Weekly Takes - Monday, March 24th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 24th Edition

1. My three stars from the St. Pats dominant (!) win over the Flames on Monday…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Jake McCabe

3. Max Domi

The best the Leafs have looked in the weeks and the best Matthews has looked in weeks.

Now let’s see what they can do against a real team on Wednesday in the Avs. But make no mistake about it, this win will take the flies off for a bit and rightfully so. They played great.

2. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Avs on Wednesday…

1. Joseph Woll

2. Matthews 

3. Matthew Knies 

The Leafs are one of those elite teams that when their goaltending + top line plays as well as they did in this one, they are going to be tough to beat.

An ideal Craig Berube-style win, though I do not know if it will be all that sustainable in the playoffs. You need to dictate play at some point. You cannot just rely on your team to be this top-heavy.

3. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Rangers on Thursday…

1. Anthony Stolarz 

2. John Tavares 

3. Bobby McMann

A night later, it was a different goalie and a different line carrying the Leafs. A strong defensive effort after taking a 3-2 lead instead of turning it into an 8-7 game.

4. My three stars from the Leafs pathetic loss to the Predators on Saturday…

1. McMann

2. Tavares 

3. David Kampf

Undisciplined loss with a great opportunity in front of them. This team has given many reasons as to why this year will be different, but just as many reasons as to why it won’t be.

The worst loss of the season.  

5. What I cannot fathom is the lineup construction by Craig Berube.

If he wants to go with a top-heavy lineup, go ahead and do it. But putting Scott Laughton on L4 and Calle Jarnkrok in the press box gives the Leafs an awful bottom-six.

I have no idea why he thinks the lineup he is trotting out is the best possible lineup during a race for first place. 

6. My Opening Day Blue Jays lineup… (In a world where Daulton Varsho would be healthy enough to play in the outfield and the Jays did not release Ryan Yarbrough)

Starting Rotation…

1. Kevin Gausman 

2. Max Scherzer 

3. Jose Berrios

4. Bowden Francis

5. Chris Bassitt 

Bullpen…

Closer: Jeff Hoffman 

RH SU: Yimi Garica

LH SU: Brendon Little

Mid Relief: Chad Green, Nick Sandlin, and Yarbrough (L)

Long Relief: Yariel Rodrgiuez and Tommy Nance 

Lineup…

1. LF Alan Roden (L)

2. 1B Vladimir Guerrero JR (R)

3. RF Anthony Santander (S)

4. SS Bo Bichette ( R )

5. DH Will Wagner (L)

6. C Alejandro Kirk ( R)

7. CF Varsho (L)

8. 3B Ernie Clement ( R )

9. 2B Andres Gimenez (L)

Bench…

Backup C: Christian Bethancourt (This could easily be Tyler Heineman. Both are better served to be third-string catchers but one of them will have to be the backup since this position was completely neglected in the offseason)

Backup 2B & 3B: Davis Schneider ( R ) 

Backup LF & RF: Addison Barger (L)

Backup CF: Myles Straw (This should be Joey Loperfido’s spot if he can start well in Buffalo)

The Jays are an ace, back-end left-handed reliever, and a starting third baseman away from being considered a serious contender. It is very unfortunate that they were unable to land one of an ace/starting third baseman to go along with Scherzer, Hoffman, Sandlin, Santander, and Gimenez in the offseason, because it makes their path to a pennant run nearly impossible.

Yes, they could land one of those positions (plus a lefty reliever) at the deadline, but it is impossible to land all three.

Unfortunate, because there is not one team that should scare the Blue Jays in the AL. It would have been a great year to go all-in (for the obvious reasons eg: Guerrero and Bichette are free agents) but also because the AL is simply not good.

Even with this roster, it is not impossible to envision the Jays winning the pennant. That is how bad the AL is.

But I can also see them finishing last in the AL East.

That is an indictment on Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins.

7. If Shapiro and Atkins are serious about winning, George Springer cannot be on the team when Varsho is healthy. 

Springer gave the Blue Jays many great seasons, but he is cooked. DFA him and field the best possible team right from day one.

8. The one thing Shapiro and Atkins should get credit for is the upper-level depth on the position player side of things.

Starting the season with the likes of Barger, Loperfido, Leo Jimenez, Orlevis Martinez, and Jonatan Clase in Buffalo is very good, as long as you ignore the lack of pitching depth.