Guest: Dave Bidini, Renaissance Man

With the holidays upon us, we brought the biggest baseball romantic we know into Deep Left Field to talk about the magic that was the Blue Jays' 2025 season.

Dave Bidini - author of multiple books including "Baseballissimo," publisher of the West End Phoenix, Toronto Star contributor and Rheostatics guitarist - joins us to wax poetic on the year that was, the post-season run and how he's handling the Blue Jays' loss in Game 7 of the World Series.

And, as always, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca (our inbox is always open) to hear your thoughts including, of course, questions about Bo Bichette's still-unresolved free agency.

Guests: New Blue Jays pitcher Cody Ponce, former Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson    

This week in Deep Left Field, we meet Cody Ponce, the right-hander the Jays signed earlier this month who is coming off the greatest season ever pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Ponce was introduced to the Toronto media this week, and we have highlights from that conversation, including what drew him to the Jays, his relationship with Hyun-Jin Ryu, what's changed since he was drummed out of the big leagues in 2021 and his deep and abiding love for all things Star Wars.

Also, Jay Jackson joins us to give us an update on baby JR, who spent the first few months of his life in the NICU while his dad was pitching for the Blue Jays and is now a healthy, happy 2 1/2-year-old. Jackson also fills us in on new Jays acquisition Tyler Rogers, with whom he pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 2021, and gives some straight talk on how he believes the Jays have handled Bo Bichette's free agency so far.

Plus, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca - keep those cards and letters coming!

Guest: Toronto Star Baseball Columnist Gregor Chisholm

This week in Deep Left Field, we wrap up the winter meetings with my partner on the Star's Blue Jays beat, Gregor Chisholm, who was in Orlando to watch the Jays introduce free-agent signee Dylan Cease and to talk to general manager Ross Atkins about the Jays' winter plans, Shane Bieber's forearm fatigue and Jose Berrios' state of mind, among other things.

We also hear from newly-elected Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, baseball's all-time leader in home runs by a second baseman. Kent was drafted and developed by the Jays and, until he was traded for David Cone in August, was the only rookie on the eventual World Series champion 1992 Blue Jays for most of the season.

And, as always, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to hear from you!

Guests: Gord Ash, VP Baseball Projects, Milwaukee Brewers; Jee-ho Yoo, Yonhap News Agency

This week in Deep Left Field, we get you set for Major League Baseball's annual swap meet and free-agent signing session, the winter meetings, by giving you a look from the inside. Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Gord Ash joins us to talk about what the meetings are like from a general manager's perspective. Ash was the Blue Jays' GM from 1995-2001 after working under Pat Gillick for six seasons.

We also take you across the world to South Korea, where the Jays dove into the international market and pulled out right-hander Cody Ponce, who had a record-setting season with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO, winning the pitching triple crown while establishing new league marks in ERA and strikeouts. Jee-ho Yoo, who spent his university days in Toronto, joins us from the far east to tell us what he saw from Ponce this season and what Jays fans can expect.

And, as always, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca

Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm, Canadian Baseball League commissioner Ted Kalnins    

The Blue Jays have made their first big move of the off-season, agreeing to a seven-year, $210 million (US) contract with starting pitcher Dylan Cease - the biggest contract they've given to a free agent in franchise history.

We're joined by Gregor Chisholm, my partner on the Star's baseball beat, to talk about the deal and what it means as the Jays go into their first off-season as pennant winners in over 30 years. And about Cease and what he brings to the team as well.

Also, Ted Kalnins talks about what used to be the semi-pro Intercounty Baseball League, now re-branded as the Canadian Baseball League, one that's fully professional.

Plus, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Ryan Bondy (Book of Mormon), Jeff Madden (Jersey Boys, Shrek The Musical), Paloma Nunez (Second City)

This week in Deep Left Field, we sit in the limbo between the end of the World Series and the beginning of the winter transaction season, so we took advantage and gathered some Canadian stars of stage and screen who also happen to be huge Blue Jays fans.

Ryan Bondy, Jeff Madden and Paloma Nunez join us to talk about their memories and feelings about the Jays' magical 2025 that saw them get within two outs of winning the World Series, and we look ahead to the off-season with an eye on Bo Bichette and whether or not the Jays should keep the whole gang together in an attempt to run it back.

Also, Madden fills us in on what it's like to sing the anthems at a Jays game.

The mailbag is always open at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guest: Former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly

After three years with the Jays, Don Mattingly feels that his work is done and he is moving on. But before the 64-year-old tackles the next challenge in a life that has seen him involved in Major League Baseball since the New York Yankees drafted him in 1979, he joins us in Deep Left Field to talk about his time in Toronto.

Mattingly went to the World Series for the first time this season and he discusses what they could have done better in the late innings of Game 7, but also compares this Jays team to his old Yankees teams in the mid-90s that would go on to build a dynasty.

Also, as always, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!