Blue Jays Morning News: Offseason snow delay

The Blue Jays news cycle remains stuck in Holiday mode, but with the remainder of the league coming out of hibernation, so, too, should the Jays

The closing days of December usually register a slight bump on the transaction radar, something that began with the Yankees’ addition of reliever Aroldis Chapman and the rumored interest between the Baltimore Orioles and Yoenis Cespedes. Perhaps the Blue Jays will resurface over the coming days to grab another Google arm.

We’ll soon be moving into our Top-30 Prospect rankings here at Jays Journal with some individual profiles, along with looks at the 2016 projections and outlook for each member of the projected big league club. Until then, let’s round up the best of the rest of Blue Jays coverage:

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

1986 Draft Throwback  –  Here’s a name that some of you may remember: Earl Sanders. The Toronto Blue Jays made him their first round pick nearly 30 years ago in 1986, converting the dual-threat to a full-time pitcher whose immense talent never materialized at the MLB level.

Andrew Hendriks over at the Canadian Baseball Network recently profiled Sanders’ transition out of the pro game and into coaching, where he’s set to open 2016 as the head coach of the Tougaloo Bulldogs of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

Ranking the Bat Flip  –  Richard Griffin of The Star took an interesting look at Jose Bautista’s bat-flip home run yesterday. The blast has most often been compared to Joe Carter’s, or where it ranks in Blue Jays lore. Griffin instead leans it up against four other home runs that he’s witnessed live (including Carter).

“He saw two pitches then crushed a 1-1 offering deep into the left-centre field stands, watched for a moment, turned his head briefly to the Rangers dugout, snarled and launched his bat high into the air before beginning his victory lap. Snapshot,” Griffin writes. Something about “snarled” is so perfect here. You can hear it.

More blue jays: Toronto looking at a daunting bullpen foe in New York

Rotation Chatter  –  Peter Gammons spent some time talking about the Blue Jays starting rotation recently. It’s much of the same, except for some comments he had on R.A. Dickey. Gammons suggested that the Jays believe Dickey has re-discovered the “touch” he had on his knuckleball during his Cy Young season with the New York Mets. Now, whether he can carry that through an offseason isn’t something I’m about to throw my dollar at, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

His age deters us from believing he’s got any room to go between his current performance and his ceiling, but he’s shown in multiple seasons that he can get hot late. Perhaps that can be stretched out across a longer chunk of the season.