Kuzul

It has proved to be an interesting beginning for the AL East, with the Baltimore Orioles currently sitting at the top of the standings.  The Orioles have come out hitting with their newly improved batting lineup, and pitching surprisingly well with a rotation that was projected as the worst in the AL East. It is, of course, only the first week of the season, but winning and losing streaks are important no matter when they happen. The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays can't be happy with their starts. Both Boston and Tampa managed to grab their first win of the year on Friday, after starting off their season with six straight losses.   This puts the Toronto Blue Jays in a good spot to start the season with their impressive 5-2 start.  The Jays played the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland Athletics to start the year, and in both three-game sets, ...

Fantasy pools are not exactly an exact science, mainly due to the unpredictable nature of sports.  But from looking at past numbers, health, age and any particular player's track record, you can often predict what a player is capable of. The Toronto Blue Jays are starting to have a lot of interesting fantasy options, something that wasn't always the case in past years.  They led the league in home runs last year, a category they will likely have strong numbers in again this year. But what about their starting pitching?  They have a young, talented staff.  Not one of the starters is over the age of 26.  The magic age for pitching is often said to be around 27, so it is unlikely that any of the Jays starters have peaked.   This suggests that the pitching staff will continue to improve over the next five years, barring any massive injuries. But who can ...

The full squad of the Toronto Blue Jays hs only been at Spring Training a week now, but already decisions are being made, injuries are happening and news is emerging. John Farrell, the Blue Jays' successor to Cito Gaston, is already working on the batting order in the first few games.  He would like to have a set lineup determined by the time the season begins, one for facing left-handed pitching and one for right-handed.   Early reports have Rajai Davis leading off, with Yunel Escobar batting second and then Adam Lind and Jose Bautista in the third and fourth positions.  Which one bats clean up remains to be determined, as Lind has been averse to that role in the past, but has mentioned that he is more open to where he bats this year.  Jose Molina acted as Brandon Morrow's personal catcher last year, as well as received the occasional spot start ...

Alex Anthopoulos, the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, had a busy couple of days leading up to the 1pm Tuesday deadline for arbitration cases.  The Blue Jays had eight players who filed for arbitration and thus had to work out new contracts with each of them or have the chance of going to a hearing where it would be independently assigned. The Blue Jays, as an organization, haven't gone to arbitration with any of their players since Bill Risely in 1997, a pretty impressive record of contract negotiations.  They signed three to new contracts on Monday, then another three on Tuesday, but a deal wasn't reached with Jose Bautista or Jason Frasor. On Tuesday, before the deadline, the Jays were successful in signing outfielder Rajai Davis to a two-year, $5.25 million deal with a club option for a third year at $3 million, as well as both Brandon ...

Right Field Travis Snider, in his third year in the majors, is looking for more consistency and a clean bill of health; 2011 could be the year that he achieves both.  Snider hasn't had a smooth path to the majors, but has shown at different times that he is more than capable of excelling at the highest level.   Snider should take over starting duties in right field, with the occasional start by Jose Bautista to give him a day off.  Bautista will get most of his starts at third base unless the Jays acquire another player between now and spring training, and will back up Snider in right. Snider batted .378 in May with a .711 Slugging Percentage before the injury that took him out for all of June and July, then rebounded with a .304 average in September and October.  A full year of at-bats should see an impressive increase in ...

At the end of the 2010 season the Blue Jays have seen many of their players depart through free agency, yet not that many players have been added from outside the organization to fill out the roster. This suggests that many of the openings are being filled internally, through prospects or position changes. Alex Anthopoulos has worked tirelessly in his time with the Blue Jays to fill the system with high-end prospects, but many of them aren't ready yet. You will see them starting to fill out the lineup over the next few years, players such as Travis D'Arnaud, Brett Lawrie and Zach Stewart. In the meantime, players who have seen some time in the majors will likely become a permanent part of the roster, such as Kyle Drabek and J.P. Arencibia.   First Base Adam Lind should get the majority of the starts here since Anthopoulos wants to see if he can take over the position ...

The Texas Rangers have always hoped that when they acquired Cliff Lee last year, that it wouldn't just be for the remainder of the season.  They were hoping that they would be able to sign him this offseason despite him becoming a free agent.  Whether they can or not depends heavily on what other teams are willing to offer.  Sources say that both the Yankees and the Rangers don't want to offer more than six years, but that there is a mystery team (or teams) willing to go to seven.   It would also be in the $20 million-per-year salary range, which on most teams would take up a great deal of their budget.  The Yankees can always seem to afford it, but the Rangers might have to move salary to make room to sign Lee.   Which brings us to Michael Young.  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted that the Rangers were ...

Shaun Marcum has been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has reported.  Coming back to the Blue Jays is Brett Lawrie, a Canadian infielder who was rated by Baseball America as their second best prospect. Marcum, at 28 years old, was the veteran and oldest member of the Jays starting pitching staff.  A third round pick in 2003, Marcum has pitched with the Jays his whole career. With a career 3.80 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, the starter was always known for his control rather than any ability to overpower a batter. There were injury concerns with Marcum after he spent 2009 on the DL after elbow surgery.  He made a strong comeback in 2010, but there was always the chance that he could regress after pitching too many innings in his return. Lawrie had a strong 2010 at Triple-A Huntsville, batting .285/.346/.451 with eight homers in 135 games.  Lawrie is ...

It can be a confusing time of the year in Major League Baseball, what with arbitration offers, non-tender candidates, Type A and B free agents, waiver claims and the Rule 5 draft.  So it can be tough to decipher what is happening with the team you support and whether there is any truth to the rumors that can emerge. The Blue Jays are no different, especially with the secrecy that surrounds Alex Anthopoulos' moves.  This is what has happened so far and what could be happening. Dustin McGowan has re-signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for a one-year, $450,000 deal.  The former first-round pick hasn't pitched in the majors since 2008 due to a series of injuries.  But with this deal, it gives hope that the hard-throwing pitcher will make his return to the mound at some point in 2011. The Blue Jays are reported by MLB Trade Rumors to be interested in ...

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has just reported that the Blue Jays could be close to signing catcher A.J. Pierzynski, formerly of the Chicago White Sox.  With the catching position not fully determined, the Jays seem to be looking for insurance behind the plate.  Chicago didn't offer arbitration to Pierzynski, so the signing would not cost the Blue Jays a draft pick. J.P. Arencibia didn't get a lot of experience calling the game at the major league level last year, so he might not yet be ready, and Jose Molina is there as a back-up only.   The durable 34-year old catcher fell off offensively somewhat this past year, as he batted .270/.300/.388 with nine homers in 503 plate appearances.   Admittedly, Pierzynski seems like a strange choice for the Blue Jays.  The veteran is both an above average defender and batter, but he is known for his rather controversial ...