This Girl and the Blue Jays: The Trade Deadline via a Twilight Metaphor

The trade dealine has come and gone and the Blue Jays saw a few trades. Perhaps the most poignant was Travis Snider being pulled from a sinking game in Seattle in the seventh inning. Yan Gomes went into left field, so we all knew this wasn't a routine play. And sure enough, not two minutes later he was in the dugout shaking hands and hugging. But then the question remained, where was he going? And who were the Jays getting? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that was praying to the baseball gods for Garza or Upton, but I should have known better. This is AA afterall. If you've heard the rumour than it's not true. And nobody heard a rumour about Travis Snider and Brad Lincoln.

Not an hour later, Eric Thames was dealt to the Seattle Mariners for Steve Delabar.

And in one night, both of the players that most fans imagined as the left fielder of the future were gone.

In Spring Training, everybody picked sides. It was like Twilight. Team Snider or Team Thames. Team Thames was the equivalent of being on Team Jacob. Most of the die hard community was on the side of Team Snider, and confessing your love for Team Thames often resulted in being ostracized. Because Bella (the Blue Jays) never really loved Jacob (Thames), he was just a good friend when she needed him. Edward (Snider) was her true love.

So therefore, in a lot of fans minds trading away Snider was like staking Edward in the heart before he could live happily ever after with Bella. They were not happy. Despondent really. My twitter exploded.

Now, now. Don't pretend you don't understand my metaphor. We've all read it.

But i've been swimming against the tide on this one since day one. And I will say, I think this is the best thing that could ever happen to Snider and I wish him all the best in Pittsburgh. If Snider does break out and become the hitter and fielder we all hoped he would become, i'm sure there will be Blue Jays fans cursing the ground AA walks on. But here is my belief. Travis Snider was never going to reach his potential in Toronto. He needed a change of scenery. He needed a new gm, new coaches, managers and even fans. He has a blank slate in Pittsburgh. He is no longer JP Riccardi's pick. Nobody in Pittsburgh remembers his flashes of brilliance and failure in 2010, 2011, 2012. And hell, the kid has the chance to play in October. Even the mouth breathers threatening AA's life should be happy for him. Who wouldn't want a chance to play with Andrew McCutchen?

So going back to my metaphor. Bella is now all alone in left field without Edward or Jacob to love her, comfort her and spew her bullshit. A new round of suitors have arrived.

Moises Sierra
Anthony Gose
Rajai Davis

I don't think anyone in April would believe the outfielder crew the Blue Jays are currently rocking. I think Moises Sierra has a lot of potential. He was a consistent hitter in AAA (since numbers mean nothing down there, consistency is certainly a good thing), he's a good runner and according to AA he is Nelson Cruz incarnate and has one hell of an arm. I'm not quite buying into the whole Nelson Cruz thing quite yet (although that would be amazing- remember last October??) I'm willing to give this kid a chance, and i'm excited from his one game sample size (running through the stop sign and all). I love the speed of Anthony Gose, but he's 21 and I don't think he's here to stay. His batting thus far has left a lot to be desired. Legging out infield hits is great, but sometimes that ball needs to get into the outfield.

As for Brad Lincoln and Steve Delabar. I'm holding out hope. They are exactly what AA wanted. Controllable power arms. The bullpen has been in shambles since day one, and frankly they are dropping like flies out there. I'm ready for some consistency and I really hope Lincoln, Delabar and Lyon can bring a little bit of that in the later innings.

While we all wait to see whether Villeneuva can pull yet another winning rabbit out of his hat and avoid the sweep in Seattle, i'll leave you with a few pictures. Because I take a lot.

Confession: not too long ago I was driving down front street with my Mom when I saw Escobar walking. I recognized him and promptly gawked. My Mom questioned how I recognized Escobar from the back. I present Exhibit A.