With Brandon Morrow on DL, Will Kevin Slowey be Acquired by Jays?

The rumors linking the Jays to Twins starter Kevin Slowey earlier this off season didn’t make much sense at the time, but how quickly things change. On the same day that the Jays place Brandon Morrow on the DL, the Twins are apparently increasing their chase of a late innings reliever in return for Slowey. Does this increase the chances of a match between the 2 teams? I’m almost certain it does if the Jays want to ensure they have as many options as possible in hand.

As most know, forearm tightness – the injury Morrow is dealing with – often leads to a visit with Dr. Andrews and possible Tommy John surgery in the worst cases. The Jays could simply use the time Morrow is on the DL as an opportunity to see what they have in-house. However, having seen how active Alex Anthopoulos gets when there is a need within the team, you know that he’s working the phones and looking at every possible solution and scenario.

If the Jays believe that pitchers like Kyle Drabek, Zach Stewart, Marc Rzepczynski, and Brad Mills are truly ready to get a shot at starting full-time for the Jays, then there is no real need to make any relatively big addition. However, what the injury to Morrow does is thin out the overall depth of starters at the higher levels of the Jays minors. Therefore, it seems more likely that the Jays may attempt to bring in at least 1 more starter to ensure that they increase their options.

To me, a Jason Frasor in return for Kevin Slowey trade makes perfect sense and would resolve issues for both the Twins and the Jays. That seems to be the likeliest scenario right now, with the possibility of the Jays sitting back and waiting to see how Morrow rebounds and whether some decent options become available on the waiver wire as teams make some tough decisions (such as the Rockies with John Maine and the Yankees with Bartolo Colon).

So, with that in mind, who else could be available for the Jays?

Here’s a run down of pitchers that are Free Agents and could be added to eat some innings at the back end of the rotation:

• Jeremy Bonderman (28) FA
• Doug Davis (35) FA *seems like the most attractive of the FA group right now
• Kevin Millwood (36) *could work short term
• Jarrod Washburn (36)
• Pedro Martinez (39)

Personally, I’d much rather see Zach Stewart get a shot than to see any of those listed above being brought in. It’s doubtful that any of them would be seen as attractive to the Jays, unless of course the Jays are taking each pitcher’s MLB time clock and attempting to limit their exposure until they’re ready for the challenge. Still, after seeing the Jays give Brett Cecil a shot when faced with injuries, I keep leaning towards staying put or an addition such as Slowey.

What are your thoughts on the Brandon Morrow situation? Do you believe he may be out for the year, or that it’s simply a spring training issue that could be resolved within the 1st week of the season? If you do believe an acquisition will be made to fill a possible void, who is your favorite target?

I’m really hoping for the latter in my heart, but my mind is telling me that we could be without Morrow for the entire season, and that would be a crying shame.

All together now: “please be healthy Brandon, please be healthy Brandon”….continue the thought until confirmed….I hope!

– MG

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