I think the numbers cited above by Pistol need to be updated to include last night's game.  Towers has now cut his spring ERA to 3.20, and he added another five strikeouts, against only one walk.  Marcum has cut his ERA to 4.85.  Of course they weren't facing a great lineup last night.

Is there any possibility of a late addition of Todd Walker to this team?

Seems like a 1B/3B guy is just what the Jays need
As well as the ocassional 2B spot with Hill at SS
Or is it too late now and the roster has been more or less set?

A few of the pitchers' numbers seem incorrect.  Checked on USA Today, and found that, for instance, your numbers for Towers include all of his strikeouts, but his total innings are actually 19 2/3 - it looks like you are missing his innings from his last start.  Towers' ERA is 3.20, with 18 K's in those innings for a K/9 of 8.2.  Marcum also looks wrong - his innings total is 13, and his ERA is 4.85.  Haven't checked them all.

The rotation is looking pretty solid, with Towers looking like he may be able to rebound, and Ohka looking good.  Marcum, Janssen and Zambrano all ready to step in, in case of injury or when/if Towers/Chacin/ Ohka falter.  Unfortunately, I think we are going to lose Rosario.  Always liked his arm, but he may need more AAA time and we can't give it to him. 

He's a pretty horrible second baseman, isn't he? He hasn't played more than 100 games at the position since 2003.

Still, he'd make a nice role player and bat off the bench. More useful than John McDonald, who's pretty redundant if you've got Clayton & Smith around.

  The spring numbers by Josh Towers are quite astounding:  18 K and only 3 BB.   A ratio like that will take you a long way in this league.  Of course he should still be kept on a tight leash, especially with Janssen and Zambrano available.  But his spring success seems to be another confirmation of what we always suspected:  he pitches best when he is in mortal fear of losing his job.   No more two-year guaranteed contracts for this guy.

    Chacin is the guy that I'm most worried about now.    This is just speculation, but he seems rattled by the drunk-driving charge.  He's never apologized for it, and he refuses to utter a word about it with any media person who asks about it.  In his sole appearance since the charge, he had a terrible first inning, although he did settle down later.   If this criminal charge is playing on his mind, he's going to forget all the reminders from the coaches about speeding up his pitching and maintaining his concentration.

This is just speculation, but he seems rattled by the drunk-driving charge.  He's never apologized for it, and he refuses to utter a word about it with any media person who asks about it.

 That's just common sense, under the circumstances. Any competent lawyer is going to tell him not to make any public comments until the legal issues are resolved.

  He has struggled in his past few starts, though who knows why. He should have another start left - hopefully he can turn it around. He tends to live on the edge of effectiveness, so it could be any number of reasons. Does he have options left? I suppose it's conceivable that if he gets shelled again, someone could take his place in the rotation, if not the roster.

A note on Towers:

2006: 62 innings, 93 hits, 17 bb, 35 strikeouts

2007: 19 innings, 18 hits,  3bb, 18 strikeouts.  It looks like a winter of working out with health ubber-nut Johnson is paying off.

ALSO, unlike 06, Towers is not essential this year; we need three of Chacin, Ohka, Towers, Zambrano, Janssen and Marcum to come forward by late April early May. ALSO (also) Purcey has been lights out in minor league camp, according to scout.com he spent the winter working on "control," seems to be working. ALSO (also) (also) McGowan has been hot since he's been down as well.

Even with the "League Lament" and no "Teddy the Tease," our pitching this year looks HUGELY better than 06. We stay healthy and we will contend.

Walker bats left-handed, hits well enough to cover either corner infield slot in a crunch, and can play 2nd base.  He could provide us with some of the versatility we lost when Hinske was dealt.  Sign him up. 

Long term Hill has far more value to the Jays as a Shortstop (witness the market value of starting SS's versus the market value of starting 2nd baseman) and I'd love to see them name him our definitive everyday SS at some point in the very near future.  

Perhaps the real value would come if we move Hill to SS after we sign him to a long term deal as our ostensible 2nd baseman before making the shift...

 Chacin's numbers really go up the 2nd/3rd time he faces the batting order.

They really factually do, or you just really think they do? For his career, per ESPN:

I think if Janssen and Marcum are seen as long term options for the pitching staff, they should be in the bullpen as middle/long relievers.  They're good enough to step in for struggling starters and hang around for a few innings.

Janssen has probably made a decent case for being one of the five starters.  I'm not convinced that either Chacin, Towers, or Ohka would be better in the long run assuming the new splitter allows Janssen to carry his spring K-rate forward.

But even if he isn't you want both him and Marcum in the pen, getting major league exposure and ready to stretch out immediately when you need help (and they will at some point).

IMO, Accardo has the best stuff of anyone not named Ryan.  Watching him throw 95 and then finish hitters off with an effective splitter was quite impressive.  He's having the same problems Janssen and Towers were last year in that an inordinately high number of his pitches seem to spin into the dead red zone over the plate and get killed.  But he's full value for those 10 K in 8 innings.

Gonzalez seems ok...much like Vinnie Chulk, a serviceable arm who doesn't kill you for the most part.

The problem with Chacin is that he throws too many pitches, and he's lucky to make it out of the sixth inning.

 I don't think there's any real evidence that hitters are "getting wise" to his delivery. He made 4 starts against Boston last year and still put up an ERA of 3.43. In his career, he's pitched effectively in multiple starts against Anaheim, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, and Tampa. (He's also been beaten senseless by the Yankees on several occasions)

Yes, Chacin's problems tend to stem from his strike to ball ratio and the resulting pitches per inning.  He's been relatively decent at preventing homeruns but if that part of his game ever slips he's going to have a lot of problems.  I'm not sold on Tallet as a second lefty and Chacin does tend to be effective against lefties.  Not so much last year, but career wise there is a significant split.

That said, despite the fact that Chacin struggles to pitch even 6 innings, he does tend to keep his team in the game and wins more than you would expect.  Whether or not that's good fortune, this is going to colour the Jays' view of him until they observe differently.

If Gus could just spend FAR less time pitching behind in the count, a lot of his downsides would be addressed.  But maybe being so unpredictable in the K-zone helps him with his less than stellar stuff.

On Janssen's new pitch... I saw somewhere the other day that his new pitch is a "four seam" fastball.

Is it just me or does the pitching seem better everywhere this spring?

By May 1st, Roy and AJ will be pitching with Janssen, Zambrano and the winner of Ohka/Towers/Marcum/Chacin... I think Towers.

Is it just me or does the pitching seem better everywhere this spring?

Could be all those AAA batters.

Sports Ilustrated has Chacin's splits based on how he performs each time through the lineup.  In 2006 his ERA climbed each time from under 4.00 his 1st time through, to just under 5.00 his 2nd time through, and it ballooned to over 9.00 his 3rd time through.  His K9 rate also decreased steadily from over 6 K9 his 1st time through to around 3 K9 his 3rd time through.  HOWEVER, opposition batting avg. the 1st time through was .274 but the second time through the order Chacin got better, .247 if I remember correctly, before giving up an opposition batting avg. of over .300 the 3rd time through.

Joe Sheenan at BP previews his fantasy team today (the article is free).

He includes the following comment:

P: Dustin McGowan, $1. He’ll be back. He’s the Jays’ third- or fourth-best starter, and he’ll make 20-25 starts at above-league-average performance.

That strikes me as extremely unlikely (that McGowan will make 20-25 starts), but who knows.

 In 2006 his ERA climbed each time from under 4.00 his 1st time through, to just under 5.00 his 2nd time through, and it ballooned to over 9.00 his 3rd time through.

What does this mean? If the leadoff hitter hits a 3-run homer in his second at-bat, do you count 2 runs againt the "1st time throught" and 1 run against the "2nd time through"? Or do all 3 runs get counted as 2nd time through?

Accardo has mastered his split-fingered changeup just in time. The bullpen looks solid, but it's there'll be holes in the lineup.

The Detroit series will be a mini-playoff right out of the gate. If they're tied after 9 innings, Victor could serve up 3 or 4 donuts on request; making him the de facto overtime starter.  

Wayne Lydon is a Jay/Skychief once again.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/197023

I caught my first preseason game of the spring on Sportsnet and I was curious about some of the late inning replacements. I was surprised to see Lee Gronckiewicz(I hope I spelled that right!) and Vermilyea(again!) pitch in the game. I would have thought that Gibby would have sent Tallet out there(to redeem himself) or someone like Downs or Rosario who've had relatively light loads.
Also, I would have expected to see Fasano relieve Phillips or Thigpen, Adams or Santos come in for Hill and Clayton, maybe even Hattig, Ford-Griffin and Stairs come into the game. I know some of them have been sent to minor league camp.
I guess my question is: why were there so many no-name prospects(no offence intended...although I was glad to see Chip Cannon) when there are fringe guys who could have had ateast an opportunity to get their "foot in the door". From a managerial standpoint, I would take this opportunity just to see them in action with the rest of the big league hopefuls!

Btw, I was very pleased with Cannon; I expected to see a lumberjack with a pot-belly (kinda like Stairs or Big Papi) but instead he's rather slim (showed some quickness with an excellent diving stab at a grounder) and he's not all that big in the upper-torso area. Some more muscle and Frank Thomas may have some competition for the DH role next spring!

Josh Towers will be added to the 40-man roster, which may mean someone is exposed to waivers (Santos?). 

Would moving Davis Romero to the 60-day DL free up a spot on the 40-man roster?

     So far today, the only Jays announcement is that Ohka is definitely the 4th starter, while the 5th starter will be Towers or Zambrano.      http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070329.wsptohka29/GSStory/GlobeSportsBaseball/home

    Not sure if there will be further announcements today.  As for the final spot in the bullpen, Jeff Blair's analysis is that Accardo is improving and seems to have the edge over Tallet, but that's not official yet.    And the Sun says that Frasor is definitely annointed as the set-up man.

Brian Tallet is currently on waivers.

JP has three offers for Rosario in hand and is lukewarm on all three.  If he accepts one, Accardo comes north.

The Globe.

Suddenly, the Jays' shortstop situation doesn't look so bad.

Oooh, St. Rey. What a coup for Bavasi. Must've caught Littlefield napping.

    The Jays have an intriguing choice between Accardo and Rosario.    If they keep Accardo, they lose Rosario.  They're not going to get much for him in a trade.   Accardo, on the other hand, is not out of options, so he can be sent down to Syracuse without any problems.  They can keep both of these guys if they send Accardo to the minors.   It's a little strange that they are looking at trying to trade Rosario.  They must figure that Accardo is a big upgrade over Rosario in the bullpen.  The spring numbers don't really indicate that, and Accardo looked a bit shaky last season.  The Jays must be very impressed by his improvement in the past week or two.  To consider giving up on Rosario forever in order to keep Accardo -- he must be looking very good, or else it's a poor decision.

     The other intriguing choice is between Towers and Zambrano.   If they decide that Zambrano is their 5th starter -- which is apparently a definite option now -- then Towers would have to be shifted to the bullpen or sent to Syracuse.  But I don't think his psychological makeup and his experience are suited for the bullpen.  He's been a starter for almost his full career. 

I can only give JP the benefit of the doubt in this regard, and assume that this seemingly candid explanation of his approach is at least somewhat removed from his actual thought process.