2011-02-23

Go Nuts! Lugnuts!

We are happy to report that our boy Jesse will be back in the booth calling some baseball for his third season with your Toronto Blue Jays low A affiliate Lansing Lugnuts.

Hopefully we can get our hands on some top prospect interviews - before anyone else - for you all to celebrate and rejoice in after the roster gets assigned.

This right here is a straight re-post from The 2-2 Pitch which was originally written in September of last year.

When given the chance to make an update Jesse chose to stand behind his original prediction but adds:

"I’m sure that the rumors will start up about whether Deck begins the season with us or Dunedin this year, and there may very well be other fluctuations to come, but I still feel comfortable with that guess – regardless of how wrong it turns out to be~!"

This came about because of a terrific question sent in by a fan on the final LugCast of the regular season.

Here are my predictions for the 2011 Lansing Lugnuts...

Lineup:
C Carlos Perez
1B K.C. Hobson
2B Oliver Dominguez
SS Gustavo Pierre
3B Andy Fermin
LF Marcus Knecht
CF Jake Marisnick
RF Michael Crouse
DH Lance Durham

Key question: Lance Durham and K.C. Hobson are both left-handed hitting first basemen. They shouldn't both be here, and yet Hobson is a virtual Lugnut lock while Durham has spent the last two years with Auburn. Where else would you send him?

Bench:
C Jack Murphy
OF Stephen McQuail
OF Markus Brisker

Key question: How many struggling 2010 Lugnuts -- i.e., Ryan Schimpf, Balbino Fuenmayor, Eric Eiland -- return for 2011?

Rotation:
RHP Deck McGuire
RHP Drew Hutchison
RHP Daniel Webb
RHP Casey Lawrence
RHP Asher Wojciechowski

Key questions: This is a prospect-laden rotation, albeit totally right-handed. Does Sam Strickland slide into the rotation to give the Lugs a left-handed arm? Will we see talented 18-year-olds Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard sooner or later?

Bullpen:
LHP Sam Strickland
LHP Michael Kelly
RHP Scott Gracey
RHP Danny Barnes
RHP Milciades Santana
RHP Dayton Marze
RHP Drew Permison

Key questions: Once again, these are all newcomers with the exception of Gracey and late addition Barnes. Who else returns from the disappointing 2010 bullpen? A recommitted Brian Slover? A healthy Dustin Antolin? Aaron Loup or Matt Wright, just to make sure there are some more lefties in the pen? By the way, the numbers were just brilliant for Marze, Santana, and Permison last year. Hopefully they'll keep it up.

To follow Jesse on Twitter click here

2011-02-22

OMG


In the last few days, a whole bunch of people have asked me about my thoughts on the Bautista deal. I must admit, they are still somewhat scattered.

When I first heard reports of the deal - 5 years/$65M (2011-15), plus 2016 option at $13M - for the services of one Jose Bautista my initial reaction was: OMG what did we just do. Like most Toronto sports fans - more specifically Jays fans - long term deals give me the creeps. Vernon Wells, Eric Hinske, BJ Ryan and Alex Israel Rios Cruz just to name a few that didn't work out so hot. You could say we have been a little snake bitten over the years.

Conversely all those seem to pale in comparison to the rage I felt when King Carlos was cut lose for nothing. Not even picks. How about the memories the name Chris Carpenter brings back. Remember what it was like to be cheap?

Argue all you want about true value but with both Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols setting the market for free agents next year, you have to figure Bautista would have certainly cashed in. All he had to do was have a decent year and he would have made a great back up plan for whichever (large market) team missed out on the big boys. I don't think there is any way we get him to sign this same deal after the 2011 season has played it's course. He is still going to be hitting in the 3 hole in a power packed lineup that plays half it's games in a hitter friendly park. Christ, every park in the AL East minus Tampa Bay is a launching pad. He still has the same hitting coach that helped him "unlock" the power in his swing. His confidence is at an all time high as a player.

This deal to me is a bit of a gamble by the Boy Wonder. We all know that is what he has always said he needs to do to compete in this division. The Morrow for League trade was a gamble. The Gonzalez for Escobar trade was a gamble. The Gose for Wallace trade was a gamble. The Marcum for Lawrie trade was - you guessed it - a gamble. All of those guys, fair or not had question marks about their character or their game when we got them.


The difference with J-Bau is that he has been with us since the end of the 2008 season. He has had well over 1000 at bats in a Blue Jays uniform. The organization has gotten a chance to know him as a player and a person. He is an asset in the club house. He can communicate with every player on the team. There are no surprises with him like there was with Lawrie and Podsednik. On a somewhat more comparable scale, think about what is going on right now with Miggy and the Tigers. They gave away a decent haul and had to take on Dontrelle Willis just to get their hands on him. Then they pay all that cash to extend him only to find out he has a bit of a (reoccurring) drinking problem.

Some dick named J.P. traded Robinson Diaz for Jose Bautista. Straight up. Give credit where it's do.

Anyways, once the dollars and term of the deal was officially announced I went straight over to Cot's for some comparables. This made me feel much better.

I would take his deal - all things considered - over many on this list. It also doesn't prevent us from going out and adding another top dollar guy in the future.

Please note:

- These salary figures include the buyout amounts, which would have to be deducted if the option is exercised.
- In the interests of comparing apples to apples, I did not include pitchers.

Alex Rodriguez 3b
10 years/$275M (2008-17)
27.5M average salary over the life of the deal.
He was 32 when he signed this deal.

Joe Mauer c
8 years/$184M (2011-18)
23M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Mark Teixeira 1b
8 years/$180M (2009-16)
22.5M
He will be 36 when this deal expires.

Ryan Howard 1b
3 years/$54M (2009-11)
5 years/$125M (2012-16), plus 2017 option at $23M
22.375M
He will be 38 if the option is picked up.

Carl Crawford lf
7 years/$142M (2011-17)
20.286M
He will be 36 when this deal expires.

Miguel Cabrera 1b
8 years/$152.3M (2008-15)
19.038M
He was only 25 years old when he signed this deal.

Jayson Werth rf
7 years/$126M (2011-17)
18M
He will be 38 when this deal expires.

VernonWells of
7 years/$126M (2008-14)
18M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Torii Hunter of
5 years/$90M(2008-12)
18M
He will be 37 when this deal expires.

Ichiro Suzuki rf
5 years/$90M (2008-12)
18M
He will be 38 when this deal expires.

Carlos Beltran of
7 years/$119M (2005-11)
17M
He will be 34 when this deal expires.

Matt Holliday lf
7 years/$120M (2010-16), plus 2017 option at $17M
17.143M
He will be 37 if the option is picked up.

Derek Jeter ss
3 years/$51M (2011-13), plus 2014 player option at $8M
17M
He will be a 40 year old free agent after he exercises his option.

Alfonso Soriano lf
8 years/$136M (2007-14)
17M
He will be 38 when this deal expires.

Carlos Lee of
6 years/$100M (2007-12)
16.667M
He will be 36 when this deal expires.

Jason Bay of
4 years/$66M (2010-13), plus 2014 option at $17M
16.5M
He will be 35 if the option is picked up.

Michael Young inf
5 years/$80M (2009-13)
16M
He will be 36 when this deal expires.

Adrian Beltre 3b
5 years/$80M (2011-15), plus 2016 option at $16M
16M
He will be 37 if the option is picked up.

Troy Tulowitzki ss
10 years/$157.75M (2011-20), plus 2021 club option at $15M
15.775M
He will be 36 if the option is picked up.

Prince Fielder 1b
1 year/$15.5M (2011)

15.5M
He will be a free agent at 27 years old.

Aramis Ramirez 3b
5 years/$75M (2007-11), plus 2012 club option at $16M
15M
He will be 34 if the option is picked up.

Albert Pujols 1b
7 years/$100M (2004-10), plus 2011 club option at $16M
14.286M
He is in line for one hell of a 32nd birthday present.

Travis Hafner dh
4 years/$57M (2009-12), plus 2013 club option at $13M
14.25M
He will be 36 if the option is exercised.

Chipper Jones 3b
3 years/$42M (2010-12), plus 2013 option at $7M
14M
He will be 41 if the option is exercised.

J.D. Drew of
5 years/$70M (2007-11)
14M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Adam Dunn 1b-of
4 years/$56M (2011-14)
14M
He will be 34 when this deal expires.

Todd Helton 1b
9 years/$141.5M (2003-11), plus 2012 club option
2 years/$9.9M (2012-13)
13.764M
He will be 39 when this deal expires.

Justin Morneau 1b
6 years/$80M (2008-13)
13.333
He will be 32 when this deal expires.

Jorge Posada c
4 years/$52.4M (2008-11)
13.1M
He will be 39 when this deal expires.

David Ortiz 1b/dh
4 years/$52M (2007-10), plus 2011 club option at $12.5M
13M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Jose Bautista 3b-of
5 years/$65M (2011-15), plus 2016 club option
13M
He will be 35 years old if the option is picked up.

Victor Martinez c-1b
4 years/$50M (2011-14)
12.5M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Paul Konerko 1b
3 years/$37.5M (2011-13)
12.5M
He will be 37 when this deal expires.

Dan Uggla 2b
5 years/$62M (2011-15)
12.4M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Chase Utley 2b
7 years/$85M (2007-13)
12.143M
He will be 34 when this deal expires.

Kosuke Fukudome of
4 years/$48M (2008-11)
12M
He will be 34 when this deal expires.

Aaron Rowand of
5 years/$60M (2008-12)
12M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

Josh Hamilton of
2 years/$24M (2011-12)
12M
He will be 31 when this deal expires.

Carlos Guillen 2b
4 years/$48M (2008-11)
12M
He will be 35 when this deal expires.

I completely understand why so many people hate this deal. But I figure those are most likely the same people that hated on Bautista the entire 2010 season. Yes, it was improbable what he did. But he still did it. And that is one hell of a ceiling for a player offensively. Never mind the fact that he can play a serviceable 3rd base or right field for the team, right now. Near the end of the deal you could see him make the move to 1st base if need be.

Just one more thing everyone, please refrain from heaping all these expectations on him. I know it's what we do and it will be hard but.....try.

2011-02-21

Blue Jays’ Odds for Success in 2011

With a record of 85-77 in 2010, the Toronto Blue Jays would have contended in any division in baseball except the one in which they play. The AL East, perhaps the most competitive division in MLB’s history, produces the type of talent—save the poor Orioles—GM's salivate over.

While the Yankees and Red Sox are big-market, big-spending, big-producing clubs, even middle tier clubs like Tampa Bay hone their talents by playing against giants and eventually step up to challenge the throne. So, only four games back of the Sox last year, and a stretch of bad luck away from competing for at least the Wild Card, what are the Jays’ odds to get over the hump next season?

The Blue Jays have been building to compete against their division; by doing this, of course, they subsequently become a pain in the backside for every other team on their schedule. Finishing up 10-8 against the Yankees, Toronto made great strides and are only looking to improve going forward.

Right now, the Blue Jays are looking at around 40:1 to make the playoffs and 50:1 to get to the World Series, according to most sports books and internet casinos out there. Boston and New York, conversely, are 5:1 and 13:2 – worlds apart on paper, no doubt.

But Toronto hasn’t been asleep at the wheel. While most of the AL East has been improving (the Rays almost completely rebooted), the Blue Jays attacked the off-season like they meant business, dumping an aging and underperforming Vernon Wells to clear up $86 million. This leaves a lot of possibilities open moving forward.

Kyle Drabek, the center of the Roy Halladay trade in 2009, is primed to make his mark on the league this season. Frank Francisco has joined the club to be a major contributor out of the bullpen. And last year's MLB homerun leader Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and newcomer Juan Rivera are all primed to have big years swinging the bats.

Realistically, Toronto is only going to improve, putting their odds a little better than the 50:1 they’re pulling now. If Tampa Bay drops off at all, which they’re bound to now that they’ve dismantled the team, the door is open for the Blue Jays to move up a rung.

This leaves the powerhouse teams – Boston and New York. These teams deliver a huge hurdle, but Boston finished third last year with no guarantee they’ll be better, despite some serious additions to their roster. In addition Toronto was able to best New York often enough last year, meaning the Blue Jays certainly have enough confidence to thump the Evil Empire going forward.

Now, we’re not predicting a first-place AL East finish for Toronto next season. If we wanted to take a gamble that big, we’d at least try some blackjack online – at least it may pay off. But we’re also not sleeping on the Blue Jays. We predict a solid 94-68, good enough for a Wild Card berth.

Where it goes from there, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. Bring on baseball!

____________________________________________________________

This post was created in cooperation with our newest sponsor.

2011-02-20

The Weekly Round Up

Consider this a must click link.

Consider this your required reading for the week.

Consider this your required viewing for the week. This one was a very close second place.

Consider this your required listening for the week.

Courtesy of Ken Fidlin:

Two years ago in spring training young outfielder Moises Sierra, coming off a good year at Class A Lansing, impressed a lot of people not only with his bat but with his strong outfield arm.
That arm has led the club to experiment with Sierra at third base.
“It’s exploratory,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

Alright enough already. He`s on the 40 man roster and he`s never played above AA ball. Forget 3rd base. Forget hitting. Let`s see if he can pitch.

Courtesy of THT:

4. Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto got good in a hurry. There isn't a can't-miss prospect in the bunch, but it's a strong top 10, with the top five likely to appear in my top 100 prospects, and there is plenty of talent throughout the system that is waiting for recognition.
1. Brett Lawrie / 3B/2B/OF
2. Kyle Drabek / SP
3. Deck McGuire / SP
4. J.P. Arencibia / C
5. Chad Jenkins / SP
6. Travis D'Arnaud / C
7. Carlos Perez / C
8. Adieny Hechavarria / SS
9. Zach Stewart / RP/SP
10. David Cooper / 1B

Yet another top 10 list for ya. I`m waiting not so patiently for this one.

Courtesy of The 5th Starter:

Dear Brett,

I have already placed so many of my hopes for the Blue Jays future on your youthful shoulders. Your left-handed-right-handed swing gives me chills. Your youthful athleticism gives me comfort that you can adjust to an infield home, and offer significantly more value to the team going forward.

That said, I've just returned from your likely future home (Las Vegas, Nevada)

I've also realized that while you are in the aforementioned Vegas, you will turn the delicate age of 21.

Now, like a good Canadian boy, I'm quite sure that you are already drinking regularly (For those of you who are unaware, the drinking age in most Canadian Provinces is 19) and I'm sure you've developed an excellent tolerance. Your tolerance will count for nothing in the dry, desert heat. Your willpower will be tested (repeatedly) and you may even end up with more Eminem lyrics tattooed upon your juvenile limbs.

The 5th Starter sends an open letter to Brett. Fantastic stuff.

Courtesy of Mop Up Duty:

2011 Toronto Blue Jays Promos and Giveaways

Another pitiful season of Toronto Blue Jays giveaways and promotions. Outside of opening day, the Jays are giving away only 50,000 promo units ALL season!

The boys over at Mop Up Duty call out the cheap bastards @ Rogers for their weak giveaways and promo schedule for this year coming.

Courtesy of North of the Border:

Speaking of those B-Games, the Blue Jays released their schedule of extra contests. The club will play all three of their B games against Philadelphia, which makes sense since the Phillies play in neighboring Clearwater, Fla. The two clubs will take the field on Feb. 26, March 2 and March 17. The first regular game of Spring Training is Feb. 26 at the Florida Auto Exchange Stadium against the Detroit Tigers.

B-Games are the shit! (That means they are good) Normally they take place at remote high school like ballparks and they can't sell tickets for them. If anyone is lucky enough to be going down for Spring Training keep these dates in mind.

Courtesy of OOTP:

Around the OOTP offices, we're looking forward to two events in April: Opening Day and the expected shipping of Apple's second-generation iPad. It may not have been announced yet, but we all know the next iPad is coming, and one lucky fan who pre-orders Out of the Park Baseball 12 by February 28, 2011 will receive one.*









Our lucky winner will also take home a copy of iOOTP, which will bring the excitement and realism of OOTP to iPad, iPhone®, and iPod touch® when it steps up to the plate at the iOS App Store this spring.

Last year I got my hands on a copy and did a sim for the 2010 season. Click here to see the results. *Spoiler alert* it predicted the Giants win of the World Series. Hopefully again this year I`ll get the opportunity to do another sim and report the results prior to the game going on the market. Stay tuned for that.

Courtesy of Through The Fence Baseball:

My name is Ryan Shopshire and I will begin writing my blog exclusively at Through The Fence Baseball. This is my first time writing a blog so the more input that you readers give me the better. First I want to tell everybody a little about my baseball background. I am a so-cal boy born and raised in the most beautiful place in the states, Orange County California. I played my high school years at Orange Lutheran High School, a premier power house. After high school I accepted a scholarship at Long Beach State to play for the Dirtbags. My freshmen year there I experienced my first injury playing baseball (a stress fracture in my throwing elbow) and made me miss my entire season. At the end of the season exit meetings the coaches decided that Long Beach would not be my home the following season. This was a big blow to me because this was my first choice school out of high school.

Rock solid blog. One of our prospects is doing an exclusive with them. You should probably be following along.

Courtesy of Bluebird Banter:

An idea shamelessly stolen researched from James Kannengieser at Amazing Avenue. Baseball-Reference counts page views player and team pages and they list the top 200 pages here. Here are the Jays and former Jays that are in the top 200:

Rank
Player
Page Hits
Jays WAR
Career WAR
14
336245
47.4
54.3
16
316167
0.2
18.7
26
256654
7.6
5.9
45
Rickey Henderson
184966
0.3
75.3
62
160101
17.8
74.8
69
Roberto Alomar
151833
20.1
63.5
83
137041
7.4
25.1
95
127891
1.7
70.6
112
114616
9.5
8.4
114
Fred McGriff
113753
18.9
50.5
124
110531
0.1
0.1
135
Chris Carpenter
106164
6.8
28.6
137
105853
0.4
8.6

Kyle Drabek could crack the top 100 before the end of his first season in the big leagues. Lotta Buzz.

Courtesy of ESPN:

1. Joe Carter, 1997 Blue Jays: .234/.284/.399 (-25 rbat), 102 RBI

For Carter, 1997 was his last full season and his worst, but in addition to No. 1, he also occupies spots 11, 15, 47, 105, 129 and 139 on the list. Carter was a more athletic and longer-lasting version of Armas. The Jays plugged Carter into either the number three or four spot in 157 of their 162 games in ‘97, where he cost them significantly in runs and wins on both sides of the ball despite the RBI.

Shame on you stats dorks for hating on Joe. Why don`t you take this and shove it up your ass.

Courtesy of tampabay.com:

"What AstroTurf's press release didn't tell you is the real reason why Tampa Bay is installing their product — they are getting a free field."
FieldTurf says AstroTurf's three-year licensing deal with MLB Properties includes a provision that gives a free AstroTurf carpet to the Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays stadium in Toronto, plus a new field for the Rays at the Trop.
The Rays agree they're getting a freebie.
If I were the cost-conscious Rays, I'd grab that deal, too.
FieldTurf president Eric Daliere says his company was approached by Major League Baseball with a like licensing offer, but declined it.
"We were not willing to have them subsidize free fields or large royalty fees. When Tampa Bay and Toronto paid for turf, they chose FieldTurf," Daliere said. "We would encourage any clients looking to obtain a baseball field from AstroTurf to ask for the same deal that Toronto and Tampa Bay got."

So the turf was free after all eh? No shit. Check out the bullshit the cheap bastards @ Rogers were saying back then as to why they made the switch.

Courtesy of John Lott:

After his manager denied he was hurt, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider revealed Sunday that he has been held out of workouts for the past week because of a rib-cage injury suffered while playing golf.
In a media scrum a few minutes earlier, manager John Farrell alluded vaguely to Snider missing drills because of “a little bit of tightness in his overall core.” Asked if the tightness was the result of an injury, Farrell replied: “No, no, no. Just bringing him along a little slower.”
But after undergoing treatment in the trainer’s room, Snider told reporters he “tweaked something” in his left upper rib cage while playing golf about a week ago. It did not bother him immediately, he said, but tightened up the next day.
Both Snider, the Jays’ starting left-fielder, and Farrell suggested the injury was relatively minor. The 23-year-old left-fielder said his condition has improved, but “not significantly,” and he can neither swing nor throw at the moment.
“We don’t expect him to be way behind or certainly not delayed,” Farrell said.

No more golf kid. Baseball time.

Courtesy of The Canadian Press:

Manager John Farrell watched over the bullpen sessions of his pitchers Sunday and two of them caught his eye.
Left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes, a candidate for both the starting rotation and bullpen, and right-hander Jesse Litsch, a leading contender for one of the two spots in the back of the rotation.
"Jo-Jo Reyes continues to throw the ball very well," said Farrell. "A guy who was a highly touted prospect with Atlanta before being sidetracked with a knee injury, in the early sessions he's thrown the ball very well. ...
"I thought Jesse Litsch threw the ball well today. It's become more evident, just the repair of the hip and the surgery on the elbow a couple of years ago, he's been free and easy and is throwing the ball good."

I just wanted to point out that I picked these two guys to fill out the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation for the 25 Man Roster Challenge. I`m the only person to do so.


Courtesy of Husker Extra:

Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson said Tuesday that freshmanpitcher Logan Ehlers, still waiting for the NCAA to make a decisionon his eligibility status, will not travel with the Huskers to thisweekend's season-opening round-robin tournament at Texas State inSan Marcos, Texas.
At question is whether the left-hander from Nebraska City -- whoin August turned down $800,000 to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays'organization two months after he was drafted in the eighth round --violated an NCAA bylaw that pertains to the use of advisersthroughout the bargaining process. The NCAA allows such arelationship, but prohibits advisers from having contact withmajor-league organizations during contract negotiations.
Anderson said the school and sanctioning body have hadback-and-forth communication, but the NCAA has yet to provide itsruling in writing.

The Paxton Affair - which is still going on - now has some company. WTF is going on with kids that don't sign with us? Two different players in back to back years? Can't be a coincidence.

Courtesy of Jeremy Sandler:

Cosentino began working with the Blue Jays as a bat boy in 1987 and has been involved with the team in some capacity for most of the time since then. He will continue to work for Rogers on the network’s junior hockey broadcasts.
“I’m extremely disappointed that Rogers Sportsnet has decided to remove me from broadcasts,” Cosentino said during a phone interview Wednesday. “But in our most recent discussions, we’ve been talked about increasing my role and my exposure in hockey and I’m excited about that opportunity.”
The departures leave play-by-play man Buck Martinez and analyst Pat Tabler to handle the Blue Jays games.

I can deal without Rance always harping on our hitters to "be aggressive early in the count" but I think I'm gonna miss Sudden Sam. He brought some energy to the broadcasts.

2011-02-19

Meet The Contestants

















I just want to start off by saying thank you and good luck to everyone that decided to play. The field this year is packed with some tough competitors and the response was fantastic. In total, 17 ballots were entered in the 25 Man Roster Challenge. Amazingly no 2 are the same. Think about that for a second.

Don`t forget to vote on the poll for who you think will win.

Some Notes:

The following 17 players were found on every ballot:

Romero
Cecil
Morrow

Dotel
Francisco
Frasor
Rauch

Arencibia
Molina
Lind
Encarnacion
Hill
Escobar
Bautista
Snider
Davis
McDonald

8 of the competitors think the Blue Jays will open the season with a short bench and an extra arm in the bullpen.

Everyone selected Frank Fransisco or 2Frank to be the closer for the tie breaker - except Team April and Team OKBluejays - who had Jon Rauch. Not much of a tie breaker. Team GC and Team Dave didn't even bother to select their closer. As such in the event of a tie after the rosters are set and another tie after the tie breaker, we will revert back to the tie breaker from last year which was the starting rotation. I made sure they are the first two names on everyone's ballot.

I used the words "tie breaker" 4 times and the word tie 7 times in the last paragraph.

The players that were selected only once will be bolded. 

In the interests of making things more exciting, I have decided to include a prize for this year's winner of the challenge portion. An autographed 8 by 10 picture of Randy Knorr. That's right RANDY FUCKING KNORR people. Check it:

Gotta love the lens flare


Team Last Row 500's

Drabek
Rzepczynski

Camp
Carlson 
Cordero 
Purcey

Rivera
Podsednik

Team April 
Team OKBluejays

Litsch
Drabek

Camp
Carlson
Purcey
Villanueva

Rivera
Podsednik

Team BJH

Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Purcey
Reyes
Villanueva

Rivera
Podsednik

Team Darell

Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Janssen
Purcey
Rzepczynski

Podsednik
Rivera

As a side note, eight of these guys' names start with J. What's up with that? Blue Js?!?

Team Peter
Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Janssen
Purcey
Villenuava

Rivera
Podsednik

Team Jeff

Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Carlson
Purcey
Villanueva

Rivera
Podsednik

Team Jonathan 

Litsch
Rzepczynski

Camp
Carlson
Purcey
Reyes

Posednik
McCoy

Might I add, I do not want to see Pods, Jo-Jo or Carlson make the club. Obviously Drabek, Janssen, Villanueva, McGowan and even Marcus Thames represent better options. Expected outcomes:


- Jo-Jo will play a few games in April and be DFA'ed
- Drabek will be help back until mid May so as to delay start of his FA one year
- Janssen will be called up at Jo-Jo's expense
- Villanueva will be called up with the first injury or Frasor's trade (for a 3B?)
- McGowan will start the year on injured reserve and remain in Dunedin to build up his arm strength
- Pods will be our backup OF until a better solution emerges (Bautista moves back to the outfield, pushing Rivera to 4th OF)

Team James 
Jays Fan In The Carolinas

Rzepczynski
Richmond

Janssen
Reyes
Villanueva 

Lawrie 
McCoy
Patterson

Team Rob
Drabek
Rzepczynski

Camp
Janssen
Purcey

Rivera
Podsednik
McCoy

It was between McCoy and Patterson for that last spot, and although I like Patterson as a late inning defensive replacement, I went with McCoy.

Team GC 
Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Purcey
Reyes

Posednik
Mastroianni
McCoy

and yes, Juan Rivera is gone by opening day.

Team Dave

Drabek
Rzepczynski

Camp
Purcey
Villanueva

Rivera
Mastroianni
And because I think they'll acquire a 3B: Pedro Alvarez???!

Team Andy Mc

Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Purcey
Rzepczynski

Rivera
Patterson
Podsednik

Team Gregor 
Drabek
Litsch

Camp 
Purcey 
Villanueva

Rivera
Podsednik
Patterson

The final spot in the rotation is a tough one... I keep going back and forth between Rzep and Litsch.

Team Human Rain Delay 

Drabek
Litsch

Camp
Purcey
Villanueva

Rivera
Posednik
McCoy

Team Nemesis Enforcer 

Rzepczynski
Litsch

Camp
Janssen
Purcey

Rivera
Patterson
Podsednik

Seems quite a bit tougher than last year.

Team Man With The Golden Arm

Litsch
Reyes

Camp
Purcey 
Villanueva 

Rivera 
Podsednik 
McCoy 

I was just gonna pick Bautista to do everything.