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?

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.

Happy Leap Day! I promised I'd get these up by the end of the month. Glad I had that extra day. 27 Bauxites entered the 2011 Record Prediction Contest - the most ever! Click through to find out who's got a crystal ball and who just has a crystal skull.

You know, those 1992-93 Blue Jays were pretty good -- and rarer than I first thought or expected.

Not sure what made me think to do this, but if I've counted right, there have only been 13 occasions when a franchise won (at least) two consecutive World Series championships and only seven franchises overall have accomplished the feat. The Yankees have done it four times to lead the way (of course) while the A's (in two different cities) have pulled off the feat three times.

I was just about to post a thread exactly like this myself, as I've had the MLB Network on in th background all day. but I see in another thread that valued Bauxite JustinD has already beaten me to it. Over to you,. Justin ...

"Don't know where else to post this, but thought this might spark some baseball talk. Been watching the MLB Network and they're doing a Top 10 Right Now segment where they break down the Top 10 at each position. So far, from what I've seen ...

Mother Nature ruined the action on the field in Rochester, New York in late August but a chance encounter with a World Series hero from 1992 made sure Mother Nature wouldn't ruin the day off the field.

Jose Bautista joined The Fan 590 in Toronto with Brady and Lang to discuss handling the off-season attention as a superstar player, his off-season workout routine, playing right field exclusively this season, wanting the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire another bat to give him some protection in the lineup, and the Tampa Bay Rays being picked as the early favorite to win the American League East.

Abbreviated transcript || Podcast (Bautista interview starts the show)

Anders, Thomas and I reconvened to talk about the 2012 schedule, the AL West, and the 2009 draft. Listen here.

Click through to this modern re-imagining of the classic Abbott & Costello baseball routine, "Who's on First?" Written by PeteyHendrix for the Red Reporter -- and discovered/re-published here thanks to Baseball Think Factory -- it's one of the cleverest, funniest damn things ever. I don't normally laugh out loud while reading Da Stuff on Da Interwebz, but in this case, I was guffawing so much that my wife in the room next door came over to find out what was wrong. It's brilliant.

Feel free to add suggestions, if you have any, on Hu -- um, that is, who -- else might be incorporated here.And seriously, don't just skim it. It's worth the time for a close, five-minute read! 

 

 

The first thing I look at when assessing the immediate prospects for a team in the coming season is the quality of its core. I define the core of a team as the players whose performance would be most difficult to replace. I settled on seven as the number of players in the core, even though stronger teams tend to have a larger core and weaker teams a smaller one.

Yes, yes, birthdays are celebrated on the date of the arrival -- so your Blue Jays will turn 35 this coming April. But did you know that it was exactly 36 years ago today, 2/6/76, that the AL granted expansion franchises to Seattle (to replace the departed Pilots, ever since brewing in Milwaukee) and to the first-time NLB city, Toronto, future home of your Blue Jays?

It's a little bit like celebrating a child's birthday on the anniversary of his or her conception, so let's make this day an official holiday to Blue Jays Nation, the Feast of the Torontonian Conception, with our patron saints of the holy shortstops, the only two men to reach the big leagues named Concepcion, All-Star Red Davey and later Royal reserve Onix. Netiher ever played for the Blue Jays, but thanks to today's goings-on in 1976, they could have!

Anyone remember hearing the news? Tell your story!

In which three Box scribes discuss the bullpen, the AL Central, and the State of the Franchise. Listen here. (Note: iTunes subscribability in process!)

We've been having a lot of discussions about 2012 and the starting rotation seems to be the biggest question (with honourable mention to LF and 1B). How bad was 2011's rotation and what would it take to improve it?