So it's been a couple of weeks since they made the big Teoscar Hernández for a couple of random Seattle relief pitchers deal. (And yes, I know, they are probably not random. But in Andrew Stoeten’s rather astute assessment, the numbers on Swanson in particular may only be flashy without close inspection.)

And I have sat and racked my brain to think about what the actual purpose of that was and it still doesn't really make sense. I mean, did they really just put a for sale sign on one of the most popular dudes on the team?

I appreciate the need for bullpen pitching. I recognize that in the Wildcard Series the Blue Jays were unable to secure a win because their bullpen basically fell apart. They were up big and they couldn't hold that lead. (Perhaps because the baseball gods enjoy mocking us, much of that lead was courtesy of Hernández. Teo went huge in his last game as a Blue Jay.)

While I recognize the need for that, I don't really think trading a frontline hitter and a core part of your offence for relief pitching. While a great bullpen is a key to playoff success, as was demonstrated most recently by the Houston Astros, relief pitchers are a volatile entity and can tend to fluctuate from great to shit year to year. The relief pitcher problem should really be a problem that money is thrown at. For an owner as rich as Rogers, maybe more problems should have money thrown at them.

It almost feels like the kind of move a team does when they just need to offload a guy, whether it’s because he’s toxic in one way or another, prone to injury or ancient with a big contract. But I haven’t heard any of that other than he’s spent a bit of time on the IL in 2022. An all-right-handed outfield might’ve also played into it. Hernández is also due to make $14.1 million in arbitration this year and due for free agency the following. But again, “payroll flexibility” is a word executives like to throw around when they think we aren’t paying attention or aren’t reading the business section. (The Globe and Mail very conveniently combines the two in its print version.)

There was also a bit of chatter that the Blue Jays off-loaded Hernández to make room in RF for George Springer and going out to sign Brandon Nimmo or meme king Cody Bellinger for CF. One would think that maybe securing such an outfielder before offloading a strength in your offence might have been prudent.

And yes, Cody Bellinger’s numbers have fallen off a cliff since he won the 2019 NL MVP, but perhaps we should be looking forward to the meme potential.

So let’s go see if the Jays can grab him because what else do we have in 2022? Fascism is on the rise, tech billionaires are exerting way too much power over the populace, inflation is out of control, and housing is out of reach.

Memes are all that remain. Memes and banter.

Alek Manoah vs. Cricket

Alek Manoah, break out star of the 2022 Toronto Blue Jays, visited Serge Ibaka’s Youtube show this week. Manoah, who finished third in Cy Young voting, was game for all the different food on offer and Serge Ibaka pretty obviously knows nothing about baseball, which has it’s own kind of charm.

It was a show every time this kid stepped on the mound and it’s been quite a few years since the Blue Jays had one of those every five days. He should be good fun until he’s traded for random relief pitchers and payroll flexibility.

I’m just kidding. Remember, all we have left is memes and banter.