The Jays chances of contending are remote at best, so find out who the only two untouchable players are.
As we get deeper into the free agent signing season - and with the Blue Jays not exactly awash in cash thanks to the shrinking Canadian dollar - it's becoming apparent that any acquisitions of significance are going to have to come through the trade route. With that in mind, it's time to take stock about what should absolutely be kept and what can be sacrificed to keep their slim hopes of contending alive with three months until players start showing up in Dunedin.
As it stands right now, the only automatics in the starting rotation are Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch, with Dustin McGowan penciled in to return to active duty in May. That leaves David Purcey, Scott Richmond and a hopefully healthy Casey Janssen to battle for the spots left by the apparent free agent loss of A.J. Burnett and Shaun Marcum, out for the entire 2009 season after 'Tommy John' surgery. But with the chances of contending, let's be honest, remote perhaps J.P. Ricciardi's best course of action is to go young, and truly see what the Jays have at the top levels of their farm system. Other franchises have gone this route with success (Florida and Tampa Bay). I think from a fans standpoint, this course of action would be far easier to stomach than bringing in a boat load of Major League castoffs and minor league free agents to hopefully catch 'lightning-in-a-bottle', something that has failed miserably in the past (see Tomo Ohka, John Thomson, Victor Zambrano).
In the bullpen, the Jays have more quality arms than spots available, so the fact that they aren't close to contention means that closer B.J. Ryan is expendable, especially if Jeremy Accardo returns to health this off-season and would be a vastly cheaper alternative.
Offensively, the Jays have holes at designated hitter, reserve catcher and shortstop. If Aaron Hill finally has his concussion woes behind him they should at least consider moving him back to shortstop, the position he was drafted at, and try and bring in a second baseman. The fall back is Joe Inglett, but he's not an everyday player on any contender.
At present, there are only two current Blue Jays that I would deem untouchable: Halladay and Travis Snider. Everyone else should be dangled for trade when the General Managers get back together for the annual baseball winter meetings, scheduled this year for December 8-11 in Las Vegas. To get something of quality, you have to give up something of quality and, with that in mind, that means some prospects have to be exposed along with Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, B.J. Ryan, Lyle Overbay and Scott Rolen - all with multi-year, multi-million dollar deals - have to thrown in to the trade mix if the Jays are ever going to become more than a third place team in baseball's toughest division.
Let me be blunt here, folks. No one can say with a straight face that the Blue Jays are even close to contending, nor have they been since Ricciardi took over from Gord Ash in November of 2001. Under his watch, the Jays are only one game over .500 (567-566), using a litany of excuses (injuries, mid-range payroll, playing in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox) to explain why they haven't made the playoffs.
But the time has come to re-shape the franchise, with finding a new club president still on their dossier. With the clock ticking towards December and the only acquisitions to date being minor leaguers no one has even heard of, the off-season to date has been disappointing. With a budget for 2009 still not in place, the time has come for some old school wheeling and dealing, something that hasn't been Ricciardi's strong suit in his over 2,500 days as Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Canada's only Major League Baseball team.
SORRY MOOSE
Cito Gaston's least favourite human being, former Oriole and Yankee starter Mike Mussina has called it a career after 18 seasons and 270 wins. So the debate now begins, whether or not 'The Moose' belongs among the greats of the game in the Hall of Fame. I say NO. His career win total only ranks him 33rd all-time and if Bert Blyleven with 287 wins and 3,701 strikeouts (fifth all-time) can't get in with his numbers then Mussina's doesn't quite cut it either. Plus, in my 16 seasons on the baseball beat, I never came across a more condescending athlete than Mussina. I witnessed him talking down to many sportswriters and broadcasters.