AL East Notes: ALDS, Rodriguez, Weaver, Orioles

The Blue Jays hold a 2-0 lead in the ALDS after a 13-7 win over the Yankees today.  Toronto has torched the Yankees for 23 runs over the two games, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-5 with a grand slam) and Daulton Varsho (4-for-5 with two homers and two doubles) doing the most damage today with four RBI apiece.  Max Fried was charged with seven earned runs over three-plus innings in a disastrous outing for the Yankees ace.

New York’s lineup came to life with seven late runs against Toronto’s bullpen, after Jays starter Trey Yesavage was nothing short of dominant.  In just his fourth career outing in the majors, Yesavage allowed only a walk over 5 1/3 hitless innings, with 11 strikeouts — the most K’s from any Blue Jays pitcher in a postseason game.  The decision to pull Yesavage after 78 pitches seemed to be based on a desire to keep Yesavage from facing Yankees batters a third time, and to potentially keep Yesavage fresh for usage later in the series.  Of course, the Yankees can only hope that there will even be a “later in the series,” as the Jays are just one win away from advancing to the ALCS.  Game 3 is on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

More from around the AL East…

Rays assistant general manager and VP Carlos Rodriguez officially announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the organization.  Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Rodriguez “had been talking about [departing] for a while,” so the move has nothing to do with the Rays’ new owners, as it is believed that the incoming ownership group won’t be making any major changes to the baseball ops group.  Rodriguez was one of four AGMs under president of baseball operations Erik Neander, and Topkin believes the club will fill Rodriguez’s spot by promoting from within.  Rodriguez has been in his VP/AGM role for the last four seasons, and a member of Tampa’s organization for the last 15 seasons.  Beginning as a scout, Rodriguez had many roles as he worked his way up the front office ladder, including multiple years running the Rays’ Latin American scouting and international scouting operations.
Luke Weaver retired the only batter he faced in a mop-up appearance for the Yankees today, providing some small hope that the right-hander is turning things around.  After an inconsistent regular season, Weaver has had a nightmarish postseason, as he hadn’t recorded a single out from six batters faced in two prior outings against the Jays (in Game 1 of the ALDS) and Red Sox (in Game 1 of the wild card series).  Weaver discussed his struggles with MLB.com’s Jake Rill and other reporters before today’s game, suggesting that he may have been over-correcting in an attempt to keep from tipping his pitches.  “I’m at a point where I’m just, ’Full send,’ and none of that’s going to matter anymore.  So I’m going to be what I think is best for me, and I’m going to go out there and attack the way I need to do,” Weaver said.
After a disappointing season for the Orioles and their core of young players, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko opines that the team should go big in adding both experience and quality by signing Cody Bellinger this winter.  To be clear, this is a speculative opinion on Kubatko’s part, rather than a suggestion that Bellinger might be on the Orioles’ radar this winter.  Baltimore hasn’t been linked to Bellinger when he has been a free agent or trade candidate in the past, and signing Bellinger would represent far and away the team’s biggest financial splash of the Mike Elias era.  Tyler O’Neill’s three-year, $49.5MM contract from last winter is the only multi-year free agent signing Elias has made, though the Orioles’ eight-year, $67MM extension with Samuel Basallo from the summer indicates that the club may be getting a bit more comfortable with larger spending.