Blue Jays Anthony Gose Heading To Venezuela For Winter Ball

Sep 29, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Anthony Gose (8) heads for third base in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre. Tampa defeated Toronto 7-6. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

23-year-old outfield prospect Anthony Gose has seemingly been on the radar of Toronto Blue Jays fans forever. And despite two rather lackluster auditions at the Major League level, very little has affected the shine on his “potential”, keeping him on the tips of tongues and perpetually discussed in any imaginary outgoing trade packages.

Now, with Rajai Davis hitting the free agent market and likely moving on in search of a starting gig, the door is now open for Anthony Gose to step up and claim a 25-man roster spot in 2014.

Of course, a lot of that hinges on Gose continuing to put work in to improve on what was a disastrous 2013 season, both at Triple-A Buffalo and initially with the Blue Jays. After struggling with a .239/.316/.336 slash-line and 27.3% K rate with the Bisons, injuries forced Toronto’s hand and Gose was promoted to the Blue Jays, where an improved September lead to a .259/.283/.408 slash-line with the big club, but an abysmal 37/5 K/BB ratio.

An elimination of a leg kick helped Gose improve his timing at the plate and his overall contact with the baseball, and the Toronto Blue Jays would like him to come to camp with the new swing in place. There is also hope that a new approach at the plate will help him improve his patience at the plat as well.

To make that happen, Anthony Gose will head to Venezuela and suit up with Tiburones de La Guaira for some winter ball, as reported by Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

Gose becomes the second Blue Jays outfield prospect to head out to winter ball at this late point in the year. Earlier this week, Kevin Pillar headed to the Dominican Winter League to get some extra reps in, and we (we being I) speculated some of that may be to help showcase him for interested trade partners. I suppose the same could be said about Gose, as he is easily one of Toronto’s most tradable assets, but there’s enough reason to send him out for work to make that plausible without speculating that Gose is on the move.

If neither is traded, I’d be interested to see the competition in spring training for the 4th outfield spot between these two gentlemen. With that in mind, extra work isn’t going to hurt either, and can only hope to improve their chances in the spring.