Are the Blue Jays done?

[frizzer1]

I read somewhere on this forum that AA said that the jays would not exceed their current payroll and thus were done for this offseason.
Is that a fact?

[hyper316]

if they can package Lind with some prospects, that should free up some money for trade

[Michael Bradley]

I think AA will sign a reliever if/when Oliver retires, but I wouldn't expect anything major.

Although with AA, you never know.

[UN-Owen]

I'd like to see them shore up the closer's role and sign Rafael Soriano

And if Santos comes back healthy it just makes the bullpen that much stronger

[phillipmike]

They are never done...

AA said he was only going to make small moves after the Marlins and Cabrera deals.

Then a few weeks later he acquires Dickey; so you dont know what to believe. However, as mentioned above AA did say that he is at his payroll limit as Buck was a necessary component of the deal to even out Dickey's and Thole's salary. 6M for 5M and change; so i do believe that all the big deals are done. But the Jays have invested a lot to make themselves a contender; if the right moves presents themselves then i am sure AA and Beeston will convince Rogers to give them more money. Regardless a few small moves are in order.

The starting lineup and rotation is set barring any surprising moves.

The Bench:

The bench has three players; Davis, Izturis or Bonifacio and Thole. Davis bats right and can play any outfield position. I believe Izturis will be the starting 2B from what AA has said but Gibby can change that; that being said Bonifacio can play any position but catcher and is a switch hitter. Thole bats left and i am sure he can play other positions but i would leave him as strictly a catcher. So with that diversity i think they have a lot of options in who that 4th bench player is going to be. Ideally that person would be a switch hitter or a right handed bat that can play the corner infield positions and can hit for some power. But that one spot is currently up in the air right now. Cooper probably has the lead if no one better is brought in. Many suggest that by the time Jan-Feb rolls around the Jays will sign a player to a minor league deal in hopes he proves himself in ST and wins the spot from Cooper where he will be sent back down to AAA.

The Bullpen:

Regardless of Oliver's decision i think the Jays will try to sign an experienced reliever. The Jays were after Jason Grilli hard and with him being a RHP and without Oliver's decision i dont think AA viewed Grilli as a replacement for Oliver. Which makes me think he wants another arm that can provide a lot of strike outs. A bullpen of Janssen, Santos, Oliver, Grilli, Happ, Lincoln and Delabar would be quite solid on paper. So if another arm presents itself then the Jays will move in. With Grilli and Mike Gonzalez off the market the best K/9 free agent pitchers are Jason Frasor and Brandon Lyon (two Jays last season). So they could be deciding on the two of them to take the last spot. Like it or not Santos is not a sure thing so building your pen with experienced MLB arms is not a bad thing as it would create depth in AAA with Rogers and Loup. And if Oliver retires then i would think Loup would step in as he is a lefty.

As of right now the Bullpen has 5 locks and potentially 6 with Oliver. Janssen, Santos, Delabar, Lincoln, and Happ all have jobs in the pen right now. Rogers and Loup have the upper hand for the last spot with potentially both making it if Oliver retires.

I dont think AA has any problem with Loup and Rogers starting the year in AAA if he can add Oliver and potentially Lyon or Frasor has his 6th and 7th guys to round out his bullpen.

In the end as it appears the Lineup and Rotation is set. There is one spot available on the bench and at least 1 spot available in the pen with the potentially that 2 or even 3 if Santos is not 100% ready.

Other pen options include Cecil and Jenkins and to a lesser extent Crawford and Jeffress.

Barring anything out of the ordinary i expect the bench spot and the pen to be filled out. The rest of the off-season should be quiet unless Bob McCowan is right and the Jays will announce that they will be getting grass in the near future (not 2013 but 2014 or 2015).

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/20 ... tre_grass/

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2012/1 ... rass_turf/