You could hear him coming from inside the media work room. His laugh booming from the hallway as he made his way to the door.

And as Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston burst through the door to head out to the ballfields, there in his lips, protruding from his wide grin, was his signature stogie.

Some things never change.

The Blue Jays brass arrived today. Beeston, general manager Alex Anthopoulos, assistant GM Tony Lacava and director of Minor League operations Charlie Wilson were all on hand to watch some players run through the day’s unofficial workout.

As Beeston watched from behind the bullpen, smoke puffed from his cigar and disappeared into the air above, while he chatted and laughed through his brief visit to camp.

One new Blue Jay sighting was speedy outfielder Joey Gathright, who is in camp on a Minor League contract with a shot at a spot on the Opening Day roster. Anthopoulos said one advantage Gathright has is the type of speed that the rest of the 40-man roster lacks.

Anthopoulos spoke at length about his desire to make speed and defense staples of the Blue Jays’ identity and culture going forward. Now, this does not mean the big league club is going to start running wild in 2010. Starting in the Minors, though, Anthopoulos wants to improve the organization’s emphasis on speed and he’s hired a roving baserunning coach in Rich Miller.

It will take time to see the results in the Majors, but a lot of things the Jays are working on will require time and patience. That’s expected under the circumstances. Utilizing speed is only a good option is you have the right personnel in place. Obviously, Anthopoulos did not inherit a team of burners when he took over as the GM.

THE BROTHERS MOLINA: The Blue Jays signed veteran catcher Jose Molina to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract on Friday. You’ll remember his brother Bengie as the Jays catcher a few years back. Jose’s deal only guarantees him $400,000. He’ll earn another $400,000 if he makes the Opening Day roster. The contract also includes a club option for 2011 worth $1.2 million. Molina will complete with Raul Chavez for the backup role behind John Buck.

This move is about depth and it’s about adding another veteran catcher to help groom the pack of young pitchers and young catchers in camp. One thing Buck, Molina and Chavez all have in common is a reputation of being a good game-callers and mentors for young arms. In the short-term, that’s a good thing to have in place to help this young staff’s development.

MCGOWAN WATCH: Dustin McGowan is scheduled to throw his sixth bullpen session on Saturday. So far, all reports are that McGowan looks and feels great. So much so that the medical staff is trying not to get too excited. Doing that is asking for trouble. So, stay tuned. If McGowan can indeed be a realistic rotation candidate, that would be an interesting development this spring. Obviously, it’s still a long way before Opening Day.

~JB

 

I strolled down the sidewalk alongside the Blue Jays’ spring complex, fresh notebook, new pen and empty digital recorder in tow, ready to begin another Spring Training. I said hello to the security guard, wandered up to the clubhouse door and gave the handle a tug.

Locked.

“Hey!” came a shout.

I looked over at the batting cage.

“No media this year!”

Aaron Hill, smiling and in a joking mood already. I was on the scene for two minutes and already was being given a hard time. Ahhh, it’s good to be back. I headed over to the cage to meet up with Toronto’s second baseman.

“What’s up, brother?” said Hill, never one to hide his inner Californian.

We chatted for a few minutes and the security guard — an elderly fellow who sets up camp in a folding chair outside the clubhouse doors each and every spring — came over to join us for a moment. He extended his hand and greeted Hill.

“It’s good to see you,” said the guard. “I wanted to congratulate you on last season. You really were great.”

Hill, always modest, smiled and said, “Thanks.”

“Personally, I thought he’d be better,” I said.

Hill laughed.

“Hey, there’s always room for improvement,” he replied, then motioning to the other hitters in the cage. “That’s what I’m trying to tell all these young guys.”

And, that was the main theme today on Day 1 of camp for me. Hill, who is still only 27 years old, has been thrust into a leadership role with these rebuilding Blue Jays. There are a lot of young players in camp, and roughly half of the Opening Day roster is up for grabs, and Hill is excited for the opportunity that exists for many players.

“It’s a good time to be a Blue Jay,” is something Hill is quick to say.

Maybe not in terms of playoff hopes or high win totals. But, it’s a good time to be a Blue Jay in the sense that there are so many available jobs and so many young players with a shot at earning them. It is something that Hill hopes they all take very seriously this spring, which obviously is lacking ace Roy Halladay for the first time in years.

“I hope these guys know what kind of opportunity they have,” Hill said. “If I’m seeing it, I just hope that they see it. I love seeing guys really get after it and fight for it. I hate seeing young guys, or anybody, that just expects to be given something. You should always work for whatever it is — not just baseball.

“I want to see the edge, the fire in these guys’ eyes, to get out there and just kick some butt.”

——————————————————————————————————

• Most of the pitchers and catchers are already in camp. The only notable pitcher I did not see today was newly-signed Kevin Gregg. Beyond Hill, I saw Adam Lind and Travis Snider in camp today. I asked Hill is John McDonald had been in camp yet. Hill laughed and rolled his eyes. “We still have that guy?” he joked. “What’d we sign him to, an eight-year deal?” Don’t worry, it’s all in good fun. Everyone loves Johnny Mac.
• Chatted for a bit with new Blue Jays catcher John Buck, and he seems like he will be a good guy to have around. During bullpen sessions today, Buck caught Brandon Morrow and Toronto’s ’09 first-rounder Chad Jenkins. “They have some good arms here,” Buck said, eyes widening. “I mean, real legitimate arms with great secondary stuff.”
• Shaun Marcum threw in the bullpen today, as did Jesse Litsch, who isn’t expected to be ready to return until at least June or July. Dustin McGowan threw off the mound yesterday. Talked to him and he said, as has been reported for a while now, that he’s feeling great. He’s done five mound sessions so far and is hoping to make the team.

That’s all for today. Catch you guys from here tomorrow.

~JB

In less than 48 hours, I will have landed in Tampa (barring some travel disaster), hopped in my rental car and settled into my temporary home for Spring Training. I’ll unpack my suitcase, make sure the wireless and cable are working properly, maybe hit the gym and head out to buy some groceries.

Then, on Thursday, I’ll be off to the Bobby Mattick Training Center to begin reporting from camp. With Spring Training now upon us, it seems like an appropriate time to examine 10 key issues facing the Blue Jays during this preseason. I’ll include my early predictions, which might be totally different next week.

With that, here’s some food for thought until I arrive down south.

1. THE ROTATION: Roy Halladay is gone. That is the reality. With the man goes the innings, and the Jays are going to have to find a way to replace the 200+ frames that Doc provided each and every year. Five spots open. Candidates include: Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski, Brandon Morrow, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, David Purcey, Dana Eveland, Brian Tallet, Casey Janssen, Kyle Drabek, Zach Stewart, Reidier Gonzalez, Luis Perez, Brad Mills, Robert Ray. None listed have logged more than 178 innings in any one season.

My early favorites: Romero, Marcum, Morrow, Tallet, Rzepczynski.

2. THE BULLPEN: You think the rotation situation is a mess? How about race for bullpen spots. Arms in the mix for the seven jobs incluse Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Jesse Carlson, Shawn Camp, Jeremy Accardo, Zech Zinicola, Josh Roenicke, Brian Tallet, Casey Janssen, Merkin Valdez, Lance Broadway, Sean Henn, Zach Jackson, Willie Collazo, Dana Eveland, Steve Register, Dustin McGowan (I think I got them all). Within that, you have Gregg, Downs and Frasor vying for the closer’s job. Out of options? Tallet, McGowan, Camp, Valdez and Henn. Zinicola is a Rule 5 pick, so he’ll need to be offered back to Washington, if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.

My early favorites: Gregg (CL), Downs, Frasor, Camp, Carlson, Accardo, Zinicola

3. THE LINEUP: Like the rotation and the bullpen, the Blue Jays’ lineup is also a tough one to figure out right now. Losing shortstop Marco Scutaro to free agency left a gaping hole in the leadoff spot for Toronto. Adam Lind isn’t sure he wants to hit cleanup, perhaps creating a snag in manager Cito Gaston’s plans to bump Aaron Hill and Lind into the No. 3-4 holes. The uncertain status of the corner outfield spots only add to the confusion. It will take Gaston all spring to sort this one out.

Early Opening Day projection: 1. Jose Bautista, RF, 2. Aaron Hill, 2B, 3. Adam Lind, DH., 4. Vernon Wells, CF, 5. Lyle Overbay, 1B, 6. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B, 7. Travis Snider, LF, 8. John Buck, C, 9. Alex Gonzalez, SS.

4. THE INJURED: As if keeping track of the rotation and bullpen races wasn’t hard enough, new pitching coach Bruce Walton will be checking in daily with the Blue Jays’ medical team to monitor some of Toronto’s walking wounded. Jesse Litsch, who was the No. 2 starter at the start of the ’09 season, is out until around June or July after Tommy John surgery. Same goes for righty Shawn Hill, who was signed over the winter. Then, there’s Marcum (right elbow) and McGowan (right shoulder), who were rotation regulars in 2007-08 but missed all of last season. This week, righty Scott Richmond joined the group with a right shoulder issue and his status is unclear.

Prediction: Marcum has a decent spring and earns the No. 2 slot in the Opening Day rotation, McGowan opens the season on the disabled list to buy him more time, and also avoiding exposing him to waivers. Richmond also opens on the DL. Litsch and Hill are brought along slowly and might be considered for late-season outings. More likely, they’ll be kept away from the Majors in 2010, much like Marcum/McGowan were last year.

5. VERNON WELLS: With Halladay out of the picture, the Blue Jays need a veteran leader in the clubhouse. With his lofty salary, and a contract that will likely see him in a Jays uniform through 2014, Wells needs to step up and be that leader now more than ever. More to the point, Wells needs to show he can be the type of offensive threat the Jays felt he could be when they handed him that 7-year, $126 million contract after his impressive 2006 showing. Wells had surgery on his left wrist over the winter — perhaps explaining some of the hitting woes he went through last year. That’s what Toronto is hoping at least.

Prediction: Wells improves on his performance last season and Gaston throws the center fielder back into the cleanup spot to open the year. Wells seems unlikely to return to the .300-30-100 form he showed a few years ago, but expecting him to perform better than he did in 2009 does not seem like a whole lot to ask.

6. THE OUTFIELD: Wells will be in center field. That is what we know. With Alex Rios now out of the picture, the Blue Jays do not have a clear backup in center, either. That is one reason Jose Bautista, especially with his late-season success and ability to man center, is in the driver’s seat to grab the starting job in right field. Travis Snider needs to earn a spot with a big spring, and veterans Joey Gathright and Jeremy Reed are also in the mix. Randy Ruiz spent some time playing left field during winter ball this year, but Gaston was hesitant to throw him out there last year. Adam Lind also has the ability to shift out of the DH role and into left, if needed.

Prediction: Bautista wins the Opening Day job in right and Snider follows suit in left, allowing the Jays to keep Lind in the DH role. One of Reed or Gathright make the Opening Day roster as a bench player. My money would be on Gathright, considering he has experience as a leadoff man.

7. TRAVIS SNIDER: This is an important spring for Snider. Last year, he went through the ups and downs that many young players go through. Admittedly, Snider got a little too caught up in his early success and had a hard time dealing with the slump that followed. He’s said all the right things this winter. He learned from his trip back to the Minors, got his head straight over the offseason and got into great shape back home in Washington state. Snider is hungry to prove he can still be the slugger Toronto hopes he can become. And, at 22, he still has plenty of time on his side.

Prediction: Snider opens the year lower in the lineup, much like Gaston did with him to begin last season. As the season goes on, Snider gains Gaston’s trust and is slowly inched up the lineup toward the heart of the order, where the young hitter hopes to be a mainstay for years to come.

8. FIRST BASE: Overbay enters camp as the starting first baseman for the Blue Jays, but he is also in the final year of his contract. Facing free agency next winter, Overbay is a prime candidate to be traded, especially with top first base prospect Brett Wallace knocking on the big league’s door. The Jays also have Ruiz and Brian Dopirak — two power standouts in the Minors — able to provide stopgap solutions.

Prediction: Overbay opens the season at first base, but is traded before the July 31 Deadline. Ruiz makes the team as a backup at first and at DH. Wallace begins the year in the Minors, but joins the Jays before the year is over. If needed, Dopirak can be promoted to hold down first base until Wallace is deemed ready.

9. THE MANAGER: Gaston enters camp in a unique situation. At the end of last year, a clubhouse rift between the players and Gaston was made public, creating questions about his status for this year. New GM Alex Anthopoulos reorganized the coaching staff, but retained Gaston, who has announced his plans to retire from managing after this season. Anthopoulos plans on using the entire season to search for the new skipper, and Gaston will move into an advising role with the organization beginning in 2011.

Early managerial favorite: Third-base coach Brian Butterfield. Butter is considered one of the top third-base coaches and infield instructors in the game. He’s energetic, passionate, gets along great with the other coaches and the players love him. Great things to keep in mind when a team is in the midst of a youth movement. Butterfield is very detail-oriented and worked as a bench coach under former manager John Gibbons and also Gaston, before being shifted back to third base duties for the upcoming year. If the Jays want to stay in-house, Butter appears to be the top choice.

10. THE PROSPECTS: The only “problem” with the Halladay trade was that the Blue Jays do not figure to have any of the players they acquired on the field come Opening Day. It will take time for fans to see the results of the deal in Toronto. That said, Anthopoulos acquired three prized prospects in Wallace, righty Kyle Drabek and catcher Travis d’Arnaud for Doc, after the Jays also netted a solid pitching prospect in Zach Stewart as part of the Scott Rolen trade with the Reds last July. With those two moves, the Jays’ farm system received a major upgrade.

Prediction: Wallace opens the year with Triple-A Las Vegas, Drabek heads to Double-A New Hampshire and d’Arnaud begins with Class A Dunedin. Due to rotation depth, the Jays send Stewart to Double-A as well to start the season. Wallace joins the Jays at some point in 2010, and one of Drabek/Stewart might be in line for a September callup. It will likely take a couple years before d’Arnaud debuts in the bigs.

Is that enough for you guys to chew on? More from Dunedin soon…

–JB 

Some good news on the injury front for everyone’s favorite enigma: Dustin McGowan.

Chatted some with Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos this morning and McGowan completed a pain-free bullpen session this morning. A small step, but an important one.

“We’re taking it step by step,” Anthopoulos said. “But, we’re not looking too far ahead. We don’t want to build any expectations or timelines or anything like that. He threw off a mound today. He didn’t have any pain or any soreness. It went well and he looked good and it’s a step in the right direction.”

Over the summer, McGowan walked away from a similar mound session with tightness in his surgically-repaired right shoulder. No such turn of events this time around. Dustin is definitely a pitcher to keep an eye on during Spring Training. If he’s healthy, he is a darkhorse for a spot on the pitching staff.

STATE OF THE FRANCHISE

For those of you who were not following my Twitter coverage or did not see my story covering last night’s State of the Franchise event, I’ll run through some of the highlights on here for you really quick:

–Anthopoulos admitted that the Blue Jays have talked internally about free-agent outfielder Johnny Damon and that he’s called Damon’s agent,who you may have heard of before, Scott Boras. Damon could fill left field and leadoff, but unless his asking price comes down I’m not sure how serious Toronto’s interest is right now. If the price seems reasonable and the Jays feel Damon could net some assets in a later trade, or by being worth a Draft pick if he qualifies as a Type A free agent again, the club may consider it. Would Damon consider the Jays? Probably not if he has an offer from a team with a better shot at contention.

–Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston basically lobbied for the club to bring Carlos Delgado back to Toronto, even though Anthopoulos has said in the past that he’s not currently a fit for the team. Gaston feels Delgado could be a great asset for the young hitters. That said, he’d have to DH primarily and Anthopoulos said he prefers to leave Adam Lind in that role.

–Gaston and Anthopoulos both said they have confidence in John Buck as the starting catcher. Rod Barajas is still out there as a free agent, but the fact that he is worth a Draft pick when he signs elsewhere is big for the Jays. Had the club not commited to Buck, though, AA said the Jays would be been more serious about maybe bringing Barajas back. Raul Chavez is in the mix as the backup right now, but AA noted that he’s still seeing if he can bring another backup catcher into camp to compete for the job.

–The closer’s job is “up in the air,” according to Gaston. He said there are “two or three guys” who can do that job. That’d be Scott Downs, Jason Frasor and… someone else. Asked about Jeremy Accardo, Gaston got him confused with Casey Janssen again. Then he laughed it off, saying “I get my guys mixed up there sometimes.” Anthopoulos said if Accardo has a strong showing this spring, he should be in a good position to make the cut for the bullpen.

–The lineup? “Right now, if you asked me who was leading off, I would say [Jose] Bautista. Right now, if you asked me who was hitting third, fourth and fifth? I could probably give you some answeres there, but it might not be the truth,” Gaston said. The lineup will be a work in progress all spring. Gaston did say he feels the Jays have potential for a lot of power. “I think there’s going to be some power out there. We’ve just got to get it out of these guys this year,” he said. He said he believes guys like Lind, Hill, Bautista, Encarnacion, Wells, Snider and Overbay all have the potential to hit 25 homers. We’ll see. Cito also sees Bautista as a starting outfielder as things stand right now.

–Gaston noted that the Jays might do some “crazy” things this season in order to score more runs. “We’re going to have some fun this year,” he said. “We’re going to do some crazy things, as far as trying to score some runs. It might look crazy, but it’ll work out.” Later, Cito elaborated, saying the club might play some more small ball — bunting more, maybe stealing more and definitely trying to get better with the hit-and-run, something Gaston said the team did not do well last year. “Hopefully we can execute some of the things we haven’t been able to do in the past,” he said. 

–The main complaint from the fans was in relation to marketing, wanting the club to do more in the community or at the ballpark to add to the entertainment value. President and CEO Paul Beeston said there is a marketing plan in place and admitted that the club needs to improve in that regard. The Jays Care foundation is doing a lot behind the scenes, though, as are the players. Also, “Doc’s Box” will still be at the ballpark, though likely under a different name, run by the JCF. Roy Halladay would host children from Sick Kids Hospital in his private suite throughout each season and that program will continue.

–The turf at Rogers Centre was being ripped up and new long strips were being installed — no more squares of FieldTurf. Some players have complained about the previous playing surface, so hopefully the new stuff will get better reviews. It wasn’t completely installed yet, so we didn’t get a chance to really scope it out.

–Beeston emphasized that the Blue Jays HAVE money to spend on free agents if they need it. The payroll has been trimmed, but funds have been poured into scouting and player development, that’s the focus right now. He said when a young core is established, Rogers is ready and willing to pony up the resources to add high-profile players through free agency if it makes sense. They may have the money now, but the Jays don’t want to spend for the sake of spending.

Q&A WITH HAYHURST: If you haven’t checked it out already, be sure to read my interview with Jays pitcher Dirk Hayhurst from earlier this week, discussing his upcoming book, “The Bullpen Gospels.” A great read. Check the previous post for my review of his book. It’s available for pre-order online and will hit bookstores on March 30.

~JB

Chatted with Jesse Litsch for a bit on Monday evening. There will be a story on bluejays.com today about some of the charity work he’s been doing down in his home state of Florida this offseason. Recovering from Tommy John surgery has provided plenty of down time for Litsch to tackle such endeavors.

On the baseball front, Litsch said he is scheduled to throw in his first bullpen session on Feb. 3. It’ll be his first time up a mound since going under the knife in June. Barring any setbacks, the Blue Jays are hoping Litsch will be recovered and able to help out their young and inexperienced pitching staff come June or July.

“It’s right around the corner for me,” Litsch said about the bullpen session. “I’m just doing everything to work up to it and trying to get back to where I was before, hopefully better. We’ll see. It’s been a grind and I’ve got to grind out these next four months and get back to the field.”

When he does make his way back, though, there is no guarantee that Litsch will have a job waiting for him. And he knows it.

“Obviously, I’m  excited to get out there as soon as possible,” he said. “Hopefully, I have a spot when I come back. If they’re out there beating everyone, there’s always that possibility. That’d be good for the team, so I’m not worrying about anything but my main focus, which is to get healthy and help out any way I can.”

Without Litsch, the long list of rotation candidates includes Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brian Tallet, Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski, Scott Richmond, David Purcey, Dustin McGowan, Robert Ray, Brad Mills, Kyle Drabek, Zach Stewart, Reidier Gonzalez, Luis Perez, Casey Janssen… did I miss anyone?

“There’s no doubt we’re going to be young, especially as a pitching staff,” Litsch said. “But, we have guys on the staff like [relievers Jason] Frasor and [Scott] Downs who have been through it for a while, and they’re going to help us out as much as they can. Tallet, if he’s in the rotation, he’s going to help out, too, as more of a veteran guy.

“It’s all going to be interesting. I think we’re going to make some eyes open if we come out shooting. If we all click together, like we were early in the season last year, we’re going to surprise some people, I’m thinking. Everyone’s working their tails off this offseason.”

As for the loss of ace Roy Halladay…

“It’s obviously tough to see him go,” Litsch said. “But, in the same respect, it opens up a spot for someone else to come up and shine. It’s a matter of going out there and performing. When you’re out there performing, if you step up your game, you might not be like Halladay, but you could be.

“In the future, you never know. Maybe one of these Drabeks, one of the young guys, can come up. They say they have stuff like Halladay. When Halladay first came up, the first couple years, he got sent back down to A-ball. It’s a matter of adapting and finding yourself and going from there.”

–JB

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was fully prepared to head to an arbitration hearing, if necessary. That’s something Toronto has not done with a player since 1997. If any eligible players didn’t sign by Tuesday, negotiations would be cut off and a hearing it would be.

It never came to that.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays settled the 2010 contracts for arbitration-eligible pitchers Jeremy Accardo, Shawn Camp, Jason Frasor, Casey Janssen and Brian Tallet. Shaun Marcum signed on Monday, while Dustin McGowan and Jose Bautista avoided the process earlier this winter.

So, the streak lives on and the biggest winner of the bunch on Tuesday was Frasor. After a career year, Frasor received a $1.2 million raise and will make $2.65 million in the upcoming season. Tallet signed for $2 million, Camp for $1.15 million, Accardo for $1.08 million and Janssen for $700,000.

That brings us to the payroll…

Before the Halladay trade, I wrote more than once that the team’s payroll would likely remain around $80 million. Well, turns out that’s almost $20 million too high. After the Doc deal, and with Rios off the books, the player payroll will probably be in the $60-63 million range for the 2010 season. That’s NOT including the $10 million owed to B.J. Ryan or the $6 million sent to Philly as part of the Halladay trade.

As Anthopoulos says, though:

“We don’t have any needs or financial restrictions or limitations with respect to payroll. It’s really a fluid number and it’s going to be predicated on what we deem — the baseball operations staff, obviously with the approval of ownership — the right baseball moves for this club. There really isn’t a finite number to the payroll. Certainly, everything that we do, every free agent that we look at, trades and so on, we’re just trying to evaluate it with respect to the direction that we are going in and the value of the player.”

Here is a monetary breakdown: CF Vernon Wells ($21 million, including $8.5 million), 1B Lyle Overbay ($7 million), 3B Edwin Encarnacion ($4.75 million), 2B Aaron Hill (4 million), LHP Scott Downs ($4 million), SS Alex Gonzalez ($2.75 million), RHP Jason Frasor ($2.65 million), OF Jose Bautista ($2.4 million), LHP Brian Tallet ($2 million), C John Buck ($2 million), SS John McDonald ($1.5 million), RHP Shawn Camp ($1.15 million), RHP Jeremy Accardo ($1.08 million), RHP Shaun Marcum ($850K), RHP Casey Janssen ($700K), RHP Dustin McGowan ($500K).

Total: $58.33 million

Other contracts: OF Joey Gathright will earn $550K is he makes the Major League roster. C Raul Chavez is also signed to a Minors deal and will likely have a similar salary when/if he is placed on the Major League squad as well. McGowan and Jesse Litsch will count against the payroll even if they aren’t on the OD roster. Litsch, at least, will be on the DL. That leaves roughly eight spots for players who make the Major League minimum.

FALSE: A rumor quickly spread online today that the Blue Jays had signed veteran slugger Carlos Delgado. I wrote last week that Toronto was not pursuing Delgado and Anthopoulos went on the record to shoot down the latest rumor on Tuesday. Delgado’s agent was also quick to shoot down the rumor.

“There’s no truth to it,” Anthopoulos said. “Normally, I don’t comment on rumors, but I have come out and said that we have gone to see him play and so on. This is the exact reason why I don’t comment on rumors. I’ve spent the past 30 minutes getting hammered with this.”

MINOR SIGNINGS: The Jays also signed OF Jeremy Reed and RHP Steven Register to Minor League contracts with invites to spring training on Tuesday. Anthopoulos said Reed, like Gathright, will be given a chance to compete for a backup job or a full-time job in the Jays’ outfield.

The main reason for Reed and Gathright? They play center. With Rios gone, the only backup to Wells in center right now is Bautista. Reed and Gathright could provide depth at the position and one will probably be on the roster come Opening Day. Snider and Bautista are also in the mix for starting roles in the outfield.

ROLES: Anthopoulos said that manager Cito Gaston will determine who will be the club’s closer during Spring Training. Last year, the duties were split between Frasor and Downs. Frasor seems to be the top choice right now, but that could change in the preseason. Anthopoulos also noted that Tallet’s status as either a starter or reliever has not been decided yet. If the club doesn’t feel some of the young arms are ready, Tallet could open the year in the rotation.

~JB

 

Caught up with Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tonight as he was making his way back from Toronto Pearson, following a trip to Arizona for the MLB owners’ mettings. AA returned from his honeymoon in Hawaii on Tuesday, flew to meetings on Wednesday and back to Toronto tonight.

And he sounded tired.

“You’re not going straight to the office are you?” I asked him.

“No,” he replied with an exhausted laugh. “I’m going home. But I’ll be at the office early in the morning.”

While on his honeymoon, Anthopoulos said he was still keeping in touch with a handful of other GMs. “I probably talked to six GMs while I was there,” he said. AA added that he was working on three separate trades, but they just didn’t come to fruition.

I’ve got to say, Anthopoulos must have a very understanding wife. When I finally take my wife to Hawaii, I’m pretty sure my Blackberry will wind up in the Pacific Ocean if I’m on it during our vacation.

I just read this paragraph to her, and she nodded and said, “Basically.”

JAYS TO SCOUT SHEETS: Anthopoulos noted that he’s always looking for rotation help, especially considering the youth and inexperienced of his projected starting staff. AA confirmed that the Jays will have someone in attendance on Tuesday, when Ben Sheets will throw for interested teams.

“We’re going to take a look at him,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s like what I’ve talked about before — no stone unturned. It’s the same reason why we’re watched other guys work out. … We’re not doing out job if we don’t at least take a look. Things change. Trades occur. Someone might surprise us. It doesn’t do us any harm to do our homework on all these players and to be really prepared if an opportunity presents itself.”

This also explains why reports surfaced that the Blue Jays had watched Carlos Delgado playing in the Puerto Rican winter league. Delgado isn’t a fit for the Jays right now, but Anthopoulos has majorly upgraded his scouting staff and he’s making sure he’s exploring as many avenues as possible.

NEW ARBITRATION POLICY: One thing that former Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi was known for was his streak of avoiding arbitration hearings with his players. Anthopoulos hopes to do the same, if possible, but he has altered the organizations approach to the arbitration process slightly, hoping to create earlier negotiations.

The deadline for arb-eligible players and teams to exchange salary figures is Tuesday. Anthopoulos has implemented a “file to go strategy.” If the club has not reached an agreement with its arb-eligible players between now and Tuesday, they will go to an arbitration hearing rather than continue negotiations.

“I made a change this year,” Anthopoulos said. “The thought was really it’s hopefully to encourage more dialogue in negotiations with the goal of continuing to avoid arbitration and continuing to try to get deals done and maybe bring both parties to the table a little bit sooner.”

Arbitration-eligible players from the Jays who remain unsigned include Shaun Marcum, Brian Tallet, Jason Frasor, Casey Janssen, Jeremy Accardo and Shawn Camp. Jose Bautista and Dustin McGowan have signed, Brandon League was traded and Raul Chavez declined arbitration and signed a Minor League deal.

~JB

 

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. And here’s to another great year in 2010! Wherever you’re ringing in the New Year tonight, be safe and have a blast. I’m back home in Chicago and will be off for a little while, so expect the blog to remain quiet over the next week and a half or so. Next time I blog, it’ll be 2010 and we’ll all be one step closer to Spring Training. Happy New Year everyone.

~JB

 

Could this be Toronto’s Opening Day rotation?

There’s a good chance, now that Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has finalized a trade to bring right-hander Brandon Morrow north of the border. The way things stack up right now, you could be looking at a rotation of Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum, Marc Rzepczynski, Brett Cecil and Morrow.

Not too bad, if you ask me. Not going to win the East, but that’s a starting five with plenty of upside. If Marcum’s healthy, he’s in. After winning 13 games last year, Romero is a virtual lock as well. Cito loves Rzepczynski and Cecil would seem to have the best shot of landing the fifth spot at the moment.

Obviously, things could change.

Other pitchers in the mix are David Purcey, Scott Richmond, Brad Mills and Robert Ray. Don’t forget about recently-acquired Kyle Drabek, who could be a darkhorse candidate, though the addition of Morrow helps the Jays send Drabek to the farm for more development. The same would seem to apply to guys like Zach Stewart and Reidier Gonzalez. Casey Janssen and Brian Tallet seem destined to wind up back in the bullpen.

If the season started today, what’s your starting five?

ON LITSCH, MCGOWAN:

During the conference call today, Anthopoulos explained how he and his staff do a detailed evaluations of expected innings from all of their starters, something that is especially important in light of the fact that Toronto does not have Halladay to count on this season. I asked the Jays GM if he includes Jesse Litsch or Dustin McGowan in his evaluation for the upcoming season. Here’s what Anthopoulos said:

“We’ve talked about Litsch being back in July and McGowan, we’re still not certain what his role is going to be and what his health is going to be. So, we don’t really factor them in when we look at the offseason, because you just don’t know when it comes to the health of starters. Will they have a setback? Will they come back sooner? Will they come back later? So we’re not making plans of expecting them back at certain dates. We’re trying to go into the season and go into the spring with the guys that we know are ready to open the year with us and can come in and compete. The same way with some of our young guys, we think some of them might be ready to go hopefully in the middle of the season, or late in the season, but we’re not going to count on them, because we don’t want to rush anyone’s development because we’re short starters.”

–JB

The Blue Jays have reached a tentative agreement with the Mariners on a trade that would bring right-hander Brandon Morrow north of the border.

In order to land Morrow, the Blue Jays have agreed to trade right-handed reliever Brandon League to the M’s. Toronto will also send a prospect, and I’m hearing it’ll likely be Minor League outfielder Johermyn Chavez.

On Tuesday, League was headed to Seattle for a physical and Morrow was en route to Tampa to do the same. Announcement is expected to come on Wednesday.

More than likely, Morrow will be brought to Toronto as a starter. He would immediately be among the top three arms in the mix for rotation spots. With Morrow in the fold, the front five actually begins to take shape.

You have Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero, Marc Rzepczynski, Brett Cecil and now, presumably, Morrow. There’s also Scott Richmond, Brad Mills, Robert Ray, David Purcey and the whole cast of youngsters. Kyle Drabek maybe, too.

Last year, Morrow went 2-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings for the Mariners and 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA over 10 starts with Triple-A Tacoma. Morrow has gone 8-12 with a 3.96 ERA in 197 2/3 innings for his career with Seattle. In 15 career starts with the Mariners, he has gone 4-3 with a 4.42 ERA.

–JB