Blue Jays Morning Brew: Standing Pat, Tanaka Staying, MiLB All-Stars

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kyle Drabek delivers a pitch against the Washington Nationals at the Rogers Centre. Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning Blue Jays fans – here are your latest news and rumours:

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Shi Davidi at Sportsnet writes that the “Blue Jays seem serious about in-house options” and the possibility that Anthopoulos will choose to stand pat this off-season is increasingly probable. Andrew Stoeten responds at DJF with plenty of reasons to think the Jays won’t stand pat.

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However it looks like teams might be crossing one player’s name off their wish list. According to the New York Times who picked up reports out of Japan, Rakuten Golden Eagles ace Masahiro Tanaka is likely not going to be posted this off-season. Instead it sounds like they will make him the highest paid player in Japan. If Tanaka isn’t posted it means that there will be increased competition for the remaining starting pitchers that are still available through free agency.

Update: At this time it is still unclear whether or not Rakuten will post Tanaka (h/t MLBTR)

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Stoeten also did some prospecting over at DJF and gives us highlights from both Baseball America’s and Baseball Prospectus’ recently released Toronto Blue Jays top prospects list.

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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman against the West during the Fall Stars Game at Surprise Stadium. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
MiLB.com has named the 2013 Blue Jays organization all-stars, which doesn’t take into consideration age or prospect status but rather names the players that had the best minor league seasons. Marcus Stroman, Sean Nolin, Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar and Franklin Barreto all were named top players at their positions. Jay Blue follows up at Blue Jays From Away with some extended discussion about the list.

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Minor Leaguer at Bluebird Banter (satire warning) says that the slow Blue Jays off-season is actually an early Christmas present to all the beat writers and bloggers from GM Alex Anthopoulos.