The good ol' wild west. One never knows what to expect. Since 2002 we've seen the Padres win twice, Diamondbacks three times, Dodgers three times (+1 WC), and Giants twice (+1 WC) while the Rockies claimed the wild card twice. So who will pull it off this year and will the 2nd & 3rd placers get a wild card?

The Jays currently sit second in the American League spring training standings and second in all of baseball with an .846 winning percentage. There is no correlation between spring training success and regular season results, so instead we are left to ponder the scraps of information fed to us by media sources, while waiting for the regular season to begin.

A thread on BBTF about Chipper Jones got me to thinking about how long players stay with one team and has it changed drastically recently. So I figured, what the heck, lets check!

A very special "Live from New York" (it's Saturday night! (it actually was Saturday night (well, Saturday afternoon))) episode of the Boxcast this week featuring Da Box's Big Apple correspondent Alex Obal. Given the circumstances, Alex and I decided to chat about New York fandom and how it differs from being a fan in Toronto. In part 2 we took a cue from Matthew Elmsley and gave our predictions for who will get the playing time at left field and who will get the starts in 2012. Listen here.

The discussion was fruitful and free-flowing, so I'm going to save part 3 (NL East Preview) for next Monday so as not to burden listeners with a huge commitment. Also, we plan on going to a weekly schedule once the season starts so this is a good transition to that. Look for the Boxcast every Monday from now on!

Update: We're in the iTunes Store!

With the new playoff slot we're all dreaming big here. However, how bad is the playoff situation in Toronto with the Leafs & Raptors looking inept and the Jays being in the toughest division there is? Is this something that should be expected or is it a once in a generation thing?

Got to this sooner than I thought I would.

Today's downsized-order of the POTD looks at the team that dropped the Jays to .500 on the spring.

What? I'm not late. Your face is late.

Today's POTD looks at the team that handed the Blue Jays their first loss of the spring and killing any hopes of a perfect season.  I haven't been this upset with the Tigers since Bill Gullickson plunked Joe Carter in the head. ;D

Today's POTD looks at the team the Blue Jays crushed like a grapefruit to start the pre-season 2-0.

A very special episode of the Boxcast this week. Episode 4: For a Few Boxes More. We open with the debut of the Boxcast's original theme song. Next, Anders and Thomas join me for an analysis of the second wildcard and how it affects the Jays in 2012 and the future. In our second segment, special guest Gerry McDonald joins us via Skype to talk prospects (around 22:00). Finally, a round-up of Jays spring training news and other news around the majors (around 43:00.)

Listen here.

There are real live baseball games being played today.

This of course makes it is a good day. The Jays are up against the Pirates at 1:05, and there is coverage on the radio. If you have mlb.tv, they start their spring training coverage today with the Yanks-Phillies at 1:05 and the Red Sox against Boston College at 7:05.

Also here's a hilarious JPA story over at The Classical.

One of my two favourite books arrived at my door this week in the form of the 2012 edition of the Baseball America Prospect Handbook.  This year's handbook has added a couple of new wrinkles in evaluating each team's top 30 minor league prospects.

You've probably heard the terrible news from the world of popular music (though if you're younger than, say, 40, it might not have registered much). The great Davy Jones, lead singer of The Monkees, passed away today (TMZ has the story here.). This has caused an avalanche of Social Mediots of a Certain Age to tearfully post mournful remembories of the pint-sized lead singer and prom date of one Marcia Brady.

But did you know ... baseball had its own Davy Jones?

Ken Rosenthal is tweeting that MLB has expanded the playoffs from eight to ten teams, starting in the 2012 season. The official announcement will occur tomorrow. Any further details will be noted as they become available.