Outside The Confines: Blue Jays blues

Good morning.

• The Blue Jays fired their manager, Charlie Montoyo. Bench coach John Schneider will be the interim coach for the rest of the year. I’m assuming that’s not the same John Schneider who was one of the Dukes of Hazzard, but I haven’t checked to make sure. If it is, I hope we see more on-field car chases.
• Gabe Lacques has more thoughts on Montoyo’s firing, which he called “startling.”
• Kaitlyn McGrath has what we know about Montoyo’s firing. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Ken Rosenthal writes that the decision to fire Montoyo was “curious” and that without some more information, the firing doesn’t make a lot of sense. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• McGrath does get some anonymous Blue Jays players to say that Montoyo had lost some, although not all, of the clubhouse. (The Athletic sub. req.) One player cited Montoyo’s lack of leadership when the team struggled.
• Staying with Canada, the Royals are playing up there with a whopping ten players missing, including Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi, because they refuse to get vaccinated against COVID. With eight players called up from the minors, the Royals still won 3-1.
• Royals fans have been upset by this development and the team has been trying to emphasize their efforts to encourage people (including their own players) to get vaccinated.
• What particularly upset the fans (and team president Dayton Moore as well) was when Merrifield implied that if he got traded to a contender, he would reconsider his decision not to get vaccinated. Moore has said that Merrifield has apologized for his comments.
• Stephanie Apstein writes that the unvaccinated players are showing their lack of commitment to winning by their selfish decision.
• Andy McCullough writes that Canada’s vaccine requirements are altering the playoff pictures in both leagues. (The Athletic sub. req.) It should be noted that the US has the same requirements to enter the country. It’s just that every Blue Jays player is vaccinated, so it’s having no impact on MLB.

• One player the Yankees did pursue is utility Tyler Wade, who was traded from the Angels to the Yankees on Thursday.
• Agent Casey Close is suing radio host/credit card thief Doug Gottlieb for libel for saying that Close never told Freddie Freeman about the Braves final contract offer.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred talks to Bill Shaikin in advance of the All-Star Game.
• Blue Jays outfielder George Springer has pulled out of the All-Star Game with an elbow injury. He’s being replaced on the roster by Rangers shortstop Corey Seager.
• Here are the brackets for the Home Run Derby.
• Everything you need to know about Saturday’s Futures Game. Pete Crow-Armstrong is on the team. That’s all you need to know.
• Jesse Rogers looks at how the Orioles became the hottest team in baseball after being the worst last season.
• Although are they the hottest team in baseball? The Orioles have won ten straight, but the Mariners have won 11-straight.
• I’ve been thinking a lot about the draft lately. Jonathan Mayo has too, and he asked 27 executives who they thought the Orioles would take with the first pick in the draft. No one player got more than one-third of the vote.
• Mike Axisa has a mock draft.
• Tim McKeown watches the scouts who are watching right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker, the most-mysterious player in the draft.
• Jim Callis re-drafts the 2012 draft.
• Andrew Simon lists every player that should have been the first pick in every MLB Draft.
• R.J. Anderson has 30 players who are candidates to get traded this month and where they might end up.
• Zach Crizer thinks that all the analytics are making the trade deadline too dull.
• White Sox manager Tony La Russa walked Guardians star José Ramirez after an 0-1 count. The move was criticized by many, but Ben Clemens writes that how you feel about the decision is probably determined by how you feel about La Russa.
• Dan Szymborski writes that despite being in third place and a game below .500, the White Sox are still a team that could not only make the postseason, but go a long ways in it.
• Also, former White Sox player and manager and current NBC Chicago broadcaster Ozzie Guillen just challenged writer Jon Heyman to a charity boxing match to settle their feud.
• Justin Choi compares rookie pitchers Spencer Strider and Hunter Greene and tries to explain why Strider has been so much more successful.
• David Ortiz makes a plea for the Red Sox to sign Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers to contract extensions.
• And finally, Pirates rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz set a Statcast-era record with a 97.8 mile per hour throw to first base.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.