Jays sign Happ ($3.7M), Bonifacio ($2.6M), Thole ($1.25M)

[Wo1verine]

I'm excited we retained all of this guys at decent prices. Happ was a steal IMO.

Agreed, and Thole for 2 years + club option is a steal as well.

AA said Thole will be in Buffalo to start the year.

[Mad-Eye Moody]

^So who's the backup catcher?

[RyderMike]

I'm excited we retained all of this guys at decent prices. Happ was a steal IMO.

Agreed, and Thole for 2 years + club option is a steal as well.

AA said Thole will be in Buffalo to start the year.

^So who's the backup catcher?

The guy we just signed, Henry Blanco, I guess?

When did AA say that Thole would start in AAA? Also, I thought the whole point of getting Thole and Nickeas was to have catchers who could catch the knuckleball. Completly useless to get them in the trade, if w're sticking them in AAA.

[flatjacket1]

The guy we just signed, Henry Blanco, I guess?

When did AA say that Thole would start in AAA? Also, I thought the whole point of getting Thole and Nickeas was to have catchers who could catch the knuckleball. Completly useless to get them in the trade, if w're sticking them in AAA.

Blanco is supposed to have a knack for catching the knuckleball IIRC... and he said they will compete in ST, and didn't rule out Thole starting in AAA. He never slated him to start in AAA, just simply said it is a possibility.

Don't forget Thole is only 26 and if you ignore his concussed numbers, he is better offensively than JPA to this point. It makes sense to still develop him, so AAA makes some sense. I wouldn't rule out him playing over JPA in future years, unless JPA picks it up.

[Wo1verine]

The guy we just signed, Henry Blanco, I guess?

When did AA say that Thole would start in AAA? Also, I thought the whole point of getting Thole and Nickeas was to have catchers who could catch the knuckleball. Completly useless to get them in the trade, if w're sticking them in AAA.

Link to article
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2013/0 ... new_deals/

[RyderMike]

I hadn't realized that Blanco has already caught Dickey with the Mets. Sending Thole down makes a lot more sense now. I was thinking that they were entrusting the knuckleball to two catchers without any experience in it, but I see now that's not the case. Now we have three catchers familiar with Dickey.