Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 17th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

The rebuild in Toronto will be centred around emerging stars like Aaron Hill.

It appears that most of the off-season player movement for the Blue Jays is done.

There might be the odd waiver claims or signing of a released player in mid-March, but the spring training roster as it is currently assembled has the names on it that will trot out on Opening.

So, it's time to take stock of where this team sits as it begins the first true rebuild in franchise history; now 25 years removed from its first AL East division title.

Now, before you all respond to that last statement, remember that this franchise has never admitted to a rebuild. It goes back to when Gord Ash said they were "re-tooling" during the winter when they were forced to deal another Cy Young ace - Roger Clemens - before the 1999 season. Using the word "rebuild" was taboo at that time, with everyone involved worried how it would read on the street and, especially, at the ticket window.

Instead of rebuilding that team, which could have focused around still productive Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green and a very young Roy Halladay, it re-tooled with veteran, stop-gap players and finished third under Jim Fregosi (who was brought in to clean up the mess that fork-tongued Tim Johnson left behind). This ultimately hastened Ash's firing the next season; leading to the hiring of J.P. Ricciardi.

That's why this is the perfect time to rebuild under Alex Anthopoulos and the watchful eye of Paul Beeston.

Since taking over the reins of the team back on October, and in the midst of player mutiny towards manager Cito Gaston, GM_AA has made 29 moves involving 19 players arriving and 10 leaving. Depth has been added in the middle infield, sorely lacking during the previous eight seasons, and GM_AA will look at many arms come spring. With the added security of no expectations foxsports.com has already given the Jays the keys to the AL East basement apartment - with the prospects that arrived in the Halladay trade being allowed to advance at their own pace.

That's a good thing. The time has arrived for players/pitchers to arrive from the minors ready and able to contribute.

For the record, I stand behind the trade of Roy Halladay to the Phillies. Wasn't thrilled to hear that GM_AA had to throw in $6 million along with his ace to get this deal done, but if this rebuild goes as well as fans hope/pray, then the money will be looked at as an investment in the future. Three former first round/sandwich picks came in return, helping the Blue Jays meagre farm system - in terms of top shelf prospects - muscle up in the short term with the next level coming through the draft over the next three Junes. This deal was the best that GM_AA was going to get. The only concern I had was the flipping of outfielder Michael Taylor to Oakland for Brett Wallace. On a team that has sorely lacked speed for close to a decade, Taylor could have been valuable, but the Jays play in the A.L. East where the home run is still the preferred scoring currency. Therefore, Wallace's power upside trumped all.

With the coming of age of Adam Lind and Aaron Hill last season, and the potential that Travis Snider, the offence has a solid foundation. Should Wallace arrive as advertised, Travis d'Arnaud making it to Toronto to settle down a shaky catching situation later in the year, and another surprise from the minors not currently on the radar, the rebuild might suddenly gain some momentum. But it will all come down to pitching, especially as they try and fill in the massive crater left by Halladay's departure.

As it stands right now, a healthy Shaun Marcum is the ace by default. Ricky Romero, if he doesn't suffer from any sophomore yips is No. 2 with former Mariner swingman Brandon Morrow at No. 3. That leaves any combination of Marc Rzepczynski, Brett Cecil, Scott Richmond or David Purcey to fill out the back of the rotation.

The wild card is Dustin McGowan. A 12-game winner in 2007, McGowan owns top of the rotation stuff, but hasn't thrown a competitive pitch in over a year due to surgery. And then, at some point, Kyle Drabek, the best prospect acquired for Halladay, will pitch his way to the big leagues -- likely around the all-star break.

With the bulking up of the scouting department, long overdue after they were replaced by computer geeks, GM_AA is positioning this team to rebuild with some pace. We won't see, though, the entire plan until the amateur draft in June where the Jays have six of the first 77 selections in the draft.

A cache of signing money has been set aside to go after players they wouldn't have drafted in past seasons. That would certainly expedite the rebuild if the club can sign top talent.

Not that I've ever looked forward to a fifth place season, but this one is already beginning to pique my interest.