Bo Bichette going to arbitration isn’t necessarily a cause for panic

The Toronto Blue Jays reached deals with 11 of their 12 arbitration-eligible players on Friday, with the one exception being Bo Bichette.

This inevitably has caused a stir among those who follow the Blue Jays, as the term arbitration is generally synonymous with drama and fractured relationships between teams and players. The concern here is that an arbitration hearing will ultimately result in Bichette not wanting to stick around with the Blue Jays long-term because he’d feel slighted by what’s said about him during the process.
For those who aren’t familiar with the arbitration process, what happens is the two sides get one hour to present a case as to why the player should be paid a certain salary figure for the upcoming season in front of a panel of independent arbitrators. This is generally based on how a player performed in their most recent season, how the player has performed over their career, individual accolades, team success, and what other comparable players at the same position are paid. Both then get a break to prepare counterarguments, and they then present their rebuttals.
After all that, the arbitrators have a few days to pick which side is the winner. They have to eit …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

What’s going right and what’s going wrong for the Leafs a quarter of the way through the season

What’s going right and what’s going wrong for the Leafs a quarter of the way through the season

The Leafs season has reached the quarter mark, and it’s been quintessentially Leafy. The Leafs stunk up October, reminded us that they are for real in November, and along the way have had five of their key defensemen and both of their NHL goaltenders miss a significant amount of time. In the spirit of the season being 1/4 over, I’ve asked the TLN crew what is their biggest positive and negative of the season so far. Here are their answers.
Scott Ony
The biggest positive for me has been the play of John Tavares. I expected him to be a massive disappointment this season but he has been a pleasant surprise and is on pace for his most points since his first season in Toronto. I thought the speed of the game would pass him by but he just does all the little things right and continues to rack up the points.
Although he has played fairly well in his four games the biggest disappointment is Matt Murray. Who would have thought a goalie who hasn’t made more than 30 starts since 2019-20 would run into injury issues? If he can somehow manage to stay healthy the move to acquire him might look okay but at this point, it’s a huge miss.
Bennett Jull
The b …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

The Blue Jays wrap up the first half with late heroics against the Royals

Well, the movie has now reached the All-Star break scene. The Blue Jays finished the first half of the season with a 3-1 series win over the Kansas City Royals, with the final two wins coming in dramatic fashion.

Max Castillo got the nod on Saturday. He gave up three runs in three innings, but with the break approaching, John Schneider was able to unload the bullpen. Vinnie Pasquantino’s home run off of newly-named All-Star Jordan Romano in the 10th inning gave the Royals a 5-3 lead, but the Jays had answers. A double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a single by Raimel Tapia tied the game, allowing Teoscar Hernandez to single in the winning run.
The Jays bullpen went seven innings and only allowed one earned run (nice!). Whether Castillo earned another start or not becomes the question (or they could simply ~acquire another arm by trade~), but he still owns a 3.38 ERA during his time in the majors, which isn’t terrible.
Jays fans who also happened to be Peacock subscribers were in luck on Sunday as the Jays completed the series win. Alejandro Kirk hit a two-run home run in the 8th inning off of Wyatt Mills to give Toronto a 4-2 lead, allowing Romano to come in and slam the door …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation