Alek Manoah pitched a gem, Peyton Williams smashed the ball, and more as the Blue Jays beat the Phillies 6-3

Another day, another Blue Jays victory.

On Friday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies visited Dunedin, Florida to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Sadly for the visiting team (Phillies), they lost the game.
Let’s look at the player of the game, as well as some things worth mentioning.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: Daulton Varsho:
Admittedly, it could have also been the starting pitcher, who we’ll get to soon, but Friday’s player of the game goes to Daulton Varsho.
Varsho had three plate appearances, reaching all three times. His first plate appearance was an RBI triple down the right field line. The second was a scorching single up the middle, before taking a walk in his final plate appearance.

It’s a Daulton Varsho (@DaultonVarsho25) triple!
86.4 mph exit velocity, and drives in Brandon Belt!#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/yqSP3X7weH
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 24, 2023

It’s also worth mentioning that he started a play in the outfield where they tagged out a runner trying to score.

Fundamental 👏 Baseball 👏
Varsho 👉 Chapman 👉 Kirk pic.twitter.com/7gSZU9ryoz
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 24, 2023

Varsho has three hits in his past two games (five at bats). He’s heating up at the right time.
Things worth mentioning:
Alek Manoah also deserves the player of the game, as he continues to impress in spring training. On Friday in his last spring training start, he pitched six innings, allowing three hits and an earned run, while striking out six.  He finished spring training with 20.1 innings pitched,  21 strikeouts, eight walks, and an ERA of 3.10.

Here’s Alek Manoah (@Alek_Manoah6)’s strikeout thread from this evening!
82.3 mph slider ties the batter up.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/du4T4VYLZr
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 24, 2023

Peyton Williams’ makeup is my favourite from the 2022 Blue Jays draft class. The first baseman stands at 6’5, 255 pounds, but slashed .317/.455/.593 with 21 homers, a 16.9 K%, and a 15.7 BB% in 492 plate appearances with the University of Iowa. He also has a ton of raw power, evident in his 110.9 mph double on Friday.

Surprised no one posted the Peyton Williams (@peyton_w2) double, which clocked in at 110.9 mph.
He’s so fun to watch.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/ZyN4HVo1nj
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 25, 2023

Trent Thornton looked solid in his limited …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Toronto Blue Jays Arbitration Tracker (11 of 12 arb-eligible players have reached deals, only Bo Bichette remains)

Friday is the deadline for Major League teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange their desired salary figures for the 2023 season, so we’re going to see a handful of deals reached in the next little while.

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith, the Blue Jays have come to terms with eleven players thus far…

Per source, #BlueJays & Danny Jansen avoided arb with a $3.5 million deal for 2023
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

Per source, #BlueJays & Trevor Richards avoid arb with one-year, $1.5 million deal
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Tim Mayza avoid arb with $2.1 million deal for 2023 per source
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Trent Thornton avoid arb per source
$1 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Santiago Espinal avoid arb per source
$2.1 million for 2023
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays avoid arb with Jordan Romano per source
$4.5375 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

As @JonHeyman said, #BlueJays avoided arb with Daulton Varsho ($3.05 million)
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays avoid arb with Cavan Biggio per source
$2.8 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Adam Cimber avoid arb per sources
$3.15 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., agree at $14.5m to avoid arbitration, per source.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) January 14, 2023

Below are the salaries that MLB Trade Rumours projected each arb-eligible Blue Jay would earn for the 2023 season and beside that is the deal they’ve reached…
Vladimir Guerrero Jr: $14.8 million – Reached a $14.5 million deal 
Bo Bichette: $6.1 million
Jordan Romano: $4.4 million – Reached a $4.5375 million deal
Danny Jansen: $3.7 million – Reached a $3.5 million deal 
Adam Cimber: $3.2 million – Reached a $3.15 million deal 
Daulton Varsho: $2.8 million – Reached a $3.05 million deal
Cavan Biggio: $2.6 million – Reached a $2.8 million deal 
Santiago Espinal: $2.1 million – Reached a $2.1 million deal 
Tim Mayza: $1.9 million – Reached a $2.1 million deal 
Trevor Richards: $1.5 million – Reached a $1.5 million deal
Erik Swanson: $1.4 million – Reached a $1.25 million deal 
Trent Thornton: $1.1 million – Reached a $1 million deal
As it stands on Saturday morning, the only player left without a deal is Bo Bichette, so the Blue Jays and their start shortstop might be headed to arbitration. According to Mark Feinsand, the Blue Jays submitted a $5 million salary figure, while Bichette’s camp has asked for $7.5 million. MLBTR, as noted above, projected $6.1 million.
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

News and Notes: Blue Jays don’t tender three players, looking at other team’s non-tenders, and more!

On Friday evening, the Jays announced that three players would not be offered a contract, while every other arbitration-eligible player was tendered.

Non-tending Bradley Zimmer and Raimel Tapia were expected, as they had been designated for assignment off the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 deadline. However, non-tendering Vinny Capra came as a shock in all honesty.
While Capra has very little major league experience, he slashed .283/.378/.403 with five homers in 222 plate appearances with the Buffalo Bisons. He also had as many walks (29) as strikeouts and finished 2022 with a 114 wRC+.

Vinny Capra freezes the left fielder with this nuke.#BlueJays #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/mhaIhOuhpZ
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) September 8, 2022

While the Jays will need to make cuts to the 40-man roster before signing players, I figured there were more obvious subtractions from the 40-man. No doubt Capra will bounce back quickly (he’s heading to Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League), and I reckon we’ll see him in the majors at some point.
There are 11 Blue Jays who’ll be receiving contracts from the team, they are listed below, along with their projections according to MLB Trade Rumors.:
RP Adam Cimber, $3.2 million
RP Trevor Richards, $1.5 million
RP Tim Mayza, $1.9 million
RP Trent Thornton, $1.1 million
RP Jordan Romano, $4.4 million
RP Erik Swanson, $1.4 million
C Danny Jansen, $3.7 million
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., $14.8 million
UTL Cavan Biggio, $2.6 million
SS Bo Bichette, $6.1 million
2B Santiago Espinal, $2.1 million
The two names that may be surprising are Trent Thornton and Trevor Richards. Let’s start with Richards.
Trevor Richards:
The 29-year-old had a 5.34 ERA and 4.07 FIP in 64 innings pitched in 2022. While he struggled with a high walk rate (12.5 BB%) like he never has in his career, his 29.2 K% was one of the highest on the Blue Jays with more than 15 innings pitched. Surprisingly, only Jeremy Beasley had a higher K% (29.7%) than Richards with for pitchers with 15+ …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

News and Notes: The insurance on Hyun Jin Ryu’s contract, Yankees have “uneasy feeling” about Aaron Judge’s free agency, and more!

The World Series kicks off on Friday. Do you know what that means? It’s almost Transaction Season.

The big talk around Blue Jays land over the past few days has been about Hyun Jin Ryu, specifically the insurance on his contract. The Twitter account Blue Jays Hotstove brought up that the Blue Jays fully ensured Ryu’s contract and that they’ll allocate the money they were expecting to pay him back into the payroll for 2023…

Not sure if this has already been reported but the Blue Jays have Ryu’s contract fully ensured in case of injury so they will recoup all dollars for time missed.
The plan is for the club to reallocate that money back into the payroll for next season
— BLUEJAYS HOTSTOVE (@bluejayhotstove) October 27, 2022

This is something that’s been talked about quite a bit in the past but the details are a little murky.
Ryu, of course, inked a four-year, $80 million deal with the Blue Jays back in December of 2019. He had an excellent showing in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, started off well in 2021 but faded as time went along, and then completely fell off early in 2022 and wound up having season-ending elbow surgery in June. There’s a chance that Ryu comes back late in 2023 but the reasonable bet here is that he’s thrown his last pitch for the Blue Jays.
Given Ryu’s injury history (he missed all of 2015 and most of 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery and was limited to 15 starts in 2018 because of a groin injury), having his contract insured would have been t …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Blue Jays sign John Schneider to three-year contract extension

The interim tag attached to John Schneider is no more.
On Friday, the Toronto Blue Jays officially signed Schneider to a three-year contract extension that runs through 2025. The 42-year-old’s deal also features a club option for the 2026 season.

OFFICIAL: We’ve agreed to terms with John Schneider on a three-year contract as Manager with a team option for the 2026 season!
Congratulations, Skip pic.twitter.com/F4V35CDakL
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 21, 2022

The move was widely expected after Schneider led the franchise to its first playoff berth since 2020. He was named interim manager on July 13 after the team parted ways with Charlie Montoyo amid a disappointing 46-42 start.
Shortly after the announcement was made, the former catcher issued a statement via social media, expressing his gratitude for being granted the opportunity to continue managing Canada’s lone MLB franchise. It is something he has been waiting for his entire coaching career.

A Blue Jay since Day One pic.twitter.com/di9jNzDnJB
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 21, 2022

The Blue Jays finished 46-28 under Schneider, the third-best record in the American League during that span. They were also the highest-scoring offence in the league, averaging the most runs per game (5.05).
Overall, the team went 92-70 this past season, good for second in the AL East Division and first in the wild-card race. As a result, Rogers Centre hosted its first playoff series since 2016 against the Seattle Mariners, who won 2-0.
Much of the fanbase criticized Schneider’s decisions in Game 2 of that series, particularly when right-hander Kevin Gausman was removed in the sixth inning with his club leading 8-1. As everyone remembers, the Mariners ultimately stormed back to win 10-9 stunningly.
Gausman, however, expressed his happiness about Schneider’s contract extension by quote retweeting Toronto’s original post. So it appears he doesn’t feel any ill will toward his manager regarding the controversial decision.

Happy to have Schneids back!! https://t.co/cG25l0Ribt
— Kevin Gausman (@KevinGausman) October 21, 2022

With Schneider extended through at least 2025, general manager Ross Atkins’ focus now shifts to improving a roster that won 92 games in 2022.
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Author: Thomas Hall / Blue Jays Nation