The return of Max Scherzer to the Blue Jays fold leads off the discussion on Exit Philosophy, on a one-year $3M deal, plus incentives, depending on innings pitched. With what is normally a five-man rotation, the Jays are now dealing with seven active starters that deserve to be there, plus injured veteran and former Cy guy, Shane Bieber. Will Jose Berrios have to be traded? Mal and Griff discuss where Mad Max fits in with the Jays on this fury road back to the World Series. Grapefruit League games have begun in earnest and while the bullpen needs to sort itself out, so does the Jays outfield with eight names for five spots. What are the early impressions of the automatic ball-strike system and how it's working in the spring, heading towards regular season use for the first time?

INDEX:

0:00 Cold Open & What's Ahead

1:04 Scherzer Is Back — What It Means for the Jays

11:53 Six-Man Rotation: Bold Move or Big Risk?

17:08 The Berríos Dilemma

21:56 Manoah's Head-Scratching Comments

25:56 Entire Infield to the WBC?

27:28 WBC Absences = Opportunity for Youth

29:12 Jake Casey & MLB Bloodlines

31:28 Fast-Tracking the Next Generation

35:44 Early Grapefruit League Takeaways

43:05 Solving the Infield Puzzle

44:56 Bullpen: Is the Ceiling Too Low?

49:33 Outfield Logjam

55:05 ABS Challenge: Fixing the Strike Zone?

1:01:10 Boras on MLB's Asian Expansion

1:04:01 Olympic Hockey & Gold Medal Spotlight

1:07:31 Final Thoughts

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For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit https://www.griffsthepitch.com/