1 Blue Jays Way

Over: 26 Man Roster Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 02:59:00 +0000

With the beginning of a new season comes the conclusion of yet another roster challenge. Thank you all for playing once again.

In the end, it came down to two great baseball minds and good friends, with both the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and yours truly nailing 23 out of 26 players on the Opening Day roster. Since all ballots took Berrios and Yesavage, it was really just a 24-man roster challenge. The tiebreaker plays, as it just about always does.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame: 16-11

1BJW: 12-15

Actual Blue Jays spring training record: 12-14-2

There you have it folks. It’s me again; I’m the winner. I won my own damn challenge. I guess I’ll just keep the bobblehead and leave it on the same shelf until next year.

Let’s run it back next year. The search for the perfect ballot continues!

Off We Go!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 21:59:00 +0000

The leaks that came the day before pitchers and catchers reported to camp were a little frustrating to be sure. Stop sticking microphones in front of the braintrust before the Roster Challenge deadline, please! The news about Santander and Bieber really did change up some ballots that were submitted well before midnight—we can look at setting an earlier deadline moving forward to preserve the integrity of the challenge. (We will preserve the integrity of the challenge at all costs.)

Some fast facts:

The X factor of this year’s roster challenge appears to be the final bench spot, a pretty much even split between Loperfido and Jimenez. Whoever wins that job will have a huge impact on which ballot takes home the glory.

***Update*** Joey for Jesus happened and now everybody loses the chance at a perfect ballot! Aw, shucks

No two ballots are the same. Not really that impressive considering we only had seven ballots total, but still noteworthy.

Rule V darling, the Angel of death Bastardo with his 327 total career minor league innings – 45 of which were at the AA level – managed to find his way on to not one but two ballots this time around. Fascinating stuff.

Fisher and Fluharty were named on six of the seven ballots.

All ballots submitted contained the following 21 players:

Barger, Berrios, Cease, Clement, Gausman, Gimenez, Guerrero, Heineman, Hoffman, Kirk, Lauer, Lukes, Okamoto, Ponce, Rogers, Schneider, Springer, Straw, Varland, Varsho, Yesavage

Below you will find the remaining 5 names to round out the ballots, and the all-important tiebreaker. With that, we are off. Good luck to all!

Jimmy Triggs

14-14

Fisher

Fluharty

Garcia

Little

Loperfido

The returning champion is looking to lay the smackdown and skip taking home the prize once again. He holds the belt until someone takes it.

Last Row 500's

18-11

Fisher

Garcia

Jimenez

Little

Nance

No Fluharty = no bueno

Blue Jay Hunter

16-12

Bastardo

Fluharty

Little

Loperfido

Nance

The Blue Jays Hunter graces us with his presence once again, and we are all better off for it.

Hall Of Fame

16-11

Fisher

Fluharty

Little

Loperfido

Nance

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame steps into the gauntlet looking for their first win of the roster challenge.

I Like Nuts

17-9

Fisher

Fluharty

Garcia

Jimenez

Nance

Mrs. @1BJW thought about skipping this year’s event and then quickly changed course.

@1BJW

12-15

Fisher

Fluharty

Jimenez

Little

Nance

We present to you the winning ballot. Book it.

The Ant Farm

20-6

Bastardo

Fisher

Fluharty

Garcia

Loperfido

Ant is looking at the Jays to capture another coveted Golden Grapefruit with a mind melting 20-6 spring training record. All aboard the hype train!

The 26-Man Roster Challenge - 15 Year Anniversary Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

What a wild ride. Worst to first and beyond! We are still not even remotely close to being in the mood to discuss what happened in the Series. Even our closest friends haven’t asked us about it. It’s like they saw what happened and know what it did to a true die hard fan.

But the grind of the MLB season/offseason doesn’t give a shit about our feelings, so with that said, it’s that time of year again: The 26-Man Roster Challenge is happening! Many thanks in advance to all of you who still take the time to play with us. It is certainly something we look forward to every year!

For those who don’t know, the 26-Man Roster Challenge is a super simple game that has but one requirement: Name the 26 baseball players within the Blue Jays organization who you think will crack the opening day roster.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really and truly isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

1. Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

2. Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

3. Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.

4. Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

In the event of a tie—and, at this point, it's pretty much a given that there will be a tie—we ask that you also give us a prediction of what you think the spring training record will be for the boys in baby blue. From what we can see, it appears as though your Toronto Blue Jays will attempt to play 28 spring training games this year which does not include the March 3^rd game against Team Canada. Don't forget that sometimes it rains and the games are not generally made up if they are cancelled. There is also a chance that if a game goes to extra innings and one team runs out of pitchers, both teams agree that the game ends in a tie.

It is not a requirement that you select a tie breaker—all ballots containing 26 names on it will be considered valid—but it is a very good idea that you do include one; over the years we've had numerous stupid-close finishes and actually had to break it right down to winning percentage. We have only had four outright winners in 15 years.

Some things to consider:

Our rotation looks excellent, from multiple experienced front-line starters to a rookie phenom and everything in between. Your Toronto Blue Jays have got – dare we say it – an excess of quality MLB caliber SP arms. The smart ones will tell you that these things seem to have a way of sorting themselves out--and they do, most of the time.

Looking at it from above, there is a possibility that Jose Berrios starts the 2026 season:

A. in the rotation

B. In the bullpen

C. On another team

D. On the IL

Choose wisely.

Again, for the purposes of this exercise, you don’t have to worry about his role on the team out of the gate, only that he is on the team. What it will do is have a trickle down effect on the bottom third of your ballot.

Tommy Nance, Myles Straw, Leo Jiménez and Tyler Heineman are all on the 40-man roster and out of options; they need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers, and probably haven’t earned a spot based on performance. But anyone who has rosterbated with us before knows all too well that rarely is the choosing of the 26th man based on performance.

The hate on Anthony Santander has probably gone too far at this point. If healthy, he’s got a spot on this roster, is one of our best nine hitters and will play every day whether you think that’s a good idea or not.

As always, the dreaded NRI/minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to be mentioned and considered. An interesting name here to consider is Yariel Rodriguez. He snuck through outright waivers in early December, but if he can figure out a way to get his stuff in the zone he has a chance to steal a spot in the bullpen.

Rule V alert! Pitchers Spencer Miles and Angel Bastardo both need crack the opening day roster with the Blue Jays or be offered back to their original clubs. These are true longshots for sure.

It is a WBC year so there will be an extra layer of the unknowns surrounding this year’s roster challenge. That’s just super!

It’s worth noting that defending champion, friend of the site and all around decent human, Jimmy Triggs, drew our attention to the official MLB roster rules. They state that there must be at least an even 13/13 split between hitters and pitchers, so you’re looking at an 8-man pen and a traditional 4-man bench.

If you have been keeping a list of potential roster candidates for your ballot at home—we can’t be the only ones who do this—you will know that there isn’t a whole lot of spare parts this year. We are probably a little short on infielders and could see an IKF type added during spring training. (Glove-first guys who can play multiple positions are the pond scum of baseball players.) Think "MILB deal with an invite to camp" type scenario.

Prizes:

Get your bobblehead on!

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. We are still searching for the elusive perfect ballot; it would be swell if this were the year!

Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to submit ballots is February 10th @ 11:59PM EST.

We Have An Outright Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:58:00 +0000

In what can only be described as a near miracle, we did not need to go to the tiebreaker to determine our latest winner in the 26-Man Roster Challenge. What a time to be alive!

Friend of the site, the one and only Jimmy Triggs, walks away with the hardware after nailing an impressive 23 out of 26 players on the Opening Day roster. When he was told the news he replied, “Hmm. I didn’t think I was close after Nance.” We could just feel the elation coming through the screen. A great statesman and champion!

Two ballots managed to get 22 out of 26 players correct for a solid podium finish. We do want to acknowledge all who participated in this ordeal and thank you for your interest.

The search for the elusive perfect ballot continues.

And We're Off!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 15:52:00 +0000

We are all set for another super fun and exciting spring training in quiet Dunedin, Flow Ride A!

For almost 15 years straight – thanks again, COVID – we have lived and died with any news coming out of camp that pertains to injury or general performance. It would have been really swell if the signing of lefties Amir Garrett and old friend Ryan Yarbrough on minor league deals had happened prior to pitchers and catchers formally reporting--nobody took Yarbrough, and we think it makes a whole lot of sense for him to get a bullpen job.

This year, we had eight willing participants step forward and answer the call. Let’s examine the ballots.

The following 15 names appear on all of them:

Chris Bassit

Jose Berrios

Bo Bichette

Ernie Clement

Bowden Francis

Kevin Gausman

Chad Green

Vlad

Jeff Hoffman

Alexander Kirk

Yariel Rodriguez

Anthony Santander

Max Scherzer

George Springer

Erik Swanson

The Swanson news from earlier this week is interesting, as he is a bit behind with the dreaded forearm soreness.

From there it does get a little murky, which is something we noted as the ballots started rolling in. In our vast experience of running this thing, that generally means that your Toronto Blue Jays do not have a strong roster and quite a few jobs are still up for grabs.

Team Hall of Fame

12-16

Addison Barger

Ryan Burr

Yimi Garcia

Tyler Heineman

Leo Jimenez

Brendon Little

Joey Loperfido

Nick Sandlin

Davis Schneider

Myles Straw

Will Wagner

We appreciate the support from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame once again. Guess they were too busy being awesome, and missed the news on the trade for the platinum glove winner this offseason.

Team Blue Jay Hunter

17-13

Barger

Burr

Garcia

Andres Gimenez

Heineman

Little

Loperfido

Nathan Lukes

Sandlin

Straw

Wagner

Hat tip to the Godfather of Blue Jays blogs

Team Last Row 500’s

14-15

Christian Bethancourt

Burr

Gimenez

Jimenez

Little

Loperfido

Lukes

Zach Pop

Sandlin

Schneider

Wagner

Why take just one G/Jimenez north with the club when you can take both? No Yimi…..what do you know that we don’t know?

Team Jimmy Triggs

15-15

Barger

Garcia

Gimenez

Heineman

Little

Lukes

Tommy Nance

Sandlin

Schneider

Straw

Wagner

Mr. Defending Champion, Sir

11-19

Andrew Chafin

Garcia

Gimenez

Yasmani Grandal

Lukes

Orelvis Martinez

Nance

Alan Roden

Sandlin

Schneider

Straw

Yowser! Where do we begin on this one? The Champ is back to defend, and he went off the board. Start with a few free agents still out there in Chafin & Grandal, add a couple of top prospects in Martinez & Rodon, and subtract Wagner from the mix. Easily our favourite ballot of the Roster Challenge this year. Let’s see how it works out for him.

Team I Like Nuts

14-15

Garcia

Gimenez

Heineman

Little

Loparfido

Lukes

Nance

Pop

Schneider

Straw

Wagner

The only ballot not containing Sandlin, AKA the other guy in the trade for the platinum glove winner.

Team @1BJW

15-13

Barger

Betancourt

Burr

Garcia

Giminez

Little

Loparfido

Sandlin

Schneider

Straw

Wagner

Clearly the best ballot and most realistic shot at winning.

The Ant Farm

12-16

Barger

Burr

Garcia

Gimenez

Heineman

Little

Lukes

Martinez

Sandlin

Straw

Wagner

Big shout out to our in-house Tech Guy; none of this is possible without him.

We do appreciate all of you who decided to join us again. The number of entries for this challenge is dwindling faster than the number of home-grown infielders we have under contact for the 2026 season, but we’re glad to have you all. Good luck!

26 Man Roster Challenge: 2025 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 14:14:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again! The 26-Man Roster Challenge is a go for launch once again. Many thanks in advance to all of you who still take the time to play with us. We just cannot seem to give this thing up.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really and truly isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

1. Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

2. Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

3. Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.

4. Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

Some things to consider:

Our rotation looks pretty decent all of a sudden with the addition of crazy eyes, doesn’t it? Moving the Cuban to the bullpen should help with the depth there, however there should be at least a spot or two up for grabs in low leverage.

Ernie Clement, Tommy Nance and Tyler Heineman are all on the 40-man roster and out of options; they need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers. None of those players are even remotely game breakers (sorry to all seven Clement supporters out there) and probably haven’t earned a spot based on performance, but anyone who has rosterbated with us before knows all too well that rarely is the choosing of the 26th man based on performance.

Varsho is banged up still and will probably stay behind in Florida to finish up his rehab/get some reps. That should open up an OF spot, but whomever it is needs to be able to play CF. We can’t let Gorgeous George anywhere near that spot ever again.

As always, the dreaded NRI/minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to be mentioned and considered. Key off-season acquisition Myles Straw is on this list, as if we didn’t already have enough 4^th OF types clinging around already.

It’s worth noting that former champion, friend of the site and all around decent human, Jimmy Triggs, drew our attention to the official MLB roster rules. They state that there must be at least an even 13/13 split between hitters and pitchers, so you’re looking at an 8-man pen and a traditional 4-man bench.

If you have been keeping a list of potential roster candidates for your ballot at home—we can’t be the only ones who do this—you will know that there is a dead spot at 3B, and there are a few interesting kids that could break through there if given everyday AB’s.

All that being said, there are still a few impact players on the open market, primarily represented by Dick McNuts. We much preferred when The Beast just told Boras to piss off and go elsewhere rather than being ~~“linked”~~ “used,” followed by the predictable outcry that ensues from the spurned fan base.

Prizes:

Get your bobblehead on!

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. We are still searching for the elusive perfect ballot; it would be swell if this were the year!

Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to submit ballots is February 12^th @ 11:59PM EST.

26 Man Roster Challenge Winner Declared (finally)

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sat, 04 May 2024 14:20:00 +0000

We just wanted to say a few words about the 2024 edition of the 26 Man Roster Challenge. First and foremost, it was a complete and total bloodbath. Guess that's what happens when the closer, the primary set-up guy and the number one catcher all go down during camp. Every contestant picked Romano, Swanson and Jansen to make the team, and we all failed. The winning ballot had a mere 20 out of 26 players correct.

As had become the norm around here, the tiebreaker played a huge role in determining the winner. With a remarkable nine-way (!) tie for first place, all eyes turn to your Toronto Blue Jays spring training record:

13-17 .433

Our boy Jesse 18-11-2 .613

The Ant Farm 18-12 .600

Blue Jay Hunter 18-14 .563

Jays are my 2nd favourite team 16-14 .533

Swedish Meatballs 15-14-1 .517

Keegan Matheson 16-16 .500

Jimmy Triggs 16-16 .500

Last Row 500’s 15-16 .484

MLB Depth Charts 13-19 .406

Some interesting transaction notes:

Who the fuck is Wes Parsons? Never mind, it ain’t all that important after all.

Manoah went from being the main guy on our 2023 fridge magnet to whatever he is now, which is what, exactly? Smart money is on depth.

Pretty Mitch White grabbed a bullpen spot on the strength of his increased velo. There is just no world where he is traded for cash three weeks later, is there?

Blue Jays gonna Blue Jays and take advantage of an out they surely insisted on in the new Cuban guy’s contract. He starts in AAA for some reason.

In conclusion:

By our calculation, the winner this time around is Team MLB Depth Charts. Congratulations,

Jason! We will be in touch shortly to arrange getting the loot to you.

(P.S. We wrote this post as if it were done when it should have been done, which is about a month ago.)

2024 Roster Challenge Is Live

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:47:00 +0000

We are off and running! This year’s roster challenge had 12 brave people step forward to answer the call. As usual, some interesting trends developed and are worth taking note.

First off, there are no identical ballots, which continues to be pretty wild!

Second, a few minor-league deals went down after camp opened, because why wouldn’t they? Old friend Danny Vogelbach is back in town and a clear upgrade over a few of the existing bench options. He could be the reason why the perfect ballot remains elusive once again this year.

The following 21 players appear on all lists submitted:

Chris Bassitt

José Berríos

Yimi García

Kevin Gausman

Chad Green

Yusei Kikuchi

Tim Mayza

Jordan Romano

Erik Swanson

Danny Jansen

Alejandro Kirk

Bo Bichette

Cavan Biggio

Santiago Espinal

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Davis Schneider

Kevin Kiermaier

George Springer

Daulton Varsho

Justin Turner

If anyone out of this group does not make the opening day roster, this thing will get interesting in a hurry.

The next group of players are found on 11 of 12 ballots.

Génesis Cabrera

Trevor Richards

Alek Manoah

The Manoah omission prompted an exchange with the ballot holder. It came down to “gotta go off script." If you have eyes on winning this challenge outright, we could not agree more.

The next group of players appear on less than half the ballots:

Nate Pearson

Spencer Horwitz

Orelvis Martinez

Nathan Lukes

Mitch White

Yariel Rodriguez

We absolutely love the Orelvis pick, but do not see a world where he breaks camp with the big club since we already have a dozen or so players who can play second base. Somewhat surprised that the person who the braintrust gave 30-plus million dollars to this offseason was not picked more often.

And finally, the long shots/dart throws/probably-not-going-to-happen guys:

Bowden Francis

Robbie Grossman

Here are the tiebreakers for all ballots submitted:

Our Boy Jesse 18-11-2

Last Row 500’s 15-16

Jays are my 2^nd favourite team 16-14

Winter of Discontent 15-14

MLB.com 16-16

MLB Depth Charts 13-19

@1BJW 16-15

Swedish Meatballs 15-14-1

The Ant Farm 18-12

Jimmy Triggs 16-16

I Like Nuts 14-16

Blue Jay Hunter 18-14

We wish everyone good luck, and many thanks for playing!

Click here to see all the ballots

26 Man Roster Challenge - Shitty Offseason Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 01:40:00 +0000

For those who don’t know, the 26-Man Roster Challenge is a super simple game that has but one requirement: Name the 26 baseball players within the Blue Jays organization who will crack the opening day roster.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really and truly isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

1. Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

2. Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

3. Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.

4. Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

Some things to consider:

Admittedly, this offseason has been lackluster. The brain trust seems to be convinced they can just run this thing back and hope for a different outcome. It is almost as if they flunked grade nine French last year, and the plan this time around is still to not study again. At all.

It does need to be said that your Toronto Blue Jays are still a pretty dangerous playoff-calibre team! We just can’t score any runs, which is not exactly the brand we’ve gotten used to seeing up here in Baseball North.

It’s worth noting that the reigning champion, friend of the site and all around decent human, Jimmy Triggs, drew our attention to the official MLB roster rules. It states that there must be at least an even 13/13 split between hitters and pitchers. Naturally, there are some exceptions because of that 2-million-dollar man ~~that enjoys the odd mystery flight across the nation~~, but even our GM, as shifty/greasy as he is, probably can’t get around a hard cap on the number of arms in the bullpen.

Mitch “Pretty Boy” White, Otto Lopez and Ernie Clement are out of options and need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers. None of those players are even remotely game breakers and probably haven’t earned a spot based on performance. But anyone who has rosterbated with us before knows all too well that rarely is the choosing of the 26th man based on performance.

One exception could be Clement who in 50 at bats slashed .380/.385/.500…..which is just slightly above his career line of .231/.279/.299. Did he figure something out? Is the regression monster coming for visit to his 144wRC+? Was it the age 27 theory actually working out? Who really knows but unless he gets some reps in the OF, we sincerely doubt another utility infielder is needed on this team as it is currently constructed.

As always, the dreaded minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to be mentioned and considered. It isn’t completely nuts to think one of these dudes comes in, blows the doors off the hinges and wins a job with the squad. Or is it?

One potential X-factor are the fine folks at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. They just cannot seem to get a visa in the hands of our newest Cuban import, Yariel Rodriguez. That could be an ongoing saga at the beginning of camp and, if it drags on, might effect his chances of joining the squad as the multi-inning guy.

If you have been keeping a list of potential roster candidates for your ballot at home—we can’t be the only ones who do this—you will know that there are not many MLB jobs on the line for this team at all.

Prizes:

V Dub signed ugly black uniform for all you idiots that think they look cool!

1992 Topps team card set with a Guzman rookie in there

A lock for your luggage that doesn't arrive at destination

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. We are still searching for the elusive perfect ballot; it would be swell if this were the year!

Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to submit ballots is February 14th @ 11:59PM EST.

26 Man Roster Challenge: We had an outright winner

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:50:00 +0000

Your Toronto Blue Jays had a very healthy camp this year and the roster challenge certainly reflected this. Team Blue Jay Hunter and Team Briggs were the only ballots to contain the longshot Nathan Lukes on it.

Congrats to friend of the site Jimmy Triggs for nailing 25 out of 26 names on the opening day roster. He was the only team to reach this lofty total, no tiebreaker needed. We will reach out soon to arrange delivery of your well-earned loot.

We just want to thank everyone for joining us again this year!

26 Man Roster Challenge: 2023 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 02:49:00 +0000

The Roster Challenge is off and running for this season! Thanks to all who took the time to join us.

We have to start by apologizing for the lateness of this post. We had a vacation booked and MLB did not bother to check with us first before setting the camp start dates. The nerve.

Seems as though the interest in the challenge may be waning a little bit, and that’s okay. Perhaps it has run its course, but we still enjoy trying to predict the opening day roster and are glad there are others who feel the same way.

This year we received 10 ballots containing 32 total names picked. That is a somewhat shockingly high number, considering we are not rebuilding and the MLB roster is pretty much set.

On those ballots, the following 20 names were included on each of them:

Bass

Bassitt

Berrios

Bichette

Biggio

Chapman

Cimber

Espinal

Garcia

Gausman

Guerrero

Jansen

Kiermaier

Kikuchi

Kirk

Manoah

Mayza

Merrifeld

Romano

Varsho

A solid core to be sure, but we thought this number might have been even higher, say 22-23. Riveting stuff!

The following teams picked an identical ballot, so the tiebreaker will come into play: Team Ant Farm (16-15), Team Gregor (no tiebreaker) and Team I Like Nuts (16-16)

There was a different identical ballot picked by two other teams, which in retrospect was a ballsy move because they included the name Robbie Grossman, who has since signed a deal with the Rangers. So, ya, A Serious Team and Team @1BJW are not looking so smart now. We both just thought there was no way your Toronto Blue Jays would roll into the season without a decent 4th OF who could be a replacement-level type guy for a couple of weeks, but it looks like the team just may do that. There will be opportunities later in camp or in season to address this issue, but Grossman seemed like a great fit.

The below names can only be found on a single ballot, which qualifies them as the long shots. Keep an eye on Zulueta, Pearson and Bernard because, if they do crack the roster, glory will surely follow.

Shout out to friend of the site The Blue Jay Hunter for also taking a chance and not picking George Springer. History could show this is a good bet.

An honourable mention goes to Team Last Row 500’s for not buying that new guy Belt is going to make the squad. Not sure if this was an oversight, or if perhaps he has some intel on the DH’s troublesome knee(s) that he is keeping close to the vest.

Click this link to see all the details including tiebreakers. Good luck to all!

26 Man Roster Challenge: Quick Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 23:15:00 +0000

26 Man Roster Challenge Deadline

We hope you can join us for the fun and exciting challenge that lies ahead. If you need a refresher on the rules, format or to take another peak at the wonderful prizes, please click here.

Get those ballots in! And try to remember to include a tiebreaker.

26 Man Roster Challenge: 2023 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:18:00 +0000

Now that we have labour peace and the league has taken the power to run their business as they see fit back from the medical nerds, we decided to blow the dust off this super-fun challenge. The last few years have been a shitshow in terms of an actual schedule for just about everyone, and this roster challenge was no exception. We look forward to a nice, easy, straightforward spring training this season—

*World Baseball Classic has entered the chat*

Ah, right, never mind.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really and truly isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

1. Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

2. Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

3. Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.

4. Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

In the event of a tie—and, at this point, it's pretty much a given that there will be a tie—we ask that you also give us a prediction of what you think the spring training record will be for the boys in baby blue. From what we can see, it appears as though your Toronto Blue Jays will attempt to play 33 spring training games this year. We do not see the annual test match/face fucking of the Canadian Junior National Team on the schedule anywhere and, frankly, it should not be. If the spring schedule is changed after the deadline, we will allow contestants who have entered a valid ballot to change their tiebreaker, if they so choose.

Try not to forget that sometimes it rains, and the games are not generally made up if they are cancelled. There is also a chance that if a game goes to extra innings and one team runs out of pitchers, both teams agree that the game ends in a tie.

Some things to consider:

Your Toronto Blue Jays are a great team with a young core, and the future remains very bright. We can debate the offseason moves all day, and the kneejerk reaction of some fans/media is both predictable and tiresome, but the braintrust read the room and decided being top heavy on offense doesn’t work in a three-game winner-take-all series. Time will tell whether this mix of players is the right combination or not, but Teo and his huge smile will certainly be missed.

A better question: Will the concrete convertible be ready and all freshly painted up in Salty Dog Blue by the start of the season? You would think the folks at MLB would love to take advantage of our roof in MARCH when the season starts, but, suspiciously, our home opener is not scheduled until April 11.

Both Mitch “Pretty Boy” White and Trevor Richards are out of options and need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers. Neither are particularly great pitchers, and we are quite sure you all have your opinions on their value to the team, but those two names should on the pitching staff, regardless of role. There could be others on the 40-man, and we will keep our eyes/ears open on all your behalves.

The whispers to sign a lefty-killing OF to compliment our suddenly left-handed heavy OF are only getting louder. Do try to keep in mind that short-side platoon players are not highly valued, even good ones, and we should have our pick from quite a few names as training camp carries on. If you do decide to take a player who isn’t signed or is currently on a different MLB team, it is a decent way to differentiate your ballot from all the others and a worthwhile stab at glory.

If you have been keeping a list of potential roster candidates for your ballot at home—we just can’t be the only ones who do this—you will know that there are not many MLB jobs on the line for this team at all. What a time to be alive.

Prizes:

V Dub signed ugly black uniform for all you idiots that think they look cool!

1992 Topps team card set with a Guzman rookie in there

A lock for your luggage that doesn't arrive at destination

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. We’re still searching for the elusive perfect ballot; it would be swell if this is the year!

Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to submit ballots is February 12th @ 11:59PM EST.

We've Got A Outright Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 02:06:00 +0000

Our boy, Jesse, who it should be noted was participating in his first roster challenge, took it down with a mind-blowing total of 22 out of 26 on his ballot. No one else came close--no other ballot had even 21 correct players selected, considering Springer, Yates and Pearson all started the year on the IL and everyone picked them, and Payamps, Zeuch and Mayza all made the roster and nobody picked them. Jesse navigated the tough terrain and saved us from doing some basic math trying to figure out the quite random tiebreakers. For that, we thank you!

And with that, another 26 Man Roster Challenge is in the books. Hopefully all who answered the call this time around can join us again next year as we continue our search for the perfect ballot.

Let's go Jays!

And They're off!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 02:27:00 +0000

Hey socially distanced party people…..we got a Roster Challenge for y’all to chew on. Thank you to the 13 competitors for answering the bell and stepping forward with their ballots.

We can honestly say this challenge is enjoyable to set up and maintain so let’s get right to the roll out. We love seeing what the fellow die hards are thinking.

The following 19 names appeared on all ballots. No real surprises here except maybe Rowdy, he seems like the odd man out right now with having 4 legit big league outfielders in the lineup nearly everyday.

Behold!

Bichette

Biggio

Borucki

Dolis

Grichuck

Gurriel

Hernandez

Jansen

Pearson

Phelps

Ray

Roark

Ryu

Semien

Springer

Stripling

Tellez

Vlad

Yates

Some notes and observations:

These players appeared on only two ballots. Enter the longshots.

Davis

Hatch

Thornton

We are just happy Trent found the time this offseason to remove the molar sized bone chips from his elbow. God damn, that sounds like it might affect your ability to launch a projectile multiple times from your hand every few days.

How about the longershot that is still live as of posting day? We present the breakfast egg combo Jake Overeasy nee Odorizzi. Any SP on the market just has to be looking for a multi year deal still. If he relents and Rogers ponies up, this wildcard could pay off huge. Isn’t likely but we love competitors that go big or go home.

Cult hero Kirk and his 24 career at bats was only selected on three ballots. Guess nobody reads TSN’s baseball coverage. That’s a good thing and we’re proud to call you all friends.

The first three ballots are all identical. We will consider this to be the favourite out of the gates.

Team Gregor

13-11

Chatwood

Cole

Liriano

Matz

McGuire

Panik

Romano

Bringing the street cred to the challenge once again is Gregor. Be sure to check out his detailed thought process behind his ballot in the Toronto Star.

Team: Homeless AKA The Wanderers

14-10

Chatwood

Cole

Lirinao

Matz

McGuire

Panik

Romano

Clint with the added piece of flair on the team name. We do very much appreciate the effort.

Team Sweden

14-14-2

Chatwood

Cole

Liriano

Matz

McGuire

Panik

Romano

We believe this is the only rookie in the challenge this year. You’re in good company having the same ballot as Gregor and Clint. No offence but we kinda hope you don’t win so we can avoid the shipping charges to Sweden.

Team I Like Nuts

14-11

Cole

Espinal

Hatch

Kay

Matz

McGuire

Merryweather

Thanks for not taking Romano or Chatwood! We enjoyed typing out their names 12 times instead of just once!

Team Go Nuts, Lugnuts

16-11-1

Chatwood

Davis

Kirk

Matz

Merryweather

Romano

Thornton

Jesse Goldberg-Strassler gave us a ballot for old times sake. Can’t begrudge the only Canadian MLB team wanting to keep the only MILB team under their development umbrella but we will miss our Lugnuts and Jesse dearly.

Team Hall of Fame

14-14

Chatwood

Davis

Espinal

Kay

Matz

Merryweather

Romano

Shout out to St. Mary’s finest for the ballot again this year. Everyone be sure to support the Hall of Fame if you’re able to. This place is a baseball wonderland.

Team Last Row 500’s

16-11-1

Chatwood

Cole

Kay

Kirk

Matz

Panik

Romano

Our boy tried to go old school on us and only submit a 25 man ballot. Good thing the quality control team caught it before the deadline. That’s what happened. For real.

Team Jaysaremysecondfavouriteteam

17-12

Chatwood

Kay

Matz

McGuire

Odorizzi

Panik

Romano

Here’s the big games hunter’s ballot in all it’s glory.

Team Slaycock

14-14

Chatwood

Cole

Liriano

Kirk

Matz

Panik

Romano

What up Slaycock?

Team The Ant Farm

15-12

Chatwood

Cole

Hatch

McGuire

Panik

Romano

Thornton

No Matz? No problem!

Team MLBDepthCharts

16-12

Chatwood

Kay

Matz

McGuire

Merryweather

Panik

Romano

Jason does this type of work for Fangraphs and does it very well.

Team @1BJW

15-10-1

Chatwood

Cole

Matz

McGuire

Merryweather

Panik

Romano

You’re looking at the winner right there. Book it.

Team Jimmy Triggs

14-14

Chatwood

Cole

Espinal

Liriano

Matz

McGuire

Romano

Friend of the site Jimmy Triggs sent his ballot over in an interesting format.

Apologies for the confusion on the tiebreaker, that being the spring training game totals. This year they’re all over the map. Blame the league, not us.

Good luck to all those that took the time to submit a ballot!

Update: 26 Man Roster Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:59:00 +0000

Roster Challenge Deadline Countdown

We just wanted to take a moment and provide a few updates:

MLB has gone with the east coast / west coast set up for the Grapefruit league as previously reported. As such, your Toronto Blue Jays will "attempt" to play 28 official spring games this year, with no split squad games mixed in. Please adjust your tiebreaker accordingly!

Expect to see a lot of the Skankees, Tigers, Phillies, Pirates and Orioles in March. Within those five clubs you have possibly three of the worst teams in baseball; thankfully, spring training games are generally decided by the depth of a roster and not just their MLB-level talent, so let's all look forward to some crazy town beyond the 5th inning.

Presenting our non-roster #SpringTraining invitees! 📝 pic.twitter.com/LvXwBVjwri
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 13, 2021

Some interesting names wearing some very high jersey numbers right there!

Infielder Joe Panik and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a minor league deal, a source tells ESPN. If he makes the team, he'll have a base salary of $1.85 million and can make another $400,000 in incentives.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2021

Joe Panik is back on an MILB deal again. He just has to make the squad again, doesn't he?

David Phelps signing is official.

Derek Fisher has been DFA’d.#BlueJays
— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) February 11, 2021

David Phelps is back again too, but he gets an MLB deal and will surely round out a sneaky good bullpen. The Fisher Cat finally (thank fuck) ran out of 40 man roster lives.

ROSTER MOVE: We’ve claimed RHP Joel Payamps off waivers from the Red Sox.

To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Shun Yamaguchi has been designated for assignment. pic.twitter.com/SLpYEjaglg
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 11, 2021

Poor Shun. He never really got a chance to right the ship after a terrible start to a shortened season.

Random #bluejays thought...with each passing day, as roster continues to take shape, I feel more and more like it'll be 14 P's and 12 pos players. Since Semien can play SS, don't need a traditional utility IF. I think they're 1 SP and 1 part-time bat away from being set.
— Dan Shulman (@DShulman_ESPN) February 12, 2021

When a Hall of Fame type broadcaster weights in on the player/pitcher split, you should probably take note.

We have already received our first ballot and hope more of you join in on the fun this year!

26 Man Roster Challenge - Take 2

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 23:24:00 +0000

We have been putting off this challenge for a few weeks in hopes that the Players Association and MLB got their shit together with regards to the basic rules of play for the upcoming, fast-approaching season. Heck, we finally just got an official reporting date for players. Super great planning, team! We really should have known better.

At this point, it appears that MLB has ~~decided to go~~ been forced to go with 26-man rosters again this season. There does not appear to be a number limit on how many pitchers can be carried on a staff, so we could see a three-man bench to open the season.

For those who don’t know, The 26-Man Roster Challenge is a super simple game that has but one requirement: Name the 26 baseball players within the Blue Jays organization who will crack the opening day roster.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com
Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.
Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.
Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

In the event of a tie—and, at this point, it's pretty much a given that there will be a tie—we ask that you also give us a prediction of what you think the spring training record will be for the boys in baby blue. From what we can see, it appears as though your Toronto Blue Jays will attempt to play 32 spring training games this year. Guess the annual test match/face fucking of the Canadian Junior National Team got COVID’d. We can’t have the best and brightest young stars of this great nation having to take two weeks off baseball activities to quarantine upon their return. We should mention there has also been talk of a "modified" East/West coast Grapefruit league schedule in the mix. Tupac and Biggie would be so impressed! If the spring schedule does get changed after the deadline, we will allow contestants who have entered a valid ballot to change their tiebreaker, if they so choose.

MLB in process of finalizing revised Grapefruit League schedule, placing teams in separate “pods” on east and west coasts of Florida, sources tell me and @MattGelb. West-coast teams in FL will play 28 games and east-coast teams 24, making up rest with intrasquad-type matchups.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2021

Try not to forget that sometimes it rains actual water, not just the virus from the sky in Florida, and the games don't generally get made up if they are cancelled. There is also a chance that if a game goes to extra innings and one team runs out of pitchers, both teams agree that the game ends in a tie.

Some things to consider:

Finally we have a legit MLB roster! Position battles might actually be decided by who can best help the team win baseball games instead of all the other behind-the-scenes stuff involved in roster construction.

Derek Fisher, Julian Merryweather and Reese ‘The Parking Lot Prowler” McGuire are all out of options and need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers. That’s a nice three pack of players to consider. The Fisher Cat has got to be down to just a life or two left on his nine lives with this club. The fact that he hasn’t been cut yet means he probably has naked pics of Atkins and that he heads north as the little-used back up to the back up OF. He does have great handedness, so there’s that. McGuire can’t hit at all, and the pudgy Mexican can—a lot. You’d have to think it’s best that Kirk plays every day somewhere at this point in his development curve, but, if we are going to play for wins this year, the ones in April count the same as the ones in September. Merryweather has been stretching out as a starter this offseason for some reason, but you just have to think there’s a spot in the pen as a leverage arm or maybe a multi-inning piggyback type role pairing up with Ray or Matz. Shit, he could be a sensational opener, for that matter. Point being, he certainly gets a spot if he’s healthy.

What happens to Rowdy? If we are truly “all in,” that lefty power bat will be mighty useful late in a close ball game, even if it’s just as a deterrent. There are a few impact free agents still available on the market, so selecting a player for your ballot that currently isn’t in the organization is a viable strategy. There is the Marwin Gonzalez rumour that just won't seem to die. He would be a versatile piece that could allow for a short bench to be used right out of the gates. And, hey, why not add another cheater to the roster? Too soon?

As always, the dreaded minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to be mentioned and considered. A.J. Cole and Francisco Liriano probably have a shot at the bullpen, but the rest are pretty yuck, except maybe old friend Richard Urena. He could be the back up INF for this team if the brain trust chooses to keep down Santiago Espinal as depth.

Prizes:

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. We’re still searching for the elusive perfect ballot. It would be swell if this is the year!

Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker. The deadline to submit ballots is February 17th @ 11:59PM EST.

1BJW Interview: RHP Jacob Waguespack

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Floyd) — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 14:09:00 +0000

Waguespack in 2016, image- Jay Floyd

Hello, Jays fans. It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you...without a dope post to step to. Think of how many weak blogs you've slept through. Time's up. Sorry I've kept you.

It's Jay and I'm back on 1BJW with an exclusive interview. This time around, I talked with righty hurler Jacob Waguespack about how he kept the rust off during the Coronavirus hiatus, his time with the Blue Jays to date and more.

The 26-year-old was acquired in a deal at the 2018 trading deadline that sent Aaron Loup to the Phillies.

Last year "Wagz" made his big league debut for Toronto, posting a 5-5 record with a 4.38 ERA, a .249 batting average against along with a 7.3 K/9 mark. He was off to a strong start during the spring exhibition season this year, prior to the sport being halted. In five appearances, Waguespack did not allow an earned run.

Read ahead for the full interview...

-Can you share some feedback on your strong efforts this spring before the pandemic hiatus and can you still come back with momentum following the long break?

Overall, I think we as team created a good vibe in the clubhouse so we as team were feeling good coming out of spring, and I think that'll be the same this time around.

-How were you staying in shape and keeping the rust off during the hiatus? Who were you able to work with, if anyone?

Luckily, my next door neighbor is a catcher at my old high school, and him and I would throw, work out, do bullpens, etcetera. His name is Payton.

-That sounds awesome. What did it mean to him to be able to catch bullpens with a big leaguer? Or have you guys known one another so long that he doesn't see you that way?

We actually are recent neighbors so it hasn't been too long. But he's a pretty even keel guy, so it was normal from the start.

-Does throwing with a young guy like that bring back any of that younger, hungrier mindset for you?

Nah, it more so just made me appreciate the journey because I could see myself in him.

-How did you spend your down time during the break? Where you watching TV, playing games?

I watched a few shows like most did, and played video games as well. Enjoyed cutting my grass a lot.

-Has there been anyone in the Jays systems that's been a big help to you or that you've learned a lot from so far?

Not anyone in particular, but the Jays as a whole have incredible people in the organization who've helped me a good bit.

-Your MLB rookie card is out in this year's Topps Series 1 collection. Is that a big deal to you and your family and have you gotten any of them?

I have a couple that were given to me. My family and I were pretty excited about it. Something you dream of as a kid.

-What do you like most about Toronto?

Toronto is a big city with some of the nicest people. There's a good feel to it.

-Playing for the Blue Jays now, have you become a full-fledged Toronto sports fan, rooting for the Leafs and the Raptors as well?

I was pretty fired up when the Raptors won it all. The city of Toronto was buzzing big time. I'll definitely root for those teams.

-With the shortened season, do you think it can be more any team's year as opposed to the longer, more traditional season?

I think it'll provide some opportunities to a lot of teams. Like most, I think the short season is a sprint and any team can have success.

Roster Challenge Reboot

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 15:27:00 +0000

Christ it's already not up to date!

Who’s up for some crazy town? We were going to just bang the 26 Man Roster Challenge this year and be done with it, but you have to give the people what they want.

So we will forge ahead into the unknown, heavy on the gas pedal but with a foot hovering over the brakes, throwing caution to the wind so to speak. Your Toronto Blue Jays will attempt to field a 30 man roster in just over three weeks time, so let’s all try to guess what that will look like.

Normally this would be the part of the post where we list a whole bunch of rules and tiebreaker criteria and prizes, but that’s not really how the summer camp will proceed. The boys just landed in Toronto and the second wave of players are scheduled for a Saturday arrival.

Since there are no fake games that will be played it’s going to be pretty hard to use that as our tiebreaker. So fuck the tiebreaker. Just pick 30 names and your ballot is valid. We assume there will probably be a tie between contestants but what can you really do at this point?

In the spirit of small sample sizes and arbitrary end points the deadline to submit your ballot will be July 20^th at midnight because why shouldn’t it be? That gives us all time to see who failed the “physical” and such. Keep an eye on that restricted list.

All previous ballots submitted are null and void, so if you had one in the Challenge from before please resubmit 30 fresh names.

Strategy Talk:

Ya right, good luck with that. It’s all on the table this time around…..6 man rotations, 10 plus man bullpens, carrying 3 catchers, 6 man OF and on and on it goes. I’m sure there are a few players out of options or on minor league deals that will probably sneak in the opening day roster for a week until Big Nate finishes his adventure exploring the mountains but this entire MLB season will be a shitshow so don’t blame us if your pick gets fucked by service time or illness or injury or opts out of playing this year or whatever the hell else you can conjure up.

The owners are really poor all of a sudden, don’t ya know?

And with that we’re ready to rock, good luck to all that join in on the fun and if by some miracle there is an outright winner, we will hook them up with something Jays related as a prize. If you are interested in rolling the dice you have the following ways to get your ballot in.

1. Send us an email 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

2. Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

3. Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or in the reminder(s) we post later.

4. Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

And They're Off

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sun, 23 Feb 2020 15:13:00 +0000

Another spring training has come and yet another Roster Challenge is upon us. Apologies for the late roll out, if the Jays could schedule their start dates around my vacation plans moving forward, that would be preferable.

Onto the fast facts about this year's 26 Man Roster Challenge:

15 ballots were submitted prior to the deadline, down from 25 submitted last year. Need that retweet from the Bluejay Hunter on deadline day we reckon.

16 names appear on every ballot – shows to us the core of the roster has become more stable.

4 names appear on only 1 ballot

2/3 of the ballots like Thornton in the SP5 race. Hope he learned how to not tip pitches this winter.

Two contestants were scared off last minute by the Parking Lot Prowler.

To see all the ballots, click here

This is a list of the players that all contestants selected to make the opening day roster:

Anderson

Bichette

Biggio

Fisher

Font

Giles

Grichuk

Guerrero

Gurriel

Hernandez

Jansen

Roark

Ryu

Shaw

Shoemaker

Yamaguchi

Here is a list of the players that only one single contestant selected to make the roster:

Bergen

Luciano

Moran

Tejada

These are the wild cards. If anyone from this list makes the team, that ballot will be tough to beat. And with that out of the way, let’s get to the ballots!

Team Gregor:

15-17

Gregor switched gigs but remained a stalwart in the roster challenge. He did a deep dive in the Toronto Star, check it out!

Team MLBDepthCharts:

19-14

Former champion is back and looking to reclaim the crown.

Team Our Boy Jesse

11-18-2

The current MILB broadcaster of the year has joined in on the fun. Glad to have you Jesse!

Team Bluejay Hunter:

15-18

Team Hall of Fame:

15-15

Head honcho Scott is talking a big game this year. Hope you can back it up for a change pal.

Jays Are My 2nd Favorite Team

13-19

Team Jimmy Triggs:

16-16

Was this worth the wait? Doubtful.

Team Squints Palledorous:

19-14

A close second on the unofficial best team name award.

Team Pending Medicals:

14-16

And the winner of said award.

Team Last Row 500’s:

14-17

The only other ballot then mine to take Dull. Damn you.

Team The Ant Farm:

17-15

This ballot contains only 25 names. Old habits die hard it seems. Bold strategy!

Team Weiner:

17-16

Team Elvis Has NOT Left The Building:

17-14

Rule V guy no more. No matter, according to this ballot.

Team I Like Nuts:

13-16

Mrs. 1BJW couldn’t decide on the 5th starter so she just took them all.

Team 1BJW:

14-17-1

My Moran pick is a longshot but I like the numbers and “handedness”

Thanks to all the contestants for taking the time to submit a ballot and good luck to those that took Borucki. He’s already got an ouchie in the wing.

Slapdick Reminder Post

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 23:14:00 +0000

26 Man Roster Challenge Deadline Countdown

Get those ballots in! If you need a refresher on the rules, click here.

Good luck to all!

26(!) Man Roster Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 21:56:00 +0000

Courtesy of the Blue Jay Hunter

Challenge Update!

MLB has decided to go with 26-man rosters this season, so I guess we have to as well. I mean, why not up the degree of difficulty? It's not like anyone in the 10 years we've been running this bad boy has nailed the perfect ballot anyways.

Apparently there will be a cap on the number of pitchers that teams are allowed to carry, but, as far as we can tell, there has been nothing official from MLB yet. Hopefully they get around to doing that before the deadline to submit ballots, which is February 12th @ 11:59PM EST, but we kinda want them not to, just to see the chaos that would create for this challenge.

#BlueJays spring training dates.
Pitchers and catchers report: Thursday, Feb. 13.
First full team workout: Monday, Feb. 17.
Grapefruit League opener: Saturday, Feb. 22 at Yankees in Tampa.
First game at renovated TD Ballpark: Monday, Feb. 24 vs. Braves.
— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) November 9, 2019

For those that don’t know, The 26-Man Roster Challenge is a super simple game that has but one requirement: Name the 26 baseball players within the Blue Jays organization who will crack the opening day roster.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it really isn’t. If you decide to play, there are 4 ways to submit your ballot:

Send us an email: 1bluejaysway(at)gmail.com

Make a post on your blog, if you have one, and send us a link.

Add your ballot to the comments section of this post, or the reminder(s) we post later.

Twitter ballots will be accepted @1BJW

Try not to forget that sometimes it rains in Florida, and the games don't generally get made up if they are cancelled. There is also a chance that if a game goes to extra innings and one team runs out of pitchers, both teams agree that the game ends in a tie.

It is not a requirement that you select a tie breaker—all ballots containing 26 names on it will be considered valid—but it is a very good idea that you do include one. Over the years, we have had numerous stupid-close finishes, and we actually had to break it right down to winning percentage. We have only had one outright winner in 10 years.

Some things to consider:

Anthony Alford, Anthony Bass and Breyvic Valera are all out of options and need to head north with the team or risk being lost on waivers. Bass is likely a lock for the bullpen because it appears as though the brain trust forgot about it this off-season. There are plenty of replacement-level guys still available on the market, so selecting a player for your ballot that currently isn’t in the organization is a viable strategy.

Also, isn’t this extra player slot perfect for Alford^? Fifth OF type who can play D and run like a scared dear. Just spitballing. Scott Mitchell at TSN did a piece on this topic, as did Keegan Matheson, (sort of) over at MLB if you want to see some early insider takes.

As always, the dreaded minor-league-deal-with-an-invite-to-spring-training needs to be mentioned and considered. A.J. Cole and Ryan Dull probably have a shot at the bullpen, but the rest are pretty yuck.

OFFICIAL: We’ve signed the following players to Minor League deals with invites to #SpringTraining. pic.twitter.com/7GEfbRNpfE
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) January 20, 2020

Prizes:

Good luck to all who decide to join in on the fun this year. Please include a team name and a tiebreaker. Do NOT forget the tiebreaker.

We have a winner!

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 17:02:00 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing your #OpeningDay 25-man roster! #LetsGoBlueJays pic.twitter.com/dF4voNFcnl
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 28, 2019

So I was planning on doing at least one update post on the Challenge. Then the bullpen imploded and there were way too many scenarios that could play out.

I even did a first run of potential winners before the Morales deal and we had a single winner! But of course that didn't happen. So, yeah.

He does look good in green!

In the end, 4 ballots out of the 25 submitted had 19 out of the 25 players correct.

As usual, the tiebreaker played a large role in determining an outright winner. Your Toronto Blue Jays played to a spring record of 14-15-2 with 2 rainouts. That works out a .484 winning percentage.

The championship round looked like this:

Team Barss 17-14 .548

I Like Nuts 18-10-3 .630

@FiZ687 19-14 .576

@ccharles9900 No tiebreaker .000

Congratulations to Team Barss for winning the 10th annual 25 Man Roster Challenge! A crazy spring training and sure to be a crazy year. Buckle up y'all.

10th Annual 25 Man Roster Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 23:45:00 +0000

When we think back to how this thing began, and then to what it has come to be now, we are quite proud. In the first year of this blog, we were scrambling every damn day to post something about our beloved Toronto Blue Jays. It totally sucked. But out of desperation comes the occasional hint of brilliance, and the 25 Man Roster Challenge was born. In it's early form, only the four contributors to the site were invited to submit a ballot, and they each had to do an individual post on their ballot. Content is king, baby!

Who can forget the 2013 edition and it's stupid close finish? I mean, 0.001% close. From that challenge the modified tiebreaker was adopted as the gold standard, and it's still in use today.

In the 5th annual challenge, a writer who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown tossed in a ballot and we got the feeling this thing had begun to have some reach.

How about the Jay Bruce gong show? I mean, Kenny dropped a bombshell with just over two hours until the deadline. Literally ten minutes after the deadline, the rumour was shot down and the deal was dead.

But enough reminiscing. Onto the fast facts about this year's 25 Man Roster Challenge:

25 ballots were submitted prior to the deadline
Only 11 names appear on every ballot
A record 46 different players were picked
10 names appear on only 1 ballot
Vlad was picked on multiple ballots

MOST IMPORTANTLY: We believe we have actually found a way to roll out this monster challenge in an efficient way.

click here

This is a list of the players that all contestants selected to make the opening day roster:

Ryan Borucki (nobody is buying the "(he) will be competing for the fifth spot" nonsense)
New guy Galvis
100 miles Giles
Grich
Gurriel Jr
Jansen
Mayza (really?)
Morales
Smoaky
Stro
Tepera

Here is a list of the players that only one single contestant selected to make the roster:

Danny Barnes
Neftali Feliz
Gio Gonzalez
Javy Guerra
Dan Jennings
Reese McGuire
Ervin Santana
Dwight Smith Jr
Eric Sogard
Nick Vincent

That's completely rando. We love it! Unfortunately, one guy has already signed with somebody else. It might be over before it has even begun.....

@1BJW well there goes my roster https://t.co/UyofJ6QWf8
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) February 15, 2019

And, finally, the teams and tiebreakers, which is a guess of what the spring training record will end at in late March. Click on the link above to see the full ballots if you're interested.

Many thanks and good luck to all who joined in!

Team Ant

9 - 22 - 1

@1BJW

15-17-1

@ccharles9900

No tiebreaker

No tiebreaker? Rookie move.

Team Unknown

18-10-1

If this team wins I don't even know who you are.

Jays Are My 2nd Favourite Team

10-20

@gosensgo101

14-16-2

@gregorMLB

15-17

Shout out to the lead beat writer for joining in once again.

Team Hall of Fame

15-15

What up Scottie C?

Team Last Row 500’s

18-15

@FiZ687

19-14

Jimmy Triggs
16-16

I Like Nuts
18-10-3

Mrs 1BJW is the true brains of the operation.

Team Mr. Defending Champion, Sir

17-13

Back again to reclaim glory.

Team BJH

20-12

A retweet on the eve of the deadline from the Blue Jay Hunter is a powerful thing. Much obliged.

Team Slaycock

12-19

Team Shaw

14-17

Team Middaugh

12-17

The Axford Files:

14-17

*Submitted their ballot at 6:40pm, then Heyman tweet at 8:44pm. All times approximate, Clint.

John Axford is close to a deal to return to his hometown Toronto Blue Jays, which is where he’s said he wanted to be
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 14, 2019

Elvis is in the Building

15-16

Team Jerome

14-17

Team Holmes

19-14

@Minor_Leaguer

17-14-1

Threw a dart with the Jennings selection. Criticize it all you want, but that's how you win this damn thing.

@MLBDepthcharts

19-14

Could be the best website in the history of ever.

@ohkstan

17-15

Very much enjoyed the follow-up chat on the merits of keeping Pompey for a week.

Team Barss

17-14

Roster Challenge Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (The Man With The Golden Arm) — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 23:44:00 +0000

Consider this a friendly reminder that the 10th annual 25 Man Roster Challenge is about to pop off. We have a few ballots already in and Gregor has made it real easy for you by dropping this column yesterday. Some interesting nuggets in there.

We have also been collecting some relevant roster type info and will roll it out in the interest of fair play and sportsmanship.

Blue Jays internal non-roster invitees to Major League camp pic.twitter.com/uCzlrPFZGg
— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) January 26, 2019

RHP Danny Barnes has cleared waivers and outrighted to Buffalo (AAA) and will report to Major League camp as a non-roster invitee.
— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) February 5, 2019

Updated look at #BlueJays' projected position players to open season...
C - Jansen, Maile
1B - Smoak
2B - Travis
3B - Drury
SS - Galvis
IF - Gurriel Jr.
LF - Hernandez / McKinney
CF - Pillar
RF - Grichuk
DH - Morales
That would leave room for 5 starters & an 8-man bullpen.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 29, 2019

If you require a refresher on the rules, prizes, tiebreaker etc. click here.

Good luck to all that join in on the fun!