Blue Jays Morning Brew: Big news out of Dunedin, Vin Scully’s Carter call

The Toronto Blue Jays are keeping their spring home in Dunedin, Florida. According to a report from Megan Reeves of the Tampa Bay Times, the Blue Jays have renewed their relationship for 25 years with the only spring training base they’ve ever known.

Reeves reports that the locations of the Blue Jays’ facilities will stay the same, “but the city and team will partner with the county and state to do about $81 million in renovations and rebuilds.”

One major question mark remains at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, as it has yet to be revealed if that facility will be simply renovated or rebuilt entirely. Earlier this year, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro had stated a desire to have the team’s training and playing facilities at the same location, but they will remain separate under this agreement.

The finances of this deal, which have been a primary factor from the beginning, were reported as follows:
Pinellas County: $46 million
Toronto Blue Jays: $15.7 million
State of Florida: $13.6 million
City of Dunedin: $5.6 million

The city is reportedly targeting the spring of 2019 to have these projects fully completed. More details will be revealed on Monday when the city and team speak further on the project.

Vin Scully calls Carter’s home run
With Vin Scully nearing the end of his legendary career, Steven Loung of Sportsnet brings us his call of Joe Carter’s iconic home run from 1993.

Gibbons on the hot seat?
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports listed John Gibbons as one of six MLB managers on the hot seat entering the final days of the 2016 season. He’s got a leg to stand on here, too, as Gibbons would be an easy target if this veteran roster were to fall out of a playoff spot after seeming so comfortable at the beginning of September.

Handling Sanchez: Still a conversation
Concerns over Aaron Sanchez’s workload have quieted, but they haven’t gone away completely. Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star recently spoke to general manager Ross Atkins, and explains how high Sanchez’s innings could climb if the Jays make a deep run.

“We’ll manage it start to start,” Griffin told Atkins. “But the gloves have been off all year. So our gloves are still off when it comes to the opportunities in front of him, as long as he’s recovering well and healthy, then he should continue to pitch. There’s just a lot of information in and around that recovery.”

Schedule