Interesting perspective, but have to pass.

If you sign Figgins, Jays are still on the hook for EE.

Bay’s numbers probably not so good when he plays home games at Rogers Ctr.

The probability of keeping Roy passed 2010 is too low to make choosing to keep him the correct option.

Overall, I say this plan is nice, but it is a real stretch. If one part of the puzzle does not work, it falls apart. I would prefer to see the org develop a more sustainable plan that can withstand shocks when unexpected contingencies develop.

Pass on Bay and Figgins. And that rotation is NOT great, it is potentially terrible. I agree that we don’t need a complete rebuild, but if we want to contend in 2-3 years we have to start addressing our holes the right way and fast through drafting and trades (starting with Halladay).

that lineup would give the jays one of the worst defensive teams in all of baseball, wells snyder, lind or bay in the outfield would be a laughingstock and thats not even considering how inept Johnson is with the glove. Id much rather just keep overbay to platoon for righties and let someone like raul chavez take some cuts against lefties [he was the mvp of the pcl if im not mistaken]. or maybe we should attempt to develop lind into a first basemen because his range in left field is not helping us at all. In that regard, I think bringing back bautista to play as a 4th outfield would be a pretty decent idea. He plays great defense and could be a serviceable backup to all the outfield positions. Having him would also allow us to rest wells and not play him 150 games at center which he has shown that his body cannot handle. That lineup you offered would be a mistake it wouldnt put us over the hump, best case scenario we win just under 90 games again, which would once again leave us out of the playoffs.

If your going to play a bad defender in LF(Bay)….you might as well save yourself the 85 million and let Lind play LF and get a cheaper easier fill in at DH (Delgado, Thome etc.) But I would rather keep Lind at DH and sign a good RF, let Snider play LF.

Signing Figgins or Bay to a long term deal would result in two bad contracts….neither of them are worth the money they will be recieving.

Brian Wolfe should not be a lock for the bullpen, he seems prone to the longball and just hasn’t looked good the last couple seasons.

Nick Johnson is not a bad defender at 1B…he is however injury prone and counting on a full season out of him would be foolish.

I agree the pitching looks good….figuring out how to improve the hitting wihout putting a horrible defensive team together is the problem.

Rotation:

Halladay
Marcum
Romero
Rzepczynski
Cecil

Bullpen
Downs/Frasor
Richmond
Tallet
League
Camp

The pitching looks good.

I would be shopping Romero, as I believe Cecil and Zip will be better pitchers as soon as next year. Romero was often injured in the minors and has no history of success in pro ball…..If I could package him for a young SS, 3B or CF I would make that move.

I would bring in Ankiel to play above average RF and contribute with some offense.

It makes sense to keep Bautista as a defensive replacement for Snider and to play against lefties if Snider is in a slump.

Trade Overbay for your catcher (Snyder, Shoppach?).

Bring in Delgado to play some first base with Ruiz.

Wells (he can take a walk when he wants to)
Hill
Lind
Delgado/Ruiz
Snider
EE
Ankiel
Snyder
Gonzalez

Starters: Doc, Marcum, Romero, Rzep, Cecil
Relievers: Downs, Frasor, Carlson, League, Accardo, Tallet, Camp, McGowan, Janssen

Obviously, we have too many relievers. I don’t see any options there either.

I think we’ll end up trading Doc and Downs this winter.

Here’s my realistic take on it if the Jays want to win now:

Rotation:
Im not sold on all the youngsters/coming back from injury players. I’d try to sign either Bedard or Harden to join the mix. Or maybe both – they are still young. I agree the current roster would be serviceable, but if Harden or Bedard come back anything close to 100%, the rotation turns from good to great.

Lineup:
Defense wins ballgames. Sign Mike Cameron to play CF, and move Vernon to left, and Snider to right. Move Lind to 1B/DH, and sign the #1 Blue Jay of all time Carlos Delgado to be DH and spell Lind occasionally (he’d sell a few tickets!) I’d like to see what EE is capable of at 3rd, but would not mind if they sign Chone Figgins. I hate the people who are so concerned about the 4.5 Mil EE contract. That is a drop in the bucket, well worth it if he can hit dingers like he did in September. That would give gold glove caliber defense from the 3 middle spots, saving a ton of runs. For catcher, get Yorvit or Rod, I don’t care.

Bullpen
Sign Billy Wagner and let him rack up some saves. I don’t buy Downs as a closer. Let Spring Training determine who else stays and goes.

These are all pretty budget minded moves – no big splashes, but would improve the team.

There’s some big holes there, and some equally big assumptions. If I am AA, and I’m even dreaming off competing this year without trading Halladay, here’s what I do based on the idea that adding $10m in salary from last year is the absolute upper range.

I do not get anywhere near Bay, Figgins, or the other in demand FAs right now. Any of them is going to bring an overpriced, too long contract to make worthwhile. Not that I wouldn’t love to have both of them if they mystically materiallized with good contracts, but both players are going to get bloated deals.

I sign Mike Cameron for a 2yr/$10m deal. This is my only big FA splash. Cameron plays good defense, has some offensive tools, and will retain that kind of value over the duration of the contract in defense alone.

I sign Kelly Stoppach to a 2yr/$5m deal in line with Barajas’ deal. Even willing to go to $6m. Stoppach is a good defender, on the right side of 30, and has shown the ability to take a walk and display a little power. At worst, he’s a bit of a downgrade. At best, he’s a quality starting catcher. I also offer another minor league deal to Barrett and resign Chavez as my backup catcher. Bautista I let walk.

I try and trade Overbay for some quality prospects, and turn Lind back into first baseman. I don’t mind starting the season with Lyle at all, but he’s got some trade value now, his contract is affordable, and his average offense and superiour fielding have a lot of potential fits outside of the organization.

If I trade Overbay, I make a run at Delgado. Nothing beyond two years and nothing past $5m a year, but bringing him back makes sense financially for the Jays, and also for the team. Delgado is far from done being an offensive presence, and splitting the DH/1B platoon with Lind would make for a very powerful offense. If he isn’t reasonable, I make the same configuration with Ruiz/Lind.

Finally, I go hard for Harden, offering the one thing no other team is willing to; a multiyear deal. Nothing exessive, but a solid 2-3 year deal. This, in my opinion, if the only gamble. Something in a $4m range at 3yrs would seal the deal. Yes, I am locking up $12m on an injury case, but unless there is something immediate, I think you take the shot and watch him like a hawk in the first season to try and keep his arm from falling off.

So, Harden and Cameron represent your $10m increase, with Stoppach and Delgado representing the value of Overbay’s contract. Your starting line up looks like:

Stoppach – C
Lind – 1B
Hill – 2B
Gonzalez – SS
Encarnacion – 3B
Wells – LF
Cameron – CF
Snider – RF
Delgado – DH

Bench:
MacDonald
Inglett
Ruiz
Chavez/Barrett

Rotation:
Halladay
Harden
Marcum
Romaro
Rzp/Cecil

Bullpen:
Downs
Frasor
Tallet
Camp
Accardo
League
Hayhurst
Roenicke

No way I would offer him a contract…I’m in the camp that believes the closer position is the most overrated position in the MLB. The Phillies won their division last year with a closer who pitched like Josh Towers on Ritalin. The only way I would ever sign a free agent closer was if i had more money than i knew what to do with. Downs and Frasor are both more than capable of pitching the ninth inning right now… I would like to see Richmond in the bullpen until he is needed in the rotation(due to injury). He has shown to be very effective against righties

I’d rather build with youth, talent and enthusiasm from within then have Jason Bay, Vernon Wells and Chone Figgins taking up spots on the roster in 2015.

Also, for 2010 I don’t think that a the starting rotation is very strong…basically you have Doc and 4 big question marks which isn’t what a championship caliber team should have.

Trade Roy to the Yankees for Jesus Montero, Phil Hughes, Brett Gardner

Trade Lyle Overbay to Seattle for RP prospect Phillipe Aumont

Sign RF Austin Kearns to a low risk incentive laden deal

Sign a C Yorvit Torrealba to a 2 year deal

Sign DH Carlos Delgado to a 1 year deal to keep the fans happy

Let Brandon League close, his peripherals show closer stuff though he was unlucky in ’09, Downs was more effective as a setup man so slide him back there.

Lineup for 2010 looks like this:

C Torrealba
1B Adam Lind
2B Aaron Hill
3B Edwin Encarnacion
SS Alex Gonzalez
LF Travis Snider
CF Brett Gardner
RF Vernon Wells
DH Delgado

SP: Hughes, Marcum, Romero, Cecil, Rzepczynski
’pen: League, Downs, Frasor….

*Montero will play in AAA, Jays could demote Arencibia to hopefully find his game and use him and some of the young pitching they have to pick up a quality young SS prospect in the future. Montero could get a 2010 callup and be ready to start in 2011

*Austin Kearns provides low risk insurance if Snider doesn’t answer AA’s call to earn play-time and provide insurance should Wells, Snider, Lind or Delgado get injured or need a day off

*For the rotation 2010 would be used to answer a lot of questions. Hopefully Hughes can be the ace he has the potential to be. Need to see which of the other Jays youngsters continue to move forward from 2009 and which fall back (talking about Cecil, Romero, Rzp, Mills, Richomond, Tallet, Ray)

*Trading Doc to the Yankees still keeps them as the clear cut year in-year out AL East favourte but it also keeps the Red Sox within reach for the WC each year.

White
Alomar
Molitor
Carter
Olerud
….I don’t even remember the rest – but will never forget “WAMCO”. LOL

I don’t think Delgado would want to sign with TO if they trade Halladay. Only way he comes here is if we are going for it in 2010.

I like the idea of Cameron for CF but who knows if Wells would agree to moving to LF/RF.

Contending or not I would really like AA to bring in a long term solution at catcher. Doumit seems like a great pickup but might cost too much.

Again, as I said earlier, I think our rotation is weak even with Halladay here. We really have no idea what to expect from our young and injury prone starters and until we do we can’t be assured that we will compete. I like Rzep but to me Romero and Cecil could easily be back in AAA after a handful of starts next year. Litsch, Janssen, Purcey are all uninspiring and Marcum is a question mark at this point.