Jay Bird Watching Podcast Recap: New feuds and new threads to start the Spring

Craig Borden and Jason Lyons are back at it again for another installment of the Jay Bird Watching Podcast. This week, the fellas are joined by our very own Henry Wright.

Find Jay Bird Watching on social media:

Bo gets paid

Without any financial details officially announced, the guys dive in to Bo Bichette's payday. He signed a three-year deal to buy out the remaining arbitration eligibility on his contract.

Henry starts it off, saying that it's nice to get this out of the way now so the club and player don't have to do this again for each of the next few seasons. He points out that this likely opens the door for long-term extensions for not only Bichette, but players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is also going to need to be locked up.

Jason loves it as well. He says that he especially likes the deal because this allows Bichette to concentrate on playing and strengthening his value for when a long-term extension does indeed start to become a possibility. Interestingly, he points out that this three-year deal will allow Bichette to either prove he belongs on the club, or show himself off as an attractive trade chip.

MLB Network position countdown

The guys move on to MLB Network's latest positional rankings, specifically behind the plate. Craig points out that there's an embarrassment of riches at catcher for the Jays, who have Danny Jansen at No. 9 and Alejandro Kirk at No. 6 on the rankings.

Henry says that it's impressive that the Jays have two backstops on the list since there are so many teams around the league that are desperate for one catcher capable of playing like Jansen and Kirk.

Jason points out the concerning lack of Jays representation at other position rankings on the Network, which is a more than fair point to make.

Manoah didn't start the fire

Moving on to a hot topic around the industry from the past week, the guys bring up Anthony Recker and his comments on Alek Manoah and his weight.

We all know that this was a reckless comment and all three of the guys agree. Yes, Manoah is a big man, but this big man finished third in the AL Cy Young race last season, the stats speak for themselves.

Jason says, "my favorite thing is when someone who can't do something, gives advice on how someone else should do it." He goes on to say that we have to move past the point of calling people fat, mentioning someone like CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon and Prince Fielder as bigger players who excelled despite what they looked like.

Opening Day batting order?

Craig points out that the only locks in his mind are George Springer leading off, Bo Bichette batting second and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting third. Behind that trio, it's all up in the air who will bat in which order.

Henry likes Springer leading off with Vladdy batting second, Alejandro Kirk third, Bichette in the fourth spot and Daulton Varsho fifth.

Jason mentions that the biggest home run hitters don't necessarily get locked into the four spot anymore and that modern baseball teams are leaning towards putting their big boppers in the second slot in the lineup.

Conclusion

To round things out, the boys take a look at the newly-revealed Spring Training gear for the Blue Jays and go over everything they're looking forward to in the upcoming Spring games. The new Sportsnet broadcasting squad is mentioned as well.

Next. Blue Jays Opening Day roster prediction 1.0. dark

Home/Toronto Blue Jays News