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Bluebird Banter

https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/ | 348 entries published

Roster moves R Us.

Latest Entries

Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Kevin Gausman

Kevin Gausman is entering the last year of his five-year, $110 million contract. In his first four years with the Jays, he made 125 starts, posting a 48-41 record, a 3.48 ERA, and an 11.2 bWAR. We don’t really need a ‘better know’ for him, we’ve been watching him for the last four years. By […]

about 1 month ago | 5 reads

Tuesday Bantering: Blue Jays Notes

We’ve hit the fun time of the off-season where there is almost nothing for news. The Jays pitchers and catchers report on the 11th, so at least we’ll start hearing about who is in the best shape of their lives soon. Actually, we don’t hear that much anymore as we’ve all made fun of it […]

about 1 month ago | 3 reads

Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Yimi García

Yimi García is a 35-year-old, right-handed relief pitcher. The Blue Jays signed him to a two-year contract before the 2022 season, but then traded him to the Mariners in July of 2024, getting Jacob Sharp, a minor league catcher who hit .161/.271/.206 for the Fisher Cats last year, and Jonatan Clase, who we talked about […]

about 1 month ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Bowden Francis

Bowden Francis is a 29-year-old, right-handed pitcher. He’ll be 30 in April. He came to the Jays in trade with the Brewers, along with Trevor Richards, for Rowdy Tellez, in July 2021 (which seems a long time ago now). After getting into a few games in 2022 and 2023, he had a breakout season in […]

about 1 month ago | 4 reads

Blue Jays Birthdays: Boyd, Kilgus, Murray, Snider, Tabler

We have a bunch of birthdays today: First, Matthew Boyd turns 35. Boyd was a left-handed pitching prospect for the Jays and ranked #15 on our 2015 Top 40 Prospect list. He didn’t throw especially hard, but mixed in a breaking ball and a changeup. In 2015, he made a couple of spot starts for […]

about 1 month ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Mason Fluharty

Sorry about the lack of content the last couple of days. It has been busy. It should ease off soon. Mason Fluharty is a 24-year-old left-handed pitcher. The Jays picked him in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. He was #40 on our 40-man prospect list in 2022. Matt said: Listed at 6’2” and […]

about 1 month ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Braydon Fisher

Braydon Fisher is a right-handed pitcher who came to us from the Dodgers, in trade for Cavan Biggio, in June of 2024. Fisher was a fourth-round draft pick in 2018. Cavan played 30 games for the Dodgers, hitting .192.306/.329 and was released in early August. He went from there to the Giants, then the Braves, […]

about 1 month ago | 7 reads

How Do You Feel About the Blue Jays Farm System?

We had a couple of outlets drop their farm system rankings today, so I thought it’d be a good time to see how our readers are feeling about the state of the farm. Keith Law at The Athletic ranks them 25th, noting that they’ve traded away a lot in win now moves recently and are […]

about 1 month ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Lázaro Estrada

Lázaro Estrada is a 26-year-old (27 in April), right-handed pitcher, from Cuba. He made it to the majors for the first time last year, pitching in two games, 7.1 innings. He was hit pretty hard, 10 hits in 7.1 innings, but he also had 10 strikeouts. Lázaro was #36 on our Top 40 Prospect list […]

about 1 month ago | 3 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Ernie Clement

Ernie Clement is a 29 (40 in March) year-old, right-handed hitting infielder. The Guardians picked him in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He is, to this point, the most successful player taken in that round, by a long shot (the others from that round who have played in the major have negative bWARs). […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Happy Birthday Lyle Overbay

Former Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay turns 49 today. Overbay was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 1999 draft. He had a couple of brief stints in the majors in 2001 and 2002 before making the team out of spring training in 2003, having been ranked Baseball America’s 65th-best prospect. […]

about 2 months ago | 7 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Jonatan Clase

Jonatan Clase is a 23-year-old (24 in May), switch-hitting outfielder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He came to us in trade from the Mariners, along with catcher Jacob Sharp, for Yimi Garcia. Sharp played in New Hampshire in 2025, hitting .161/.271/.206 in 68 games He has played 60 major league games, and lost his rookie […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Dylan Cease

Dylan Cease (how come I’ve been saying his name Cleese like he’s John Cleese son?) is a 30-year-old, right-handed pitcher whom the Jays signed to a 5-year, $210 million contract. It is more than possible that the last couple of years of that contract won’t go well. Cease has pitched seven seasons in the MLB […]

about 2 months ago | 7 reads

Three Blue Jays On Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospect List

There are three Blue Jays on Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospect list. You can likely guess who they are: Among the things Law said: ….throwing both from a very high slot that gives the fastball more riding life and more generally makes it harder for hitters to pick the ball up out of his hand. […]

about 2 months ago | 2 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Jake Bloss

Jake Bloss is a 24-year-old (25 in June), right-handed pitcher. We picked him up (with Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner) from the Astros, at the trade deadlin in 2024, for Yusei Kikuchi. Kikuchi made 10 starts for the Astros and had a 2.70 ERA with a 5-1 record, helping them get the Wild Card spot […]

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

Today in Jays History: Jays Pickup Tom Henke

39 years ago, Major League Baseball held the final of four free-agent compensation drafts. Blue Jays picked Tom Henke from the Texas Rangers, grabbing a big piece of their future contending teams in the form of the shutdown closer. What isn’t usually mentioned is the huge stroke of good fortune involved in them landing Henke […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Former Blue Jay Seranthony Dominguez Signs with the White Sox

Seranthony Dominguez, the long time Baltimore Orioles reliever whom the Blue Jays acquired at this past season’s trade deadline, has signed a deal with the Chicago White Sox. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the deal is for two years and $20 million. Dominguez has been a steady performer throughout his career, […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Friday Bantering: Jays Bits

We made it to another Friday. I had my birthday yesterday and didn’t really do all that much differently than a normal Thursday, which made it a nice day. I had a cardio tennis class, which is just a run-yourself-into-the-ground-for-an-hour thing, and squash last night, which, again, is run-yourself-into-the-ground. And there were calls from our […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

View From The Other Offseason – Atlanta

The Atlanta Braves had what can only be described as a woefully year. They were wracked with injuries to their rotation and lineup which led to a 76-86 record. good for 4th in the NLE. It was the first time Atlanta has missed the playoffs since 2017 and spelled the end for long time manager […]

MLB

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-man: Shane Bieber

At the trade deadline in 2025, the Jays traded for Shane Bieber, who hadn’t pitched in the majors to that point in 2025, coming off Tommy John surgery in 2024. The Guardians received Khal Stephens (who I mentioned was named by his Kryptonian parents). Shane didn’t pitch for the Jays until August 22nd (my wife’s […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Our Hall of Poll Results

The BBWAA has released the results of their vote. Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones made the cut and will join Jeff Kent as new members of the Hall of Fame Chase Utley (59.1%), Andy Pettitte (48.5), Félix Hernández (46.1) and Álex Rodríguez (40.0) were the closest to line without getting over. Not getting 5% of […]

about 2 months ago | 6 reads

Cody Bellinger Re-Signs with the New York Yankees

Cody Bellinger, the last offensive free agent of note this winter, has agreed to a deal with the Yankees. Per Jon Heyman, the deal is for $162.5 million over five years, with $85 million coming in the first two years and an opt out after the 2027 season. That’s significantly more than the 5/$135 Fangraphs […]

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

Today in Blue Jays History: Vernon Wells Trade

Fifteen years ago today, Alex Anthopoulos managed to trade Vernon Wells, something that I figured was pretty much impossible. The Angels took Vernon and his rather large contract in exchange for Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli. We were: At the time of the trade, Vernon was owed about $86 million over the next four years. […]

about 2 months ago | 5 reads

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-man: José Berríos

José Berríos came to the Jays in a trade with the Twins at the deadline in 2021. Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson went to Minnesota. The Jays signed Berrios to a seven-year, $131 million contract after the 2021 season. There is an opt-out after the 2026 season, and there are $5 million incentive bonuses […]

about 2 months ago | 4 reads

Happy Birthday David Eckstein

David Eckstein turns 51 today. Eckstein had a ten-year MLB career. One of those seasons was with the Blue Jays. Well, 2/3s of one. After the 2007 season, with the Jays finishing, once again, in third place, J.P. Ricciardi figured the way to make up the 13-game difference between our Jays and the Red Sox […]

about 2 months ago | 4 reads