2021 Toronto Blue Jays (est. 2021)

[rpriske]

New OOTP means New Blue Jay Dynasty!

Let's take a look at the Opening Roster...

ROTATION

Hyun-jin Ryu
Robbie Ray
Trent Thornton
Julian Merryweather
Tanner Roark

BULLPEN

Ross Stripling (C)
David Phelps
Tyler Chatwood
Steven Matz
Jordan Romano
Rafael Dolis
Joel Payamps
Anthony Kay

(Big differences - Matz did not step up here like he did IRL. Oh, and Kirby Yates is out for a MUCH shorter time.)

LINEUP

Cavan Biggio - 3B
Bo Bichette - SS
Rowdy Tellez - DH
Teoscar Hernandez - RF
George Springer - CF
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. - LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - 1B
Marcus Semien - 2B
Danny Jansen - C

BENCH

Alejandro Kirk - C
Reese McGuire - C
Joe Panik - 2B
Randal Grichuk - OF

McGuire is the best actual Catcher on the roster, so he is sticking for now, but we still want Kirk's bat.
Panik is also not my idea of a utility player, despite filling that spot.

We'll see.

The first thing I am doing is making an offer to Danny Salazar. We could use him to patch up the rotation.

[rpriske]

While waiting for the season, we have the World Baseball Classic!

I am managing Canada, of course.

[rpriske]

Only three MLB Players have agreed to play for Team Canada. Very disappointing.

Joey Votto, Jameson Taillon, and Cal Quantrill will have to lead the team.

We also have AAA players Andrew Albers and Tyler O'Neill.

We start off against the Dominican Republic.

[rpriske]

March 9th, 2021

Jameson Taillon pitched a very good game for Canada but a 10th inning wild pitch by John Axford sent them to a 3-2 loss to the Dominican Republic.

WP - Tony Maldonado (1-0)
LP - Dennis Bates (0-1)

Record - 0-1

The other two teams in Group C are the United States and Colombia. It will be tough for Canada to advance.

```````````````
In what has to be an upset, Colombia beat the U.S.

Standings:

Group A: Cuba and Australia are 1-0 while Japan and China are 0-1.

Group B: Chinese Taipei beat Israel. South Korea and The Netherlands have not played.

Group C: Colombia and the Dominican are 1-0. Canada and the U.S. are 0-1.

Group D: Puerto Rico beat Mexico. Italy and Venezuela have not played.

[rpriske]

March 11th, 2021

Canada was hitting well - they outhit the U.S. 14-6 - but they just couldn't keep pace on the scoring side and lost, 7-4.

Dustin Houle homered for Canada and John Lockyer had four hits.

Team Canada lost the services of Evan Rutckyj who has a sore shoulder.

WP - Kory DuBose (1-0)
Save - Mario Alaniz (1)
LP - Cal Quantrill (0-1)

Record - 0-2

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STANDINGS

Everyone has played two of their three games.

Group A is decided. Cuba and Australia have both gone 2-0 so far and will advance. Japan and China are eliminated.

Group B is the exact opposite. All four teams (Chinese Taipei, The Netherlands, South Korea, and Israel) are 1-1. The last two games in the group are elimination games.

Group C has Colombia advancing for sure and Canada eliminated for sure, but the United Stated and the Dominican Republic are still fighting for a spot.

Group D is the same, with Italy in, Venezuela out, and Puerto Rico and Mexico still slugging it out.

[rpriske]

The Blue Jays have signed Danny Salazar to a three-year, $15m contract!

Anthony Kay has been sent to Buffalo to make room on the roster.

[PocketsAintFull]

Excited to see how George Springer gets on!

[rpriske]

March 13th, 2021

Andrew Albers pitched a solid game, putting them in position for Joey Votto's 9th inning RBI single to score Steve Bedford and give Canada a 2-1, walk-off win over Colombia.

Tyler O'Neill homered for Canada.

WP - Ken Churchill (1-0)
LP - Joel Prieto (0-1)

Record 1-2

```````````````````

Final Group Standings

Group A - Cuba was the only 3-0 team in the tournament. Australia also advanced, eliminating Japan and China.

Group B - Israel and The Netherlands move on, with South Korea and Chinese Taipei out.

Group C - Colombia and the United States advanced with the Dominican Republic and Canada heading home.

Group D - Mexico and Italy advance. Venezuela and Puerto Rico do not.

[rpriske]

TRADE

This was a tough one to pull the trigger on, but in the end, the big bullpen upgrade felt like it was worth it.

We got some nice prospects back too.

To TIGERS

Will Robertson
Miguel Hiraldo
Ryan Gold
Alex Menoah
Adam Kloffenstein

To BLUE JAYS

Bryan Garcia (DET retains 40% of his salary)
Parker Meadows
Roberto Campos

Garcia joins the Jays. Joel Payamps is sent to Buffalo.

[rpriske]

TRADE

To DIAMONDBACKS

David Phelps
Jose Ferrer
LJ Talley
Luis Bullon
Leonard Jimenez

To BLUE JAYS

Merrill Kelly (ARZ retains 80% of salary)
Harrison Francis
Seth Beer
Stuart Fairchild
Ronny Polanco

Nate Pearson and Kirby Yates are activated from the IL.

[rpriske]

April 1st, 2021

Opening Day in NYC and the Jays overcame a good outing by Gerrit Cole to push things to extras and beat the Yankees 6-5 in 11 innings!

Cavan Biggio hit the first homer of the season for Toronto.

WP - Bryan Garcia (1-0)
Save - Kirby Yates (1)
LP - Justin Wilson (0-1)

Record - 1-0

[rpriske]

April 3rd, 2021

Reese McGuire went 2 for 4 with a home run and Rowdy Tellez homered in the 9th to give the Jays a 7-4 win over the Yankees!

WP - Rafael Dolis (1-0)
Save - Kirby Yates (2)
LP - Chad Green (0-1)

Record - 2-0

[rpriske]

April 4th, 2021

The Blue Jays struck early and then held on for a strong, 8-4 win over the Yankees.

WP - Robbie Ray (1-0)
LP - Jordan Montgomery (0-1)

Record - 3-0

[rpriske]

April 5th, 2021

Marcus Semien was on fire today! He went 3 for 5 with a home run and a double, knocking in SEVEN! He led the Blue Jays to a big, 13-4 win over the Rangers!

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a home run described as 'one of the longest ever hit'.

The bad news is that Danny Salazar, while pitching well in his Blue Jay debut, left the game with an injury to his hand in the 6th. We await word.

WP - Danny Salazar (1-0)
LP - Mike Foltynewicz (0-1)

Record - 4-0

[rpriske]

The Blue Jays are at #5 on the Weekly Power Rankings!

They are the only undefeated team remaining in the Majors.

[rpriske]

April 6th, 2021

The Rangers shut out the Blue Jays through 8 but a 4 run 9th inning gave the Jays a 4-3 victory and they remain undefeated!

WP - Bryan Garcia (2-0)
Save - Julian Merryweather (1)
LP - Joe Palumbo (0-1)

Record - 5-0

[rpriske]

Danny Salazar's finger blister will mean his next start is moved back but he will not need IL time.

[rpriske]

April 7th, 2021

Teoscar Hernandez went 2 for 4 with a home run as the Jays kept their season perfect, beating the Rangers, 6-3.

Toronto also saw homers from Rowdy Tellez and Cavan Biggio.

WP - Hyun-jin Ryu (1-0)
Save - Kirby Yates (3)
LP - Kohei Arihara (0-2)

Record - 6-0

[rpriske]

April 8th, 2021

Nate Pearson allowed only two hits over eight innings, leading the Blue Jays to a 2-1 win over the Angels in Toronto's home opener!

Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio homered for the Jays.

WP - Nate Pearson (1-0)
Save - Kirby Yates (4)
LP - Jose Quintana (1-1)

Record - 7-0!

[rpriske]

April 9th, 2021

Teoscar Hernandez hit two home runs in his first two at bats as the Blue Jays keep their perfect record by beating the Angels, 6-4!

Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also homered for Toronto.

WP - Steven Matz (1-0)
Save - Julian Merryweather (2)
LP - Alex Cobb (0-1)

Record - 8-0!