Blue Jays Happy Hour

** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **

What a difference a year makes. It was only just 365 days ago that Jays fans were despairing, wondering why Ross Atkins still had a job after a nine year tenure that had culminated in a dreadful 2024, still smarting from Juan Soto's decision to sign with the Mets, trying to understand the Andrés Giménez acquisition, questioning whether Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could be signed to a contract extension, and feeling nothing but dread about the future, the state of the club's house of cards, and the wisdom of those in charge.

Today they're viewed by players, fans, and the industry as a whole as one of the truly exemplary organizations in the sport, and potentially on the verge of ascending to marquee franchise status, having put together a brilliant, compelling, gritty, drama-filled, fun-as-hell campaign that took them to within mere milimetres of an unprobable World Series victory.

It's been a hell of a trip around the sun, hasn't it?

And this week we're looking back on all of it—from the low expectations, through the ugly start, to the coalescing of an elite team, to one of the all-time great—and all-time heartbreaking—seasons in the history of Canadian sports. Or maybe anybody's sports anywhere.

Have a listen...

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Please enjoy in full our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, as we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays, focusing this week on the team's breakout slugger: Addison Barger.

WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

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Here is a short preview of our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, in which we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays, focusing this week on the team's God of Contact: Ernie Clement!

FULL EPISODE, WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES, AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

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Here in our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays, focusing this week on the team's true rotation stalwart: Kevin Gausman!

FULL EPISODE, WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES, AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're deep into transaction season, and the Blue Jays have had a few of them for us since our last episode—some big, some small. This week we take a look at all of them, giving the big ones—the addition of reliever Tyler Rogers on a three-year deal, and the new five-year extension for club president Mark Shapiro—the bulk of our attention, naturally.

Plus we look at a potential future transaction: a reunion with shortstop Bo Bichette, who is now reportedly indicating to suitors that he's willing to shift to second base.

FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, as we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays, focusing this week on a player who the Jays signed to a contract extension this spring that might have genuinely altered the trajectory of the franchise: catcher Alejandro Kirk!

FULL EPISODE, WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES, AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MLB's annual Winter Meetings took place this week, but if you're a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays you can be forgiven if you missed it—or, at the very least, didn't quite get what all the hype was about. Partly, that's because the Jays didn't have to sweat their way through the festivities distractedly chasing ghosts while Plan B types fly off the board like they often do. And partly it's because their biggest move of the week—outside of some Ross Atkins unforced PR errors—was their surprising selection of Spencer Miles from the Giants in the Rule 5 draft.

What a whirlwind! And this week we're talking about all of it—and how it has genuinely set up the rest of the offseason—and more!

FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH

*APOLOGIES FOR THE MINOR AUDIO ISSUES!*

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, in which we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays. In this one we look at the face of the franchise, and his tale of two seasons—the regular one and the post-season: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

FULL EPISODE, WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES, AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm seeing double here. Fourteen potential Jays starting pitchers??!?

OK, OK, the Jays may not quite have quite that many rotation options—Eric Lauer is pretty clearly slated for the bullpen at this point, at the very least—but with the additions of Dylan Cease and, now, Cody Ponce, they clearly have six. (Gausman, Yesavage, Bieber, and Berríos, of course, being the others). And because of that glut, Ponce's arrival is not your typical three-year, $30 million signing of the reigning KBO MVP.

And this week we've jumped on mic a day earlier than usual to talk all about it!

FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, in which we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays. In this one we move on from free-agents-to-be to the poster boy for their "internal improvements" and embrace of bat speed: George Springer.

FULL EPISODE, WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES, AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.