Blue Jays Talk

With the season over, Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker take us down to the Rogers Centre, where the front office speaks to the media. First, we hear from General Manager Ross Atkins (1:42), as he gets into the season from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., how he views the rotation, and what's next for rebuilding a low-scoring offence. Afterwards, President & CEO Mark Shapiro (34:55) speaks on the possibility of a labour dispute this offseason, how teams could potentially navigate a work stoppage, and the Jays relationship to their fans. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair, Kevin Barker and Sho Alli break down the Blue Jays' 5-1 win vs. the Reds to wrap up the 2026 season at the Rogers Centre! They take your calls and texts, and discuss the goodbyes for George Springer and Max Scherzer - did the Jays do right by them with how their (potential) departures were treated? Was there a little bit of theatre with John Schneider's visit to Scherzer on the mound? They discuss lots of offseason lookaheads, including what's next for Springer/Scherzer, the play of Charles McAdoo, Brandon Valenzuela, and Brett Bateman, get into how the lockout could affect free agency, and take a look at the MLB playoff picture which has now been set. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 6-5 win vs. the Reds to open the final series of the season in Toronto! They take your calls and texts, and discuss the offence heading into 2027 - if there is baseball next year, what could the batting order look like? They get into Kazuma Okamoto getting to 92 RBI on the year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s swing, the outing from José Soriano, John Schneider's job as manager, and Louis Varland continuing to look good - what needs to stay the same and what needs to change next season? The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy is joined by Arden Zwelling to look back on Toronto’s season and where things went wrong. They also discuss Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s controversial comments about his season and long-term contract. Following that, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (23:22) weighs in on Toronto’s season, Max Scherzer’s future, and the several postseason races going down to the wire. In the final segment, C. Trent Rosecrans (47:07) of The Athletic talks about the Cincinnati Reds, Elly De La Cruz, and the future of Terry Francona. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliate.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 4-2 loss vs. the Orioles as they are officially eliminated from playoff contention. They take your calls and texts, and discuss the outing from Max Scherzer - does the future Hall of Famer still have something left in the tank? Plus, we hear from Scherzer himself, alongside John Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - after Vladdy Jr. made some comments regarding his contract on a Spanish podcast that aired earlier in the day, he addressed those comments with the media. Were they warranted, and what comes next for him with an eye towards 2027 and beyond? The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy is joined by Dan Shulman to discuss Dylan Cease’s shoulder fatigue, Brett Bateman’s injury, and what the front office has to address for 2027. Afterwards, Blake catches up with Buffalo Bisons pitcher Josh Winckowski (27:45) to discuss the recovery process from his elbow injury, stint with the Red Sox, and his work to get back to full health. Following that, Sportsnet’s Joe Siddall (53:05) talks about Trey Yesavage’s return and the next steps for Mason Fluharty. Lastly, Jarrett Seidler (1:14:50) of Baseball Prospectus breaks down his front office rankings and why the Blue Jays finished 14th. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliate.

Blake is joined by former MLB pitcher John Axford to discuss the Blue Jays weekend in Texas, as the team dropped two of three games against the Rangers. Blake & John chat about the team's performance, the trouble around Dylan Cease missing his next start due to injury, as well as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leaving Sunday's game with injury, and how the team might be feeling as they approach the end of the season (28:47). Later, Brandon Wile (50;46) from TheScore breaks down the rest of the playoff scenarios in the American League, including the Red Sox clinching a spot and lining up to play the Yankees in the Wild Card round, before getting into Yordan Alvarez' insane season, potentially ending with an AL MVP award. Finally, Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown (1:16:08) gives the Baltimore side of the story ahead of the pivotal series with the Jays, before chatting about Pete Alonso's first season with the O's, and former Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt's effect on the club. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliate.

Sho Alli and Daniele Franceschi break down the Blue Jays' 6-2 loss vs. the Rangers to lose the series in Texas. They take your calls and texts, and get to the team now being three back with seven games to go - is the season over? They discuss some big picture items, including the state of the offence heading into the season, if it was worth it to trade for José Soriano in the end, and whether or not the Jays should shut down Dylan Cease for the year with one more start scheduled for Baltimore next week. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy is joined by Sportsnet's Kevin Barker (1:40) to discuss what the Blue Jays need to do in the final stretch of the season to make the playoffs, the pitching staff decisions with injuries still diminishing the rotation, and how the front office should react if the team doesn't make the playoffs. Later, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi joins (51:40) to chat about the Jays' weekend series in Arlington, the team's plan for the rotation to finish the season, and how the starters look heading into 2027. Finally, Kennedi Landry (1:16:21) from MLB.com breaks down the weekend series from the Rangers perspective, and Canadian Cal Quantrill's consistent season for the Rangers, before looking at the Rangers' injuries ahead of the pivotal weekend in the playoff push. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 5-1 win vs. the Tigers to wrap up the three-game series in Toronto! They take your calls and texts, and get right to the team taking advantage of a number of errors on the Tigers' end - can they carry that forward vs. the Rangers later in the week? They chat Brandon Valenzuela's usage of ABS challenges, both good and bad, Myles Straw providing the game-winning RBI single, and get into Max Scherzer allowing one run over five innings - how much can they rely on Scherzer down the stretch of the season? Plus, we hear from John Schneider and Max Scherzer via their post-game availabilities. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 10-1 loss vs. the Tigers to lose the series in Toronto. They take your calls and texts, and discuss the team now being two games back with ten games remaining in the season - is there still time to turn things around? They get into the bullpen outing in this game, the offence going missing vs. Detroit, and John Schneider shuffling the rotation to get Dylan Cease and José Soriano the first two games vs. the Rangers in Texas - is that a move made out of desperation? Plus, they discuss Trey Yesavage's outing for the Bisons, and hear from the Jays starter following his start in Buffalo. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 6-5 loss vs. the Tigers to open the three-game series in Toronto. They take your calls and texts, and debate the root cause of this loss - was it on the bullpen not executing late, or does this fall on the offence not squeezing out enough runs early against Troy Melton? They also get into John Schneider and how culpable he is for his moves in this loss, get into José Soriano who had a no-hitter late but got hit hard in the seventh inning, and discuss Kazuma Okamoto launching a three-run bomb. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Sho Alli and Nick Ashbourne break down the Blue Jays' 8-1 win vs. the Orioles to take the series in Toronto! They take your calls and texts, and discuss the offence coming to life with back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning - how critical was it to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally hit a home run at the Rogers Centre in 2026? They get into George Springer's long ball as well as his late insurance runs, how much that helps Louis Varland moving forward, Kazuma Okamoto blasting one as well, and Dylan Cease gutting through five innings of one-run ball. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.