Guests: Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw, shortstop Andres Gimenez, infielder Leo Jimenez, outfielder Eloy Jimenez

Deep Left Field returns to Dunedin, Florida for Blue Jays spring training and this week we present a confluence of *imenezes, each of whom has been making news in the early days of camp, but first, a chat with Myles Straw about the Jays repatriation of Max Scherzer, who agreed to a one-year deal early Thursday morning.

Andres Gimenez will be the Jays' starting shortstop this season. It's a move back to his original position, and one he played very well in the absence of Bo Bichette down the stretch and into the playoffs. Gimenez talks to us about shifting back to the other side of second base and what he needs to do to improve his offence.

Leo Jimenez is out of options, and in a make-or-break position to break camp as the back-up infielder or be put through waivers after a lost 2025 because of illness and injury. We catch up with the youngster, who was solid for the Jays in 2024, to talk about how he's dealing with the pressure.

And we play "meet the new guy" with Eloy Jimenez, a one-time top prospect who exploded onto the big-league scene with 47 home runs over his first 173 career games before running into the injury bug - hard - for five years. Here on a minor-league contract, he's off to a sensational start to the spring.

All this plus the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Former Blue Jays catcher and broadcaster Alan Ashby; Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm

This week in Deep Left Field, we head down to Dunedin, Florida as the Star's Gregor Chisholm wraps up his week at Blue Jays spring training. We check in with Gregor about what he's seen from the Jays and get his thoughts on, among other things, how Kazuma Okamoto has been looking, why Anthony Santander didn't have his shoulder surgery much earlier and how Eric Lauer feels about being overlooked for a spot in the Jays' rotation once again.

Also, we get into the wayback machine as the Jays get set for their 50th anniversary season and talk to Alan Ashby, who caught 124 games in the Blue Jays inaugural season, 1977.

All that plus a dip into the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 Inductees Stubby Clapp, Kate Psota, Paul Runge, Bill Stoneman, Devon White

This week in Deep Left Field, we speak to every living member of the just-announced Class of 2026 for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. They will be inducted in a ceremony in St. Marys, Ont. on June 20.

Devon White, the greatest centrefielder in Blue Jays' history.

Stubby Clapp, perhaps the living embodiment of the Canadian national team player.

Kate Psota, one of the first superstar women's players in modern history.

Bill Stoneman, who threw the first of his two no-hitters for the Montreal Expos in the ninth game in franchise history.

Paul Runge, a St. Catharines, Ont. native who spent a quarter-century as a major-league umpire, including working the 1993 World Series between the Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

All those immortals of Canadian baseball, plus your thoughts in the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm, former New York Post baseball columnist, now journalism professor and author Ken Davidoff

This week in Deep Left Field, we talk labour. Baseball's Collective Bargaining Agreement expires this year and the stage is set for another off-season lockout, just like we saw five years ago. There's no question that the 2026 season will be played, but questions about 2027 loom large and we have convened a Deep Left Field panel to try to answer them.

What do the owners want? What about the players? How united is each side? Will there be a work stoppage - the first since the 1994 strike - that delays the start of the 2027 season or worse?

My Blue Jays beat partner Gregor Chisholm and longtime Yankees' columnist Ken Davidoff, author of the new book "101 Lessons From The Dugout" join me and we try to figure things out.

All this, plus your thoughts and questions in the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Former Blue Jay Russell Martin, Mets pitcher Jonah Tong, Athletics' outfielder Denzel Clarke

This week in Deep Left Field, we take you to New York City to hear what Bo Bichette had to say at the media conference that introduced him as a New York Met.

We also go back to the Baseball Canada awards banquet to hear from Canadian baseball luminaries, including new Bichette teammate Jonah Tong, Denzel Clarke, who made MLB's catch of the year in Anaheim as a rookie last summer and Russell Martin, who discussed having two of his old teams facing off in the World Series (and having to pretend to be rooting for both).

Plus, my take on the Cooperstown Class of 2026 and your thoughts in the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guest: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee of Kim's Convenience, The Mandalorian and more

Bo Bichette agrees to a three-year contract with the New York Mets, ending the Bichette-Guerrero era with a thud. Reaction from Blue Jays' fandom has been all over the map, from devastation to "good riddance" and everywhere in between. We reach out to Canadian icon and huge Jays fan Paul Sun-Hyung Lee to discuss his feelings about Bichette moving on, what the Jays could have done differently and where they go from here.

Plus, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca for your thoughts on the move!