BJN Radio – Ep. 125 – Daulton Varsho trade reaction!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We’ve got a transaction to talk about!

The Blue Jays finally pulled the trigger on the catcher-for-outfielder trade we’d all been speculating about for weeks, as they sent Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Daulton Varsho.
Me and BK took a look at what the Blue Jays are getting in Varsho, whether he’s worth what they’re giving up in Moreno and Gurriel, and what might happen next.
You can listen to the episode here…
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Jacks of all trades, masters of none: Are the Leafs overdoing it with Swiss Army knife players?

Over a stretch in the late 90s, everyone in my family struggled annually with what to get my Dad for Christmas. The solution seemed to be that every year he’d wind up with a Swiss Army Knife, a Leatherman, or some other utilitarian tool that was great for stuffing in a tacklebox, backpack, travel kit, or whatever. These are great tools for when you are in a jam and need to rely on the next best thing to the proper tool, but much like my Dad at the turn of the century, the Leafs are over-encumbered with Swiss Army knives that were a pleasant surprise as a stopgap, but a miserable Plan A for addressing problems.
In the grandest tradition of complaining about the Leafs, I’ve chosen to wait until after they’ve had a 5-2 win, featuring a goal from one of those Swiss Army knives, set up by another Swiss Army knife, and the third Swiss Army knife managed a breakaway as well (although that result was predictably underwhelming.) Still, it’s worth noting that if we are going with our recency bias on this, Calle Jarnkrok, Pierre Engvall, and Alex Kerfoot all performed well on Saturday night.
Now with recent success acknowledged, let’s mo …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Aaron Judge wins the American League Most Valuable Player award, Bo Bichette, Alek Manoah and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got votes

As mostly everyone expected, Aaron Judge is the 2022 American League Most Valuable Player.

It really isn’t a shock, and even though it wasn’t unanimous (Shohei Ohtani got two first-place votes), everyone and their mother knew he was going to win. And yeah, he had an incredible season, slashing .311/.425.686 with an American League record 62 home runs. He had a career-best 11.4 fWAR, and a 207 wRC+.
Not just that, but the 30-year-old dragged the Yankees to the American League Championship Series, despite having next to no protection around him.
Judge is currently a free agent and is set to make HUGE money after one of the best seasons in history. As a Jays fan, I do hope he leaves the American League, but I’d say there’s a fairly good chance he sticks with the Yankees for the rest of his career.
Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani finished second, but he had an absolutely historic season like never before. The 28-year-old slashed .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers in 666 plate appearances. This obviously wouldn’t be enough under normal circumstances, but unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know why he was a finalist.
Ohtani has a 2.33 ERA and 2.40 FIP in 166 innings pitched as well. This included a 33.2 K% and 6.7 BB%. He also finished in fourth place in the American League Cy Young voting.
Yordan Alvarez finished third in the voting, as he slashed .30 …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Maple Leafs release 2022-23 regular season schedule

It’s the moment everyone has been waiting for. The 2022-23 season schedule has arrived.
On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced their schedule for the upcoming season, which will begin in Montreal versus the Canadiens on October 12, 2022.

98 days & 3 hours
See y’all soon
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 6, 2022

Toronto will kick off the regular season with a back-to-back against the Canadiens and the Washington Capitals. Their first Saturday night home game is scheduled for Oct. 15 versus the Ottawa Senators.
The Maple Leafs are slated to play 14 back-to-back series, with no more than two being played each month. Their busiest month comes in November, as 15 games are currently on tap.
The team will play its final game before the four-day holiday break at home against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 22. The annual all-star break will run from Feb. 2-9. The regular season will conclude on Apr. 13 against the New York Rangers.
More From TheLeafsNation.com:
Report: Marc-Andre Fleury was willing to accept a trade to Toronto by Michael Mazzei
Realistic first-round targets for the Toronto Maple Leafs by Kyle Cushman
Leaflets: Too quiet until it isn’t, Friedman has me scared, Pierre McGuire to Sportsnet? by Jon Steitzer
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Author: Thomas Hall / The Leafs Nation