"I guess I don't hate giving him one last (brief) chance now that there's a new hitting coach (who seemed to help him last year)."

I'm not a fan at all and Mike Green nails the reason why.

It would be funny if opposing teams in spring training (3 months or so?) kept switching out lefties and faced Lind with righties. That way they could encourage the Jays to give him playing time in the regular season, and he'd never get any better.

More seriously, about 5 years ago I recall seeing TV segments about pitching machines that some players had started getting that simulated actual pitchers, with a life-sized video and varying release points/spins (it could throw offspeed pitches, I think). Unless I am imagining it, I can't see any reason why hitters, especially ones like Lind, wouldn't spend the offseason taking 100's of pitches a day from it until they were comfortable against simulated pitches. Maybe the machine didn't work out in the end?

There is just no practical way, in the course of regular baseball training that I have seen, for Lind to get better at hitting lefties. Batting Practice is of minimal help, you might get 3 ABs a day against lefties if you are lucky in Spring Training, and half of them might not be MLB quality and/or in shape yet. Players practice infield and outfield drills, they work out, pitchers throw pitches. But figuring out how to give hitters a good, realistic, stressful workout seems is either a trade secret in the industry, or it simply doesn't happen. Do pitchers ever work out against actual hitters (in the minors at least)? Coaches can make a huge difference, but BP is essentially half-speed, especially useless for a lefty/lefty thing, since it's all about the reaction/recognition time.

I remember during my last year playing baseball (I sucked as a young teenager), realizing that I hadn't learned how to hit actual pitching, ever. And that there was no way I ever would, since you simply can't practice it without a proper practice facility and a pitcher able to throw good pitches. And a lot of baseballs (or enough guys willing to fetch balls all day).

There is simply no acceptable way to tell if Lind can figure out how to hit lefties without letting him do it all the time. And that is not acceptable to most of us, and I would hope not to is teammates and the management either. The amount of new information you get from spring training is not a lot more than nothing, and a few weeks of regular season is the same. Coaches will try to fix Lind, I get it. But they should focus on making Lind more acceptable for his position against righties. If he goes back to 2009 form against righties, maybe consider letting him face lefties. Otherwise, Lind should never be in the starting lineup against a lefty, barring a huge number of injuries. He's easily replaced  - lefties who are vaguely league average hitters with no defensive value at all may not grow on trees, but that's because no one would ever plant such a useless tree.

Check out this website with the full call by Tom Cheek of the bottom of the ninth from the 93 WS.  I'd only heard Cheek's Joe Carter call before.  I was still on pins and needles.

http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/

Another possibility is that the Blue Jays never actually made a contract offer to Grilli. Someone on Grilli's side (i.e. Mr. Sheffield) may have thrown the Blue Jays in there as a bidder, knowing that the team would neither confirm nor deny it. It's happened before.

Mike - you're right.

Colby had a groin injury most of the second half of the season. I expect he will be healthy and at his tender age will blossom.

AA will not trade for Dickey - he is done for now (Aside from some stiff or other to back up Happ and in case Romero actually drops even more).

HOWEVER: Since the moves to date have put the Jays into "contention" - AA will be able to act like a Contender and spend the first third of the season finding what we need, getting it by the trading deadline and riding it to glory over the stretch. By the trading deadline he'll know much better how Gose is coming, d"Arnaud is responding, and guys like Norris etal are growing. He'll know better by then who to fold, who to hold, who to walk away from and who to run with. (Apologies to Kenny Rogers.) 

Time for a single malt.

I think they should be targetting pre-arb starters.  If they can't find a clear upgrade on Happ like Brett Anderson, they should trade for Bauer / Hultzen type who can fine tune his pitches in Buffalo and step right in if necessary.

Everything, signing and trades especially, waits for Greinke and Hamilton to sign - anywhere.   Catchers are getting signed, making d'Arnaud, Arencibia and even Buck increase in trade value.   A.J. Pierzynski is the top Catcher remaining.  It matters little that A.A.'s not planning to trade any Catcher, offers will come.  

Rosters are going to be "set" (unwilling to trade) much later this year, making A.A.'s job easier.   Outfielders are getting signed, which decreases the talent level available.   I think this increases the value of Gose, Rasmus and Sierra.   Josh Hamilton, Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, Cody Ross and Ichiro Suzuki are the top Outfielders remaining.   Offers will come, but A.A. must be careful here in making any move.

Everyone quest for Starting pitching is getting harder and more expensive.   I just don't know if A.A. gets what he wants for fair value.   Zach Greinke, Anibal Sanchez, Edwin Jackson, Kyle Lohse, Ryan Dempster, Shaun Marcum, Joe Saunders, Francisco Liriano and Carlos Villanueva are the top Starters remaining.   I think even re-signing Josh Johnson may be out of A.A.'s (reasonably sane) price range soon.

A.A.'s apparently not satisfied with his Bullpen as is attested by his Grilli offer.  Even the value here is being stretched out of shape.   Rafael Soriano, Jason Grilli, Mike Adams and Jose Valverde are the top Relievers remaining.   It's possible Grilli's reluctance to sign was his re-established value and not who made the offers.

It's going to be a slow continuance of the offseason, but interesting to follow.