FanPost

Contending without selling the future...

I think the Jays should try going for it without morgaging the future. Given the relative rebuilding in Tampa, and the age and quiet offseason in New York, the Jays have a legitimate chance at the wildcard spot. I would argue that atleast one if not both of Hill and Lind will rebound while Travis Snider will make up for what I see as a fairly modest drop off in production from Bautista. Given this already leaves the Jays much improved I think the Jays should consider some low risk free agents.

I think the Jays should sign Manny and Chavez short term. I also think that Brian Fuentes (a type B) would offer the Jays a closer that can get both lefties and righties.

If we aren’t in contention we can ship at least Manny and Fuentes for prospects. If Chavez is healthy then he could be traded to. (Neither of them will cost prospects to sign them). If were out of contention then we can see what we have in Mastro at midseason and move Bautista to third, or Lawrie if he’s ready. It doesn’t cost us prospects and possibly brings in some prospects. They are not really blocking any positions where we have prospects currently ready. It be a safe short term deal that gives us a chance to take a legitimate run at making the playoffs.

The lineup as suggested by dexfarkin would look like this 1B Lind,2B Hill,SS Escobar,3B Chavez,LF Snider,CF Wells,RF Bautista,C Arencibia,DH Ramirez

with the backups being: INF/OF MacDonald, C Molina, INF Encarnacion, OF Davis

The batting order would depend to some degree on Chavez's health but could look something like this:

1. Escobar
2. Chavez
3. Bautista
4. Ramirez
5. Wells
6. Lind
7. Snider
8. Hill
9. Arencibia

This lineup would be a far more patient lineup with Ramirez and Chavez and would subsequently help generate a lot more runs compared to last year. I think both players would be helpful to both Arencibia's and Snider's development. It has some flexability with Davis and Encarnacion being somewhat proven players if someone goes down, and with Mastro and Lawrie possibly being ready for a shot later in the year.

The Marcum trade though clearly directed at the future, I don't think should seriously mortgage the present given that we should get some improvement from Morrow, and our fifth starter over last year which will in my mind make up for what we lost in Marcum.

Rotation:

Morrow
Romero
Cecil
Drabek
Rzep

With Stewart and Litsch around in case of injury, I still feel that we have solid depth and a reasonable chance at an improvement rotation if Rzep is as strong as I expect him to be (I feel like Rzep will be put up similar numbers to Marcum, and that Drabek will be improved over last years fifth starters).

In the pen,

Dotel - R
Fraser - R
Purcey - L
Camp - R
Ray - R, Richmond - R, Roenicke - R, Janssen - R, Carlson - L

I think the Jays should consider signing Brian Fuentes to close and Dotel should be used basically strictly against righties.

The moves as I have suggested will cost the Jays little in terms of the future, and though Fuentes and Manny will probably cost a bit, I think if it generates some more excitement around Jays baseball and brings in some more fans with a playoff run, it will more than pay for itself. If things fall apart, I feel like all those pickups would come at modest costs relative to the opportunity of a playoff run. It will also generate some excitement around the team and maybe bring the fans out early in the season, which may generate the type of fanbase that can allow a little bit more regular revenue to spend on free agents. They could all aside injury generate a decent return in trades if they Jays are out, and could continue to help the Jays build towards the future.

To make a cost adjusted decision, I'm going to assume that Chavez is going to cost 3 million for one year (2 million in incentives), Manny will cost 7 million (3 million in incentives) and Fuentes will cost 6 million. If you think these figures are off the mark high or low let me know in the comments...

Editor's Note: This is a FanPost written by a reader and member of Bluebird Banter. It was not commissioned by the editors and is not necessarily reflective of the opinions of Bluebird Banter or SB Nation.