McCoy has 6 hits, Gathright has 3
McCoy has 3 walks, Gathright has 1
McCoy has 1 extra base hit, Gathright has none
McCoy has a .750 OBP, Gathright has a .235 OBP
MCCoy has .778 SLG, Gathright has .188 SLG
McCoy has .667 AVG, Gathright has .188
Both have been caught stealing once, while Gathright has stolen 1 base.

Knowing all of this, and also realizing that the battle is there between Jeremy Reed, Joey Gathright, and Mike McCoy for a bench spot, what does the Jays blogger Jordan Bastien write about? How great Joey Gathright’s chances are of making the club. Why? Because he is getting the feeling, from Gaston and the playing time, that Gathright has a real shot at making the team. The subtitle of his Gathright article even says “Veteran competing for Jays’ left-field job with Snider, Reed”….really? Wow. Should I be excited to go to the game and watch a LF that couldn’t make any starting roster in 2009 and was dumped by Kansas City? Shouldn’t I get some sort of discount on my tickets if that happens? Please tell me it’s not going to happen. Please tell me that Travis Snider will not be replaced in LF by Joey 1 tool Gathright. Put Chris Lubanski in there, Jeremy Reed, Mike McCoy, anyone, just not Gathright. He is not a starter and has no potential to grow into one. None. My argument and desperation don’t end there, however.

Jordan Bastien does make the point that in the fight for the bench spot, it comes down to Reed, Gathright, and he specifies McCoy as a utility man. That, to me, is the most important point. If you’re already getting a better performance from a guy who is just as speedy, if not speedier than the others, and he can play 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF, C, and pitch the odd inning, while the others can only play LF, CF, RF….which one do you keep? Yet, who is the article based on? Joey Gathright. Who is getting the attention and playing time? Joey Gathright. Why? Is it because he’s made some nice catches against the Jays in the past or because he used to be with the Red Sox? I have no idea, and no answers, just questions.

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. I don’t get why Mike McCoy isn’t getting more playing time even after performing a ton better in a limited role. I don’t get why Travis Snider continues to hit in the 9th hole since it’s not working for him. I don’t get why Joey Gathright is still the leader for the bench spot in the OF when all he has to play with is speed and he’s played as his history suggests thus far. No hitting, just speed. Newsflash – you need to be on base to use your speed! And that’s exactly what McCoy does, he gets on base!

I’ll update this battle next week or so, but it better start shifting towards more playing time for McCoy, or it’s going to be one long season under Cito Gaston folks, I can guarantee you that.

As it stands today, the probable starters are as follows (in order of the lineup expected to be in place to begin the season):

• RF – Jose Bautista
• 2B – Aaron Hill
• DH – Adam Lind
• CF – Vernon Wells
• 1B – Lyle Overbay
• 3B – Edwin Encarnacion
• LF – Travis Snider
• SS – Alex Gonzalez
• C – John Buck

That leaves the following players vying for bench roles in spring training (with probable positions they can play included):

• 2B/SS/3B/OF – Mike McCoy
• 2B/SS/OF – Jarrett Hoffpauir
• 2B/SS/3B – John McDonald
• 2B/SS/3B – Brad Emaus
• SS – Jesus Merchan
• OF – Chris Lubanski
• OF – Jorge Padilla
• OF – Joey Gathright
• OF – Jeremy Reed
• 1B – David Cooper
• 1B/DH – Brian Dopirak
• 1B/DH – Randy Ruiz
• C – Jose Molina
• C – Raul Chavez

From those listed above, John McDonald and one of Jose Molina or Raul Chavez will be guaranteed a spot on the bench. Since I do believe the Jays want experienced catchers with their young pitchers, and he comes in cheap and allows Chavez to return to AAA to teach JP Arencibia a thing or two, I believe Jose Molina may have the inside shot at the C bench role.

INF bench – John McDonald, C bench – Jose Molina (Raul Chavez)

So that leaves 2 bench spots to be filled for 1B/OF. We can easily conclude that if Lyle Overbay is still with the Jays when the season starts only one of Brian Dopirak and Randy Ruiz will make it onto the bench. I give a slight edge to Randy Ruiz in this case because chances are that they want Dopirak to play every day to better his defensive skills while Ruiz can fill in nicely at DH as well as an emergency 1B when needed. So, if we assume Ruiz makes the bench, that leaves us with 1 spot remaining.

1B/DH bench spot – Randy Ruiz (Brian Dopirak)

I would next group Emaus, McCoy, and Hoffpauir into the middle infielder category and would discount Emaus immediately because he has options remaining and needs more development in AAA. Both McCoy and Hoffpauir could easily make the bench, however it may be tough for the Jays to find playing time for either of them. Aaron Hill will play everyday minus the odd day off, and Alex Gonzalez and Johnny Mac will alternate at SS. The Jays are also going to carry one of Ruiz or Dopirak, so that leaves the 3B backup and OF backup roles.  This leads me to believe that McCoy – who has a lot of experience at 3B and in the OF – has a better chance to get that bench spot.

However, it also leaves us with a quite a battle because if McCoy has a shot at that OF spot – he’ll be battling a few capable OFers brought in by Alex. Joey Gathright (28), Chris Lubanski (24), Jorge Padilla (31), and Jeremy Reed (28) are all capable outfielders that would gladly take a role on the Jays bench. If I were a betting man, I’d say that Chris Lubanski has the best chance to make the bench due to age and ceiling, as well as his ability to play all OF positions. People seem to like Gathright in MLB, but I’m not a huge fan. I’d rather have McCoy on the bench, who can also play all OF positions and also plays all over the infield, instead of a 1 dimensional guy. McCoy fits better at the top of the lineup than Gathright does and has more success stealing bases. Still, if any of the others have a breakout spring, they could take that last bench spot.

That would round off the bench to the following 4 players:

John McDonald (2B/SS) bats right – Randy Ruiz (1B/DH) bats right – Jose Molina (C) bats right – Mike McCoy (2B/SS/3B/OF) bats right (but his both lefties and righties very well).

Not too bad a bench if you ask me. I still think Joey Gathright has a chance to make it ahead of McCoy, and it could come down to the spring training performance of each player. Whichever one doesn’t make it will most likely end up in AAA. Jarrett Hoffpauir should join that player, along with Brian Dopirak, Raul Chavez, Brad Emaus, and others who the Jays want to stick around. David Cooper should return to AA if Dopirak is in AAA. All-in-all the Jays have a pretty decent bench and good depth for position battles. They don’t have any real pressing needs on their bench, from what I can tell, and should have the depth to help them win some games. Mike McCoy in particular could become a mainstay on the bench to the point of taking a starting role should the opportunity arise.

1. Brian Tallet, 2009 $1,015,000 – 2010 $2,000 ,000 (+985,000)
2. Casey Janssen, 2009 $413,900 – 2010 $700,000 (+286,100)
3. Jason Frasor, 2009 $1,450,000 – 2010 $2,650,000 (+1,200,000)
4. Jeremy Accardo, 2009 $900,000 – 2010 $1,080,000 (+180,000)
5. Shawn Camp, 2009 $750,000 – 2010 $1,150,000 (+400,000

It seems fitting that both Jason Frasor and Brian Tallet got the biggest raises after performing very well in 2009. The fact that Jeremy Accardo agreed to a deal after voicing his displeasure with the Jays after 2009 tells me that Anthopolous really got the message across to Jeremy that he will be given a full chance to perform in 2010. Camp and Janssen both got minor raises which are pretty inconsequential.

Now that the Jays and other teams know how much Jason Frasor and Brian Tallet will cost them, will them become trade bait along with Scott Downs who has a $4,000,000 salary in 2010? All 3 will be FAs after 2010 and could bring in some decent talent.  With Dick Hayhurst, Josh Roenicke, and Jeremy Accardo all waiting to get their chance full time in the pen. Add the fact that Zechry Zinicola presumably becoming a full time member after the rule 5 draft and the pen is getting pretty crowded. It may wait until spring training is under way, but I fully expect that AA will trade 1 or 2 more relievers.

The Jays also signed 2 players, RHP Steven Register and OF Jeremy Reed, to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training. Register adds yet another decent reliever to the ton of competition present in the Jays pen. He’s 26 years old, split time between Philadelphia and Colorado last season and has saved 66 games in the minors between 2007 and 2009. Jeremy Reed last played for the Mets in 2008, is 29 years old, and can play all OF positions. He joins Joey Gathright and Jose Bautista in competing for an OF backup job. MLBastien mentions that they are competing with Travis Snider as well, as had been confirmed by AA. Uhhummm, let me clear my throat. Mark my words, if Jeremy Reed or Joey Gathright make the club and Travis Snider is sent down to AAA I will begin a Facebook page dedicated to ending Cito‘s tenure in Toronto immediately. You can’t make a claim that you’re going towards youth and then place Reed on the club who has a total of 11 HRs in 1222 big league ABs and a .255 average over 6 seasons. I’m all for creating competition, but let’s not lose our minds, eh guys? And how is it that Reed and Gathright, both of whom proved they have little to offer MLB teams, get looks in spring training while Darin Mastroianni - who offers more speed and more upside, doesn’t get one? Invite him to spring training at a minimum so that you can see the difference between the three, that’s all I’m saying.

It scares me that he said this because it tells me that “competition” in the Jays may limit young player’s chances of playing with the club full time and that Travis Snider may still be batting 9th, of all places. I for one do not agree with this backwards theory of batting young players at the bottom of the lineup for many reasons. First, it makes the player get fewer ABs which hurts their development and makes it hard for them to keep their heads in the game. It’s hard to watch 8 others get ABs while you’re sitting on the bench and are full of piss and vinegar at 21 years old. A lot of the time, he doesn’t get an AB until the 3rd inning with nobody on base because the 7-8 guys are John Buck and Alex Gonzalez….yeah, nice “learning” opportunity. Cito should bat Snider 6th or 7th in the lineup in order to give him the most opportunity to perform as possible. If they don’t put him there and allow him to become a clutch hitter and to drive runs in, he’ll continue to under-develop, get bored, and will get sent back down to AAA. The Jays can’t allow themselves to waste a talent like Snider by hitting him 9th, they just can’t. Besides, judging by the way they bring up youngsters, isn’t that the likely starting spot for Brett Wallace? lol.

1. Lance Broadway RHP
2. Willie Collazo LHP
3. Kyle Drabek RHP
4. Zach Jackson LHP
5. Chad Jenkins RHP
6. Rommie Lewis LHP
7. JP Arencibia C
8. Travis d’Arnaud C
9. Raul Chavez C
10. Brian Jeroloman C
11. Kyle Phillips C
12. Jesus Merchan SS
13. Brett Wallace 1B/3B
14. Joey Gathright OF
15. Adam Loewen OF
16. Chris Lubanski OF
17. Jorge Padilla OF

The question now becomes, should anyone else be invited? And if so, why?

My answer to that, in my humble opinion, is yes, 2 more names should be added to the list. They are:

1. Darin Mastroianni, OF: Mainly because he’s the best OF prospect that is close enough to the majors to have an impact in 2010. Giving him a taste of big league pitching would go a long way to setting his expectations and areas of improvement in 2010.
2. Daniel Farquhar, RP: If any minor league pitcher deserves a look it’s Daniel. Not only is he possibly our closer of the future, but he has the best chance of making a real big impact into the pen in 2010/2011. He could learn a lot from Scott Downs and Jason Frasor before either of them are traded away.

Am I missing anyone? Let me know in the comments.

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image from MLB.com

The Jays and Royals didn’t make a trade this off season, but they did grab each other’s AAA OF depth guys. The Jays first took Joey Gathright, but he had already left the Royals a while ago and is much older than Buck Coats or Chris Lubanski. He also has some MLB time, which makes a direct comparison hard to do. So other than building the KC-TOR depth chart connections,  Gathright is not directly comparable to Coats. The Royals grabbed Coats on November 29th, and the Jays took Lubanski thereafter. Since neither of these players has huge upside, I thought it would be fun to compare whether the Jays improved their OF depth by adding Lubanski and letting Coats go.

Lubanski will be 25 in March, is 6’3″ and 205 lbs, bats left, and was selected in the 1st rd by KC in 2005. Since he was injured most of 2009, I’ll list his 2008 stats to compare:

393 AB, 95 hits, 20 doubles, 8 triples, 15 HRs, .242 avg, .306 OBP/.448 SLG / .754 OPS

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