G-Snarls

But he says the Jays will make the playoffs!! Yay!!!!!

Ranked 7th best team in baseball?

Estrada should be either 5th starter or long/swing man, depending on how Norris looks in ST

Reading between the lines: He will trade for a reliever. Bah

Orioles Among Teams With Interest In Dustin McGowan By Jeff Todd [February 11, 2015 at 9:26am CST] The Orioles have reached out to representatives of free agent righty Dustin McGowan to express interest, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. Several other clubs are also believed to be in on the 32-year-old swingman. McGowan has had a quiet offseason since Toronto declined its $4MM option and set him loose on the market. He opened the season in the Jays rotation, but was hit hard and demoted after eight starts. McGowan showed much more promise in the 43 relief innings that came, working to a 3.35 ERA, upping his strikeout rate to 7.5 K/9, and holding opponents to a sub-.700 OPS. Amongst a quickly-depleting supply of viable free agent arms, McGowan is notable for his mid-90s fastball. Though he has been much more effective against opposing right-handers in his career, McGowan’s long history as a starter at least supplies him with some tools for attacking lefties in a relief role. And it never hurts to have an additional spot starter if need be.

Did somebody say donairs for supper?

Let's hope not Career .259 /.354/.399 with 10-20 HR power and with defense that good is fantastic. Hopefully Buck and Pat keep pointing out how good his defense is over and over and over again. Oh wait, that will get annoying won't it...

Exactly. Come on...

How good are the Padres going to be this year if they get him? They've sure picked up some "names" but will they actually be good?

Look of defeat and like he's mad and "how did that happen" incredulity at times

I'm gonna say Dickey unfortunately. I don't think he'll be terrible all spring, but a few bad starts in a month look awfully bad on him somehow. It's just that his bad games look sooooo bad. The home runs, the walks, his body language, etc...

I like this thread actually It's usually a surprise, so hard to answer. LOL

For those who want to backload a Shields contract I just don't know. They already did that heavily with Martin I had forgotten: 5 years/$82M (2015-19) signed by Toronto as a free agent 11/18/14 15:$7M, 16:$15M, 17:$20M, 18:$20M, 19:$20M I just can't see them doing that with another big contract. The Reyes and Martin contracts will be weighing the team down in 2 years. On a positive note we may have 2-4 good cheap starters at that point.

4 years plus multiple team options is very Anthopolesque

Rays were smart You can rarely get guys like him to sign deals like that

Sorry if posted already Ben Nicholson Smith article in Sports Weekly USA Today on the Jays roster. VERY in depth. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/02/04/toronto-blue-jays-organizational-report/22863357/

I want one to hit over 40 and the three combine for over 100, but 95 or so is a better bet

Nice Always liked him arm... until it busted

TBH I'm surprised he hasn't already signed somewhere for more than that

I didn't know they had actually gone to arbitration with anyone

Danny Valencia Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Blue Jays By Steve Adams [February 6, 2015 at 8:01am CST] The Blue Jays and Danny Valencia had an arbitration hearing yesterday, according to the Associated Press, and the team announced this morning that the arbitrator ruled in favor of Valencia. The 30-year-old Valencia had filed for a salary of $1.675MM, while the team countered at $1.2MM, as can be seen in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. The MVP Sports client will now earn that $1.675MM figure in 2015. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet notes, on Twitter, this marks the first time since 1997 that the Blue Jays have gone to an arbitration hearing rather than settling a case in advance (Toronto last went to trial with right-handed pitcher Bill Risley). They’ll likely have a second trial in the near future with offseason acquisition Josh Donaldson as well, given Toronto’s stance as a “file and trial” team in recent years. (That is, a team that does not negotiate arbitration contracts beyond the date that figures are to be exchanged.) Valencia batted .258/.296/.371 with four home runs last season in 86 games/284 plate appearances between the Royals and Blue Jays. While he’s never replicated his outstanding .311/.351/.448 rookie season with the Twins (he finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in that 2010 season), he’s carved out a niche as a weapon against left-handed pitching. Valencia hit .321/.371/.464 against southpaws last season and is a lifetime .327/.368/.502 hitter when holding the platoon advantage.

News about Buck? Edit: guess not

Questions over Boo

Sweet. Stroman or Sanchez starts the game

Direct question on Norris for the rotation AA is a big fan