Most of this makes sense to me. I would prefer to err on the side of caution with a guy who had TJ surgery ten months ago. And anyway... it's Victor Zambrano. It's not like he's going to be a star. He's older than Towers, and he's never been as good as Towers has been (he's never been as bad as Towers, either, but if the good Josh is back, that's not a consideration.). If he's right, he's a serviceable, league average pitcher. He's not an innings-eater (career high 188) and probably never will be, because he walks too many people.

The Accardo-Rosario move surprises me a bit. Accardo still has options, and the evidence that he actually outpitched Rosario this spring is somewhat elusive.

I've been a serious Jay's fan since 1982 and I can't remember us EVER having this much QUALITY(ish) starting pitching... A healthy Roy and AJ and... if Chacin, Ohka and Towers ALL explode I'll be happy with Zambrano, Janssen and Marcum. If the offense is just asleep this spring and not dead...wow...this is a play-off team.

IM(H)O... we fight Boston for first and the Yanks fall to third. Boston AND the Jay's go to the play-offs. Let the marathon begin!

I agree with mylegacy. The BJ's appear to have many capable options for SP. However, are the third to fifth spots capable of holding down the power lineups in the American League?

How difficult was JP's decision to designate Rosario? I'll guess we'll know a little more when we see for whom he is dealt.

This season is going to come down to timing and management of the rotation.

-There are three very good starters in Chacin, Ohka, Towers, Zambrano, Marcum, McGowan, Janssen, Thomson, Taubenheim.
-Ricciardi and Gibbons have two months to find those otherwise by then, the hole would be to deep and we're looking at a 83-87 win team.
-As much as you hate jerking young pitchers here and forth, it may be inevitable to salvage a season. There is no time to be wasted if a young performer is struggling. Pull him, and try the next guy.
-I would expect quite a bit of rotation shuffling in April and May. My guess is that from June to September, the rotation will have relatively few changes.

Just a quick question for NFH. Some point either a year ago or before you made a wonderful wallpaper of the Jays logo on a black backdrop with Jays players inside the logo. It's fantastic and has been my wallpaper since. I was just wondering if you were planning on making any more for the upcoming season.

I just wanted to mention, somewhere, that Janssen has a good chance of surprising some people. Last week, I saw him pitch in that televised game in which lots of pitchers threw one inning each, and he was throwing considerably harder than I remember him throwing before. He struck out the side, even.

With Jorge Cantu requesting a trade after being sent down to the minors by the Devil Rays, does anybody else think the Jays should give him a shot?  Hill would have to shift back to SS, but if Cantu's healthy and back to 2004 levels, he should definitely out produce Clayton.  With their bullpen woes, do you think Rosario would be enough to pry Cantu away?

Dave Till: would you mind illuminating us with some numbers? I seem to remember Janssen in the high 80s, maybe up to 90-91. If his velocity is really up a tick and he's consistently around 90-92 with that same good movement, that's very encouraging. Couple that with his off-speed stuff and great command, and he could be a very good pitcher.

Cantu's D at 2B is frightening. With our staff being led off by groundballers like Doc and AJ, I'd hope Ricciardi wouldn't even consider something like Hill/Cantu up the middle.

...it's Victor Zambrano. It's not like he's going to be a star.

He could be. Omar Minaya is a pretty savvy guy. Why do you think he traded Scott Kazmir for him? It is a long shot. But don't say it can't happen. If he gets his control down good things could happen.

Omar Minaya is a pretty savvy guy. Why do you think he traded Scott Kazmir for him?

Minaya didn't make that trade, and Zambrano will be 32 this year. It's not unknown for pitchers to suddenly find their control so late in their careers, but it's quite unusual.

Dave Rutt, 

In the game Janssen started (against the Yankees?) when he allowed two runs over four innings before being replaced by Zambrano, the radar was consistently producing a reading of 91-92 mph on his fastball (more 92's than 91's).  If memory serves me correctly his slider came in at around 89 mph and his breaking ball was about 75 mph.  That's the only game I saw him in that showed the radar readings.  I haven't seen him live yet this year, but his stuff certainly looks a little better than last year, at least on the television. 

I think Towers will surprise some people this year and be a decent #5 starter, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Janssen was in the rotation over Chacin by the end of May based on their performances to date.  I'm with Dave Till, not to mention a lot of sports writers, who seem to think that Janssen will be a nice addition to the rotation at some point this year.  I'm crossing my fingers, because I think that for the Jays to make the playoffs a couple of starters such as Janssen and McGowan are going to have to step up and replace Chacin and Ohka, since I'm worried that the latter two are going to be eaten alive.

   I really love the depth of starting pitchers on this team.  Janssen and Zambrano -- and even Marcum -- look like excellent replacements for any starter who falters or succumbs to injury.  They're also available to go two or three innings if a starter (Chacin?) fails to go beyond the 4th or 5th inning.  When there are so many uncertainties about Towers, Chacin and Ohka, it's great to know that their potential replacements are right there on the 25-man roster -- not in Syracuse but right there on the major-league field.  The lack of depth among the starters was the biggest weakness of last year's team, and it looks like a much improved situation this year.  It's largely a result of Ricciardi's obsession with collecting arms in the off-season and his decision to go north with the 12 best pitchers.

    On the flipside, the bullpen's greatest weakness is its lack of depth.  If Janssen and Zambrano are pressed into service in the starting rotation, their bullpen replacements are far from obvious.  It could be months before Brandon League can rejoin the bullpen -- and maybe he'll never recover his velocity.  Rosario is probably gone.  McGowan is a starter, not a reliever.  So who gets called up to replace Janssen and Zambrano?  Brian Tallet?  Not very inspiring.  Gonzalez maybe?  But he might be gone too -- he has a clause in his contract that allows him to depart if he's not on the major league team by July 1 (as I recall).   By the summer, the bullpen could be the Achilles heel of this team.

Jorge Cantu requesting a trade

Cantu is .... a tweener! (I take a term I picked up from basketball, and find I can use it here!)

He's only 25, and he's probably a pretty good hitter for a middle infielder. Unfortunately, he's not a middle infielder. Even the Devil Rays have managed to figure that out. And he's not a good enough hitter to play a corner position, infield or outfield. And there's no way he could possibly cover centre field...

Not quick enough to guard a small forward, not strong enough to guard a power forward...

How reliable are Mexican ages? Is Cantu 25 kinda like El Duque is 37?

For no good reason, Cantu reminds me of Wil Cordero, another tweener. Good teams recognize tweeners for what they are and move them along. Poor teams move them to a less demanding defensive position and suffer the consequences.

Is Cantu 25 kinda like El Duque is 37?

One does wonder. He had just turned 17 when he spent his first season in Tampa's system, in the New York Penn League?

Wil Cordero is an interesting comp, and a pretty good one, I think  - Cantu seems a similar quality hitter, although the details may differ a little (less on-base, moer slugging.) Cordero came to the majors as a shortstop, but played more than half his career games at 1B or LF.

Jorge Cantu a "tweener"?  Good one.  The D-Rays' projected win total went up in the last week- addition by subtraction. B.J. Upton will get most of the second base job; the back-up plans are Ty Wigginton and then Longoria coming up with Iwamura moving to second.  And as an added bonus for D-Ray fans, Jonny Gomes stays. 

It's interesting that Eljah Dukes is in CF and Baldelli is the DH.  Is DH slated to be an alternating role amongst Ray outfielders?

I was just looking at Upton's BBRef page and did you realize that he has never appeared at 2B, at least in the majors? That surprised me, for one, and moreso it really underlines the leap of faith TAM is taking. His bat hasn't been THAT good (yet).

Upton is still awfully young, but is anyone else getting the sneaking suspicion that he may not grow up to be Gary Sheffield? Should the Rays look into talking the Crime Dog out of retirement to re-assume his big brother role of the early 90's? (Sadly, McGriff could play 1B for the team and not even represent much of an offensive drop-off.)

And what position do we believe Upton will ultimately play? Does center field not seem like a natural fit, notwithstanding the issue of players in his way, most notably Baldelli? Shouldn't the whole infield experiment be put out of its misery? (Totally absent any evidence, I am assuming that he'll not fare well at second base.)

With Crawford, Baldelli, Young, Dukes and perhaps Upton, there does seem to be a lot of traffic in the outfield. What will have to happen for the team to decide on whom to commit to?