I look forward (as does everyone else, I'm sure) to your reports, Gerry. Always a good read.

This may be asking a lot, and such a thing may not even exist - but if you are able to post a full list of players at the camp, I would very much appreciate it.

I assumed Alvarez' spring would dictate where he starts the season.  He is certainly young enough to extend his stay at Dunedin for a few months, until he learns how to pitch a little better.  But his stuff is getting rave reviews, so maybe they do send him to AA out of the box. 

It would be a nice question, but if the player doesn't know, we won't be told.  Maybe ask about the slider - I heard it is less slurvy this spring.

I know he's no longer a Jays' prospect, but a nice little snippet about Tiny Tim Collins in the Boston Globe's Sunday baseball notes.  It mentions that Collins is the favorite to become Soria's setup man in KC.

I don't think the Jays have been very excited about Henderson Alvarez's development as a "pitcher", as opposed to a thrower.  Reading between the lines I also think he might need to mature more.  On that basis, and based on some discussions with front office types, I projected him back at Dunedin.  But I agree he is on the bubble and could easily go to NH too.

The Jays do not promote players based on time at a level (e.g. David Cooper), they promote based on readiness.

To clarify my comments abovefrom front office types were all from before spring training started.  I have received no comments yet from within spring training.

The comments from Farrell are nice but I put them with the "he is in the best shape of his life" comments.

The 2011 teams for Alvarez; Gose; Aaron Sanchez; McGuire; and Wojo are among the biggest issues to be settled in spring training.

I think that $67,000 is likely for a player on the 40 man roster.  Lower valued players or lower level players get less.

A minor league free agent who is a good AAA player can make $60k - $90k per year, but until you are a free agent you essentially have to take what is offered.  You can understand why career minor leaguers keep coming back without a shot at the major leagues.  You can make more money playing six months of ball than you can, say, selling cars.

I believe a first-year player in the low-minors has a maximum salary of $850/month

$850 would be very good in Low-A. Then subtract clubhouse dues, and food money during homestands (per diem's only given on the road, hopefully the housing family program is strong), and various random expenses. It's not the easiest lifestyle.

Thanks in advance Gerry,I have a few questions if possible.

1) Which of the pitchers drafted in 2010 has shown the most growth in projectability during instructionals in terms of Increase in velocity, command & control or developing a new pitch.

2) Which 2010 drafted pitcher has had the most tinkering done to his mechanics.

3) The Blue Jays are emphasising the changeup - which pitching prospect in 2010 made the most progress in developing his changeup - not who has the best changeup.

4) Who are the power LHP in the Blue Jays system - I don't think we have any.  

Thanks. 

Wilner is predicting that the regular lineup vs RHP will be the same, except with Snider and Encarnacion flip-flopping, so that Snider is batting 6th and EE 7th.

For his career, his numbers against lefties make him look like a weak-hitting catcher: 251/307/387.

That's a tad harsh. Ryan Howard has hit .230/.307/.431 vs. LHP the last 3 years. Carl Crawford, the crown jewel of this year's FA class, has hit .259/.312/.372 over the same time frame. Heard this : LHB struggle vs. LHP, even the best of em. If Lind is pounding RHP you won't even notice that his OPS vs. LHP is 200+ points lower.

You do not want a player with a .322 career on-base percentage batting cleanup.

When he's the best option on the team, you sure do. Unless you prefer Yunel Escobar batting there, Lind is the best option behind Bautista. If your point is that Lind should be 3 and Bautista should be 4, well then you're really nitpicking.

Here's some big news, just tweeted by Wilner:   Morrow will open the season on the DL with forearm inflammation.   So it appears that Litsch, Drabek and Reyes will all get jobs in the rotation to open the season.

So if your best hitter is hitting cleanup, and the 1-2 guys are high on-base guys, I'd think you want your number three guy to be a speedster or flyball hitter since there's a good chance he's coming to bat in the first with one out and a man on base (you try to avoid the double play).

Based on that, maybe Hill or Davis as a #3?

Escobar-Snider-Hill/Davis-Bautista-Lind as the top 5?

Forbes is out with it's annual report on the value of baseball clubs.  The Yankees are ahead of the field.  The Blue Jays trail in 27th spot.  Forbes puts a value of $337m on the team, an increase of 3% over last year.

Revenue for the Blue Jays was estimated at $168m and operating profits were $3.6m.  Both of those numbers should increase in 2011 based on an attendance boost in 2011 from a good performance by the team in 2010 and a lower payroll in 2011.

Mike, that's an astute comment about the Morrow injury.  The Jays are being extra-cautious with the health of all of their players, since it's a rebuilding season anyway.  Anthopolous said today that Morrow wouldn't be on the DL if it was a playoff game.  Morrow doesn't sound happy about being on the DL -- he says it's a minor injury and he could easily play through it. 

The next question is what this means for the bullpen, since Reyes will open the season in the rotation.  It depends if Dotel is ready by opening day.  If Dotel is ready, there won't be a vacancy in the bullpen.  (Janssen and Villanueva get the final two spots in the bullpen.)  But if Dotel isn't ready, it opens the door for Rzepczynski to get a bullpen slot.  The other possible candidates, although they are longshots, might be Rommie Lewis or Scott Richmond.

Purcey is virtually guaranteed a job in the Jays bullpen.  He's out of options and can't be demoted without exposing him to the near-certain risk of losing him.  If Zep gets a job in the bullpen, it would be in addition to Purcey.   If Dotel is not ready for opening day, there would be room for both Purcey and Zep, since Reyes will be in the rotation.  Under that scenario, the bullpen would be:  Rauch (closer), Frasor, Camp, Purcey, Janssen, Villanueva, Zep.

Personally, I'd prefer to see Zep getting steady work in Las Vegas as a starter, rather than being the 7th man in the bullpen.  If he's in the majors, he might get to pitch an inning every 5 days, which is not ideal for a young developing pitcher who has the potential to be a major-league starter.   But the Jays might have decided that Zep's stuff will play better in the bullpen.  I would defer to their judgment.

Zaun was just describing Morrow's injury on the TV broadcast.  The problem is in the muscle in the forearm, not in the tendon, which is great news.  If a pitcher starts to get inflammation in the tendon in the elbow, that can be the start down the road to Tommy John surgery.  Morrow will not throw for 5 days, and they expect he will be fine.  Should miss one or two starts.

In a way this is a good opportunity for the Jays to continue to audition the other starting candidates and see what they have.  Same for the Francisco injury and the crowded bullpen.

Lawrie sent to LV today.   Will be interesting to see how he fares in that hitters' paradise.

....Rzep has been far better at the MLB level, starting and relief.....

The comparison doesn't make sense.  Everyone knows that Purcey was a failure as a starter.  That doesn't prove that he can't be a good reliever.  Lots of good relievers, including Scott Downs on this same ballclub, were failed starters in the past.  So it's absolutely pointless to haul out Purcey's stats as a starter and try to use them for a comparison with Rzepczynski.   Zep himself has never established himself as a major-league starter, so he's in the same category as Purcey:  a pitcher who couldn't win a rotation job and is now trying to establish himself as a reliever.  It's equally obvious that you can't compare their MLB stats as a reliever, since Zep has so few innings as a major-league reliever.

The only thing that you can say is this:  Purcey had a pretty good half-season in the bullpen, in his first attempt.  Zep has virtually no experience as a reliever in the major leagues, so Purcey is ahead of him, by any measure.  Purcey has accomplished something as a major-league reliever and Zep has accomplished nothing.

As for Purcey's poor performance in spring training this year:  it might mean something, or it might mean nothing.  He's still very early in his bullpen career, and a few innings in spring training can't really be used to judge him.  We all know that spring training stats aren't necessarily the best way to judge a pitcher.

If you want to predict, based on minor-league numbers and spring training, that Zep will be a better reliever than Purcey -- that's fine, you're entitled to your predictions.  But don't try to base it on major-league stats.  Base it on your hunches and your intuition and the minor-league stats, for whatever they are worth.

I seriously doubt that Rzep and Purcey are competing for a spot in the bullpen.  Despite his presence there currently, I'd be surprised to see Rzep anywhere but starting at Vegas in a couple of weeks (unless injuries necessitate his spot in the bullpen).

Purcey is up against Carlson for the lefty role in the pen.  They mentioned on the broadcast last night that the Jays had been receiving a lot of calls about his availability (along with Reyes).

He's 29, and hasn't shown much of anything (save a very small sample of low leverage relief innings last year).  I wouldn't send Jansen or Villaneuva to the minors because Purcey was out of options.  He hasn't shown enough to waste what those two have shown.

Is someone suggesting Purcey isn't out of options?  I don't think so.

From Baseball America's transactions:

Toronto Blue Jays
Signed: OF Eli Boike (NDFA—Michigan State)
Released: RHP Kyle Ginley, RHP Matt Morgal, RHP Jamie Vermilyea, RHP Josh Wells, LHP Juan Hernandez, 2B Jon Del Campo, OF Concepcion Rodriguez

Kyle Ginley and Josh Wells are two pitchers who never came back from injuries.  Jamie Vermilyea had a very brief second tour with the Jays.  The others were more organization guys.

I am just back from a fun day at minor league camp.  I will try and file something later tonight but I have to head to dinner now.  A few tid-bits:

Tomorrows starter for the big leaguers........with Morrow being injured........Drew Hutchison.

There were three A level games at the complex today, tomorrow will be AAA and AA.

The three starting pitchers today were Asher Woj; Justin Nicolino; and Michell Taylor.

No Aaron Hill at minor league complex today but AA; Tony LaCava; Pat Tabler;  Buck Martinez; and George Bell were there taking in the action.