Blue Jays final 25 > Some surprise faces and missing ones Davie Wong Sports Editor pring Training is over and opening day has passed, which means that the roster has been locked for the Blue Jays, and there are some big surprises. From the bullpen, the Jays have decided to shake it up this year. Drew Hutchinson has been demoted to the minor leagues to make room for newly acquired free agent J.A. Happ. His case wasn't helped by a lacklustre spring training either. He won't be gone for long though. Should any trouble occur in the bullpen this year, it’s likely that Hutchin- son will get the call. Long-time veteran Steve Delabar was released by the team going into April to make room in the bullpen for new acquisitions. Jesse Chavez, acquired in Novem- ber from the Oakland Athletics, was fighting for a spot on the starting rotation. With that job now claimed by the youngster Aaron Sanchez, Chavez has been pushed into the bullpen tempo- rarily. Gavin Floyd, a value pickup from free agency, had a great spring training. He battled hard for Sanchez’s spot on the starting rotation but ultimately fell short, and is now back in the bullpen. New acquisition Arnold Leon, Rule 5 Draft pick up Joe Bi- agini, and freshly signed Franklin Morales, make up the bulk of the relievers. Brett Cecil makes his return as a set-up pitcher. Along- side him stands newly acquired Drew Storen, who looked like he could challenge for Roberto Os- una’s role as closer. But challenge is all he really did, as Osuna still looked fantastic during spring training, and he rounds out the Blue Jays’ bullpen from the role of closer. While the bullpen looks strong, the same can't be said about the starting rotation; “shaky” is a word one could use E-Sports on ESPN? > Is the world ready? Davie Wong Sports Editor was browsing ESPN the other day in search of the latest use- less drama in the world of sports, and to my surprise, the website had an “E-sports” section. I fond- ly recalled a certain quote from the ESPN president, John Skip- per, not more than two years ago from the Code/Media Series: New York conference. “[E-sport] is not a sport—it’s a competition... I’m interested in doing real sports.” Pretty strong words if I’m not mistaken. Yet there it was in full 1280p glory. A page of ESPN dedicated purely to the reporting and promotion of E-sports. So what changed? Well I can tell you it probably wasn’t that stubborn president. Maybe it was the fact that it’s now a multi-hundred million dollar industry. Perhaps it was the pressure from an ev- er-growing audience that caused the sports giant to finally cave. Either way, it has happened, and the reaction has been promising. Sometimes, money is the answer. And it turns out the big- wigs at ESPN know how to spend their money well. To spark their E-sports division, ESPN hired several big name writers and journalists within the E-sports community, and it paid off. ES- PN’s E-sport social media account to describe it. Marcus Stroman heads the five-man team. R.A. Dickey, Happ, Sanchez, and an injured Marco Estrada follow him. Dickey will be hard-pressed to prove that he can still defy age and play past his prime. Happ is coming back to the Jays after being traded to Seattle and then being dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline. His time with the Mariners was soured by his poor performance, but he looked much better with amassed a large number of fol- lowers not too long after launch- ing, and activity site spiked. Surprisingly enough, much of the resistance that E-sports had been previously met with was not present. This could do to a number of factors. Recently, certain prominent figures in sport have made significant invest- Photo of Jose Bautista via www.cbc.ca the Pirates. Look for him to be put on avery short leash, as Floyd or Chavez can easily fill his place if he fails to perform. Sanchez had a fantastic offseason, and has a spot on the starting rotation as a result. The youngster will also be ona short leash, as his services in the bullpen would be a huge asset to the Jays if he can’t hold his form. Estrada, who just inked a two-year deal in the off- season, will be looking to prove a point this year. His age is a little £ as a < £ o > g 3 3 \2 G > vu on o E ments into the world of E-sports. NBA standout Rick Fox stepped into the E-sport scene in a big way, by buying his way into the competition. MLB legends Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins, along with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, just recently invested in an E-sport team owned by Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov. Miller concerning, but if anything, he makes for a great bargaining chip come trade deadline. The infield for the Jays looks very similar to how it did last year. With Devon Travis out from shoulder surgery in the offseason, Ryan Goins has stepped up to fill the vacancy at second base. Pros- pect Josh Thole has been brought into the Jays for veteran Russell Martin to mentor and teach, and serve as his backup. Darwin Bar- ney had a strong spring training and has been brought into the team as the infield backup. The outfield yielded a singu- lar surprise this offseason. Dalton Pompey is not on the opening roster. Pompey, who made his de- but for the Jays last year, has been sent to the minors to work on his playing ability. Look for Kevin Pillar, Pompey’s replacement, to be put on a shorter leash, with Pompey in the wings. Bautista and Saunders round out the out- field, which yields no further sur- prises. Ezequiel Carrera finishes the lineup serving as the utility outfielder. This year’s rendition of the Blue Jay’s opening lineup has the offensive explosiveness that the team experienced last year. But the depth in the starting rotation is a real question, as they could go downhill very fast. Only time will tell what happens to this team, but I rule them as a fringe playoff contender. While I dream ofa repeat, it isn’t looking too likely this year. and Mastrov are also minori- ty partners of the Sacramento Kings. All over the world of sports, E-sport is beginning to emerge as a viable investment for athletes. By associating big names with these budding organizations, it makes the transition for tra- ditional sport to E-sport much easier. Hearing that a team that is co-owned by so many big names, popping up on your nightly sports recap makes it a lot easier to relate to than seeing “some kids playing video games.” Yahoo has also followed in the footsteps of ESPN, launching their own E-sports division short- ly after ESPN launched theirs. While the support for Yahoo’s division has been lacklustre com- pared to ESPN’s, the numbers are still there. The money is there. The sup- port is there. The numbers have always been there. The world is finally ready for the E-sports in- dustry.