Blue Jays Early Season Struggles Explained | Injuries, Disappointments & MLB's New Contract Trend

About this episode

The episode discusses the early season struggles of the Toronto Blue Jays and explores MLB's trend of locking up young stars to long-term contracts.

The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a frustrating start after what was supposed to be the easiest stretch of their 2026 schedule. On Exit Philosophy, Griff and Mal break down what's gone wrong early in the season — from pitching injuries and inconsistent offense to defensive struggles and costly baserunning mistakes. They also dive into a growing Major League Baseball trend: teams locking up under-25 stars to long-term contracts, including top Konnor Griffin with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Is this part of a bigger strategy ahead of the next CBA negotiations? And how much is the rise of NCAA NIL money impacting MLB decision-making? Plus — biggest Blue Jays surprises, biggest disappointments, and key storylines every fan needs to know. #BlueJays #MLB #TorontoBlueJays #BaseballPodcast #MLBNews #ExitPhilosophy ---- Get the video version of "Exit Philosophy" and "Conversations with Griff" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitPhilosophy ---- For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit…

People in this episode

Hosts: Rich Griffin, Mal Romanin

Topics covered

• Toronto Blue Jays
• MLB trends
• injuries
• offensive struggles
• long-term contracts
• NCAA NIL money
• CBA negotiations

Keywords

• Blue Jays
• MLB
• injuries
• contract trends
• Konnor Griffin
• NCAA NIL
• CBA negotiations
• baseball
• offense
• defense

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates

More episodes of Exit Philosophy with Griff and Mal

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• Why the Toronto Blue Jays Are Struggling in 2026: Injuries, Payroll Pressure & Jeff Hoffman Issues · April 20, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Blue Jays HUGE Win Before Off Day! Momentum Shift? | Exit Philosophy · April 9, 2026 · 18 min
• Blue Jays in Trouble? Offensive Struggles, Bullpen Collapse & Kirk Injury | Exit Philosophy · April 6, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Blue Jays Strikeout Surge, Dylan Cease Debut & ABS System Review | Exit Philosophy · March 30, 2026 · 1h 7m