Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - 2023 Blue Jays Primer with Keegan Matheson: Toronto Mike'd #1227

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

In this 1227th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with MLB.com's Keegan Matheson about the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays. This is an excellent primer for what should be a great season. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

🎵 Welcome to episode 1227 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association. in Mississauga and Oakville.

Electronic Products Recycling Association. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today for our 2023 Blue Jays primer is FOTM Keegan Matheson. Welcome back, Keegan. Happy to be here, Mike.

What is this, our fourth time? At least. I should go into the archives and confirm, but at least our fourth time. When I saw you in the driveway, no joke, Keegan, it was like my brother was here to visit. Like warm fuzzies all over. I don't know if it was mutual. I couldn't

tell if it was reciprocal. It absolutely is. If only I could have that reception everywhere. That's beautiful. Crack open your Great Lakes beer. You've already earned it. So, Keegan. What will we go with? Okay, because you've got a lager there. You've got an IPA there, but you can do it. because you've got a lager there. You've got an IPA there. But you can do as you wish. Let's start with the lager here.

So shout out to Great Lakes Beer. On the mic, though. So lift it up higher. Let's get a rate on the mic here. Yeah, yeah. Keegan Matheson has cracked open a premium lager. I think I paced that one well. You know what I like about Great Lakes?

Tell me. They balance the classics with some weird beers. A lot of places do the weird beers. A lot of places do the weird beers. A lot of places get stuck in the classics. Great Lakes balances it. Good balance from Great Lakes. Shout out to our friends at Great Lakes. Absolutely.

And you'll be taking some fresh craft beer home with you, Keegan Matheson. Love it. When did you arrive back in Toronto from Florida? From Florida. It was about 1 a.m. last night. I flew back in from beautiful Tampa. So I think it was, what were we, 42 days down in Tampa, which sounds lovely. I think when I tell my friends, they picture me at Disney World and on the beach

and not waiting hours to talk to players and complaining. But it's a great place to be this time of year. But it's like eating a whole cake at once. There's a, such a thing as too much of a good thing. So I'm happy to be out of Florida. But are you happy to be back in Toronto? You're living in Toronto these days, right? I am.

I have come to love Toronto. I really have. This is exciting for me. I've come around on it. I think probably since last time I was here, I've moved. I've got around on it. I think probably since last time I was here, I've moved. I've got a new spot. I moved at the perfect time during the pandemic when prices were just absolutely rock bottom.

But got a new place, about 10 minutes walk from the ballpark. Liking it here now. I've come around on it. My stubborn side finally gave way. Well, this is exciting that you've fallen in love with the city you've adopted here. And we've adopted you and we're ecstatic

that we have Keegan Matheson here covering our Blue Jays. Many an FOTM tells me their favorite writer on all things Toronto Blue Jays is FOTM Keegan Matheson. I pay well. I really do.

Where can we... I know the answer, but I just want you to tell us off the top. Where can we read your know the answer, but I'm just want you to like tell us off the top, where can we read your pros this 2023 baseball season? So everything I write now is on MLB.com on bluejays.com, the team sites, and more and more,

you'll be stuck seeing my face on MLB network, which, you know, depending on your preferences, that's a good or bad thing. You're looking good, man. I'm checking you out.

You look good. I'm trying to, you know, trying to keep it clean. How fresh is that haircut? Three days ago. Yeah. I do my own. I do, I do my own checking you out. You look good. I'm trying to keep it cleaned up. How fresh is that haircut? Three days ago. I do my own. I do my own hair and beard. You do your own hair? Yeah. When I left Nova Scotia, the same woman had cut my hair my entire life, Paula.

Shout out to Paula. Shout out to Paula. She was a family friend. I think she cut my hair at the mall growing up, then at a hair place downtown until I was 24, 25. And I made a joke to her one day. I was like, you know what, Paula, when I leave, I'm not cheating on you. I'm staying loyal. And I tell you, when I moved out,

I said, I don't want to go to the hairdresser and have 30 minutes of small talk. I like my quiet time, so I take care of it myself. Because I like to keep anything more than this. It gets a little shaggy. My head's big enough as it is. I like my quiet time, so I take care of it myself because I like to keep it, you know, anything more than this. It gets a little shaggy. My head's big enough as it is.

I don't need help with that, so I like to keep it pretty tight when I can. Do you know this jam? I do. Joel Plaskett. Yeah, Joel Plaskett. I love this town.

And do you know what town he loves? Dartmouth. Oh, I was going to say Halifax. And Halifax. Okay. He does love some Dartmouth, though. And do you know what town he loves? Dartmouth. Oh, I was going to say Halifax. And Halifax. He does love some Dartmouth, though. And Dartmouth is on the come up. I would need a couple of hands to count the number of Joel Plaskett shows I've been to. He is a wonderful embodiment of Halifax, Dartmouth, that whole area.

Do you think this might be, and again, Dartmouth, Hamilton. Where am I? Halifax and Dartmouth. To me, it's I know they're one and the same, right? I've been there. It's across the bridge. But the Dartmouth people aren't pissed off if you consider them Halifax,

are they? No, like anywhere. I think it's called the HRM, Halifax Regional Municipality now. For some reason, we have this strange brain disease where we want to call everything something's Brooklyn. I've seen Dartmouth described as Halifax's Brooklyn before, much like Hamilton to Toronto, and it makes my skin crawl. I thought that was Coal Harbor was Halifax.

Coal Harbor. That's just the home of Nathan McKinnon and Sidney Crosby, and I don't know what else. Not too shabby. Well, Halifax is the home of Keegan Matheson. This song, Love This Town, I don't know. I'm not from the Maritimes, but this feels like the definitive

love song for where you're from. It is. I don't get back enough. The secret is very much out on Halifax these last few years. The cheap, cheap, charming places I used to live in and rent are now leaning in the direction of Toronto.

Everyone figured out Toronto. Sorry, figured out Halifax, which is okay. I want more people to enjoy it. It's the most amazing weekend or week or ten years you can spend anywhere. But do you think it's a bunch of asshole Torontonians that are going to the Maritimes and buying up these properties and jacking up the property values? Oh, at any opportunity I get to blame asshole Torontonians, I'll take it. Feel its eyes.

I've looked at zero data, but I would like to blindly blame people from Toronto with money. Have you checked the analytics, Keegan? What's going on here? Oh, please no. Okay. Well, here. So Joel Plaskett, Love This Town, beautiful song.

But when I think of Keegan Matheson, I always think of this. Oh, the year was 1778. How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now. A letter of mark came from the king to the scummiest vessel I've ever seen. God damn them all. I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold.

We'd fire no guns. If I could have about 20 beers with Stan Rogers, that would be the dream night. Gone too soon. Absolutely. I want to let the listenership know we're going to get into the 2023 Blue Jays. This is your primer.

But I'm looking at Keegan Matheson right now. When this song comes on, you just start to glow. I do. I feel instantly calmer. I think my shoulders drop a couple of inches. See, you're calmer, but my heart rate just went up. I just feel like I'm a maritimer

right now. It takes me to the Lower Deck in Halifax. It's one of the best bars in the city. Right down by the water in the historic district there, which is all stone roads, the old stone buildings. And there's this great to call them a cover band

is a disservice, but they sing mostly covers called Signal Hill, and they would play Sunday nights at the Lower Deck. I believe they still do. And just the absolute champagne of cover bands, but who specialize in Stan Rogers, great big season, more East Coast-y music and some classics. Sure.

And you could not have a more enjoyable night than a Signal Hill Sunday. And they would walk around just with trays of beer. I don't know how they would ever hold them. That's where all of my money went in university. That's where all of my focus went as well. But man, oh man, those were good nights. And we've done the Keegan Matheson story in great detail in Toronto Mike. So we know about that epiphany you had.

You were working for a bank, I think, and you're staring into the Atlantic Ocean or something. Or have I romanticized this story? No, that's right. Do you have a beer in your hand? I did. And you're looking in the ocean. I quit my job at 11 a.m., walked down to a bar a couple doors down from the lower deck, actually.

Had two or three Keiths and decided to chase what it is I'm doing now. And I'm going to guess there's no regrets because you look like you're doing quite well for yourself. It's worked out okay. From where I stand right now, I'm happy. That answer has probably changed over the last six, seven years. There were a lot of days, weeks, months, years where I would have said I'm not sure. But finally, I can say yes without any hesitation.

All right, real talk, Keegan. Is the athletic pursuing you? Like they need somebody to cover the Blue Jays. Are they basically like knocking on your door and saying, Keegan, get over here? I tell you what, I'm happy where I am. And I am not someone who's the automatic BS company man. It always rubs me a bit the wrong way

when I see someone wearing their company's name on their chest or their hat. I picture someone just wearing the word job on their shirt. I do not just take a job and automatically become, golly gee, ain't this a great company. I take some convincing. I love where I'm at.

Speaking intentionally, vaguely, I've had a couple of times where I could have turned a doorknob and walked into another room with another company. But the best way to describe it is that if every shop in town handed me the same number on a piece of paper, I'm staying right where I am. So you're here now in Toronto, but of course, you just arrived back late last night from Florida where you were at Blue Jays spring training for over a month. I have some FOTM questions before we get into the team.

And one is from Andrew Stokely. And I think he's heading home like today, maybe. I think so. And he was, I don't know if it was private or not, but he's like, I'm ready to go home now. Yes. It can be like, there is like a, you know, it's fun to go away, but at some point you're like, I'd like to go home now.

Absolutely. I'm someone who enjoys my time home and enjoys my quiet time. And it's also a strange lifestyle down there because Florida, and especially where I stay on Clearwater Beach, which is just across a bridge from Dunedin, that's spring break zone. So everybody there is there for three days and is there for, you know, all caps and neon spring break. Right.

And it would always hit me, oddly, there was a great little pizza place next to the hotel and, you know, when you're on the road, you don't eat all that well. I would be in this pizza place every other night and i would be standing there wearing you know the same pants i'm wearing now a short sleeve button-down dress shirt with a laptop bag right and everyone else in there is yelling and falling over and i'm thinking this is i i'm in the wrong world right now so it turned into this strange phenomenon where I felt like it was my hotel because I'd been there for 44 nights. And there was this strange thousand person rotating cast in my sitcom. And yeah, by the end of spring training, not only is it Groundhog Day, but

you're ready to get out of there. My God, you're ready. Are you going to travel with the Jays this season? I will be. We are ramping up travel a little bit. I'll be on the majority of road trips. Call it two-thirds range. Road coverage is important, and the answer is simple. It's because half the games are there, half the stories are there.

This is a team that deserves to be covered in the road. They're good enough. It's really unfortunate that places are cutting back and not traveling on the road, but I think that's a, it needs to be a massive priority. And I think that, you know, by September, I am worn the hell out. The travel part is tough.

You know, if I was on the charter, different life. But when you're, you know, the number of flights I'm on through the year, not a complaint, but just the reality of it may not be as glamorous as it seems from the outside. But I think,

yeah, I'll be on the road as much as anybody, I believe. And I really think that's important. I wish I had some more company on the road. Gregor Chisholm

is a great FOTM and he's also the, the reason you're at MLB right now, correct? Because he took the job with the Toronto Star. He did, yeah. Gregor was the reporter in 2017 when I joined as his intern, actually,

which was hilarious because at that time I knew my way around a sentence, so I didn't need an incredible amount of hand-holding. But it was just kind of day one. Okay, you're from New Brunswick. I'm from Nova Scotia. You can write a sentence. We're buddies. We're cool.

Now, Gregor's a great friend. And it's funny how all those things work. Yeah, Rich Griffin moves from the Toronto Star to the Blue Jays. Gregor moves MLB to the Star. And there I was still at Baseball Toronto, that independent site I was running. And you didn't hand that off to Julia Cruz. I thought that was the natural next move.

I thought it would have been, but then reunited and it feels so good. You know, she's with me at MLB.com now. And she is not only, you know, drop the superlatives. You know, forget most talented under 30, forget most talented young writer, forget most talented woman. She is one of the most talented human beings, period, I think, in Toronto sports media. The future is so incredibly

bright for her and I will someday work for her proudly. A few years ago, you dragged her here because she was in your car coming back from Florida and then that's how she made her Toronto Mike debut, but she really does need her own spotlight. She does. So Julia, if you're listening. Here's a story for you. Yeah, please.

This June, Julia's I don't think I'm oversharing because we've tweeted about it. Once it's on Twitter, it's public. I'm officiating Julia's wedding. Okay. And you can legally do that. You have the credentials. It's hilarious because my dad is a minister, obviously. Okay.

And the question I always got growing up is, are you going to follow your father into the ministry? Or my mother was an RCMP officer? I have strayed from both of those lights. But I told my dad and he had an incredible laugh with it. But I'm already practicing not crying. But you've been officiated? Like, don't you need to have some piece of paper? I think we're going to do it where that happens off to the side

and I kind of run the ceremony. But, oh, man, I am excited. I think that's probably the most unique vacation request that MLB.com has ever received. One of our reporters in Toronto needs it off for the wedding and the other guy does

to do the wedding. Well, congratulations, Julia, on these imminent nuptials. And that's a great honor that she has bestowed upon you, Mr. Matheson. I can't wait. Exciting. Is that wedding in Toronto?

It will be. I might have to crash it. And then there's a, I believe, a bit of a wedding or a celebration in Brazil later in the year. So I hope I can get to that one too. That's the one to crash. That will be the fun one.

The cachaça will be flowing. Wow. I won't understand exactly what's happening, but I'll be having a better time than anybody. All right, let's get into this here, because you're in the middle of a triple header here. Matt Layden, you know this guy, this tweeter, Matt Layden? The name sounds familiar.

Okay, he's an active tweeter, big Toronto Mike fan. He's in Edmonton, and he just wrote in to say, I predict the Blue Jays will go all the way this year by winning the World Series. So Matt Layden has gone on the record as predicting the Blue Jays are going all the way this year by winning the World Series. So Matt Layden has gone on the record as predicting the Blue Jays are going to win the World Series. So there's no... I know you don't have a crystal ball.

How many... Okay, we're going to do it at the top, and then we're going to get into the details. But do you want to predict a win total for this team? Because then I do enjoy going back and listening. And if you're way off, I won't embarrass you. I think something in that 93-94 range makes a lot of sense. Are they a better team?

I don't know. They're a different team, though. And I think that's very important. And I like that they're a different team. Why do we think they're a better team? By all accounts, the fan base believes this is a better team than last year. Yeah, it's the nature of this time of year, I think. And it's the nature of any of the stories you see this time of year.

This is not my favorite time of year for stories, because if you see a story titled 500 Bold Predictions, they're all positive. Nobody's going to write, you know what, I think this is the year that Vladdy regresses. So I think a little more of a realistic colored glasses, you know, is valuable at this time of year. The way that I'm putting it is that I think the Blue Jays are good enough to win the World Series. And that's where you want to be.

Are they? Will I say they're going to? Not quite, because I don't think they're the number one favorite. You look at teams like the Astros, the Padres, the Mets, the Dodgers up there. Maybe they're a little more favorited. But I think in any pro sport, you saw this with the Raptors for years before they had their Kawhi moment. So much of this is just about getting in every single year.

It's part luck. We don't like to talk about that, but there's luck involved because we like to sound smart, sometimes too smart, with numbers and reasoning. But if you can be in that top group of five or six teams every year there's those five or six that you can realistically look at and say yep they could win wouldn't surprise me and I think the Blue Jays are in that group now they might be the fifth or sixth team but they're in that group and it's realistic but Kiga did you think

they were in that group last year I think they were right on the edge of it I don't think they'd proven enough yet and I like that they're different now. You know, I think that makes a lot of sense. They had been beating their head against the wall with a similar type of roster. Some names changed. Marcus Semien came. He left, but I think if you are trying to get in one door over and over, and it's just not working, try a different door, and that's what they're doing. More speed, more defense, trading out for some offense. We'll see how that goes. But that's where I'm at with this team. I don't know if they're better. I don't think they're worse. I don't know if they're significantly better, but they're different and I think they're good enough.

We're going to get into the details. This is like the teaser. We're going to get into the details here. Andrew Clark, I think you liked this question when you saw it on Twitter. Andrew Clark wrote, I am interested in a discussion about his not watching baseball during downtime comment. He got roasted about it. Okay, remind us what you said, and did you, you really got roasted for it.

Let me hear it. Some people did not like it. It was about the WBC, and it was partly tongue-in-cheek by me, which is my mistake. Twitter is not the place for that. That's something I should do with people who know me. Use the wink emoji. Yes, yes, yes.

Essentially what I said was that I do not watch a lot of baseball outside work. I don't turn on baseball outside of work. And I believe I said I'm not going to pretend to play a character, because I think that my industry has a level of that, of people shouting from the rooftops 24-7, isn't baseball amazing? Look at these stats. Look at these stats.

You live and breathe it. Take a breath. And it divided people, certainly. A lot of people gave me hell for it. Nobody I know in the real world, so I'm okay. lot of people gave me hell for it nobody I know in the real world so I'm okay but it's the most important change I've made in my life the last few years I think and for me Mike this is a you know I've thought about it a bit since for me it's a matter of identity I think when I moved to Toronto a I hated it which I realized in hindsight was I was unhappy and a city cannot

talk back to you. A city doesn't have a face, so it's easy to blame. But I think when I moved out to Toronto, I was a little too East Coast for the big city, a little too big city for the East Coast, didn't quite know where I fit. And I had grown up with my whole life based in Nova Scotia. I was not just from Nova Scotia. I was not just from Nova Scotia. I was very much of Nova Scotia. Never imagined living out here in the big city. This was the evil empire, thousands of miles in the distance. So I think looking back, and this is something I've had to talk about a lot and reflect on,

looking back, since I struggled with identity in those early years of my job, I put my whole identity in baseball. That was a safe place for me to root who I was talking about a minor league game or prospects. I was waking up at 6 a.m. to do radio hits. I was doing those obscure 12 midnight radio hits. I was doing, said yes to everything. My yes rate was 99% in those days. Today, 4%. You only say yes to trying to mic.

That's right, that's right. So I've learned over the years that especially in those early days on the beat, I was unhappy. I was dealing with an incredible amount of anxiety and stress, which is a terrible feeling when you are in a job that A, was your dream growing up, and B, you are told every single day is a dream job. And B, you are told every single day is a dream job. It's something I hear every day, and I'm foolish not to acknowledge that. So for me, a lot of this has come with the privilege of being able to step away from it. When I was running Baseball Toronto, I did not have that ability. When I took the MLB.com job, when I got offered that job,

I had maxed out my credit cards, and I think I had a month of rent left in my bank account I was almost toast well in this city when that job came along and up until that point I was treading water trying to keep my head above water and the stress that comes with that because this is the industry of imposter syndrome to start with but I was filling every single space with baseball trying to fill that and I completely lost the me in all of that in recent years and this is something that I think came from the pandemic where you're forced to sit in the house and I live alone you're forced to sit there with a bottle of wine and look at yourself I pulled away from that. And it's, for me, not a hatred of baseball whatsoever. It's keeping it separate for me. So I don't listen to baseball podcasts. I don't turn on a game when I come home. If it's game seven of the World Series, the WBC, which I thought was an incredible

event, it shocked me. Absolutely. I'll turn it on. I'm not going to read baseball books. I'm not going to watch a TV show or a documentary about baseball. In my apartment, there is no sign of baseball. And I think when I do TV, everyone else at my company has the baseball backdrop with bats and jerseys. I don't. And that's okay because it at least looks clean. But I've learned these last few years how valuable this is for me because it scared me a few years ago. I not only stopped loving baseball, I stopped loving writing. And those were the two things in my life outside of people that have meant the most to me, honestly, for a long time,

because I really didn't leave any space for myself. And what I've learned these last few years is that when I unplug from baseball, when I walk out of Rogers Center, boom, I'm not baseball kicking. You know, it's what I've learned is that by separating that, I have left space for baseball to surprise me again. My head was so far inside of it that even if I saw the most amazing thing, if I had have seen Mike Trout versus Shohei Otani in the WBC three or four years ago, I would have watched that. It would have ended and I would have said, okay, shit, I've got to write a Blue Jays prospect story for tomorrow morning. I need a 7 a.m. story. I need a 9 a.m. story. I lost the ability to be surprised or blindsided by something beautiful in baseball. And I also lost

my love of writing. A lot of it was just factory work writing. Jays win, this prospect gets two hits, blah, blah, blah. Now that I've stepped back from that, what I'm realizing is that not only do I love the game again, genuinely love the game, but I think I'm writing better than I ever have. I enjoy the process of writing but I'm also now that my entire identity is not baseball I'm finally showing a little more personality in my writing. Not joking and being foolish but you can tell that if you click on my story okay that one's probably written by Keegan. It's not just a cookie cutter BS baseball story that has given me so much joy. And it's been such an important change for me. I can honestly say that sitting here right now, this is as happy as I've been period and loving Toronto now. And you know, I'm still a

cranky, miserable guy to sit next to in the press box some days, but that change with separating baseball in my life has made such a difference because now I'm doing some stuff that's just me and an incredible change for me. I totally understand when people hear that and they think, well, what the hell, man? Come on. I know this is an aspirational job. The comparison of, you know, does an accountant go home and do math? That doesn't even work here because my job's very unique, very different, but I really can't overstate how much of a difference that made in my life, especially when it comes to just day-to-day anxiety and feeling the need to fill every spare moment. Nowadays, when I am off, goddamn, I am off.

I like to turn my brain off and it's been such an amazing change for me, just emotionally, but professionally, because now when I walk into the ballpark and I switch it back on I love baseball I love writing and I'm fresh again it's just been such an incredible change for me Keegan what a thoughtful response to Andrew Clark's question that was that was great I'm just so happy to hear you're you're happy now yeah it's been a big change for me and you know I don't think I recognized at the time, many times, how miserable I was with it, but really just that anxious, can I stay above water? Can I write 10 stories a day? Even if they're shitty stories, I need to have my name out there constantly. Now I'm secure with where I'm at. I want less

sometimes. Right. No, I can totally relate to that. And this ducktails nicely to James's question. James wants to know, what do you do for fun? He says hobbies and that kind of thing. And he goes,

maybe we could put it this way. What are your passions outside of baseball? I love and I wish I had more opportunities to work with my hands, do things with my hands. I love woodworking wish I had more opportunities to work with my hands do things with my hands I love woodworking and building things I love wood carving I love god even when my friends get some Ikea furniture I'm saying god let me come over you know just have a few drinks I'm coming

over I love I'm taking notes here because I need a I need a handy guy like you sometimes I love to read. I'm taking notes here because I need a handy guy like you sometimes. I love reading. I love writing outside of work. Going back to when I was in school, I did, before journalism, a degree in English and creative writing. So I love getting outside of baseball a bit. I absolutely love to turn on Netflix and waste 12 hours straight. It's a beautiful thing.

But working with my hands, and I love building new things. I love rebuilding old things. The thing that I really nerd out on is old typewriters. I know that's my real, you know, a guy with a fine arts degree liking old typewriters. It's the layers of hipster coming in. I feel like, okay,

two things. Andy Rooney did that. He's no longer with us, the great curmudgeon Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes, but he had collected old typewriters, but in a more modern, maybe a little older than us, but Tom Hanks does that. He does. Tom Hanks collects old typewriters. And I love just wandering flea markets

or antique stores. I bought an incredible I think it's a 1931 Underwood number three folding portable typewriter a couple of weeks ago. So I will waste half a day with, and of course I have screwdriver sets and all of my tools out.

I'll waste half a day just with music on, a bottle of wine, watching videos trying to repair this. I bought a typewriter a few months back and the capital letters were just flying up, half a millimeter. So if you were writing the word the with a capital T, the T would be just a little too high.

And I had the best day figuring out how to fix that and drop it back down. Just stuff that is not in front of a damn screen, because I spend so much time in front of a screen for work. And so I like getting my head a little bit away from baseball in that sense as well. And, you know, when all of that fails, I a little bit away from baseball in that sense as well. And yeah, when all of that fails, I'll wander down to the bar for a few as well. Yeah.

You know, you crack open your Great Lakes, you throw on some Sloan and you get cracking on those old typewriters. I dig it, buddy. This sounds amazing. Okay. Charles Brandt writes in,

looking forward to this annual visit. Keegan is my favorite Blue Jay reporter. That's Charles. I appreciate it. Eric. Eric. Okay. is my favorite Blue Jay reporter. That's Charles. I appreciate it. Eric. Eric. Okay. Interesting what Eric's

writing here. Has Keegan spoken to FOTM AJ Andrews? And if so, how is she doing? I hope she will return to writing and podcasting, but I understand

her health is the top priority. It's been too long since AJ and I talked. I'll have to shoot her a message there these coming days ahead of the season. But we're in a fantasy football league which i believe she continues

to whoop me in uh with all of our college buddies as well um i for for my obsessive nature in fantasy sports i suck at them i'm the guy that makes 400 moves and comes in eighth place but um i would love to see aj back riding as well i know she was doing the i believe daily podcast with blue jays a couple of years ago as well. So I hope she comes back and is able to do more. Yeah, absolutely. I'm just looking here now.

Last time I spoke with, by the way, AJ unveiled on this very program, which was in August, August, 2021. I see here, August 22nd.

She unveiled on this very program that her name is Ariana. Now it's Ariana. I'm sure AJ is like the initials, but Arianna Andrews. Yeah, I hope she's doing all right. I was concerned when I read that question if she was unwell, but I will reach out as well and find out how Arianna Andrews

is doing. Okay, and also from Eric, how much of last year's playoff embarrassment is motivating the core group? We're talking Blue Jays now. Does the loss to Seattle take up more some space in their minds or have they moved on and are only looking forward? It has to. When I'm around the Blue Jays this spring,

and Lord knows I was around them enough, by the end I was standing in the middle of the clubhouse every day spinning in a circle saying, I've written a story about you, you, you, you. I don't know who that guy is. Maybe it's his day. It has to, because when you talk about the players who have left and who have come in,

this Blue Jays team is talking about being more focused, more mature. And I've been careful with the word mature, because to say they're more mature suggests that they were a bunch of fun loving idiots last year and that's not what i'm saying but there can always a mature team can get more mature it's always going to happen i'm really really careful when it comes to anything vague around oh i have a there's a different energy around this team because you hear that every year about 15 teams and it's mostly bs

like i said at this time of year every bit of coverage for every team is so positive it's everyone's year right and hope springs i think a lot of markets toronto especially um could benefit from a little more reality in the coverage of its local team. Well, I'm kind of glad you mentioned that because you work for MLB, and MLB by its nature is selling the sport in a positive light because it literally is Major League Baseball. But we often hear complaints about, for example, Sportsnet personalities, et cetera,

because Rogers owns the team and Rogers owns Sportsnet. And one of the complaints I hear is that even the optics of much of the media covering our Blue Jays, the optics are bad, regardless of whether they're actually biased coverage or not. It smells like it could be because of who's signing the checks, etc. Yeah, and I was extremely worried about that when I was offered this job. That's a conversation I had up front saying, listen, if this is something where, you know, if a player goes 0 for 50 and I can't write about it, I'm out. I don't care if you're giving me money. Or even if there's some, some allegation against a player of a serious nature, even more so than that. I'm happy with where we are at now, which is a, the, the thinking on that is that, hey, the story's out there. It's kind of showing our ass if we don't write that. So I am happy with where MLB.com is with that,

and I'm also happier than I thought I would be with the freedom to cover struggling players, to be honest about that. And from a network side, I know that a lot of the optics in Toronto are very unique. You don't see the situation with Sportsnet Rogers and the Blue Jays in many other cities. Since I'm so far inside it, I look at it a bit more individually, I think. And yes, I can recognize what a problem that is.

But I also show up to work every day and I work next to Shai Dabidi, who is someone who I trust and respect very much as a reporter. You know, I look at it a little more individually. And for me, the networks or the outlets, you know, MLB.com being one, TSN, The Star, et cetera, The Sun, those are part of it. But I think that day to day, in terms of the coverage and how it comes out, I think that the individual is a massive factor as well. And in your Blue Jays coverage, I would love there to be a clearer definition of who is actually on the beat and covering this team and who is just playing pretend on Twitter.

That is a major peeve of mine. A lot of people like to misrepresent how often they're with the team, or a lot of people like to misrepresent how often they're with the team, or a lot of people like to be edgy and really cool on Twitter, but one day a year they show up at the Dome, they're quivering at the back of the scrum. Let's

all show up. You gonna name anybody? Let's take some attendance here. There's lots of creative aggregation of real reporters' work. Let's call it that. The individuals There's lots of creative aggregation of real reporters' work, let's call it that. But the individuals matter as well. There is a fandom lean from some people. And I think over the years,

I'm proud of MLB.com's coverage of players who are having a shitty week or month of bad moves being made. And it's a question that comes up quite a bit, and it should. It very much should. Because I'm such a sports media nerd. I like, even when I go to the bar for drinks with the guys, I'm just yapping about sports media for hours.

And the answer I usually give is that if you want some soft, fan-leading coverage, you've got options. And I don't think I'm one. Good answer. Okay, good answer. Andrew Stokely, we mentioned him earlier. Yes, sir. He says, ask Keegan about his favorite breakfast meat.

Oh, my God. Meat, not meal. Let me tell you. I'm a man that goes to the hotel breakfast. A, because I like simplicity. B, because I'm proud of Nova Scotia. I'm cheap as hell. And I think we were eight or nine days into spring training.

And I don't think Gregor Chisholm, Gregor's not a morning guy like me. And I don't think Gregor had hit the hotel breakfast yet. And I said, oh, Gregor, I'm eight for eight. Come on, man. And the disgust on his face led me to say, okay, I'm going to go 42 for 42 this spring. I did. I'm not proud of it. You know, it's my Cal Ripken moment.

But can I ask you, you load up, is this part of what you've paid for the hotel already? Yes. So you load up, yes. I remember doing this on my work trips to Europe. You load up on that morning, but then you're good to go till like 4 or 5 p.m. You keep your rolling.

So there was always the weird hotel eggs. I would give it the lift, the tray lift test. So it was one of those kind of hydraulic lifts. Yeah. I would lift it up. If steam came out, it was an eggs day. If there was no steam coming out, I'd keep moving. And at the end, there was always home fries and then either like a French toast or waffle. The amount of syrup probably still in my body, Micah, is worrying. I'm like one of those old Stretch Armstrong dolls.

You know, if you poked a hole in me, maple syrup would come out. But, and then in the middle, I think we had four bacon days over 42 days. I am a, maybe that's what finally turns me into the old sports writer who tweets complaints about airlines and hotels.

I have, you know, that's always been a caricature. Shout out to David Schultz. But yeah, by day 20 and 30 and 40, not only did the breakfasts get old, but as it transitioned from cool young kids spring break to parents with four-year-olds going to Disney spring break, probably just the look on my face at 8 a.m. on day 38

while I'm loading up a plate with sausage and fries as 74 little two-year-olds run around me screaming. You know, I think I questioned my decisions a few times. Now, Stokely was kind enough to provide me with the rotation, he said, at the hotel. So he said it was, the rotation went like this. Bacon. Yep.

Canadian bacon. Which was just cold cut ham. Yeah, ham slices, right? Thank you, Stokely. It was disgusting. Some type of sausage. How do you say this word? Andouille?

Andouille, which was just kind of a flavorless barbecue sausage cut into little slices. They were taking some creative liberties at the Spring Hill Suites. And turkey or pork sausage. Yeah, it was a tough time. Sometimes I would go for the million calorie frosted cinnamon roll. There were definite mornings where I would look at the hot stuff and say, you know what? I just need to get as many calories in my body as I can right now.

Let's go. Moose Grumpy. And I just want to say that we are live at Toronto Mike. Sorry, we're at live.torontomike.com. I should know where we are. We're live. And Moose Grumpy is there. There's a few people there enjoying the show live.

Moose has a great question. So let me dig it up here And Moose Grumpy is there. There's a few people there enjoying the show live. Moose has a great question. So let me dig it up here for Moose. She says, ask Keegan about hotel room issues. It seems that a TV got broken this year and all he was doing was walking around. And how much, okay, he says, how much you love Florida heat? And then by the way, I'll just let everyone know, we are going to get the Blue Jay stuff right after this. We're going to get to Blue Jay stuff.

Yeah, I busted a TV pretty bad. And so there were a couple layers to this. Just two days prior, I had lost my phone in a garbage can. Hazel May had helped me find it. It was this big thing. Everyone was getting a good laugh at me on Twitter. I had my laptop bag. The laptop bag, you know, this is eventually an audio medium.

So the laptop bag you know this is eventually an audio medium so the laptop bag kind of goes horizontal i had my laptop in it vertically kind of poking out the top i was in a rush in the morning it's about 7 30 a.m yeah actually this yeah this is a bit of a story and i was rushing out of the room and i picked it and i slung it up onto the tv stand but as i did that the laptop went up and toppled out lengthwise. And in the middle of the TV, just gave it a little bit of a thump. Oh, no. And it was nothing I thought of at all.

I didn't even think enough to check my laptop. Right. It was just kind of a heavy thump. It's a heavy laptop. And I thought, oops, that was a loud noise, but whatever. So I go to work that day, come home. I go out for dinner that night with Shai Davidi at this fantastic Japanese restaurant on Clearwater Beach. I need to look up the names. It was great.

And Shai Davidi taught me how to use chopsticks properly that night. And it was an incredible scene, you know, not just like verbally telling me across the table, but kind of like, come on, Keegs, you know, like I was an ogre at the table. Right. And I come back to my room that night, I turn it on and the TV is shattered in the middle. So bad luck. It's, it's kind of like, you know, the odd time you'll hit a piece of glass in the wrong place and it just blows up. And I'm sitting there, I'm thinking my story doesn't sound real because this is the middle of spring break. And I know I don't look super young, but I'm not 90. So I'm thinking, oh, God, I'm going to go up to the front desk, and they're not going to believe me.

But anyways, I went to the front desk, and it was someone who has been there for a few years, and I'm there for a month and a half a year. So I went up, and I said, listen, I'm here alone. I'm living a pretty boring life. I'm here for work. I just screwed up and broke this. So they eventually came and replaced it.

The only other thing I had to do, because I'm down there for a long time, I like to play video games with my buddies. It's how me and some college buddies stay in touch, and I'm still a bit of a video game nerd. No shame in that. I had the PlayStation hooked up to the TV. Right when they were about to come down to replace the TV,

I looked at it, and I thought, oh, shit, this looks like I was mad at a video game and threw the controller at the TV. So I had to hide that in the closet under a blanket. Like a caper. Yeah, I looked at it and I realized, OK, not only does this look like I was partying, it looked like I was playing a video game and raged and broke the TV. So it's a boring story that looked like some things that were cooler. But yeah, I had a tough go in spring. It's like your motley crew just tearing up

the hotel room. Tell Shai Davidi next time you're chilling with him, maybe eating Japanese, tell him he should come on Toronto Mike. They've reached out in the past. Yeah, he should come on. Shai Davidi coming to Toronto Mike. Thank you very much, Keegan. David Botter. Shai Davidi coming to Toronto, Mike. Thank you very much, Keegan.

David Barter. And again, now we're going to get, now it's all Blue Jays. Although I gave you beer, but I just want to let you know, Keegan, that I have a lasagna for you in the freezer from Palma Pasta. You've had Palma Pasta in the past. I have. I have. Fantastic.

Love Palma. Delicious. All FOTMs know you go to palmapasta.com. There's locations in Mississauga and Oakville. Delicious Italian food. You got your beer from Great Lakes. And before we go any further, courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home, Keegan Matheson, this is a measuring tape.

You might need to measure that TV for a replacement. It's a 27-inch, whatever it is. That's for you, Keegan Matheson. And if anyone listening has a TV that they broke and you don't throw it in the garbage, okay, you take that TV, you go to recyclemyelectronics.ca, you find out where you can, in your neighborhood,

you could safely drop it off and they'll recycle it carefully and properly so that chemical does not end up in our landfill. And that's thanks to the good people at EPRA. Again, it's recyclemyelectronics.ca. David Botter writes in, ask Keegan which Blue Jay player has him scratching his head. Do what you wish with that, Mr.

Going into the season. I'm trying to think of a player who, it's probably Jose Barrios, honestly, going into the season because I think he's their most important player and that's not doesn't mean he's their best he's not Vladdy he's not Bo he's not Kevin Gosman but someone like him is so incredibly important because let's take Kevin Gosman for example an amazing season for him is a Cy Young award he is fully capable of that I was the only person to vote him for the Cy Young

Award last year, and I do not think I should have been alone on that. A bad season for him is probably a 3.3 ERA. You're fine either way. Jose Barrios, though, coming off of last year, is he a 5.2 ERA or is he a 3.4?

That difference is a few wins, frankly. And if you're talking about a few wins that's either 91 or 95 and when you're getting into the wild card and all of that crap you want to win the division like this team has to be about the division the the happy to be there which is a you know there's some canadianity mixed into that just happy to be in the playoffs. No. Win the division. So I think that this roster is so good. You have to think about the things that can go wrong. And I think there needs

to be more discussion about how it can go wrong. Not a columnist-y bashing type of stuff, but hey, this is what needs to really stay tight. And Jose Barrios, he had a rough, rough, rough outing in the WBC. He got rocked by Venezuela. So we'll see.

I think he is such an important part of that rotation, A, because of his own performance, B, because if there's any weakness, and we're nitpicking here because not a lot of teams have 10 good starters, it might be that starting rotation depth, at least in the early days of the season, before Ricky Tiedemann, before Hunjin Ryu are ready. You need those five guys to be good. We're going to look at the opening day roster by position,

Keegan. Okay, but one last question that came in, and the rest of the questions tie in with certain positions, so I'm going to hold on to them. But Brian FD writes in, no question, Keegan, just a comment. The team is more balanced, better defensively, better base running, better bullpen, maybe the best two starting pitchers in the league. If they don't win the division, I think that's disappointing. Having said that, it won't be easy.

Barrios and Kikuchi just need to be average. That's Brian FD. I agree they need to win the division, and I think that's what needs to be expected. I think that's what had to be average. That's Brian FD. I agree they need to win the division. And I think that's what needs to be expected. I think that's what had to be expected last year, frankly. And if they do not win

a playoff series this year, that's a disappointment. Are you talking about the Jays or the Leafs? Well, can't wait to see that disappointment. But the Blue Jays are so talented. They are a stupid, talented team. Incredible roster.

They've added more depth, more upside, more talent. And I think that they need to be held to a higher standard now. It's no longer about getting in and trying to make some noise. They are the team the other teams should be trying to make some noise. They are the team that other teams should be trying to make noise against. They should be the team that is targeted now because of the number of all-stars, Cy Young candidates, MVP candidates they have. That's why they're up there in that group that's good enough to win a World Series. So sneaking in on the wild card, we saw last year how fragile that is because the playoffs are about luck enough as it is. You

want to at least have a three out of five or a four out of seven. Even that does not give you the best, capital B best team every year. That's the beauty of the playoffs, but I think you need to give yourself a better chance and be the team that other teams are chasing and be in that dominant spot. I think you're seeing a bit of that mindset shift with the Blue Jays, but it's something that happens slowly because last year was just so, so ugly. You got a diamond, you got nine men, you got a hat and a bat, and that's not all. You got the bleachers, got them from spring till fall. You got a dog and a drink and an umpire's call.

What do you want? Let's play ball. Is that a fly ball? Do you know who's singing this song, Keegan Matheson? Oh, man. I've written the name before. I think I wrote a little story about this song not too long ago. I don't remember it, though.

It's Keith Hampshire. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, I remember writing those words. The rarely heard additional verses, too. This is good. This is the real deal. Are you kidding me? I'm stingy on the details here.

Okay, a little bit of this and then get us warmed up. Opening day. Is it Thursday or Friday? Thursday. It is Thursday. Off day Friday, then back to it Saturday. I'm sure the rain will mess that up somehow, but we'll see. Let's start with the catcher position.

Again, we're basically, this is Keegan Matheson from MLB.com on toronto mic and he's going to prime us for the 2023 blue jay uh season or actually it's a rare recording on a day that we don't drop the episode so we're recording on monday march 27th so we're going to look at the roster on opening day who are our catchers ke Keegan? Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk. I bet it's the number one catching duo in baseball,

really for my dollar. Danny Jansen, I think, is underrated. You would be hard-pressed to find a single player more beloved within that organization. I'm talking both by pitchers but also front office people, coaching staff.

Danny has been with this organization since, goodness, I think 2013 he was drafted out of halifax or sorry out of high school and at the time a 17 year old i think he and john schneider and jordan romano go all the way back like rookie ball like rookie rookie ball way back in the day so danny jansen is not just a development success story but but I think a power hitter who is really going to show it this year. He's had so many crappy, unlucky injuries, like balls off the hand to break a bone,

that type of stuff that you just can't blame on the guy. So I think he's going to have a big year. And Alejandro Kirk, the all-star as well, I think he'll benefit from not playing as much, you know, keeping him fresh. Kirk is one of the most unique players in Major League Baseball because every time he swings, he makes contact, rarely walks. He is one of the slowest players in the league,

but hits so well that it almost doesn't matter. He is really good defensively, which I did not think would be the case. And it's easy to BS and say, oh, yeah, I saw that in him. No. There's reports from me writing in 18, 19, and 20 that he's going to hit, but will he even stay a catcher? Now he's one of the best pitch blockers when it comes to stealing strikes, or especially this is why he works with a Manoa or a Gosman

working down in the zone. It's, we twist ourselves into fits, trying to put numbers on everything, trying to analyze everything. Some of that is just people trying to sound baseball-y and sound smart, which is something I hate about my industry. I never try to sound baseball-y and smart. Sometimes a guy is just, you know, to quote the man, my buddy Buck Martinez, just a ball player. just, you know, to quote the man, my buddy Buck Martinez, just a ball player. And Alejandro Kirk has that natural feel for baseball that you cannot teach and you can rarely replicate.

So, okay, I'm going to keep track as we go along here because in the catcher position, aces for the Jays. This is a two thumbs up on the Blue Jays all set with the two great catchers we have on opening day. Absolutely. One of the best in baseball. Okay. That's a big win for the Jays already here. We haven't even played a game.

Okay. First baseman. And, well, okay, first of all, tell us who will be our opening day first baseman. I think Vladdy might make the team. But I think this is a bit of a bounce back year for him. He's another hot one where everyone's saying MVP, candidate, this and that. Maybe. We'll see. You know, he said that last year he was anxious at the plate he was trying to replicate what he did in 2021 where it was it was an mvp season sometimes you just have that you don't win mvp that's okay shohei otani made history that year but if vladdy can split the

middle between 2021 and 2022 that is is a 905 OPS. That's 40 home runs. You're going to take that any day of the week. And he's good defensively coming off that gold glove. Yes. He's better in the bases than people think. He has quick feet. He has some speed once he gets the big load of motive going.

But I think it's going to be a good year for Vladdy. We'll just see if it's a great one. And even if it's good, even if he splits that middle, that's an incredible season. That's one of the better offensive seasons in baseball. I think the fences will help him a little bit. And I think a better mindset, you know, knowing that he's been humbled a little bit

and not chasing MVP every year will help him a little bit as well. You'll also see some Brandon Belt at first base as well, the veteran. Question came in for you about Brandon Belt from Jerry the Garbage Man. I love that handle. Jerry wants to know, how has Brandon Belt looked so far? And then he follows that up with, how will he get time on a team with so many potential designated hitters? Yeah, Belt is the classic veteran coming in.

You know, we would see him in early workouts running around the field, and I'd think, oh, man, is this guy fresh? Does he have something left? Then the games start, and he turns it on. You know, he's another guy who is just a natural, Brandon Belt is. Not the loudest guy, not the showiest guy, but I think still has something left and he's healthy after that surgery. So he will get a handful of games at first base. Maybe

Vladdy plays 120 at first base, DHs for 30 or 40. I think Belt is the primary DH against right-handed pitching, so that's a lot of at-bats as well. And if that gets Belt into 110-ish games, you're happy. And on days he's not out there, what a fantastic bench bat as well. This bench is going to be really good. So Belt is one where there's upside, but let's live in reality. You're also looking at a guy coming off a surgery who was 34 in Major League Baseball. So there is some potential that he could be going up against that as well. We'll see.

But I like the signing, and I'm a believer in sticking to my initial, you know, just like the Jose Barrios extension. I thought that was a great extension at the time. Hasn't worked out so far. So I like the belt deal, but we'll see how it goes. Would Kevin Biggio also get some time at first? A little

bit. Biggio will play some first where he's a decent enough defender there. Hegio also get some time at first? A little bit. Biggio will play some first, where he's a decent enough defender there. He will also play some second. He could play third if you need. And Biggio will also see a bit of time in right field when George Springer is not there. That could be due to injury. That could be due to a DH day. And Biggio is a player that probably divides Blue Jays fans as much as anybody.

If you could take Kevin Biggio's instincts, take his brain, and put it in every player, they win the World Series. Biggio's instincts in the field, his baseball smarts, that's why this organization loves the guy. That's why he's going to keep getting opportunities. Every year people are saying, you need to replace Biggio. No, they're looking for reasons not to replace Biggio. They love this guy. Hopefully being healthy and embracing the role he's in will help Cabin this year. Doesn't need to hit 300. If he is hitting 240 on base machine like he is,

making a bit more hard contact, and speaking to him, that's what it's focused on, is hitting for power a bit more so pitchers know there's some danger there. But I think if you have Biggio as your 24th, 25th man, you're in a great place. So we're going to call Kevin our utility guy, essentially. Okay, so before I move on to second base, where he used to roam there, I want to put down on my little paper here that we're aces looking good at first base here with Vladdy.

Catcher in first, two for two so far. Okay, let's talk. Who are our second basemen, Keegan? This is another interesting one with Whitmerryfield and Santiago Espinel. Now, Espinel is an all-star. If you look up baseball reference, there's an all-star next to that name. That being said, he might not be on that opening day roster. Opening day lineup, sorry.

I mean, that starting lineup, which is a hell of a place to be for the Blue Jays. Witt Merrifield is underrated, I think, this year. Witt is going to play a lot of second base, and then when a lefty is on the mound, Santiago will be at second base because he mashes lefties. He needs to face every single lefty possible. On those days, Whit Merrifield moves out to left field. Maybe Varshow or Kiermaier get a day off or a DH day, but all Merrifield does is hit. He's fast. He's speedy. The Blue Jays love that on the bases, but Merrifield has looked

fantastic in spring training. He's kind of one of those guys that's driving this new level of professionalism or focus, whatever word you want to put on it. But Witt just hits the ball, no matter what. And being part of a lineup like this, some of those KC teams he was on were good. Some of them were brutal. So having a little protection and some people around him is going to help him. And then Espinol is a guy who can bounce over play some short stops, some third, outfield if you really need.

But you're seeing already with these positions, this is going to be a damn good bench, number one. And if one or two guys get hurt, which they absolutely will, week one or two of the season someone is going to blow a hammy or pull an oblique, the Blue Jays will still to blow a hammy or pull an oblique. The Blue Jays will still be in a fine spot.

You're not stuck calling up some utility guy from AAA. There are really good options there. And Espinel, I think, is a guy who could have a really big stat year, maybe just over fewer games, because if you line him up against lefties, when I think about lefty mashers, you think about the big hulking DH. No, Espinel is a small guy. He's a second baseman, truly. But he hits the hell out of left-handed pitching. I'm excited.

I'm excited. Any truth to the rumor I'm starting right now that Whitmerry Field was named after, number 12 on your Blue Jays, Ernie Witt. You know what? Let's run with it. Why not? Just put something in MLB, a rumor mill or something like that. Yeah, I can control the narrative here.

Why not? So what do I put here? I've got myself, you know, catcher and first. These were great. We're stacked second base. What can I put there? Yeah, I think it's a clearly above average position for the Bucs. Okay, three for three.

Okay. Short stop. I think Boba Shett has a massive year. I really do. I hate bold prediction season. It drives me nuts. Why would I make predictions that are inherently unlikely? It's the silly season before the season.

But I've written and I've said on air a few times that I think Bo Bichette has a good chance at a 30-30 season. That's only happened two times. Jose Cruz in 01. Sean Green. Yeah, you're right, 98. You forgot. I like trivia so you can't just give me answers

Bo has looked so good in spring training and that's another thing I hesitate to buy much into but the way he finished last year and how he has looked in camp this guy's locked in he has the speed to steal 30 bases

he wants to run more even before the rule changes. Right. He's also got the power. We haven't even talked about the rule changes, but we get to sprinkle something in as we go. I think that he has a legitimate shot at being a 30-30 guy. Is the defense elite? No.

Is it good enough to make me not care? Yeah. It's in there. It's a matter of, it reminds me even going back to, you know, some past Blue Jays shortstop, even those Jose Reyes years, where he'd make the flashy play, but then one hit right to him, fall apart. Right.

Sometimes you see that with Bo, where you need, you know, when his feet are moving, he's such an incredible natural athlete that his body takes over. But it's those fundamental plays that we've seen some errors on, some years a lot of errors on. I think his defense will be sound enough. I think that the conversation of moving him off shortstop happens more on Twitter than it does in the Blue Jays front office, but I think if I have one pick for a Blue Jays player to have a big year, I think it's Bo.

And he's not going to follow your lead and start cutting his own hair, right? I don't think so. I think the locks are here to stay. Once it becomes part of your brand, you know, it's the same reason I can't shave my beard. I'd be toast. Right, right, exactly. Speaking of toast, we will be recording toast tonight at 7pm. Okay. So part of that reaction of

like, we need to upgrade it short comes out of how last season ended. I just had a flashback. And I'll also probably put, and this is coming out Wednesday, and by that time the roster may be set. Although I could change my mind, but yeah, go ahead. I would put, you know, standing here right now, which is what time are we, 5.57 Monday evening, Otto Lopez, the Canadian, would be my pick right now.

Now the Blue Jays can always go out and grab a player off a free agency or waivers that could happen. But Otto Lopez, whether he's on this opening day roster or not, this would be where he fits. Right now, he's my pick for the 26th man, and I think he's a really, really good fit as that last guy on the bench, whether it's to open the season or a bunch of times through the year, because he has a simple swing. He's hit.305 in the minor leagues, so he's not going to come up and waste at-bats. He's fast. He's versatile. I think he makes a ton of sense, a young guy who can really add

a bit of a spark to the team every once in a while. And frankly, if you're the last guy on the bench, just don't screw it up. Don't lose the game. And Lopez is a sturdy player who all he's done is produce in the minor leagues. I have not given him enough credit sturdy player who all he's done is produce in the minor leagues. I have not given him enough credit for that. All he's done is produce. You had me at hello.

Love that kid. Okay. Third base. Matt Chapman. Get paid. I think he is. Oh, yeah. Before I proceed to third base.

Short stop. Below average. Above. Okay. Oh, yeah. Okay. Of course. You got him. He's going to win MVP this year. Sorry. Okay. Oh, yeah. Okay. Of course. I like him above.

You got him. He's going to win MVP this year. I like Bo. Sorry. I can see him getting an edge MVP vote or two. Okay. So just so people know, following along at home here, that's four positions we've talked about and four thumbs up.

This is looking good. Okay. Now, please, back to Matt Chapman. Matt Chapman. Now, when Manny Machado signed that mega deal with the Padres, that took him off the open market next offseason. So Matt Chapman has the third base market next winter all to himself. This guy could get paid, paid, paid.

And he's someone I think who will benefit from those walls coming in at Rogers Center. He hit a lot of fly balls at the warning track last year. He's got more power than 27 home runs. Never going to hit for much average, but is an elite defender still. I thought probably deserved a bit more of a fair shake in the gold glove last year. Don't think he should have won it, but maybe been that second or third guy. He is such an important part of this team, both just in the clubhouse, watching how these guys interact. He's really at the center of a lot of this stuff. And it's going to be a big conversation all year long.

Will the Blue Jays re-sign him? They're already paying a ton of money to a ton of guys. I don't know if that happens, but that's a problem for November, December, who cares right now? Right. Maybe next year that's Addison Barger's position or Rolfes Martinez. We'll see.

But for now, Matt Chapman is going to give you elite defense. And if he gives you slightly above average offense, you've got another above average position in baseball. There you go. This is what a, what a team. So hyped for this.

Okay. Let's talk about team. So hyped for this. Okay. Let's talk about the outfielders. Dalton Varshow, Kevin Kiermaier, George Springer. You're going to have one of the better defensive outfields in all of baseball. I think Dalton Varshow

could be just as good a center fielder as Kevin Kiermaier. We all know how good Kiermaier is in center. Now, Varshow is a guy who the Blue Jays are kind of catching on his ascent right now. You gave up Gabriel Moreno to get him, that might give Blue Jays fans nightmares for 15 years. We'll see. Moreno looks like he's going to start this year in Arizona, and he is so talented.

But Varshow fits these Blue Jays. And frankly, they didn't need another catcher right now. So good. Fine trade. Varshow is a guy who has some pop in there. A bit of a smaller built guy, but very strong. Real fire hydrant type of guy. And his defense is exceptional. So you love that in left.

You love Kiermaier in center. Is Kiermaier going to hit? Well, never really has. But he embraces the being that number nine guy. Just get on base, run, and play defense. He knows who he is. As much as anyone on this roster, I think Kevin Kiermaier knows exactly who he is. He knows his realities. And when you look into right field, if George Springer can stay healthy there,

his bat is so special. And there's, on every team in any pro sport, there's that one player who, it doesn't matter if it's their best player, but he's a player who makes a team look like that team. And having George Springer in that leadoff spot is what makes the Blue Jays the Blue Jays. When you lose him, you're moving guys around.

You've got Bowe up in the leadoff spot, swinging at first pitches, and it's not how it should be. George Springer being in there is what makes this whole thing fit together. And if you can keep him on the field, that's fantastic, because he is still one of the most multi-talented players in baseball. He's got all five tools. So in terms of the starting three, you've got to feel very good. And this is where the identity change has kind of happened from some offense with Teoscar and Lourdes to a little more defense. Now, the depth picture here is not what I thought it would be. Going into spring training, I thought they would sign a fourth

outfielder. I was quite confident they would. I wrote that, I said it. Using Biggio and Merrifield is an interesting approach. We'll see because they'll need to be used quite a bit. Kevin Kiermaier has not been a player who's stayed healthy much through his career. I would love to say he's going to play 160, but he's only getting a year older. He's coming off of surgery. These are realities. And Springer too.

Springer has often run into injuries as well. So we'll see. We'll see. This is something often run into injuries as well. So we'll see. We'll see. This is something that, you know, may become the trade deadline. Maybe there's that righty-mashing corner outfielder of the Blue Jays ad, something like that. But overall, a fine group, but with a lot of risk

just due to injuries. Okay, but if these players manage to stay healthy, we're way above average here, right? Certainly. This is exciting. Yeah, lots of upside with Varsha as well. Okay, that's another one in the win column. Okay, you kind of touched on it already.

We talked about Brandon Belt, but take a moment and address the designated hitter position. Yeah, I would bet on it being mostly Belt. Number two, probably Vladdy. You'll see a little bit of George Springer in there. At some point, given how deep this bench is, you'll probably have little bit of george springer in there at some point given how deep this bench is you'll probably have to throw a bone the odd day to an espinal or a bishio just to not let them

collect dust for too long right um normally on a bench for a decent team you've got two good players a decent one and a guy who's just there this could be a bench with four legitimate major leaguers so you need to keep guys rolling the The real beauty of the DH spot this year, I think, is that it keeps Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk from having to play DH too much. Alejandro Kirk ran out of gas last year, period. Those last two months, he was not the same hitter, and you need to keep him fresh,

especially at the catcher position, which just beats you up. You know, you're not seeing many catchers play over 120 games behind the plate at all anymore. So keep those guys fresh, and I think for as long as Brandon Bell can stay healthy there, I think he's an awfully nice fit. Okay, I was going to ask you about the utility. Oh, by the way, for DH, I can't possibly put them in the above average category. No, that's average-ish. We'll see.

Otherwise, why bother playing these games, right? Like, just save us all time. Let's put the Jays in the pennant there. Okay. Utility players, it's Biggio and Lopez are your two picks, right? Yeah, they'd be around there. On days that an Espinola or a Merrifield

is not in the lineup, they can be part of that as well. But pretty flexible group. And athletic as well. One thing I should say about Kevin Biggio is that he's probably their best base runner. He's fast enough, not a burner, but fast enough to steal bases, but

he makes the best base running decisions on the Blue Jays. I think for his career, he's like 26 for 27, something crazy like that. Okay, good, good, good. Now, I have a lot of questions, as you can imagine, about starting pitchers, but why don't you run down who you see as our five starting pitchers opening day? It will be Alec Manoa opening day, Kevin Gossman, Chris Bassett,

Jose Barrios, Yusei Kikuchi. Now, top three, great, fine, you're happy. If anything goes wrong there, I'm shocked, unless an injury hits. Jose Barrios, we'll see. I think you get innings from him, but what quality are they? I think he's a guy, much like Kikuchi last year, who kind of got caught in the game of adjustments back and forth. And if you are trying to adjust on the fly against Aaron Judge, you lose. You're toast. You're absolute toast. But I think going into this year, he's in a simpler place. And

you don't do what he did with the Twins for five years by accident. I've had a lot of people say, well, maybe he's been figured out. I don't know. Teams tried to do that for five years when he was Minnesota's ace. I don't think he's just been figured out. I think this is, and I say this in a good way, I think last year was because of him, not because of the league, and that's a good thing.

If he was throwing the same pitches and suddenly getting rocked, well, yikes. You are really scared. But I think that last year he wasn't right. So you've got to be optimistic. It's going to bounce back to some extent. But again, this is where we get into that preseason optimism that everything is going to be better. Is it?

We'll see. And then Yusei Kikuchi has looked great in spring. He's got a 1 ERA, striking guys out. But I remember covering so many games last year where he'd be four pitches in, and I would think, oh, God, I'm not going to get to the bar before it closes tonight. He is the guy. The most questions came in about Kikuchi.

I'll name check him in a minute, but finish your thought. The reality of the number five spot is that most teams don't have a good one. And that's not apologizing for the Blue Jays. Ideally, you'd have a really good guy you're confident in. But for Kikuchi, I think his job is to survive a few months because by the middle of the season, you might have number one prospect Ricky Tiedemann ready. His upside is ridiculous.

His upside is an ace level, you know, that McClanahan, Blake Snell at his peak, you know, that lefty who throws with velocity all the time. Now, a lefty who throws 98, you know, it doesn't matter what arm you throw with, any starter who's throwing that hard, that young, as you're starting to ramp up, always an injury risk. Now, Ricky had a bit of a shoulder thing in camp.

It was fine. Really interesting kid, really interesting prospect, but prospects are meant to break your heart. Bring up the Blue Jays' top prospects from 2013 or 16. You're going to see some names and say, who the hell is that? So the Blue Jays top prospects from 2013 or 16. You're going to see some names and say, who the hell is that? So the Blue Jays would love to see him come up and do that, but you have to plan like he's not going to. We'll see. Hyunjin Ryu could be ready by July. That's a really interesting one. He's coming back from Tommy John. He's going to start throwing some

bullpens next month. Does he come back? But beyond that, Zach Thompson, Drew Hutchison, Thomas Hatch, those are guys who can fill in for a game, maybe pitch the second half of a doubleheader, do something like that. But if a week from now I'm watching a game and a starting pitcher shakes their elbow, yikes. Because if you're needing a long-term option, yikes. That's when this gets a little scarier. You covered a lot of ground there of the starting pitchers, but I will burn through the questions that came in because if you submit a question, I want to say your name on the podcast.

So Jason Duggan, he wants to know, where will Ryu fit in on the roster in July if all starters are healthy? He's got to start. He's not a reliever. He can't be a bulk guy. It's the... And I want to respect it. Let's imagine all these starters are pitching okay. At that point, maybe you go out to...

You know, working him in as a sixth guy sometimes. The reality is that someone will be hurt. Someone will be pitching poorly. There will be a reason to get him back in and try him if he comes back good but Ryu does not work as a reliever he does not work coming up for two or three innings this guy coming up in Korea and in the United States in MLB has always been a starter 89 doesn't work great out of the bullpen from a lefty in the seventh inning so he's got to start and probably by that point there's a reason to. And Jason wants to know, and I hope I say the name of this place right,

but he wants to know, what is your order at Acropoli? Acropole. Oh, I knew I'd butcher it. Acropole Pizza. I actually had a moment. It's either Acropole or Acropoli. This is the place in downtown New Glasgow, the town I grew up in. And this is in Pictou County.

We've got a few people in the kenny reed is from picto county um dan robertson who former radio voice of the montreal canadians now the winnipeg jets great guy dan is uh also from picto county we're a bunch of people who never shut up really so we end up in sports media and it's and it's back home it's known as you know picto county pizza it's not exactly new york style but it's not famous but around where i'm from people know what you mean it's not only a thick crust it's a heavy crust we're not talking light and fluffy like when you get a slice you're you're done it is thick and heavy and there's a brown sauce with some spice to it and instead of the

cheap like little heartburn pepperoni it's's real, you know, like brother's pepperoni kind of sliced up. So my order there is a, every time I go home, my dad will say, Keegan, you're going to do this. You're going to end up sick again. I don't give a shit. I'm home for one night. I'm going to get sick on this pizza. So I'll get a garlic fingers, which is a delicacy. I will get a donair and I will get a combo pizza, which I still

remember the first time I moved to Toronto. I walked in and said, yeah, give me a, do you have any slices of combo? I said, they said, what combo do you want? I said, no, no, the style. And I think it's just pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers. Okay. Cause I don't know that term. Yeah. It's, um, Oh God, it's heavy. It's heavy. It's heavy. It's heavy. And it, uh, it'll knock you out for the rest of you. It's, it's not something you's heavy, it's heavy, it's heavy. And it'll knock you out for the rest of your day. It's not something you eat in the middle of the day. If someone said, do you want to go to Acropole for lunch? I would say no, that will ruin the next 12 hours.

When you have it at 11 p.m., boy, does it hit. By the way, Jason's order at Acropole is no tomato sauce on the side. Love it, love it. Now, Kevin Martindale, you kind of addressed this, but we'll give him a succinct answer here. Kevin martindale you kind of address this but we'll give him a succinct answer here kevin martindale says can you ask keegan if he thinks jose uh berrios will have a bounce back season you've been asked that one before yes but only to an extent you know um i think berrios is the easy optimism guy but let's see where he was last year 5.23 era i think if he gives them a 4.4 era

over 175 innings ah that might be enough you know uh in terms of expectations you know is it enough you know based on contract and expectations for the team yeah Eh, I don't know. But that's enough of a step in the right direction because you at least want him to move that direction. I think he'll go that way, but I don't think we're going to see a guy jump back to a 3.2 ERA again. The other guy we get lots of questions about is Kikuchi. So a couple of guys I'll shout out.

Colin Kennedy just said, I heard Kikuchi look good yesterday in Fort Myers versus the Twins. It seems he has locked down the fifth starter. Curious if Keegan thinks he can move up in the rotation. He's five. I think people will be chasing him

eventually. We'll see how this carries into the regular season. The walks are still an issue. Walks are okay if you're striking guys out and you're avoiding home runs. You know, you can stomach it a little bit. Same with a hitter. You can stomach some strikeouts if you're going to hit 45 bombs. That's okay. Kikuchi last year, in a very true, he's a guy that gave a shit. He really cared about this in a way that's, I believe, did get to him at times. Like, he really cared about wanting to

be there for his teammates and not being able to do that at some points. You saw him really dejected and down after some of those rough starts. You are seeing some life back in him this spring, and that's fun to see, you know. This is supposed to be a fun game. It's supposed to be light. It's a ridiculous children's game. So when a guy is looking a little more like himself, I enjoy seeing that just from a human standpoint. And we talk ourselves to death every spring about, oh, it's a new pitch.

It's a new adjustment. Most of the time, A, that's BS. B, it doesn't matter when the season starts. Most pitchers, by the time they're 25, 28, they are who they are. You know, there's little tinkers, but hitters are tinkering too. And they know that if they want some good hitting that, you know, you see Kikuchi gave up some of that last year, so he's going to be targeted. But again, it's a guy that just, if he gives them a 4.75 ERA and strikes some guys out

and doesn't torch the bullpen, that's the important part. If you are going to have, if you're going to allow four or five runs over six innings, okay, it sucks, but at least get through those five or six innings. You know, there were too many times last year where Kikuchi would get torched in the first and second, and then all of a sudden you're chasing with your bullpen. And this bullpen doesn't really have a long man right now, so you don't want that. They need a lot from Kikuchi. The upside's there at least.

If he was an old man tossing 89, I'm less optimistic, but there's at least velocity. There's at least a good breaking ball in there. We'll see, but I think he's definitely in a better head space because he took last year to heart. Charles Brandt wants to know, do you think the pitch clock benefits Kikuchi? Yes.

Not as much time to think. And I think for him, getting into a rhythm is good. Very good. I think out of anyone on this team, the pitch clock benefits Kikuchi most. The pitch clock is the best thing to happen to baseball ever. I will vote for it for the MVP, not just because I get out of there 25 minutes quicker every night.

The level of action is so much better, but I find it's still natural. It's not rushed. It's not anxious. It's just more of a heartbeat of that constant action. I always use the NBA as the example of a really perfect league. I think the NFL is just so strange and outside of anything. They could put the worst product in the world on the field and

still do 100 million viewers, whatever. Agreed. Agreed. But the NBA in terms of how it markets players, but also shows action. And what casual fans want is to see a couple things, athleticism and cool shit. That's very basic, but it's what people want to see. That's why NBA is such a good highlight sport. You see some dunks, you see some alley-oops, you see Steph Curry or Dame Lillard posting up from the logo at center court. Baseball needs a few more of those. Stolen bases are big on that.

When you get a little more action, a little more balls in play, I think will be great. I also don't think people are going to notice it much. In terms of, you know, it's not going to be flashing on your screen. I don't think we're going to be talking about the pitch clock in a few weeks. I think it's going to become part of our subconscious very quickly. But I think Yusei Kikuchi is really going to benefit from that thing. So can I put starting pitchers in my way above average category?

Definitely. This is one of the better AL rotations I still believe. Just some question marks, but everybody does. Okay, so far so good. But here we close with our relievers. Name check our opening day relievers and then I'll ask some questions from Keen FOTMs.

So this one, and again talking Monday evening, right now it looks like it will be starting from closer Jordan Romano, you're in a great spot. Eric Swanson and Jimmy Garcia, the underrated Jimmy Garcia, will be those setup men, those guys you move around. because now you can save Swanson for the eighth inning. But if suddenly you are facing the Yankees and there's runners on second and third and Mike Trout's coming up in the sixth inning, Jimmy Garcia goes there. You can move him around.

It's what we talk about when we talk about high leverage spots, but I prefer the English language. And beyond that, you've got Tim Meza as your lefty. You've got Anthony Bass Adam Simber Zach Popp will be part of that group as well and probably Trevor Richards as well Popp and Richards can go a couple innings if you need and it's a pretty deep group when you look at the upside the depth going beyond that there's guys like Nate Pearson Jasper Zulaweta their number three prospect who's a

hard-throwing Cuban right-hander. He could be part of this eventually. There's some real upside coming because for years, the Blue Jays were stuck in the late 90s with their bullpen. There were guys throwing 94 and 95, and that's as high as they went. Whereas the rest of baseball, this is why the Nate Pearson conversation was so crazy for years. There was so much hype. Oh my God, finally a guy in a Blue Jays jersey throwing 100. Most other teams had a dozen guys doing that, but this team has not had enough velocity or swing and miss or strikeouts for years. Now they're getting it, and now they're getting into a much better place. Were you surprised Zach Pop made opening day roster?

I was. I didn't have him on my roster going in um that mitch white injury seems to have helped but um i should make a point of saying he's earned it though honestly he came in looking better throwing a much better slider he's got that sinker that makes people beat the ball into the ground but he's earned this spot he does have options so you know guys with options are the ones who can bounce up and down a little bit. We'll see how that goes. But definitely you're in the spots. And if someone like Zach Popp is your final guy in the bullpen, again, you're all right. Okay, but last year's playoffs in the Major League Baseball, like I watched all regular season.

I just watched Jay's games. Okay, there's my confession to you. So I just watched Jay's games. And then the playoffs come around and I just watched Jays games. Okay, there's my confession to you. So I just watched Jays games. And then the playoffs come around and I'm watching the other teams. And all of a sudden I realized, oh, that's how the bullpen. It's different.

The last game of the season I covered, my very last game of last season was that 19 inning Mariners game. Wow. I was out there as our, kind of our helping out on that coverage. And I still remember just running to the airport that night. But if the Blue Jays make a run,

they're going to be adding relievers, period. You add another Eric Swanson, you add another Jimmy Garcia. Good teams have a closer, great teams have two of them, World Series teams have three. Right, right. So when Daryl McAllister asks, he wants to know, do you think the bullpen is strong enough to make a deep run into the playoffs? What say you?

Yes, with some additions eventually. They have the depth and the upside to get through this season pretty strong. I think that midseason, let's keep Chad Green's name in mind. He's a guy coming back from surgery as well. Let's keep Chad Green's name in mind. He's a guy coming back from surgery as well. I really liked that signing because, sure, it's great to win games in April, May, June, July, but it only matters if you're going to win them in October, and Chad Green should be back by then.

So you can consider that a bit of a deadline addition, even though I hate that framing. But if the Blue Jays are at all involved in this, and they, God, they should be, I think at the deadline they're a major player for one more reliever because as you go to the playoffs, you learn some lessons. And if the Blue Jays have learned one lesson in recent years, it's that when you face up against teams like the Astros or even the Mariners last year with an incredible bullpen, maybe their lineup catches up to that this year, you are toast by the fourth inning if you're behind.

Now, Nate Pearson was optioned to Buffalo, and that caught a few of us, including myself, by the way, by surprise. Buffalo boy in particular, I want to shout him out. He was surprised Nate Pearson was optioned to Buffalo, and Colin Kennedy would like to know what you expect from Nate Pearson in 2023 he'll be part of this team at some point he might be that next guy up honestly and that can happen a week into the season it doesn't need to it doesn't need to take too long relievers are guys who you know sit still for a few days then max out injuries happen to relievers for a reason. It's a very unique job.

And by nature, in the bullpen, one of these eight guys we're talking about as being great is going to have a terrible season. Capital T, terrible, awful season. That's how it goes in the bullpen. It's so hard to project. Nate Pearson in this two-inning role he's in now, I like it a lot. Reminds me a bit of kind of four, five, six years ago when Delon Batonsas was doing that for the Yankees so effectively.

Not a lot of examples of guys who have done this year after year. It's a unique, new-ish role. But the Blue Jays don't have a lot of guys who can do what Nate Pearson does. For him, it's been a couple things. Physical, because he's getting injured over and over and over. Then you get into the game of adjustments. How can he stay healthy? There's a mental aspect to that as well. Speaking to Nate this year, this spring, different guy.

He seems mentally freed up. He did not in the last few years. Speaking to him in the last few years, I think you saw a guy who was aware of the conversation around him, and it's hard not to be, aware of the injuries, aware of the fact he used to be, I think, the number eight or nine prospect in baseball. Forget the Blue Jays, but in baseball. Right. He was supposed to be the next big thing. We talk about hype with Ricky Tiedemann.

Ricky Tiedemann is the number 32 guy in baseball right now. Nate Pearson was it. And now that he's embracing this reliever role, he went down to the Dominican Republic over the offseason, pitched in some games, and had fun with it. And he told me that baseball is fun again. And that might sound light and whimsical. It's so important. Because when you're dealing with injuries, you're in your own head, you're rehabbing, you're in Buffalo. None of those places are Toronto. None of those places have big league travel, big league food, big league fun.

The fact he's enjoying this again matters. And I think that he will be up at the Blue Jays sometime soon. At this point, the prospect days are just over. We're not talking about a young guy. He's 26, 27. He can pitch his way onto this roster. He's like anybody else. I don't even think he needs an injury.

If he starts out good, they just need to see a bit more. And he needs to throw strikes. God, he needs to throw strikes early in counts, but his stuff is one of one in this organization. So what do I put beside relief pitchers? Average, below average, above average? Slightly above average bullpen, I think you're looking at, with some room to improve.

Okay, so that means in this conversation, which was just a thorough, detailed, and fascinating 90 minutes with Keegan Matheson from MLB.com, everything but DH is above average. That's right. It's a roster without any real, real weakness. But I always say to people,

the way I judge Blue Jays teams is because I'm 32. Everyone I know is getting married. And everyone gets married in October. It's so tough. And the way I should really evaluate Blue Jays teams at this point of the year is how confidently I am RSVPing to weddings. And I am having some awkward conversations these days saying, I don't know if I'll be there on October 10, 20, 30.

And it's looking like there should be a chance. Well, here's hoping you can't attend any of those weddings in October because the Jays will be playing ball. Can't wait for the 2023 season. It starts Thursday and I'll be reading everything you write at MLB.com. Thanks, Keegan.

This was awesome. Thank you, Mike. So you said 94 wins. Is that what you said at the beginning? Yeah, let's go 93 and a half and I'll take the 94. Sounds low to me after that conversation. The Blue Jay record is 99, set in 1985.

We're going to tie it this year, Keegan. You just heard me. I like it. I just said it. We're going to tie that record. And that brings us to the end of our 1,227th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike.

How can people follow you? Keegan Matheson. At Keegan Matheson on Twitter. It's K-E-E-G-A-N Matheson. And then everything I write will be on BlueJays.com, MLB.com and MLB Network all season long. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. I've got

beer for Keegan. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. I've got lasagna for Keegan. Recycle My Electronics at Palma Pasta. I've got lasagna for Keegan. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of this community since 1921. They're at Ridley FH. I got a measuring tape for Kenan. See you all tomorrow.

Michael Trakos? Is that how you say this journalist's name? Do you know this sports writer? We're getting a real sports writer in here. Goodness, that's right. He'll be my guest. Real, come on. You can't hold a candle to Keegan Matheson.

But he's my next guest on Toronto Mike. See you all then. But I wonder who, yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? All that picking up trash And them putting down rogues

And they're brokering stocks The class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar Just the best that I can Maybe I'm not And maybe I am But who gives a damn Because everything is coming up

Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Because everything is

rosy and green Well I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you

Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy now, everything is rosy, yeah Everything is rosy and gray