Weekly Takes - Monday, March 23rd Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 23rd Edition 

1. Watching Philippe Myers turn the puck over, directly leading to a goal on Saturday, may be the truest indictment yet of what Brad Treliving and Craig Berube have done to this team.

Why not give William Villeneuve a chance? Is he an NHLer? I have no idea. But we know Myers is not. It is just a gross level of incompetence, not seen since the Dave Nonis-Randy Carlyle days.

2. My 2026 MLB Predictions…

American League 

East

1. Toronto (1)

2.  New York Yankees (WC1)

3. Boston (WC2)

4. Baltimore (WC3)

5. Tampa Bay 

Central

1. Detroit (3)

2. Kansas City 

3. Cleveland

4. Minnesota 

5. Chicago White Sox (x)

West

1. Seattle (2)

2. Houston

3. Texas 

4. A’s (x)

5. Angles (x)

National League

East

1. Atlanta (2)

2. Philadelphia (WC1)

3. New York Mets (WC2)

4. Miami (x)

5. Washington (x)

Central

1. Chicago (3)

2. Milwaukee

3. Cincinnati 

4. Pittsburgh 

5. St. Louis (x)

West

1. LA Dodgers (1)

2.  San Diego (WC3)

3. Arizona

4. San Francisco 

5. Colorado (x)

My 2026 World Series Prediction

LA Dodgers defeat Toronto 

• American League Most Valuable Player: Bobby Witt Jr.

• National League Most Valuable Player: Shohei Ohtani

• American League Rookie of the Year: Kazuma Okamoto 

• National League Rookie of the Year: Nolan McLean

• American League Cy Young: Tarik Skubal 

• National League Cy Young: Paul Skenes 

• American League Reliever of the Year: Cade Smith

• National League Reliever of the Year: Edwin Diaz

• American League Manager of the Year: John Schneider 

• National League Manager of the Year: Walt Weiss 

3. My 2026 Opening Day roster for the Blue Jays…

Starting Rotation

1. Kevin Gausman

2. Dylan Cease

3. Cody Ponce 

4. Max Scherzer 

5. Eric Lauer

Bullpen

• Jeff Hoffman

• Tyler Rogers

• Louis Varland

• Braydon Fisher

• Mason Fluharty 

• Brendon Little

• Angel Bastardo 

• Tommy Nance

Lineup vs LHP 

1. George Springer (DH)

2. Ernie Clement (2B)

3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B)

4. Okamoto (3B)

5. Davis Schneider (LF)

6. Alejandro Kirk ( C )

7. Adison Barger (RF)

8. Daulton Varsho (CF)

9. Andres Gimenez (SS)

Bench: Tyler Heineman, Jesus Sanchez, Myles Straw, and Nathan Lukes

Lineup vs RHP

1. Springer (DH)

2. Barger (RF)

3. Guerrero Jr. (1B)

4. Varsho (CF)

5. Kirk (C ) 

6. Sanchez (LF)

7. Okamoto (3B)

8. Clement (2B)

9. Gimenez (SS)

Bench: Heineman, Schneider, Straw, and Lukes 

Once Trey Yesavage is healthy, he replaces Lauer in the rotation, who takes Nance’s spot in the bullpen. Once Yimi Garcia is healthy, he replaces Bastardo in the bullpen, but ideally after Bastardo qualifies to be optioned. No idea what the Jays do once Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios are healthy.

As for the lineup, I would love a backup infielder to replace Lukes. It is tough envisioning Lukes’ role on the team.

4. The World Baseball Classic is as electric as any tournament in sports, but I would love to see the playoff round be played during All-Star Weekend, with all countries having full availability. 

Keep the Round Robin in March, but for the purposes of best-on-best, move the playoff round to All-Star Weekend.