A Post-Holiday Blue Jays Link Wrapup

Things are quiet in Blue Jays Land … extremely quiet. Yes, it’s that extremely desolate time of the offseason when practically nothing happens. Not only has it been a slow news week, it’s been a pretty slow news month for anything Blue Jays-related.

Luckily, Sportsnet has been replaying portions of the Blue Jays’ 2015 postseason run and it’s conjured up a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings for Jays fans. The replay of those games just reiterated how magical of a run 2015 truly was.

There may not much news-wise surrounding the Blue Jays, but there have been a handful of items which are worth a read over the holiday break.

It’s been over two months since Game 5 of the ALDS, but it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Over at Sportsnet, I looked back at some of the forgotten or initially overlooked items from one of the weirdest playoff games ever.

If anything, at least check it out for the GIFS and screencap of Russell Martin praying in the dugout. I’d highly recommend going back to watch Game 5 in its entirely and you’ll probably notice tonnes of new stuff.

In case you missed it, John Gibbons caught up with Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 the Fan a few days ago, and among the many quotable items, Gibby things the Jays will be even better in 2016.

With a healthy Troy Tulowitzki and Marcus Stroman for a full season? You’d think the 2016 Blue Jays should at least be on par or very close to the 2015 team. If anything, they’re much better now than they were at season’s end in 2014.

Big League Stew ranked their top catches of the year and surprise surprise, two Blue Jays are right there at the top. Kevin Pillar’s wall-leaping catch slightly edged Josh Donaldson’s dive into the stands in Tampa Bay.

Over at the Toronto Star, Brendan Kennedy counted down the Top 10 Blue Jays moments from 2015.

Has it really been a decade since the Troy Glaus trade already? Jays Journal looks back at one of the more underrated moves of the J.P. Ricciardi era. At the initial time of the trade, I remember freaking out because Orlando Hudson was involved in the deal.

The Jays are even still enjoy the fruits of that Troy Glaus trade, as he was eventually dealt for Scott Rolen who was eventually traded for Edwin Encarnacion. A few rough years at third base and a DFA later, Encarnacion is now one of the most preeminent sluggers in baseball.

And lastly, a few weeks ago Ross Atkins said something to the effect of “I expect something would happen before the holidays“. Well, the holidays have pretty much come and gone and no transactions took place. Was he really alluding to the Darwin Barney signing?