This team was amongst the leaders for a time with their offense.   The hitting in 2012 started out effectively selective, it got better, then people gave up.   Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus, et al led off and everyone was expected / needed to hit.  The Bullpen was less than effective / sucked once Sergio Santos succumbed and Plan B turned out to fail.   Plan C and the A.A. Rescue Plan made things better.   The Rotation was an Adventure from Game One and it went over the cliff.   Until everyone gave up / injuries overwhelmed, the Team was within 2 games of a Playoff berth.

Presently Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera will lead off, with Lawrie and Rasmus hitting 6-9 - a huge improvement.   Maicer Izturis (versatile) replaces Kelly Johnson, John Buck (experienced with the top 4 starters) replaces Jeff Mathis and Emilio Bonifacio replace (the ancient one) Omar Vizquel - a huge improvement.   Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle allow Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero to # 3 & # 4 Starters with J.A. Happ (long time sought after) as # 5 Starter - another huge improvement.   Santos returns, with Casey Janssen and Steve Delabar having showed late inning talent, allows A.A. option in filling vacancies - a huge improvement.

It's possible, even a disaster like 2012 might not keep the Team from the Postseason, this year.   And A.A.'s not done yet, it's just not in his nature not to be busy.

I agree with Richard.

Last year, everything just went wrong.  The first couple months, it looked promising.  (Drabek even had flashes of brilliance.)  Then we lost 3 starting pitchers in 4 days and everything just fell apart. AA made a couple trades to bandaid it, then Bautista went down and everything just failed.  Everything was even going wrong in the minors. 

For me, this year is all about health.  The team is better this year than last year, but the same coulld have been said about 20012 vs 2011. 

I would definitely kill a rooster or something before the season starts, because the team was cursed last year....

I will make one guarantee — this is the best Blue Jays team since the World Champs in 1993. Enjoy it.

As far as I can check stuff on Josh Johnson, I think an extention is warranted this offseason.   I believe he's that good, even with his injury risks.   As for Mark Buehrle, he usually finishes his games in under 3 hours so as long as he's keeping us in games, he's going to do well here.  With Morrow (now healthy), Romero (offseason surgery correcting his problems) and Happ (found his stuff again) following we have as good a Rotation as any staff we've had since ??? 93 ???   Should we get someone better than Happ for the Rotation, letting Happ be 6th Starter in the Bullpen, this might be the best staff ever.   At least I'll feel more comfortable about our depth.

With Reyes, Cabrera, Bautista, Encarnacion heading the Lineup, and with Lind (Bonifacio/Davis), Rasmus, Izturis (Bonifacio) batting (in some order) 5,7,9, and Lawrie, Arencibia (Buck) batting 6 and 8, this could be as strong a lineup as any we've had.  The Bench, with an opening, is stronger than we've had in a long time.

As good as this Bullpen is, I still think it can be better.   Santos, Janssen and Delabar are locks because they can pitch late innings well.   Loup and Lincoln are AAA-bound because they can be if neccessary.  That leaves Esmil Rogers (RHP power arm), Brett Cecil (LHP - out of options), Jeremy Jeffress (RHP - power arm, control issues) and an unlikely Darren Oliver (LHP) competing for the last 4 spots.   I can understand the Grilli offer.

I think after 2003-4 and after 2012 we deserve better karma.

I am not a big Sheilds fan, but in the same breath KC has had a line of "Can't miss" prospects missing.  (Butler, Hosmer, Gordon,etc).

If I was a KC fan, I would be happy to get some good veterans in there.  Finally.....  (But it is a good thing that I am not :))

Ok. Ok...

Calling them a miss is wrong.  People had these guys as world beaters.  (like Trout and Harper or Blalock and Tex).  I remember in our auction draft, they went for a crazy amount of money in thier rookie years.  They are good, but just never lived up to thier billing.  (Mind you I do regret saying Butler is a miss.  He had a great year last year.  First guy to get 100 RBI in a long time for KC).  So getting two established big leaguers for a grade A prospect, a grade B prospect is not too bad...

So...  It makes me think.  This is a really good trade for KC.  They are not saying, let's wait till the next young player comes.  They have the players now, they just need some veteran leadership.  Maybe with some new attitutudes, the players take it to the next step.

It shows a lack of confidence in your abilities to do that.

Oh please. As if you know why he wants to stay where he is or what it means.

Further to this, it seems to me that the single biggest determinant of where a player wants to play -- and yes, there are exceptions -- is where he played last year. Just as many of us in the real world are averse to change, so too, it would seem, are professional athletes. So you get guys who want to stay in Pittsbugh or KC or San Diego. The desire for continuity in their lives seems to trump everything else. And that's just human nature.

Loney stunk last year, no question. And he'd not be the type of player a team with reasonable resources would pursue. But TB is forced to pursue bargains. They must figure that Loney will give them defense at the very least and, with enough pixie dust, has at least a theorically plausible chance of revisiting his career OPS+ of 104 (he put up a 110 as recently as 2011). That still wouldn't make him a very good first baseman but would mean he's value for the dollar they are paying: 2MM for 1 to 2 WAR.

Defense still figures to be the biggest inefficiency in the market to exploit, even though most teams seem to be paying more attention to it now than ever before. A resource strapped organization like TB must invariably field a strong defensive team to be successful, since it will mean optimal deployment of their scant funds.

the difference is that the Rays system has proven to be effective, whereas the Jays system of squandering assets to acquire mediocre relief pitching has yet to get them to the World Series.

Parker, this seems a bit unfair.  are you saying that you would prefer Snider, Thames and Molina to Santos, Delabar and Lincoln?  3 inconsistent young players for 3 major league pitchers doesn't seem to be "squandering assets", and all three of the relievers we got have upside and years of affordable contracts.  Hard to predict the injury to Santos - this isnt a mike sirotka lack of due dillignece scenario, that's just the risk you take acquiring pitchers. 

a cost-effective bullpen frees up other assets - like the big moves this off-season.  and nobody in the front office was arguing that these trades were going to get us to the WS.  AA is agressively improving all parts of the organization, major and minor, and this is an approach I strongly support. 

What does futility look like?

I think you've coined a new term.  Futility player.

I did enjoy Charlie Pierce's reaction to the Youkilis to New York story when it was just a rumour

On the schadenfreude meter, the Youkilis signing is a double whammy, enraging fans both of the Yankees and the Red Sox. Good times.

Wonder if he'll get Clemens' old locker. Or Boggs'. Or Damon's. Or Luis Tiant's. (Okay, that was a big time jump. I imagine I skipped a whole bunch of names in the intervening two decades.)

Why Gush over Tampa?

They remind me how the expos used to be.  They keep on getting great players and losing them.  Sooner or later the fans get tired of being just competitive and losing thier superstars....

Perhaps, just perhaps, part of what contributes to Tampa's excellent run of starting pitching has been consistently very strong defence, multiple elements of which (Molina, Pena, Upton, Jennings) you dismiss in your post by only looking at one element of their skill set.

Speaking of trades I don't understand, I don't get this three team trade from Arizona's perspective at all, other than they had clearly soured on Trevor Bauer considerably and prioritized landing a shortstop. I know you have to jump on what's in front of you and it would have complicated the Marlins trade, but I would have loved it if the Jays could have swapped Hechavarria and odd parts for Bauer.

Really? I'm having a hard time understanding how, given Tampa's financial constraints, you can't approve of them acquiring the 3rd best prospect in baseball for two years of James Shields (to assume that Davis for Odorizzi, Montgomery and Leonard is a wash, for simplicity's sake).

I can understand, maybe, trying to squint and defend it from K.C.'s point of view. But I can't see how gaining $9 million to cover increases in other player's salaries or potentially to sign a replacement at a reasonable rate whilst gaining a top prospect isn't the right gamble to take from Tampa's perspective. Any short term hit in 2013 could be a massive gain in 2014-2018. And there's no guarantee on any short term hit depending on if, and how, they spend that money owed to Shields.

Regardless of how Travis d'Arnaud performs next year in Buffalo, Colby Rasmus is the key to all moves.   Colby is in his 2nd Arby year, possibly becoming a Free Agent after the 2014 season.   His performance over the next year will shape the direction this Team goes.   Will he merit an extention?   Will he have quality trade value?   Or will he just walk away after 2014?

Anthony Gose is the next key piece during this time.  (I don't know how he'd rate as a prospect, if he was still eligible, but I think still very high.)   If Colby rates an extension or is just kept through 2014, Anthony becomes blocked until 2015, when Melky possibly leaves.   If Colby's traded, then Anthony's called up, maybe before he's ready.   That means Moises Sierra is the top Outfielder remaining, with the next best thing in High A-ball.   At no time will A.A. have two rookies starting in the same season if he's got a choice.

At Catcher we don't have the depth we once had (Carlos Perez and Yan Gomes were traded in the last six months), with A.J. Jimenez (recovering from Tommy John) at AA and Sean Ochinko at A+, being the closest to Travis.   I believe A.A. prefers Eli Whiteside to pitch in AAA.  J.P. Arencibia and John Buck will hit a lot of HRs and produce offence Eli and Jeff Mathis can't.   At the CF position / Outfield position, after Moises, Kevin Pillar in High-A is our closest prospect.   I just don't see that A.A. has enough information to make a trade before he know what he has, next year.   (Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison and Lius Perez best return time is 2014.)    I fully expect any acquisitions A.A. makes will be in Free Agency - it only costs money.   With the Grilli offer, it shows A.A. has some money left to spend. 

You're entitled to your opinion on Myers, but I'm going to trust the opinion all the major prospect evaluators and websites, who will probably rank Myers in the Top 5 and almost certainly noted in the Top 10 (I think he'll be 3rd, as I noted).

But probably more importantly, I think this all falls apart (think pre-2008) the moment that Tampa has to deal David Price.

I'm not convinced Tampa has to deal David Price anymore. Perhaps they will, but I think that they have been faced with a situation where they had to get one of Price or Shields off their payroll in the next couple of years and chose to keep Price and deal Shields when he had more value and when they had a number of arms who look like they should be given a chance to step into a major league rotation.

Shields would still have value next offseason and they could have tried the Marlins blow it up and rebuild method then.

I think Shields would have less value offseason and I'm certainly not convinced Tampa has to "blow it up." I don't see why a team with a core of Jennings and Longoria and Myers on offence and, even if they trade Price, a front of the rotation that includes Matt Moore and Hellickson, not to mention a good number of supplementary pieces and that is in a good position to win somewhere around 90 games next year would be forced to "blow it up" even if they are forced to trade Price.

B Pro have published their top 10 prospects:

1. C Travis d'Arnaud
2. RHP Noah Syndergaard
3. RHP Aaron Sanchez
4. LHP Sean Nolin
5. CF D.J. Davis
6. RHP Roberto Osuna
7. LHP Daniel Norris
8. RHP Marcus Stroman
9. LHP Matt Smoral
10. RHP Alberto Tirado

Mostly it is not a surprise, Nolin at #4 is the major difference.

Interesting trade proposal over at BP.  I think both teams could benefit from this move. 

Anthony Gose and Prospects for Jonny Venters and Randall Delgado
No team has had a busier offseason than the Blue Jays, who essentially acquired an entire franchise this November and also signed Melky Cabrera to a relatively cheap two-year deal. One player negatively affected by all this movement is Anthony Gose, who, before was on the cusp of starting for Toronto, and now is somewhat buried on their outfield depth chart.

At just 22 years old, Gose has a lot of future value to a franchise, but the Blue Jays clearly want to compete for the AL East crown now while the Yankees and Red Sox appear vulnerable. Therefore, I propose the Jays flip Gose plus prospects to Atlanta in exchange for reliever Jonny Venters and starter Randall Delgado. In Venters, the Jays get potentially one of the most dominating lefty relievers in baseball. Delgado would likely be next in line to start for Toronto this year and could develop into a No. 2 or No. 3 starter down the line. For Atlanta, Gose will compete with the Braves’ in-house options for the left-field job this year, and if his plate discipline improves, could be a valuable starting outfielder for many years. To even out the deal, Toronto should send a couple mid-tier prospects to the Braves, nobody too major though. —Paul Singman

Gose could be a Devon White in CF here

And is nice insurance should Rasmus not turn the corner in 2013.

How far away is the next batch of Outfielders in the system?   Do you consider Rajai Davis, Emilio Bonifacio, Moises Sierra and Mike McCoy as your best outfield depth for next two or more years?   Anthony Gose is a valuable asset, who has shown (in small sample of a small sample) he can play up here.   I think he can be another Devon White, or better.   If you move Anthony in a trade, you need to hit a Grand Slam HR in what comes back - nothing yet proposed  on this site is good enough.

I read the Tampa Stadium article.   Amazing, sixteen more years in that dump!   Anything that works for Tampa is fine for me.   I was just thinking Price's next arbitration, just upcoming, might earn him $20.0 MM for 2013 (that's why Shields and Davis was moved).   Even with the new TV monies coming into play in 2014, Tampa's going to need a lot of pre-arb players playing.      

Where's Mick these days? We need a voice from Tejas.

The Rangers lose out on the Greinke bidding, lose Hamilton and Napoli to free agency, trade Young, and piss off Kinsler by talking about changing positions.

If you can't succeed, I guess you can always secede.

Dempster signs with the Red Sox for 2/$26.5M.

Dempster 2/26. Napoli 3/39. Victorino 3/39. The new market inefficiency? 13 million-dollar a year players.

Mike Cormack tweeting that Anthony Alford was granted his "release" from school, whatever that means.

Apparently, because he was released he can join another college team without having to sit out a year of football which you must do if you transfer to another college on your own.

Teheran was not apparently hurt, but many have felt that he is a likely candidate for TJ and the decline in performance year-over-year at Gwinnett makes me wonder.

Well he absolutely raked in the minors in the previous four years, including a 24 start stint at AAA in 2011.  He's still a top 50 prospect and would be great depth at AAA.  Those 18-20 year-old pitchers aren't doing the 2013-14 Jays any good.  Trading one of them forward for a Bauer-Teheren-Hultzen type makes good sense to me.

Apparently, because he was released he can join another college team without having to sit out a year of football which you must do if you transfer to another college on your own.

I'm seeing a lot of people refute this claim on the web.  It's being reported preserves his three years of eiligibility, but must redshirt one year first.  People are erroneously citing the example of Russell Wilson and other football transfers who were finished their undergrad with eligibility left and transferred for grad school.  (allegedly)

The snark on the forums is that the Red Sox are blazing a path to .500 and it's hard to see that the case is otherwise.

Fans and organizations often look forward with anticipation to a time when such-and-such contracts will finally be off the books, after which the presumption is that only rational decisions will be made and sound contracts signed. Boston's far-in-the-future day of relief magically became the present when the Dodgers came calling last season but the new set of contracts is no more inspiring than the ones they were unburdened of.

Like teams that are chronically "building for the future", this naive hope of what tomorrow will bring is laughable when we see the same self-defeating patterns persist year after year.

If A.A. is going to acquire/sign a Pitcher good enough to challenge J.A. Happ for the 5th Starter role, he should hurry as what's left isn't that appealing.   Edwin Jackson, Kyle Lohse and Shaun Marcum are supposed to be better than James Anthony, while Joe Saunders, Francisco Liriano and Carlos Villanueva are not that good.   I think the whole idea is to get better, not "penny pinching" again, so quality matters.   Ideally I'd be comfortable with a decent 5th Starter (???) pushing Happ and Carlos Villanueva (pay him starter monies) to the bullpen as 6th and 7th Starters/Long men.  Cost of two Pitchers however, could add $15.0 MM - $20.0 MM to the overall salary structure, which may be one Pitcher too much.   And I no longer think we can trade for anyone, less than the best.

If A.A. is trying to acquire/sign Pitching Depth good enough to act as 7th/8th -9th starters, he really needs to"get lucky"/depend on his Scouting Staff.   As good as the Pitching presently assigned to Buffalo is, A.A. acquisition(s) need(s) to be better.   Everything he's done so far for that need - it's a little bit light.   As everyone else is doing this, he needs to "be right" all the time.

Houston needs a cheap DH - has asked about Adam Lind - www.rantsports.com .

Presently Anthony Alford is a childish village idiot hood who doesn't know what he wants to be, let alone grow up yet.   If one of those guns was fired, not hitting anything or anyone, Anthony does Jail - no ands ifs or buts - years.  Until he makes nice, on the record, and publicly announces his career path is in Baseball, on the record, I don't care what he does.  

Richard. Uncharitable and unfair. Alford is 18 years old.

Nonense!   At age 18 almost eveyone is at the village idiot stage of growing up - some have more trouble than others.   Hoods seldom act beyond childish motives, however it dressed up.   Kids and guns equals Hoods - age, sex, race, religion matter not.   Jail time is what it is, I'm surprised, but pleased, if Anthony avoids it.   Gun goes off, whether or not any damage is done - blood is drawn in the act, no matter how - doesn't matter with some US States - jail time ensues.

I'm willing to give him a second chance, but only once.   If he publicly makes nice (does all the right things) and says I'm switching to Baseball, then all is well.   He stays with Football, I wash my hands of him as bad news. 

If it is true, That makes Romero\Morrow our number 4\5.  That is a crazy rotation.  We could have 75+ wins from our starting 5 alone.  Happ is a # 6, and some Jenkins #7 (with Hutchinson\Drabek\McGowan coming back?  Maybe...) 

Then there is the botom half of the offense....  Lind\Cooper, Rasmus\Gose, JPA\Buck\DArnard,  Izturis\Bonifacio.....  Not awesome, but that is better than the mariners top half.  Probably 75 Hr..  Not bad defense....  What if Lind and Rasmus get thier stuff together....WOW...  Now that would be an offense.  (If not, that issue be solved at the trading deadline.) 

The Bullpen is maybe the only thing that does not make you drool.  If Oliver comes back and Perez\Santos is 100%... It will be pretty good too.  With Beurle and Dickey as Inning eaters, the bullpen won't be as taxed as last year, so it could be just better from that alone.    

Let's assume it is Gose\D'Anard and a picher (Jenkins?) in the trade.  Here is what the Jays would have.  Sanchez, Syndergard, Nolin, Osuna, Norris, Stoman and many others for pitching.  For catchers, there will still be Jiminez and Nessy.  And after losing Gose, they still have DJ Davis.  They also have Sierra, Pillar and Smith in the OF and Lopes and Lugo for IF.    Dean is an interesting 3 bagger.  I would love to see a big bat at 1st somewhere.  But the Cupboard is far from bare.....

As I look at the snow outside....  I really can't wait till spring.