The 2023 Blue Jays, Position by Position: A deep dive into how the team’s outfield has improved defensively

The off-season is all but done, which means that it’s time to look at the Blue Jays, position by position, once again.

Four months ago, I took a look at the bullpen, the starting rotation, the catching situation, the infield, and the outfield situation (which we’ll look at today). What has changed? Who occupies each role? That’s what the redux of the series will look to answer.
The outfield changes:
The Blue Jays outfield is the position that has seen the most significant change. The original series came out at the end of October, so at the time, here’s what it looked like for the Jays.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – Left field
George Springer – Centre field
Teoscar Hernández – Right field
Raimel Tapia – Fourth outfielder
Jackie Bradley Jr./Bradley Zimmer – Defensive replacement outfielder
Only one player remains from this group, George Springer. Here’s the outfield heading into the 2023 season.
Daulton Varsho – Left field
Kevin Kiermaier – Centre field
George Springer – Right field
Otto López/Whit Merrifield/Cavan Biggio/Nathan Lukes – Fourth outfield
Let’s compare players in the old outfield to their replacements. It’s worth noting that it won’t be a direct replacement. Varsho was not brought in to replace Gurriel, despite playing the same position.
Teoscar Hernández out, Daulton Varsho in:
In 2022, Hernández slashed .267/.316/.491 with 25 homers in 535 plate appearances. Moreover, he had a 6.4 BB% and a 28.4 K%, leading to a 129 wRC+ and a 2.4 Fangraphs WAR (fWAR). Defensively he struggled, as he posted a -3 Defensive Runs Saved and a -5 Outs Above Average in 966.2 innings in right field.
The 2023 s …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Erik Karlsson sticker price shock, the future of the Leafs goal, and more: Weekend Leaflets

Erik Karlsson sticker price shock, the future of the Leafs goal, and more: Weekend Leaflets

It’s a new year and a new me. Part of that means changing up when I post Leaflets. Rather than having them starting your work week, they will now kick off you weekend. Instead of me ruining you Monday with my horrible takes, you’ll start your weekend with coffee spit take. You’re welcome.
The Erik Karlsson trade ask is ridiculous
I’m sure if hop in the way back machine we’ll remember a time when there was some entertaining of the idea of Erik Karlsson being someone the Leafs should acquire. Remember that point when missing Muzzin seemed like a big deal and the blueline was so overwhelmed by injuries that Victor Mete was playing with Mac Hollowell?
Anyway, at that time there seemed to be some interest in Karlsson if the ask was low enough and the Sharks would eat half his salary. Karlsson was playing pretty good at that time too, but was being actively shopped.
Now, I don’t doubt he’s still being actively shopped (why do the Sharks need him?), he’s still playing some of his best hockey, but the asking price on his is far steeper than anyone expected.
Via Frank Seravalli at Daily Faceoff:
This week, the San Jose Sharks reportedly asked for three first-round picks in exchange for Karlsson, with the Sharks willing to retain 18 percent of his contract. That would knock Karlsson down to a roughly $9.4 million salary cap hit.
That shoul …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

The Blue Jays re-sign pitcher Casey Lawrence to a minor league deal

Since it is Tuesday, it means it’s time for a transaction!

Per MiLB-Transactions (which monitors the transactions page), the Blue Jays have re-signed right-handed pitcher Casey Lawrence to a minor league deal.

#BlueJays have re-signed RHP Casey Lawrence to a minor league contract.
— MiLB-Transactions (@tombaseball29) January 3, 2023

 
The 35-year-old was one of the best pitchers in Triple-A last season, registering a 2.79 ERA and 4.16 FIP in 126 innings pitched. While his 21.9 K% wasn’t incredibly high, he has one of the lowest BB%s in the Jays organization at 3.5%. Lawrence was the only full-time starter with the Bisons throughout the 2022 season.

Here’s Casey Lawrence (@caseylawrence)’s strikeout thread from the 21st.
Curveball I think.#BlueJays #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/tgAjlPlzkM
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) September 26, 2022

His MLB tenure in 2022 wasn’t as great though. He posted a 7.50 ERA and a 6.33 FIP in 18 innings, which also saw a 13.9 K% and 5.1 BB%. It just seems as if he can’t figure it out at the major league level, as he has a career 6.80 ERA and 5.31 FIP in 96.2 innings. However, he was fairly unlucky with the Jays last season, as you can see in the clip below.

ahh yes, the ol’ alley-oop pic.twitter.com/q2uXP8PWuE
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 8, 2022

In early November, Lawrence had previously been outrighted off the 40-man roster where he chose free agency. The plan for Lawrence is likely to use him as a mentor, as there will be quite young pitchers heading to Triple-A to start the 2023 season. Worst case, Lawrence may get another shot at the big leagues, where he’ll hopefully have more luck.
It’s never a bad thing to have more depth, so I like this signing! Hopefully, the Jays will add more starters to minor-league deals soon.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.
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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

There is no shortage of personal milestones to be hit by Leafs players this season

It’s training camp time, which means we are spending the next three weeks anticipating a season that is essentially an eight month long transaction to get us to the hockey that we really care about, the playoffs. I think we should be reasonably comfortable with the idea the Leafs are a playoff team, and even if the biggest pessimists will grant the Leafs the bare minimum of a wild card spot in the playoffs, while we’re waiting for that hockey we need something to keep us interested and to some degree that will include players hitting personal milestones.
That is partially why I spent some time putting together a list of what the Leafs’ individual players could achieve.
Who
Milestone
How far away
Joey Anderson
1st Leafs goal
1 goal
Joey Anderson
1st Leafs point
1 point
Joey Anderson
100 games played
42 games
Nic Aube-Kubel
100 games played
31 games
Jordie Benn
600 games played
5 games
TJ Brodie
800 games played
28 games
Michael Bunting
100 games as a Leaf
21 games
Michael Bunting
100 points as a Leaf
37 points
Michael Bunting
100 points
23 points
Kyle Clifford
800 games played
49 games
Carl Dahlstrom
100 games played
33 games
Pierre Engvall
200 games played
32 games
Pierre Engvall
100 points
38 points
Adam Gaudette
100 points
30 points
Mark Giordano
100 games as a Leaf
80 games
Mark Giordano
1100 games
76 games
Mark Giordano
600 points
56 points
Mark Giordano
400 assists
7 assists
Justin Holl
100 points
36 points
Calle Jarnkrok
600 games played
26 games
David Kampf
100 games as a Leaf
18 games
David Kampf
100 career points
16 points
Alex Kerfoot
400 games played
40 games
Alex Kerfoot
200 points
13 points
Timothy Liljegren
100 games played
26 games
Denis Malgin
200 games played
8 games
Denis Malgin
100 points
40 points
Denis Malgin
1st Leafs goal
1 goal
Denis Malgin
1st Leafs point
1 point
Mitch Marner
500 games played
73 games
Mitch Marner
500 points
45 points
Mitch Marner
400 assists
83 assists
Mitch Marner
9th on the Leafs alltime assists list (321 tied with Doug Gilmour)
4 assists
Mitch Marner
8th on the Leafs alltime assists list (330 tied with Ted Kennedy)
13 assists
Mitch Marner
7th on the Leafs alltime assists list (349 tied with Tim Horton)
32 assists
Mitch Marner
10th on the Leafs alltime points list (537 tied with Rick Vaive)
82 points
Auston Matthews
300 goals
41 goals
Auston Matthews
200 assists
2 assists
Auston Matthews
500 points
43 points
Auston Matthews
8th on the Leafs alltime goals list (260 with Wendel Clark)
1 goal
Auston Matthews
6th on the Leafs alltime goals list (296 tied with Mahovlich and Armstrong)
37 goals
Auston Matthews
5th on the Leafs alltime goals list (299, tied with Vaive)
40 goals
Auston Matthews
10th on the Leafs alltime points list (537 tied with Rick Vaive)
80 points
Matt Murray
300 games played
54 games
Matt Murray
150 wins
18 wins
Matt Murray
20 shutouts
9 shutouts
Jake Muzzin
700 games played
21 games
Jake Muzzin
200 games as a Leaf
17 games
Jake Muzzin
100 points as a Leaf
20 points
Jake Muzzin
300 points
7 points
William Nylander
500 games played
61 games
William Nylander
400 points
57 points
Morgan Rielly
700 games played
46 games
Morgan Rielly
400 points
27 points
Morgan Rielly
4th all time in Leafs defensive points (414 tied with Ian Turnbull)
41 points
Morgan Rielly
5th all time in Leafs defensive games played (717 tied with Jim Thomson)
63 games
Ilya Samsonov
100 games played
11 games
Ilya Samsonov
10th shutout
4 shutouts
Rasmus Sandin
100 games played
49 games
Alex Steeves
1st NHL goal
1 goal
John Tavares
1000 games played
51 ga …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Try not to tear up as Yuta Watanabe says goodbye to Raptors

Try not to tear up as Yuta Watanabe says goodbye to Raptors

The nature of the NBA means that teams like the Toronto Raptors often have to say goodbye to fan favorites to get cheaper alternatives. Yuta Watanabe made himself a marquee attraction when he was on the floor, but Toronto thought it was time to say goodbye. With youngsters like Christian Koloko arriving via the NBA […]
Try not to tear up as Yuta Watanabe says goodbye to Raptors – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

The pros and cons of separating William Nylander and John Tavares in the Maple Leafs lineup

A brand new season means more narratives to come as the Maple Leafs open training camp in just a few weeks.
There’ll be a number of fascinating scenarios to look into including whether or not any of last year’s Marlies will make Toronto’s NHL roster this year. There’s also the topic of who’ll be on Auston Matthews’ wings once the season opens up on October 12th.
 How can Auston Matthews score more than 60 goals for the Maple Leafs this season?
Maybe the most intriguing of them all, though, is whether or not William Nylander will play alongside John Tavares — either in training camp or when the regular season begins.
If you remember back to the playoffs in May, Nylander was on Tavares’ wing for about half of the series vs. the Lightning. After a game four that saw the Toronto get dismantled by Tampa, 7-3, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe thought it would be best to split the pair up.
Once that occurred, Nylander became a more successful player — skating on the third line with David Kampf and Pierre Engvall. Tavares also went onto have more success centering a line with Alexander Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev.
After the split, the Maple Leafs captain had four points in the final three games of the series. In the four games prior, with Nylander by his side, Tavares only had two points. The same success came to the Swedish winger, who had only two points before the split, and five point …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation