Weekly Takes - Monday, March 27th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 27th Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs win over the Panthers on Thursday…

1. Matt Murray

2. Auston Matthews

3. John Tavares

This win, combined with Tampa losing, makes the rest of the regular season for the Leafs completely meaningless. They are going to be the number two seed in the Atlantic. There is nothing more to play for.

2. My three stars from the Leafs unlucky loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday…

1. Matthews

2. Tavares

3. Jake McCabe

An all-time great game from Matthews. One of the finest of his career and certainly his best game of the season.

If the Leafs play the exact same game ten times, they win nine times.

Goaltending was the difference.

3. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Predators on Sunday…

1. Tavares

2. Calle Jarnkrok

3. Marner

A great game from Woll as well, who sure looks like an NHL goaltender to me.

4. With Ryan O’Reilly nearing a comeback and less than ten games to go until the playoffs, here are the lines I would like to see Sheldon Keefe zeroing in on after trying out lots of different combinations since the deadline…

Forwards…

Jarnkrok - Matthews - Marner

Michael Bunting - Tavares - William Nylander

Matthew Knies - O’Reilly - Noel Acciari

Alex Kerfoot - David Kampf - Sam Lafferty

Extras: Zach Aston-Reese and Wayne Simmonds

Defence…

McCabe - T.J. Brodie

Mark Giordano - Justin Holl

Morgan Rielly - Luke Schenn

Extras: Timothy Liljegren and Erik Gustafsson

Goaltending…

Samsonov

Murray

The only changes I have made to my lineup since the deadline is Holl in for Liljegren, which has simply come down to performance, and Jarnkrok on the first line with Matthews and Marner, which has bumped Bunting and O’Reilly down one line each.

Jarnkrok brings a great fit with Matthews and Marner sets the Leafs up to roll four lines come playoff time with absolute ease, as each line can be trusted in any defensive situation.

5. Between Japan’s walk-off against Mexico, Trea Turner’s grand slam against Venezuela, Joey Meneses’ bat flip against the States, Ohtani vs Trout with a World Championship on the line and so much more, we can all agree that the WBC is a world-class event and a must-watch for any baseball fan, correct?

This should have always been the case, with the WBC being the only best-on-best baseball tournament in the world for two decades now, but the 2023 edition of the event has been the tournament’s coming out party.

Injuries will happen – it is a sport, after all – but the pros of this event outweigh any possible cons.

Here is hoping more pitchers commit to this event moving forward, because the quality of pitching is the only thing holding this event back. The offence, marquee names, and special moments are all there.

6. The only debate left regarding the WBC is its timing, but I think when they have it right now is perfect.

Having it in the offseason is not feasible given how long the regular season already is, while having it interrupt the regular season is also not possible for the exact same reason.

Let baseball’s brightest stars leave an otherwise meaningless camp for an event that will see them be in midseason form when they return.

It also allows younger players to receive more spring training playing time.

A win-win.

7. My 2023 MLB predictions…

American League

East

1. Toronto (1)

2. New York Yankees (WC1)

3. Tampa Bay (WC3)

4. Baltimore

5. Boston

Central

1. Cleveland (3)

2. Minnesota

3. Chicago White Sox

4. Kansas City

5. Detroit

West

1. Houston (2)

2. Seattle (WC2)

3. Los Angeles Angels

4. Texas

5. Oakland

National League

East

1. Atlanta (1)

2. New York Mets (WC1)

3. Philadelphia (WC3)

4. Miami

5. Washington

Central

1. St. Louis (3)

2. Milwaukee

3. Chicago

4. Cincinnati

5. Pittsburgh

West

1. San Diego (2)

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (WC2)

3. San Francisco

4. Arizona

5. Colorado

My 2023 World Series Prediction: Toronto defeats San Diego

• American League Most Valuable Player: Jose Ramirez

• National League Most Valuable Player: Juan Soto

• American League Rookie of the Year: Gunnar Henderson

• National League Rookie of the Year: Corbin Carroll

• American League Cy Young: Luis Castillo

• National League Cy Young: Corbin Burnes

• American League Reliever of the Year: Emmanuel Clase

• National League Reliever of the Year: Josh Hader

• American League Silver Slugger Award Winners: Adley Rutschman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Brandon Lowe, Wander Franco, Jose Ramirez, Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, and Mike Trout

• National League Silver Slugger Award Winners: Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Jeff McNeil, Trea Turner, Austin Riley, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Mookie Betts

• American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners: Jose Trevino, DJ LeMahieu, Andreas Gimenez, Matt Chapman, Harrison Bader, Kevin Kiermaier, and Myles Straw

• National League Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners: J.T. Realmuto, Spencer Steer, Tommy Edman, Nolan Arenado, Michael Harris, Trent Grisham, and Victor Robles

• American League Manager of the Year: John Schneider

• National League Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin

8. My 2023 Blue Jays starting rotation, bullpen, and lineup…

Starting Rotation

1. Alek Manoah

2. Kevin Gausman

3. Chris Bassitt

4. Jose Berrios

5. Yusei Kikuchi

Bullpen

• Jordan Romano

• Erik Swanson

• Anthony Bass

• Adam Cimber

• Yimi Garica

• Zach Pop

• Nate Pearson

• Tim Mayza

• Injured: Chad Green

Lineup Against LHP

1. George Springer (RF)

2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr (1B)

3. Bo Bichette (SS)

4. Alejandro Kirk (C/DH)

5. Matt Chapman (3B)

6. Danny Jansen (DH/C)

7. Whit Merrifield (LF)

8. Dalton Varsho (CF)

9. Santiago Espinal (2B)

Bench…

• Brandon Belt

• Cavan Biggio

• Otto Lopez

• Kevin Kiermaier

Lineup Against RHP…

1. Springer (RF)

2. Guerrero Jr (DH)

3. Bichette (SS)

4. Varsho (LF)

5. Belt (1B)

6. Chapman (3B)

7. Jansen (C )

8. Biggio (2B)

9. Kiermaier (CF)

Bench…

• Kirk

• Merrifield

• Espinal

• Lopez

The back end of the starting rotation with Berrios and Kikuchi is a genuine wild card. If both of them rebound, the Jays will have the best rotation in baseball. If one of them rebounds, their rotation is set heading into the deadline. If neither of them rebounds, the Jays will need to be in the market for a starter at the deadline. 1-3 of the rotation is as good as anyone in baseball, outside of the Mets.

As for the bullpen, I would not have had Richards on the team over Pearson, as Richards did nothing in the spring to show he can rebound, while I do not want to waste Pearson’s bullets in the minors, but regardless, it is a deep bullpen with multiple relievers who can pitch in high-leverage situations. It is volatile, with multiple relievers over the age of 30, but there is an injection of youth coming with Pearson, Hagen Danner, and Yosver Zululeta. The key to building a bullpen is to have as many safety nets as possible and they have done just that. A flamethrower being added to this bullpen at the deadline may very well be the top priority, though.

Lineup-wise, it is a diverse lineup with a great mix of on-base ability, power, speed, and defence. This lineup is a manager’s dream.

Regular season baseball is long and taxing, so you want to be able to rest guys wherever possible, shift them over to different positions, etc. Schneider will be able to do that with ease.

Not all of Merrifield, Belt, and Kiermaier may pan out (though they very well may), but with Addison Barger and Spencer Horwitz knocking on the door in AAA, I doubt the Jays will be in the market for any bats barring an injury or two to key players.

9. With candidates, almost by the daily, declaring to run for Mayor of Toronto, here is how I would rank the declared candidates based on their odds of winning…

Serious contenders…

• Josh Matlow

• Mark Saunders

• Ana Bailao

• Gil Penalosa

• Mitzie Hunter

Would take a miracle…

• Chole Brown

• Rob Davis

• Giorgio Mammolti

No path to victory…

• Blake Acton

• Kevin Clarke

• Frank De’Angelo

• Anthony Furey

• Kina Singh

• Chris Sky

Brad Bradford and Olvia Chow, if they run, will be serious contenders. The rest will be in the last two tiers, surely.