RealGM

Well, it's definately clear that this roster needs to be reworked over the offseason (and hopefully under a new GM). But what moves will have to be made to really get this team up to full throttle? How would you like to see things go over this offseason if you were the GM?

This is how I would do it:

LF- Adam Lind (a good hitting prospect and he gets the job done defensively, has the potential to be a bigtime RBI guy and it's time he took over fulltime, well he already has but next year is his full season).

CF- Vernon Wells (I would try to find a trade partner for him, but that isn't going to happen. Nonetheless, he does have great defense and his bat could heat up at any time. Plus other than 2 freak accidents this season, he's been healthy for the majority)

RF- Alex Rios (he's got great range and a great arm in the outfield. Seems to be doing better under Gaston's system/approach and again he's got an all around game much like Lind. He could be a #2 or #3 guy)

3B- Scott Rolen (he's a reputed hitter who could heat up at any time, but I keep him for his gold glove plays. His defense is a major asset to this team)

SS- Marco Scutaro (Eckstein will be a FA, and it definately makes sense for us to put him in the lineup. He's like McDonald with more pop in his bat. I like his defense too. Plus he's been very consistant over his career.)

2B- Aaron Hill (he's one of the best at his position in the AL, and a very underrated one too. He's a good contact hitter and I can definately see him hitting 2nd. Very good defense too, and he plays great by turning DP with McDonald. Had a freak injury this year, but overall has been healthy in his career).

1B- Travis Snider (need I say anything, our best prospect and power hitter is something the Jays could definately use, definately an upgrade over Overbay who hasn't been able to duplicate his sucess in 06)

DH- Pat Burrell (he's a homerun hitter and he would do well in our hitters ballpark. The Phillies don't seem interested in resigning him, and with Burnett likely on the leave, it would free up payroll to sign him. He's 31, so if we offer him a decent deal for 3-4 years, he'd take it and we would if we could get a good 2-3 years of use outta him).

C- Robinzon Diaz (I think it's time he made his full MLB debut with the Jays, he's hit almost everywhere and he's one of the Jays best prospects. I'd be kinda surprised if he wasn't up here next year).

Bench:

C- Rod Barajas
2B/SS- John McDonald
DH/LF/1B- Matt Stairs
3B/RF- Joe Inglett

Batting Order:

Marco Scutaro
Aaron Hill
Alex Rios
Pat Burrell
Adam Lind
Vernon Wells
Travis Snider
Scott Rolen
Robinzon Diaz

Scutaro and Hill are consistant contact hitters and guys with decent speed. Rios is that X-Factor who gives us the all around game. Burrell is obviously our power hitter and main RBI guy. Lind, Wells, and Snider are all potent bats with HR power and guys that use the entire field. Rolen isn't much of an offensive threat, so he moves down in the lineup. Diaz needs time in the Majors to develop his bat, so he hits #9.

Pitching:

SP- Roy Halladay
SP- Shaun Marcum
SP- Dustin McGowan
SP- David Purcey/Scott Richmond
SP- Jesse Litsch

Halladay and Marcum are lock-down pitchers. I'm not a huge McGowan fan, but he does have the best arm in our rotation. I dunno if Purcey is ready yet, but if he isn't, Richmond has done a good job so far. Litsch is also a decent 5th pitcher and with an improved offense, atleast he keeps us in the game. I think Casey Janssen is not to be forgotten about and he could also challenge for the 4th or 5th starting spot (but I'll leave him in the bullpen for now)

RP- Scott Downs
RP- Jesse Carlson
RP- Casey Janseen
MRP- Brian Tallet
MRP- John Parrish
SU- Jeremy Accardo
CL- BJ Ryan

What do you guys think?

awesome analysis!

if Diaz were to be with the club next season, it might be better to have him as the backup behind Barajas (that is only if he comes back)... throwing him right out there as the starter, when we have already have a capable veteran doesn't seem to make sense..

I'd also try to NOT have scutaro in the starting lineup..

Other than that, i think if we stay healthy, there is a chance..

Pat Burrell intresting, how much coin woild it take to sign him? Snyder still to young...I would be all for trading wells and filling the short stop pos (sigh.......... looking up at the sky daydreaming thinking how Micheal Young ever got away) I agree with ^ thinking that the starting catcher shouldn't be Diaz....still can't quite start thinking of next year yet the jays keep winning enough to keep my hopes up enough that a mircle still might happen this year.

Yeah, making Diaz the starting catcher might not be good early on, but then we do have Barajas who if not an offensive sparkplug is a great defensive catcher.

Burrell could come for around 8-12 million a year I'm guessing. If we gave him like 4 years 44 million I think he'd definately accept. He's still young and he has the pop we need.

And yeah, I would definately try and trade Vernon for a star shortstop. BTW, if not Burrell, I'd love to have Orlando Hudson back (he is a FA this offseason). We could also try and package away Overbay and a pitcher (McGowan?) for a star DH or 1B, and then move Snider into the Outfield.

But I don't think Snider is that young, he's been skyrocketing through the minors and he should be able to join the Jays fulltime next year. That's why the Jays didn't want to sign any LF for a longterm deal, so I'm assuming that's the plan.

Scooters D isn't that great if you ask me but this seems ok...

Just noticed, Burrell is 32, not that young but he has some years....also where does Overbay go? What if AJ doesn't walk...still a little early

Burnett is aging, and I'm sure if he got a longer contract he could make as much money (or even more considering he's having his best season ever) and that would be some insurance for down the road. Plus he said he wants to goto a city where baseball is day and night, and when you have teams like the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees to worry about, it definately puts more pressure on you. I think he'll opt for the easy road.

Overbay can probably be traded for another arm if that happens. Or we could package Overbay and Scutaro for a good SS, or even throw in a pitching prospect (Purcey?) to get a great shortstop and an arm. I think we could part with a guy like Jason Frasor out of the bullpen if we could land another starter.

Raptor04 I don't think any of the pieces you mentioned would net us a good arm. It'll be more like Cecil, Accardo and Cooper if we want an arm AND a shortstop

whiterasta80 wrote:Raptor04 I don't think any of the pieces you mentioned would net us a good arm. It'll be more like Cecil, Accardo and Cooper if we want an arm AND a shortstop

We could also try and trade one of our catching prospects (Arenchiba, Thigpen?).

How about Vernon Wells for Jose Reyes? I would actually do that in a heartbeat, because this team has excelled with a leadoff guy, plus we get salary off us. It would never happen though.

Arencibia certainly has value around the league (you could probably replace Cooper with him). I'm not sure Thigpen (or even Diaz for that matter) has much value left.

Resign Burnett.

I was more then ok with the idea of him opting out 2 months ago but now with McGowans injury, Litsch being figured out by the rest of the league and the uncertainty of how Marcum will perform bringing back AJ might be a necessity unless we can replace him with a FA pitcher like Kyle Lohse, Ben Sheets or sigh John Garland:(.

Trade Overbay, Cecil and Accardo to Colorado for Hawpe and Bucholz

Sign Orlando Cabrera

Budget would have to be increased to make this things happen but thats a pretty good lineup. Not sure if Cooper is ready next season but hes flying thru the minors at a fast pace.

Cabrera
Rios
Wells
Hawpe
Lind
Rolen
Hill
Cooper
Barajas

Halladay
Burnett
Marcum
Mcgowan (hopefully)
Purcey

League
Bucholz
Downs
Ryan

I'm still not sold on AJ being a healthy pitcher down the road. He's been very good this year in terms of health, but can we expect the same type of duration from him onwards? My initial answer is no, but who knows.

evilRyu wrote:I'm still not sold on AJ being a healthy pitcher down the road. He's been very good this year in terms of health, but can we expect the same type of duration from him onwards? My initial answer is no, but who knows.

Exactly. I mean for the money he's being payed, he hasn't really lived up to expectations. He can be solid one start and rocky the next.

But Griff83, those are some good moves. Colorado definately needs some bullpen help and I think they make that deal. Cabrera isn't at the top of the list, but he'll be the best shortstop available and he does have good defense. I don't think Cooper will be ready, but I think Snider should be ready for next year. He made his Triple A debut just recently and I think if he plays in the Fall league again he'll be ready for the majors.

Didn't make a new thread for this just because its not huge and just an idea. Apparently the A's waived Street and a few teams showed interest. Nothing was worked out and he's still with the A's. Check Yahoo! for proof. Why not take him cheap, i mean it never hurts to have young arms with talent.

toronto_raptors50 wrote:Didn't make a new thread for this just because its not huge and just an idea. Apparently the A's waived Street and a few teams showed interest. Nothing was worked out and he's still with the A's. Check Yahoo! for proof. Why not take him cheap, i mean it never hurts to have young arms with talent.

They waived Huson Street, their closer?!

I'd definately try to get him, he's a good closer and he could definately be better than someone like Jason Frasor. If we picked him up, we might be able to also be willing to part with one of our arms in a bullpen to get a big piece.

But man, that's a bit of a shocker

Sign Orlando Cabrera, or someone who could lead off preferably a shortstop, and Pat Burell like someone said and we'd have a pretty good lineup. Also trade Overbay, for anything. Bring in Travis Snider, he's ready. Sign a vet catcher like Paul Lo Duca to split time with Barajas. I don't think Diaz or Thigpen are ready.

Batting Order/Lineup:

SS Orlando Cabrera
2B Aaron Hill
RF Alex Rios
CF Vernon Wells
DH Pat Burrell
3B Scott Rolen
LF Adam Lind
1B Travis Snider
C Paul Lo Duca

Bench:

Barajas, Scutaro, McDonald, Inglett, Stairs

Starting Pitchers:

Roy Halladay
AJ Burnett
Dustin McGowan
Shaun Marcum
David Purcey

Bullpen:

Jason Frason
Casey Janssen
Jesse Carlson
Scott Downs
Brian Tallet
Jeremy Accardo
BJ Ryan

Barajas is better then Lo Duca.

Also, are you sure Snider is ready?

Ive heard some people say they think its very possible that Cooper makes it to the majors before Snider does.

Griff83 wrote:Barajas is better then Lo Duca.

Also, are you sure Snider is ready?

Ive heard some people say they think its very possible that Cooper makes it to the majors before Snider does.

I don't doubt that he could...Snider really should get a full season at AAA before getting any consideration for a ML roster spot (he's still only 20!), while Cooper could be set for a late-2009 call-up.

How much money will Ted let JP spend this summer anyway?

Relentless88 wrote:How much money will Ted let JP spend this summer anyway?

None, JP won't be the GM come next season, therefore he can't spend any money

But really, I don't see us spending anymore than what we did this year. It'll come down to whether JP can construct a decent roster with the money being given, or whether someone else will be able to do it.

I doubt we're landing a major FA if Burnett doesn't go. If he leaves, I think we definately have to bolster our pitching. I don't see any lock down pitchers beyond Halladay and Marcum. I'd try and trade Overbay, Purcey/Litsch and Scutoro in a major deal to land a solid 2nd pitcher that way we could slot McGowan down to the 4th spot.