💾 Archived View for tilde.club › ~winter › gemlog › 2024 › 7-11.gmi captured on 2024-08-18 at 17:55:50. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Blue Jays seemingly start roster shakeup by placing struggling outfielder on waivers
Their star shortstop (Bo Bichette) is hurt, not to mention playing terribly; their top prospect (Ricky Tiedemann) is hurt, their closer's probably out for the year, their last good pitching prospect is definitely done for the year. The problem is so acute it's affecting more than just the players: last night, their third base coach had to leave the game due to a knee problem.
The season from hell marches ever on, and today the Blue Jays put Kevin Kiermaier, re-signed to a one-year, $10M USD contract before the season, on waivers. Kiermaier has always been a glove-first player, providing incredible defense at the most difficult defensive position, centre field. But this year, he's been more like all glove, batting (as of right now) at around .183, his power gone (10 XBH so far this season), his ability to catch up to a fastball less and less sure.
Now on waivers, the hope is probably that a team, maybe one with terrible outfield defense, claims him, and they'll then be on the hook for the rest of his contract. Failing that, maybe they release him, maybe he stays on the roster and plays the year out. This is clearly an attempt by the Blue Jays to try to shed some salary, probably with an eye towards flexibility at the end of the season. And they're doing this because, realistically, at this point, their season is done. Well under .500, almost 10 games out of the last wild card spot, it would take an awful lot to go right for the Jays to make the playoffs, and this has been a year where very little has.
I'll miss him. He was a good pickup last season, mildly resurgent with the bat while continuing to provide his otherwordly defense. To be honest, it's still a little weird not seeing him in a Tampa Bay uniform, spending as many years there as he did, denying Kevin Pillar a gold glove during his peak years in Toronto.
I hope he lands on a contender. It feels like his baseball days might be coming to a close. He deserves, if not a ring, maybe one last deep playoff run.