Blue Jays Weekend Brew: Tanaka Unlikely, Prospects Chat, Second Base Hole

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman

connects to hit a home run in the second inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Blue Jays are unlikely to land Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka. Rather, he says, look for them to try to sign either Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana.

I’m probably in the minority with this opinion but I understand why Alex Anthopoulos would be hesitant to dole out $120 million over six or seven years for Tanaka. There’s the chance he could be the next Yu Darvish but his arm has quite a bit of wear and tear on it for a 25-year-old and there are also concerns about the repeatability of his delivery. I’d be more than happy with a mid-tier coupe (preferably Jimenez) that will help the Jays in 2014 while also leaving more payroll flexibility going forward.

Robert Griffin of the Toronto Star talks about Adam Lind’s six-pack of hitting coaches, which includes Mickey Brantley, Gary Denbo, Gene Tenace, Dwayne Murphy, Chad Mottola and now Kevin Seitzer. It’s a lot of different voices to hear but I’m mostly linking to this article because of the great picture of Lind’s off-season beard.

A few of the Toronto Blue Jays best prospects were in Toronto recently and Sportsnet 590 The Fan caught up with Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Sean Nolin. I’ll refer you to Blue Jays Aggregator for a nice organized list of radio interviews, which also includes Mike Wilner’s chat with new hitting coach Seitzer.

Andrew Stoeten at DJF follows up Seitzer’s interview and says despite the hitting coach’s positive outlook he’s still struggling with the idea of Ryan Goins as the Blue Jays starting second baseman in 2014. Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs recently identified Toronto’s second base spot as the worst position on a competing team in MLB. Not exactly high praise but a serviceable upgrade will be hard to find and the Jays might just have to hope Goins can make up for his deficiencies at the plate his plus-plus defense in the field.

And closing things out, John Lott of the National Post writes that Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons sees a healthy Brandon Morrow as a key to the club’s success in 2014.