I was disappointed to see Straw getting the start in CF today and then i saw Orelvis at 3B even though we know he's not making the team so no biggie really.


More interesting maybe is that Varsho is slotted in between Santander and Springer in the 4 hole, meaning Springer is bumped down another notch.

They continue to use Gimenez ahead of Kirk which does make some sense but also condemns Kirk to the bottom of the order....if Kirk gets back to hitting closer to what he used to it's gonna be hard to keep Gimrnez in front of him despite the DP thing. A good hitting Kirk would slot in the 4 hole.

I am not sure how dialed in Keegan Matheson is to the Jays FO/management, but he seems to believe that the 26-man roster on Opening Day will include both Barger and Loperfido. Given their ages and the glut of players in AAA as it is, I think I'd be fine with that even though I'd prefer Roden in there. That still leaves a bit of a glut in AAA, but a little less so. That would leave a AAA outfield of Roden, Clase, and Berroa/Straw/Lukes, and infield of Martinez, Jimenez, Kasevich, and Nunez, with Stefanic in there somewhere. Although I would still be surprised if we don't see a trade, even if it's minor, by the end of Spring Training.

of all the options they have, taking Loperfido and Barger seems likely to be the worst.

Varsho has really demolished some balls this spring.

That was a bomb for Varsho.  
Great pitching by some key relievers ... I've always viewed Garcia as a middle-reliever who could pitch in the late innings, but he looks tough to hit right now. 

Are they thinking Lucas might have a role down the road as an opener?  Not sure why he alone of the relievers keeps starting games otherwise.
Roden looks more 'ready' to me than Barger, unless they like Barger more for the ability to play some 3B?  Loperfido feels like the guy they might have liked going into spring, and he does seem to be toolsy, but I sure don't see him as a good choice for the bigs based on this spring.  I'd put Straw or Schneider ahead of Loperfido, and like John Northey said in the other thread, I think Lukes and Stefanic (too a lesser extent) are the likely choices to sit at the end of the bunch.
Internal evaluations of D remain the wildcard in my mind - do they see Lukes or Loperfido as legit CF?  Can Barger play some third to allow for late game moves?

That was a nice bunt by Stefanic, even if they got their signs mixed, and Bethancourt with two missiles to catch baserunners.  He is starting to feel like the third catcher.  

I'd stick to Varsho behind Santander until he stops hitting.
For pitchers with splits, you get 2 left bats in a row and it's not a great spot to bring in a lefty, Santander switches, Varsho can be pinched for.

Most of the AAA starters are behind; Kloff, Bash, etc...
Lazaro Estrada has looked pretty decent but he's heading to AA.
So is Jennings.
Bloss has shown an uptick or almost 2mph on the fastball. He could be interesting if he throws enough strikes.

Roden should definitely make it, but for whatever reason it looks likely that he starts in AAA, so the options beyond him and Martinez (who also looks like he will start in AAA) are interchangeable to me. Just take the ones with the highest potential upside. Barger actually has some upside even though he may not reach it (bat speed, exit velo) and Loperfido (while I wouldn't bet on him being anything at the big league level) has more upside than Berroa, Lukes, Straw, etc. The Jays need to get lucky with player development, and a lot of the AAA prospects are getting long in the tooth where they need to get some type of opportunity even if it's on the bench.

The Rays have cancelled their plan to build a new arena.
I could see insurance costs becoming a problem going forward.