shortstop

KingKat, definitely an assumption on my part since a) don't know much about Gosewich nor do I recall watching him play and cannot fathom a team relying on Thole let alone a player inferior to Thole as the starting backstop.

even if Arizona sucks this year, they still gotta sell some tickets & play decent enough baseball, product wise. Not saying Gosewich is Thole but imagine playing an entire season with Thole at the backstop? My guess is the Tigers would want Navarro vs. plugging in their current backup when Avila is out...but likely reality is they have no arm to offer the jays. Maybe the jays want Ziegler (free agent 2016, $5M salary this season, team option $5.5M next year with $1M buyout) & D-Backs want to send Reed and his remaining couple of arb years ($4.875M this year)...D-Backs also want to keep Ziegler & his low ERA history looking at the rest of the D-backs bullpen depth & only one that stands out is Perez & he's a LHP & unlikely to be mutual interest there. What's worse? The Jays Bullpen or Arizona's catching situation? The latter imo & AA may be holding out for Ziegler & standing firm despite the fanbase wanting to win/make a move & notwithstanding Stroshow going down...we'll see how this plays out surely the D-Backs are under pressure to get much needed stability at the catching position.

I haven't watched any at-bats but is he able to lay off breaking balls & crap out of the zone? Even if so, it's another thing entirely at the MLB level. Didn't Snider have an awesome spring training one year? Anyways, agree with Spanky - until he can do it at the mlb level consistently, take results with a grain of salt.

But sucks as a baseball fan; he is a gem to watch.

I think Gibby likes Tolleson, probably b/c he can play 2B/3B and the corner OF spots if necessary. He also seems to carry himself very well which I'm sure goes a long with AA/Gibby.

i'll take a long shot on Graveman

"You call yourself a f***ing accountant." Twisted, I think there's some merit in RA's point, which is AA must assume, even if both players start in the minors, that they may get called up during the year; ergo, he's gotta take into account their salary hit in the total budget.

That's ultimately why I see Viciedo as not an option - not a left handed bat. But I'll give AA the benefit of the doubt on this one & he views Viciedo as a project. Even with Saunders playing, I'm concerned with the LH hitting options - and ultimately don't like 2-5 in the batting order as RH bats. Guess we'll find out how this turns out.

Wryn, my initial thoughts were AA did this to say he's doing something. But imo, so long as these 2 guys start at triple A, view it as low risk depth & prudent really. My hope is, short of truly earning a call up, that neither see any MLB action with the jays.

It's his non throwing shoulder no? I imagine they do a full body "inspection" but perhaps they only checked his throwing arm? Otherwise he likely got hurt after the physical with the Rays.

What JB said is common sense stuff - if you're not happy with losing, it'll show somehow. He's not saying it's the locker room scene in moneyball where Giambi is putting on a dance but it seems certain guys were ambivalent to losing.

either AA is on the hot seat - and with an apparently fixed budget that have tied AA's hands (or so would have everyone believe) or Rogers/AA are on the same page & the market doesn't know about it for the purpose of not letting the market know there in fact is more $$'s in the pot. Beeston done after this year & makes sense for the new President to run his own ship, which may mean AA is gone, subject to this year's results.

agreed. i don't see Dioner being moved at this point & see him at DH quite a bit more which means very few days off for any regulars until after the all-star break when Saunders gets back. let the patchwork by AA begin.

how is depth affected if Norris makes the team? That means some other pitcher that would Otherwise make the team gets sent down as depth down the road...

If Norris joins the starting rotation, that bullpen doesn't look that bad with both Estrada & Sanchez in there.

well, the only problem with that is we don't have full information. If I recall correctly, after the Martin signing, a couple teams "filled" holes by signing replacement level catchers & many are still wondering if those teams are really going to play the entire season with 2 replacement level catchers. In this scenario, AA either asked for too much which caused these team(s) to sign a replacement level immediately to improve their leverage or the other team wasn't being reasonable (or perhaps anticipating a discussion with AA) & to increase leverage, signed the replacement level catchers We do know shortly after that, AA/Gibby come out & publicly state they are fine with Navarro staying with the Jays for the season. One other thing: by trading Navarro for peanuts, AA likely doesn't want to set a precedent that he'll give guys away for whatever if there's a redundancy. It's easy for me to sit here & say, hey, trade Navarro to the Tigers or whoever for a prospect and use the savings on whoever for bullpen help. Best case scenario for the jays is one or more teams starting catcher gets injured soon & a trade of value works out for the Jays. Personally, I don't like the prospect of Navarro on this team - purely from the standpoint he'll take DH time away from other guys who need a rest & as one poster pointed out, you can for sure see Gibby give Navarro solid DH time. Be interesting to see how this plays out - may in fact turn out trading him for a peanut to clear his salary would've been the best move. Otoh, maybe the best case scenario plays out soon. Not easy being a GM - though I think AA imo doesn't factor into the equation as much as he should the impact of having Navarro on the roster during the season.

my recommendation, for those that have never been to any other stadium other than Rogers Centre & do plan on going to games to the Rogers Centre: do not visit anyother decent ballparks I remember my first game at another ballpark & since then, have not nearly enjoyed the experience at the Rogers Centre as I used to. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

Yep, Gibby will play & DH him more than what's best for this team overall. if Martin gets hurt, he gets hurt. Here's hoping AA will get something done by the start of spring training.

RA, I'm with you - odds are it will turn out this team is yet again not deep enough & with too many obvious holes left unaddressed. No doubt AA is right - this is a competitive makeup - but odds are it isn't enough.

http://www.baseballessential.com/news/2015/02/14/why-josh-donaldson-lost-his-arbitration-hearing/

We all, always, pray he stays healthy.

That's my issue Governator You're gonna need that guy for depth to pitch in & get guys out when it matters Hendricks? Maybe. I really liked Graveman but that was part of the bargain.

Question, if true, is wtf not use the remaining payroll?

Kingkat, We differ on that - I think we're 5 strong including delabar - the 6th is long man eat up innings guy so whoever... Question for me is #7 - I guess Hendricks since he has better control & Drabek is frustrating. My sense is plan is for the Pen to remain as is till Norris gets called up. Another way of looking at it - tougher to call up Norrus with another established reliever in the mold.

Jays, is that after factoring in exchange rate?