Jays-themed Winter Meetings primer.

And at MiLB.com, Alex Kraft chats with the latest Blue Jays “catcher of the future,” Danny Jansen. One hopes this one works out better than… literally all the other ones.

Ross Atkins didn’t say a whole lot at Wednesday’s BBWAA Toronto Chapter luncheon, but whatever he did say, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star was there to scoop it up.

Elsewhere at the Star, Morgan Campbell looks at what a change of ownership might mean for how the Blue Jays operate.

Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail looks at how the Jays are saying that they’re still pursuing talent, despite new uncertainty at the ownership level.

Jared Wyllys of the Sporting News looks at a couple players who might be on the verge of breakout seasons, including the Jays’ own Teoscar Hernández.

Jays Journal makes the case that the Jays should go after Arizona’s Chris Owings. I’m not sure I see the case for Arizona moving Chris Owings, but if one exists, sure, go ahead and give it a shot.

Jays Journal also suggests that the Jays “need to add a top-tier arm at any cost,” which, no.  They don’t.

MLBTR tells us that Casey Lawrence has signed a minor league deal with the Mariners.

Congratulations to Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on having the worst Hall of Fame ballot of the year (he picked just two names: Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel).

Lastly, stop making me like you, Kevin Gausman: