BJN Radio – Ep. 126: Brandon Belt is here! Julian Merryweather is gone!

We’ve got transactions to talk about!

The Blue Jays had a flurry of moves this week, as they added two-time World Series winner Brandon Belt, traded for depth starter Zach Thompson, and designated Julian Merryweather for assignment to make room.
We talked about the addition of Belt and how his presence further helps make the team’s lineup a little less predictable. We also talked about the departure of Merryweather and those amazing two saves he had in April of 2021 that made us all believe. After that, we took a look around the league and talked about the most recent Boston Red Sox disaster along with the Carlos Correa saga coming to an end.
You can listen to the episode here…
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

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

Can a stronger post-pandemic NHL open a wider window for the Leafs?

The thing most people don’t want to talk about when it comes to the Leafs is just how much the shifting of the league due to the pandemic absolutely wreaked havoc on their plans to contend. It doesn’t make for an interesting story to just throw up our hands and say “The flat cap is the problem”, but like, it sort of is. The nuked revenue due to the near-shutdown of the league since 2020 did damage to a lot of cap teams, but none quite like the Leafs. 
Management in Toronto thought they had a strong long term plan worked out when they signed Matthews and Marner to monster second deals on top of the Tavares money in the same calendar year of 2019. They did so banking on new television deals, more expansion money, and a forecasted salary cap number that should be in the range of 92-95 million right now. With everything that’s happened since, it sits at 82.5 million. Catastrophic for a team that wanted to get the most of a 5-6 year window before another re-up was needed. 
I guess the question now becomes, with what seems to be the most normal season to get going since the pandemic started about to start, can the league, and with it the Leafs, get back on track with their long term …

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Author: Ryan Fancey / The Leafs Nation