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Only if really necessary. Isn't Rule 5 eligible until after next year, and I'm dubious that he'd be a significant improvement this season.

Schadenfreude wrote:Only if really necessary. Isn't Rule 5 eligible until after next year, and I'm dubious that he'd be a significant improvement this season.

And lefty relief isn't such an issue. If they need another left hander in September, they can bring up Sean Nolin who already is on the 40-man roster.

Is it possible we use Norris in Sept? I think it's possible, but I think the call-up is just as much about next year's initial placement and getting input from as many coaches as possible.

He had his "season" at A+. Now, he's had a month at AA and he'll have a month at AAA. Afterwards, both the AA and AAA coaches can say their piece, they'll have numbers and film for both levels, and they can look at whether Norris is ready for 2015 to start at AA or AAA.

And AA usually needs more like 45-50 spots on his 40-man roster in the offseasons, I don't think they're planning on turning Norris into an asset that has to take up one of the spots just for maybe 10IP of work. They won't avoid using him if he's really their best option in the system when someone goes down, but I don't think the promotion proves there's a plan to push him through to the bigs this year.

I think this move is definitely more about next year and where Norris should start the season. I think he's more likely to get called up late next season after starting in the minors. I think the Jays plan next season is to decline the option on Happ and give Sanchez the 5th spot in the rotation. I don't see any major changes in the rotation regardless of how this season plays out.

The most important FA to try and keep would definitely be Cabrera. I think all 4 of Rasmus, Morrow, Happ and Janssen are as good as gone. Lind will probably be back as a platoon guy.

We can't forget about Nolin either. He's got to be in the mix, though it seems more likely he'll be trade bait.

As much as I'm an adherent of the Rays model where you compete with young arms, I don't think we want to push it too far with so many raw arms in the big-league rotation at once. We're already looking at a rotation next year that includes Hutch, Stroman and Sanchez. Adding a fourth in Norris is pushing it, especially since he's rocketed through the system this year. I'd start him in Buffalo and he'd be one of the first - if not the first - called up for a spot start.

I personally think the vet to go should be Buerhle, but I think we just wasted our perfect trade window for him coming off his all-star appearance. Then again, I'm sure everyone knows exactly what they can expect from Buerhle by now.