January 7, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

-Last week, I reported that the Boston Red Sox had strong interest in re-signing James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.). Well, on New Year’s Day, Paxton was spotted in the Seattle Mariners owner’s suite at T-Mobile Park during the NHL Winter Classic between the Seattle Kraken and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. This has fueled speculation that Paxton could be returning to the Mariners. The 6-foot-4 left-hander pitched his first six major league seasons with the Mariners and returned to them in 2021 before suffering a season-ending arm injury that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery. Paxton then signed with the Red Sox on December 1, 2021, and after missing nearly two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery and other injuries, he returned to post a 5-1 record and a 2.73 ERA in his first 10 starts with the Red Sox in 2023. He finished the campaign with a 7-5 record and a 4.50 ERA, while striking out 101 batters in 96 innings, in 19 starts. The Canuck lefty was paid $4 million in 2023. A North Delta Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum, the 35-year-old southpaw has pitched in parts of 10 major league campaigns and owns a 64-38 record and a 3.69 ERA in 156 starts.

-Outfielder Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) will wear No. 17 with the Boston Red Sox, according to the MLB Jersey Numbers Twitter feed. It’s an interesting Twitter account devoted to sharing what numbers major league players will wear. O’Neill wore No. 41 for his first three seasons with the Cardinals and then switched to No. 27 prior to the 2021 campaign. O’Neill was dealt to the Red Sox on December 8 for pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. A third-round pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2013, O’Neill played parts of five seasons in the M’s organization before being traded to the Cardinals for left-hander Marco Gonzalez on July 21, 2017. The Junior National Team and Langley Blaze alum made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2018. His finest campaign came in 2021 when he batted .286 with 34 home runs and had a .912 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and captured his second consecutive National League Gold Glove Award in left field. Since that season, O’Neill has endured two injury-riddled campaigns. In 2023, O’Neill persevered through injuries to bat .231 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 72 games. The 28-year-old also went 8-for-13 (.625 batting average) for Canada at the World Baseball Classic.

–Jim Adduci (Burnaby, B.C.) will return to the Chicago Cubs’ staff with the title of assistant hitting coach, game planning in 2024. This is his second season in that role. Prior to this, Adduci, who turned 38 in May, served two seasons as assistant director, run production with the Cubs. Before getting into coaching, Adduci played 16 professional seasons, including parts of seven in the Cubs’ organization (2007-12, 2019).

-Former Toronto Blue Jays third base coach and longtime Canadian national team coach Tim Leiper was named the third base coach of the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. Leiper will also serve as infield and base running instructor under new Padres manager Mike Shildt. Leiper had spent the last four campaigns as the coordinator of outfield and baserunning in the San Francisco Giants’ system. Blue Jays fans will best remember him for his five-season tenure as the club’s first base coach from 2014 to 2018. The Whittier, Calif., native also managed for three seasons in Montreal Expos’ organization, including with the triple-A Ottawa Lynx in 2002. Leiper was also a coach on Canada’s 2004 Olympic team and was on Team Canada’s coaching staff for all five World Baseball Classics. Prior to his coaching career, he played 12 seasons in the affiliated minor league ranks, including 497 games at the triple-A level.

-Happy 48th Birthday to Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.)! In 2003, the hard-throwing right-hander became the second Canadian (Fergie Jenkins was the first in 1971) to win the National League Cy Young Award when he recorded 55 saves and posted a 1.20 ERA while striking out 137 batters in 82 1/3 innings as a closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In all, the three-time National League All-Star notched a Canadian record 187 saves during his 10-season big league career that also included stops with the Texas Rangers, Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.

-Happy 41st Birthday to former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion! Following a rocky start with the Blue Jays after they acquired him from the Cincinnati Reds in 2009, Encarnacion developed into one of the top sluggers in franchise history. In eight seasons with the club, he belted 239 home runs, which is the third-most in franchise history. He also ranks fourth all-time among Blue Jays hitters in slugging percentage (.522) and OPS (.878), fifth in offensive WAR (27.2) and sixth in RBIs (679). In his final five seasons with the Blue Jays (2012 to 2016), he never clubbed less than 34 home runs in a season. He finished his major league career with 424 home runs, the 53rd most in major league history.

-A warm welcome to Lindsay Earle who has joined the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s staff as its new care of collections and public engagement supervisor. “She has been working in various museums since 2014 and has a huge passion for baseball,” reads a Facebook post from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, welcoming her to the team.

-Here’s a piece of trivia I learned this week: Devon White was selected in the sixth round of the 1981 MLB draft by the California Angels as a third baseman. It’s hard to imagine him anywhere but in centre field, but it was Angels’ minor league manager Joe Maddon who converted White into an outfielder during White’s first pro season with the Rookie Ball Idaho Falls Angels in 1981.

-On this date 20 years ago, the Cincinnati Reds signed right-hander Aaron Myette (New Westminster, B.C.) as a free agent. By this time, Myette was 26 and had already pitched in parts of five big league seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Rangers and Cleveland. The 6-foot-4 right-hander would make his final five big league appearances for the Reds in 2004.

-Happy 74th Birthday to Ross Grimsley, who in 1978 became the first – and only – 20-game winner in Montreal Expos history. Signed as a free agent prior to that campaign, the soft-throwing lefty enjoyed a career season with the Expos, compiling a 20-11 record and a 3.05 ERA while tossing 19 complete games in 36 starts. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to replicate that success and proceeded to post 5.35 and 6.31 ERAs with the Expos in 1979 and 1980 before being dealt to Cleveland on July 11, 1980 for Dave Oliver.