Not that you give a fried egg – but – I actually agree with your 1 through 4 – in almost every respect. The only point I’d elaborate on is the Jenkins/Blanton comparison – I’ve read it in several places – and ALL of those who made it said that Jenkins had “much better stuff” than Blanton.

We differ however on number five. I pick Cecil. To me Mills is EXCELLENT but is more likely to end up as Dave Bush than Dave Steib.

Your first four guys are the Jays BLESSING and CURSE. Because of them, at least four of the following are going to be in the bullpen, another team or Tim Horton’s by late 2011: Marcum, McGowan, Litsch, Scrabble, Cecil, Mills, Romero, Tallet and Richmond. The PROBLEM with this is that it’ll be late 2012 before those four are all being the studs they can be and the Jay’s future is – unfortunately – that far off.

Jenkins has more polished pitches than Stewart in terms of numbers (2 for Stewart, 3 for Jenkins) that I can grade at average to above-average. So, until 1-Stewart can get that 3rd pitch down pat, 2-Prove that he’ll be effective as a starter, 3-Prove that the Jays will use him in that role, and 4-Not wear down as he gets extended, I can’t rank him ahead of Jenkins.

It’s still possible that he’ll notch all of those items and end up being a huge guy for the Jays (notice I said in my assessment that I like him best to turn out to be a #1) but it’s still going to take Zach jumping through a lot of loops for him to get there. Because his 2 pitches are so dominant, and also because the Jays are looking to move Frasor, Downs, and possibly Tallet – and the fact that I really don’t see many options as closers for the Jays in the near future, I can fully understand and see the Jays using Zach as a closer instead of a starter.

So between the need for a 3rd pitch, all of the other issues, and how well he could play as a closer, I can’t rank him ahead of Chad. Hope that makes some sense!

Interesting…..