Of course, scanning the lineup card on Monday meant looking up and down until you realized Holy fuck, Vladdy's not playing?? Why? And the why from the powers that be was garbage.
Beleaguered Believer in the Bunt, Charlie Montoyo, stuck by his explanation that they are sticking by Vladdy's schedule of days off. And sitting Vladdy, coming off a player of the week worthy slash of .333/.417/.905 with four dingers, is not helping Charlie's early report card grade of 'needs improvement' in things managing. Maybe a DH day for one of the hottest hitters in baseball instead of, let me check, Danny Jansen? Or anything that involves Vladimir Guerrero Jr. playing the fucking game?
Ross Atkins, who does an admirable job of making his primary TV broadcasters sound concise, tried to lay some of the blame on himself. Atkins said he had not talked to his new manager about the importance of Victoria Day; which as a Canadian my entire life, is as important of a holiday as any fucking long weekend holiday. Even when Atkins tries to sound sincere, he comes across like a bookworm trying to squeeze his lunch tray in with the jocks at the high school cafeteria.
Maybe the importance behind Victoria Day that Atkins is trying to convey is, as an organization, Victoria Day means an uptick of attendance at the Dome. For a team that has struggled with attendance this season (for good reason), the Jays had over 26,000 come to the stadium for the game on holiday Monday, most of them likely to see the hottest name in baseball, a player the Blue Jays happen to employ and just so happens to be coming off that AL Player of the Week Award.
And that player sat on the bench.
What a huge fuck you to the people who came to the ballpark. What a huge fuck you to the entire fan base.
At times, I have defended the group from Cleveland. In a vacuum, I don't believe their work is as bad as some portions of the fan base make it out to be. But the optics behind their moves is always shit. Not offering Price a contract? Shit. Signing Morales five seconds into free agency while letting fan favorite Edwin leave? Shit. Donaldson? Gibbons? Vlad from this spring? Turn the bathroom fan on and slam the lever twice.
And it's not that this one takes the cake. While this decision would draw its criticism at any time, it's the decisions that preceded this that amplify the criticism. Shapiro, Atkins, et al, have a reputation of being out of tune with their fan base ever since taking over from the Greek God of Trade Deadlines. A move from Monday only gives credence to those outcries.
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