Blue Jays players need to stop worrying about Gregg Zaun

Toronto Blue Jays players need to spend less time focussing on who the “Manalyst” is roasting on Sunday’s and concentrate on the task at hand on the field.

Unless you have been living under a rock this offseason you have probably caught the ongoing Gregg Zaun bashing between Jays hurler Marcus Stroman and retired catcher J.P. Arencibia. The Blue Jays ace hasn’t taken too kindly to criticism from Zaun in regards to his on-field behaviour and perceived showboating.

Stroman keeps vouching for Arencibia to replace Zaun on Sportsnet but my question to you the reader is, should the Jays players concern themselves with what analysts are saying on the air about them or their performances.

Full disclaimer, I am a huge fan of Marcus Stroman, however, Gregg Zaun has a job to do and I appreciate him being confident enough to go against the mold and hold the home team and their players accountable regardless of hurting their feelings.

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Nobody wants a boring cookie cutter homer analyst who sticks up for the team even when it is not deserved. Zaun has the fortitude to go against the grain and for that, I respect him and appreciate his insight on the game even though I may not always necessarily agree with his opinion or take on a certain angle.

Stroman and everyone else in the Jays clubhouse need to shut the outside noise out and stop concerning themselves with the haters or opinions of certain Sportsnet employees. Stroman needs to do the complete opposite of Arencibia, who chose to battle with the Toronto media during his tenure with the Jays.

If you recall Arencibia verbally jousted with both Zaun and Dirk Hayhurst during his time north of the border. The former catcher also struggled with confidence issues and handling the internal pressure he placed on himself that was detrimental to his career. Perhaps less time on Twitter would have alleviated some of those insecurities.

We are all entitled to our opinion and Zaun gets paid a handsome chunk of change to share those opinions nationwide. We can all agree to disagree on our opinions of Zaun but at the end of the day, Stroman needs to tune these outside distractions out and move on.

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If nothing else, it gives us something to debate in October.