SIMMONS SUNDAY: Could Blue Jays win a best-of-three without Alek Manoah? It’s a gamble they could take

Can the Blue Jays win a best-of-three playoff series without Alek Manoah making a start? Without the heart and soul of the Blue Jays on the mound?

That’s a gamble they are apparently willing to take as the baseball season winds down and there is no certainty as to who the Jays will be playing against or where they will be playing those games. We just know they’re going to the playoffs.

And manager John Schneider has said, no doubt with the approval of the interfering duo of president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins, that if the Jays need to win in Baltimore on the last day of the season for home-field advantage Manoah would make the start, which would mean he wouldn’t be available to pitch Game 1 or 2 of the series and quite possibly not available for Game 3 (that would be pitching on three days rest).

The Jays best chance to win any series is having the combination of Manoah and Kevin Gausman pitching the first two games in whatever order. That should match or better anything they would face in a short series. But when you alter the rotation, starting Gausman in Game 1 and then maybe Ross Stripling in Game 2 and who knows after that, it’s reminiscent of the Jays using convoluted logic in starting their ace Hyun-jin Ryu in the second game of a short series two years ago.

How did that one work out?

This is a team capable of going to the World Series or losing in the first round. You have to give them every opportunity to go as far as possible when the time comes.

THIS AND THAT

Auston Matthews is not a kid anymore. This is his seventh NHL season. You listen to him now, having just turned 25, and he sounds older than that, more mature, more sure of himself, more comfortable in his own skin, and more self-assured than at any previous time in his Leafs tenure. It’s a little like watching your kids grow up: They don’t sound the same at 25 as they did at 18 … And I agree with him on one thing: I do like Terry Koshan’s mustache… Spend a minute or two with Rasmus Sandin and you’ll understand that he is supremely confident and believes in his talents, which is nice. But it doesn’t help his team or himself when he’s not at training camp. Young defencemen need playing time, and eventual credibility, more than they need money. If Sandin plays the way he expects to play, he’ll be handsomely paid for his entire career. What he earns now will be a footnote to his future, which is why he needs to sign and needs to play — now … I thought of this as Robert Sarver was essentially pushed out as owner of the Phoenix Suns: If Harold Ballard was still alive, in today’s climate, he would be a suspension waiting to happen … Leafs management doesn’t like talking about Wayne Simmonds. Because they like him. Because they have great regard for him and his career accomplishments. And because they’re not sure he can play anymore. The club is going to have to figure out what to do with Simmonds in a couple of weeks and it’s not a comfortable place for management to be … It’s easy to talk about firing Kyle Dubas at the end of the season or, in the more demure way, not re-signing him as general manager. The better question: Who do you replace him with? And who would do a better job? Montreal fired Marc Bergevin after a long run as GM and replaced him with Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes. If there’s a Jeff Gorton out there and available, Toronto would be wise to investigate … The more the Canadian dollar drops, the worse it is for the future salary cap of the NHL. Canadian teams sell their tickets in devalued Canadian dollars while paying out salaries in U.S. funds.

HEAR AND THERE

Mitch White has pitched in eight games for the Blue Jays, and Toronto has won just two of those. His earned run average in September is 8.03. This was a significant failure for GM Atkins at the trade deadline … This broke my heart, just a little: Aaron Sanchez, designated for assignment, at a time when rosters are expanded, by the Minnesota Twins. Always thought he would be a star … I wanted to watch the Leafs play Ottawa on Saturday afternoon, but I had to tune it to the Yankees-Red Sox game while writing the column. Couldn’t miss an Aaron Judge at-bat. Just like I couldn’t miss the end of Roger Federer on Friday night. What magnificent theatre that was. If you haven’t watched it, find it somewhere and bring a box of kleenex with you … So what a summer of baseball history this has been. Judge on the race against Roger Maris and non-syringe history. Albert Pujols hit the 700 mark. The closest players in their prime to Pujols: teammate Giancarlo Stanton at 375 and Mike Trout at 346. That’s what you call lapping the field … As of Saturday afternoon, Judge not only led in home runs but led in batting and RBI. Can you say Triple Crown? The batting title will be a tight race, the other two will not. Judge was hitting .315, just ahead of Xander Bogaerts at .314 with Luis Arraez, who led most of the season, at .312 … You have to be at the Rogers Centre on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday just to see Judge, Jewish holidays aside. Just for a chance at watching history being made up close … Wouldn’t you have loved to been there when Babe Ruth hit No. 60 or Maris hit 61? … Not a lot is said about Danny Jansen but what a fine season he is having when healthy for the Blue Jays. He’s only had 188 at-bats, but his slugging percentage and OPS are better, if you can believe it, than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. Guerrero hits a home run every 20 at-bats; Jansen this season, every 14 at-bats.

SCENE AND HEARD

I’ve never heard a bad word said about Zdeno Chara. Not by those playing with him. Not by those playing against him. It’s hard to find any player who was as universally respected as Chara was. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2022. Probably alongside Duncan Keith, who won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and also won two Norris Trophies and, maybe the most important award, one called the Conn Smythe … Not sure P.K. Subban, great as he was, electric as he was, so much the personality, did enough to make the Hall of Fame. He did win the Norris and that works in his favour. The only retired Norris winner not to make the Hall is Randy Carlyle. One day in history we’ll look back and see that Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Drew Doughty and Victor Hedman only won one Norris, and collectively we’ll shake our heads. And to think, Brad Park never won but he did finish second eight times, usually behind a guy named Bobby Orr … Who’s less in touch with the world? Hockey Canada or those now trying to do PR for Hockey Canada? The survey they recently sent out to be members just further demonstrates how lost they truly are as an organization … So someone has to step up, someone in hockey, someone in government, someone with authority and dismiss the Hockey Canada board of directors and all of their senior executives. And soon … If training camp assessments meant anything, the now-retired Mike Craig would have been a great NHL player. He wasn’t. But almost every camp, he looked like he might be. Just because a guy wins a job in September, it doesn’t mean he’ll be around in November. So when you hear that marginal NHL players like Victor Mete and Jordie Benn are looking great at Leafs camp, consider this: They are still Victor Mete and Jordie Benn. Benn, by the way, is on his sixth team in the past seven seasons.

AND ANOTHER THING

Who is writing the script for this NBA off-season, the cast of Barry? Bill Hader? An owner on his way out. A coach pushed aside for having an affair. To quote my old friend, Jack Gotta, who didn’t understand players 40 years ago: “Why can’t the guys just go hunting and fishing like we used to?” … So much to watch on TV this past week: The last Federer match. Every Judge at-bat. But I don’t know if anything made me happier than seeing Darren Dutchyshen back on SportsCentre as he continues his battle with cancer … Year after year, the St. Louis Cardinals are rather remarkable. This is their 14th straight winning season, the sixth time over 90 wins. I think we take their success for granted. The Yankees, by the way, haven’t had a losing season since 1992 … Go figure those strength of schedule arguments: The Seattle Mariners, playing nothing but pooch teams down the stretch, are 2-6 against three of baseball’s worst as the wild-card race meanders on … The three biggest cities in the CFL, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, are the three bottom teams in terms of attendance … The best baseball show on the radio, with the very best guests: Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker on the FAN 590. I wonder if they get paid by the hour because they seem to be doing days and nights … In 2004, Jaromir Jagr was the highest-paid player in the NHL at $11 million a season. There was no salary cap then. All these years later, Nathan MacKinnon is the highest-paid player at $12.6 million. No athletes in pro sports have been as underpaid, big picture, as NHL stars. The salary cap hasn’t done a thing for hockey stars but limit their value … By comparison, the highest-paid player in the NBA in 2004 was Shaquille O’Neal at $27 million a year. Steph Curry is the highest paid now at $48 million. Second highest-paid player in 2004 was Dikembe Mutombo at $19.4 million. The second-highest paid player in the NHL today is Connor McDavid at $12.5 million. The second highest-paid player in the NBA today is Russell Westbrook at $47 million … Happy birthday to Calle Jarnkrok (31), Joe Greene (76), Stephanie McMahon (46), John McDonald (48), Bob McAdoo (71), Scottie Pippen (57), Terry Metcalf (71), Jim Acker (64), Cade Cunningham (21), Chauncey Billups (46), Rafael Palmeiro (58) and Hubie Brown (89) … And, hey, whatever became of Tyler Varga?

ssimmons@postmedia.com
Twitter@simmonssteve

IT’S BEEN A DISASTROUS SEASON FOR BERRIOS
What excitement there was last November when Jose Berrios agreed to a seven-year extension and all it cost the Blue Jays was $131 million. It was a long-term commitment from both sides, a well-paid kumbaya pact of sorts, with hugs and both sides feeling wonderful. He liked us, we liked him, what could be bad in all of that?

Well, we’ve seen what could be bad in this nightmare of a season for Berrios.

He might have had a bad start to the season, pitchers do that sometimes, but big picture this has been an absolute disastrous year for Berrios, who was paid to be a top-of-the-rotation starter and with a week to go in the season has the worst earned run average among starters in all of baseball. That’s not easy to do, to be the worst.

Berrios is at 5.27 over 160 innings pitched, has given up the second most home runs in the American League, the second most hits against, the worst batting average against, has allowed the third most runs scored, and is third worst when it comes to WHIP.

It’s pretty impossible to have statistics this terrible when you have Berrios’ background of credibility. What happened this season will have be examined and interpreted and then re-examined again at the conclusion of the campaign because there are seven more years of Berrios in Toronto, and who in their right minds would trade for a pitcher with a docket such as this?

The worst part in all this: the Jays might need him to make an appearance or two in the post-season and how do you trust a pitcher who hasn’t earned that trust all season long? The only crazy stat here: He has started 30 games for the Jays and they’ve won 22 of them. How do you make sense of that?

MUZZIN A BIG QUESTION MARK FOR LEAFS
Jake Muzzin is 33 years old, in his 13th professional NHL season, and there are doubts about how much he can still play, how much he can help the Maple Leafs, how healthy he is, and questions of whether his $5.6-million salary cap hit may turn out to beneficial, in fact, for this coming Leafs season.

Here is the built-in dilemma with Muzzin. The Leafs adore him and need him, require what he brings physically and emotionally, need the intelligence in his game, and need his natural maturity and leadership. What they don’t need is the uncertainty of it all.

Last year, Muzzin played 47 games, missed 35 with two concussions and a hand injury among all that set him back.

As training camp began, Muzzin was surprisingly declared out of the lineup with a previously undisclosed back problem. In his three and a half seasons as a Leaf, Muzzin missed 59 games.

Now, with young defenders, Timothy Liljegren hurt and Rasmus Sandin foolishly unsigned, the Leafs need Muzzin more than ever. But they’re not sure how many games he’ll be able to play, what level he’ll be able to play at, and whether they could load manage his season to have him ready to go at playoff time.

Toronto has Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie as its top two defenceman. But who’s number three? Or four? Muzzin fits in there under normal circumstances but these aren’t normal circumstances. And Mark Giordano, signed to play in the third pairing and add leadership, may be forced to move up in the lineup. After that, and without Sandin, they have a lot of five, six and sevens. Goaltending may be the great unknown of the Leafs early season, but the status of Muzzin is not far behind that. What they can achieve with him? What they can achieve without him?