Watching Spring Training baseball is a little silly: we're rarely aware of team or player goals, so we can't evaluate their success. But when a team has had such a radical remodelling as the Jays' this offseason, as fans we can't help but be desperate to see them in action.

Today at 1:05, the Jays face off against the Phillies. It's a great game for new-Jay spotting: R.A. Dickey will start, followed by Josh Johnson a handful of innings later. The game will be televised, radioized and internetized, so tune in whatever way floats your boat. I'll see if I can convince my kids to watch with me. Maybe I'll bribe them with chips or popcorn.

My right shoulder is so restless it hurts, I'm giving Yahoo's fantasy baseball pages ten thousand hits a day, and my marginal utility from hearing "Centerfield" has been above zero for weeks now. That can only mean one thing. It's time for spring training baseball!

Easily the best thing about February.

Now that spring (training) is here it is time to go over the changes to the Jays roster this past winter.  Who has left, who has come and who is here now?

My copy of the bible arrived in the mailbox — the Baseball America 2013 Prospect Handbook! Texas prospect Jurickson Profar is on the cover.

2012 first round pick D.J. Davis is the highest rated position player in the Jays farm system according to Baseball America.

ESPN's Keith Law has released his Top 10 Prospects list for each American League East club. His top five Blue Jays prospects are pitchers and has seven hurlers rated among his top 10. The Jays did not fare very well in his farm system ranking.


No. 2 and trying harder: Roberto Osuna was Keith Law's number two Blue Jays prospect. The Mexican righty just turned 18 today.

Jack Morris is the new Alan Ashby.  Morris will be the play by play guy on radio and cover on TV when Buck or Tabler are on vacation.

Is this good?  I don't know, has anyone ever heard Jack do analysis?

Meanwhile Sportsnet announced their spring training coverage....six TV games starting February 23rd, and all the games on radio or web.

Ok, ok, I'll admit it: I grin a little bit when A-Rod's name comes up in this stuff. Am I alone?

I'm not sure why. Because he's a Yankee? No, I made an eight foot wide dollar bill with his face on it to heckle him when he was still a Ranger. Because of the absurd amount of money? Well, maybe. And maybe because of the swagger and public persona, or my impression of them.

But I softened a bit when I heard that he had a painting of himself as a Minotaur. Who can't relate to dreams of being a Minotaur?

Now that the 25 man roster is pretty much set (save for 1-3 bullpen slots)  the question becomes who is likely to slump and need replacing and who are the replacements should a player get hurt/be ineffective.

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Vancouver Canadians have agreed to a two-year extension of their Player Development Contract. The original agreement was in effect until 2014 but the two sides agreed to continue their partnership through the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
The Vancouver Canadians have won two Northwest League championships since becoming a Blue Jays affiliate in 2011.

The Jays and Mets have rached another deal, in a roundabout manner, filling the void left behind when R. A. Dickey packed his bags for Toronto. Former Jay hurler Shaun Marcum has signed a one-year deal with the Metsies and will slide into the #4//5 slot in the rotation, bumping all others up one notch, as the team attempts to cover for the loss of the 20-game winning 2012 NL Cy Young Award recipient.

Marcum won seven games (in 11 decisions) for Milwaukee last season.

Read all about it on ESPN New York. So, Bauxites, once again ... what's your take?

The Atlanta Braves have agreed to a trade to acquire outfielder Justin Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Randall Delgado, infielder Martin Prado and minor leaguers Nick Ahmed, Brandon Drury and Zeke Spruill, sources tell ESPN.

So, what effect will Atlanta's Double-Upton OF have on the National League East race, Bauxites? 

To celebrate the acquisition of R.A. Dickey by the Toronto Blue Jays, some friends and I watched the documentary Knuckleball! (recommended) followed by Dickey's destruction of the Orioles last June. It was a fun night.

When we paused the game to get more snacks, we accidentally discovered that Wilson Betemit looks exactly like Grumpy Cat when he strikes out.

Behold:

The Blue Jays have signed Mark DeRosa, presumably to be the right handed bat off the bench that AA was looking for.  To make room on the 40 man roster Sam Dyson was designated for assignment.  DeRosa is 37 years old, 38 by opening day, and hasn't had a 100 OPS+ season since 2009.  However I assume he will rarely see a right handed pitcher and DeRosa has hit better against lefties.

As I'm sure I've mentioned, I actually saw Stan Musial play baseball.

I wish I could actually remember it. I was a little wee kid, and my dad took me to see the Cardinals playing their A ball team, which was in Winnipeg at the time. Apparently the Cards made a practice of visiting a minor league affiliate on an off-day and playing an exhibition game against the prospects. I'm told The Man started, went 1-2 and came out of the game. My memory tells me the game was played at an open baseball field, with no outfield fence at all, and trees along the foul lines. I'm pretty sure that didn't happen...

When we're children we can believe that baseball players are heroes, people to look up to and admire without reservation. We all grow up, we all learn otherwise. But Stan Musial never let me down.