Dr. Dinger

That should be "they are" or "they're" rather than "them."

Hahaha yes, in terms of team improvement, 5YP > WTP for sure. WTP is a better contender though.

A Wrench In The Plan, hands down.

And by the way Paul Maholm, your name is pronounced Ma-HOME, NOT Ma-Hollum!

Beltran, McCann, Jeter, Tex, Wells and Soriano will probably all take turns at DH I guess.

Keep in mind, this is pre-cutdown value. In-season Gardner's value is higher (I paid a 2nd for him). Although with that said, he may be a 4th OF now behind Ellsbury/Beltran/Soriano. Or he could get traded.

Ewwwww to Maholm.

Gose can probably give us 1-2 WAR on def and bsr alone. Think Bourjos lite.

I know you're cynical (and with good reason), but how is ERA more scouty than Ks or GBs? I think you'd have to concede that AA has made more shrewd moves than idiotic ones, on the whole.

It's really more like Rasmus for Bailey, and Phillips is a zero value asset that we'd agree to take to facilitate the former.

I think even AA is clever enough to at basic K, HR and GB rates and see that Ubaldo is clearly the superior option. I hope.

What do we forfeit if we sign both? 2nd/3rd? I don't want Ervin, but I could see AA inking both (unfortunately).

Which is pretty damn rare for a ~3 WAR SP in FA. The comp pick is really working in our favour it seems.

I mean, would you all rather roll with Gose in CF, or Goins at 2B? Gose for me, easily.

I expect nothing from Morrow, but SP2 upside is still there. I also think AA has eyes for Homer Bailey, who Jocketty said yesterday is unlikely to sign an extension. Bailey + Phillips' salary for Rasmus+ is a deal I've been floating for some time now.

Agreed. You're paying him to be a 2 WAR guy, and he's gone for 3+ WAR in 3 of the last 4 years. At the very least we'll probably break even.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Brandon Phillips will be a Blue Jay.

Dickey Jimenez Buerhle Morrow Stroman Has the makings of a fairly adequate rotation IMO, and we have a first division offense, easily.

He's also "asking for" 4 years. 4/$56M seems like a pretty attractive option to me at this point. We can probably get an option year too.

Nice working with you bud

Send you a PM Jay

Baseball Prospectus and Perfect Game are running a series highlighting player scouting reports from high school, here are some on the Jays. ----- Marcus Stroman – RHP The discussion about whether Stroman’s long-term future as a big leaguer is as a starter or reliever has been a constant ever since the Blue Jays drafted him in the first round out of Duke in 2012. There just aren’t many 5-foot-9 right-handers who have long-term success as starters at the highest level in baseball, so Stroman will have to prove himself every step of the way. The fact that Stroman has been dominant in his few short stints as a closer, including in the Cape Cod League in 2010 and for the Collegiate National Team in 2011 have helped feed the starter/reliever discussion as well. But well before the Long Island native turned professional, the topic was very different. Stroman was considered a primary middle infielder in high school, although everyone realized he had a special arm. When the Washington Nationals took a flyer on him with their 18th round pick as a high school senior in 2009, he was drafted as a shortstop. Stroman was a do-everything type of athlete in high school. He lettered for four years as a point guard in basketball and was All-County as a senior, which resonates in that sport playing so close to New York City and attests to his overall athleticism. During the spring he excelled both at shortstop and on the mound, but gained more recognition for his pitching, as he was named the Paul Gibson Pitcher of the Year on Long Island after his senior year when he went 9-1, 0.25 with 126 strikeouts. And of course, Stroman was getting the types of grades in the classroom that enabled him to go to Duke. But during the summers Stroman was primarily a shortstop and didn’t even take the mound at a number of events, including the 2007 Northeast Top Prospect Showcase, the 2008 PG Aflac Showcase and the 2008 Area Code Games. He did throw an inning at the 2008 PG National Showcase, topping out at 91 mph with an 81-mph breaking ball that was sharp and deep. That breaking ball, of course, has become his signature pitch and is now an 85-87-mph slider. Stroman did also pitch at a couple of WWBA events for the South Florida Bandits. The notes on Stroman as a shortstop prospect are consistent across the board: Good feet, bounce in step, easy arm, little erratic, hands work quickly, good body control; Small kid, open stance, easy loose swing, + extension out front, good bat speed, some gap pop, squares well, nice looking swing, + BP, open, fast bat, decent pop, quiet pro swing, good baseball player, steps in bucket some, short glide, good rhythm, short to ball, slight loft, solid LDs, hands work easy, simple, gap pop; ++ Balance/flow at plate, good bat speed, quick twitch, will reach outside, looks like RH'd Ray Durham w/o the speed, very slick in IF, hands were inconsistent in games, looked tentative on D at times. Stroman was a still a primary shortstop at Duke as a freshman, or at least he was for the first half of the season, when he hit .265-2-20 in 166 at-bats. Stroman also worked as a long reliever out of the bullpen, a somewhat unusual combination, but was moved into the starting rotation in late April and threw well in that role, including a complete game against Wake Forest with 10 strikeouts. Stroman then went to the Cape Cod League as a reliever, notching 11 saves without allowing a run in 27 innings. He continued in much the same pattern as a sophomore, starting 33 games at shortstop, eight games as a pitcher and appearing nine times as a reliever. It wasn’t until his junior season that Stroman became a full-time starting pitcher and saw his stuff and prospect status explode, going 6-5, 2.39 with 136 strikeouts in 98 innings. —David Rawnsley Aaron Sanchez – RHP Sanchez grew up in a baseball family in Barstow, California as his father, Mike Shipley, was drafted twice by the California Angels as a right-handed pitcher out of Barstow Community College in 1976, first in the 10th round of the regular phase and again in the fourth round of the now defunct secondary phase. While Barstow is in the baseball hotbed of Southern California, it's well off the beaten path, and Sanchez was little known nationally before he participated in his first Perfect Game event, the 2009 National Showcase. Part of the reason that Sanchez was a late rising prospect was also due to the fact that he was a primary middle infielder his first two years in high school and didn’t start pitching full-time until his junior year. Once Sanchez took the mound in Minneapolis it was obvious that he was an All-American and a potential first round draft choice. He had a slender and very projectable 6-foot-3, 170-pound build and a lightning quick right arm. Sanchez fastball sat in the 91-94 mph range and he had present quality to both his 75-mph curveball and his 80-mph changeup. Here are the notes from PG database on his performance: Slender long legs, arm is smooth/fast, stays over rubber well, arm accelerates, looks athletic, projects, CB flashes quality spin, gets on side for sweeping break mostly, blows FB by hitters upstairs, should throw Chg more, big velocity arm … Long legs, put together well, easy velo and can repeat, inconsistent with CB but is there, ok feel … Very lanky, small-framed, shallow-chested righty w/chance to be 1st-round pick as pitcher. Loose arm and excellent athleticism in delivery, excellent balance, clean finish. Some loop in arm-action. Threw easy 91-94 MPH w/two-seam running action that projects to ave MLB movement. mid-70s CB was at times very sharp, downward bite, chance to become plus MLB pitch but needs much better command. Lots of projection, but needs to go slow at first because he's not very physical. One of the best arms this week Sanchez later went on to pitch at the Area Code Games as well as the PG All-American Classic in August, and he threw for the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Arsenal at the 2009 WWBA World Championship in late October. It’s interesting to note in the context of Sanchez’ occasional command problems as a professional (134 walks in 256 innings) and his cautious workload by the Blue Jays is that there were consistent scouting notes from those events in high school referring to him struggling with his command at times and that he appeared to tire quickly. The impression that Sanchez left at the PG All-American Classic was a bit different than most players. A large and very boisterous crowd of Sanchez' family and friends made the 180-mile trip from Barstow to San Diego and stood out among the 8,000-plus fans at the game, literally taking over a whole section in the stands. Sanchez went on to go 7-0, 0.73 with 104 strikeouts in 57 innings his senior year while also hitting .403-5-20 at the plate. The Blue Jays selected him with the 34th-overall pick, just before they grabbed another tall, slender righthander, Noah Syndergaard, with the 38th pick. The Mariners then choose Taijuan Walker with the 43rd overall selection, completing a great run of young, projectable high school right-handers that all look like future big league stars. —David Rawnsley Daniel Norris – LHP Norris offered one of the fastest arms and most explosive fastballs of any lefthanded pitcher that has attended a Perfect Game event. His status as one of the top prospects available for the 2011 draft was established for several years, as he sat at no. 1 in the Perfect Game rankings for his class for the two years leading up to his senior year. Prior to the draft, Dylan Bundy leap-frogged Norris after his own impressive high school career (detailed below), but Norris still entered the 2011 draft as one of the most exciting and still-projectable pitchers of those eligible. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder peaked at 96 mph while in high school, doing so at the 2010 18u WWBA National Championship pitching for the East Cobb Yankees. It was the third year in a row he pitched at the 18u for the EC Yankees, touching 94 the summer before and 87 in 2008, doing so a couple of months after his 15th birthday. Norris made that velocity look easy, with a smooth, repeatable and athletic delivery, leading many to believe his radar gun readings could continue to climb at the next level, whether that be in college—he committed to play for Clemson—or as a pro. His performance at the 2010 PG National, where he peaked at 94 mph and mixed in a sharp mid-70s curveball and promising low-to-mid-80s changeup, cemented his selection to participate in the PG All-American Classic later that summer. It was noted at the time, and the following spring leading up to the draft, that Norris' secondary offerings still need to be tightened up and thrown with greater consistency, but all of the pieces were there for him to succeed at a high level. Here's his report from the National: Long armed athletic build. Hands over head delivery, good pace, hard front side on landing, quick and athletic off the mound, 3/4's release point. Easy velocity, sat 92-94 mph, lots of 94s, fastball runs, good angle to the plate, threw strikes to spots with fastball. CB lacks ideal velocity but has big hard break, consistent spin and location, some change ups have big fade, good feel for off speed, throws strikes with all pitches, minimum effort to everything. Outstanding prospect. Norris' prospective status led to equally lofty expectations leading up to draft day in June of 2011. Word spread that his price tag to sign was $3.9 million, and he was identified as a player that could potentially fall in the draft due to those aspirations. Norris did indeed fall further than where his talents warranted, but the Blue Jays stopped that slide in the second round, taking him with the 74th overall pick. That year the Blue Jays owned seven picks in the top two rounds, and took a very aggressive approach with those selections. Their first-round pick was Tyler Beede, who had lofty bonus aspirations of his own, as well as another Vanderbilt commit, Kevin Comer, who they took in the sandwich round. When Beede opted not to sign it opened an opportunity for the Blue Jays to get Norris (and Comer) in the fold, which they did so for a $2 million bonus. That number fell short of Norris' original hope, but was a significant amount of money given to a second round selection, even before the new draft pools were introduced. —Patrick Ebert Chase DeJong – RHP Typically, miles per hour translate to dollar signs in the draft. The hardest-throwing pitchers tend to come off the board earliest and thus command the highest bonuses. But there are exceptions, and Chase DeJong is a good example. The Southern California native wasn’t exactly a soft-tosser, frequently working in the 88-90 mph range as a member of the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Arsenal at numerous national level tournaments. DeJong was one of the better pitching prospects in the 2012 high school class, but not simply on the merit of his raw stuff. It was his command, pitchabillity, and quality of off-speed pitches that allowed DeJong to dominate his competition on a consistent basis as an amateur. DeJong sparked a lot of debate amongst scouts prior to his senior spring, as on the one hand he was a right-hander who lacked an explosive high velocity fastball, yet at the same time commanded three quality pitches and already had polish beyond his years. When his senior season at Wilson High School in Long Beach got underway he saw an uptick in velocity, with reports of him settling in around 90 and climbing up to 93 at times. That changed the equation entirely, even though 93 isn’t the kind of velocity that pitcher’s can get away with mistakes at, it was firm enough that organizations had to begin taking him seriously as an early round draft prospect. In PG’s draft preview article highlighting California’s top prospects for 2012 David Rawnsley wrote the following of DeJong: DeJong throws from a simple turn-and-throw delivery with a long, deep arm action and comes straight over-the-top which provides some deception. His 88-91-mph fastball comes in at a hard downhill angle and gets both sinking and cutting life at the plate. DeJong’s best pitch is a nasty 82 mph changeup that is one of the best in the 2012 draft class, and is his separator when throwing to elite hitters. His 75 mph curve comes from a similar release point as his fastball and changeup, and gets big downer shape and bite to change the hitter’s eye level. The arsenal suggested a ceiling of a middle of the rotation starting pitcher, though his body had plenty of room to fill and his clean arm action suggested that he may have another uptick in velocity in his future. This allowed him to firmly establish himself as a top-tw-round prospect in the eyes of some organizations. Even if he isn’t able to develop his raw stuff another grade, DeJong has the ability to be an asset to the Blue Jays given his command and pitchabillity. —Todd Gold

If anybody wants to take two of Ryu, Beachy and Archer for a slightly superior pitcher, give me a shout. Similarly, if anybody wants to take two of Bourn, Torii and Gardner for a slightly superior OF, give me a shout. I'd be willing to throw in Balfour too if it makes a deal work.

I suppose you could if you decided to cut down to 19 players before the draft, but your team would have to be awfully s***** in that case.

Correct. Free agency will open at a specific time so that everyone has a fair shot to grab whoever makes it through the Waiver Draft.