Your Vancouver Canadians: Champions Yet Again (and other Blue Jays News)

Credit: Charlie Caskey

Despite an off-day Monday, there have been some very interesting Toronto Blue Jays stories across the interwebz in the past 24 hours, highlighted by your Vancouver Canadians winning their third straight Northwest League Championship!

And STILL, Your Northwest League Champion Vancouver Canadians

In case somehow you haven’t heard, the Toronto Blue Jays have a winner within their organization! The Your Vancouver Canadians won their third consecutive Northwest League title last night, defeating the Boise Hawks 5-0. Charlie Caskey who writes here at Jays Journal and also covers the C’s for the Vancouver Sun (which I believe is still syndicated through his own blog YourVanCs) gives us the recap and shared some great pictures after the game through his Twitter account @CharlieCaskey.

Jays’ Rasmus on track for raise despite injury

Ben Nicholson-Smith from Sportsnet explains the arbitration process and says that although Colby Rasmus will be due for a raise, it won’t be for as much as what he was on track to earn earlier this summer. With the help of five agents and MLB executives, they determine Rasmus will earn around $6 million in 2014.

A Cheap Two-Year Contract For Josh Johnson?

Former Toronto Star columnist Dave Perkins is at it again, this time giving us some “inside information” on a handshake agreement Josh Johnson has with the Blue Jays. Andrew Stoeten at DJF transcribes Perkins quote from The Fan 590, which says “they have a wink and a handshake deal with Johnson whereby they extend him a qualifying offer, he turns it down, and then signs a two-year contract for less”. It sounds great in theory but also could be a circumvention of the CBA, so if it is true (which I personally doubt) I’m sure those around the Blue Jays organization don’t like how this story is floating around in the media.

Jays turf Argos in favour of grass playing surface at Rogers Centre

Tom Maloney from the Globe and Mail tells us that the Argos new lease with Rogers Centre “will effectively serve as notice to vacate, clearing the way for grass to be installed for baseball no later than 2018.” I may have very well shed a tear of joy reading this. Sure 2018 is still a long ways away and I’m sure we all would have liked to see grass earlier in Toronto but Maloney also writes that there may be a clause in the new lease that would allow the Argos to leave after the 2015 season. There have also been rumors of the Agros looking to play at BMO Field and more rumors of MLSE acquiring the Boatmen so it should be interesting to see how all of this plays out the next few years. All I know is that baseball is meant to be played on grass, not AstroTurf.

Blue Jays’ Ryan Goins raises the bar on defence with dazzling plays

John Lott from the National Post give us his take on Ryan Goins. How about this: “Since Goins arrived Aug. 23, the Blue Jays have turned 18 double plays in 15 games. Goins has been involved in 12 of them.” Yeah I know it’s a small-sample-size and all but there’s no doubting that Goins has helped improve the Blue Jays defense.