The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays (Expanded Roster of 26 for the 2025 Post-Season) - by Moses

 

  Manager - John Schneider

  

  Final Season Record - 94-68 (1st Overall in the American League) 

  Pitching Staff

  Starters

  1.  Kevin Gausman

  2.  Trey Yesavage 

  3.  Shane Bieber

  4.  Max Scherzer

  

  Relievers

  1.  Eric Lauer (LHP)

  2.  Chris Bassitt   

  3.  Braydon Fisher

  4.  Mason Fluharty (LHP)

  5.  Brendon Little (LHP) 

  6.  Louis Varland

  7.  Yariel Rodrguez

  8.  Seranthony Dominguez

  9.  Jeff Hoffman 

  Batting Order vs Righties

  1.  Nathan Lukes (RF) bats left

  2.  Daulton Varsho (CF) bats left

  3.  Vlad Guerrero Jr. (1B)

  4.  George Springer (DH)

  5.  Addison Barger (3B) bats left    

  6.  Alejandro Kirk (C)

  7.  Joey Loperfido (LF) bats left

  8.  Ernie Clement (2B/3B)

  9.  Andres Gimenez (SS/2B) bats left 

  

  Batting Order vs Lefties

  1.  George Springer (DH)

  2.  Davis Schneider (LF/2B) 

  3.  Vlad Guerrero Jr. (1B)

  4.  Alejandro Kirk (C)  

  5.  Ernie Clement (3B/2B)

  6.  Daulton Varsho (CF) bats left

  7.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/3B)

  8.  Myles Straw (RF)

  9. Andres Gimenez (SS/2B) bats left

  

  Bench

  1.  Tyler Heineman (C) bats both

  2.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa (3B/2B)  

  3.  Joey Loperfido (OF) bats left

 

  Injured Reserve

  1.  Bo Bichette (SS)

  2.  Jose Berrios (RHP) 

  3.  Anthony Santander (OF - bats both)

MLB Awards - Moses (a.k.a Stacey Marc Goldman)

 

  Predictions for Awards and Post-Season in MLB for the '25 Campaign

  

  American League MVP Award - 1.  Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners)

                                                         2.  Aaron Judge (New York Yankees)

                                                         3.  Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals)    

                                                         4.  Bo Bichette (Toronto Blue Jays)

                                                         5.  Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Guardians)

                                                         6.  Garrett Crochet (Boston Red Sox LHP) 

                                                         7.  Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers LHP)

                                                         8.  George Springer (Toronto Blue Jays)

                                                         9.  Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox LHP)

                                                       10.  Nick Kurtz (Oakland Athletics)

                                                         

  American League Cy Young Award - 1.  Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers)

                                                                 2.  Garrett Crochet (Boston Red Sox LHP)

                                                                 3.  Max Fried (New York Yankees LHP)     

                                                                 4.  Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox)                                                                                                                                LHP)                                                                                   5.  Hunter Brown (Houston Astros)

                                                                 6.  Bryan Woo (Seattle Mariners)

                                                                 7.  Andres Munoz (Seattle Mariners)

                                                                 8.  Jacob deGrom (Texas Rangers)

                                                                 9.  Carlos Rodon (New York Yankees LHP)

                                                                10. Carlos Estevez (Kansas City Royals)                                

  American League Rookie of the Year - 1.  Nick Kurtz (Oakland Athletics)

                                                                    2.  Jacob Wilson (Oakland Athletics)

                                                                    3.  Braydon Fisher (Toronto Blue Jays                                                                                                                                       RHP)  

                                                                    4.  Chandler Simpson (Tampa Bay Rays)     

                                                                    5.  Noah Cameron (Kansas City Royals                                                                                                                                    LHP)

                                                                    6.  Colson Montgomery (Chicago White                                                                                                         Sox)

                                                                    7.  Carlos Narvaez (Boston Red Sox)  

                                                                    8.  Roman Anthony (Boston Red Sox)

                                                                    9.  Jasson Dominguez (New York Yankees)  

                                                                  10.  Will Warren (New York Yankees RHP)                                                                                                                                                                 

     

  National League MVP Awards - 1.  Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers)

                                                         2.  Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies)

                                                         3.  Pete Alonso (New York Mets)

                                                         4.  Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies)

                                                         5.  Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers)

                                                         6.  Adrian Morejon (San Diego Padres                                                                                                                                   LHP)                                                                               7.  Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers)

                                                         8.  Corbin Carroll (Arizona Diamondbacks)

                                                         9.  Francisco Lindor (New York Mets)

                                                       10.  Nico Hoerner (Chicago Cubs)                

                                                      

  National League Cy Young Award - 1.  Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates) 

                                                               2.  Freddy Peralta (Milwaukee Brewers) 

                                                               3.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto (L.A Dodgers)

                                                               4.  Cristopher Sanchez (Philadelphia Phillies                                                                                                            LHP)

                                                               5.  Adrian Morejon (San Diego Padres                                                                                                                       LHP)                                                                                            6.  Nick Pivetta (San Diego Padres)  

                                                               7.  Robert Suarez (San Diego Padres)                                                                                                                                                                                                                              8.  Logan Webb (San Francisco Giants)

                                                               9.  Matthew Boyd (Chicago Cubs LHP)

                                                              10. Jhoan Duran (Min/Phillies)                                        

  National League Rookie of the Year Award - 1.  Drake Baldwin (Atlanta Braves)

                                                                              2.  Cade Horton (Chicago Cubs                                                                                                                       RHP) 

                                                                              3.  Jack Dreyer (Los Angeles Dodgers                                                                                                                                    LHP)                                                                                  4.  Agustin Ramirez (Miami Marlins)

                                                                              5.  Daylen Lile (Washington                                                                                                                             Nationals)

                                                                              6.  Isaac Collins (Milwaukee                                                                                                                           Brewers)

                                                                              7.  Caleb Durbin (Milwaukee                                                                                                                           Brewers) 

                                                                              8.  Heriberto Hernandez (Miami                                                                                                                     Marlins)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               9.  Jacob Misiorowski                                                                                                          (Milwaukee Brewers RHP)

                                                                            10.  Chad Patrick (Milwaukee                                                                                                                            Brewers RHP)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                World Series Prediction - Toronto Blue Jays over the Philadelphia Phillies

                                               Four Games to Two Games                                                                                             

Slavery in America (Chattle) - by Moses (a.k.a Stacey Marc Goldman)

 

      In the Civil War of America in the 1850's-1865, slavery was the main issue as to why the North had to win the War against the South.  As President of the U.S.A, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery as a result of winning the Civil War.  Has enslavement really been defeated?

  Look at the cause and effect of the end of the Civil War in 1865.  It was 1883 in America when a Professional Team playing for Toledo, Ohio had a 'Black' Catcher on their team by the name of Moses Fleetwood Walker.  As the first 'Black' man in Professional Sports in America, Walker was a four letter man out of Ohio University and a stud on the diamond.  It was Cap Anson (playing for a Kentucky Major League Team) who was competing against Moses Fleetwood Walker who refused to play against Toledo that day (in Kentucky) citing the State Segregatory Law as sufficient reasoning to dis-allow 'Blacks' and 'Whites' from competing with or against each-other.  How is this representative of the ending of America's Civil War?

  In 1947, it was Jackie Robinson who broke the colour barrier and became the first 'Black' to win the N.L MVP Award, which he accomplished in 1949.  As 'Blacks' started to be implemented in American Professional Sports it was thought of to have been dealt with respect to societal, by the end of the 1950's (conservative, so perhaps by the end of the sixties to see a parity of the 'Black' Ballplayer in MLB).  

  In Canada and the U.S.A in the 1950's, players from the NHL started the Pension Fund forming a Players Union to combat low salaries with no benefits.  Professional Baseball followed suit in 1970, when Curt Flood (a 'Black') challenged the reserve clause in Major League Baseball to become the first MLB Free-Agent.  His claim was denied by an arbitrator in 1972 and Free Agency had to be challenged again by the Major League Baseball Players Union Chief, Marvin Miller.  He was successful in the claim for Andy Messersmith (a 'White') to become the first Major League Free-Agent in 1975.

  When we look at the contracts that are currently being handed out, is it really fair to tie someone down to a locale for more than seven years (as Jewish Law states after seven years a contract can be considered slavery)?  The idea of Chattle (a Yiddish word for enslavement) has never really been taken out of the equation.  How is this representative of what America and Canada stand for from Political and Professional attitudes of our neutral positions like our blog 'Midgard Journal'. This counteracts everything we stand for (by our set of beliefs) in a secularized society.  To further interest into Jim Crow Politics across America, just to re-iterate a dominance to the 'Black' man and trying to push segregatory laws at a time when this could just erupt the United States of America into their next Civil War.  I sure as hell won't stand by for this to be the case in my Homeland of Canada, as some of my closest friends are African Canadian and I sure wouldn't discriminate against gathering at a function of mine (a party for example).      

  

Ken Dryden - by Moses (a.k.a Stacey Marc Goldman)

      One of the greatest goaltenders of all-time.  Ken Dryden, from Islington/Lakeshore in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, was perhaps the greatest goaltender of all-time.  Out of Cornell as a standout goalie he was dominating at those ranks with 76 Wins 4 Losses and 1 Tie.  Dryden was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1964 and traded to the Montreal Canadiens two weeks later.  In 1970/71 Dryden excelled for AHL affiliate Montreal Voyageurs and was again dominating, and was brought to the Canadiens for the playoffs of 1970/71.  He was the Canadiens goalie for the playoffs taking home the Conn Smythe trophy in victory for Montreal that year (after going 6-0 in his first six games in net at the end of the regular season).  He was sent the next year to compete, (alongside Tony Esposito), as a starting Goaltender for Team Canada in the '72 Summit Series.  In fact it was Ken Dryden in net for Team Canada in game eight (as he was chosen over Esposito for that start in Russia).  Victorious in the series for Canada over Vladislav Tretiak and the U.S.S.R, Dryden showed why he was sent to represent Canada.

  When Dryden resumed in the NHL he led his Canadiens to another Stanley Cup in 1972/73 and four Stanley Cups in a row between 1976-1979.  In just eight full years in the NHL Dryden won an incredible 6 Stanley Cups.  In fact, in Dryden's pedigree, he won the Calder Trophy in his first full season of 1971/72 and won the Vezina Trophy an astonishing five times in eight full years in the NHL (including each year from 1976-79 - coinciding with winning the Stanley Cup each year).

  What made Ken Dryden so revered in our Nation of Canada was that he was a visionary of how a big man should play net, and how teams should approach the game.  At 6 foot 4 Dryden was the biggest goalie in the game when he played and was a true visionary of what hockey teams are made of - his leadership was followed by Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Doug Jarvis, Bob Gainey, Mario Tremblay, Rejean Houle, Pierre Mondou, and Guy Lapointe (among many others likewise).  Towards the end of Ken Dryden's career he went back to Cornell to finish a law degree that he deemed necessary to explore (while still in his prime), to satisfy his ideas of how to pay the community back.  Ken worked as an Attorney of Law for years and eventually became President of Hockey Operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs, guiding the Leafs to two Semi-Final appearances (Conference Finals) from 1997-2003 and two Conference Semi-Finals during this span. 

   Ken got into politics in 2004 as a Cabinet Minister of Social Development for the Federal Government.  He later achieved a riding placement in North York, Ontario which he served for years after 2006, a year in which he was an active Cabinet Member as Health Critic.  His last few years he battled cancer and didn't put that to people, but lived through what he had to live through.  He died last week at the age of 78. 

   His passing was felt all across this Country of Canada and while a Toronto Maple Leafs fan like myself would root for my Toronto Maple Leafs in a game against Dryden's Canadiens, I would not detract from any accomplishment in bad blood towards Dryden's Canadiens (for the folklore of the game with respect to the greats of the game).  When I was 16 I read Dryden's autobiography 'The Game' and learned from what Ken Dryden put in print.  The book was descriptive and talked about all the relationships the man had with his fellow teammates and talked in depth of his rationale and reasoning behind why he would leave the game he loved to explore the greater good for his Nation of Canada.  Ken Dryden once said that Jacques Lemaire was the most tenacious Hockey Player he ever saw play.  He also said Doug Jarvis was the most genuine of all his teammates, and considered Guy Lafleur to be the greatest right winger of all-time.  All told Ken Dryden wrote six books in his writing career.

  In the 1980 Winter Olympics  in Lake Placid, it was Dryden in the booth with Al Michaels on the network ABC that were the commentators of the finals between the U.S.A and U.S.S.R.  It is my contention that as a visionary of the game of Hockey he was instrumental to the U.S.A's success in winning the Gold Medal Game against the powerful Soviet Red Army that year.  It was Dryden's contention that the U.S.A needed to score soon to win that Gold Medal game in the Third Period (after some mad Soviet rushes), an observation that was met with a quick goal by the U.S  (essentially winning them the game).  Ken Dryden put his stamp in the Hockey World, as an Attorney of Law, and as a Politician - sadly we have lost one of our greatest Canadian Legends.  Ken Dryden and his brother Dave Dryden were both NHL goalies (Dave with the Oilers in the WHA and some years in the NHL prior to joining the WHA).  They faced off against each-other eight times over their careers (the only time two brothers have ever faced off in games as rival goalies - twice in the playoffs) and were one of the most proud Hockey families in the history of the game.  While this may seem to be trivial I would summarize that the Dryden's were perhaps the most respected Hockey Families of all-time.  Over his career, Ken Dryden had 258 Wins - 57 Losses - 74 Ties with 46 Shutouts, a lifetime 2.24 Goals Against Average and a lifetime .922 Save % in a time when .895 was accepted to be fantastic (as League Standards).  His playoff career was likewise stellar, in which he won 80 games and lost only 32 with 10 Shutouts.  Ken Dryden's goals against average in the playoffs was 2.41 and his save % was .915.  

R.I.P Ken Dryden (August 8th 1947 - September 5th 2025)