I'd probably go Smoak/Martin/Saunders at least at first. Smoak can hit and Saunders is rusty. It also has the advantage of a S/R/L/R/S dynamic at the bottom of the lineup.
Already? How much long after Saunders' activation was it going to take? The fact that he played so poorly tonight is more coincidence than anything else.
Hopefully he doesn't beat himself up over those plays because the honest truth is there was no room for him. Pillar is a better 4th OF, Goins a better backup shortstop and Valencia a better right-handed bat off the bench. He's a decent player for a very short bench or a 2nb base platoon but he's simply not needed here.
Probably the plan all along. With 4 OFs, a backup infielder who can play ss in Goins and a better right-handed bench bat in Valencia, defensively mediocre super utility guy on the short side of the platoon is just not a need right now.
Yeah it's not like he's ready and being denied an opportunity. He's simply not ready so he might as well stay where he is. He won't find a better opportunity elsewhere anyways.
I had no problem with Boni using their bond over common nationality to calm the motherf***er down. I didn't feel like he was acting against the interest of his team by doing that.
Retired numbers are the perfect way to honour players who were part of the team identity for a long time but are not HOFers. I don't have a problem with it and I wish the Jays would do the same for some of their greats like Dave Stieb.