Guests: Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Team Canada pitcher Michael Soroka, Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Russell Martin

This week, Deep Left Field comes to you from spring training once again and we present an all-Canadian episode!

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) joins us for his first-ever Deep Left Field conversation without an interpreter. We talk to Vladdy about the Jays' magical playoff run last season and what he thinks of his team going into 2026 as his half-billion dollar (US) contract kicks in.

With Team Canada having played a pair of games to prepare for the World Baseball Classic, which begins (for them) Saturday morning in Puerto Rico, we get the inside scoop on their attempt to finally break through and make it out of the first round of the WBC.

Michael Soroka (Calgary, AB) will start that first game against Colombia. He and former Blue Jay Russell Martin (East York, Ont.), who will be coaching first base for Canada, fill us in on everything you need to know about the red and white!

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

Listen here or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can at thestar.com/subscribe.

Guest: Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman    

In this special bonus episode of Deep Left Field, from Blue Jays' spring training in Dunedin, Florida, we look back at the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series with the man who was on the mound for the Jays and gave up the first-ever ninth-inning game-tying home run in World Series history.

Jeff Hoffman said that day that he'd cost his teammates a World Series ring, and he reflects on that moment in an open, vulnerable and candid conversation - the first such interview he's done since last year's crushing loss.

We open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca as well, for your comments and questions!

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!