MLB rumors: Blue Jays are legitimate AL East threat to Yankees after trading for Mets’ Steven Matz
Updated Jan 28, 2021;
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The American League East could see a changing of the guard in 2021.
The Tampa Bay Rays knocked the Yankees from their perch last season, winning the division by seven games and bouncing New York from the playoffs by winning the American League Division Series in five games.
But the Rays are a shell of their former selves this winter after trading pitcher Blake Snell to the San Diego Padres and watching Charlie Morton bolt for the Atlanta Braves.
Enter the Toronto Blue Jays, who have put a target on the Yankees’ back.
MLB rumors: Blue Jays-Mets Steven Matz trade hints at possible Trevor Bauer deal
Updated Jan 28, 2021;
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Already considered the “favorites” to sign right-hander Trevor Bauer, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman hinted that Wednesday’s Matz could be the precursor to the free agent putting ink to paper with the Mets. cut at SP depth. Have deGrom, Carrasco, Stroman, Peterson and Lucchesi, with Syndergaard due back a few months into the season. Can still keep Gsellman/Lugo stretched out OR is this a prelude to Bauer?
New York Post colleague Mike Puma reports that with the Matz trade, “the payroll deduction could also help in trying to keep the team under the luxury-tax threshold of $210 million, should they reach agreement with last year’s National League Cy Young award winner.”
A 14-year-old girl shot in the head Tuesday afternoon at a home in Arlington is in critical condition and her 34-year-old mother is in jail on various charges, including aggravated manslaughter.