Is this the Blue Jays' year?

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This could be the Jays' year

The Toronto Blue Jays were one of the best teams in baseball in 2021. They had two of the three finalists for American League MVP, the AL Cy Young winner, a strong supporting cast around those players, and the fifth-best run differential in the majors. They also closed the season on a 22-9 hot streak. That's the profile of a true World Series contender.

And yet, Toronto didn't even make the post-season, falling one game short of AL East rivals Boston and New York in the wild-card chase. The combination of a tough schedule, being forced to play the bulk of their "home" games in U.S. minor-league parks due to Canada's COVID-19 restrictions, and plain old bad luck ultimately sunk the Blue Jays.

But now it's time for a fresh start. Thursday is Opening Day, that great symbol of optimism for everyone in baseball. And the Jays, who open Friday night at home vs. Texas, can be more optimistic than most. There's a good chance they not only make the playoffs this year, but challenge for their first World Series title since going back-to-back in 1992 and '93.

Here's a quick catchup ahead of what should be another exciting season for Canada's only Major League Baseball team:

Two star players left. AL MVP finalist Marcus Semien and Cy Young winner Robbie Ray both got offers they couldn't refuse in free agency. Semien parlayed his uncommon 45 homers from the second-base position into a seven-year, $175-million US megadeal with Texas (which now has a half-billion-dollar middle infield after luring shortstop Corey Seager from the Dodgers for 10 years and $325 million). Ray got a five-year, $115M contract from Seattle after leading the majors in strikeouts and topping the AL in ERA.

But the Jays held their own this off-season. They replaced Ray with another potential ace in Kevin Gausman, who got a nearly identical contract. Gausmann, 31, helped San Francisco to the best record in baseball last year by finishing in the top six in the National League in wins, strikeouts and ERA+. Toronto further solidified its rotation by signing late-season acquisition Jose Berrios to a seven-year, $131M extension and inking lefty Yusei Kikcuhi (formerly of Seattle) to a three-year, $36M deal. The Jays also helped their pitchers by trading for All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman. The three-time Gold Glover is one of the best defensive players in baseball and supplies power at the plate (when he's not striking out, which happens a lot).

And the rest of the core remains intact. That starts with AL MVP runner-up Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who's one of three co-favourites to take this year's award, along with 2021 winner Shohei Ohtani and his Angels teammate Mike Trout. Guerrero's potential seems almost limitless following a breakout season where he bashed 48 homers with a .401 on-base percentage before his 23rd birthday. The young first baseman is the crown jewel of a superb batting lineup that also features 24-year-old shortstop Bo Bichette (29 homers, 25 stolen bases last year) and powerful outfielders Teoscar Hernández (32 homers, 12 steals) and George Springer, who clubbed 22 dingers in only 78 games. If the Jays' marquee acquisition of the previous off-season can stay healthy this year, he could be the biggest "addition" of all.

Some smart people really like the Jays' chances. The respected analytics-driven website Fangraphs projects Toronto will go 92-70 this year — tops in the American League and the third-best record in all of baseball (just slightly behind the Dodgers and World Series champion Atlanta). Fangraphs' projection system also gives the Jays a 12.1 per cent chance of winning the World Series. That's behind only the Dodgers' 14.1 per cent, suggesting Toronto vs. L.A. is the most likely matchup for the Fall Classic. The betting markets are also bullish on the Jays. Odds differ depending on the bookmaker, but highly regarded Pinnacle lists Toronto as a slight favourite to win the very competitive AL East, and as a co-favourite with Houston to capture the AL pennant. In accordance with Fangraphs' projections, Pinnacle has the Jays as the No. 2 favourite behind the Dodgers to win the World Series.

The Jays could also have a hidden edge. As long as Canada's current COVID-19 regulations stay in place, unvaccinated players will not be allowed to travel to Toronto. It's difficult to know who exactly is unvaxxed (mostly because unvaxxed athletes don't generally offer that information), but it's safe to say that some teams could be missing an important player or two when they visit the Jays. One of them could be the Yankees' Aaron Judge, who recently sidestepped the question of whether he's taken the shot or not.

Baseball will look a little different this year. It may have crushed everyone's soul, but the 99-day lockout had a minimal impact on the regular-season schedule. Even though Opening Day was pushed back a week, each team will play the normal 162 games. However, the post-season will be bigger after the new collective bargaining agreement expanded the field from 10 teams to 12 (in each league, the three division winners plus now three wild cards). The other big change is that the designated hitter was made universal, so pitchers will no longer hit in any games played in National League parks. You'll also now see umpires announcing video-review rulings to the crowd, NFL style. Some of the more aggressive changes proposed during labour talks aren't happening yet, but could arrive as soon as next year: a pitch clock, bigger bases and a ban on the despised infield shift.

And, of course, some familiar faces are in new places. Besides Semien and Seager in Texas and the others we already mentioned, former NL MVPs Freddie Freeman and Kris Bryant jumped from, respectively, Atlanta to the Dodgers and San Francisco to Colorado. Three star shortstops switched teams, with Carlos Correa going from Houston to Minnesota, Javier Baez from the Mets to Detroit, and Trevor Story from Colorado to Boston. Slugger Kyle Schwarber went from Boston to Philadelphia, while Nick Castellanos took his drives into deep left field from Cincy to Philly.

Quickly...

It sounds like Tiger Woods is going to play in the Masters. The five-time green jacket winner, who nearly lost a leg in a car crash just over a year ago, seemed very optimistic today about his chances of teeing off at Augusta on Thursday. He'll make the final call after playing nine more practice holes on Wednesday, but Woods said that "as of right now, I feel like I'm going to play." He added: "I can hit [the ball] just fine. I don't have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint." The "hard part," according to Tiger, is walking the undulating course. But, he said, it's "a challenge that I'm up for." The only thing approaching a competitive tournament that Woods has played since the devastating February 2021 crash was a 36-hole father-son scramble event alongside his son Charlie in December. That was held on a flat course, and Tiger was allowed to use a golf cart. If he ultimately decides he's ready for the uphill battle that is the Masters, Woods will tee off Thursday at 10:34 a.m ET with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. Read the latest on Tiger's comeback here.

One of Canada's most resilient Olympians retired. Laurence Vincent Lapointe was the world's most dominant women's canoeist and a favourite to win Olympic gold in Tokyo until she tested positive for a small amount of a banned muscle-building drug in July 2019. Insisting that she did not knowingly ingest the substance, Vincent Lapointe won reinstatement — but not before missing the 2019 world championships, which she needed to qualify. The Canadian canoe/kayak team found a solution by reallocating one of its Olympic kayak berths to Vincent Lapointe, and she went on to win two medals in Tokyo: a silver in the singles event and bronze in doubles with teammate Katie Vincent. Read more about Vincent Lapointe's retirement here and her Olympic odyssey here.

Brad Gushue's team remains clearly above the field at the men's curling world championship. Yesterday's victory over Italy raised Canada's record in Las Vegas to 5-0. No other team is better than 3-2. Gushue's rink will face one of them, Germany, at 5 p.m. ET in its only matchup of the day. The 13-team round robin wraps up Friday, followed by the six-team playoffs starting Saturday.

Coming up on CBC Sports

Canadian swimming trials: The six-day meet, which opened today in Victoria, will be used to select Canada's team for the world championships in June. Some of the Olympic stars involved are seven-time medallist Penny Oleksiak, 100m butterfly champion Maggie MacNeil, four-time medal winner Kylie Masse and 15-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh. Read more about the trials in this preview by CBC Sports' Devin Heroux, and follow his tweets from Victoria here. Every trials race is being streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, continuing tonight at 8:45 p.m. ET. See the full streaming schedule here.

You're up to speed. Talk to you tomorrow.