Toronto

Blue Jays

The financial details are not public at the moment, but Schneider was heading into the final year of his contract, so he will now be under contract with the Blue Jays through the 2028 season. After taking the Blue Jays to the World Series last season and finishing second in the AL Manager of the Year race, it’s certainly a deserved deal for Schneider.

The big finish here could prove important for Sánchez, who hasn’t really been promised anything in left field. That the Jays took on $6.8 million and gave up Joey Loperfido for him suggested that he’d be a starter against righties, but Nathan Lukes was fairly valuable in that role last year and has outhit Sánchez this spring. It still seems like Sánchez should have the role initially, but we’ll see; even if he does, his margin for error might be pretty slim.

Because he was lined up to throw on a couple of the Jays’ off days, Cease ends the spring with just 9 2/3 innings pitched, but he did well to allow only one run and strike out 12. He’s right where he needs to be ahead of his official Blue Jays debut against the A’s on Saturday.

The homer off Nick Martinez was Guerrero’s first in Jays camp after he hit two in the World Baseball Classic. He’s 8-for-18 with four walks and just one strikeout in his eight Grapefruit League games.

The Blue Jays are taking every possible precaution while building up the 22-year-old hurler as he has battled a shoulder impingement this spring. He’s going to require a lengthy ramp up and the team has yet to give any sort of timeline on when he may be able to join the Jays’ rotation.

The Jays have finished the spring with either Clement of Nathan Lukes hitting in that second spot in the order between George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which could be indicative of how they’ll line up once the regular season begins. Those lineups have had Daulton Varsho batting in the sixth slot with Kazuma Okamoto batting seventh.

Gausman reeled off three scoreless frames before surrendering a go-ahead sacrifice fly to Bryan Reynolds. He also coughed up a solo homer to Spencer Horwitz in the ensuing frame. He finished with two strikeouts, issued two walks and threw 71 pitches (46 strikes) in his final spring outing. The 35-year-old veteran gets the ball on Friday against the Athletics for his first Opening Day start with the Blue Jays. He’s a top-30 range fantasy starter in all drafts this spring.

Lauer earns his spot in Toronto’s season-opening rotation with rookie sensation Trey Yesavage (shoulder) along with veterans Shane Bieber (forearm) and José Berríos (elbow) heading to the injured list. Big-ticket offseason acquisition Dylan Cease will get the ball following Opening Day starter Kevin Gausman. It’ll be Cody Ponce and Max Scherzer rounding out the initial rotation.

Both Scherzer and Ponce will work in an additional minor league game to continue getting stretched out before taking their respective turns in the Jays’ rotation. That means the two right-handers can be penciled in — in some order — for the first two games of the Rockies’ series that starts on Monday, March 30. That means Dylan Cease and Eric Lauer are likely to follow Kevin Gausman during the first series of the season against the Athletics.

Scherzer walked a pair and gave up two hits, and he struck out three. It’s yet another impressive spring outing for the 41-year-old, and he didn’t allow a run in any of his three Grapefruit League starts. It’s also worth noting that he was able to get his fastball into the mid 90s with regularity; topping out at 95.9 mph. Scherzer was mostly terrible in 2025, but after looking good in the postseason and now this spring, there just might be more left in his Cooperstown-bound arm than anticipated.