Toronto Blue Jays Morning Brew: Interviewing Goins, Talking Bullpen, and Sinking In

Sept. 4, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins throws to first base to complete the double play after forcing out Arizona Diamondbacks base runner A.J. Pollock in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Good Morning Blue Jays fans, the wait continues. Hard to believe that December is almost done and we are about 2 months away from Spring Training. Whether that makes you feel better with baseball almost back or depressed because Toronto has yet to do anything of consequence, that is something we can all wrestle with over the upcoming holidays. Until then, stay warm and curl up next to the computer with today’s Morning Brew.

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Speaking of staying warm, we’re going to start off at the Baseball Hot Corner, where Brendan Pannikar sits down with Blue Jays infielder Ryan Goins. They talk everything from first appearance butterflies, role models, and expectations for 2014. It’s a good window into the man that could likely be Toronto’s starting second baseman in 2014.

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Over at Blue Jays Plus we have a post from Steve McEwen, who takes an in depth look at the Blue Jays bullpen in 2013, using bbFIP. As we all saw, the Blue Jays bullpen was very good for the most part last season, and this cements just who were the top performers last season.

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On to favorite friends, as we check in with our buddy Jay Blue, who has a piece up at the Canadian Baseball Network, reporting on the performances of Blue Jays prospects in the various Winter Leagues. Updates on Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, and Moises Sierra.

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And we’ll close up shop today with a pair of post from our neighbors at Bluebird Banter.

The first is a post from Tom Dakers, who puts the question out there to readers, “What One Question Would You Ask Alex Anthopoulos?”. Well, the questions asked in the comment fields are solid. My personal favorite was, “Wouldn’t it make sense to sign Colby now, as long as Colby is willing?”.

The second one was from Nick Ashbourne, who takes a deeper look at Esmil Rogers. Specifically, Ashbourne shows that Rogers needs to feature his sinker more often in order to be successful. We did a similar look at his use of the slider last February, but Nick makes a great case on the sinker based on 2013 results.