you can add a BB, HBP, and 2 runs scored to Lawrie's 2/3, 2db day.

Lawrie's double in the first was something to see. It was a pitch up and over the plate. Lawrie started his bat late and flicked the ball off the top of the centerfield wall in Fresno 400 feet away. Fresno is not one of the PCL's home run parks.

It will be interesting to watch Randy Boone this season.  He started strongly last year in AA before badly hurting his ankle.  Boone does not overpower you, he mixes in four pitches, but that could be successful if his command is excellent.

Mike: How did you watch the games? Or were you there live in Fresno.

The game was broadcast on milb.com. A yearly subscription costs $20 or $30 depending on whether you pair it with a mlb.com subscription.

The games are archived, but the picture quality is (unsurprisingly) not as good as through mlb.com.

I believe Patterson's eligible to come off the DL on Sunday and it looks like he's getting into game shape. Based on what I've seen of him, I wouldn't want to expose Nix to waivers when Patterson (or Podsednik) returns and I wonder if McCoy might instead be the odd man out. I didn't see yesterday's game, but Nix has looked quite solid for a bench player so far with both the bat and glove.

I  took it as a given all along it would be McCoy. the way Farrell swooned over Nix convinced me of that.

Michael McDade seems to be adjusting to his promotion to AA and the cold weather ... however his K:W rate  and slg % are worrisome !   ... just kidding !

On the surplus of fielders and pitchers, I ask two questions:

1) Will McCoy have to wait until the retirement of JohnnyMac, which persumably happends by the end of 2011 season, to be a full time Jays ?

2) Regarding the surplus of pitchers in Reyes, Purcey, Jansen and others, can some be traded to the Royals, which seems to lack starting pitching depth beyond Luke Hochevar and Jeff Francis?

And in my opinion, signing Shawn Hill, Ty Taubenheim and Ryan Braun the pitcher and releasing LaMura, Collazo and Korecky are good moves to improve the minor league pitching depth. The first group of pitchers seems better than the second.

Will McCoy have to wait until the retirement of JohnnyMac, which persumably happends by the end of 2011 season, to be a full time Jays ?

First, I'm not sure Johnny Mac retires at the end of the 2011 season. I don't think it can be presumed in any case. Second, do you hope McCoy is handed a full-time spot as a Jay in 2012? You seem to be implying that. I certainly hope he isn't.

Is it possible we just release Patterson outright? I mean, it's Corey Patterson. I'd rather have McCoy to be honest.

I expect McCoy to lose his spot to Patterson, and Patterson to lose his spot to Podsednik if Scooter shows himself fully healthy.

What I'd really like to see is the departure of Rivera. I'm convinced AA would dump him outright if another team would take on his salary. There would then be room for McCoy or Patterson in addition to JMac, Molina, Nix, and Podsednik.

I'd like to see third base and DH primarily handled by Nix, Podsednik and Encarnacion - Nix playing 3rd against lefties, Podsednik DHing against righties, Encarnacion playing most days and splitting his time between the 2 positions.

I would presume they would want an actual 4th outfielder on the roster, so i expect Patterson gets activated and McCoy goes down.  Once Podsednik is healthy, then Patterson would be the odd man out.  McCoy is your basic AAAA player who can fill in on the roster when you have injuries, without hurting you too much.  Nice to have a couple of those guys around, but at 30 years of age, he's no prospect.

The pitching staff moves will be interesting when Morrow and Francisco are ready.  If they give Morrow 2 more rehab starts, Reyes has a couple more starts to show he belongs.  If he does, they could put him in the pen, or maybe they send Litsch down.  Drabek looks like he's not going anywhere.

Is McCoy bad in the outfield? They had him playing CF, so I figured he couldn't be too bad. He's also more versatile, as he can play infield. I agree that he should probably be sent down when Podsednik is ready, but Patterson should probably just be released. A lot of love for a guy who's posted a negative WAR 2 of the last 3 years, and has a career OPS of .696

Forgot to ask yesterday, anyone know why Joel Carreno came out of the pen? I thought he was in the starting rotation, or was it simply a matter of a scheduling issue?

Carreno is listed as the #5 starter so he won't start until at least Monday.  By the time Monday comes the team will be eight days from leaving Florida and Carreno will have last pitched between eight and twelve days ago.  The team gave him an appearance in relief to "tune him up" for Monday.

Okay, just in case of misunderstanding, I meant McCoy would stay at MLB level for major duration of the MLB season and not be travelling between ML and AAA. He was good as a utility bench player, not a prospect at 30. McCoy could replace JohnnyMac's role if the latter retires.

Given that and the impression by Jonathan Diaz in spring training, would JohnnyMac's pass torch of the utility bench player to McCoy and then to Diaz?

For Patterson, if he is sent down to AAA, keeping or releasing him doesn't matter much to the 51s or himself. Five outfielders are playing in Vegas. The Thames, Mastro, Loewen trio will for sure plays a lot of outfield. Patterson on one hand would likely play pinch hitting or running, late inning substitution, or starting if the three players need days off. On the other hand, Jorge Padilla, Kyle Phillips and Chris Aguila quickly found jobs with another AAA team after leaving Vegas during last season. Aaron Matthews also catches on with Marlins AAA this season after leaving the Jays. Patterson could catch on with another AAA team as well.

I never think about "what happens when pods gets healthy" because I see very little likelihood he will. However, I'd just as soon have Patterson myself, unless he sucks between now and that decisions day.

I have no idea where Podsednik would fit on the roster. He doesn't field well enough to play anywhere but left, and doesn't hit enough to DH. And the Jays already have Rivera filling that role.

I meant McCoy would stay at MLB level for major duration of the MLB season and not be travelling between ML and AAA. He was good as a utility bench player, not a prospect at 30.

I don't know if this was directed at my response to your comment, but if it was, I understood what you were saying, I just don't see the reason for it. I don't think McCoy is a bad bench player. He has some useful skills. However, I'm not sure we were watching the same Mike McCoy. I didn't see anything that made me think it's an injustice that he's not a full-time bench player or that there is some need to make sure he's on the team in 2012. Second, again I'm not sure where your belief about McDonald's imminent retirement comes from.

JonnyMac had a good game  last  night. Rivera was terrible again. Cecil might be pitching himself into AAA.

Regretably, I also neglected to mention that Lawrie reportedly had 2 eggs, back bacon, rye toast, yogurt topped with granola, organge juice and french roast coffee for breakfast.  My Bad. 

Brett Lawrie's an exciting young player and will have a great impact on many games this year and beyond.  He had a great game, added to his numbers,  but others had greater impact the results of this game.  Matrioanni and Thames, for example, batted in 3 of the 51s four runs Friday night. Randy Boone pitched 5 shutout innings and struck out 5.

Thomas, we were not on watching the same McCoy: difference in perceptions. I believe we are on the same page on this: he is a average to above average or good bench player. At large and more importantly, how does a player like MacDonald be deemed unfitted to be on the ML roster and yield his place to an utility like McCoy ? Presumably aging contributes to skills decline but there have to be more factors (stats, sabermetrics and others) to keep McDonald. On the surface and fans' perspectives, McCoy possesses more skills (pinch run, capable of playing multiple positions, younger, base stealing threat)  than the defensive whiz McDonald. Aging also pushes a player into retirement, by common sense.

Cyber, we may not be that far apart, but I do think we look at McCoy differently. I wouldn't say McCoy is an above average bench player. He is useful because he can play multiple positions, including CF and SS, and has good speed. Those traits are very useful in a 25th man. However, last year McCoy hit .195/.267/.244. I'm surprised you, or anyone, would characterize that as being good with the bat. His minor league stats are also not particularly impressive, once you account for the fact he's spent 3 years at Triple-A in hitters park in Las Vegas and Colorado Springs. I'm not suggesting he's as poor with the bat as he was in 90 plate appearances last year, but I don't see a lot to make me think his best-case scenario isn't an average bat off the bench.

John McDonald, aging or not, has never had a season as poor as McCoy's at the plate last year. In 2010, he hit .250/.273/.454. McDonald can play every position McCoy can, save maybe CF, although he's probably not as strong in the outfield. I do think the Jays value McDonald as more than a player. I think they value some combination of his clubhouse demeanour, likability, willingness to accept his role and defensive teaching ability. There may be other attributes they value or McDonald brings, but I would be surprised the near-universal raving about McDonald's character is not entirely a media creation.

McDonald has spent 13 season in the majors and barely scratched a .600 OPS, yet he has spent all of that time save for 3 months with two organizations. I think that might be an indication those organizations value his presence. He had one of his better seasons with the bat last year and, while he may have lost a step or two from a few years, he's still a very capable fielder. If he wants to continue playing, I have no doubt he will find a job in 2012 and I wouldn't be surprised if it was in Toronto. Unless he's made quotes that I'm unaware of, suggesting he's thinking of retirement, I don't see where that speculation comes from.

And, back to McCoy, he's a useful player to have in an organization. He's a useful player one can shuttle between Triple-A and the majors depending on the team's needs. However, I don't see anything in his record that suggests he warrants being handed a spot on the roster throughout the year. If he is on the team's roster at the end of this year, and the front office is not actively looking for players to compete with him for a bench position (or take it from him) for 2012, I will be disappointed.