Deep Left Field with Mike Wilner

4.6 (46)
BASEBALL
UPDATED WEEKLY

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays radio voice Mike Wilner hosts Deep Left Field, a baseball podcast from the Toronto Star. With great baseball coverage, opinion and analysis from Mike and other Star sports journalists including Laura Armstrong and Gregor Chisholm, as well as MLB players and others in the game, Deep Left Field has everything you need to know about the Jays, specifically, and baseball in general.

2 DAYS AGO

Off-Season Primer: Blue Jays need to shake it off and fill blank spaces after cruel summer

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/subscribingmatters. Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm The Hot Stove season is upon us and the Blue Jays have a whole lot to do in order to get back into playoff contention. Gregor Chisholm joins me to discuss the task ahead of them. Will they sign Juan Soto? Will they extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr.? What other big bats are available for them this winter? Is this the right front office group for the job? We answer these questions and more in this Deep Left Field Off-Season Primer!

57 min
NOV 7

World Series champ Kevin Kiermaier, in his final interview as a player

Guest: Former Blue Jays CF Kevin Kiermaier This week, Kevin Kiermaier gives his final interview as a player, and he has come to Deep Left Field to give it to us! Kiermaier, who is about to retire, talks about going out on top – winning the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers – and finishing his career the way he started it, as a late-inning defensive replacement. He also reflects on his year and a half with the Blue Jays, what this season was like as the Jays sold off at the trade deadline, and how the Dodgers do things differently (and better) than they’re done in Toronto.

59 min
OCT 31

Freddie Freeman on his Canadian roots, plus Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the Fielding Bible Awards

Guests: World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions The off-season begins as the Los Angeles Dodgers are crowned World Series champions with a five-game victory over the New York Yankees, led by Freddie Freeman’s four home runs and World Series-record-tying 12 RBIs! When the champs were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays earlier this season, we spoke to Freeman about his love of playing for Canada to honour his late mother and to Roberts about being a teenager in San Diego when the Padres traded Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to Toronto for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff. You’ll hear those conversations, as well as a great chat with Mark Simon about Daulton Varsho winning two Fielding Bible Awards, including Defensive Player of the Year, and much more!

1h 4m
OCT 24

Blue Jays outfielder George Springer and Mike Cieslinski, the creator of Dynasty League Baseball

Guests: Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, creator of Dynasty League Baseball Powered by Pursue The Pennant Mike Cieslinski Coming off the worst season of his major-league career George Springer joins us to talk about his personal disappointment, the Blue Jays’ terrible season and also the positives he managed to pull out of it. On the eve of the first Yankees-Dodgers World Series in over four decades, we reveal the results of a heart-pounding simulation run with Dynasty League Baseball and discuss the ins and outs of the game with Mike Cieslinski. Also, a look at the Jays’ new hitting coach and unexpected scouting director vacancy plus a pre-emptive rant about the Fielding Bible Awards.

1h 6m
OCT 17

Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman on his season, plus the Deep Left Field mailbag

Guests: Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, Dodgers 1B coach Clayton McCullough This week in Deep Left Field, Kevin Gausman – who had his worst season in five years – joins us to reflect on what went wrong with the Blue Jays this year, how he turned his season around in July and how badly he wants to not just get back to the playoffs but to go on a deep run. We also talk to Clayton McCullough, who spent seven seasons managing in the Blue Jays minor-league system and now may be headed to the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. All that, plus a look at the Jays’ Gold Glove finalists and a peek into the Deep Left Field mailbag (deepleftfield@thestar.ca)!

59 min
OCT 10

Blue Jays 2024 team MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr and more

Guests: Blue Jays 2024 Team Award Winners Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Berrios, Spencer Horwitz and Bowden Francis Every year, good or bad, we poll the Blue Jays’ clubhouse to ask players, coaches and support staff to vote for the Jays’ end-of-season awards. This week, we bring all the winners into Deep Left Field! You’ll hear from unanimous MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr., pitcher of the year Jose Berrios, rookie of the year Spencer Horwitz and unsung Hero Bowden Francis with thoughts on their terrific seasons (and of course, the disappointment in the team’s results overall) and the promise, they hope, for a return to contention in 2025.

1h 10m
OCT 3

Interpreting the end-of-season media conference from Shapiro and Atkins

“Ross needs to get better.” Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but Blue Jays’ president/CEO Mark Shapiro reiterated – word for word – the same thing he said last year while saying that Ross Atkins will remain in his position as general manager. We go through Shapiro’s end-of-season media conference as well as Atkins’ appearance that followed shortly after, sharing their comments and our interpretation of them. It wasn’t as much of a debacle as last year, but it certainly wasn’t good.

49 min
SEP 30

Wrapping up the season with Blue Jays manager John Schneider

Guest: Blue Jays manager John Schneider The Blue Jays season ends with a whimper, swept at home by the 100-loss Miami Marlins. In this special bonus edition of Deep Left Field, we sit down with John Schneider to discuss what led to one of the most disappointing seasons in club history and what needs to be done to fix things to get the team back on track for a 2025 season in which it expects to be a playoff contender once again.

34 min

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Mike Wilner

Host

4.6

out of 5

46 Ratings

Geddy and Baseball

Aug 17

M Bradley Oliver

Mike, thanks for the interview…my first podcast listen. As a huge fan of baseball (Royals!) and Rush (Geddy Lee), your left field was right up my alley. Interesting story from Geddy’s book tour in Chicago; I was lucky enough for him to take my submitted questions. One was, “who was better, Mike Schmidt or George Brett?” After defending the cases for each, Brett came out on top! Just wanted to share with you and say Thanks to Geddy to help settle an argument with a lifelong friend! Anyway, good luck getting the Blue Jays front office situation ironed out!. Rock on!
Shapiro & Atkins interviews

Oct 3

Shwolfe

Thank you for your podcasts! Curious, why do most reporters throw such softball questions to these guys? Realize Shapiro cut you off because he didn’t want to answer you. Why not ask what you stated in the opening of your last podcast: Why they believe their track record has been good despite the regression , and a lack of a single playoff game? Seems these guys believe mediocrity justifies them keeping their jobs. While I agree no one wants to see people lose their jobs, we want to win more! These guys have had almost a decade here, and have the gall to say “they’re still learning?” We have had enough of losing, and want a new front office stat!
Knowledgeable and level-headed

Aug 14

WideBen

In a moment when social media has created the manic-depressive sports fan, Mike is a breath of calm and calculated fresh air. He’s been a comforting voice for most of my Bluejay fan life, and especially at times where the team is in consistent not where they need to be. Thanks for all you do!
Deep knowledge

Mar 29

realLM

I’m a fairly new baseball fan, and the Blue Jays became my favorite team after a certain knuckleballer came to town. I appreciate Mike’s deep well of knowledge to put things into context. When players move to different teams or managers and coaches have a history somewhere else, Mike reminds us, and he does it well. He’s prepared, fair, appreciative, and his love for baseball is apparent. Thanks, Mike! Hope you stick around sharing interviews and valuable observations, while continuing to keep some of those hotheaded Jays fans grounded! I love learning more about baseball from Mike and his interviews. Go, Canada! Okay Blue Jays! With love from, America (Lori M.)

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays radio voice Mike Wilner hosts Deep Left Field, a baseball podcast from the Toronto Star. With great baseball coverage, opinion and analysis from Mike and other Star sports journalists including Laura Armstrong and Gregor Chisholm, as well as MLB players and others in the game, Deep Left Field has everything you need to know about the Jays, specifically, and baseball in general.