Should the Blue Jays bring back Max Scherzer?

Should the Blue Jays bring back Max Scherzer?

At times we did some really good things uh earned opportunities and we’re able to give ourselves a lead and then you know our game just for whatever reason becomes really immature and we don’t manage the game very well. Could be immaturity, not a willingness to make the easy play. Turnover after turnover costs the game tonight. You know, we didn’t check anybody tonight. We didn’t win any battles tonight. Maturity, something we almost never speak about on this program. It’s Harvey’s Hot Takes. Let’s talk maturity with a very mature host of Overdrive on TSN Radio, Brian Hayes. Very mature guy. Brian, you know this Blue Jays World Series run we just had, as you know, distracted everyone from the lackluster start of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And over the weekend, they lose back-to-back games. And you heard John Tvaris and Craig Barubi reference a lack of maturity after the loss to Carolina. What did you make of those comments? Well, first and foremost, I I’d like to point out how refreshing it is to hear that from John Tvarus. You know, he’s had a great start. I think, you know, this new contract, he hasn’t had the captaincy for a couple of years. It’s freed him up to speak maturely, you know, and actually give more honest assessments on what’s going on. Um, but the the problem is they’re not an immature team based on their birth certificates, based on their contracts, based on the security they have, and they are playing immature in some ways, but they’re not getting any of the upside of immaturity. Right? There’s a lot of teams in the league, a lot of teams in pro sports that might play with an immature style, but what usually comes with that is a high pace. You know, they’re a fast team. The Leafs are not fast. They’re energetic. The Leafs are not energetic. They work so hard. The Leafs haven’t been working that hard. They hit, they fight, they play to the crowd. They have bigger than-l life personalities that haven’t been bottled up yet. The Leafs don’t hit. They don’t fight. They don’t play to the crowd. They don’t have bigger than-l life personalities that are playing to the crowd. So, yeah, they are playing immature in some ways, but there’s no upside to that immaturity like you see with some other teams in the league right now. And ultimately, I’m not even sure, you know, describing it that way is is strong enough in terms of the criticism with the way that the Leafs have played. And it’s it’s just sloppy. Like, it’s really sloppy, sloppy play. Their play with the puck in particular is just not becoming of a team that has been in the playoffs nine straight years, that is one of the oldest teams in the league that has a lot of their best players who have been in the league for a long time. Austin Matthews, William Knander. This is their 10th year. John Tvarus has been in the league for a long time. A long, long time. Morgan Riley, Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolars has not been a bonafide number one goalender in the league before, but he’s over 30 and he’s been a professional for a long time. Craig Barub, their head coach, has been in the league as a player, as a coach for 40 years. They’re not immature. the whole purpose of bringing the same defense core back, all six guys that played down the stretch and in the playoffs, all six of them returned this year. You never see that. The reason I believe Brad Shiv did it is because they’re mature. They’re mature players. They’re veteran players. They’re players that you believe would have the the savviness and the ability to get through the craziness of an early portion of a season that can be chaotic in the league. And we are seeing that. We’re seeing chaos in the NHL. The Leafs with their birth certificates are supposed to be kind of chaos proof and they’re actually the ones creating the chaos. They have played so poorly. Their record is actually not truly indicative of how they’ve played, but they’ve scored a lot of goals. I think their power play starting to come around. Is their reason for optimism in the future? Possibly if they figure out this defensive system, they start turn stop turning the pucks over. They start getting better goalending. Like there’s a long list here and we’re almost at US Thanksgiving which is generally the line that most people in the league use as around the 20 game mark to determine who you are. And I I don’t think the Leafs are a disaster. I don’t think they’re an awful team, but they’re playing very poorly and they’re they’re making a lot of self um you know they’re they’re self-sabotaging on a nightly basis. And these past two games against Carolina and Boston in particular were the ugliest you’re going to find. In the Carolina game, they got outshike 22-2 in the third period. 22-2 in a one-goal game at home. That’s immaturity. So, the assessment in some ways is accurate. Like I said, off the top top, Jay, unfortunately, what can come with immaturity, the entertainment side of things, it’s not even being supplied right now. So, the Leafs have got to figure this out. They got to mature quickly. They got to start playing better real quickly because once we get through November, you start staring at the standings and this league is it’s a crazy one, man. It can get away from you really quickly. Okay. Well, let’s you know, I said we were done talking about the Blue Jays. I want to get back to the Blue Jays because Max Scherzer had something to say on Monday, but but not before Shane Bieber last week, as you know, Brian, opted in for next season and surprised anyone. Well, Sherzer had this to say to The Athletic on Monday. Knowing that my thumb is healthy, that means my right arm’s going to be healthy. That was the number one worry. I’m past that. I’m way past that now. Looking forward. I want to still compete and compete for World Series. I want to continue my career and play in 2026. Brian, Max Scherzer will turn 42 next July. There is no questioning his competitiveness obviously, but is it in the Jay’s best interest to bring him back next season? I don’t think so until you’ve exhausted every other option. And that’s ultimately what happened last year with Max Scherzer. He did not sign early into the off season, right? It was a very late signing and that was because I’m not sure the market was there for Sherzer and ultimately the Jays were in a position of desperation. You know, coming off a 74 win season, the PR was pretty der at that point. They hadn’t added, I think, the pieces they were hoping to add. And Sherzer was there and he said, “I’ll come up to Toronto for 15 million. They had a lot of money. They had money to burn. They said, “Let’s make it work.” It did work in the end. To the credit of Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays, it worked. He pitched pretty well down the stretch. He obviously didn’t even pitch against the Yankees. wasn’t even on the divisional series roster, but he pitched really well against Seattle, really well against LA and ultimately ends up starting game seven of the World Series, which is a testament to what you just pointed out, his drive and his competitive nature, but like you said, he’ll be 42. His thumb is fine in November. What’s it going to look like in April? What’s it going to feel like by the end of next season? I think they got everything they could possibly get out of Max Scherzer. I thought it was a great story, him being here, watching a future Hall of Famer pitch in a Blue Jay uniform was a really cool story. Watching the redemption story again after he didn’t pitch against the Yankees, pitching game four in Seattle, pitching two games against LA, it was a great story. You got everything you could possibly ask out of it, I would walk. I would go and and expend every possible option I could to find a younger, more secure option because it was holding on by a thread this year when he was 41. I can only imagine what it’s going to look like at 42. And like I said, exhaust every option you can, Jay. And if you get to February and no one signed Sherzer, and you’re still looking for a fifth or sixth starter and you feel like he can be good for the clubhouse like he was at times this year, maybe you look into it, but not to start your off season. You’re not calling up Sherzer and his rep and saying, “We need to make this happen.” I don’t think it makes sense. You’ve got Bieber already locked in. You got to continue to look for every possible option you can to get better. And as of day one or day five, day 10, whatever it is into the offse, I don’t think Max Sherzer should be the answer right now for the Blue Jays. And in the end, maybe it won’t be the Blue Jays making the decision about Max Scherzer. According to our friend Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Sherzer has already been linked to the San Francisco Giants. Buster Posey, GM, making moves. That’s Brian Hayes. He’s always making moves. Hot Takes is presented by Harvey’s. Things are heating up with Harvey’s Buffalo chicken lineup, including the Buffalo chicken sandwich, wrap, nuggets, or poutine for a whole lot of spicy, saucy flavor. Harvey’s. It’s a beautiful Hey,

Bryan Hayes joins SC with Jay Onrait for another edition of Harvey’s Hot Takes, where he gives his thoughts on Craig Berube and John Tavares’ comments indicating the Maple Leafs are playing with a lack of maturity, and whether he thinks the Blue Jays should bring back Max Scherzer.