Blue Jays Morning Brew: Real Grass, Guilty GM and a Very Scary Play

Sep 20, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Colby Rasmus (center) is helped off the field by a trainer and manager John Gibbons (right) after he was hit by a ball during warm-up in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays News

Brenden Kennedy recaps at the Star as the Toronto Blue Jays fell to the Boston Red Sox 6-3 last night at Fenway. The Red Sox clinched the American League East with the victory, which comes on the heels of a disaster campaign in 2012 when they finished last in the division with a 69-93 record. If that doesn’t give Jays fans hope, I’m not sure what else can.

The game included a bizarre incident that unfortunately finished with Colby Rasmus taking a baseball to the face. TheScore shares a GIF of the scary moment, which comes courtesy of Kazuto Yamazaki via NESN. Anthony Gose threw a ball Colby’s way in the Blue Jays first inning warm-up. Rasmus didn’t see it coming and he was hit just below his left eye. Kennedy writes that Gose was “visibly shaken” after the game and nearly in tears. Gregor Chisholm updates us with a tweet that Rasmus was taken to the hospital and will undergo and CT scan.

The big news yesterday for Blue Jays fans yesterday was something that 28 other teams in baseball may take for granted. Games in Toronto will eventually be played on grass. Details of the Toronto Argonauts lease agreement with Rogers Centre has been floating around in the media for weeks now but the Blue Jays finally made the news official in this press release. Highlights include:

"A new licence agreement between ROGERS CENTRE and the TORONTO ARGONAUTS FOOTBALL CLUB has been signed to keep the team playing at the stadium until the licence expires on December 31st, 2017 with an option by the Argonauts to terminate the agreement earlier."

Blue Jays and Rogers Centre President and CEO spoke about the transition to grass.

"The length of the deal allows the Argonauts a reasonable period of time to pursue other stadium options while allowing us sufficient time to plan the logistics of various stadium improvements including the installation of a grass playing surface for baseball at Rogers Centre."

Richard Griffin at the Star answers questions in his most recent mailbag, highlighted by the reader who asks if the Blue Jays should take a swing at Robinson Cano this offseason. Griffin correctly points out that the Jays shouldn’t waste their time courting Cano’s services and he will mostly likely remain a New York Yankee. After all, he is signed with Jay-Z now. Scott Boras, you over baby / Robinson Cano you coming with me.

Apparently Alex Anthopoulos is feeling guilty about this season’s disaster writes Bruce Arthur at the National Post. He poses the question that everyone is asking about this Blue Jays team:

"The question is do we have impact starters, and starters who can impact us in the American League East."

The only answers he provides are for R.A. Dickey to be better and Mark Buehrle to keep pitching like Mark Buehrle. I’m not exactly inspired by those responses but it’s not like AA would let us know if he did have any big ideas tucked away in that big brain of his.

John Lott at the National Post shares an interesting opinion from Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons about how to best manage a bullpen. Do relievers actually need more work, not less to be effective? I’m not so sure that I agree with Gibbons myself. The Blue Jays bullpen was overtaxed early and it definitely seemed to affect Steve Delabar and Brett Cecil who haven’t been the same since the All-Star break.

Mike Wilner at Sportsnet says that Todd Redmond could earn a legitimate shot at the Blue Jays 2014 rotation if he can put up another solid start or two before the season is over. Wilner notes that Redmond has done a much better job handling hitters the second time around. Before the past two games, opponents were batting .356/.432/.644 the second time facing him compared to only .129/.198/.306 the first. I still have a hard time selling myself on Redmond since when I’ve watched him he really seems to fade after 70 pitches or so but maybe the 39th round draft pick will turn into one of those feel-good stories.

Chris Toman gives us an introduction to the Tournament 12 showcase at BlueJays.com, which showcases the best amateur baseball talent in Canada. One American League scout says that his three players to watch are Demi Orimoloye, Josh Naylor and Gareth Morgan.

In case you find yourself questioning for existence watching the Blue Jays play out the season, here are five reasons to keep watching from Archi Zuber at DJF.