Jays Journal Podcast - July 11. "Judgement day is coming."

Jays Journal Podcast - July 11. "Judgement day is coming."

The 88th Midsummer Classic is upon us; Justin Smoak is there, Roberto Osuna is there, Marcus Stroman thinks he should be there, and the rest of the club is grabbing a much-needed respite to recharge themselves after a profoundly disappointing first half of the season.

The Blue Jays find themselves sitting at 41-47 (.466), 8.5 back of the division lead, and 5 games back of the wild card with seven teams lodged between them and a shot at post-season baseball. Needless to say, this is the time when most pundits and prognosticators are on the prowl; host Ari Shapiro is proud to bring you a baseball listening experience designed to help you think critically about your team, and with sublime confidence.

We begin the show with some brilliant observations from podcaster Brent Cardy (@BrentCardyShow), who joins the show to discuss his candid thoughts on the team's current predicaments (4:43), while taking a closer look at the media campaign behind Justin Smoak (7:59), and his sincere thoughts on Aaron Judge as the future face of baseball (9:01). Be sure to check out "The Cardy Show" on iTunes and Podomatic.

Next, senior news anchor and former sportscaster Norman James (@NormanJamesCTV) takes control of the podcast by indulging our listeners with his earnest thoughts on the current roster (14:01), what the front office should do in terms of next steps and contingency plans (16:45), on the leadership of Mark Shapiro and the value of long-term thinking (18:39), thoughts on the MLB all-star game and how it compares to the NHL and NBA (22:30), and valuable advice for young journalists and future sportscasters given his experiences (25:30).