Jays Spring Training Non-Roster Invitees

The following players are listed on the Jays Website as non-roster invitees to their upcoming spring training:

1. Lance Broadway RHP
2. Willie Collazo LHP
3. Kyle Drabek RHP
4. Zach Jackson LHP
5. Chad Jenkins RHP
6. Rommie Lewis LHP
7. JP Arencibia C
8. Travis d’Arnaud C
9. Raul Chavez C
10. Brian Jeroloman C
11. Kyle Phillips C
12. Jesus Merchan SS
13. Brett Wallace 1B/3B
14. Joey Gathright OF
15. Adam Loewen OF
16. Chris Lubanski OF
17. Jorge Padilla OF

The question now becomes, should anyone else be invited? And if so, why?

My answer to that, in my humble opinion, is yes, 2 more names should be added to the list. They are:

1. Darin Mastroianni, OF: Mainly because he’s the best OF prospect that is close enough to the majors to have an impact in 2010. Giving him a taste of big league pitching would go a long way to setting his expectations and areas of improvement in 2010.
2. Daniel Farquhar, RP: If any minor league pitcher deserves a look it’s Daniel. Not only is he possibly our closer of the future, but he has the best chance of making a real big impact into the pen in 2010/2011. He could learn a lot from Scott Downs and Jason Frasor before either of them are traded away.

Am I missing anyone? Let me know in the comments.

Other Jays Notes:

• MLBastien goes over the latest and greatest from Alex Anthopoulos. Interestingly, Alex states that he worked on 3 different trades while on his honeymoon – but none of them panned out. You have to believe that they may have been linked to some of the Giants, Mariners, Diamondbacks, and Braves in terms of filling their 1B needs with Lyle Overbay.
• The Jays will be scouting Ben Sheets in his upcoming performance, as they will be anyone who wishes to perform in front of crowds, according to Alex. Could the Jays use the money saved to attempt to land big Ben? With BJ Ryan coming off the books after 2010, adding Ben would give the Jays a real veteran presence and would make him the second highest paid Jay after VW.
• Bastien reports that Alex changed the Arbitration policy for the Jays to the following: “The deadline for arb-eligible players and teams to exchange salary figures is Tuesday. Anthopoulos has implemented a “file to go strategy.” If the club has not reached an agreement with its arb-eligible players between now and Tuesday, they will go to an arbitration hearing rather than continue negotiations.” This indicates that Alex believes that the Jays have overpaid in the past simply to avoid going into arbitration and that it won’t happen under his watch. If players are unwilling to bend because they believe the team wants to avoid arbitration at all costs, as was the case under JP Ricciardi, they will have to be ready for arbitration from now on. Good for Alex, laying down the law when he needs to. Doing otherwise gives the players way too much leverage against the Jays. I’m not hoping arbitration happens often, as it is an ugly process where the team attempts to lower the player’s value by exposing all of his weaknesses and the player is forced to defend himself. It’s not exactly a “relationship building process” and can cause long term harm to the player-management relationship. Most players who go through the process will tell you they hope it’s the last time they do, as it is very emotionally draining.
• Bastien also lists the following players as Arbitration eligible and yet to be signed by the Jays: “Shaun Marcum, Brian Tallet, Jason Frasor, Casey Janssen, Jeremy Accardo and Shawn Camp.” I would add that they Jays can also opt to trade some of these players if they believe that players will opt for arbitration and are not worth the investment. From the list above, I would say that Jason Frasor may be the most likely candidate to be traded due to his heightened value now that he’s proven he can close.