Unless Vizquel’s spring resembles Scott Podsednik‘s injury-plagued stint with Toronto last year, it’s safe to say that MLB’s all-time leader in games played at shortstop will head north with the Jays when camp breaks at the end of March. Valbuena is out of Minor League options, sure, but it’s unlikely that he’ll crack the big league roster, and McCoy seems to already be the odd man out given that he still has an option remaining.

Never mind that Vizquel has been worth a combined -0.2 WAR in the last four seasons or that he’s managed a .622 OPS over that span; signing him makes sense for the Jays.

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The move represents the extra right-handed reliever that Anthopoulos was looking to add before the start of the season, but it also likely signals the end of the Jays’ off-season bullpen overhaul.

“[Anthopoulos] basically said with Santos, Oliver, Casey and me, that he’s comfortable with the back end and so am I. I like that foursome,” Frasor said in a conference call to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and the rest of the media. “I think there are four guys right there you can rely on.”

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Image courtesy of SI.com

When the winter meetings kicked off yesterday, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hinted that he might leave with a closer before the week was over.

He got one in a swift move this afternoon, effectively putting an end to the countless offseason rumors. And in trademark fashion, he caught everyone by surprise by shipping standout pitching prospect Nestor Molina to the Chicago White Sox for Sergio Santos in a top-secret deal.

As most Jays fans know, it’s a homecoming of sorts for Santos, who returns to Toronto after being obtained by the Jays along with Troy Glaus when they shipped Orlando Hudson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005. Then, Santos was a minor league infielder, whereas now, he’s one of the top relief pitchers in the game. Anthopoulos has said that Santos will definitely be his closer, so wondering who will receive ninth-inning duties is now no longer a concern.

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Image courtesy of SI.com

It’s safe to say that the “Silent Assassin”, Alex Anthopoulos, probably keeps a list of baseball’s other 29 general managers in his office with the goal of robbing each and every one of them blind at least once in his career.

Anthopoulos can now check St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak off of that fictional list, as he was able to pry highly-touted center fielder Colby Rasmus away from the redbirds in a three-team deal that included the Chicago White Sox.

By now, you probably know which 11 players were involved in the trades, their season stats, and who went where, so there’s no sense in rehashing that too much.

Instead — and more importantly — what does this mean for the Jays going forward?

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A second round pick by the Jays in 1982, Wells returned to the Blue Jays organization in 1999 after being part of the trade that send Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees.

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Catalanotto’s first season in Toronto in 2003 was his best power season, where he hit 13 home runs and drove in 59, along with 34 doubles. His 2005 season was his shortest, where he appeared in just 75 games, and he logged his worst slash line as a Blue Jay .293/.344/.390 (which really wasn’t that bad). (more…)

Add these players to the numerous possibilities in next week’s Rule 5 Draft, on top of trades and free agency, and the Jays should have no problem rounding out their 2011 bullpen and re-stocking their minor league teams with relief arms.

I’ll be doing a few posts profiling certain notable names that were non-tendered by their respective clubs yesterday, starting with right-hander Joel Peralta and southpaw Erick Threets.

RP Joel Peralta – 2010 Club: Washington Nationals

Initially signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics in 1996, Peralta was signed to a one-year, minor league contract with the Nationals for the 2010 season. (more…)