What's new with the Blue Jays and baseball this season

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.

Yesterday in Dunedin, Fla, the Toronto Blue Jays held their first full-team workout of the year. With spring training now underway across the majors and Opening Day just five weeks away, it's cliché to say that hope and change are in the air. But they are — not only for the Blue Jays but for the sport of baseball itself. Here's a catchup on the differences you'll see in the Jays and the game this year:

What's new with the Jays

In a vacuum, the 2022 Blue Jays were pretty successful. They won 92 games, the franchise's second-highest total since the World Series years, and made it back to the post-season after a one-year absence.

Based on expectations, though, they were a disappointment. Picked by many to win their division and listed as a top-three betting favourite to capture their first championship in three decades, the Jays finished seven games behind the Yankees in the AL East and got swept 2-0 by underdog Seattle in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

That humbling defeat triggered several off-season moves by general manager Ross Atkins, who focused on remaking his outfield. Atkins traded right-field slugger Teoscar Hernández to Seattle for reliever Erik Swanson and lefty prospect Adam Macko, then shipped left-fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and promising young catcher Gabriel Moreno to Arizona for 26-year-old Daulton Varsho, an exceptional defensive outfielder and baserunner with some pop in his bat. Atkins also signed three-time Gold Glove centre-fielder Kevin Kiermaier, allowing the Jays to shift oft-injured George Springer to lighter duty in right while Varsho