26 Man Roster Challenge: We had an outright winner

 

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

 

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

 

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

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.

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

 

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.

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 two outright winners in 12 years.

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.

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?

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!

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!