Alex Anthopoulos thought he hit paydirt, ripping off the miserable Miami Marlins for most of their good players in Jeffrey Loria's latest fire sale. This sabermetric-darling GM, however, is about to learn that the stats can't tell you everything you need to know about a player—e.g. whether that player's dog is illegal in Ontario:
One unexpected snafu in this week's still-unofficial blockbuster trade between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins may be Ontario's ban on pit bulls.
Mark Buehrle, one of the Jays' key acquisitions in the proposed 12-player swap, is the proud owner of four rescue dogs, including Slater, an American Staffordshire terrier and one of the many dog breeds covered under the pit bull ban.
The articles goes on to note that the Buehrles faced a similar problem after he signed with Miami, as pit bulls are also banned in Miami-Dade county. But while living just outside a county is doable, living in another province—or just over the American border—is probably not.
How evil is Jeff Loria? He just separated a boy and his dog and saved $48 million in the process.
The above pictured dog is not Mark Buehrle's. Here he is with his pit bull, Slater.; h/t Steve