Raptors training camp is getting a bit crowded

Well, they should probably be done now.

Saw a tweet from Woj about the Raptors signing Dominic McGuire to a deal and it took about 15 minutes to get it confirmed.

The interesting part?

McGuire’s going to have at least a partial guarantee on his one-year contract, I’m told Jamaal Magloire’s going to have at least a partial guarantee on his deal and that brings to 16 the number of guys who are assured at least some money, regardless of whether they stick or not.

And since the rules only allow 15 players to be on the team at any one time, someone’s going to get some money to go away – either by being released or traded for some nominal future consideration like a protected second round draft pick.

But it’s not like these partially-guaranteed deals are worth very much – the total of them would be veteran minimums, I don’t have the exact figures but there’s no way the guarantees are worth very much at all.

One possibility would be that if Magloire doesn’t stick on the roster he moves into some other role with the franchise, somewhere in the front office or in player development, a move that’s been chatted about more than a few times.

McGuire?

Well, can’t imagine too many of you are too familiar with him.

He’s a 6-9 forward with limited offensive skills who is athletic and solid defender; he’s also a former second-round draft pick who is about to play for his fifth team in six seasons, having started in Washington before moving on to Sacramento, Charlotte and Golden State last season, where he started six games and played in 64 of 66.

Not sure there’s a lot of upside there; maybe he blossoms, maybe he’s just a depth guy and protection against injury.

I believe the balance of power in the NBA is unchanged with this signing.

The guy who loses the most here is Chris Wright, who now comes to a camp with a team that has 16 players with some kind of guarantee on their deals.

Again, this is nothing to get all excited about, it’s just filling out the back end of the roster.

Are they done? I’d sure think so but I was told last week they might have interest in one other guy but now I would imagine that interest has waned.

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No, I couldn’t go to the Southside Shuffle here Sunday because by the time I toted Super Son home from his Buggy Boy duties it would have been too late.

Too bad; Super Wife got to go to see Downchild Blues Band and that means I missed a pretty good show.

And since Pat Carey is the guy trying to turn Super Son into a great sax player, it was doubly troubling to miss it.

Dude can play, can’t he?

And who among us here didn’t spend at least a few nights of our misspent youth in some club or concert hall listening to them?

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Oh yeah.

Am off to a big-shot charity golfing thing today down in the peninsula so if it takes until tonight to get to your comments, forgive me. I will have spent the day hacking and thrashing around a course.

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The note came late last week from a mate over in London who had been the media team at the two basketball venues at the Olympics and he was reprising that role during the Paralympics that wound up there last night.

He’d been watching one of the medal round games in the men’s tournament and after the usual niceties, the not wound up with this:

“That Patrick Anderson impressive.”

Now, I don’t know an awful lot about wheelchair basketball but I do know global dominance when I see it and the Canadian men’s team is right up there with, perhaps, the best ever.

The 64-58 win over Australia to win the gold – Anderson had 34 points – capped a decade or so of unreal success.

Canada won Paralympic gold in 2000 and 2004 and got the silver in 2008 and that’s a mightily impressive run.

Yes, we gave short shrift to the Paralympics, which wound up last night in London – at least in our staffing levels – and that’s a too bad but it shouldn’t diminish what the athletes did.

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I don’t know about John Farrell’s managerial suitability as a baseball tactician – I would presume it’s like any other coach in any other sport, some good moves, some gambles that don’t pay off, some baffling decisions – but I do know this:

The way he treated Omar Vizquel on Sunday was top notch.

Here’s a 45-year-old likely headed for the Hall of Fame playing his last game in storied Fenway (world’s most over-rated ballpark, it pains me to say) and Farrell not only gives him a start, he lets Vizquel finish the game, lets him hit away with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth (and anyone who’s watched the TOD for any length of time had to be surprised that Vizquel didn’t at least try to bunt) and that was the right way to treat a veteran.

Look, I know there are all kinds of criticisms about the way Farrell manages games, how and why he makes the decisions he does, how he handles a bullpen and a pitching staff but if you handle respected veterans like he handled Vizquel on Sunday, people notice.

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Comments

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Okay, I'll bite, "why in your opinion, is Fenway the most overrated Ballpark in the world?"

Ciao amigo, hit 'em long and straight...except on the doglegs, that is.

marc in panama

Blogger's note: Mentioned a bit before; neighbourhood good, but not Wrigley, concourses bad, sightlines average; just a bit over-rated. Would take a handful over it every day

[LeeZ]

"I was told last week they might have interest in one other guy".
Did they tell you who, and you're not at liberty to say?
And maybe I missed you reporting on this, but who is Chris Wright?
As for Fenway, and this comes from a long-time Sox hater who had a virtually religious experience when Bucky Dent hit that homer, I have to admit that Fenway is one of the greats. You're absolutely right about the deficiencies, but a ballpark is more than the sum of its parts, it's about its fans and the feeling you get walking inside and seeing the GM, and Sweet Caroline, and the excitement, and the fact that it's packed to the rafters, and EVERYONE is wearing Sox paraphenalia, and the passion and all of that. And on top of that, the heady, if faint, smell of Manny's urine still wafting up from behind the GM wall...

Blogger's note: No name but it wasn't anyone of significance I was told

[511]

It’s funny how there are those who think of Fenway as a dump and those who are dazzled by it. I’m in the ‘dazzled’ camp. Maybe because the first time seeing it was when I did the Fenway tour – which I’d highly recommend – having a chance to sit in most every section, seeing the field from all possible angles. But the first look at the beautiful green-ness of it all (not just the field – of course – but the whole of the stadium itself), along with the sense of history that (for me) seeps out of that creaky old place made my heart beat faster. It was an experience I’ll long remember, fondly. Smaller than I had imagined with seats closer, seemingly, to the field of play than I had even thought, I’d rank it higher than many would. And about a hundred times – maybe a thousand times – better than … well, you know.

[Dave B.]

Not sure what the Raptors are up to. I really don't understand this move. They already have Fields, Kleiza and Anderson at the SF position. With some of these moves we can't say they are acquiring assets because these are bit players. The last thing they needed was another player with no offensive game.

Do you think this is a precursor to a trade that will move other players? When are they able to trade Free Agents (like this one) they hired this summer?

Blogger's note: It's a partially guaranteed contract for a 15th man; it's nothing more or less than that

[David in Oakville]

Good luck on the links Doug...

Nice touch, playing to the home crowd I see, managing to sneak a photo of the Red Rocket into the day's story.

Never been to Fenway so I can't speak to the reality.. but the legend is certainly there... I would put the Green Monster somewhere between Godzilla and Nessie in terms of notoriety.

[Peter]

The thing with Fenway, is that it tells a story. I've never been there but as a baseball fan, that's one park that I'd love to see. Not to be dazzled by it's physical features, but more to be impressed with all that has happened there. It's Fenway. Skydome was special when it was new, because it was new. I think Fenway is now special, in part, because it is old.

[camelia]

"well mate ....what Farrells does is what he is expected to do...He works for his team..not for critics who tend to despise anything that perturbs their shallow shortsighted wisdom. A coach's duty is to keep his team in high spirits respecting their talent (and egos) which brings out their best talent...And his treatment of Vizquel will be respected by all the lovers of the game..PERIOD!!"