The last game the Toronto Blue Jays played that counted was such a playoff collapse that the team retooled its lineup. More speed and less power, especially in the outfield.
All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández went to the Seattle Mariners, the team that advanced in the 2022 MLB playoffs. Right-handed reliever Erik Swanson and lefty pitching prospect Adam Macko went from Seattle to Toronto.
The Blue Jays acquired Dalton Varsho from Arizona for outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno.
Tampa Bay centre fielder Kevin Kiermaier signed a 1-year, $9 million contract. Brandon Belt is a 1B/DH backup after playing his entire career in San Francisco.
Never forget the time Kevin Kiermaier stole the Blue Jays' pitching game-plan card 💀 pic.twitter.com/TXqLbGKXfZ
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) December 10, 2022
Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are at the corners with Bo Bichette and Santiago Espinal up the middle. Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio, and eventually Addison Barger serve as backups to infielders and likely outfielders.
Varsho, Kiermaier, and George Springer make up the starting outfield.
Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt (new free agent), Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios will be the primary starters on the mound. Ross Stripling left for San Francisco. Yusei Kikuchi is in the starting pitcher mix.
Canadian Jordan Romano is the closer, with bullpen roles other high-leverage jobs going to pitchers like Swanson, Yimi García, Anthony Bass, Tim Mayza, and (let's hope) Nate Pearson.
Hyun Jin Ryu (starter) and Chad Green (new free agent reliever) will join the season in progress after Tommy John surgery.
2023 Toronto Blue Jays spring training schedule
2022 Toronto Blue Jays go down in 2 straight to Seattle
Quite a few MLB teams might have too many play-by-play people and analysts. Not the Toronto Blue Jays.
Dan Shulman will call the majority of the games for Rogers Sportsnet. Buck Martinez and Joe Siddall will provide analysis. Will Martinez call those games when Shulman is not there? Will Matt Devlin step in as he did in 2022?
Some personal news for Blue Jays opening week:
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 29, 2023
I'll be getting to work alongside @benwag247 as colour analyst for some of our Jays broadcasts on @fan590 this year.
I'll also be contributing pregame TV analysis to Blue Jays Central, similar to what I've been doing for Raps.
Siddall is also in the studio with Jamie Campbell when not in the booth. Ben Wagner would be a logical person to step in for Shulman, as he did for spring training games. Except Wagner doesn't have a regular colour analyst and is prohibited from traveling for road games. No other MLB team is this cheap and pathetic. None.
Blake Murphy will help out on some radio broadcasts but he has a busy schedule, too. Murphy won't start for another week, beginning with the Blue Jays series in Anaheim.
Pat Tabler's contract was not renewed, as we noted in our spring training schedule. Deserved a better exit. Even a switch to studio work or radio colour analysis would have made sense than letting him go. If you really thought there was a retirement (it wasn't), Tabler is working as a fill-in analyst on Cleveland Guardians telecasts in 2023.
TVA Sports has 81 Blue Jays games en Francaise as part of a new 3-year deal to carry geais bleus de Toronto.
MLB Network will have the vast majority of U.S. appearances, generally taking home feeds. Fox, Fox Sports 1, TBS, ESPN, and Apple TV are all possibilities but those outlets tend to limit Blue Jays appearances, even with a team in last year's playoffs. Unless there is a change, Fox Sports won't show the Toronto Blue Jays on either side of the border.
CanadianCrossing.com MLB coverage
If you have been watching Blue Jays spring training games, Ben Wagner spends a lot of oxygen on the changes coming to Rogers Centre in terms of outfield seating. Changes are also coming to distances from home plate and the height of the outfield wall.
The wall had been a standard 10 feet. The height is reduced to 8 feet in straightaway centre field and up to 14'4" in right-centre field and down the left field line. The wall down the right field line is now 12'7" while the wall in left-centre will be 11'2". The power alley walls will be 10'9" in right-centre and 12'9" in left-centre.
As for outfield distances, down the left and right field lines are still 328 feet and centre field is at 400. The changes come in left-centre at 368 feet (from 375 feet) and right center at 359 feet (from 375 feet).
The Rogers Centre changes also mean a late home start for the Toronto Blue Jays. The team travels to St. Louis, Kansas City, and Anaheim before the home opener on March 11 against Detroit.
In other off-field news, the Toronto Blue Jays won't have the home run jacket celebration. The jacket had the words La Gente del Barrio — "the people of the neighbourhood" — on the back along with the home countries of the players.
The talented and fun team is still talented and somewhat fun but the spirit is changing under manager John Schneider. The trades of Hernandez and Gurriel seemed to signal the end of that era.
2023 Team Canada World Baseball Classic wrapup
2023 Team Canada World Baseball Classic preview
Team Canada won as many games (2) in the 2023 World Baseball Classic as in the 2006 version. The team finished 3rd, one position away from advancing out of Pool C.
Canadian MLB players to watch in 2023 (TSN)
Some of those Canadian players are on the Toronto Blue Jays, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jordan Romano, Zach Pop, and Otto Lopez (minors, for now).
Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor, Tyler O'Neill, Cal Quantrill. Those among others.
There are 2 Canadian MLB players to watch though not right away. For the first time since 2008, Joey Votto will not be on the Opening Day roster for the Cincinnati Reds. The first baseman is still recovering from surgery last August to his left shoulder and bicep.
Votto is in the final season of his 10-year, $225 million contract. Cincinnati General manager Nick Krall said while he hopes Votto will end his career with the Reds, Krall would consider trading Votto to his hometown Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline, if Votto wanted a trade.
The incredibly warm response Votto got in Toronto in 2022 would be even more dramatic if Votto switched from red to blue. Votto will benefit from the disappearance of the shift in 2023. Something to think about closer to the end of July.
Michael Soroka has not thrown a pitch in a MLB game since August 3, 2020. His 2023 Atlanta season will be delayed by a hamstring strain. This is after considerable Achilles damage.
What Team Canada could have done with a healthy Joey Votto, Michael Soroka, and Josh Naylor.
NEWS: @Dempster46 & @SieraSantos are joining @KMillar15 to co-host @MLBNetwork's @IntentionalTalk. Debut show is March 31st at 5 p.m. ET.
— MLB Network PR (@MLBNetworkPR) March 15, 2023
Release: https://t.co/Rgg5nbCVgk pic.twitter.com/qGwRBkP8EL
Ryan Dempster has the second most wins and strikeouts of any Canadian MLB pitcher, both behind Ferguson Jenkins. Okay, so Dempster retired with a 132–133 record but he does have 2,075 strikeouts.
Dempster has built a nice side career as a part-time analyst for Marquee Sports for the Chicago Cubs. Now he is joining the MLB Network on its Intentional Talk show with Kevin Millar and new host Siera Santos.
Millar has been the one constant of the show with different hosts. He has that role of loud and a little obnoxious, a milder version of Paul Bissonnette from the NHL side.
Dempster was on the Marquee telecast when Team Canada had an exhibition game with the Chicago Cubs earlier this month. Dempster's lone appearance in the World Baseball Classic came in 2017, 4 years after his retirement.
photo credits: Toronto Blue Jays; Rogers Sportsnet
Twitter captures: @BRWalkoff; @BlakeMurphyODC; @MLBNetworkPR
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