Blue Jays Morning Brew: Aren’t you Vlad it’s official?

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Good morning, Blue Jays fans, and welcome to another edition of the Morning Brew, where we round up the best and brightest of Blue Jays news from around the web for you to enjoy with your morning coffee. Despite the ugly loss to the Boston Red Sox last night in a game that felt as if it should have been measured in days instead of hours, hope springs eternal around the Blue Jays. It all starts will a familiar name: Vlad.

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Jays make Guerrero signing official:  After a few nerve-wracking hours in which Blue Jays fans feared Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would renege on his verbal agreement with the Blue Jays, he finally put pen to paper. Jesse Sanchez and Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com were among the first to report the signing. Check this article out for a great breakdown of how the dollars and cents work in regard to the international pool.

Sanchez and Chisholm also offer up some exciting quotes from Ismael Cruz, the Blue Jays assistant director of Latin American operations. Cruz says that “He has a better bat now than his father did at that age and it’s not a swing that’s going to go away, he’s had it for a long time and he has always hit. … He’s hit all his life and he’s always faced competition above him.”

The all-in philosophy on Vlad Jr.:  Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi breaks down the club’s ideology surrounding the signing of Guerrero, as they accept future limitations for a chance to land a superstar.

Ismael Cruz also spoke on the topic of exceeding the bonus pool to Davidi, saying “That question, obviously, was the main debate. We spent some time debating if we were (willing) to get one guy and sit out X amount of years. Those guys don’t come across very often, so it was either play all your marbles on one guy or go out and get a couple of players that are fine but for us, Vladdy Jr., is a difference-maker. He has the potential to be a very, very special kid.”

More from Jays Journal: Vlad Guerrero Jr. makes it official

Valencia: Safe or out!?  Danny Valencia‘s play at the plate on Thursday was a turning point.  Despite Red Sox catcher Ryan Hannigan missing the tag and Valencia appearing to touch home plate, or at least come extremely close, Valencia was ruled out on the play. Here, Shi Davidi details the rule that should have been followed, but wasn’t.

"“Under V.F.3 of the Major League Baseball Replay Review Regulations, “when reviewing a play at home plate, if the Replay Official determines both that the runner did not touch home plate and that the fielder did not tag the runner (or, in the case of a force play, did not touch home plate), the Replay Official shall rule the runner ‘safe’ at home plate unless the defensive Manager appeals the failure of the runner to touch home plate prior to the Crew Chief making contact with the Replay Official.”"

Reyes speaks the truth:  Scott MacArthur of TSN offers up a nice look at the Blue Jays first half and the optimism within the clubhouse for a playoff run. The story is well worth the read, but one quote from shortstop Jose Reyes really jumped out.

“My job, for me, is leading off and playing shortstop,” Reyes told MacArthur. “I leave the other stuff to the front office. Everybody knows what the Blue Jays need. We’ll see what happens. One thing as players that we have to do is continue to go out there with what we have and continue to win some ballgames.”

Translation:  “Hey.  Alex!”

The delayed rise of Daniel Norris:  As John Lott of the National Post tells us, Alex Anthopoulos went to Buffalo hoping to see strikeouts from Daniel Norris. In seven innings, he saw just one. Norris has taken the brunt of some bad luck with Buffalo, as his 3.88 ERA has somehow spiralled into a 1-8 record.

Norris will stay in the Minors until the Blue Jays are convinced that this will be the last time they need to call him up. While he could very well make a start for Toronto next week, there’s still a good chance that Anthopoulos is waiting for a stronger showing.

Next: Jays can learn prospect lessons from Smoak, Bautista

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