Deep Left Field with Mike Wilner
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, Deep Left Field has everything you need to know about the Jays, specifically, and baseball in general.
Episodes
Guest: Former Blue Jays all-star slugger Justin Smoak
This week in Deep Left Field, we find out about the Blue Jays' new free-agent acquisition, Kazuma Okamoto, from someone who played with him.
Justin Smoak, a five-year Jay and an all-star in 2017, when he hit 38 home runs, played his final professional season in Japan in 2021 as a teammate of Okamoto's, and joins us to give his up-close-and-personal scouting report on the Jays' $...
In this special bonus episode of Deep Left Field, we take an in-depth look at the Blue Jays first real foray into the Pacific Rim, the signing of six-time NPB all-star Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60 million (US) contract.
Who is Okamoto and what does he bring? How does his signing affect the Jays' roster - who goes where? And, of course, what about Bo Bichette?
The answers to all these questions, plus a dip into the mailbag at ...
Guest: Dave Bidini, Renaissance Man
With the holidays upon us, we brought the biggest baseball romantic we know into Deep Left Field to talk about the magic that was the Blue Jays' 2025 season.
Dave Bidini - author of multiple books including "Baseballissimo," publisher of the West End Phoenix, Toronto Star contributor and Rheostatics guitarist - joins us to wax poetic on the year that was, the post-season run and how he's handling...
Guests: New Blue Jays pitcher Cody Ponce, former Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson
This week in Deep Left Field, we meet Cody Ponce, the right-hander the Jays signed earlier this month who is coming off the greatest season ever pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization.
Ponce was introduced to the Toronto media this week, and we have highlights from that conversation, including what drew him to the Jays, his relationship with Hyun...
Guest: Toronto Star Baseball Columnist Gregor Chisholm
This week in Deep Left Field, we wrap up the winter meetings with my partner on the Star's Blue Jays beat, Gregor Chisholm, who was in Orlando to watch the Jays introduce free-agent signee Dylan Cease and to talk to general manager Ross Atkins about the Jays' winter plans, Shane Bieber's forearm fatigue and Jose Berrios' state of mind, among other things.
We also hear from newl...
Guests: Gord Ash, VP Baseball Projects, Milwaukee Brewers; Jee-ho Yoo, Yonhap News Agency
This week in Deep Left Field, we get you set for Major League Baseball's annual swap meet and free-agent signing session, the winter meetings, by giving you a look from the inside. Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Gord Ash joins us to talk about what the meetings are like from a general manager's perspective. Ash was the Blue Jays' GM from 1995...
Star columnists discuss Blue Jays big off-season signing of Dylan Cease, plus we open up the mailbag
Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm, Canadian Baseball League commissioner Ted Kalnins
The Blue Jays have made their first big move of the off-season, agreeing to a seven-year, $210 million (US) contract with starting pitcher Dylan Cease - the biggest contract they've given to a free agent in franchise history.
We're joined by Gregor Chisholm, my partner on the Star's baseball beat, to talk about the deal an...
Guests: Ryan Bondy (Book of Mormon), Jeff Madden (Jersey Boys, Shrek The Musical), Paloma Nunez (Second City)
This week in Deep Left Field, we sit in the limbo between the end of the World Series and the beginning of the winter transaction season, so we took advantage and gathered some Canadian stars of stage and screen who also happen to be huge Blue Jays fans.
Ryan Bondy, Jeff Madden and Paloma Nunez join us to talk about their m...
Guest: Former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly
After three years with the Jays, Don Mattingly feels that his work is done and he is moving on. But before the 64-year-old tackles the next challenge in a life that has seen him involved in Major League Baseball since the New York Yankees drafted him in 1979, he joins us in Deep Left Field to talk about his time in Toronto.
Mattingly went to the World Series for the first time this ...
As they do at the end of every season, Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins meet the media to discuss the year just passed and to hint at their plans for the year to come.
This year, for the first time in a long time, it wasn't a disaster.
We take you through Shapiro and Atkins' availabilities and go through heir comments as they discuss, among other things, the impact that this World Series run ...
Guest: Shane Bieber
It only took three days for the most shocking move of the off-season to happen.
Against all odds, Shane Bieber exercised his $16 million (US) player option and is staying with the Blue Jays for the 2026 season.
The 30-year-old, a two-time all-star who won the Cy Young award in 2020, loved his two months as a Blue Jay and has unfinished business here, so he's sticking around to try to run it back.
We spoke to ...
It's the day after the day after and the Blue Jays' loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series is still a heartbreaking gut punch.
We throw open the Monday Mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to share your thoughts, feelings and questions about the game, the series and the season as a whole and hear from a wide range of listeners, from the zen-like appreciation of the Jays' magical year to the anger and frustrati...
No scary stuff on this Hallowe'en edition of Deep Left Field, just a trip into the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca as we get you set for Game 6 of the World Series a game that, if the Blue Jays should win, would get them their first championship since 1993 and only their third overall.
We hear from Jays fans from Toronto and all across Canada from BC to PEI, as well as all the way in Ireland and Belgium on topics ranging from w...
Guests: Max Scherzer, Jeff Hoffman, Braydon Fisher, Joey Loperfido
Trey Yesavage made history with his performance in Game 5 of the World Series, sending the Blue Jays home to Toronto with a chance to win the whole shebang on Friday night. The 22-year-old broke his own Jays post-season record with 12 strikeouts and set or tied at least four other post-season or World Series records.
We discuss it all with a quartet of Jays who ...
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.