glory

Gotta give Navarro credit, his fat ass is forcing a trade, and that's a good thing for the Jays.

The D-Backs are definitely the team to trade with. It's just a matter of finding the right trade. Delgado is the guy i'd go after too, but can't see Arizona trading him for Navarro. I wonder if there is a trade where the Jays could land both Hudson and Delgado, but that's unlikely.

They won't be trading Norris, Sanchez, or Pompey because they need those guys. They won't trade Hoffman because he's not healthy yet. Really, the only trading chips they have that might attract interest are Osuna and Castro, and they'd probably be selling low on them at this rate (their value could skyrocket by this time next season, especially Osuna's). I guess if they can trade those two and get Hamels back, it would be fine, but I can't see Ruben doing that (he'd ask for those two plus Norris, Sanchez, Pompey, and Hoffman).

2008/9: Burnett leaves as a FA. Marcum, McGowan, and Litsch all need surgery and miss all of 2009 season. That forces the Jays to basically punt 2009 on purpose, and subsequently trade Halladay at the end of the season. 2012: Hutchison, Drabek, and Morrow pretty much get hurt around the same time, forces Hutchison and Drabek to miss all of 2013, and Morrow to never be the same again (for whatever reason). 2013: Projected rotation of Dickey, Johnson, Buehrle, Morrow, Happ, and Romero. Johnson ends up getting hurt, pitching poorly, and missing most of the season. Morrow gets hurt and misses most of the season. Happ gets drilled in the head with a line drive. Romero ceases to be a Major Leaguer. I'm not saying they are better or worse with healthy than others, but they sure as hell don't get the benefit of health that often. Last season and 2010 were really huge missed opportunities.

When it comes to the Jays, there is no such thing as jinxes. Bad things happen to them regardless of what is said. You can say Daniel Norris will throw 200 IP in 2015 or Daniel Norris will get Tommy John Surgery, and regardless, always expect the worst to happen. We're the Blue Jays. This is reality.

Sanchez will now be needed in the rotation (ugh), and AA can't afford to scratch his own ass with the money he has left to spend from ownership, so that pretty much covers it.

It will be Sanchez and Norris, with Estrada in the pen. Wouldn't surprise me if Castro makes it now. What a disaster, and Rogers won't give two shits, so don't expect the money to get Hamels/Papelbon.

Houston had to take back two completely deadweight salaries (Blowdero and Francisco) so that probably made the prospect capital a bit higher.

Too early to label Edwin's issue as being chronic. We will see how much actual regular season time he misses because of it, if any. Although, based on the way the payroll is structured for the next few years, even in a best case scenario the Jays will likely have to pick one or the other with Bautista/Edwin, and they'll likely go with Bautista regardless.

At least it doesn't appear to be serious but we can never tell with Blue Jays doctors.

Keep him off the field. Let him DH full time instead of playing 1B to get Navarro's bat in the lineup.

If Cecil is closer and they need an additional lefty to join Loup in the middle innings, then my guess is Barnes wins it. He's out of options. I guess Francis is a possibility as well, but I think they need him in the AAA rotation for depth.

Martin kicks the ball while Navarro sits and watches. That's the only plausible scenario.

I'm going to miss Buehrle after this season.

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.