Weekly Takes - Monday, August 4th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, August 4th Edition 

1. I love the Leafs trading for Dakota Joshua, a big, physical third-line who scores playoff-style goals.

A third line of Joshua-Nicholas Roy-Bobby McMann is a true shutdown line with legitimate secondary scoring. The type of third-line you see on Cup winning teams. 

Combine that with an improved second line of Matias Maccelli-John Tavares-William Nylander and a fourth line of Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Calle Jarnkrok, and the Leafs can compete as well as anyone with Florida’s stacked lineup.

Upgrading on Max Domi at 1RW would be ideal, but a healthy Auston Matthews, paired with Matthew Knies, can hold their own to start the year.

(Upgrading on Jarnkrok at 4RW would not be the worst idea, either.)

2. I loved the deadline the Blue Jays had.

I came in wanting three relievers (two high-leverage and one bulk) and a right-handed bat, and they went out and added two high-leverage relievers and a starting pitcher with ace potential to eventually move Eric Lauer to the bulk role.

I would have liked a better bat than Ty France, but they are a better team with him than without and maybe Anthony Santander can come back and make an impact eventually.

It was nice to do all this while keeping Trey Yersavage, Arjun Nimmala, and Johnny King, too.

3. My winners and losers of MLB’s trade deadline…

Winners…

• Yankees

• Mets

• Padres

• Mariners 

• Blue Jays

• Phillies

• Athletics

Losers…

• Twins (ridiculous to blow that core up)

• Rays (what is their direction?)

• Angels (see: Rays)

• Brewers (the players deserved an all-in move)

• Cubs (see: Brewers)