glory

Lopez, Guilmet, and West. All three should make the damn team.

Assuming that Cecil/Loup/Lopez/Delabar/Redmond/Estrada are safe bets, then any one of Guilmet, West, Jenkins, Infante, Shultz, Tepera, Hendriks, Francis, Rasmussen, etc, would be better than rushing Castro.

If Dickey is still throwing 220 innings of league average or better performance, then the Jays would be foolish not to pick up the option. Young pitchers are not trust worthy, and it gets even more unpredictable if you plan to fill your entire rotation with them. It's not like the Jays will reallocate his $12m to one of the free agent starting pitchers. I'd keep Dickey and offer Buehrle the QO. Again, assuming both have typical seasons for them. You can always trade them.

I agree, this move would be terrible. The Jays have more than enough bullpen options. There is no reason to rush Castro or Osuna. I think the worst thing to happen to this team was the bullpen implosion last season. AA has lost his marbles because of it (Sanchez in the pen, possibly Castro in the pen, and who knows what else).

AJ Jimenez > Dioner Navarro.

That's why Smoak plays 1B and Edwin is DH. You hear that, Gibbons? No Navarro at DH ********.

Man, I still hate Navarro. On that called third strike, he caught it so lazily. Didn't help Sanchez at all but luckily he got the call anyway. And it goes without saying we are going to need Smoak (or Barton) at 1B. Donaldson's throwing and Reyes' everything will need a good 1B to pick the bad throws.

Exactly my point. The reason players like him get traded for less what what they are perceived to be worth (Lawrie/Marcum) is because of things like that. Lawrie was traded for being an entitled douche in Milwaukee. Rasmus was traded for many reasons by the Cardinals. Escobar was traded because the ATL organization collectively hated his guts. You can't acquire players like that and expect them to be long-term core pieces. Lawrie was young enough when acquired to have the potential to mature a bit, but he clearly did not, and combine that with his injury issues made him completely expendable in my opinion. The fact that AA was able to get Donaldson for him is still unbelievable. With that said, Lawrie has the potential to have a ~4 WAR season or two in Oakland (largely on his defense) but I think Beane will be smart enough to cut bait before he has to extend him. Take whatever value you can get and cut bait. That's the smart thing to do.

I don't think they'd play Bautista this early in the spring if he was still too hurt to play. They only risk injuries for the Montreal games (Reyes last season).

Not when the Brewers traded him. The Jays traded Lawrie at exactly the right time.

Using Navarro as DH against RHP will eliminate some (or most) of the good in trading Lind, but if they are actually smart and strictly use Edwin in that role while keeping the DH spot occasionally free to rest key players throughout the season, then they did the right thing (trading Lind) and it's not even debatable. How many teams have strict DH's? Not many. It's a position that is and should be used to rotate players around and give guys a breather over the course of a season. If you have a David Ortiz type, then that's when you have a strict DH. The Jays happen to have one in Edwin, so there was no point in having another in Lind that has chronic injury issues, can't play defense, and is useless against one side of the plate. At least with Smoak he will provide defensive value with some HR power and the ability to draw walks for 6m less. The Jays will miss Lind's bat against rhp, no question about that, but as far as money saved, roster construction, and making the most out of the DH position, they had to trade Lind. If the team decides to use Navarro at DH against rhp, then that doesn't make the Lind trade any less sensible. It just means they are clueless about how bad Navarro really is.

Surprising that a guy who the Cardinals (one of the best run organizations in baseball) couldn't wait to get rid of due to his personal baggage despite him having three and a half years of cheap control left would turn out to be a loser. Shocking, actually. A talented douche is still a douche. It took AA a few years, but maybe he's finally learned that there is a reason guys like Lawrie, Escobar, and Rasmus get traded for less than what they are perceived to be worth.

All the Lind supporters always seemed to ignore the fact that he's an injury prone DH who destroyed any roster flexibility due to his presence. He's a good bat against RHP, maybe even a great bat, but if he's not on the field enough and can't defend then that really hampers his value. There is a reason Estrada is the best we could get back for him.

If the top four guys stay healthy and productive (Dickey/Stro/Hutch/Buehrle), then I think the rotation will be fine. Really can't afford one of them missing any time, though. Estrada in the rotation and Norris as the main depth piece is the best way to go. Of course, if the Jays get to the point where they need a 7th, 8th, or 9th SP due to injuries, then they are screwed badly.

Nah, Castro's going to start in the minors, get his innings to about 80, and then get called up to pitch out of the big league bullpen for his last 30 ip or so.

Wilton Lopez, Preston Guilmet, and Matt West got this. No worries.

It's wet on the field. Bench everyone who has any value.

It would have to be someone who can cover at short for Reyes so either Santiago, Goins, or Kawasaki. I think Goins and Santiago have the best shot. The only reason I'm picking Goins is because Santiago makes over a mil if he makes the team, and that's money Rogers can pocket.

He should be in the minors regardless. Not sure what the rush is. If he was guaranteed to be an ace reliever, then I could understand the urgency since AA's job is on the line, but dude is just as likely to flame out as a reliever at this point. He really needs more time to work on his repetoire. Wish the Jays were a bit smarter with him. I still predict he'll bomb as a reliever and be sent back down to be stretched out some time in May or June.

Half smiling, maybe. It takes a lot more abuse and bullying for Zauny to smile. Maybe if they stripped Noah naked and took turns kicking him in the nuts, then Zaun would be in heaven. Play the game the right way, rookie.

The extensions to Morrow and Romero was the problem; not giving them a chance. Without those extensions, both guys would have been dumped prior to 2014 (instead the Jays paid them $16.5m in 2014, and another $8.1m to Romero this season). AA gambled that they'd improve or maintain performance, and it went about as badly as possible. I guess he deserves a break due to signing Bautista and Encarnacion.

Keith Law is high on Sanchez. That alone should make it obvious he'll be a reliever at best, nevermind his s***** minor league history.

Lopez might be the best RH reliever on the team, on paper. How did Drabek look? I'm one of the few people who thinks he might become a decent reliever.

Win a rotation spot, Sanchez. Prove doubters like me wrong and become a good starter.

I think the hope is Smoak provides similar value to Lind (better on defense/upside with the bat) and Estrada becomes a useful piece as a fifth starter/long man to replace Happ. I don't think those are unreasonable projections, although a lot will depend on what Smoak does.