July 18, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Brandon Lyon (37) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the sixth inning at PETCO Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

On first glance, I have to admit that the Jays are sending a whole lot of talent over to the Astros in return for a pitching upgrade. It’s far more prudent, however, to look through the entire package before jumping to conclusions. For this year, I absolutely love this deal. It gives the Jays a #4 caliber pitcher who can chew up a lot of innings and support the current staff. The Jays also improve the pen a great deal by simply dealing Francisco Cordero, but get even better since they can replace him with Brandon Lyon. Finally, the Jays improve a great deal on the bench and in the OF with the replacement of Ben Francisco with Travis Snider. As I proposed yesterday, all of this makes the Jays younger, and much better for the remainder of 2012.

For this season, it’s no contest, the Jays flat out win this deal. But what about the ever after?

Before we touch on anything else, we need to know the age, cost, and controllability of each player.

To the Toronto Blue Jays: (more…)

Alex Anthopoulos has followed this adage for much of his tenure as the Blue Jays’ general manager, and to rave reviews.

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Image courtesy of SI.com

Even though the Blue Jays already had seven outfielders on their 40-man roster, GM Alex Anthopoulos added another one in Ben Francisco from the Phillies on Monday, raising a lot of questions amongst the Jays’ fan base in the process.

According to Scott Miller of CBS Sports early this morning, though, the Jays might actually be looking to add another outfielder, this time via free agency in Carlos Beltran.

There hasn’t been much talk around baseball at all this offseason of Beltran, and while it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be playing for the Jays any time soon, he would fulfill Anthopoulos’ offseason desire to add a middle-of-the-order bat.

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With the addition of Francisco, the Jays now have eight outfielders on their 40-man roster, including six big league options. With only left field and reserve roles available, though, Francisco’s arrival definitely raises a few question marks.

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