Jays Transactions 25-01-2010

The Jays have assigned the following to the Blue Jays:

• 2B/3B Brad Emaus, played in AA (.336/.376/.712)  in 2009 and the AFL thereafter. Will battle both Mike McCoy and Jarrett Hoffpauir for an infield bench spot. Chances are Brad will begin the season in AAA and provide the Jays with infield depth in 2010.
• RP Daniel Farquhar, pitched in HiA/AA (22 saves 1.87 ERA) in 2009. Will battle for a pen spot and could be called upon once trades/injuries occur, but Daniel is mostly getting a look to see if he can handle AAA in 2009. I’m very happy he’ll get to spend spring training and workouts with the big club, he’s the most deserving on this list along with Stewart.
• 1B David Cooper, “played” in AA (.340/.389/.729) in 2009 and did horribly in the AFL thereafter. I put played in brackets because he admitted to not trying as hard as he could and that he “took the season off”. I have no idea why the Jays reward him with a look in spring training. He should begin 2010 in HiA in my books after the attitude and performance he showed us in 2009. I guess he could be there to allow for the Jays to see what his problems are, but he has 0 hope of making the club at any point in 2010.
• SP/RP Zach Stewart, pitched up to AAA (105 IP, 93 Ks, 1.89 ERA) in 2009. The Jays apparently want to stretch him out slowly and get him starting again. Chances are he’ll do so in AAA and will be one of the top 3 to get the call when the need arises, but he’s still battling others for the spot. It’s not a huge stretch to say that if both Brett and Marc have a hard time, Stewart could begin the year with the Jays.

These players were all expected to get looks in spring training, other than David Cooper that is. Although there are still high hopes for the 1B to develop his talents, there are huge question marks about his personality and attitude towards the game and its fans. From the list above, I fully expect Zach Stewart and Daniel Farquhar to have an impact on the Blue Jays in late 2010 or 2011 at the latest.

Just thought I’d also throw out there the fact that Spring Training games are just around the corner, with the Jays facing off against Detroit on the 3rd and 4th of March. Look here for the entire schedule.

The revised list of non-roster Spring Training invitees is as follows and is available at:

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/team/roster_nri.jsp?c_id=tor

Pitchers: Lance Broadway, Willie Collazo, Kyle Drabek, Zach Stewart, Daniel Farquhar, Shawn Hill, Chad Jenkins, Zach Jackson, Rommie Lewis, Steven Register

Catchers: JP Arencibia, Raul Chavez, Travis d’Arnaud, Matthew Liuzza, Kyle Phillips, Brian Jeroloman

Infielders: Brett Wallace, David Cooper, Brad Emaus, Jesus Merchan

Outfielders: Joey Gathright, Adam Loewen, Chris Lubanski, Jeremy Reed, Jorge Padilla