2013 Toronto Blue Jays

[virgonomic]

Rotation

I will start here because the Jays have completely revamped their rotation. It now looks like: Dickey, Johnson, Buehrle, Morrow, Romero. A very nice mix of pitchers with the knuckleballer Dickey as the ace, power arms in Johnson and Morrow, a finesse pitcher in Buehrle, and the former ace Romero slotted in at number 5. AJ Happ will be the first one called on if needed.

Bullpen

The Jays collected power arms last year. Steve Delebar, Jeremy Jeffress, Esmil Rogers and Darren Oliver will be the primary table-setters for closer Casey Janssen and setup man Sergio Santos, who is coming off shoulder surgery.

Catcher

J.P Arencibia, who swore he'd be on the Blue Jays roster come May despite swirling trade rumours, looks to be the primary catcher. Josh Thole came over in the Dickey trade but both catchers have been working with the knuckleballer in spring training. Thole is a banjo hitter but JPA's power is real. 30 HR is possible if he can improve his BA.

Infield

Encarnacion, Maicer Izturis, Reyes and Lawrie are the starters with Lind DHing and spelling EE at first and Emilio Bonifacio as a super-utility. Izturis and Reyes replacing Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar give the Jays much more speed at the top and bottom of the order.

Outfield

Melky - Rasmus - Bautista are the starters with Rajai Davis and Bonifacio as the fourth and fifth. Anthony Gose starts the year at AAA but with 189 PAs in 2012, he will be the first one summoned if there is an injury. Is Colby Rasmus doesn't play more consistently, Gose could be starting by July.

Expectations are high for the Blue Jays after taking on the payroll they did. It will be a fun year to be a Blue Jays fan.

[cavebird]

Given the Johnson, Morrow, and Romero are in the rotation, who are the Blue Jays' seventh and eighth behind Happ?

[TranaGreg]

Infield

Encarnacion, Maicer Izturis, Reyes and Lawrie are the starters with Lind DHing and spelling EE at first and Emilio Bonifacio as a super-utility. Izturis and Reyes replacing Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar give the Jays much more speed at the top of the order.

Nice writeup. The only thing I'd clarify is that it will be Melky in the 2 slot, not Izturis. Personally I think Bonaficio will be given a chance to win the second base job outright, tho they're publicly saying they want to use him as a supersub.

[TranaGreg]

Given the Johnson, Morrow, and Romero are in the rotation, who are the Blue Jays' seventh and eighth behind Happ?

They are all injured - Dustin McGowan, Drew Hutchinson, and Kyle Drabek. The only one in camp is McGowan, the others won't be making their way to AAA Buffalo until post-all-star break (that's best case) and nobody really knows when McGowan might be ready to start a game - my guess might be May/June assuming no setbacks which is unlikely.

If an extra starter is needed beyond Happ it would probably be Rogers getting moved in for a few spot starts.

[virgonomic]

If an extra starter is needed beyond Happ it would probably be Rogers getting moved in for a few spot starts.

Brett Cecil is probably number 7, though he didn't impress last year.

[KnuckleBalls]

How safe do you think Janssen is? From a Jays fan perspective, how happy were you with him? Wasn't there talk of giving the 9th to Santos if healthy?

[Riff Raff]

How safe do you think Janssen is? From a Jays fan perspective, how happy were you with him? Wasn't there talk of giving the 9th to Santos if healthy?

Santos was traded for to be the closer. Got hurt, Janssen stepped in. The TOR closer job is up for grabs.

[Hornsby]

Nice writeup. The only thing I'd clarify is that it will be Melky in the 2 slot, not Izturis. Personally I think Bonaficio will be given a chance to win the second base job outright, tho they're publicly saying they want to use him as a supersub.

Everything that I've read says that Izturis was supposedly guaranteed the starting job when he signed his contrast, and that the Jays won't back out on that. Of course, that doesn't mean that he won't start opening day, and then sit thereafter. The other thing that concerns me as a Bonifaciao owner is the fact that the Jays didn't run much in the previous tour of John Gibbons, so I'm a little fearful to keep Boni at 5 bucks...

[popeye]

Santos was traded for to be the closer. Got hurt, Janssen stepped in. The TOR closer job is up for grabs.

It's not up for grabs unless Janssen gets hurt or pitches poorly. And the latter, at least, is very unlikely.

[revo]

what about Brad Lincoln? He was one of the hottest trade commodities at the deadline, and with 88 solid IP last season and them moving him to become a starter, I can foresee him potentially replacing Romero or if he moves back to the pen, perhaps being the eventual closer.

[Riff Raff]

It's not up for grabs unless Janssen gets hurt or pitches poorly. And the latter, at least, is very unlikely.

Disagree. The Jays traded assets to secure Santos and they slotted him, not Janssen, into their closer role to start last year.

[popeye]

Disagree. The Jays traded assets to secure Santos and they slotted him, not Janssen, into their closer role to start last year.

So you think even if Janssen pitches like he did last season, he will be removed from the closer's role when Santos is ready?

[virgonomic]

"Manager John Gibbons announced during the team's State of the Franchise event that Casey Janssen, who saved a career-high 22 games for Toronto last season, will be the team's ninth-inning man."

I stand behind my writeup.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...k_tor&c_id=tor

[virgonomic]

Nice writeup. The only thing I'd clarify is that it will be Melky in the 2 slot, not Izturis. Personally I think Bonaficio will be given a chance to win the second base job outright, tho they're publicly saying they want to use him as a supersub.

Yeah, I figure Izturis will probably hit 9th, and updated the original post. I agree that Boni could win the 2B job, but could also be the fill-in at sort if Reyes needs a break.

[TranaGreg]

what about Brad Lincoln? He was one of the hottest trade commodities at the deadline, and with 88 solid IP last season and them moving him to become a starter, I can foresee him potentially replacing Romero or if he moves back to the pen, perhaps being the eventual closer.

haven't heard a thing about Lincoln aside from him being one of the guys to get the ball to Santos-Janssen for the 8th-9th.