Barger, Clement and Lukes all have relative job security as 0.75 type MLB regulars at present (or at least until Gimenez comes back).

Stefanic and Clase are both below them on the depth chart. Clase should be the first cut because he has no role & has an option. But the FO seems to value him on the roster so Stefanic may be the next cut because he's AAAA and not getting playing time.

Heineman's job is safe for now. Straw has job security between his early season play and his salary.

You hedge the "fighting for their MLB lives" with the "borderline" modifier, which dulls the hyperbole a tad.

That's why I said Clement, Lukes & Barger are "0.75 MLB regulars" presently - playing more than platoon players but also not quite everyday. At least with Gimenez hurt.

I agree that none of the three are bonafide "MLB regulars", but they are all close as the roster is constructed and nowhere close to fearing being cut without a prolonged run of futility.

Clement probably has the most job security simply because he is out of options and was on the 26-man for all of 2024. He hasn't shown quite as much power or contact ability as last year, but he's pretty safe as at least the utility guy with his defense (and the fact that both Jimenez & Kasevich are hurt).

Lukes is probably second in job security. He's playing almost everyday and has put up good offense. His main problem is that there's a glut of OFs between the vets Springer, Santander, Varsho & Straw and all the mediocre AAA types.

Barger probably has the least job security of the three. His defense at 3rd with Gimenez' injury has been a pleasant surprise. That makes it more likely that he'll stick around once Andres returns in a 3B platoon with Clement.

People have been pointing out that his swing metrics have been positive and are ahead of his actual results.

Addison is the most likely to lose his spot though if he goes through another long stretch unable to crack .200.

Don't want to keep arguing about it pooks

I get your point. Our differences seem to be about semantics.

But Barger, Clement & Lukes hit 7-8-9 behind Santander last night.

If one defines those 3 as "fighting for their MLB lives" at present, then essentially any pre-arb (or arb years) player without a multi-year expensive deal or who isn't a pre-FA phenom is considered a "borderline" guy having to fear being cut at any moment.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/inside-the-rare-origin-story-of-blue-jays-addison-barger/

Select excerpts

The tale begins with his parents, Adam and Leah, who started a successful software business and had their four sons in the Seattle area before moving to Florida to pursue Bible studies.

The family bought a large piece of land northeast of Tampa, and before a house was even constructed, Adam, an avid baseball fan, built a full-sized diamond on it. His sons, Ken, Connor and Luke, all played but weren't drawn to the sport in the way that the youngest, Addison, was.

Barger was homeschooled and, from a very young age, his routine revolved around baseball. Adam hired Luis Arzeno, a Dominican former catcher and first baseman in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system, to work every day with his son, developing his body and advancing his skills.

"Addison was a late bloomer," Arzeno says. "To be drafted in the United States, you need to run, you need to throw, you need to hit, and you need to have size. He didn't have that size."

Barger also didn't benefit from the on-field development associated with playing for a high-school team like other freshmen his age, and Adam felt this would eventually hurt his draft chances. He sought to expedite his son's progress and, along with Arzeno, devised a plan for Barger to compete in the Dominican Prospect League showcase.

...

"I was just a young kid," Barger remembers. "I was 14 years old and easily the smallest. All these kids are huge, and I was probably five-foot-two, 100 pounds. I was a tiny kid (who) was just thrown into the fire. It was good for me, but it was scary, it was hard."

...

The next summer, Adam and Arzeno worked to find another way for Barger to level up. This time, they created a travel ball team and invited 15 Dominican teenagers from the prospect showcase to live and train at the Barger household while competing with him in tournaments against top teenage talent in Florida.

Adam outfitted his garage into a gym, and above it was a 900-square-foot room where the teens slept. It was configured with a kitchen, essentially functioning as an apartment for the team. Adam estimates he spent roughly $30,000 over eight weeks on food, travel and administrative costs and was content that the venture not only gave his son another avenue to compete and grow, but it also offered additional exposure to the D.R. players. Alberto Rodriguez (Blue Jays) and Starlyn Castillo (Phillies) were among the travel team's alumni who signed with major-league organizations.

Adam fully acknowledges that Barger has had advantages and resources that have set him up to succeed, but he points out that his son has doggedly put in the work to get stronger and become a better athlete and baseball player. His development continued when he played for the C. Leon King High School team in Tampa during his junior and senior years. By then, Barger had begun to attract MLB teams.

So Barger - speaks Spanish, may be Mormon (unconfirmed, but did extensive Central American missionary work), had rich tech parents, was homeschooled, his dad hired a former Phillies Dominican minor leaguer to train Addison, Barger later went to a Dominican Prospect showcase for 2 weeks in the DR as a 5 foot nothing skinny kid because he didn't have a HS team to play on, the following year his dad imported 15 Dominican teens to form a travel ball team in Florida for Addison for 8 weeks for 30k and lived in his garage, Addison seemed to play actual HS ball for his junior & senior year before being drafted by the Jays out of HS in the 6th round.

Apparently two international signees were among the 15 kids living in Addison's garage at one point, including Toronto signee Alberto Rodriguez, who IIRC, was used as a trade chip.

Max Scherzer and Nick Sandlin both threw bullpens today.

Scherzer said he was happy with the intensity of side, plans to throw again Thursday, Saturday and Monday ahead of live BPs.

Sandlin likely gets a couple more sides before facing hitters, said John Schneider.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) May 20, 2025

Max Scherzer threw another bullpen today. Still working towards facing live hitters again #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/gd3uP2akQq

— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) May 22, 2025

and while I could sort of understand how a guy with that bad offense could slip through the cracks, even with great defense

I recall being so confused why the Jays would bother to cut Brian Serven to pick Tyler Heineman off waivers in the dying days of Sept last year while playing out the string.

Then "wasting" a precious 40-man spot on him all winter for a replacement catcher that can continually be plucked off waivers.

It's hard to quantify WHY Heineman is such a cromulent backup other than his BABIP fueled 1st 2 months. But the FO certainly seemed to know what they were doing in this case.