Brayden Ewasko from Locked On Blue Jays

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1:01hour into their dinner now, and the awards will start flowing sometime thereafter. But I would think a few minutes after we get off the air tonight, close things out. But obviously I wanted to talk baseball. We've got some live as we speak. At last look, it was five nothing Yankees. Is it still? Let's see. Now my computer won't work. Five nothing Yankees. Remains the score over San Francisco in San Fran. So that's kind of the marquee game tonight, and then some more tomorrow. Blue Jays go on Friday. Oh, now I say it with no certainty. You know who would know our next guest, Bradenewasco, checking in from the Lockdown Blue Jays podcast. Braden, it's been a minute. How are you doing today, my friend? Yeah, real good, real good. I booked off my entire week's evenings waiting for this call. I'm glad to hear it. Well, it's it's much appreciated. And yeah, let's let's dive into it. So the Jays, Jays go Friday. They do go Friday against the Oakland or Sacramento or Vegas

2:06athletics, whatever you want to call them these days. But tell me about the off season. First and foremost, any moves that had to you of particular interest? Any highlights from spring training you'd like to lead off with? What's kind of on the forefront of your mind is the season approaches? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I got to start all certainly off season. I, again, a lot of people unsure of what the Dylan C smooth, how it'll turn out over seven years. But not only with the Blue Jays building for next year, they're building for the future. And Dylan C's is the perfect guy to do that. You know, a guy that pitching coach Pete Walker can sort of mold here and take the great skill that is there and really define them into what Dylan C's will be. So love that move. Then he got the KBO MVP and Cody Ponds, which a lot of people are excited about and they should be. This guy's got a lot of skill as well has really developed his game out in Korea. So excited for the pitching side of things, I think above everything else. And then bringing Max Sherzer back is so much fun. It's hopefully he'll

3:12be healthy because when he is healthy, he is really good. It's just that Kenny stay healthy. And then the final, I guess, massive pieces, Kazuma Okamoto, right? The supposed Bulbasht replacement, which if that's the expectation, that is probably going to miss. But I'm still very high on Kazuma Okamoto. I think he's going to be very good for his first season. The only thing that worries me is that he had a great spring training when he was with the Blue Jays, but then he went off to the World Baseball Classic and to put it lightly, it wasn't great. And then Tyler Rodgers, out of the bullpenet, excellent move. This is exactly what the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen needed. Yes, they wanted a high end closer, but I think for a seventh, eighth inning guide, as you can play anywhere, and that can pitch a ton of ittings, this was the perfect move for the Toronto Blue Jays. And then in the spring training, I mean, Dalton Varsho was the star, I think, out of everything, besides Bladi at the World Baseball Classic. Dalton Varsho is really taking strides in his offensive game.

4:17Well, thank goodness, because he's one heck of an outfielder. So if you can combine that, yeah, it makes him one heck of a baseball player, which only means good things. He's another guy that's got to stay healthy, I would think. But yeah, it's an interesting rotation. They've got, obviously a lot of hole-presting and tray of savage. When he gets healthy, shoulder impingement is going to start a mode on the injured list for those who don't know, and Shane Bieber will start there with him along with Jose Barrios. But they've got some guys that can step in in the meantime, right? Like an Eric Lauer, for example, was fine last year to be able to fill in in the meantime while you're savage and Bieber get healthy. Yeah, absolutely. Eric Lauer, to me, is a great five starter, right? I think a lot of teams would be loving to have Eric Lauer as their four guy, and realistically, in Toronto, BlueJay termed, he's their long man out of the bullpen, or their eight starter. So, the BlueJays are very fortunate and really looking back at everything, bringing in Max Sherzer,

5:18which there was a lot of question marks, why are they going Max Sherzer? Why are they going another starter? But this just proves every point in baseball ever is that you can never have enough pitching. It's taking the Dodgers philosophy of bringing in a ton of starters because guys won't be healthy all season. Guys will go down. We'll miss a start here and there. So to have Eric Lauer is your number five, and then Max Sherzer slotting in between three and four. I think you got to be happy as long as these guys are healthy and ramped up and good to go. Yeah, they're going to be fine. We've got Braden and Wasco on the line from Lockdown BlueJays. So, the 24, or part of me, 25 man roster reveal takes hold of sort of, we've been over, you know, basically who's there and kind of who's not. So, we've mentioned that we're excited for Dylan Sees. One player that for two years were supposed to have been excited about, and now I'm wondering what's going on. Is Anthony Santander? Like, is he going to be out for, yeah, oh, is right, isn't it?

6:18Oh, yeah, that's a, that's a sore spot for me because he was a guy that I was begging to be a BlueJay two years ago. I thought he was the perfect addition to a lineup that needed that, that power bat that was just going to knock home runs out of the park. And realistically, that is Anthony Santander. The fact is, is yeah, he just can't stay healthy. And then, you know, was trying to ramp things up back for spring training, and it was the, and it was the shoulder again, which he missed a lot of time last season for. So, obviously, didn't go get the help, which was very frustrating for me because I thought that this should have been diagnosed earlier. And to me, this seems like a little bit of a drop in the ball for the organization of not taking a closer look at these guys in the offseason and making sure they were healthy. So, I will say, not super impressed with how the organization handled that one. But in the grand scheme of things, I don't know if he's going to be back this season. I think at this point, missing five to six

7:18months is too long for me. The BlueJay season will pretty much be either we think they're going to be a playoffs team, or we're going to know that they're probably going to miss. So, I don't know that Anthony Santander will play any role, probably play none. So disappointing. So disappointing, because you don't always get the bigger names coming to Toronto. You had in this season where you get a Dylan C's, for example, but yeah, that's just a disappointment all around. Now, homegrown talent doesn't get any better than Vladimir Garot Jr. in terms of his commitment to the city. I know we've talked about that and just what Toronto means to him and what he means to Toronto in that lockstep. How poised is he for another quality season here, Braden? Like coming off of the WBC in particular, how are you feeling about Vlad? I am feeling over the moon with Vladimir Garot Jr. Coming off of the playoff run, coming off World Baseball Classic, this guy just seems ready to go.

8:20And there was two complaints always in terms of Vladimir Garot Jr. Number one, does Tennis Guy show up when the lights get the brightest? Well, the lights couldn't have been more bright in the playoff run last year, so he's answered those questions. Yes, he can. Number two, can he be ready for the start of the season? Can he show up as Vladimir Garot Jr. from day one? Well, we're not even into the regular season yet and he was knocking home runs out of the park, not striking out and being playoff laddy in the World Baseball Classic. So as long as he brings that energy to opening day, this might be an all-time career high season for Vladimir Garot Jr. He's just a complete package. I know he doesn't steal many bases, but the average and the runs padded in and everything else that comes with it, he's just a superstar at every stretch of the imagination and they've got him well insulated in Toronto. But part of that insulation last year, Braden, as you know, came from guys having career years, all kind of at the same time, whether it was a Davis Schneider or an Addison Barger, or you know, go down the list of these kind

9:26of bit players that all basically stuck around. They all had their qualifying offers picked up. And I'm just wondering how likely you think it is that we see them all perform to that standard again. Like was that the norm or was that an outlier in your mind? Yeah, that's a great question. And one that I've been sort of puzzling with all off season, but this is where I've landed. Ernie Clement, I think we know what Ernie Clement is going to be. He's not going to be playoff Ernie Clement. He's going to be regular season from last year Ernie Clement, which I think you're happy with. Realistically, he's your A-Tool hitter. So if that's the case, you're over the moon. Addison Barger, a lot of people are saying, I think Addison Barger's going to regret. There's no way he's going to be that good. I completely disagree. I think Addison Barger may have an even bigger season than last year, which I know is a lot to take in, but he is that good. And in spring training, we're seeing those numbers do the same thing. So I've got nothing behind expectations. And another guy that I've mentioned before is the Hilton Bar Show. A guy that

10:28I realistically think will hit 30 home runs this year as long as he can stay healthy. And that is the big question with Bar Show, just Kenny stay healthy. But if he does, you know, he's a guy that goes through his peaks in his valleys, right? He'll be hot for a week and a half, and then he'll be, you're like, where the heck did the adult bar show go for a week and a half? But in doing that, he'll end up hitting 30 home runs, and he'll just be a beast. And then with his defense, all of that, I think you absolutely take that. Life without bow here. What does this look like to you? We're going to see I would assume Anders Jimenez slide over to shortstop. Is that a fair assumption? Yeah, you're running the money. Yeah, so then it's about replacing that, I guess, sort of by committee, I guess, with the same players that we were sort of just describing, right? You're, again, your David Snyder is it to be that kind of thing, right? Absolutely. Yeah, I'm not going to sit here and lie to anybody. Bulbush

11:28as bad as is almost impossible to replace in terms of free agent market and stuff like that. He was just such a good player, right? Bad on ball. This guy can shoot the ball any place on the diamond, right? If it's an outside pitch, he takes it to the opposite field, right? If it's an inside pass ball, he drives it down the line. This guy was the complete batter, and he really was. I mean, clutch moments, Bulbushet would show up. So I don't want to sit here and sweep it under the rug and say, oh, we're not going to miss Bulbushet because we got all these guys. Well, that's not really the case, but yes, you're 100 percent right. It's the by committee approach. So you're hoping for a more from Madison Barge. You're hoping more from Dalton Bargeau. You're hoping that Davis Schneider can refine his game after not having a great spring training, but can hit some home run because you mocha modal bringing him in. I mean, all of these guys are working to replace Davis or to replace Bulbushet, which with, you know, four guys may not be that

12:29difficult, but yeah, and if one of these guys decide to have an injury or don't play up to their expectations, I think you will see a lot of Louis Jates fans missing Bulbushet. So contract extensions as we're joined right now by Braden Awasco from Lockdown Blue Jays on inside sports. Contract extensions handed out in the front office to Ross Atkinson to bench boss John Schneider as well, which is funny because I don't know that the voter confidence was there for Schneider prior to last season, of course, but you take a team as far as he did. You get that no doubt about it. So obviously well deserved given how they were so accomplished last year. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a little bit of a different question in terms of both guys. I think John Schneider, we've seen him grow over his career, right? He had a lot of missteps in his first couple of seasons, but then slowly finding out what kind of manager he wanted to be. And in doing that, he sort of was paired up perfectly with this Blue Jays team because they were a heavy need for utility players, guys that can play everywhere. And John Schneider

13:34loves to plug and play, guys. So that worked to his strength a ton. And just being a player's manager, he came up through the system with Vladimir Grouge Jr. Bobe, a shed cabin busier at the time. So we've got a great relationship in the room, which is so big as a manager. If the players have confidence in you, it makes everything a lot easier. In terms of Ross Atkins, everybody's talking about, oh, why was this such a long-term deal? Why wasn't this a one or two-year deal? And for me, it goes back to the fact that we didn't know the Blue Jays were going to be in the World Series going into last year. We actually had very low expectations. And what I kept going back to was the fact that all of these little moves and little pieces that Ross Atkins put into play ultimately culminated in what the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays were. So in doing that, now with a ton of guys coming off the books and actually are a contract set to come off the books, he needs more than one or two years to really keep this going and keep the plan in place about building around Vladimir

14:38Grouge Jr. So I think realistically both of these are excellent moves as long as, you know, Ross was doing anything stupid. And then I got to, you know, go on air saying how bad of a move, something was. But other than that, I'm thrilled. I like it. With that timeline in mind, I'm going to throw a curve ball out of you here and ask, who do you think the better long-term prospect for the Jays is? I don't know how deep into the prospect ratings you are, the pools or any of that kind of thing, but I love it. And they've got JoJo Parker and they've got Argen Nemalla now that could theoretically in time both step in and play shortstop. That's at least where they come up through the system. So do you like either one of those guys? I know JoJo was just drafted, but what do you think of those two prospects? Yeah, we go pretty in depth into all of the prospect systems and players when they do get drafted. We love the Treyis average sign error draft when it happened as well. And I love JoJo Parker. I was really high on this guy going into the draft. And Argen Nemalla has looked good. This spring training, he looks like the

15:40Argen Nemalla that we all sort of expected there to be. But I think we're getting a more clear picture of what his ceiling and what his floor will be. Whereas in JoJo Parker, I think the ceiling is still so high because we don't have all the certainty yet. So I would say I'm more excited for a JoJo Parker than Argen Nemalla, but it's still pretty unclear, but that's how I would have them ranked. Is JoJo's probably a step higher than Argen is right now? Gotcha. Argen came in so young, so young, right? He got drafted like 17 years old if memory serves. That was crazy. So how in your opinion, Braden, do they stack up in the AL East? As far as some of the moves, I know Baltimore brought in Peter Lanzo, for example. Boston's always kind of an enigmatic team. The Yankees are the Yankees. So what are you looking at in terms of the AL East this year? Yeah, it's an interesting one because the AL East is so good. That's why we call it the AL beast, because every team seems like they can do damage at any point. I have it in a two-horse race for

16:45number one, and that's the Blue Jays and the Yankees, sort of running it back from last year. It's going to be a dog fight. I do have the Blue Jays coming out on top in my rankings, but it really could go either way. And I do think Boston is fantastic, and I believe that the Orioles are going to really rebound aggressively this season. I think Peter Lanzo has a ton into that lineup. They bolstered their starting pitching staff as well. So I'm pretty terrified. I think this is going to be a very low wind division, just based on how many times each team has to play each other. And you can never really count out the race, right? And not for a playoff spot necessarily, but for stealing wins against the AL East teams. So they might be the swing team here of actually who determines who gets first, second, third in the AL East, which is a scary thought. And in the grand scheme of things, we might see not just three teams from the AL East make the playoff, but potentially four, which would be unbelievable. No kidding, it would. Any other moves from across the

17:47MLB sphere in the offseason or otherwise that have kind of caught your attention? Well, you can play or move it, sir. I was just talking to Paul Edmunds, host of play by play, Jess Hockey. And he's a big Cubs fan and them getting the long-term deal done with P. Crow Armstrong is so massive for that organization. I think they've been trying to, you know, get back in the conversation. And so I think great move by the Cubs just one that happened a couple days ago. So I got to give them hat tips as well. I'm a big P. Crow guy. So love that move, but to me, the one that really, really stands out is, first of all, P. Hollandeau from the Orioles, but then everything the mess we're able to do, I think that they're going to be a juggernaut as long as, you know, they can find that it's almost like team chemistry. I hate to say that because that's sort of a fake answer right here when in terms of which teams will be good and bad. But it really is the cohesion of that team just seems a little bit off and plunking

18:50and playing guys that positions they haven't yet is going to be very interesting. Always appreciate your time and your insights. Braden, thank you. Tell the boys over at CJAOB. We say hello and we'll talk to you soon when the season gets launched officially, okay? Yeah, it sounds great. Always a pleasure coming on. Right on. Braden and Wasco there. You can find his work at Lockdown Blue Jays or Lockdown Jays, I believe, is what you search to find that anywhere you get your streaming audio. We're coming to a close here live at the CFL Coach of the Year celebration. We'll take our final time out. Come back and wrap it up after this. Protein is now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein, cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks. Lifelock, how can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't. One in four tax paying

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21:10So you have to tune in tomorrow. Well, actually, we won't have inside sports tomorrow, but I will Friday. We'll tell you Friday who the winner was if you haven't looked it up by then. Why don't we have this tomorrow? Well, because we got oilers hockey instead. 730 puck drop between Edmonton and Vegas in Vegas. T-Mobile Arena is the house, hopefully not of the horrors tomorrow for Edmonton. It should be Conor Ingram in goal. That would be my Benningman's recommendation. We'll see. I can easily turn back to Tristan Jari after that performance too. I would I would not be surprised in any fashion, but we will find out together tomorrow. Bob has oilers now at four. That'll take you up to the city forward faceoff show at six. And we'll get you right to that 730 puck drop of Cam Moon and Bob Stoffer. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for listening tonight. We thank everybody who was on the show, all the CFL action

22:12that we got with Corey Mies and Jason Voss on Orlando Steinauer. He thinks to break Nahuasco for jumping on and talking some blue jays with us as well as Danny Webster from the Las Vegas Review Journal. If you missed any of the show, you can check it out via podcasts just search for inside sports. Thanks to you, Colin Kennedy, for keeping it on the rails as well. We'll talk to you tomorrow. We'll talk to everybody tomorrow at four o'clock. No, check that. Six o'clock city forward faceoff show. I'll be at work on time, I promise. We'll talk to you then. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company. No matter how you do the game day, on the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in. With a full lineup of non-alcoholic beer styles, you can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stuck the fridge for tip off with a variety of non-alcoholic craft styles available at

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