Oakland needs outfielders, the Phillies are apparently interested in Gio Gonzalez of Oakland, and it was reported earlier this off season that they are also interested in reacquiring Travis D'Arnaud from Toronto. The Jays could use an elite starting pitcher so is it being set up that the Jays could acquire an elite starter in a 3 team deal? Hear me out...

The Phillies have Cole Hamels who they reportedly won't be able to afford when he hits free agency after this year and in the past have traded one elite starter for another that they can control for a longer period (Lee/Halladay) so...The Phillies trade highly touted OF prospect Dominic Brown to Oakland for Gio Gonzalez (Oakland desperately needs OF'ers) and then turn around and deal Cole Hamels to the Jays in a package including Travis D'Arnaud?

AA would be dealing from a position of depth (catcher) as Arencibia is the starter and young/controllable already, AJ Jiminez and Carlos Perez are also in our top 20 prospects so there is some high end prospects to absorb the loss of our best prospect in D'Arnaud. Hamels would come in to add a dominating 1-2 punch with RickyRo at the top of the rotation though before making any move the Jays would require the ability to sign Hamels to an extension. Phillies would get a younger controllable starter for their long term needs and Oakland gets an elite young OF prospect who's ready to step in now.

This probably makes too much sense to actually happen but this time of year is always so much fun for baseball fans :)

With the Blue Jays searching for another starter and a closer this off-season it seems that the White Sox might be a fit for the Jays.  They are rumoured to be open to moving John Danks or Gavin Floyd as well as Matt Thornton.  I wouldn't mind (for the right price of course) the Jays making a move with the White Sox to acquire one of the starters and Thornton to close.

I just don't know enough about the White Sox needs right now to know if the Jays are a good trade partner, anyone have any insight to what the White Sox might be looking for in return?

Is anyone aware if the Jays unveiling their new uniforms today?  I heard something about an event at the Dome at noon today but haven't seen much news on it on and Jays sites.

If they are unveiled today I'm really hoping we see the logo that was leaked in the summer.  The Jays original logo was a classic and needs to come back - fresh old-school look would really look good.

I was just wondering what the buzz is (if any)?

reading MLB Trade Rumors I've noticed that Oakland may shop Gio Gonzalez in an effort to get younger and add some position players for when they may move to San Jose (?)

Being that Ricky Romero is our only regular LH starter Gio could be a good fit.  Maybe as a fall back plan if Yu Darvish doesn't come to TO (or maybe as a complement to adding Darvish)? 

Gio is young and under control for a few more years and some think he'll fetch the A's a similar return to what TB got for Matt Garza last off season (3 decent prospects) so who would you think the Jays would want to give up in a deal for Gio?

I'd be more then willing to include Thames or Snider as a start to a deal and a hitting and pitching prospect.  thoughts?

The Red Sox are imploding, CC Sabathia could leave NY and the top of the AL East could be up for grabs in 2012 so i say AA goes to Rogers and asks them to open up the vault and build this team to win now!

1. Trade Yunel Escobar, Deck Maguire, Kyle Drabek and maybe another prospect to CIN for Joey Votto

2. Trade Adam Lind to OAK for Andrew Bailey

3. Trade Travis Snider, Anthony Gose, Henderson Alvarez, and another prospect to Seattle for Felix Hernandez

4. Sign Jose Reyes (or Jimmy Rollins)

5. Bring back 2B Kelly Johnson

6. Sign John MacDonald (just because)

7. Sign a lefty RP

Fills the biggest needs the Jays have right now Closer and Starting Pitching and gives a huge upgrade at 1B (and middle of the order) and SS (though maybe a defensive downgrade)...

Obviously this is not going to happen, though the 4 non-blockbuster moves (Lind to OAK, bring back KJ, sign Johnny Mac and bring in a Lefty RP) are moves we could see.

What are some not-so likely and some more likely moves you think will happen?

I have 4 guys and only 2 spots left in my keeper league (standard 5x5, 10 team, start 2 catchers and 5 OF).  I have to choose to keep two of the following:

OF Angel Pagan

OF Carlos Quentin

C Kurt Suzuki

C Mike Napoli

My other OF right now are Pence, Snider and Fowler and the only other catcher I'm keepking is Saltalamacchia as a reserve, so my question is who do I keep?  I'm leaning towards Suzuki and Quentin right now but please give me your opinions.

Just read a note on MLBTR about the remaining DH crop and it is still very intriguing.  Any one of Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome or Vlad Guerrero would be a welcome addition to the Jays lineup in my opinion.  And to a lesser degree I wouldn't mind seeing Damon, Branyan or Glaus here to. 

I think AA realized back in October when the Manny Ramirez to Toronto rumours were flying around that there wasn't a huge market for aging DH's that can't play in the field so waiting out the market has probably brought the asking prices lower and they may continue to drop the closer to Spring Training we get.  It would have been nice to add a bit bat with some defensive value but the Jays had options to who they could add and moving Bautista to 3B, Lind/EE to 1B and Davis, Snider, Wells in the OF isn't that bad if Manny, Thome or Vlad occupy the everyday DH spot on an incentive laden 1 year deal.

Personally, I like Vlad, Manny and Thome in that order for the Jays, what does everyone think?  Will AA add a big bat before Spring Training?  If so who?

I’m not sure this is so much a ‘need’ as it is to determine what is the best fit to fill the role.  The Jays have plenty of internal depth to fill this role but could also look outside the organization for an upgrade.

Internal Candidates: There’s a lot of internal depth here: Kyle Drabek, Shawn Hill, Mark (can't believe i got the last name right and screwed up the first name) Marc Rzepczynski, Scott Richmond, Brad Mills, Robert Ray and Zach Stewart would be the top internal candidates.

External Candidates: On the free agent market the list is led by Cliff Lee and also includes Jorge De La Rosa, Carl Pavano, Aaron Harang and Javier Vazquez.  There are also some FA starters who are coming off injury and could be looking to prove healthy: Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, Jeff Francis and Chris Capuano among them.  On the trade market you will mainly find over-paid starters (Zito, Kazmir, Wolf, Lowe or Zambrano) and starters that will cost a kings ransom (Greinke, Garza, Shields, Nolasco, Danks and Wandy Rodriguez).

Likely Scenario: With the depth of starting pitchers in the system I think this spot will be filled internally.  Kyle Drabek will open the season as the 5th starter barring a spring meltdown with Scott Richmond, Shawn Hill or Marc Rzepczynski making the bullpen as a swingman in case Drabek struggles or one of the others gets injured.

Pie in the Sky: I was going to say sign Cliff Lee, but that is too obvious and to me there’s something about Cliff Lee that screams "I’m not a team player, I’m just in it for the money" and that is not the type of player you want around a rebuilding team (though not sure he’s much different then Manny in that respect).  So I’ll go with having the healing gods strike Dustin McGowan with a new shoulder, arm, elbow, knee, left ear, right eye or whatever else is bothering him and he returns to the rotation as the ace he was starting to develop into.

Up Next: Bench

Just read the Arizona is listening on Justin Upton, knowing AA's due diligence motto I'm sure he's been in contact or will be.  Could the Jays have what it takes to land a young star like Upton?  He plays a position of need and is affordable as he is just starting a 6 year $51M deal (not too bad for a rising star that's only 23).

The Jays have a few options to make offers to Arizona depending on what they are looking for:

1) Prospects: Drabek, D'Arnaud and Marisnick - they get a MLB ready top pitching prospect, one of the better catching prospects who's probably a year away and a toolsy OF prospect to eventually replace Upton

2) MLB/Prospect Mix: Cecil, Arencibia, Emaus - they get a former top prospect/current successful MLB starter in Cecil, Arencibia has MLB time under his belt and lots of power and Emaus is close to the majors and can be a 2B or utility option as soon as 2011.  In this scenario I'd think the Jays would have to also re-sign John Buck.

3) MLB'ers: Travis Snider and David Purcey - not sure I like moving Snider out as I think him and Upton would be the core to the lineup when the Jays are successful but not totally against it.  Purcey gives Arizona a much needed bullpen arm with upside.  This scenario would see Bautista moving to either 3B or LF, still leaving a hole in the lineup but ultimatiely I like Upton's ceiling over Snider's so i'd still do it. 

What other scenario's are there?  anyone?

Ideally I'd like to move the prospects only for Upton but not sure what Arizona's targets are in any deal if it were to happen.

3. 3B/RF – I had to re-think this one over the weekend.  The initial "Likely Scenario" I had was with the Jays bringing Encarnacion back, now that he’s in Oakland that seems highly unlikely so I’m going a different route here.

Internal Candidates: For 3B the internal candidates the Jays have are Aaron Hill, Jose Bautista or prospect Brad Emaus.  Moving Hill to 3B would obviously open up a hole at 2B which would need filling and likewise with Bautista moving in from RF.  Emaus is an interesting candidate.  He posted a solid offensive season in AA/AAA in 2010 posting a combined .290/.397/.476 line, though most of that came in hitter-friendly Las Vegas.  For RF the internal candidates would be Bautista and Travis Snider (creating a hole in LF).

External Candidate: On the free agent market the top RF draw is Jayson Werth followed by Magglio Ordonez (mentioned as a DH candidate), Brad Hawpe and Jeff Francoeur who was let go by the Rangers, though he might be more of a platoon player at this point.  On the trade front Carlos Quentin and Bobby Abreu might become available.  For third basement the pickings are even more slim with Adrian Beltre leading the group by a large margin with no one else really worth giving everyday at bats to.  On the trade front for 3B options we have heard Alex Gordon’s and Dan Uggla’s names linked to the Jays while Arizona might make Mark Reynolds available I feeling the asking price would be too high for a strikeout machine like Reynolds.  Other interesting trade candidates would include Chone Figgins, Mark Teahen, Brandon Wood, Mat Gamel and Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Likely Scenario: The likeliest scenario here is for the Jays to explore the trade market for either a 2B, 3B or RF’er and fill Bautista and Hill in the spots not occupied by the newest Jay.  Though I think for Dan Uggla the price will be too high so the likeliest trade candidate I see would be Alex Gordon.  Should that fall through I’d look for the Jays to sign Orlando Hudson for 2B and move Hill over to 3B.

Pie in the Sky: Would love to see the Jays make a big offer to St. Louis for Colby Rasmus (likely centered around Kyle Drabek) and put Rasmus in CF, move Wells to RF and put Bautista at 3B.

Up next: 5th Starter

2. 1B/DH – I’m grouping these together because Adam Lind will likely fill one of the spots, it just depends on who the Jays look to fill the other which will determine who plays where.  Lyle Overbay handled 1B duties for the last few years but is a free-agent, his defence was appreciated where his bat left a lot to be desired.

Internal Candidates: As mentioned, Lind will occupy one spot, the other is up for grabs.  After the trade of heir-apparent Brett Wallace the Jays don’t have a great deal of Major League ready talent to take over everyday 1B/DH duties in 2011.  The Jays could look to JP Arencibia to handle some DH time, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion (if retained) or even Travis Snider could play 1B but would leave holes elsewhere.

External Candidates: On the free agent market the most intriguing names available at 1B are Adam Dunn, Aubrey Huff, Paul Konerko, Lance Berkman, Carlos Pena and Derrek Lee.  On the trade front there are two big name 1Bs available in Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez and some others that would be considered projects in James Loney and Chris Davis.  On the DH side you could look at some of the above mentioned 1Bs (Dunn, Huff, Berkman) as well as Manny Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez, Johnny Damon, Jonny Gomes and Andruw Jones as free agents.  Trade wise Carlos Lee, Raul Ibanez, Josh Willingham, Bobby Abreu and Mat Gamel could fit the bill.

Likely Scenario: I’ve gone back and forth on what I think will happen here but ultimately I think the Jays will want to have Adam Lind play in the field in 2011 as they don’t want to limit a 26 year old player to just DH duties, so that means the Jays will likely go externally to fill their DH hole.  DH will also cost a little less to fill on the free agent market then a capable 1B with an equal bat.  Ultimately I see Manny Ramirez or Magglio Ordonez with the Jays in 2011 on a short-term incentive based contract.

Pie in the Sky: Trade for Adrian Gonzalez, he has been an all-star hitter in the toughest pitchers park in baseball, he could be a dominant force for the Jays for a long time and it would also prevent the Red Sox from acquiring him.

Up next: 3B/RF

I work downtown Toronto about half a kilometre away from the dome.  A Co Worker of mine just got back from lunch and saw Manny Ramirez walking down Bremner Blvd towards the Dome (with a hot piece of eye candy on his arm).

Wonder why Manny would be wondering around downtown Toronto with a companion within spitting distance of the Rogers Centre?  Hmmmm

I'm not going to be too disappointed if the Jays bring Manny in at the right price.

I wanted to take a look at potential needs heading into 2011 and discuss the available options the Jays have for filling them.  I've ranked the needs by what I feel is the most important and will lay out who I think the internal options are, the best external options, the most likely scenario to fill the role and a little 'pie in the sky', what I'd do if I had an unlimited budget scenario.

The order I’ve come up with for the Jays needs are:
1. Bullpen
2. 1B/DH
3. 3B/RF
4. 5th Starter
5. Bench

I’ll first look at the bullpen and continue posing the remaining positions soon.

1. Bullpen - Now that Jason Frasor, Scott Downs and Kevin Gregg all seem headed to free agency I think that bullpen becomes the Jays #1 need heading into 2011.  Many of the remaining 2010 bullpen crew did well in 2010 and should do so again in 2011 however if pushed into later inning roles they may not be as successful.

Internal Candidates: The bullpen will be filled with some of the following: Shawn Camp, Jeremy Accardo, Jesse Carlson, Casey Janssen, Brad Mills, David Purcey, Josh Roenicke and whoever loses out on the 5th starter spot.

External Candidates: There are always plenty of free agent relievers available, this year headlined by Rafael Soriano as the best free agent closer (not including Mariano Rivera), while JJ Putz, Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Brian Fuentes, Chad Qualls, Kerry Wood and Jon Rauch have all had closing experience.  Canadian Jesse Crain has the desire to close in 2011 as does Trevor Hoffman and others like Joaquin Benoit, Frank Francisco, Grant Balfour and Takashi Saito could all handle late inning duties.  On the trade front we’ll probably here Heath Bell’s name in a lot of rumours and other names like Bobby Jenks (unless he his non-tendered), David Aardsma and Leo Nunez could all be on the move.  In the never say never category we could see Jonathan Papelbon or Jonathan Broxton shopped during the off-season though the likelihood of them moving is pretty low. 

Likely Scenario: I’m not confident that any of the internal candidates would succeed in the closer role in 2011, they are better suited for mid-late inning work.  I think the most likely scenario is that 1) Frasor accepts arbitration and remains with the team in 2011, I doubt that if he declined he’d find many suitors with is 2010 struggles and type A status and 2) the Jays will add someone like Jesse Crain, JJ Putz or Chad Qualls in hopes they can battle with Frasor for the closer/set up role.

Pie in the Sky: I think (depending on asking price) the Jays should pursue Jonathan Broxton.  With the Dodgers uncertain ownership situation and Broxton’s late season struggles he might be available for the right package and I am confident he could easily return to his pre-2010 form.

Up next: 1B/DH

From MLBTRADERUMORS:

Manny Ramirez would like to play for the Blue Jays under new manager John Farrell, the slugger told ESPN's Enrique Rojas (story in Spanish).  Ramirez and Farrell crossed paths on the Red Sox, of course.  Manny added that he had hernia surgery two weeks ago and was never 100% during the season.  He feels like he has a lot of baseball left and can stay healthy as a designated hitter.

Ramirez, 38, hit .298/.409/.460 in 320 plate appearances for the Dodgers and White Sox this year.  That's a down year by his standards, but it's also the best OBP of any free agent.  Manny said he's liked the Blue Jays since they had great Dominican players in the 80s.  To make room for Ramirez at DH, the Jays would have to use Adam Lind at first base.

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Hi all, I'm new to the site and love it, great work everyone!  I'm a life long Bills fan that lives in Toronto have family in Buffalo and have always followed the Bills through good and bad.

One thing I've noticed is a lot of talk about needing to draft a franchise QB but to me it seems a little like putting the cart before the horse.  I think using their #1 pick on a 'franchise' QB is a bit of a mistake in 2011.  To me one of the biggest needs on this team is to shore up the o-line first as if you put a top QB prospect in and get him crushed and kill his confidence he may never develop. 

Personally, I'd like to see the Bills potentially trade down in the draft in 2011 to be in a spot to still draft one of the best OT and get something else of use (other draft picks or a player).  Then use their top pick in 2012 on the franchise QB and hope that Luck stays in college one more year and they have a shot at him.  I'd like to see them build from the line back, shoring up the line will protect the QB and give Spiller a chance to excel also.

Go Bills!

Should Cito win, or even be considered for AL Manager of the Year in 2010?

Typically a 4th place finisher's manager would not be considered however, thinking that most 'experts' picked the Jays to finish last in the AL East (behind the Orioles) after the loss of Doc, in the end the Jays finished a VERY respectable 85-77 in baseballs toughest division

The Jays were supposed to have a weak pitching staff but the emergence of Morrow as a future top end SP, Marcum's recovery from injury, Cecil's emergence and Romero's continuation of a solid rookie campaign all came under Cito's guidance.  Also the back end of the bullpen was very solid...

Sure Hill and Lind regressed, however Vernon Wells had a rebound/healthy year, of course Bautista busted out and knocked 54HR, the Jays had 8 (I think?) 20+HR hitters, so we can say the offence flurished under Cito in 2010.

The Jays improved across the board, all under Cito's guidance!

Typically manager of the year doesn't go to a manager of a team that is 'expected' to win, so can we eliminate Girardi, Maddon and Gardenhire?  The award typically goes to a manager who has helped his team improve from the past year so I beleive Cito should be in the conversation, however in the end I think Ron Washington will win as he guided his team to the playoffs but I'd like to give my sentimental vote to Cito!

With the post about the Jays biggest surprise in 2010, got me to thinking about the 2011 season for the Jays.  My question to you would be what are you most looking forward to in 2011?

For me it is having Travis Snider play a full season...he started 2010 slow but was heating up before he got injured.  When he came back he wasn't playing well (or a lot) but at the end of the season he was once again heating up.  I am very intrigued to see what he can do in a full/healthy season.  I think he will be streaky for his whole career but I'd like to see what he can do with a sustained hot-streak with no injury or end of the season (or being benched in favour of anyone and everyone) to stop it.

What do you look most forward to in 2011?

Is anyone else concerned that the Jays had 4 picks in the first and supplemental first rounds and used them all on right handed potential #3 RH starting pitchers?  Where's position players??? The Jays got beat on Deshields and Choice and I'm ok with taking Deck Maguire but in the supplemental they passed on some pretty decent bats like Bryce Brentz, Drew Vettleson or Nick Castellanos to get a bunch of pretty similar RH pitchers.

I hope in the coming rounds the Jays take some chances on some high ceiling offensive prospects.

Apparently the Nationals just released supremely talented and just as troubled RF Elijah Dukes...probably due to some blow up he had with someone or the other for some stupid reason.

This guy has so much talent but his off-field antics (sometimes criminal) bring into question if he is even worth taking a flier on.

Personally, I've always rooted for this guy and I think for the Jays in a season that is considered to be a building one he might be worth the risk for the Jays especially if they are concerned with the health of E5 at 3B.  Basically AA could sign Dukes and let him play RF, put the leadoff man Bautista at 3B and let EE get healthy.  Also, if Snider needs more time in AAA then Dukes can play LF until he's ready.

If Dukes has more personal issues they can release him easily, and if he doesn't perform he can always go to the bench or the minors...if he performs like he can he could be a 25/25 hitter in the middle of the order...

Hi All, I just got a PS3 and was wondering what MLB video game has the best minor league systems?  I did some quick looking around on the 'net about "MLB '10 The Show" and "MLB 2K10" but I can't find which has the better MiLB systems...

Any thoughts or input from the community on which of these 2 is better for MiLB systems, and which game is just better overall (graphics, game play etc)

thanks

Just looking on MLBTR site I've seen that the Cubs (setup man Angel Guzman gone to TJ surgery) and the Twins (Joe Nathan potentially lost to TJ surgery) are possibly interested in Jason Frasor's services.

What type of return do you think the Jays should be looking for in exchange for Frasor?  If there are two teams in need, right now might be the best time to think about moving Frasor (or Scott Downs)...

I know I have mentioned this in the past however is it just me that thinks that McGowan's future should be at the end of games rather then at the beginning of them?

The first reason this move pops into mind is the shoulder woes he's experienced over the last year and a half, and a way to protect that shoulder is to give him less of a work load (not to mention the Tommy John surgery he had a few years back).  If that is not reason enough, there is no need to push him into the rotation because the Jays have a lot of starting options as it is, so why risk having Dusin re-injure himself when there are other capable options to start games.  The third reason is that a contending team requires a legitimate intimidating closer, and Dustin can be just that (I think he could be similar to a Jonathan Papelbon in Boston).

McGowan has 4 plus pitches, if he was focused on closing he could amp-up the fastball into the high 90's, doing this would make his change more effective and he could really pick his spots when to toss in a curve or slider.  Before his shoulder woes he had been showing improvement with his control as well (also a major plus for a closer). 

Dustin has the intimidating pitches to be an effective closer he also has the seemingly intimidating look to be an effective closer with those mutton chop sideburns and 'wild thing' glasses.  In my mind the Jays would be wise to try the bullpen route with Dustin rather then having him back in the rotation (at least in 2010).  If Dustin proves healthy after the 2010 season in the bullpen and if the need is there in the rotation then it's possible that he could slide back into the rotation in 2011 however I personally think (more just a hunch) that Dustin can be an extremely successful (even dominant) MLB closer.

Thoughts?